Jarjees's Challenge

By the time the sun was in the middle of the sky, we had reached the path. Tir carried our provisions and supplies in our cart, and the guard followed along silently. When we reached the path he halted.

"Here is where I wait for you, Spirit Blessed. King Jarjees has made me give my word that I will witness the battle but he forbade me from taking any part in it for fear of my safety," the guard said.

"I understand," I told him. "Tir, you should probably stay here as well. I don't want you to be in danger either."

Tir scowled. "If it is your will, Greatness. However, I would rather be by your side in case of any unforeseen difficulties," he said.

"I know, friend. But if this truly is an elemental beast, then your weapons will be of little use," I said, resting my hand on his shoulder gently.

"Very well, Greatness. Take care," Tir put his hand over mine and squeezed.

I finally worked up my nerve to turn and face my fate. I walked as calmly as I could toward the path.

"No worries, little one. We will be victorious no matter the challenge so long as we work together," Lilith said reassuringly from inside.

I walked along the path for a bit. After a few curves, I was out of sight and hearing range of my companions, enclosed by a series of canyon walls broken frequently by diverging pathways. I heard a rustling from the side of the path, a few stones kicked by something. Suddenly, a young girl, about my age, popped out into view.

"You have to leave!" She said in a husky voice. "The beast will be here soon, nobody will be safe!"

"I'm here to help! I was sent by Jarjees to take care of the beast," I said.

Her eyes shot open. "It's here! I told you to leave!" She ran off the path and out of sight.

"Wait!" I yelled. I ran after her, pulling up the bottom of my dusty, brown robe so that I wouldn't trip. I could hear her footsteps ahead of me and saw her run into a small cave that yawned from the foot of the mountains that lined the path. As she ran into the cave, the air swirled at the cave's mouth, turned hazy, and then burst into flames. The flames coalesced into an amorphous shape, and then limbs, a head, and tails grew from the center. The head swung toward me, embers dripping from the wavering teeth. It growled, and loped into the cave.

"Oh no!" I cried. The girl in there had no chance against a beast like that. The way the wolf had coalesced and took form was so much like the fire forms that Lilith created back in the village in order to fight the bandits that had attacked us. They would burn the girl alive before I even had a chance to get to her. Lilith said something inside me as I ran, but I couldn't hear her over my fear.

I ran into the cave to find that it was quite shallow. The girl cowered in the back while the flaming wolf slowly approached her. "Stop right there! Don't hurt her! I command you as a Spirit Blessed," I shouted.

"Lilith, time to do your stuff," I whispered. I raised my hands, pointing both palms at the living bonfire standing in the center of the cave. I felt Lilith's power coursing through me. My thoughts flew back to the time someone's hearth caught their house on fire in my home village. Water was too precious, so we spread as much dirt as we could to try and smother the flames. Immediately, Lilith's power pulsed through my hands, and I could feel the dirt of the ground beneath the wolf loosen itself. Surprisingly, considering it was made of incorporeal flames, the beast's weight caused it to sink into the soil while yet more sand, dirt, and pebbles began to spew upward in a fountain sending the flame wolf into a sizzling howl.

As it quickly began to fizzle into nothing, the girl screamed, "NO!"

The wolf suddenly popped out of existence with a whoosh and exploded into existence right in front of me!

I gasped, and heard Lilith laugh inside my heart. I felt her take over my body, she snapped my fingers at the new flame wolf, and it popped out of existence again without any dirt this time. I felt Lilith control the fire itself, which I hadn't thought of.

This time it was the girl's turn to gasp. She held her hands out, eyes wide with fear, and once again the wolf popped up in front of me. Lilith snapped again and, again, it disappeared. The girl slowly fell to her knees with a whispered, "no..."

"Give it up little one. We know you're a spirit blessed like us, but I have to warn you that we are much more powerful than the single elemental friend within you," Lilith's voice came from my mouth.

"Please, you can't let Jarjees get me! They'll send me back to my kingdom, and I can't go back there!" the girl shouted, in tears.

"Your turn, little one," Lilith said within me, and I felt her fade back to my core. My body was mine once again.

"What's happening?" I asked Lilith silently.

"She's a Spirit Blessed from the far East. Her Spirit's power is fire. We must decide what to do with her. I would suggest persuading her to join us, but we'll have to be careful about Jarjees," Lilith said within me.

I held my hands up and slowly approached the girl. I finally took the chance to look her over, and noticed that her tattered clothes were indeed quite strange to me. I'd never seen the style before. "Don't worry, you're safe! I won't give you up to Jarjees if you'll get hurt," I said.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Fatiha, Spirit Blessed of the desert villages. My spirit is named Lilith," I told her. "What's your name?"

"Call me Hanabi," she said. "My spirit's name is Seika."

"Are you in danger? I've never seen your people through here before," I asked her.

"Our lands are very different from what I can tell," she said. "In my former kingdom, they throw people like me into a volcano. Most of us are burned up, but a very few come out like me: Spirit Blessed," Hanabi said.

"They murder you so easily?! What is a volcano?" I asked.

"Yes, people like me, especially," she said, but I didn't quite understand what she meant. "A volcano is a big mountain with liquid flame in it's center. Sometimes it flows from the top when it's angry."

I stared at Hanabi. She was just a girl like me. The injustice of it brought tears to my eyes, killing children. "Please, join me on my travels. Together we could help so many people."

"But, what of Jarjees?" she asked.

I thought for a moment. Lilith spoke to me. "I think we have an idea, but we'll need your spirit to help us," I said.

***

I ran around the curve in the path and into view of Tir and the guard. The flame wolf was snarling right at my heels.

"Greatness!" Tir howled.

"Stand back!" I yelled to Tir and the guard. I swirled on my feet and faced the flame wolf. I made a show of casting out my hands. I felt Lilith's power flow through me, and this time I thought of water. A huge torrent burst from both sides of the canyon walls that enclosed the path and sprayed against the flame wolf. It sputtered and yowled as the jets of water doused it. The flaming beast fell over onto its side, puffed into a billowing cloud of smoke, and disappeared. Shortly after, the waters stopped flowing from the canyon sides.

The guard and Tir ran up next to me. "By the Gods, you did it!" the guard exclaimed. "The King will be pleased with you, Spirit Blessed."

Tir grabbed both my shoulders and thrust his face into mine, "Are you okay Greatness?!" he began to grin and shook me, tears forming at the corners of his eyes, then he drew me into a deep hug. "Ha! You've slayed the beast! Brilliant battle, Greatness!"

"I'm sorry to worry you, Tir," I whispered in his ear "but our work isn't yet done here. I'll fill you in later,".

"Yes, Greatness, I understand." He nodded.

"Guard, could you please escort us back to King Jarjees? I believe he has something for us." I said to the guard.

"Immediately," he said, grinning himself.

***

Back in the throne room of King Jarjees's palace, we were well met by the King.

"My guard has told me all about your exploits, Spirit Blessed." He grabbed the artifact which was still sitting on a little table next to him, and held it out. A guard stepped up to grab it and relay it to me. The guard stood in front of me and removed the cloth over the artifact. It was slightly underwhelming. It was a small, carved ball made of wood and filigreed with some sort of metal. The patterns were intricate, but unintelligible.

I took the item and stashed it in a pocket. "Thank you, my King," I said as I bowed.

"Nonsense, you have more than earned it, and I daresay it'll be much more use to you than it is to our people," Jarjees smiled.

"If you'll excuse me, my King, Tir and I must be on our way, I believe," I said.

"Very well, Spirit Blessed," he said slyly. "Enjoy your new acquisitions," he said. "I'm quite sure we'll cross paths again, Friend."

"I'm sure we will, you sly fox," Lilith grinned within me.

"Until then, my King!" I said and left.

Tir and I walked back to the path with our cart newly full of provisions, a nice gift from the king.

"What business do we have back at the path, Greatness?" Tir asked.

I checked to make sure that no-one was near us, but there seemed to be only wilderness. "I met another Spirit Blessed, Tir. She's a girl named Hanabi, and her spirit's power is fire. I think she'll join us. Oh her story is terrible though, Tir. We have to help her," I said.

"Hmm," Tir said, clearly deep in thought.

I led Tir around the curve in the path and into the cave where, thankfully, Hanabi was waiting.

Upon seeing Tir, Hanabi pressed herself up against the back wall of the cave. "No, you've brought a guard to me!" she said.

"No! This is my friend, Tir! He took care of me when I was overpowered by my abilities. We can trust him," I said. "We...want you to come with us, Hanabi. Will you join us on our journeys?"

"You're...you're not handing me over to Jarjees?" she asked.

"Never," I said.

She covered her face and sobbed. I hurried over, and hugged her.

"Finally," she said, "I might be free from fear."

"Will you come with us then? Will you join us?" I asked.

"...Yes," she said.

"Wonderful," I clapped my hands in joy. "I brought a change of clothes for you, so that we won't attract the attention of anyone. They're like mine."

A brief look of fear flitted across her face then disappeared just as quickly. "I'll change in the cave, alone, please."

"Of course," I said.

Tir and I waited outside the cave for Hanabi. When she finally joined us, she asked "So, where shall we go now?"

"Well..." I looked at Tir. "I haven't really any idea," I said. "Do you have any ideas, Hanabi?"

"Anywhere but East," she said resolutely.

"Tir, where do you think we can be of the most use?" I asked.

Tir cleared his throat and began to tell us the tales of our land. Thus, Hanabi and I learned of some of the troubles of the world. But, that is a tale for another day.