The world around me faded as my consciousness was transported to the spirit realm.
Other parts of the realm I’d visited had seemed placid and pleasant until the spirits came to fight. This place was made from the melding of fire and earth but was different from the locations of its base elements.
I stood on the slope of a volcano, beneath a sky that billowed with dark gray clouds and flashes of fire. Lava spewed from the peak of the volcano and ran down its sides like rivers of molten death. More dribbled from holes in the mountainside and created rivulets that ran across the rocks, a spiderweb of glowing liquid. The air shimmered in the heat and carried the stench of sulfur. There were no plants or animals, the only sign of moisture an occasional burst of steam from holes in the rock. Far below, the slope gave way to a cliff edge. At the bottom was broken ground of jagged rocks where a green-tinged pool of water bubbled and steamed.
As always, I stood unarmed as I prepared to face my foes.
Two figures emerged from caves on the slope above me. One was made of fire, its body blurring with the air in the heat haze. The other was made of dirt, a flowing figure of sand and soil, like the ones I’d faced twice already in the past few days. The fire and earth spirits looked down at me and waited.
Fire was an old opponent, and the one I felt most comfortable taking on. I looked around for anything I could use against him. Once we got in close, my own power over fire should keep me from getting too badly burned, but that would only stop me dying, not help me win. I could hardly scoop up handfuls of lava, but there were some substantial rocks lying around. I picked up one that sat well in the palm of my hand, then headed up the mountain toward the fire spirit.
As I strode up the slope, the two spirits moved down to meet me. I didn’t want to have to fight both at once, so I picked up speed and ran straight toward the fire spirit.
The creature opened his arms wide and let out a hissing roar. I launched myself off a protruding rock just in front of him and jumped into the air. I crashed into the spirit, bringing us both to the ground.
We tumbled across a slope of broken and jagged rocks. Protrusions jabbed at my sides, and my elbow jolted with pain as it hit the ground, but I did my best to ignore it.
The spirit and I grappled with each other. Each of us had one hand at the other’s throat, pushing their head back, trying to get leverage to do some real damage. When I touched his flesh, my skin burned, but it was just the feeling of pain and not genuine damage to my body. I ignored the sting from his heat and flipped him onto the ground. He wrapped both legs around me, the heat of his limbs bearing down on me, before he slammed his head into mine. Stars danced across my vision, and he flipped me over to get on top.
Before he had a chance to make the most of his advantage, I swung my rock around. It collided with the side of the spirit’s head. He hissed in pain, and his grip on me loosened. I hit him with the rock again and again.
The spirit slid to one side and raised his hands to protect himself. But he was too slow and now too weak from the damage I’d already done. I brought the rock down repeatedly, battering his arm out of the way and then smashing in his head until, at last, he lay still. The fire faded, and he was gone, leaving only a sooty silhouette where he’d lain.
I got to my feet and looked around. The earth spirit was only feet away, striding toward me with his four arms swinging.
I flung the rock at the earth spirit. Sand spurted, and the rock flew out the far side. Fragments of the spirit fell into the lava behind it, where they melted, merged for a moment into clear glass-like crystals, and then were lost in the flow.
The spirit swung a pair of punches at me, one from the right and one from the left. I leapt back, somersaulted over a lava flow, and landed on an area of flat stone surrounded on all sides by molten rock.
The spirit jumped across the lava and landed facing me. It swung another punch, and I was forced to dart back, but at the same time, I was grinning. I had a plan, and for this plan, I had the spirit exactly where I needed him.
I punched and kicked, raising a little dust from the spirit but not much more. In doing so, I left myself open to attack, and he took the opportunity. He shoved me back toward the nearest lava flow. I went with the shove, moving back with exaggerated wobbling steps, until I stood with my heels only inches from the molten rock.
The spirit advanced and pulled his hands back, ready to shove me into the lava. I lunged forward, my fists joined together, turning my whole body into a weapon. My fists hit the spirit in the stomach. There was a spurt of dirt, as there had been when the rock hit, leaving a hole in the middle of the creature’s body.
I dived through the cavity in his torso, landed behind him, and spun around. Before he could react, I
