Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hrothgar rested crouched atop a peak within view of the town. He smiled a sinister arc as he got a panoramic view of the city and skyline. "You fools, you take advantage of that which you know so little of. This is too perfect. I didn't think those hotheads would be stupid enough to station themselves in the one place too hot, and with too little fuel for them to survive in. All that defense will go flying out the window if that volcano erupts and floods out their town with liquid stone." Hrothgar began laughing, he could hardly contain his joy. The anticipation came bursting forth as his laughs echoed through the hills.

As Hrothgar's laughter subsided, He checked his pocket and drew a card from it. He inspected it with a smile. "...cause home is where the heart is." Hrothgar's body began to darken, his skin becoming more coarse and hardened like stone. A rocky form stretched across his head forming itself into a rather jagged helmet. The earth expanded across his upper body, stretching down to his legs forming tough armor. Hrothgar rolled his shoulders then leaped from the peak, charging toward the volcano.

"Welcome home, Smoldar." Hrothgar slyly said nodding his head. He cast a hand out to draw attention to their surroundings, "This is the place right?"

"Answer me!" Erupted Smoldar in a rumbling voice. It raised it's fist, gazing down at the man, "Why have you brought me to the conquered land that was once my home?!"

"You're stronger now then you were then. You can take it back," Hrothgar glanced openly at the base ahead before continuing, "after a little remodeling." Hrothgar held up the card, "And after that, your freedom."

Smoldar turned around to see the crater, it's back facing Hrothgar. It lowered its arms trying to maintain its composure. "Why are you doing this for me? What's in it for you?"

"We have the same enemy. I want to vanquish them just as badly as you do. A war between the people of elements is coming very quickly. This base is their most important stronghold, and it was once your home. With the destruction of this base, we will cripple those who conquered your homeland before the war even begins. I don't view you as some heirloom, some kind of inherited weapon to do my bidding, but as an ally to assist me in combating my foes. I can smell your hatred for them, as clear as the burning sulfur. This is your chance and mine, for vengeance!"

A rather massive burning hammer emerged into Smoldar's right hand. It nodded once accepting Hrothgar's terms. "I see..." Smoldar raised it's searing arms, and called forth reaching out to the volatile earth below. "Rise! Rise my brethren and claim your rightful home from the vile humans!"

The ground began to tremble greatly Scattered piles of hot rock began to assemble into hundreds bodies very similar to Smoldar in form. Gathering all around the crater, they raised their arms resounding a battle shout.

Off in the distance to the south, a rather large blocky object could be seen bounding across the peaks heading to the east.

Some hours later Hrothgar felt something grasp his defensive shell. A very familiar large hand if it couldn't be mistaken. Smoldar had fished a rather large and warm granite ball from a lava stream and held it up. Hrothgar burst from the sphere landing at the side of the stream and gasping for air. "I guess ...that was... my crash course... in holding my breath." He breathed deeply for a few seconds longer before looking up. Smoldar stood triumphantly before the now large bubbling lake of lava ahead.

Seeing the great wide volcano, the sparse disastrous remains, and the many victorious earth elemental spirits sent a bit of a shock to Hrothgar. He stood up and continued to gaze upon the volcano and the wreckage only to be distracted by Smoldar's voice. "We are victorious. We have our home once again."

Hrothgar fished out the card from his pocket. With one last smirk, he casted the card into the lava watching it burn away. "A deal is a deal... Well, you're free. Time is short for me. I have to finish a campaign and catch up to my golem."

"We are in your debt. If you need anything, feel free to summon." As Smoldar finished it's sentence, it raised a hand. With a bright flash a rather large dark metal war hammer formed seeping with lava and resting on the ground at Hrothgar's feet. Hrothgar took a bow and smiled sinisterly as he lowered his head. He picked up the hammer and rested it over his shoulder. "Thank you, I shall treasure your gift Smoldar." He nodded and started heading east to find his golem. Smoldar gave a wave and turned starting toward the ruins of the town with a few other elementals.

Seifer strode up through the mountains on his trusty steed. He scratched his head riding up along the steep rocky trail trying to get his bearings. Some landmarks were missing. He came to a stop at the edge of a rather vast lake of lava, watching spirits dance about in the pool. He stepped off his steed and looked about the peaks and valleys trying to figure out where he was, then finally unpacked his map and compass. "I don't understand it," he said to his horse. "Hell on earth should be right here. These are the coordinates, but the mountains are missing. There's..." He slapped his forehead in a far less than elegant display of correction. He placed his hand over his face and sighed. "The mountain must have erupted," he lowered his hand and looked about the land again. "...but to transform the terrain like this and without warning? The Seismologists would have sent word years ago for an eruption this powerful."

A fire spirit danced about on some congealed stones nearby in the lake oblivious to Seifer's observation. "Could the elemental spirits have done this? Did we anger them in some way?" His eyes moved to an earth spirit sitting at the edge of the lake. "Could this have been their ancestral homeland?"

Seifer took a deep breath to regain his composure. "We did what we must to survive. There is war for us on the horizon. If we do nothing, our enemies will crush..." Before Seifer could finish his words, the spirit interrupted, leering in and hissing in rage. "Your enemies?! Who else must suffer at the hands of your futile desire for conquest?! How much more of this wonderful earth must die to bear your burden?!" The spirit was clearly livid, throwing it's fiery arms up in the air and ranting at the man, like an angry parent scolding their child. Seifer dropped to his knees in fear and broken will. He could only imagine that fiery face matching the rage it exuded, but he could not turn away.

The spirit continued, leering in lower to meet the man's face as he had fallen. "Where are your infantile answers now? TELL ME, HUMAN!!" The stone spirit stood up recognizing the rising tension at the edge of the lake. It calmly waddled over.

"But... I..." In the face of Seifer's despair, the spirit did not let up. "LOOK AT ME! LOOK ME IN THE EYE AND JUSTIFY YOUR GREED, WRATH, AND AVARICE! JUSTIFY YOUR THIRST FOR THE BLOOD OF YOUR OWN KIND, AND YOUR DESIRE TO CRUSH ALL WHO STAND IN YOUR WAKE REGARDLESS OF THEIR INNOCENCE!" The spirit could kill him out of seething rage, but was interrupted with a calming pat on the 'shoulder' if it were one, by the stone elemental spirit. It mumbled something to the angry spirit before pointing to the broken man on the ground.

The fire spirit began to calm down, turning and leaving Seifer be. The stone spirit looked back once at him before treading off. Seifer curled up in a fetal position stricken down by the words and rage of the spirit. He was left in complete shock, dead inside with his pupils narrowed to pinpoints and his face permanently etched in holocaust.

((Ugh, I need a tissue after that.))

Tyane ran to the man, kneeling next to him. His eyes were still open, although his pupils were hardly visible. His face seemed frozen in some sort of horror. She put a hand to his throat, and felt a heartbeat, although it was slow and rather weak.

He looks like he's in shock. What did he see?

Leaning on her staff, Tyane stood up, her brown hair blowing in a wind she could have sworn hadn't been there a moment ago. She swung her staff in the air, chanting a spell.

"Goddess of Fire, hear me now! Grant me the power to deliver the mind of this man from the death in which it resides! Let me heal his injuries with the power still dormant within me!"

Finishing the pentagram in the air, she screamed, feeling the power being dragged forcibly from her body. The pentagram descended onto, and then into, the body of the man before her. She felt the spell finish, and then she could feel nothing, as she fell towards the ground, her body crumpling from the stress. As the darkness consumed her, the girl had one last thought:

Please, let this work...

Siena nudged her mistress, her cold nose feeling that the girl was still warm. She wasn't dead, she had just used up far too much power in one go. Stupid child...

Tyane's eyelashes fluttered as her mind returned gradually to consciousness. She could feel her dog rubbing against her, hear her whining softly. She forced her dry, cracked lips to move, to form words, but her throat refused to make any noise. Instead she coughed, dispelling the volcanic dust from it's lodging in her throat. She sat up, reaching for her water bottle, and realized something else.

The man had moved. He was now right next to her, mumbling something to himself. She quickly drank from her water bottle, and then offered it to him.

"Here. You should drink something."