Ellie froze in place. She had no idea what she was expecting to find down here, but a monster made of fire was not it.

“Have you come in to check up on my work? The king will have his chambers cleared. There is no need to…” The monster trailed off. It pulled its leg in and placed its arms on the armrest. It leaned forward and took a closer look at Ellie.

“No, you’re not one of its creatures, are you?” the monster said, its eyes fixated on her. “This isn’t a great time to have guests. I’m in the middle of some important work. Our job is almost done, but, well . . . what’s the harm in a few minutes of entertaining?”

Ellie was speechless. The heat in this chamber was so much hotter than the rest of the mine, and now a monster was speaking to her. This monster was different than the last one she faced, after the shipwreck when she first gained her powers. She didn’t have time to compare, though—she had to stay in the moment, in case this thing attacked her, like the last one had.

“I know it isn’t much, but I wasn’t really expecting any guests. Why wouldn’t a nice bachelor like myself be expecting guests, you ask? Maybe it’s because I’ve never had any. I guess I’m partially to blame—I live in the middle of nowhere, and I’ve been known to have a bit of a fiery temper.”

The monster chuckled to itself in a way that ordinarily would not be the least bit terrifying—but in this instance, that’s exactly how Ellie found it.

It began descending the stairs from its throne, which must have been fifty feet above the ground. Ellie had plenty of time to back out of the chamber and forget she had ever seen this place, but the flames may as well have been ice, freezing her in place. She could not will herself to move or speak.

As the creature descended, she was better able to make out its features. It certainly looked like a human—two arms, two legs, a head. It even managed to shape its flames into vestments. Behind it billowed a regal cape, and on top of its head was fashioned a burning crown. Something was off about it, though; the ends of the cape and tip of the crown were dingy—almost corrupt looking.

The monster approached her, making idle chat, seemingly unaware that Ellie was not replying. Ellie got the impression that it must have spent a lot of time speaking to itself this way. She appreciated its talkative nature, as it bought her time. But she knew eventually she would have to figure out what to say.

The monster was now in front of her. It stood about ten feet tall. She was about six feet tall in her water form, and evaporating faster than she could replenish herself. The way the monster stared at her, she couldn’t tell if it was sizing her up or trying to figure out if she was real.

“So, vassal—what brings you to your lord’s lair? What problem do you have that you need me, your Pyro Prince, to solve?” he asked her almost tenderly—encouragingly, even. As if he really did want to help.

“Um . . . uh . . . I, uh . . .” Ellie stammered, finally managing to get something out.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed in front of me. I’m not your lord yet, but you can think of me as a friend. I’m only interested in how I can help you. I so rarely get to mediate any problems down here. Please, please—let me help.”

“I guess I, uh, came down here to put out this fire,” Ellie said with considerable effort.

“You WHAT!” Flames flared out of the prince’s back. The room grew a hundred degrees hotter in an instant.

“That’s what I was planning, I mean!” Ellie said, trying to calm the prince down.

“What are you? What are you made of? Is this water?” The prince poked Ellie on the shoulder, making steam rise from her. Ellie gasped and stepped back.

“That is water! You’re made of water! How could I have been such a fool? I just let you in here, and you seek to destroy me! This will not do—this will not do at all.”

The Pyro Prince walked away from Ellie and back towards his throne.

“I didn’t know you were down here—I swear! I just thought this was a regular fire. I didn’t know about you at all.”

The prince did not respond. His dingy green-orange cape billowed behind him as he walked away from her.

“I guess I don’t know much about this part of the world,” Ellie continued, “or any part of the world. I’ve been on my own recently, and just got these abilities. Are you like me? Is there a person in those flames?”

The prince approached a coal-shaped disk which sat at the base of its throne. He picked up the coal and held it in his hands as if inspecting it, preparing for something.

“No,” the prince replied, somberly.

“Well, are you responsible for the fire? Did you start this?”

The prince flared again. The coal in his hands grew red-hot.

“Of what are you accusing me, water creature?”

“Nothing, nothing!” Ellie said. “I’m just trying to make sense of this. How did you get here? How did this fire come to be? I was just trying to help the town that’s been destroyed above. I didn’t know you were down here.”

“Did you say the town has been destroyed?” the prince asked, his back still facing her.
“Yeah—it’s almost completely empty. The fire made it unsafe. Everyone moved out a few decades ago. I think the government owns the land now.”

“I thought I was protecting it,” the prince said, so softly that Ellie almost couldn’t hear him over the crackling of the flames. “That was part of the deal.”

“You’re trying to protect it? Then why don’t you put out the flames? That would protect it.”

“No—that would ruin it,” the prince said, raising his voice. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“How would putting out this flame ruin it?”

“The flames are a part of the king’s plan.” The prince’s voice dropped again.

Ellie moved closer to catch what he was saying.

“Is the king your father? Can you take me to him? Maybe we can work this out.”

“It is not my father. It’s complicated. You couldn’t understand—and besides, it’s not something you want to meet. Even I stay away from the king as much as possible.”

“Try me. Until now, I thought I was the only one in tune with one of the planet’s elements. I bet we have more in common than you think.”

Ellie continued to move closer. She was now a dozen feet from the prince. He was still holding the disk in his hands, as if weighing whether he needed it or not.

“The king saved me from a horrible fate,” the prince said. “At first I didn’t understand—I thought I was cursed. I knew I couldn’t approach the surface—I would never be welcomed. I confined myself down here, and explored the mines.”

Ellie stepped closer. The prince paused for a long time.

“It doesn’t matter!” he said. “Why are you down here? Why are you making me feel this way? Who sent you? Who are you?”

“No one sent me. I don’t serve anyone. I just wanted to help the world. I wanted to try to help, anyway.”

“You think destroying me would help the world? Do you think what I do down here is so unimportant! Do you think I have a different mission? That everyday I’m down here, I’m not helping the world?” His voice grew, shaking the chamber around them. Small pieces of coal fell from the ceiling, thudding when they hit the ground.

“Go ahead,” the prince said. “Give it a shot. If you think you’re strong enough for me, you’d better pray you’re right.”

The chamber rumbled violently. A large piece of coal was dislodged, falling toward the prince.

“Look out!” Ellie yelled while shooting a bolt of water from her hands. The bolt broke up the giant piece of coal, but ricocheted and hit the prince in the back. He grunted and stepped forward. The broken pieces of coal pinged as they rained down and bounced off the floor.

“I knew it!” the prince cried. “If that’s the way you want it, that’s how you’ll get it!”

The prince slipped his arm into the handle of the coal shield. The dingy green-orange flame that was the Prince’s cape now glowed bright green and enveloped the monster in black smoke. When the smoke cleared, the prince turned to face Ellie. He held a flame in the shape of a sword, and appeared to be wearing a full suit of armor. The flaming monster assumed a battle stance, beckoning Ellie to attack.

Next Chapter: Chapter 5