The prince stood before Ellie with his flaming sword and coal shield, in a defensive position.

“If you think I’m going to fight you, you’re mistaken,” Ellie said.

The Pyro Prince didn’t move.

“I wasn’t even attacking you,” Ellie continued. “Coal was going to fall on you. I was trying to help. All I’m trying to do is help!”

The prince raised his sword, signaling he was ready to charge.

“No one has ever decided to help before,” he said. “I must have been down here for years, and met no one but the king and its servants. Why are you suddenly here—why should I trust you?”

“The fire has been burning for over fifty years, actually,” Ellie couldn’t stop herself from saying—though she didn’t think it would improve anything.

“Fifty years. It’s been fifty years?” The prince seemed to be speaking to himself. “How has it been so long? My whole life is lost! Even if I’m freed by the king, who would I go back to?”

Ellie was unsure if she should try comforting the prince. She took a step forward, and he did the same. With his sword high above its head, he charged at Ellie.

Not knowing what to do, she mimicked the prince, creating a water shield on one arm and a water sword on the other. Barely constructing them in time, she deflected his blow with her shield, causing steam to fill the room upon contact.

The prince screamed with rage and anguish at every blow he delivered. It was all Ellie could do to defend herself from his attacks.

After a moment, there was a brief respite, as the prince paused. Ellie wondered if he needed to catch his breath—did fire monsters breathe? She tugged at the stream of water, her lifeline to the surface, to see if it was still intact. It was—she would probably have dehydrated by now otherwise.

She debated on whether to use it—now certainly seemed like a good time to get out quickly. She had a weird feeling, though, that this Pyro Prince wasn’t actually a monster— at least not like the one she fought in the Gulf of Mexico when she gained her powers. This one was different. She thought she could get through to him—to get his help in putting out this fire, at least.

“So that’s how you’re surviving down here,” the prince said, standing in the center of the chamber. “You feed on water the way I feed on flame.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You can’t hope to defeat me, you know. I’m the ruler of the flame. I’ve been going easy on you, but I’m growing bored, and I would like you to end this.”

“All right,” Ellie said, holding onto her lifeline. “I know a lost cause when I see one. I’ll get out of here.”

“I didn’t say I wanted you to leave—I said I wanted to end this. You’ve done your best—you’ve shaken up my world. But my mission remains. I can’t let you risk the work my king and I are doing. If you leave, who knows who you’ll tell about us down here? No, I can’t risk it. I need to end this now.”

The prince raised his arms, and the flames around him grew exponentially. The flames grew so hot they practically devoured their fuel. The temperature was unbearable—Ellie felt like she was standing in a kiln. The flames jumped across the chamber and converged on the prince. They swirled around and encased him.

Ellie was motionless—curious and terrified by what was going on in front of her. She heard the prince laughing maniacally from inside the flaming cyclone. As soon as she found the courage to move, the flames subsided, and the prince stood before her in the guise of a gigantic dragon.

He roared and shot fire around the chamber, somehow making things even hotter. Ellie decided things had gone too far, and that she needed to get out of there. She tugged on her lifeline, and in an instant, was sucked into the stream of water and out of the chamber.

Again, the prince-dragon roared, and with a flap of his wings began to fly to the entrance of his domain. He blew a torrent of fire, evaporating the stream that was entering his home. A second later, Ellie popped out the end, where the prince-dragon severed her connection to the outside world before she could escape.

“You’re mine, now,” he said, circling the chamber from above.

No longer having a connection to the outside world, and only a little water remaining, Ellie had no choice but to strike carefully.

The prince-dragon flew in a circle, and then flew down low, with its mouth agape. Ellie dove out of the way at the last second.

Again, the prince-dragon circled overhead, flying at her with his mouth wide open. This time, Ellie pooled all the water she could spare in her right hand. The prince-dragon repeated its previous attack—and this time, Ellie was ready. Just as the prince-dragon was about to close his jaws around her, she shot a massive bolt of water at him, piercing the roof of his mouth.

The prince-dragon crashed to the ground and let out a cry of pain. His momentum sent him sliding into the wall, unleashing an eruption of coal into the chamber. The flaming serpent flopped around awkwardly as he maneuvered himself out of the hole in the wall.

When he was finally free, Ellie saw the hole, still in the roof of his mouth.

“That was a good shot!” the prince-dragon admitted. “But I don’t think you have many of those left in you.”

The prince-dragon inhaled deeply, sucking more flames into his mouth to repair the damage Ellie had done. He continued to inhale, growing even larger. Still in the guise of a dragon, he ran towards Ellie, attacking from the ground this time.

Within a few seconds, he was on Ellie, and took a swipe at her. She easily dodged it, and shot a relatively minor bolt of water back. The prince-dragon hissed and swiped again. Again, Ellie dodged it and parried with an attack of her own.

The prince-dragon took several more powerful swings at Ellie, which she barely managed to dodge. He screamed in frustration. The two backed off and plotted their next moves. Ellie was starting to think she might be able to escape with her life.

The monster roared, shaking the chamber, and running at Ellie. Ellie screamed too, and charged at the monster. Just before they met in the center of the chamber, the prince-dragon spun around and hit Ellie with his tail. Caught off guard, Ellie took the blows full force, and was sent flying into the chasm the prince-dragon had created earlier.

While the prince-dragon sent coal and rock flying through the chamber, Ellie only created a small splash and a thud. In place of the powerful water elemental was now a coughing, terrified, twenty-five-year-old woman.

The prince-dragon ran over to his foe, shrinking back down to the humanoid form it had worn earlier. Ellie looked up, defeated, one hand shielding her eyes and the other behind her back. She was already covered in sweat and gagging on the noxious atmosphere. For a second, she thought the prince hesitated, but he soon approached her with unusual rigidity.

“I take no joy in my victory, I hope you know,” the prince said, somberly. “I’ve already lost so much—if we stop now, this has all been for nothing.”

“If you let me go,” Ellie said between coughs, “I can figure something out. You don’t need to do this alone. I can help.”

“That will never work. You’re useless down here. I’ve long suspected something was amiss . . .” The prince paused without finishing his sentence. “You’ve shown me that I’ve been stalling for too long, and now is the time for action. I think this fire might finally be strong enough.”

The prince drew out his flaming sword and held it with both hands above Ellie’s heart.

Again the prince hesitated. His cape flashed green, and black smoke billowed off it. The prince yelled and thrust the blade toward her.

Ellie screamed and shot out a bolt of water from her palm, hitting the prince in the eye. The water steamed momentarily, blocking the prince’s vision. He brought the blade down with all his might, ending the battle once and for all.

When the steam cleared, the prince saw the blade piercing the ground. The girl was gone. In her place was a small trickle of water seeping into the mine from the cracks in the wall. The prince ran his finger over the water, causing it to evaporate. He smirked at the girl’s resourcefulness, and returned to his throne.