Editing Kanimaeli - Spirit of Air (section)

==Fire Island==

The others quickly dropped off to sleep, exhausted as we were, while I enjoyed the restorative effect of Calm wafting over me as I kept watch. We were not disturbed, though, and were able to rest fully before discussing our next steps. We wanted to reach the temple on the island and decided that we would approach directly across the Water. Pi changed his form into a massive crocodile, and Antinniera was able to sit across his back and ride him as he swam. Xlotl, of course, was perfectly happy within the Water, and thanks to the ring we had found I was able to walk above it on a cushion of Air. Xlotl did comment that the Water was quite warm, unusually so, and seemed devoid of life.

We started at a good pace, and after crossing about a third of the way, perhaps five miles, Xlotl reported that the Water was definitely being warmed from below. There was still no sign of life, and because the Water was warmer as he went deeper it suggested that the heat was coming from the Earth below and not from within the Water itself. He also noticed a sulphurous tint to the taste of the Water, deciding to continue the journey on the surface to avoid it.

Ten minutes or so later, even we could smell the sulphur as it started to permeate the Air as well, and by the time we were two-thirds of the way across I could tell that the Air was being forced away from the island, leaving behind a thick miasma despite being mostly clear to our vision. The Air remaining was breathable despite not smelling or tasting very good, so we were not in immediate danger at least. As we approached the island, we could see at least one shape of flames moving within the trees on the island above us. Xlotl decided that we should carry on rather than try to skirt around the miasma, not knowing whether it extended around the entire island or was localised.

Drawing nearer, we could see that there were cliffs a few hundred feet high at this edge of the island, although the point we were heading for looked climbable as it extended farther into the Water than the rest of the shoreline. There were multiple fiery shapes visible, now, and we got the sense that they were moving towards the cliffs from out of the trees. The angle up to the top of the cliffs was making it hard to see in detail, but it was as if there were flames dancing on top of the cliffs.

When we were within a mile or so from the cliffs, we could see bubbles rising at the edge of the water with thick, greasy Air that mingled with the movement of Air coming down the cliff and away. Antinniera, anticipating an encounter with creatures of Fire, placed a crown on her head, which immediately burst into flames. Whilst that was impressive, it also ignited the sulphurous Air surrounding us, and an explosion shot out from the crown with concussive force!

Xlotl and Pi were engulfed in flames. With a quick motion, I jerked the ring off my finger and fell into the water, the cool liquid washing over me and reducing the pain slightly. Antinneira, though damaged by the flames, seemed unaffected by the flames around the crown on her head. Xlotl had dived under the surface, leaving us both struggling to stay afloat, her halberd in particular making it difficult for her to swim.

The flames were gone as quickly as they had appeared, so I put the ring back on and rose to the surface, bubbles of air surrounding me. I walked over to help Antinneira, taking her halberd so she could focus on swimming and searching for arrows. Xlotl surfaced again, and he allowed her to climb onto his back once more. She had removed the crown, worried about the reaction it caused, but was encouraged by Xlotl to keep in on as it might help to calm the Fire elementals.

We reached the shore as three flame creatures approached, although still some way off. Xlotl disappeared, which was nothing unusual at this point, and Pi returned to human form to make it easier for us to climb. Both the weather and the ground were warm; I had lost my sandals in the water and set my mind to endure the heat on my soles. As we reached the top of the cliffs, we saw that the three flaming creatures were actually great eagle-like creatures with flaming wings. Two circled above while one landed in front of Antinneira, its flames dying down as it furled its wings.

The creature seemed impressed when Antinneira mentioned Antiva. It was worried we were after the Fire stone, Corrign, and the rest of the Herandhil (stones of power). Pi showed him the stone, and his wings flared as he took some energy from it. The creature said we could call him Ilga, although that was not his true name, was annoyingly arrogant. He believed that Air should serve Fire and wanted to see Antiva returned to the temple. He became aggressive when Pi suggested he would not surrender the stone that easily.

I moved to protect Pi, but the creature was fast and dived at him. Another creature swooped down to attack Antinneira, while the third stayed overhead. Pi managed to escap the talons, but Antinneira was badly hurt. Xlotl created a column of water that fell on us all, which clearly affected the fire creatures more than us as we just got a bit wet. Something dropped onto the back of the creature attacking Pi, perhaps something that he summoned, and it caused the bird to screech in pain.

Antinneira fought back, skewering one wing and rendering the creature unable to fly. I moved to heal her, knitting her wounds, but one of the foes clapped its wings and sent a fiery explosion towards us. Antinneira ignored it, but I had to focus my ki to move the elemental energy away, still getting somewhat singed. The leader of the creatures climbed higher, wheeling around above us.

Feeling a snake's touch, I realized Xlotl had blessed me. Antinneira, enraged, smashed her halberd into the grounded creature's wing and body, extinguishing its flame. She held her halberd above her head, shouting at the leader in an elemental Fire language. I had no idea what she was saying, but it seemed like a challenge of some sort. Pi also goaded the leader, starting to turn red and shake in one of his rages. Fog started to billow around Pi and, despite him swiping at it angrily, it quickly obscured him from view, both from above and from where we stood on the ground.

More water rained on the leader, causing it to fly farther away in discomfort. The other creature screeched loudly towards the east but kept its distance. Xlotl warned of multiple sources of fire moving towards us from the east, and they seemed to be what the birds were screeching at – perhaps issuing orders?

I called out to see if Pi was okay, circling to see if he had emerged on the other side. Meanwhile, he walked out to Antinneira behind me, still out of my sight. He was still in a rage and ran off to the north as I began circling back to the south. The fire that was moving in the east disappeared from sight, which was worrying – we didn’t think that they had just left us!

Jeannette, the woman in Xlotl's vision, was an agent of the Creator.

Fire exploded around Xlotl, but he seemed unbothered by it, protected in some way. A bird dove quickly at Pi, grabbing his shoulder, but Pi managed to swing his hammer and knocked the talons away. I used a fan to blow air into the path of the creature, slowing its escape, and Antinneira loosed arrows at it quickly, doing some damage before it was able to recover and climb away. Pi was still furious, and shouted some choice obscenities at it, but stood his ground.

I plucked some feathers from the corpse still sat on the ground. There was no ash, which was strange, but the feathers were metallic and a strange greasy liquid seemed to coat them. Xlotl joined me to inspect the creature, and I noticed that he was badly wounded so I used my mind to heal what I could. Leaving the creature, I approached Pi just in time to see him shout at a rock and throw it skyward. The birds were far too high for that to have any impact, though.

He seemed to snap out of his rage when I called to him, and I gave him a couple of the feathers I had gathered, which he seemed grateful for. He stuck one in his helmet and offered healing, which I accepted gratefully. Antinneira continued chasing the birds, despite them being hundreds of feet up by then. Xlotl told her to stop and asked us to close up, ready to advance together.

Antinneira stomped her feet and called him a spoilsport, but ultimately complied. We were still wary of an invisible threat, and I could see a concentration of heat disturbing the air that tracked our movements slowly. We headed north until they were closer and then Xlotl conjured more rain and told us to run!

We headed loosely northeast and veered towards the temple, managing to outpace the threat on the ground although still being tracked by the birds above. We reached the edge of a sparse, dead forest and ventured inside. We saw small fires in the distance, but there was no obvious smoke or fire near to us. Smoke rose above the temple up ahead, though, clearly visible as it stood on cliffs above us.

Xlotl suddenly shouted a warning, and a moment later a group of Saloroc erupted from the trees around us. Xlotl and I tried to placate them, saying that we were not a threat, but they were on us and swinging before we could even get the words out. Antinneira and Pi decided to escalate straight to violence, killing two with their first blows. I tried surrounding Antinneira in fog, calling for peace even as I was dodging swinging swords, and Xlotl did the same backed up with the force of a prayer.

We finally managed to calm everyone down, though Antinneira was not happy as she was sorely wounded. I healed one of the Saloroc in good faith, which seemed to go down well, and Xlotl offered them food. The reaction to this, though, was to warn that it was not safe here. Danger was all around, and they would rather head somewhere a little safer. When we spoke of visiting the temple their leader shook his head, warning that the big fire was there and we should stay away.

Xlotl managed to convince their leader that he needed to visit the temple to worship the gods, and when he indicated that Antinniera and I were to be sacrifices to appease the gods it seemed to placate him. In fact he seemed to take a bit too much pleasure in the suggestion that we would be “messy sacrifices”! Pi was playing the role of executioner, so it was believable at least. Xlotl then had to explain why he offered Antinniera a healing draft, saying that he needed her to reach the temple alive before he could sacrifice her. I hoped that he was just play acting to get their cooperation. It was hard to read a snake’s face!

As we set off towards the temple, Xlotl suggested that we find somewhere to rest. The band’s leader spoke of a cave, a place of spiritual darkness known as "Oroc” – a name they also used for themselves (so not “Saloroc” after all; they had dropped the “spawn of” and just gone with “holy darkness”). The Oroc led us by a winding route to avoid threats, always on edge but clearly knowing what they were doing, and eventually brought us to a cave entrance safely.

Inside the narrow entrance, we moved laterally along a narrow fissure and emerged into a large cave with wider fissures on the far side. The Oroc leader assured us that we could rest safely here for a time, but warned that it was not a permanent sanctuary. Xlotl and Antinniera set about purifying some of the items that we didn’t fully understand yet, and I kept watch while idly wafting Calm to enter a meditative state. Pi was poking around and looking at various things like he’d never seen a rock before, although he settled down eventually. After many hours of preparation, Xlotl and Antinniera used dweomer to learn more about the items they had prepared. Xlotl had a potion of fire resistance, which might well prove useful, and Antinniera's crown would provide extra protection against fire attacks for the wearer. Pi's hammer could be enhanced with different materials, including the wielder's own blood if they were willing to sacrifice it! Antinniera's bracers, rather predictably given the symbology on them, improved her archery skills.

After melting some gold coins into the hammer, giving it extra protective powers, the rest of our party went to sleep. I felt quite well rested by then and took some time to study the Air within the cave. It was unusually excited, charged with energy from above. It was more than just the presence of fire – there was a purer sense of power filtering down. At one point I made my way back to the entrance and looked out at the sky again, having felt quite confined by being encased in Earth for so long. I kept the visit short, as I had a duty to the others, but I felt better for feeling the Air outside again.

When our various morning rituals were complete, we examined the fissure that the Oroc had indicated would lead to the plateau above. It looked like an easy climb, being narrow enough to use the sides to support our weight. It seemed I was the most comfortable with climbing, so I went first and hooked some rope with a grappling hook into my belt so it could assist others to climb. Xlotl followed first, although he was invisible so I’m not sure how he managed to use the rope if he was still in his snake form. Once he reached a ledge that I had stopped at before the rope ran out, I carried on to the top and let him use the rope to finish the climb. Once he was safely up, I returned halfway and let down the rope to the others. Antinniera climbed next, but right before reaching me her foot slipped and she started to fall. I heard her quickly chanting words of power, and she arrested her fall just before hitting the floor below! She had become almost weightless, and then found it a simple matter to guide herself up the rocky fissure to the top without any more assistance.

Pi was the last, but as I looked down at him he started to transform again. Extra legs erupted from his sides and his eyes multiplied, hairs growing all over his body until he had changed into a giant spider! In this form he started to climb effortlessly, and I climbed up and away as quickly as I could. It wasn’t fast enough, though, as he brushed past me about twenty yards from the top, sending a shiver through my body at the unnatural contact.

As Pi emerged out of the fissure at the top, the others didn’t recognise him, and Xlotl reacted defensively by causing the rock to explode beneath the spider, shards biting into its flesh… Pi’s flesh! Bits of rubble rattling down the rocky fissure, bouncing around me, and I realised what must have happened. I concentrated and sent a message to Xlotl so that he knew that the spider was actually Pi and he should try not to harm it! Xlotl was thankfully able to stop Antinniera before she tried to skewer Pi with her halberd, and we were able to reconvene without further incident.

We made our way to the next section of cliff, finding a shallower part to climb that would not need ropes (or spiders for that matter, but Pi seemed to be enjoying the new form, scuttling around far more than he needed to). We sent Spider Pi up first to scout ahead, the rest of us following behind more slowly. We reached the top without incident and set off again towards the find set of cliffs. As I ran forward, though, there was a booming sound as if the ground was hollow, and suddenly, beetles erupted from the ground a little way off, their wings bursting into flames as they took to the Air.

Xlotl tried conjuring some rain to cool them, but they kept coming and he started to back off. Pi skittered into a hollow near the cliff edge, but emerged back in his human form, jogging over to join Xlotl. Antinniera had put her crown back on, and started speaking a language the rest of us didn’t understand, gesticulating and standing between the bugs and Xlotl.

Xlotl was, wisely, running away by this point, with Pi just behind him. The bugs swarmed around Antinniera, but didn’t seem to harm her at all. Perhaps she was their new queen? Four of the swarm had broken off towards me, though, and as they closed in I used the Air to push them back with a thunderburst. It worked, but only temporarily, and they soon returned. I tried the same form again, but this time only one was affected, although it did fall to the ground with its flames extinguished. The rest were right around my head, though, and the heat from the fires was beginning to get painful. I managed to swat one with Storm, sending it to the floor like the first one that died, and Pi did the same to one that had taken an interest in Xlotl.

Seeing my discomfort, Pi came running towards me screaming like a psycho, managed to miss his swing but his momentum was such that he ended up running into me. As his hammer connected with me, there was a concussive force and I passed out. He did manage to kill the rest of the bugs in the area, though!

I awoke again to find Pi pouring a healing draft down my neck, but I also saw one of the bugs about to attack him from behind! I jumped up and moved to defend him as he concentrated on healing most of my wounds… perhaps with a modicum of guilt? A whirling Dust Devil had appeared, summoned it seemed by Xlotl, and it drove the bug back from Pi. I followed up, striking it down with a blow from Calm and leaving us without any immediate threats.

Whilst we had been fighting, Antinniera had manged to draw off the bulk of the swarm, and now she made it clear to them that she just wanted them all to fuck off! Taking the hint, they quickly buried themselves back in the Earth and all was quiet once more. But this was not to last!

A tear in the world appeared next to each of us, ragged and tapering to a point at the top, standing about seven to eight feet tall. Through it, we could see a barren, dusty red-tinged land. From each tear emerged a pair of dark elves, clearly targeting us individually. The first one lunged at me with two daggers, glistening ominously, while the second tried to grab and drag me through the portal.

Xlotl managed to escape the grasp of his assailant, but was stabbed in the process. I was also stabbed and thrown to the floor beside the portal, but I slipped out of the grasp before I could be hauled through. Pi got stabbed as well, and he was forced through the portal. Antinniera, although stabbed, shrugged off the grapple and forced her attacker down to the floor through brute strength.

Xlotl attempted to use his mind to fend off the attackers but it appeared his assault wasn't strong enough. I managed to grab my fans to fight back with, and looked up just in time to see a hawk with rainbow wings shoot out from the portal where Pi had disappeared, flying at speed towards the cliffs. Antinniera unleashed translucent blue flames from her hands, cutting through the dark elves’ armor and killing them both. Perhaps the flaming crown she wore enhanced the dweomer she used? With my fans back in my hands, I went on the offensive, landing a blow on one of the foe.

The portal that Pi had been pulled through vanished, as did the one near the dust devil. The portal near Antinniera also closed - probably because she had killed both of the ambushers, and she was left alone. The other dark elves dropped their daggers and attacked with their bare hands, obviously focused on getting at least one of us through to the other realm. One of them slammed me into the ground, banging my head and stunning me. Antinniera saw that and rushed to help, but she was some distance away.

Xlotl wrapped himself around one of the dark elves, but they managed to force their way out before he could properly constrict them. I was dragged through a portal before Antinniera could stop it, although she stabbed the other foe with her halberd, doing significant damage.

I found myself on a dusty red plain with hills in the distance. More dark elves were nearby, and I was still restrained. I had recovered from banging my head, though, and with a desperate effort, I managed to twist and wriggle free. I used my Kahkohneyinn training to roll and tumble back through the portal, flipping back to my feet with the final move.

Xlotl's scales were making it difficult for his attacker to get a grip, and the other foe he faced was distracted by the dust devil, slashing at it and diminishing its form. The dark elf nearest to Antinniera stepped back into the portal as it shimmered and then closed completely. I retrieved my fans and ran to help Xlotl, trying to punch his attacker, but I was unable to land it cleanly. Xlotl's attacker stepped back, grabbing his fellow and pulling him back through the portal. Antinniera was still in her battle rage, and thrust her halberd into him as he was dragged back, but we couldn't see the result as the portal shimmered and closed behind him. We were alone once again, and now we actually had time to catch our breath.

We looked towards the cliffs, trying to see what had happened to Pi and saw that a milky, sharp dome was covering what we had previously seen of the temple. Was this some kind of defensive barrier, or had another realm interfered with the temple? There were more immediate concerns, and I healed the worst of Antinniera's wounds while Xlotl investigated the bodies that she had left smoking slightly in the dust. He discovered a couple of green marble-shaped stones with black flecks moving inside them, and a potion, all of which he kept to examine later.

We discussed whether there might be a way in to the temple underground, and decided to investigate the point where the cliffs came together just south of us for any caves or fissures. Tracking along the cliffs we reached a cleft below a high point, but instead of an entrance point we just found a part of the stone where intense heat radiated from inside the cliff face. The hottest spot was about four feet above the surface, about four or five feet tall and fifteen across, but we could feel the heat even over fifty yards away so I had no desire to get much closer.

Xlotl considered the heat for some time, and whether to approach, thinking that this might have once been a forge of life, a volcano no less. Perhaps this was the fabled cradle of creation, then? He thought that replacing the stones in the right order might re-energise the forge, bringing life back to all the realms. If only Fire energy was flowing here then it might explain the transformation of the place, as well as the heat here. But Fire wanted to go South, so if we were to release the lava then it might flow to its rightful place.

Who had the means to move Earth and therefore release the lava? Pi, obviously, who had been nowhere to be seen since our last encounter! I used Storm to send messages with the wind, back to the scene of our last battle and also to the top of the cliffs overlooking it. I said that we were seeking Pi's help to release the Fire and to meet us at the point where the cliffs joined southwest of the temple. We waited a few minutes, and then an Air spirit approached us, speaking in a way that made it clear it had heard the message. It said: "He waits above, champion of his God; he waits with his God, the champions must choose." Once the message had been delivered it moved on, not wanting to stay in one place for too long.

It seemed we would have to climb to the temple after all, so we headed back to the slope we had originally aimed for, scrambling up to the next level relatively easily. This tier was similar to the last, but the cliffs ahead of us were near vertical. The dome around the temple was clearly visible, and had a sharply defined edge, but nothing inside could be seen.

We decided to head east, as the cliffs were too vertical for everyone to climb safely, and approached the point where the path we had originally taken out of the temple led east. As the cliff sloped down towards our level, Xlotl told us to wait and turned invisible to scout ahead. He saw a group of kobolds and Saloroc handlers milling around near the dome up the path, but was able to make his way along the cliff edge and approach the misty dome unobserved.