The Legend of Admir—Chapter 7: The Kozen Elementals of Fire

"Told ya he could handle it!"

"He looks like he's going to die. See? He can barely breath."

A tall, rugged woman stood before him, her hair cut short and bare arms exposed. She looked like she could pick up a boulder and crush it with her bare hands. (Normally in stories that's used to simply express that they have some muscle. Some pretty prose. I do not mean it in that way: she stood almost eight feet tall, and her arms were the size of watermelons. I mean the boulder-crushing thing in the most literal sense possible.)

Opposite her, a scrawny looking man, though dressed in pure finery and class. He sat poised on a chair—actually, it was more like a throne—that had not been there moments prior, gleaming with silver and padded with a deep red leather or fur. He glanced over at Admir and rolled his eyes before returning his gaze to the woman. Admir could feel the weight of his judgement weighing him down. Again, pretty literal description. The air felt heavy with their presence.

"Have you seen this place?" the woman asked. "We don't make it easy."

"So anyone who barely scrapes by within an inch of their life is to be deemed worthy? I think not. Mind you, you helped him. Those rats should have devoured him."

"Who else is going to come in here and—"

"Um...excuse me?"

"Oh look. He speaks."

"Don't worry about him, Admir."

"...am I dead?"

The man gave the woman an annoyed look and sighed.

"Like I said, ignore him." The woman smiled, her cheer almost banishing his negativity. Almost. "And no, you're not dead. You should be proud! You did something no one's done in—what?—twenty years?"

"Twenty-two."

"Regardless, not many people want to risk their life in here," she said with a chuckle. "I get it. It's tough. And it gets more and more difficult the further you go, especially with all the creepy crawlies, and the—"

"Get to the point, Tam, before I change my mind."

"Oh, right, right. The point. Well... you passed!" She somehow smiled even harder and began clapping. It echoed, sending a shiver down Admir's spine.

"I...passed?"

"Yeah! You didn't die, you faced every challenge head on, and you didn't turn around and run away—that's where most people fail, actually. You just kept pushing forward. You even tended to the shrine—thanks, by the way."

Another annoyed sigh, and the man settled his gaze on Admir once more. "You made a lot of difficult decisions, despite the odds never particularly being in your favor. You made tough choices and, in the end, you made the right ones. I'll give you credit for that, at least."

"I'm so confused."

"Let's start over." The woman practically ran over to Admir. She towered over him, especially since he hadn't picked himself up off the floor just yet. She held out her hand, and said, "I'm Taminnou. That sour puss over there is Gedju. We are—"

"Pleased with what you did." Gedju threw Taminnou a fierce gaze.

"Why did you, anyway? You know, come all this way?" Taminnou tilted her head, waiting for his response.

None of this made any sense to Admir. Two beings had appeared before him, and they both emanated with power. They were clearly something more than just human, perhaps even gods. And they looked nothing like fire elementals. But, perhaps, they were precisely the beings he needed to talk to.

"I came here looking for answers. I want to know who my parents are, where my gifts come from. The story mentioned illusions—that can't have been a coincidence, right?"

The two beings shared a look, and Gedju gave her a wave that seemed to signal she could go ahead.

"Definitely thought you knew. It was pretty clear to us, anyway. But, I mean, we kind of knew her best. We're the same."

An almost eight-foot tall woman who looked like she wouldn't bat an eye against an army, and a man who materialized from thin air with a regal-looking chair and an air of authority that literally weighed him down...were the same as his mother?

"So..." He didn't know how else to ask them, so he just did. "...you're Creatures of Twilight?"

Gedju sighed and buried his face in his hands while Taminnou burst into laughter.

"Are you sure that he's the right one?"

"It's not his fault!" she said between laughs. "That's what everyone considers things like us."

"Ugh. What we are exactly is unimportant. Just know that your mother, along with us and many others, form a set of...Let's just call us ancient symbols for now. Might be the easiest way for you to understand."

"You'll learn all about it eventually," Taminnou said, placing one of her giant hands on Admir's shoulders. "But first, you gotta get rid of that infection. It's not going to go well being associated with it."

Admir nodded, somehow more confused now than he was before. "Okay. I'll see a healer when—"

"You're going to need more than just a regular healer," Gedju interjected.

"Yeah, it's...potent. And nasty."

"Control your hunger."

That word. He glanced at his infected arm, unable to suppress the memories of the two infected from before.

"Why would you two put something like that in here then?" The fear was returning. His breath quickened. Was it getting hotter in here? His stomach was rumbling. The hunger was back. He—

"Oh, we didn't build this place," Taminnou said matter of factly. "Didn't populate it either. But I knew it would be a worthy enough challenge."

"This place and all that has transpired here is not of our doing. We are simply observers, waiting for someone brave—or stupid—enough to face the challenge and make difficult choices."

His infection and all that it meant for his future faded from his mind. Now, he was just confused.

"So...if you two aren't the fire elementals, then.... who or what are they?"

Gedju sighed—it was beginning to annoy Admir just how condescending the man was, regardless of whatever power he held. Then, as if explaining the concept to a child, Gedju began: "The fire elementals are—"

"I want to know your thoughts on the fire elementals." Taminnou silenced him, her smile spreading as she stared at Admir. "What do you think?"

Admir looked between the two for a moment, trying to understand what exactly was transpiring. Was this another test? Taminnou looked at him, eager, awaiting his response. Almost like she was rooting for him...

He thought through the story Tiga told him once more, line by line. He looked at the two of them more, scrutinizing them for perhaps the first time, and looking at his surroundings. The shrine, the candle...

"You've done this before—appear—to someone else," Admir found himself saying. "You two are the fire elementals. I figured there was no literal fire elemental, but I can see why they thought that, what with you appearing after a candle gets lit. I guess the story really is a warning, hoping to prevent someone else from coming here...though, it seems as if they got scared after meeting you? Or...I'm not entirely sure. That opens up the door for a lot more questions though, like where does 'illusion becomes reality' come into play here? That doesn't make sense from what I've seen from you all so far, but—"

"That's good enough," Gedju said. Taminnou simply kept smiling, nodding. They both look impressed. "Do you intend to add more lines to the story?"

Admir shook his head. "You two are the closest thing to an answer I have about where I come from. I didn't come here for any fame or riches, just answers."

"We have more answers for you..."

"But only once you cleanse yourself," Gedju added. "Only magic can remove that infection from you."

"The only person I know with magic is me." Admir's heart sank.

Taminnou pointed one of her large fingers at him and Admir sighed. His initial thought was right: he was going to have to learn how to do it. But that seemed insurmountable. There was no way he was going to be able to—

The compass vibrated and hummed, louder now. He lifted it to his face, eyes scrunched in confusion. The needle was still on the two before him, tracking their every movement. And then...it spun wildly before locking in place somewhere off to the side.

"That is a very special compass. We put some of our power in it—you did, too. It will point you in the direction of where you need to go, always. It will help you achieve greatness." Taminnou beamed with pride.

"Be warned, though," Gedju added. "It does not navigate you through difficulties. In fact, you'll probably find yourself facing increasing difficulties by following that compass—blame Taminnou for that. As for my blame, this compass will force you to make hard choices, but it will not make those choices for you. Those must be your own. It will, however, reroute should your decisions change your path."

He could feel the magic, even with the hum and vibration practically imperceptible now. He looked where the compass was pointing him, but right now it just led to a wall.

"This compass is pointing me to someone who can cure me?"

Taminnou shrugged. "Yes. No. Maybe. No idea, really. But there will be time for all of that later. Once you are cured of your infection, we'll speak again."

"But how—"

"Rest now."

The candlelight flickered out, and the two were gone.

The door to the queen's room burst open, and Wynton stood in the doorway, a look of disappointment on his face.

"You were supposed to get rid of her."

"What is the meaning of this?" the queen shouted, beginning to step in front of Kaito. But, our hero put a hand out to stop her, very aware of what was transpiring around him.

"He set me up. He wanted me to kill you. But...but why?"

Wynton simply shook his head and pulled out a dagger, and rushed Kaito.

- excerpt from "Kaito's Hunt for Justice"

Admir felt safe enough to sleep near the now-tended shrine, and he woke up the next morning feeling quite well-rested. Still hungry, but rejuvenated. He made his way back to the ruin's entrance without incident, somehow.

Had he really just talked to two Creatures of Twilight? It felt like he was in the presence of divine beings, just radiating with power. One, a being of lofty goals and ideals, difficulty, and challenges. The other, overwhelming judgement, hard choices, and authority. He felt fragments of their power in the compass he now held in his hand. It was pointing off in some seemingly random direction, but once he got out of here and restocked, he would be on his way to figure out where it would take him.

The sound of slow clapping froze Admir in place, his eyes trailing up from the compass in his hands to...

Finn. He was smiling, proudly, yet Admir couldn't help but sense a twistedness behind his eyes.

Sign up for GXYZ

For when you just want to read an Actual Play instead.

Subscribe

Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.