Chapter 18: Raffy, The Fire Guardian

The sight before him is amazing. The core was huge. The whole place is full of lava. There are rocks floating on it that leads to a larger piece of rock in the middle of the core. Raffy bravely stepped on the small rocks to reach the center of the cavern. Once he set foot on the rock, another earthquake occurred.

"This is not good. Ramch told me that this volcano is not active, but this volcano looks very active to me."

Slowly, Raffy saw lava dripping down from the ceiling of the cavern. He did not move from his place because he was too afraid to move. As the dripping of the lava gets faster, he looked at where the lava was dropping and saw that it was turning solid as soon as it hits the earth. As soon as the lava stopped dripping, he saw that it created a throne just like that of what Joed said, but it was not a tree. The throne glowed red and is burning. Sparks of fire are coming off it.

"I wonder if this throne is really burning or is just made of special effects."

Raffy walked towards the throne to touch it if it were that hot. But before he could touch it, a voice stopped him cold.

"Raffy, I choose you to be the Fire Guardian..."

"Waaa...who are you?"

"I am the spirit of the fire. The Queen appointed us spirits to choose the right creature to possess the powers of the guardians."

"So you mean I get to have cool powers like that of Joed?"

"Yes, you will also have powers like the Earth Guardian's only yours is the power of fire."

"So...how do I get it? Do I get to pass some test or something?"

Suddenly, the wall at the right side of Raffy started to melt and revealed a small room inside.

"Inside that room are twelve pillars of fire. Within one of the pillars is a crystal that will give you the power of the Fire Guardian."

"What happens to me when I choose the wrong pillar?"

"The pillar in which the crystal is hidden is just like all the pillars, it burns and is hot when got close enough. You will know that it is the right pillar when you touch it. The pillar is fiery to an ordinary person but once the chosen one touched it, it will not burn him. Instead, the fire pillar will cease burning."

"You still have not answered my question. What will happen to me when the pillar I choose is not the correct one?"

"Simple. You will be burned to death. Choose wisely."

Again, the volcano started to quake. It seems like the volcano is going to erupt soon.

"What is this? It is not fair. I need time to think which of those pillars in that room is the right one. Before I could do that, I will be roasted by this volcano!"

Raffy, sensing that the argument will go nowhere, quickly headed for the room to get the crystal.

The room of the crystal is a cylindrical room with fire designs around it. Twelve pillars of fire rose from the floor to the ceiling. Raffy, from seeing the pillars, knew that it is going to be a hard task to find the crystal in time. Raffy's plan is to look closely at the pillars of fire and hope he sees the crystal. But each one of the pillars has a visible crystal within them.

"This is going to be a very hard task. I should take my time doing..."

Before Raffy could finish what he is saying, the volcano quaked again, but this time it is more intense than the last one.

"On the other hand, I really should hurry up."

Raffy quickly circled the room hoping to find hints of difference among the other crystals. Unfortunately, all of them were the same. Raffy thought of a stupid idea that might work. He went to the center of the room and pointed his finger straight at one of the pillars. He closed his eyes and started spinning.

"Please be the right one. Please..."

Raffy slowly stopped and saw that his finger pointed at the pillar directly opposite the entrance of the room. While he is walking towards the pillar, he is praying that this be the pillar. As he was about to touch the pillar, another quake occurred knocking him off balance. Instead of touching the pillar he chose, he touched the pillar beside it.

As he topples to his right, different things crossed Raffy's mind.

'Am I going to die? How about the others, will they know that I am in here? What about my family and my friends, will they miss me? Will I be a big lost to them.'

Then, Raffy went directly through the pillar, grabbing the crystal as he fell. Raffy felt no warmth, heat, or any burning sensation as he touched the fire pillar. He did it. He acquired the crystal. He is now worthy of being the fire guardian.

"Congratulations. Now you have proven to me that you are indeed worthy of being the Fire Guardian. Even though you got the crystal by accident, you showed no fear. You did not hesitate to touch the fire, you were not afraid to die. You showed me courage, the most important thing a guardian should have. Now you will receive the power of the fire guardian."

Raffy, awe-stricken walked slowly in the middle of the room staring at the glowing crystal he is holding. As the crystal glowed red, the twelve fire pillars also glowed brightly.

One by one, the fire pillars spit out sparks of fire, which circled Raffy. As the last spark of fire went towards Raffy, the sparks began moving faster. Raffy is now inside a great ball of fire created by the sparks. As the sparks slowed down, they are one by one absorbed by Raffy, then revealing the second guardian, the Guardian of Fire.