Chapter 19 - Man Versus Volcano

Meanwhile, back in the cave which holds the underground town named Lan Zhe(Or at least it used too). Something unexpected fell upon the group of heros. And no, it wasn't the Cave's Ceiling(at least for now)!

The Gang is tight asleep as the moonlight gave a dim light throughout the cave's entrance, not giving a lot of light to the rest of the cave though. But at least it made the cave at least not completely dark. Dealing with the morning cold can be tricky throughout this September, the start of fall. It isn't everyone's preference to stand in the long unpredicting dark, the darkness being cold, makes it even worse. Of course they keep the Campfire Going before they fall asleep, but it can only provide warmth for a few hours before giving out it's last spark of light.

People commonly like to have a better view of their surroundings, this is where the Campfire can be of big help, providing Warmth and in a way, security. They are in the middle of a dense forest after all, and there is literally nothing stopping any wild animal from randomly walking in the cave, they need to be able to see what's around them whenever they feel the need too. As strong as two Fire Wizards can be, orientation right after waking up to a Source Bear is no doubt troublesome with light, not to mention without it.

Throughout the day however, Mogranius showed Eric a few basic spells, tricks and battle strategies. Because it isn't all about just randomly blasting Fire after all(the same goes if he had Freezing or Lava Controlling abilities). His powers are linked with his stamina, so of course he has to be careful where, how and when he uses it if he is to survive for a longer time throughout these troublesome times. It was a rather productive day, such wise battle strategies made Eric feel even more self dependent. But it doesn't mean that Eric felt comfortable to fall asleep in this cave again. Last night wasn't the best experience.

"Graza Ho Dofet."

"Graza Ho Dofet."

"Graza Ho Dofet."

"Graza Ho Dofet."

"Graza Ho Dofet."

Yes, that voice with it's source unknown appeared again. Out of a sudden, all he was able to see is pitch black darkness. No light, no different colors. Nothing else, just never ending darkness all around, which increased his stress and anxiety even more. All he could do for now was listen. He couldn't find the moonlight no matter which direction he turned too. So why bother looking around furthermore and increase stress? Instead of sitting in one spot, trying to calm himself down and make patience his best friend.

His effort felt worthless to him, even if it helped for a little bit. The thought of unpredictability kept popping up in his head, dragging him back into stress. He felt that even a single fly could kill him at this point, he felt so unprepared. If he was too shoot, where would he? And would he burn the enemy or his loved ones? His mouth functioned perfectly, thank the 8 sources. But no one answered no matter how much he yelled for them. He felt himself sweating enough to create a creek, but yet he was shivering as if he was n.a.k.e.d in the last ice age. I don't think that even Demons can cause such torture.

The trauma he was experiencing was indeed rough, unexplainable, unpredictable but a bit expected(by him at least). No matter how strong this trauma was, like everything, it finally met an end. But now what might be thought by most as a "stronger trauma" started. What he heard next was twice as terrifying. He heard a few words of his own ignite language in fact. A final warming vibe arose with it.

"Leave this place."

He only heard that sentence once and this time instead of having it repeated several times like with the foreign sentences before. This time, whoever or whatever told Eric to leave this place, possessed a large hot threat. He woke up terrified. Not wasting a second, he stood on his feet posing a battle ready form, feeling the earth starting to rumble a blink of an eye later.

"It was all a dream?" He thought to himself as he started touching himself to assure he is awake(and alive). As if he felt the rumble before time, waking up to it, prepared to fight right before it happened. At least, right before stage 1 happened. A rather unusual reflex considering that he felt so vulnerable a moment ago. After feeling the a little bit above light shake, he turned to his head to his left and saw the moonlight shining bright through the cave's entrance. I suppose his subconscious wanted to be ready desperately but his body wouldn't follow along(because he was sleeping, having a strong nightmare).

"Yes. I'm awake!" He whispered swiftly and ignited light fires from the palm of his hands. Getting a much brighter view of his surroundings. Everything seemed normal at first, the Campfire seems to have burned out, Stefan was sleeping, so was his father Woldemir(duh). And Mogranius was listening to one of the Cave walls. Everything normal here. Not even Mogranius' oddest behaviour so far.

Mogranius noticed that Eric was awake, he knew it when he felt Eric swiftly stand up and form a battle pose. But he simply kept listening to the small dead end tunnel of the cave, concentrating further.

"Did you... the Earthquake. Did you feel it?" Eric asked trying to form a sentence but mumbled heavily. It isn't easy to form a sentence right after waking up to a voice telling him to leave this place, feeling as if he is drowning in his own sweat.

"No, i'm just casually listening to the cave. Like I usually do." Even at such a situation, with dawn a couple of hours away, he still kept his signature Characteristic. Sarcasm. "Of course I felt the EarthQuake, why else would I be up this late. Listening to this tunnel?"

"It isn't the weirdest thing you did so far." Eric knows how to throw sarcasm as well. Not surprising considering he knows Mogranius for a few days now.

Mogranius however, his eyes widened in shock topped with strong nervousness. Let's say, his friends informed him of the upcoming earthquake before time. But he still felt curious enough to stand his ground and obtain more information about such sudden targeted Earthquake. If he doesn't look into it now, when will he? When the cave falls upon them?(Explains how he stumbled upon time travel to begin with. Knowledge to him is worth more than safety.)

"We need to get out of here. Now!" Yelled Mogranius from the top of his lungs. That's when Eric knew that the situation was getting too dangerous. He never saw his mentor sound so nervous. He always saw Mogranius as the dependable c.o.c.ky Fire Wizard who always digs them out of trouble. But now, he seemed like he was begging for help even though he remained with a strong indomitable pose. That Got Eric even more nervous than Mogranius even though he wasn't well aware of the approaching danger.

The cave began to shake once more, hard enough to wake up everyone else. Even Woldemir(astonishing)! When Woldemir noticed the violent shake, he quickly orientated himself, and his first goal became to grab Eric. Fair to say, his father instincts kicked in. But his efforts were forced to become worthless.

He stood on his feet swiftly, and as soon as he located Eric and took a step towards him. Lava was to be seen, breaking out from the end of the tunnel, specifically right where Mogranius was standing. The sudden impact forced Woldemir to take 3 large steps back by instinct. His heart sunk to his sock when he realized how close to the outburst of Lava Eric was standing.

But what about Mogranius? He was right in front of the lava. A foot apart from it when it broke out! The lava was large enough to fill the entire Tunnel, no gasp of air would be able to escape from any part. But Mogranius, knew of the upcoming danger. Enough that you would think that he was on the other side, seeing it coming. But yet again, taking time to warn everyone led to him letting his Guard down. 

All he could do in that split second was break out a small Fire Shield Swiftly and stretch it enough to protect his body from the front, using the considerably upper advantage(the small time he bought with the Fire Shield) even more, he stretched the Shield enough to surround himself with it. Lava wasn't to touch him. At least for now.

The Fire Shield is a couple of inches thick. The edges at the bottom, had small flames burning lightly while the rest of the Shield was a light shade of fire which seemed very polished, while the top of the shield was spheric. Although the shield saved him from being burned alive, it did not stop the Lava from spreading through the other directions around him. 

The amount that spread in other directions wasn't enough to fill the entire cave and boil the rest of the Gang alive, but it did manage to break out and spread in the forest a bit.

However it did not spread for long. After Mogranius assured it to himself that he is safe(ish) and alive, he made a move to save everyone else and prevent the Lava from causing an uncontrollable forest fire.

He stomped his right foot on the ground, squatted down and quickly arose high on his feet again, standing straight. As Mogranius stood straight again, the Fire Shield spread wider and wider by the moment.(Even while he was rising from the squat to stand straight).

The Fire Shield first spread 3 feet wide, which stopped a lot of the Lava's impact. But it wasn't enough to stop all of it, and that's what bothered him. He was still surrounded by Lava( even took a second to look around him in amazement) and the Shield was becoming harder to maintain by the moment, since he was opposing a larger amount now no doubt. If the Shield suddenly breaks, the impact of the lava itself can kill him on the spot before the heat does.

Now having a bit more space to move around, he spread his legs wide and proceeded to do another squat. He clapped his hands rather loud which made the Fire Shield around him, tremble(or best described, wiggle.). As if it was ready to upgrade. The con from the clap, was that it made the Fire Shield half the time weaker. Meaning the shield thins down to an inch thick. He even saw the Shield breaking from several sides right after he clapped. Breaking like glass.

Not planning to be burned alive today, he disconnected his hands from the clap and spread them wide on both sides without wasting a blink. And along with his hands, the Fire Shield spread wider and stopped trembling. It came back 2 inch thick and wide enough to spread on each side, preventing the lava from spreading from each possible side and or gap. The Fire Shield however, became far too lumpy to be considered spherical or circular. 

Sure it surrounded Mogranius, but it also connected to every part of the tunnel. Becoming very lumpy but no doubt preventing the Lava entirely from breaking out. Fitting like a glove.

Seeing that Mogranius regained control of the situation with little damage to fix, Eric came back to his senses and began to use his mind for the better. There is no time to waste.

He turned to his father who seemed no doubt terrified for Eric's safety and had to yell since the Lava was being a bit loud.

"Father. You climb on BlackWind and make your way to the main road. I will carry Stefan and blast out of here right after you." Woldemir however, was standing shocked. At a loss for words he just nodded in agreement, grabbed BlackWind by the lead(rope) and carefully pulled him out, guiding him to avoid Lava pots here and there. It would sure hurt to step on any of those.

Seeing his father walk out of the Cave with BlackWind, Eric turned to Mogranius and started yelling. "Don't let the lava reach the forest. I will be back as fast as I can." To assure Eric that he heard the request, he simply nodded his head in agreement. But it doesn't mean that he liked the plan. He has the stamina to keep this Fire Shield up for a while, he knows that. But he is scared of the possible stronger amount of lava which might randomly approach, that could break his Fire Shield. If all goes wrong, he needs a powerful Electus backing him up. Standing like his Guardian angel. Even though he was scared for his life for once, he knew that getting everyone to safety first was the best idea.