The young man with long brown hair roped into a ponytail that streamed to the small of his back chewed on his lower lip, clutched an iron helmet in his left hand, and shifted his gaze between a muttering man standing in front of a long crack in the face of a rock wall and a tall figure leaning on a sword not far away.

A loud crack reverberated from deep within the mountain and echoed through the air with a low rumble. A moment later two more sharp sounds came from the crack in the stone face, and then a series of snaps and pops that grew ever louder followed.

“He won’t get the gate closed in time?” Said the young man more of a question than a statement.

A tall man stepped forward into the dim light and his long, grey locks fluttered gently as he shook his head. He hefted a sword in his hand and gently waved it back and forth. “It is long since I found Fell Flume in the shallows of the bay.” The blue metal threw an almost crystalline reflection against the wall of the cave and the sound of waves lapping against the shore filled the air.

“A gift from Silenia Slar the Goddess of the Waves,” said the boy as he strapped his helmet tightly onto his head and positioned his shield along his forearm.

“So they say,” said the older man who moved without a sound as he leaped onto a rock almost as high as his head. “I think today will be the last time I wield it no matter where, or who, it came from.”

A dozen other nearby warriors strapped on their helmets, pulled shields to the arms, grasped sword hilts all the tighter, and moved to encircle the crack. They bore an emblem of the crystalline sword upon each of their shields but they wore no common uniform. Their faces were ruddy and deeply tanned and grim frowns pulled down the corners of their lips.

The old man began chanting loudly as a dim, red light began to slowly illuminate the inside of the narrow cave entrance and the popping, crackling sounds grew ever louder.

“Anyone who wishes to return to their farms and herd their pigs may go,” said the man. “The fire elementals will likely destroy only the city we built thanks to the power of my sword and the strength of your courage.”

“You don’t expect anyone to leave father,” said the young man with smile. “If today is to be the death of Dep Helkus and the Single Sword then it is our honor to die at your side.”

“No,” said the man with a shake of his head and a quick smile. “I don’t expect that I did. I just wanted to give any of you old war hounds a chance to leave. We’ve fought the elementals too many times now and most of you have families to tend. Still, I expected you would stay and die with me.”

The crackling and popping became slowly steadier and began to drown out the chanting of the wizard who looked back towards the tall man once and faltered. “The Earth Elementals have done too much. I can’t close it in time.”

Suddenly a cloud of fire burst from the crack and consumed the wizard. He began to scream as the scent of burning flesh filled the rocky outcropping outside the cave entrance.

Even as the warriors moved forward to help the old man a great roaring ball of flame spewed out from the entrance. It moved forward with blinding speed towards the fighters with its limbs lashing out flickering tendrils of fire.

Within a few moments a half dozen of the creatures mingled in wild melee with the warriors as battle cries, screams, and the crackling of the fire beasts filled the plateau. Then a great roaring came from the crack and the largest of all the creatures stepped forward, its fire burning blue in intensity and a huge whip in its hands.

“Atfaz Helkus,” it screamed as flames spewed towards the tall man with the fabulous sword. It launched itself at him with blinding speed and in return he brought his sword in a mighty arc and severed the limb of the creature causing the burning whip to drop to the ground where it sputtered and died. This hardly slowed the beast as it wrapped a tendril around the wrist of the leader and burned through in a white hot blaze of anger. The sword fell to the ground with a clatter and the beast gave forth a great bellow.

It leaped forward and poured itself down the throat of the great warrior who snapped his teeth and tried to bash the thing with his shield even as he fell.

Within seconds all of the men lay on the ground, their bodies burned black, and the blazing creatures stood triumphant. The largest elemental bellowed again and thumped its chest with the stump of its arm, “Hezfer, Hezfer!”

Now the boy, badly burned but hanging out to life noticed the gift of Silenia slowly losing its shape, pooling, and become as liquid. “Atfaz Hezfer,” he said with a smile even as he died. “Atfaz Hezfer.”

The beast looked towards the boy and flames shot from its mouth even as Fell Flume rose, unseen, unguided from the ground and plunged forward into the breast of the great fire elemental. A huge cloud of steam exploded along with strangled cries and then an explosion cleared the air leaving the smaller fire elementals alone by the cave entrance.

They muttered in their strange, crackling voices and looked to the mountainside filled with trees and down into the valley where a small, walled city stood at the intersection of two rivers. Then they roared as one and scattered towards the trees, towards the city, setting everything they touched ablaze.