Chapter 1

The brown-haired young man, 16 years old, opened his eyes to find himself standing in a hot, dark cavern. An orange glow played off of the walls and ceiling, and he turned to see the source: a pool of lava, bubbling behind a waist-high rock wall. Then the lava moved, in a most unlava-like way.

He jumped back. Two eyes, glowing brighter than the surrounding molten rock, appeared, followed by a shape that was kind of like a face, rising from the lava. A voice spoke through the shape that was kind of like a mouth, “What are you doing here, man-thing?” The voice was sort of deep but seemed female, reminding him of the actresses that played the elf queen in Lord of the Rings or the white witch from Narnia.

As he watched, the shape that was kind of a head grew flames that resembled long hair that cascaded down this being’s head and shoulders. The shape of its face slimmed and became more distinct, and when it fully rose up to his height, what seemed to be a pair of nice rounded breasts and an hourglass figure emerged from the lava. Her form reminded him a bit of the fire elementals from the video game Skyrim.

The being looked down and caressed its -- her -- breasts, as if it was surprised to find them there. “Desire,” she said, “and intent: these are powerful things. Name yourself, man-thing.”

He found his voice. “Cove.”

Her head tilted. “Cove?”

He grimaced. “Short for Covenant. It’s from some books my dad liked when he was growing up.”

“A stately name indeed, Cove,” she complimented him.

“And who are you?”

“You may call me Ignis.” It was like Agnes, but with a soft “I”.

“Where am I, Ignis?”

“My world,” she said, as if that explained anything.

“Yours?”

“Not as in ownership,” she clarified. “Much as you would say that where you came from is your world.”

“My world...” He looked down at himself. He was wearing his jeans and favorite red Flash t-shirt, like on any other day, but had no memory of arriving in this place. What did he last remember? Going to bed. “Am I dreaming?” he asked her.

“Do you desire me, Cove?” She turned and stretched, lifting her fiery arms above her head, the effect of which pushed her breasts out.

Cove found that his cock was filling with blood at the sight of the strange female lava creature’s display. “I ... yes...”

She put her hands on her hips. Everything below was hidden by the lava. “Perhaps we can make a covenant of our own here and now. Desire and intent is important, Cove. What is your intent?”

“Intent? I don’t know ... I just found myself here.”

She leaned forward, her arms on the lip of the pool, her breasts dangling down enticingly in front of her. “Do you seek justice? To right wrongs? I wish that, but I am trapped here within my pool.”

Cove was awkward around women, but Ignis seemed different. She made him feel like he was the most important man in the world. If that’s what she wanted...

“Yes, I want that too, Ignis.”

Her eyes flared. “Yesss ... my brave champion. I will give you what you desire, if you fulfill your intent. Take these...” She opened her hands and placed two dark objects on the edge of the lava pool wall. She moved back as he came forward to get a closer look. The heat from the liquid rock was intense.

There he found an ebony knife and what seemed to be a black, circular marble. He lightly touched the marble, expecting it to still be hot, but found it cool. He picked it up and examined it. It seemed to absorb the light, creating a kind of negative space through its very existence. He put it into his pocket and then picked up the knife. Though hewn from ebony rock, it was also smooth, and the hilt fit his hand perfectly. He looked at Ignis, who was still watching him.

“Both objects hold a part of me, Cove. The orb will absorb the magic from those who would misuse their power, and the knife will dispatch them after.”

He stepped back. “Dispatch?” He didn’t want to kill anyone!

She wade forward again, and he felt the intense heat coming from her. “If the offenders that plague my world were to live after you removed their power with the orb, they would regain it and continue terrorizing the populace. Look.” She waved her hand, and a circular section of the lava in the pool began to swirl. Soon the center shone like glass, and through it he could see the outside world!

It looked medieval, or Middle Earth-ish. He was looking down at a village with thatched roofs and people running and screaming. Suddenly, a shadow fell over them, and a plume of fire burned dozens as it swept over them. The view panned and the shadow was revealed to be a huge winged dragon, which then flew off toward the distant mountains. The pool’s scrying eye followed the beast as it winged its way toward those peaks, and finally it landed before a cave mouth. The dragon shuddered, and then as Cove watched, it shrank down until a man was standing there, bedecked in rich red robes, smiling. Laughing, he walked into the cave.

The vision ceased and the scrying pool fell back into the lava. “He was laughing about burning those people alive, Cove! Does such a monster deserve to live?” Her burning eyes pierced into his soul.

“No,” he agreed. He clenched the hilt of the knife.

She pointed down a tunnel. “He is not far ... the marble will guide you. Avenge those people, my champion.”

The tunnel emerged at another mountainside. Cove had tucked the knife into his belt. He went to the edge and looked over, but vertigo from the huge drop-off pushed him back. He found a trail that led off along a ledge and followed it carefully, but when it began to meander along some hills and then branched, he pulled out the marble. He could feel it tugging him to the right, and so he continued that way. He found that he didn’t have his phone, so it was hard to tell time, but eventually he found himself at the cave he had seen in the pool. Steeling himself, he crept inside.

There were glowing white stones lining the walls so he was able to see. The cavern was wide enough for ten people to walk side-by-side, and Cove followed it until it curved to the side and down.

He heard someone crying further along and hurried his step while trying to maintain stealth. Eventually he came to a larger chamber. In the center was a metal cage with two young women in it, cowering as the man he had seen in the scrying pool stood at its open door, beckoning to them. Cove couldn’t make out what he was saying, but then he got upset, pulled one of the women out of the cage, and threw her to the ground. The woman remaining in the cage gasped and averted her eyes.