Fowlhunter [GL]

Ennanis began to burn Lienna on low for some Soleki. Then she fired up her communication charm with Asha and relayed the query over.

Their scout was quick to respond.

See, Ying! I told ya that reading about the fire dragons would be useful!

Yeah, I’m sure the rest of what I read will be useful too. You never know when you’re going to need a tongue-annhilating recipe for fish head curry. Ahem ahem. Sorry, Ennanis. Umm… so you think the Agni is the Kraken? I know about the Agni, but I’m not sure how it can be destroyed.

“Just tell me what you remember about the Agni for now. You can update me on the rest later.”

Yep. Okay, so the Agni are the spirits of fire from Kancha mythology. It’s one of the oldest mythological beings in world history. The most commonly accepted origin is that when Prometheus brought the sun to the earth, errant sparks fell as a rain of fire and flowed down under the mountains, creating the Agni—lava—which gives birth to the precious gemstones littered below Kanch’s mountains. It’s a symbol of the kingdom’s richness.

Ennanis relayed what was said aloud for Jemi to hear. Then she thought about it herself. “Did it mention anything about the Agni as a living creature, or animal?”

The myth depicts the Agni in the shape of human spirits. But more than that, Agni is an element—they are the fire itself.

“Hold on. I was thinking about something,” Jemi said. “When you say lava—do you mean molten rock above the surface of earth? Or do you mean magma?”

Ennanis passed the messages along mentally while either Jemi or Asha spoke.

Does it matter? The texts say lava. I remember that clearly.

“It might just be a matter of inaccurate word choice… Lava is a more layterm than magma,” Jemi mused. “But since we are currently underground, so the pools of red that we’re seeing should be termed magma, right? Yet, when I was on the tour, they kept referring to the magma as lava. So did all the signs on the exhibits.”

“You actually went on the tour?” asked Ennanis.

“It never hurts to be more educated,” Jemi shrugged. “I am a scout too, you know.”

Asha spoke. The distinction could mean something, I guess?... But it could just as easily not mean anything.

“I’m not sure where this train of thought is going,” Ennanis admitted.

“Follow me for a second,” Jemi said. It was finally then that she unlooped her arms and hopped off Ennanis’ back. The woman leaned against the wall, tapping her chin. “Asha, there are volcanoes in Kanch, aren’t there? Is there one in the same location we’re at? Or that existed in the past?”

Gosh, I’ll have to try and find an old map for that! But could it be that you think Amethyne Mountain, possibly, used to be a volcano?

“Assuming that the lava we’re seeing had, once, occurred naturally aboveground. Imagine, if you will, that the reason that it’s ‘underground’ is because something was laid over it,” Jemi proposed.

“Like a landslide?” Ennanis asked.

“It could be part of it,” Jemi cocked her head. “But I’m thinking, rather, that someone built something to contain the lava.”

“If I may be frank, that sounds outlandish.”

“Outlandish though it may be, we’ve already seen it.” Glass-steel grates, bursting crimson blooms below their surface. “I had this idea because of the shape of the cavern. You’ve seen it yourself.”

Indeed, the main cavern had definitely not been naturally formed. Its four walls were akin to a room’s, too smooth and too angular, unmarked by the grooves that the erosive lava would have created. The walls could have been filed down after the lava was suppressed, but there was no reason why they would’ve done that—aesthetics didn’t matter over efficiency here. The only reason why they could have been that way was… if there was never lava against those walls to begin with.

The outside of the mountain had been sculpted to mimic a real mountain, but there’d been no point in hiding the truth for those on the inside.

–Yep, I found it. Amethyne Mountain has an older name, Agniparvata. It’s not even that old, only two hundred years ago. In old Kancha, it literally translates to ‘Fire Mountain’, which is also the word for volcano. A scoff. They really named a volcano, ‘Volcano’?

“To think a single human could make a mountain out of a volcano,” Ennanis marvelled.

“Far from a single man,” Jemi said, a certain look flitting between her eyes, “and more like the hundreds beneath him. But that aside… if that’s true, forget about killing the Kraken. We’re going to have our hands full.”

“Why’s that? If Vesuvio has truly managed to find a way to contain the Agni, has the job not been taken care of? The Kraken stays nice and quiet, and it never destroys the world.”

“Don’t overestimate him. Vesuvio told you that the Agni comes and goes, right?” Jemi said. “How do you think it does that?”

“...We don’t know.”

“Yeah, but work with what we have, Commander,” Jemi said. “Here’s what I’m thinking. Asha said that the first myths were of a rain of fire. I’m thinking that the Agni travelled along with the rain, seeping in through the cracks of the mountain. But what’s more important is not how it comes, but how it goes.”

“...By an eruption?”

But Amethyne Mountain hasn’t erupted in years? That’s why no one even knows it’s really a volcano.

“Maybe, if they were lucky, the Agni has been peacefully swimming out through the true magma pathway and erupts someplace else. That’s why there are no eruptions here,” Jemi said. “But the Kraken is stronger than ever before, now. That’s been evident from the unusually strong monsoons in Wataron.”

And its appearance on Mount Casca that night, Ennanis thought.

“Even if Vesuvio normally has protections in place for containing the normal eruptions… Now that the Agni is locked in, when it escapes, the next eruption will be devastating as never seen before, and Vesuvio has no way to stop it.”

Ennanis grimaced. “Is there really no way to nip it in the bud?”

“Behind that glass screen, we can’t even touch the Kraken, let alone kill it,” Jemi said. “And time is of the essence.”

Ennanis exhaled. “I see the issue. If an eruption is going to happen, then it could endanger the lives of everyone on the mining level, and more,” she said. “But would that still happen if the Agni continues taking the magma pathway?”

“Instead of having a devastating eruption in one place, we’d simply have a devastating eruption in another place. Or worse, we could have both. Or it might not happen at all. Would you be willing to take that risk?” Jemi folded her arms, her hands tugging on her scarf-end. “Because I wouldn’t.”

“Interesting, that someone who willingly cooperates with Beasts cares so much,” Ennanis remarked.

Jemi gazed back at her. “I care where it counts, Angel.”

“Do you, really?” Ennanis returned.

“Don’t do this,” Jemi snapped, sounding irritated. “Right now, we have to focus on preventing the eruption.”

“Yes, I know. And I think there’s an easier way of going about it.”

Jemi twisted her hair around her finger, glancing up at the ceiling. “Pray tell.”

“The Cockatrice,” stated Ennanis. “The leader of the Beasts has something to do with the Kraken. She may even possess some means of controlling it, which is why the Beasts managed to use it to purposefully attack Mount Casca that time. Out of anyone, she is the most likely person who knows how to subdue it.”

“You know, you’re fond of insisting that just because the Cockatrice’s reappearance and the emergence of the Kraken happened at the same time, the Cockatrice must control the Kraken,” Jemi said. “Which isn’t necessarily the case.”

“Okay. Tell me—where did you find your geode, Jemi?”

Jemi, “...Like I said. I stole it from the den.”

“From the Cockatrice’s stocking drawer, perhaps?” Ennanis drawled. “Seems awfully convenient that you managed to obtain something so central to the Beasts’ only possibility of success in a thousand years, doesn’t it? ”

“I’m a good thief.”

“Or the Cockatrice an incredibly poor keeper,” Ennanis said. “Either that, or the more believable route: she deliberately left it to you, as part of our plans. That, and the matter of the murders. She’s somewhere here right now… but for some reason, she isn’t stopping us.”

“Maybe because she’s six feet underground,” Jemi deadpanned.

“And? We’re way deeper than six feet now.” Ennanis didn’t seem to entertain the notion at all. “Whose side is the Cockatrice on? I just want to know.”

“If I told you, you’d have no reason to believe me.”

“I trust you.”

Jemi paused. “You shouldn’t give your trust away so freely.”

“I do not give it away freely,” Ennanis iterated. Then, “If she is on our side, you should just call her over. This would be resolved much quicker.”

“Yeah. Sure. I’ll just call over a missing corpse. Easy,” Jemi laughed acidly. “And even if she wasn’t dead, why would you work with someone with her? Who was it who kept mocking me for working with Beasts?”

“Yet, here we both are. Work with what we have,” Ennanis parroted. “When you decide to summon her, you can let me know.”

“It would be best,” Jemi quipped in return, tone icy, “if you didn’t rely on your worst enemy so much, Commander. Let’s keep going, and we’ll think of another way.” She lifted herself somewhat shakily off the wall, and continued to trek forward on her own.

…Um. Asha’s voice fuzzed in her brain. Do you want me to disconnect, or…

Belatedly, Ennanis realised that she had still been transmitting the conversation in her head.

Sorry, she told her, and cut it off. Then she followed Jemi the rest of the way.

The tunnel led out into just behind the metal bunker. It was meant to be an emergency transportation route, so no one usually used it, and was normally left unguarded as it was a well-kept secret only known to the authorised personnel down here. They turned the last corner and stepped out into red light.

And came face-to-face with someone.

Pelia Vesuvio, staring down at them with emerald eyes.