Quest for the Omnistone

Chapter 34: Dealing with Inferno

Max:

"Oomph!"

I landed on my back with a 'THUD'. Taking a deep breath, I caught the scent of pine, dirt and steam. Crystal landed on her feet beside me as I slowly got up. "Why does this always happen to me?"

Crystal tilted her head to the side and brushed the dirt off my shoulder. "Did you hold your breath? That usually messes up your balance."

"Now you tell me." I grumbled, ignoring her smirk and taking a glance at our surroundings. We were on a ledge halfway up the volcano, just a few meters above the treetops. A warm, dry breeze blew by and I found myself staring at the crescent moon before Crystal snapped me back into reality.

"Come on. The sooner we finish, the better." I turned to see her put her right hand on the solid rock before us. It emitted a faint blue light that went around the area of the volcano. "Well, there is something in there."

"The ruby?"

"I'm not entirely sure. What I'm sure of is that it's enclosed in a small pocket of air that probably keeps the lava out. Seems to be located in the center of the volcano."

"So you'll poof us into that pocket of air, grab the jewel, and then poof us back out. Easy-peasy."

"The pocket's not that big, Maxie. I can't just poof in there. Come on."

We began climbing up the volcano, skirting along paths whenever they appeared. As I sidestepped an unusually large rock, I struck up a small conversation.

"So Crystal, what's the whole 'back to Earth' mission about?"

"I told you, I found a way to separate the realms."

"Yeah, but how?"

Crystal sighed, grabbing a nearby ledge to pull her up as we reached a dead end. "You'll see."

I raised an eyebrow at her but decided to leave it at that. "What about 'Kai'? Who's she?"

Crystal snickered and cleared her throat before answering. "You'll find out soon enough. Now, let's do this thing."

"Hm? Oh." We had reached the mouth of the volcano. I peeked over the edge at the boiling lava below as it gave off a red glow.

Crystal took out her silver staff and looked at me, as if deciding whether to do something or not. "Well, since your Omegatrix is malfunctioning, I'll just cast a fire protection spell. Could you get that—"

"GRRR..."

"Um, that didn't happen to be your stomach, did it, Max?" I shook my head and we peered over the ledge we were standing on.

There, five feet below us, was the dreaded three-headed dog, Cerberus. He was crouched down as if ready to pounce, his fangs gleaming in the moonlight and foam dripping down the sides of his... mouths. The best part? All three heads were glaring right at me. If I were a normal mountain climber, I would've wet my pants and been paralyzed in sheer terror by now. Luckily, I'm not a normal mountain climber.

"I hope you've had your anti-rabies shots." I chuckled nervously.

Crystal glanced at me. "Leave the pre-battle humor to Danny, Maxie."

I rolled my eyes. "So I'll take the right, you take the left, and then we go for the middle from both sides?"

"GRRRAAAARRR!" Cerberus lunged straight for us.

"No time." Crystal muttered, retrieving something from the Duat. "No choice." She slammed her hand on my Omegatrix and I felt something cold run through my body.