Despite the waning day, he wanted to begin the next leg of his quest as soon as possible, and hastened back to the docks as quick as he could. The trip was not long, but his mind went back to a time many years ago as he walked, when he had been in a forest not unlike the one he had just exited.

It was cool and breezy in the woods that he had entered. This section of the woods was a special place to him; it had always contained the tallest trees in all the forest around his home. It was silent, mysterious, a place for sitting and contemplating, a place for dreaming. He went there often, although it was in theory farther away from the village than he was allowed to go. On this particular day, he had come from a scathing scolding by his mother, and needed a place to calm himself down.

He walked into the beautiful wood, and found the thicket in which he liked to sit. Sunlight streamed down into it filtered only by the green of the leaves overhead, and it was a wonderful place to be by one's self. Sitting there for a time, he slipped into a daydream, and imagined that he was a bird, looking down on himself resting in the thicket, then that he was a cloud looking down on the bird, and then the sun looking down on the cloud. It was very pleasant, and he might well have stayed there forever if not for the waning of the day and the coming chill of evening. Nights like this alone made him feel distinctly free, a feeling which both pleased and frightened him.

Returning to the present, he finally walked in through the city gates, and there were still a few vestiges of sunlight on his arrival. Asking about, he soon found a man who was willing to sell him a boat for just one silver piece.

It was a rather unassuming vessel; room enough for just one, and a small sail. He had a few misgivings about using such a boat; it was of course theoretically possible to traverse the Locurian Sea in it, but the waves which they had met on the long passage from Rallia were certainly more than enough to utterly consume the tiny ship. But the hermit's assurances had encouraged him, and he was determined to make the voyage in whatever way possible. He purchased the boat with no further qualms, and went about buying provisions for the journey ahead. Once everything was together, he realized that leaving that night would be impossible in any case, for it was too late. The boy briefly considered going back to L'Académie, but he had already said his farewells, and besides, the city of Marais had proven safe even in its unfrequented alleyways. With this thought in mind, he elected to sleep in the boat, and cast off as soon as he woke up.

The day dawned over the sleepy landscape of the Ilesian city, and its inhabitants took up again their sprightly step through its multitudinous streets. Bidding one last farewell to the whole place, he unfurled the sail and began his slow progress.

Sailing did indeed prove fairly intuitive. Once he had worked out the idea of tacking, he moved along at a fair clip. He turned back in close to the coast and tried to figure out which Maiden he would visit first. Thinking back, he realized that he knew little of where the four lesser Maidens dwelled; their associated elements were all that he could remember. But, he must visit one of them first, and the decision remained. After a few moments of drifting along the coastline, he settled upon Rose, the Fire Maiden. It was as good a choice as any, and he pulled out the music box to find her location. To the northwest, according to its loud tones. The youth peered down in that direction, but could not see any land for quite some ways. Yet there was no help for it. He turned the rudder and set off on the way to the land of Fire.

Surprisingly, the voyage picked up when an unexpected gale blew directly in the way he wanted to go. He simply let the sail do its work, and relaxed as his miniscule vessel bounded over the waves towards the Fire Maiden's domain. The wind did not seem to portend any bad weather, either; the skies remained as clear as ever, and the sun warmed him, cutting off the chill of the brisk wind.

Far in the distance, he began to see the first indications of land. Her home was evidently a small island. A curious gleaming could be seen from it, but he could not make out its source. As he drew nearer, it became apparent that it was a sizable temple, with giant white pillars and a golden roof, rising from the island's center. The island was largely covered in a plethora of bright orange and red, and he guessed that they were flowers, but the individual blooms could not be discerned from this vantage. The boy brought the boat in fairly close, then leaped out and grounded it on the sandy beach before wading onto the shore himself.

Noting the broad road directly before him, Cyrus began to walk down the long pathway lined with the blazing flowers with which Rose associated herself. Marigolds and poppies leered at him from all directions. The walkway itself appeared to be no more than ordinary soil, though curiously uncovered with the flowers which encroached upon its boundaries, but the sides were defined with rigid regularity, stretching out far into the distance and leading straight to the entrance of the goddess' enormous residence.

The temple ahead loomed up before him in its vastness; a high atrium, supported by alabaster pillars ascending impossibly high until reaching the edge of the ceiling, which was a brilliant golden hue and made out of some material which could not be identified. Her signature, the red roses, managed to twine all the way up the pillars, with a massive entanglement of bushes directly blocking his path. Their needle-sharp thorns stuck out as a warning to all who might try to come inside, but after some hesitation, he walked to them, and they retreated as if commanded.

Stepping inside, the thorns snapped back together without warning. He whirled around, but the exit was blocked. Having no other course, he ventured farther into the atrium, noticing that the very center of the roof was an open circle, shining sunlight directly onto a spot in the middle of the chamber. The boy watched this spot intently, and a slight, imperceptible shimmering began to occur there.

Suddenly, a female voice gave a cry and the entire room burst into flame. The pillars glowed a dull red, while the roses surrounding them crackled and sputtered in the fire. Cyrus nearly sprang forward in alarm, but realized that he was at least for the moment out of the fire's range, and so merely waited.

In the spot where sunlight was visible, what appeared to be a woman on fire appeared, and she demanded angrily in a booming voice, "We are the Priestess and the Goddess Rose. What are you doing in our domain?" The figure rushed at him with unbelievable speed, stopping just before running him over. Small flames remained where she had passed, but they soon flickered out. It was only now that Cyrus was able to see the woman herself.

Her entire body was composed of flame. On the perfectly regular surface of soil on which they stood, her feet were strangely root-like, but at the same time were licks of flame extending out from the central figure. Her legs were slender, and gave the curious impression that they were actually green stems instead of the fiery appendages that they were. The woman's long hair tumbled down over her shoulders, and her eyes gleamed even brighter than the rest of her, two brilliant jewels set in her luminous face.

"Answer!"

"I have come to ask your aid in locating Iris."

"And why should we help you?" She whirled on her heel, crossing her arms in rejection.

The boy started to despair. Was that really going to be it? No, surely not.

"But I must find her!"

"Then you must first prove your worth." Rose gestured, and all of the flames went out at once. Only she remained, burning as brightly as ever. "We shall set you a test, to see that you are the one we need. Come," she said, turning briefly and returning to the sunlit spot, moving yet again impossibly fast.

Considerably slower, Cyrus walked over to where the Maiden was waiting for him. He was uneasy about the idea of this test, but did not know what precise form it would take. After arriving, she began making elaborate, graceful movements with her fiery arms, but did not speak.

At the completion of her gestures, she clapped both hands together, shouted, "Dragon, come forth!" and made another scorching exit to the side of the atrium. An unusual sound began to emerge from the entrance behind him, and Cyrus turned to see a gigantic creature lumbering into the chamber.

He was held stiff in terror for a moment, as the creature roared and issued forth jets of fire from its nostrils. The monster was a tremendous lizard standing upright, which would have been bad enough by itself, had it not also been composed entirely of flames. After it had come in through the entrance, the roses ignited yet again, preventing any escape from the arena.

The dragon regarded the pitiful-looking youth dispassionately for a few moments, and inhaled in preparation for a blast which had so far completely annihilated any opponent who dared to challenge the goddess' might. But as it began to exhale, it realized that Cyrus was no longer where he had been. It roared again in anger, and stomped about searching for the miniscule youth.

Cyrus, having no conception of how to defeat the monster, had acted swiftly when there seemed to be no way out. Using earth energy, he had created a small bubble of air, and had burrowed into the ground in order to avoid the raging beast. He had only a few minutes left before the air would run out, but the trick would buy him enough time to strategize. Meanwhile, the dragon above was starting to sniff around for its prey, but forunately the soil above him protected him from detection.

Attacking it head on would surely be futile, but the creature must have some form of weakness. The obvious one was dousing its flames with water, but even if that would work, he had no way to call upon water for the purpose. He might be able put it out by covering it with earth. Yet that presumed again that its fire could actually be extinguished by such means. His time underground was running out, and he needed to make a decision fast. With abrupt decisiveness, he erupted forth from the soil and started barraging the enemy with energy bursts as fast as he could summon them up.

It roared, but his attacks seemed to have little effect other than annoying the creature. Apparently, direct force was useless against such a beast. Cleverness, then, would have to prevail. Yet another plan of attack formulated in his mind; he would raise up just enough earth to encase its feet, either extinguishing them and thus rendering it incapable of movement, or trapping it from further attack while he devised some way of injuring it.

Loud stomps made the ground shudder as the lumbering monster moved in closer to take a bite out of the youth. While it was moving would be the easiest to unbalance it. Just as it was in mid-step, its hind leg firmly planted on the ground, he summoned up a mound of dirt which rapidly enveloped the fiery rear appendage.

Dreadful noises issued forth from the dragon as it lost its balance and slowly, inexorably began to fall. It thrashed its tail in a feeble attempt to regain its footing, but this exertion was futile as it was already on the way down. It collapsed, and the ground gave a tremendous shudder under its weight.

Now, while it was incapacitated, was the time to strike. Cyrus prepared another burst of energy, and directed the soil upon which the creature had fallen to engulf it completely. After it had been completely covered, its struggles slowed slightly, until finally it lay quiescent for a few moments before vanishing altogether, causing the collected earth to collapse inward and cover the spot where the creature had been.

The Fire Maiden reappeared without warning, and planted a firm, passionate kiss on the astonished Cyrus' lips. Despite her seemingly fiery composition, he somehow survived unscathed -- at least in body, though he would never be quite rid of the memory.

She exclaimed enthusiastically, "You have proven more than worthy. Take this."

Between her hands appeared a rose of unimaginable beauty. Still a little shaken from the Maiden's unforeseen kiss, he stood dazed for a few seconds before returning to his senses and accepting the gift.

Once he had taken it into his hands, he was assailed by a curious sensation, as though his entire being were somehow altered by the flower. As soon as it had come upon him, it was gone, and he was unable to make out what precisely had occurred. He noticed that the flower he had held was nowhere to be found.

"Now, you have absorbed the powers of the rose, and have strength equal to ours. We wish you luck, brave youth." The Maiden gave him a more demure kiss on the cheek before embracing him warmly and accompanying him to the flower-lined entranceway. Bewildered, he stepped out, and turned back in time to watch the smiling woman whirl about and disappear altogether.

So, he had gained the powers of fire? He decided to make a test of this theory. Unsure quite how to make the abilities manifest, Cyrus decided to merely think up a flame and see what resulted; concentrating his energy, he willed for fire to appear.

A fiery plume extended 40 feet into the air, almost incinerating a passing bird that was nearly as astounded as the youth was. Future experimentation would have to be a little more cautious, evidently. But he was now the possessor of abilities in the manipulation of both earth and fire; there were no others that he knew of who could lay claim to such dual capabilities. Immensely satisfied with this first accomplishment, he hurried back to the boat to continue his adventure.