Chapter Seven

 

I guessed my apology to Sully would have to wait. But he would understand. At least I thought he would. Pushing the worry to the back of my mind, I packed my backpack and gathered the tent and sleeping bag to set off for the volcano and complete the last leg of my journey.

We drove for the better part of an hour—past waterfalls trickling down the hills along the road. We cruised beneath long flowering vines dangling so low from the treetops they almost brushed the roof of Lulu’s Firebird. The dense foliage common to this side of the island made a sudden shift to black when hardened lava flows punctuated the lush forest growth.

We reached the entrance to Volcanoes National Park and Lulu dropped me off in front of a red rustic building with a corrugated roof and a huge stone fireplace. The sign said “Volcano House,” which seemed an accurate description of the structure perched on the rim of the volcano’s wide crater.

I unloaded my backpack, tent, and sleeping bag from the back of her car. Lulu handed me a bag of packaged foods and bottles of drinking water to last my stay and told me she planned to pick me up in two days after she visited her sister. I figured I could meet the goddess and learn some new skills in that amount of time. Plus, if things progressed better than planned, I hoped to complete my training and return to California sooner than I imagined.

Loaded with supplies, I entered the Volcano House, unsure of my next move. My head swiveled, absorbing my new surroundings while searching for a clue. Tourists headed toward the dining room, the viewing deck, or the gift shop, all with a destination in mind. Where should I go? I wondered, kicking myself for forgetting to ask Lulu where to find Pele before she drove away.

Rooted to my spot, I felt the weight of eyes upon me from the adjacent room. Only when I walked over to the threshold, the room lay vacant. A couple of armchairs sat around a coffee table alongside the hearth of an empty fireplace of mortared lava rocks. In the center of the fireplace, I spotted Pele. Well, sort of. A sculptor had carved her image in relief from the black basalt of her own volcano.

I stepped closer to the fireplace, captivated by the carving. The sculptor depicted the fire goddess with her palms outstretched, whether welcoming visitors to her home or generating another eruption, I couldn’t say for sure. Her short hair framed her face in a heart-like shape, so different than the long flowing tresses that melted into lava as in my dreams. Still, Pele’s sentient eyes resonated with the power she had manifested to split the earth and release a molten plume jetting into the air.

I set down my gear and stood before her, my index finger outlining the contours of her rounded face. The fireplace stood unused in summer, but I felt a trace of heat radiating from the stone. The spirit of Pele resided in that very spot.

Suddenly, the carving’s eyes appeared to glow, lit from within.

“She knows I’m here,” I whispered.

I whipped my head around, wondering if anyone else witnessed the change, but the room remained empty. The other tourists seemed preoccupied in the gift shop, perusing the souvenirs of hand-carved wooden tikis, chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, and tropical scented hand lotions. Alone, I stood before the carving for several quiet minutes, waiting for another sign from the goddess. Her lack of a response discouraged me, so I whispered for her to show me where to go. The carving’s glowing eyes appeared to shift to one side.

Now I’m getting somewhere. Her recognition of my existence brought a smile to my face. I followed her gaze out the large panes of glass toward the barren lava field. In the distance, I spotted a thin spire of rising smoke. A knowing smile wound across my face. Of course…she wanted me to visit her in her domain.

But when I looked back at the carving to confirm her intentions, another visitor entered the room. The eyes on the stone fireplace instantly faded cold and black, as vacant as if her spirit had left the premises.

I picked my gear off the floor, stuffed the food and water into my backpack, and slung the straps over both shoulders. I left Volcano House with my gear in hand and set forth toward the smoking spire, expecting to hike a fair distance. I doubted Pele would present herself until after I ventured far from the watchful eyes of any other visitors to the park.

A short ways past the trailhead, the white stray appeared by my side, her mouth opened wide as if expecting more treats.

“Kea?” I exclaimed. “How’d you get all the way out here?” I spun my head, wondering if she’d snuck a ride in the bed of someone’s pickup to follow me in search of more food. Or maybe she considered me her new owner after I’d given her a name. Whatever the reason, the dog had amazingly made her way down to the National Park, which I suspected didn’t permit pets. “We should get moving before a park ranger sees you,” I advised and pressed forward at a brisk pace, the dog happily trotting at my heels.

Once the Volcano House shrunk from view, I set down the tent and sleeping bag, opened up my sack, and pulled out a strip of beef jerky and some crackers for the dog from Lulu’s stash. Kea gobbled the jerky and munched on the crackers, licking up all the crumbs that dropped to the ground. I opened up a water bottle for myself, downing half in three long gulps, and poured some into my cupped hand for her to lap with a reddened tongue.

We continued on our way for the better part of an hour. The sun broke through the clouds to beat upon us. Its heat radiated up from the black rock of the lava flow, making me roast like a rotisserie chicken spinning on the spit at the supermarket.

Kea panted heavily, her ears drooping to the sides. I stopped for another water break, giving her ample amounts to quench her thirst. I glanced around, realizing not a single tourist ventured this far in the insufferable heat. Up ahead, the smoky spire drew a gray line through the clear sky. “It’s not much farther,” I told the dog and picked up the gear to finish our hike.

Luckily, the trail wound near the flow’s edge, cutting past a grove of shade trees. I paused for another break to wipe the bullets of sweat from my brow. But when I opened my water bottle to quench Kea’s thirst again, the dog disappeared. “She probably ran off to the shade like I should,” I told myself, my skin baking under the strong Hawaiian sun.

But before I could seek respite beneath the branches, a wispy white trail danced from the nearby spire and into the grove of trees. Seconds later, the fire goddess Pele emerged, her flowing black hair trailing behind her every step.

My jaw fell open. Quickly straightening my face, I congratulated myself. I did it! I found her! I dumped my gear to the ground and let the backpack slide from my shoulders, completely forgetting my uncomfortably hot state. “Madam Pele,” I addressed the goddess with a reverent bow. “I am so glad to finally meet you in person. And I wanted to thank you for healing my friend, Cameron. He told me all about your visit in the hospital. You saved his life.”

A small smile graced Pele’s stunning face. “Sometimes I have to give a little to get what I want. Time is short and the situation has changed. It was of utmost importance you come to me right away, so I called upon a favor from a gifted healer, the moon goddess, Hina. She helped you both recover.”

My hand subconsciously drifted to the thin scar on my abdomen. No wonder the pain from a wound I’d deemed fatal had faded so quickly.

Dozens more questions flooded my mind. “So you’ll be teaching me personally?” I began, sorting through my thoughts.

“Yes,” she replied with a simple nod. “What powers do you already possess?”

“I can create fire and use it to jump across time,” I stated, thinking fast.

“Go ahead. Show me your abilities.”

“Right now?”

“Right now,” Pele invited, her face exuding confidence in my skills.

“All right,” I said in a small voice, feeling a bit hesitant under the pressure of her watchful gaze. I opened my hand, my palm facing upward. My technique had worked in Sully’s car when a flame inadvertently torched the ceiling upholstery. Not that it mattered much—Gaia did a fabulous job of totaling the rest of the car when she collapsed the tresses of the Bay Bridge upon us. But when I snapped my fingers together, nothing happened. No spark, no heat, no flame…nothing at all.

I blinked, looking at Pele in confusion. She nodded, a motion for me to proceed.

Focus, Jordan. I furrowed my brow in concentration. Biting my lower lip, I rubbed my palms together and aimed them away from Pele, expecting bursts of flames to rocket off my hands and create a wall of fire like when Gaia had trapped my friend Lucius and me in the pandemonium that consumed the streets of Pompeii in the wake of Mount Vesuvius’s violent eruption. Only the fire didn’t come.

Pele crossed her arms over her chest, waiting. Her lips drew taut with disappointment.

“I don’t get it,” I told her, dragging my hands across the perspiration that accumulated on my brow.

“You need to feel the power within you, harness the energy from your core, embrace the strength of your element so you can become one with its source.”

“How did I do all those things before?” I wondered aloud.

“Fear is powerful…and you let anger consume you. Your thirst for revenge fueled your power. Now you need to channel that energy without letting fear or hate cloud your thoughts. Be in control of your emotions and learn how to manipulate your powers on your terms. Though you use fire as your catalyst, in truth, the magic resides inside of you. But first, you must believe with every ounce of your entire body and soul.”

I looked at her, skeptical. “And how do you propose I do that? Forgive Gaia and Hydros for what they did to me, who they took from me? I’ll always fear them, always hate them. You can never erase the pain they caused me.”

A gleam shone in Pele’s eyes. “We’ll see about that.” She held a deliberate pause before explaining. “I have decided your training will consist of two parts. The first will expand your understanding of your powers and challenge you to use them in ways you never before imagined.”

“Finally we’re getting somewhere,” I muttered under my breath, hopefully too low for Pele to hear.

Her small, disapproving glance reminded me I stood in the presence of a goddess. She could probably see or hear anything she wanted.

“And the second?” I asked, eager to change the subject.

“The second part will require you to understand the past.”

“So you’ll essentially be teaching me history lessons?”

Pele shook her head and clarified, “You will be traveling back to the past to witness these events firsthand.”

My eyes grew wide. “I didn’t even know that was possible! I thought I could only travel forward. At least that’s what had happened to me whenever I perished and jumped through time.”

“Only because you panicked. I am here to teach you an easier way to journey through time and space.”

I liked the sound of that. “And you think by going to these different times, I will learn how to protect the ones I love?”

“Absolutely, child.” She said this in a way that made me think she intentionally withheld information. Still, her plan seemed the best shot I had of eliminating Gaia and Skye. For a moment, the thought saddened me, remembering the days Skye and I shared. I thought of her as a sister back then, before Gaia had warped her soul, transforming her into a threatening menace that would stop at nothing to destroy me. How I longed to rid my life of fear and pain forever.

“I’m in,” I agreed. “How soon can we start?”

“Like I told you before, time is short. We must begin immediately,” she replied in an urgent tone. “So we will start with walking on air.”

Cool! My eyes grew wide, eager to begin.

First, Pele demonstrated how to heat the air around her, making her body seem less dense and therefore able to float. The rising thermal stirred her hair, slowly lifting her feet off the ground.

“Wow,” I breathed. She made it look so easy.

However, I quickly learned it was anything but. I squeezed my eyes shut to focus, believing with every ounce of my heart that I could duplicate Pele’s skill. Heat coursed from my central core and pain rippled out through my arms and legs. I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to forget the pain.

“Focus your energy on heating the air molecules near your feet. Move them under you to lift you off the surface,” she advised.

I pushed the heat from my palms and the soles of my feet and willed the heated molecules to collect beneath me until they fused into a single mass. Ever so slowly, I gradually felt the mass grow in size, elevating my feet off the ground.

Only it seemed about as easy as attempting to stand on a swaying mass of Jell-O.

I stretched my arms out for balance, pretending I rode Micah’s skimboard in Pacifica when I zipped toward an incoming wave. Only I wobbled back and forth on unsteady legs, unable to stand upright on the shifting mass of air. A second later, I tumbled over the back side, landing flat upon the prickly surface of the rough lava rocks.

“Ow,” I moaned, my body sore from the fall.

“Try again,” she requested.

The sky sank low to the horizon while I continued her exercise. Repeatedly, I reformed the heated mass of air beneath my feet until I finally reached a level of competence in Pele’s eyes. “Not bad,” she admitted, probably as close to a compliment as I would receive. “Next time, we’ll try something new.”

Exhausted from the hike across the lava field and the challenge of completing Pele’s task, I crumpled into a heap on the ground. Exhaling heavy breaths, I remembered the pain when fire burst forth from my palms in Old Chicago. The torture when the lava bomb collided with my skull in Pompeii. And the agony of my fiery death upon Gallows Hill in Salem Village.

“I just don’t get it,” I said, my brow furrowed with confusion. “Why do Gaia’s powers seem painless and effortless when mine are the complete opposite?”

“When you learn to accept your Elemental name, Pyr, and become one with your true identity, the pain will disappear,” Pele explained. Her reasoning not only seemed logical, but simple to accomplish. “Once you embrace your powers with your whole heart and soul, you will control them in ways you never previously imagined.”

“Embrace my true identity?” I wondered aloud. Was she serious? “But I never wanted any of this. I only wished to be a normal girl named Jordan who lived a normal life, free of fear.”

“No one’s life is ever simple, especially not yours. You are special, that is why you were chosen for this important responsibility.”

“Chosen to be an Elemental? By whom? And why?”

“The Fire Element selected you. The rest of your story must wait until you are ready,” Pele said with a soft, sympathetic smile.

I frowned, frustrated by Pele’s cryptic remark. I wished she could just tell me everything straight out. Right now.

But the beginnings of a scowl written across her face suggested otherwise. And I knew if I pushed her for more details, she’d probably vanish in irate silence like she had in my dreams.