Brigit and Freya made the initial mistake of attacking the Creature directly. It switched shape again and now resembled something like a heavily armoured insect. This form seemed invulnerable to Brigit's fiery blasts and the violent winds, laden with uprooted trees and the like, that Freya directed at it. It simply squatted in the midst of this howling vortex of air and fire and then began to counter attack with the opposed element - water against fire and earth against air.
The Creature hit Brigit, standing not far from me, with a jet of liquid summoned from god knows where and Freya with a bombardment of rocks, stones and debris. The Swedish girl was forced to give up her attack and raise an air barrier to defend herself, while Brigit's assault died down and failed as the water weakened her and eventually she was obliged to duck for cover in the temple ruins.
But then I realised that the girl's tactics had not been a mistake at all. Brigit and Freya had just been keeping our enemy distracted while Jenny and Matsu got to work on the real trap. They understood that if fighting an opponent that seems invulnerable, then attacking it indirectly is the answer. Jenny was couching down not far from me her fingers plunged into the thin soil of the hillside lost in concentration and now I saw why.
With a hideous noise, a great tear appeared in the ground right beneath where the Creature was standing. This continued to increase in size, deeper than it was long and longer than it was wide, but growing in all directions. For a moment our enemy wavered as gravity threatened to drag it into the chasm that had opened up below it, but it rallied and using its mastery of air floated where it was. However, the need to do this meant it dropped its attacks on the Mistresses of Fire and Air.
Brigit did not use her recovered freedom of action to launch another attack on the Creature itself. Instead she concentrated her efforts on the rock exposed by Jenny's rip in the fabric of the valley, pouring heat at them until they began to glow first red, then orange and finally even started to melt, the rift beginning to fill with lava. This had the makings of a trap for the Creature, but I couldn't see how they could force it into the chasm.
Freya was keeping the Creature busy with resumed attacks, now helped by Jenny who was bombarding it with rocks and other loose material, but without making any great impression on its armoured shell. Our enemy had regaining its composure and was responding by turning their assaults against each other, Air and Earth being naturally opposed elements.
It was now that I found out what Matsu had been doing. It became obvious that she must have been busy diverting every river and stream for miles around into one course controlled by her as suddenly as if from nowhere a tremendous tidal wave of water came thundering down the valley in a foaming torrent making a vast roaring noise. The Creature was just as taken by surprise as I was, but with the difference that I was on a hillside safely above the water, while it was down in the valley hovering above a vast lava filled pit.
I could see Matsu standing in the valley completely immersed in the flow, her long black hair floating in the current, directing its motion, totally at one with her element and its raw primal power. The torrent hit the enemy with stunning force, and yet it still wasn't enough. The Creature was knocked off balance but recovered, directing the wave around it.
Then the other Mistresses joined in, but now all with a single purpose - I realised they were seeking to drive our enemy into the chasm Jenny and Brigit had prepared to receive it. I think the Creature knew this too, as it suddenly gave up on counter-attacks and defences and simply tried to escape, changing form into something demonic with wings. But it was too late; the Mistresses were exerting all their power in a final effort and it was terrifying to behold.
The Mistress of Water was still in the valley, not letting her torrent disperse but bringing it back to hammer at the Creature again and again. The Mistress of Air was no longer standing but was borne aloft by her element, her blonde hair whipped by the wind and her blue eyes like ice as she drove a hurricane at her enemy, forcing it into the pit.
Closer to me the Mistress of Fire was once more bathed in a fiery glow, but not warm and gentle as when she had made love to me on this hill earlier, but fierce and angry as she directed balls of fire at the enemy. The Mistress of Earth was kneeling once again, her fingers trust into the soil as she hurled increasingly large chunks of hillside at the Creature. It was caught in a vortex of wind, water, fire and earth that was so dense I could hardly see our enemy through it.
And this proved too much. Slowly at first and then with a rush the Creature was forced into the lava filled pit, sinking into the super-heated liquid rock. At once Matsu directed her entire river of water into the chasm, a vast cloud of steam rising as the lava was instantly cooled by the liquid, sealing the Creature inside. Then, just as quickly Jenny slammed shut the crack in the earth which she had made with a resounding boom. Our enemy's physical body was trapped far underground, encased in rapidly solidifying rock.
Even as the ground sealed around their defeated opponent the four elemental Mistresses who had fought so hard collapsed, utterly spent by the struggle. I could see Matsu lying in the valley bottom where the road had once been, although there was little sign of it now, and Freya on the hillside opposite, no longer borne up by the air but prostrate on the ground. However, I was not worried for them as, being nearer, I could tell that Brigit and Jenny were alive and essentially unharmed, although exhausted, so I trusted that the same applied to the others.
You might reasonably ask what I had been doing during this spectacular but tense battle. In truth I was not idle and nor was Athena. I had used my own limited ability with her element to make mental contact with the Mistress of Aether, who was watching calmly from across the valley, and told her that our task was to trap our enemy's essence in the Theia stone. I had also admitted that I had no idea how to do this.
Athena's thought came to me: "Leave it to me, Master." It was rare indeed that Athena ever called me that. It gave me confidence; I saw it as a sign she had faith in me not to screw this up and just at this moment I needed all the reassurance I could get.
The Mistress of Aether was as good as her word. She sensed the Creature's consciousness fleeing its trapped body long before I did. In the world of pure thought the tons of rock imprisoning its body were no hindrance to our enemy and if it could escape it could always forge a new body given time. Fortunately, Athena was on to it immediately and even had the time and strength to bring me into the struggle.
Yet again I found the valley fading into the background. This time three things stood out - the rock I was holding, an amorphous crimson cloud, which I instinctively knew to be the Creature's consciousness and a sort of glowing-white vision of Athena in pursuit of the cloud. I was irresistibly reminded of an angel.
What happened next seemed to take place in slow motion and yet was over in seconds. The crimson cloud tried to flee but the angel grappled with it, succeeding in halting its progress but nothing more. I understood that this struggle, which I was interpreting in physical terms, was in truth a purely mental one. Seeing Athena needed my help, I intervened, concentrating my will through the stone to pull the Creature's spirit toward it. Slowly between my efforts and Athena's it was dragged toward the stone, still resisting strongly.
I was staggered at the strength of will our enemy possessed. It was desperate to escape and Athena and I were weakening. I think we would have failed, except once more the others helped. Red, blue, green and silver forms appeared, smaller than Athena's angelic form but still impressive, as she summoned her elemental sisters to her aid. All five of us pushed, pulled and dragged the Creature's consciousness toward the stone in this contest of pure thought. Then, with a rush, we had won and we all collapsed toward the Theia stone as our enemy was drawn inside it.
Back in the material world I dropped the Gift of Theia and, strained beyond my strength, collapsed unconscious.
*****
I had no idea where I was when I woke, except that I was no longer in that wrecked and blasted valley. As I gazed round, getting my bearings, I concluded it was a change for the better. For one thing I was lying on a comfortable bed in what was obviously a hotel room, although not one I recognised. I could tell it was evening, as the lights were on and it looked dark outside. I presumed it was still the same day. A lot had happened since I went in search of buried treasure that morning.
