Harbringr worked his way upward, climbing Mount Volkan step by step. Áskell had been badgering Hari nearly ever day since he found out they'd be living at the edge of a volcano. Naturally, Harbringr didn't want his boys wandering to the lip of a giant volcano unsupervised. He preferred his sons keep all their limbs at least til they were yearlings so he could at least pretend he'd been a good father. If anything though, at least the hike would take some of the energy out of the twerps. Hari slowed to a stop as he gazed up at the mountain. Smoke curled out of the top of the mountain. He reminded himself that the volcano was unlikely to erupt again so soon.

Áskell's tail wagged back and forth excitedly as he scrambled over the rocky terrain. Finally, they were going to the top of the volcano! "Dad, dad, will we see lava? Is there fire at the top of it." In his little mind he imagined there was always a fire burning at top of a volcano and he kind of wanted to put something in the fire. Ooooo and he definitely wanted to throw some rocks or something into the lave and see what happened. He wondered how fast it would melt.

Despite his exuberance Áskell was starting to get tired from the journey. It had been awhile since he'd walked this much and he hadn't really walked right up a mountain before. "Hey, dad? We almost there? My paws are getting tired!"

Jigsaw was thrilled to finally be allowed up the towering, smoking mountain and did his best to keep pace with the two stronger wolves. While he did not have the same burning curiosity as Askell, there were certain questions he was desperate to have the answers to. Could you touch lava if it cooled enough? What did it taste like? Could it be used for healing? Would a flower dipped in lava become magical? He kept the questions to himself, eyes wide and taking in every sight as they scaled the mountain. "Mine too!" Jigsaw complained as Askell mentioned his aching paws. Jigsaw was tiny and slender, and definitely not built for climbing volcanos. "Will Aunt Recluse be mad if I take some of her lava?" Surely since the albino alpha owned the mountain, she owned it's fire as well. Jigsaw didn't have much room in his pack, but he definitely intended to try and sneak at least a little bit home to experiment on.

Harbringr continued on his way up the mountain as his children bombarded him with questions. He chuckled. "Maybe, we might see some lava and some fire so you two need to be careful." He wasn't sure if his words were landing on deaf ears but he didn't want the boys to get impatient and go wandering up to see the volcano by themselves.

Both soon complained that their paws were getting sore and he chuckled. "Not far, my boys, not far." He glanced back at Jigsaw. "Well, there is no way to carry lava or take it. It is so hot it burns through everything, solid rock and even metal." He really hoped that Jigsaw wasn't going to try and touch the lava.

Áskell was excited to hear that they might see lava and fire at the top of the volcano. He'd heard stories about the volcano and it sounded really cool. Hari said they did not have far to go and he was equally glad to hear that. He'd walked down to the river valley before and into Ashen territory but this was the first time he'd ever tried climbing up a whole mountain.

He glanced at Jigsaw as his brother spoke of taking some lava. Could they? He thought it would be neat to see if they could use it to start fires. However, his dad said they couldn't really carry it. "Wow, it's that hot? Dad, where does lava come from? Why is it so hot?" It had to be hotter than regular fire if it could melt rocks.

Jigsaw squinted hard as his father shot down his plan, his mind already working to determine an alternate way to transport the lava for experimentation. While Askell had questions about the inner workings of the hot fire, Jigsaw didn't tend to ask questions out of sheer curiosity. Instead, he pipped up with a query of his own as his brother was done. "If it's soooo hot that I can't bring it home, why doesn't it melt through the volcano? If the volcano can hold lava, can I take some volcano rock and make a cup out of that instead to carry it?" The logic was sound in his head, and it was easier to ignore his aching paws when he was imagining the praise of finding a way to transport real molten lava. Jigsaw was determined to make a name for himself one way or another, and if it wasn't to be Worlds Best Healer (Which, what a silly thought, of COURSE it would be!) it could be The-Wolf-Who-Conquered-Volcanos instead. It sounded like something his brother might approve of, at least.

So many questions! Harbringr tried to focus on answering his boys questions as well as watching where he was going so he could lead them safely up the mountain side. "It comes from the center of the earth. Long ago there was nothing until a great spark ignited and set the universe on fire. Most of the fire died out but it still lives in the heart of the earth and in many stars like the sun it is still burning." That was part of the creation legend he'd heard from Costanza. In truth he didn't really know what to think of it but it did seem to explain some oddities in the world.

Hari stopped for a moment and chuckled at Jigsaw's question. His sons were too clever for their own good. "Ok, fair point. The volcano is very thick and as soon as the lava touches the air it begins to cool. I suppose you could fashion a cup out of rock but know that it would cool by the time we got to the bottom. Anyway, don't worry about that. We can't collect the lava. You'll see why in a moment."

He continued walking and by now there was noticeably less vegetation and the air was getting drier and hotter. Soon a red glow could be seen reflecting off the rocks. Smoke and fumes were rising from a hole deep in the mountain. As he neared it got hotter and hotter and there was a strange dull roar coming from down in the pit. The walls of the pit were steep and in their center was a boiling orange and yellow mass of lava. There was a ring of pitch black and red on the outside where the lava was in the process of cooling. Hari didn't dare go further. Even this far away he could still feel the heat baking his skin.

Áskell scrambled around a large boulder and bounded after his father. "Really? The center of the earth is on fire?" That sounded cool and also very bad. Were they all going to blow up at some point?

The climb soon got harder and the rocky terrain was making his paws hurt. Still, he really, really, wanted to see the inside of a volcano so he pressed on. It slowly got hotter and hotter but as he saw the glow of fire on the rocks up ahead that was all forgotten. He bounded over to his father, scooting carefully toward the edge to look down into the pit of boiling lava. Áskell squinted. It was so bright and so hot. "Ugh! It's really hot and smelly. Smells like rotten buffalo farts."