The ronin whispered a quick prayer of thanks to his Buddha and to the Kamis when he heard the Salamander use his name in a respectful manner. What a fool this beast is, thought the ronin to himself, now I have only the sea-warders to fear. The ronin continued to flatter and amuse the Salamander, and eventually the sounds of the storm outside subsided. Finally, the Salamander said the words the ronin had been waiting and praying for.

"Daizen Tohachi, I have changed my mind." Said the Salamander.

"Concerning what, divine maker of cinders?" The ronin feigned confusion.

"Did you not say you were an outcast in your land, that you were without a master?"

"I am ronin, beneath the notice of the beetles that nest in filth, oh heavenly author of conflagrations," said the ronin, kow-towing. The Salamander giggled at his humility.

"Then I shall make you my messenger, rather than eat you. You have a tongue for speech that would please my master Godo. I will take you as my Samurai, armor you against all heats, and keep you to amuse and flatter me. From time to time, I will send you to Godo-Sama and you will flatter and amuse him. How does that sound, little ronin?"

"Sweeter than the whispers of a lover in the ears of a dying man, master." The ronin lowered his head even further, pressing his brow against the hot stones. "Only I cannot accept this honor."

"What?" The Salamander fairly roared. The pool of fire erupted, filling the lair with a bright glow and nearly singing the ronin's hair. I must be cautious now, thought the ronin, or he will bake me right here and all will be lost.

"I have a quarrel with a man in the southlands. My argument with him was the reason I was banished, and it would dishonor your magnificent lordship for a servent in your house to be disliked even by the most pathetic of fools, which is what this man is."

"Pfah. Let him seek you out. I fear nothing. If he came here I would roast him with a flick of my eyelid."

"That is grace beyond all graciousness, master, but there is more. On the night before I met your fiery majesty, I wished to gain a good night's rest, so that I could treat you with courtesy appropriate to your stature."

"And?"

"And the sea warders at the cliffs challenged me to a fight. I refused, so that I might rest. So you see, I am a coward too. Even more, they have sworn to take me away to the deeps and drown me."

"Hm." The Salamander lowered his head, and blew bright bubbles in the lava that surrounded him. He did this whenever he was thinking carefully, the ronin had noticed.

"Bah!" shouted the Salamander, spewing a mouthful of lava all around his lair, only narrowly missing his would-be messenger. "You laid courtesy to me before even your own honor? That is what a good servant would do." The Salamander had lost control of himself at the thought of the insufferable sea-warders. It was because of them he was bottled up in this cave instead of being free to scourge and burn all the island. He thrashed about his pool, and even leapt out onto the ledge where the ronin knelt. "Let these wet little darlings come to my lair. I will boil them away to steam and have done before they can even draw their swords." The Salamander's heat set the ronin's kimono ablaze, and he had to roll against the stones to put it out.

"Thank you, powerful lord. Here they come now."

Humans