The blonde woman stood from the throne and untied the robe’s belt cinched around its waist. With a shrug of its shoulders, the Fire Elemental slid free of the garment, letting it fall in a crumple to the floor. Standing naked in the penthouse, it savored the warm wind on its bare flesh.
General Kobal averted his eyes as the Elemental walked to the balcony. It rested its hands on the balcony railing as long claws emerged from its feet, digging into the floor tiles. It looked over its shoulder, even as brilliant red scales consumed its smooth skin.
“You are in charge of this mission in my absence,” the Elemental said as its eyes turned from bloodshot red to vertical, reptilian slits. “Hold my fortress and continue with the elimination of humanity.”
“Of course.” Kobal bowed from the doorway, his gaze still cast upon the floor.
“And General, don’t fail me.”
The Elemental leapt from the rooftop as wings erupted from its back. The appearance of a delicate woman fell away as it grew progressively larger and more domineering, until it eventually became the massive red dragon. With its wings spread, it caught an updraft and flew over the ruins of Los Angeles, speeding east toward Xander and his demise.
Sammy peered out through the Elemental’s draconic eyes and cringed internally. She may have acted brash and overly confident toward the Fire Elemental, but she certainly hoped Xander was ready. Whether he was or not, the Elemental was coming for him.
Xander flew over the trees, scanning the horizon as he did. He passed burnt husks that had once been farmhouses or barns like the one in which he had left Sean and Jessica. He glanced over his shoulder at the thought, wondering if he was right to leave them alone and asleep. For a brief moment, he considered returning to the loft window through which he had departed, settling into the hay beside his friends—who were now dating, he had to remind himself, regardless of how odd that seemed—and sleeping through the night.
He shook his head and turned back toward the path ahead. Jessica had been right. He was supposed to be a hero. It had been the agreement made with the Water Elemental before she gave him even an inkling of her power. The only way he had won the Elemental over was by showing that he was willing to sacrifice himself for Wilkes, the Brit’s family, and his friends.
Xander pulled up short and opted instead to just to hover above the trees. He could feel the breeze billowing through his dark hair as he stared at the fires in the distance.
What happened to the man who had fought so passionately in White Halls and London? Xander shook his head. He already knew the answer to that. That passionate Wind Warrior had killed a hundred people in a single stroke. Sean and Jessica said they understood. Everyone said they understood, but somehow, Xander doubted it. He nodded every time someone offered advice, saying it was war and he had to be a soldier, making the calls of who would live and who would die.
Xander wondered if his friends even still remembered him as the slacker community college student he had been less than a year ago. He had trouble making decisions about dinner, yet now he was supposed to be a leader… the savior. The word left a foul taste in his mouth. He wasn’t a savior. He used to hear that leaders were born, not made. Xander believed it. He was genetically this “savior” but that hardly made him prepared. Maybe if he had more time with his grandfather, aunts, and uncles…
He didn’t have them anymore. His grandfather was dead. His aunts and uncles were depowered, having given up their abilities when Xander absorbed the power of the Wind Elemental. It pained him to know he was, more or less, alone.
A sudden explosion startled Xander. Despite its distance—a farmhouse a few miles away—he could feel the sudden wash of heat on his face.
Xander furrowed his brow as he narrowed his gaze, staring at the site of the newest fire. It was far closer than the others. It couldn’t be coincidence that a new blaze had appeared as the Fire Warriors pressed across the French countryside.
Without so much as a second thought, Xander tilted forward and sped toward the fire. No matter his doubts, there was something genetic about him being a hero. Even doubtful, he plunged head-first into danger on the off chance there was someone to save.
The house was nearly completely consumed by the time Xander arrived seconds later, only further confirming the presence of Fire Warriors. Fire erupted from the second-story window, licking the roof awning above. Smoke billowed from between the shingles. As Xander watched, the roof collapsed, dropping the shingles and wooden supports into the upstairs bedroom even as flames leapt dozens of feet through the new hole.
Xander’s eyes were flooded with an internal light, a harsh blue that glowed in the night’s air. The sky overhead rumbled as dark clouds appeared in the star-strewn night. The first of the raindrops struck his face. The clouds opened, dropping a torrent of rain onto the burning farmhouse. From a distance, Xander supposed it looked preposterous. There was a single dark cloud hovering in an otherwise clear night, pouring water in a blinding river.
The fire sizzled angrily, sending puffs of steam skyward as it struggled against the onslaught of rain. While the rain went to work extinguishing the fire, Xander looked across the nearby fields. Fire Warriors started this fire, which meant they would still be nearby. While it was possible they just wanted to burn yet another human structure to the ground, it was equally likely that people were in danger.
Near the far side of a wheat field, Xander saw the small glows of burning orbs, telltale signs of the Fire Caste. Leaving his storm cloud in place, he sped off toward the warriors in the distance.
The wheat parted as he flew inches above the grain. It roiled in his wake, eddying like a river’s current disturbed by a passing ship. His speed increased until the wheat whipped by in a blur. His focus fixed ahead, he could see the Fire Warriors pushing through the crops. They moved determinedly, pursuing something—someone, Xander reminded himself—that he couldn’t yet see.
Xander gritted his teeth. He was tired of being chased by Fire Warriors, knowing he’d be attacked at every turn. It was something different to have them chasing innocent men and women, threatening children, and ruining the world.
He could feel their power radiating from them as he approached. Clearly, they were aware of him as well. The three Fire Warriors turned sharply at his approach, their eyes widening in surprise. Without pause, Xander slipped his arms under the nearest blond man and lifted him from the crops. The man yelled, though his words were stolen by the roaring of the wind. The flame in his hand extinguished in his shock. He looked pleadingly to Xander moments before the Wind Warrior released him.
With his momentum, the Fire Warrior launched through the air, hurtling toward the forest beyond. He disappeared into the trees with a resounding crash and yelps of pain. One down, Xander thought dryly.
A jet of flame rolled past as he twisted in the air, the scorching ray barely missing him. Below, he heard a much different yell of surprise. An elderly man and woman, exhausted from fleeing from the Fire Caste, pointed skyward toward Xander. He couldn’t read their expression, but their presence strengthened his resolve. There were people who needed his help. He wouldn’t let them down.
A fireball soared toward him, illuminating the sky like a flare. Xander easily dodged aside before locating the second of the warriors. The two men were staged apart from one another below him, still concealed within the tall wheat field. One summoned another fireball and prepared to throw it. Xander encapsulated the man in a bubble, something he hadn’t done again since he had foiled Sammy’s assassination attempt in what felt like an eternity ago. Rather than keep him contained like he had done with her, Xander flicked his hand skyward and launched the man into the air. The bubble dissolved as he flew, leaving him soaring into the air with a panicked scream. He plummeted back to the ground, vanishing into the wheat from which he didn’t emerge.
The last Fire Warrior turned and ran, hurrying out of the field and toward the forest beyond. Xander’s eyes flickered, and the ground began to rumb
le. The warrior stumbled as he tried to run, his footing suddenly unsure. As the man neared the trees, a clear expression of elation spread across his face. Just before he reached the woods, however, the ground before him split open. Water erupted from the fissure, pouring intelligently toward the Fire Warrior’s feet.
The water gushed over his boots. The warrior ignited the ground before him in a spray of flames, enveloping him in hot steam. The effort was for naught, though, as more and more water flowed from the split ground.
As new water cascaded over his boots, an arctic wind rolled through the trees and struck the warrior, extinguishing the flames on his hands. Beyond just stopping the warrior in his tracks, it froze the water around his feet. The Fire Warrior struggled against his growing ice prison, but to no avail.
The water grew higher as Xander concentrated, wrapping over his knees and thighs. For the briefest moment, he considered pushing the ice higher. It would be so easy to consume him, placing him in an ice prison from which he’d never escape. The ache in his chest stopped him and instead, he redirected the ice over the warrior’s hands.
The man was frozen in place, his legs and arms encased. As the white bled from his eyes, the arctic wind died, and Xander lowered slowly toward the captured warrior. He landed before the blond man and stared into his smoldering eyes.
“Kill me, if that’s what you’re going to do,” the warrior said.
Xander shook his head softly. “I’m not going to kill you. I’m not going to kill any of you.”
The Fire Warrior spat at him. “Then you’re a fool, and you’re going to die. If you don’t kill me, I promise you I’ll find a way free of this prison and then I’ll personally come and kill you.”
“You won’t get free,” Xander explained. “Or maybe you will. Who knows? But the smartest thing you can do is turn around and run. Run far… out of France, out of Europe. Run back to the Fire Elemental and tell it that I’m coming for it next.”
“It’s already too late,” the man smirked. “Our Master is already coming for—”
A gunshot split the air; a flash of light erupted from the corner of Xander’s vision. The Fire Warrior flopped backward as the shotgun blast struck him in the chest. The ice encasing his lower body kept him in place, even as his head rolled limply to the side and blood seeped from his lips. His last breath gurgled from his mouth in a bloody bubble as he died before Xander.
The Wind Warrior turned sharply toward the elderly French farmers, one of whom held a double-barreled shotgun in his hands. He turned the weapon toward Xander as his finger tightened on the trigger.
Reflexively, Xander summoned a gust of wind, driving the barrel skyward. The gun fired, sending pellets harmlessly into the air.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Xander yelled, his eyes glowing stark white in the darkness.
The man’s arms shook and he dropped the shotgun, raising his hands defensively as he stepped between Xander and his wife. He said something in French through shaky lips. Xander had no chance of understanding the man even if he hadn’t been stammering in a foreign language, though he could easily see what bothered him.
The light faded from his eyes, and Xander took a step forward with his arms open before him. “No, no, don’t worry. I’m not here to hurt you, I promise.”
The wife yelled and pulled at her husband. The two turned and ran, glancing over their shoulders nervously as they fled.
Xander considered chasing after them, to let them know that he was the good guy, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good. No matter how good his intentions, he was yet another monstrous figure, wielding the power of the elements. They’d never trust him, no matter what he said.
Somehow, that made Xander far more depressed than he’d already been.
By the time Sean and Jessica woke up the next morning, Xander was already back in his seat at the top of the loft, staring out the window as though the past night’s fiasco had never happened.
Jessica offered a warm smile and a wave but Sean mostly ignored him, instead climbing down the ladder and walking toward the makeshift well Xander had created. Even in the brisk morning air, the frozen well steamed. Realizing he had no cup, Sean made the mistake of dipping his hand in the water for a drink, only to withdraw it immediately. He shivered against the frigid cold as he examined the skin that had gone red almost immediately. It was like reaching into a tub of ice at a fraternity party, searching for that last submerged beer. Or, at least Sean assumed that was what it was like. He never actually went to a fraternity party.
Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Jessica approaching and smiled. If times were different, if they weren’t running for their lives and the planet wasn’t being destroyed, he might actually get invited to a fraternity party. He was dating the head of a sorority, after all. His brash smile faded as he realized that wasn’t exactly true, since if the world wasn’t ending, he still wouldn’t have had a chance with a sorority girl.
“Let’s go for a walk,” Jessica said as she reached his side. She slipped her arm in his and laced her fingers into his hand
“Are we going for a walk or going for a walk?” Sean winked.
She glanced over her shoulder to where Xander still sat stoically, his legs dangling out the window as he stared off into the distance. “I need to talk to you alone… about Xander.”
Sean nodded, but a frown crept onto his face. “This really isn’t a euphemism, is it?”
“Clearly you’ve forgotten about mentioning sloppy seconds,” she remarked as she walked past him.
With a wistful sigh, Sean hurried to catch up to her. They walked for some distance into the woods until the barn was no longer visible. In the middle of the sparsely populated forest, it was easy to forget there was a world war happening. Aside from the faint smell of ash in the air, it was almost peaceful.
“So what did you want to talk about?” he asked, even though he already knew it was about Xander again.
“I’m worried about Xander.”
“I’m not,” he replied dismissively.
Jessica frowned and crossed her arms. Sean was suddenly aware of why it was better not to be in a committed relationship. He was constantly walking a fine line between being brutally honest and having to consider the right thing to say. Being honest was more like himself but having a little tact meant he might actually get in Jessica’s pants again.
“I’m serious, Sean. I’m worried about him.”
Sean shrugged as he sighed. “We all are. He’s going through some heavy stuff right now.”
“No,” she said. “I’m not worried about whether he’ll do the right thing. I’m worried that he’s doing it for the wrong reasons.”
Jessica walked over until she knew she could whisper without being overheard. “He’s doing all this for Sammy, right? But you and I both know there’s a chance Sammy’s already dead. If he finds that out, I need to know if he’s going to quit.”
Sean shook his head. “Xander may not seem like the type, but he won’t quit.”
“Won’t he?” she asked matter-of-factly. “Since day one, everything he’s done was because he was trying to save Sammy. He risked everything for her. He didn’t find the Wind Elemental because he was feeling altruistic and figured the Elemental’s power could save the planet. He did it because the other three Elemental’s combined could defeat the Fire Elemental and set Sammy free.”
“And you’re now wondering if Sammy was already taken as a host and, God forbid, is actually dead and Xander finds out, will he lose his only purpose for fighting?”
Jessica nodded, glad he understood. “Exactly. Is it really that far-fetched?”
Sean sat down heavily on the grass. He knew his friend better than anyone, probably better, though not as carnally, as Jessica. Yet even he had to admit Jessica made a great point, one he hadn’t even considered.
“I really don’t know—”
The wind kicked up around them, billowing the leaves aside in violent gusts. Xander flew
down quickly from the canopy above and settled onto the forest floor. Sean looked up at his friend nervously but was glad to see only genuine confusion on his face.
“What are you guys talking about?” Xander asked as he emerged from the awning of leaves.
Sean stood and shook his head again. “Just working through ideas.”
Xander stepped beside his friends, and the underbrush began to sway with the growing breeze. “I need to talk to you both.”
Jessica looked nervously toward Sean before turning back toward her ex-boyfriend. “We’re all ears.”
“You’re right, Jessica, I can’t just sit around feeling sorry for myself. I need to act. But you were wrong, too. Trying to help individuals is getting me nowhere. Trying to save each individual farmer in France is doing nothing to stop the Fire Caste.”
Xander placed his hands on his hips and chewed on his bottom lip as he considered the right words. “Something last night made me realize that no matter how much good I do, I’m only one man against an army of Fire Warriors. I can waste all my time fighting every Fire Warrior I come across, and I may win every battle, but in the end, I’m going to lose the war. There are just too many of them and too few of me.”
“Of us,” Sean corrected. “It’s our planet, too.”
Xander nodded. “Too few of us. If I want to end this, I need to take out the Fire Elemental once and for all, and I can’t do that until I find the Earth Elemental.”
“Do you know where to find him?” Jessica asked.
Xander shook his head. “No, but I think I know how to find him… or her… who the hell knows anymore. If the Earth Elemental wants to be found, and I think he does, then I should be able to sense his location.”
They stared at one another, each lost in their own thoughts. It was almost over. It was hard to believe that after finding the Earth Elemental, they could finally defeat the Fire Elemental and bring this insane war to an end. One last step in an otherwise painful adventure.
Earth God Page 4
