Sean handed the buckets back to Jessica before shoving her toward the barn door. “Get inside.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I’m going to help, if I can,” he replied as he pulled the pistol from his waistband.
Jessica hurried inside, her breath labored as her heart pounded in her chest. Cinders fell from the ceiling, drifting lazily toward the bare floor of the barn. She kicked loose hay aside, trying to keep the burning cinders as far away as possible from the dry tinder. A single ember would be enough to ignite the interior of the barn, turning their safe haven into a raging inferno from which no one would escape.
Smoke rolled lazily from one corner. She grabbed a horse blanket from the nearest stall and raced to the small fire. Throwing the blanket over the blaze, she smothered the flames before they had a chance to spread.
With a sigh, she turned toward the frozen cocoon, still resting in the back of the barn. She could see the faint outline of Xander deep within the ice. He seemed like he was floating within the cylinder, oblivious to the destruction occurring mere feet away.
Looking quickly away, she retrieved the last two buckets of water before rushing back toward the front of the barn. The water wouldn’t go far, not with the roof already smoldering and threatening to ignite. A few better-placed balls of flame would bring the entire barn down around them.
As she reached the door, the ground beneath her feet shifted. She stumbled and threw her hands out before her to break her fall. The pails of water fell from her grasp with a clatter, spilling onto the hard-packed earth.
Jessica paused, her blonde hair hanging in her face, as she waited to see if the short-lived earthquake would continue. When it didn’t, she stood quickly, dusting the dirt from the knees of her jeans. She glanced down sadly at the lost water, knowing there would be no refills until the raging battle outside was done.
Stepping over the buckets, she stepped toward the door when a second quake struck. This one was far more violent than the first, throwing her from her feet. She landed roughly on her back, knocking the wind from her lungs. She gasped for air as the ground beneath her rolled angrily back and forth.
The shaking caused the wooden beams around her to groan in protest. Pieces of the ruined roof collapsed inward, crashing onto the loft overhead. Ash and embers floated through the air as the small portion of the roof gave way. She coughed as she stood, trying to regain her feet and escape the collapsing barn. The door wasn’t far away, still ajar from where she had entered. A quick run would reach it and the freedom beyond.
Instead, she glanced hastily over her shoulder. The blue-white of the cocoon was visible, as was the soft light radiating from it. She knew she could run outside and be well clear of the barn before it collapsed, but her own safety meant nothing if Xander died. They could hold off small groups of Fire Warriors, but the world had been invaded. The planet didn’t need a blonde sorority girl acting like a resistance fighter; it needed Xander Sirocco.
She rushed back into the barn as the walls began to crumble around her.
Sean fired a few rounds out of the pistol but wasn’t sure he came close to hitting anything. Bark flew from nearby trees, but the Fire Warriors seemed unfazed by his attempt. As the slide locked to the rear on the pistol, Sean continued pulling the trigger. He stopped only when he realized the gun was offering only a dry click with each attempt.
Cursing, Sean threw the pistol toward the nearest Fire Warrior, accomplishing little more than his gunfire had moments before. He started looking for a rock when the first quake struck. He dropped to a knee reflexively, catching his balance. The Fire Warrior, though, tumbled back into the woods, disappearing from view.
The earthquake quickly receded, though Sean held his position for a moment longer. As he stood, he glanced toward Wilkes. The Brit had an equally dumbfounded look.
“You guys get a lot of earthquakes in France?” Sean asked.
Wilkes shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I’m British.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
“You sound like that movie, Lethal Weapon. What was that blokes name? ‘I’m getting too old for this—’.”
As the second, more devastating earthquake struck, Sean and Wilkes were both tossed prone, as was everyone else nearby. The fighting ceased as resistance and Fire Warriors alike struggled to regain their footing. The forest was filled with the sound of falling trees, sounding like rolling thunder to Sean.
A more persistent cracking noise sounded from behind him. The heavyset man rolled onto his shoulder in time to see the barn’s roof collapsing. Debris crumbled into the barn, sending shrapnel and wood slivers pouring from the open door.
“Jessica!” he yelled, his eyes widening in fear. She hadn’t emerged after collecting the buckets. He had sent her inside just as the barn turned into a death trap.
The walls wobbled unsteadily as the ground continued shaking. The wooden support beams splintered and gave way as the barn imploded. Long, wooden boards crushed the remainders of the walls as they fell. The chaotic scene was concealed by billowing dust, a cloud of which poured over Sean.
He coughed and waved his hand futilely in front of his face. “Jessica!” he croaked as he rose to his hands and knees.
The ground was still shaking, but the worst of the quake seemed to have passed. He was unsteady climbing to his feet, but Sean didn’t seem to care. He rushed into the cloud of dust, choking and coughing as he ran.
He could see nothing, and he quickly stumbled across the closest edge of the ruined barn. Wooden beams, splintered and fractured, jutted like wooden spears. No, Sean realized, that wasn’t what he thought they looked like, though he tried not to think of the alternative. They looked like wooden gravestones.
Sean stumbled into the debris, stepping with reckless abandon through the splintered wood, all the while calling her name.
“Jessica,” he called out as he lifted a downed section of wall. He found only smoldering hay beneath. “Please, just let me know that you’re okay.”
The barn had seemed cramped as they lived in it, always staring at the same four walls and the small cubbies that once housed horses. Now, with it destroyed and piled in mounds sometimes as tall as Sean, the ruins looked expansive; far too much to find a single woman.
Despite the dense dust that was only just beginning to settle, Sean pressed on, lifting whatever he could to check beneath and praying Jessica hadn’t wound up beneath one of the larger piles.
Without realizing it, he wandered to the back of the barn. When he saw one of the back doors, draped strangely as though balanced on a fulcrum, he suddenly remembered the cocoon. He wasn’t concerned about Xander or his own safety. The fact that his friend had been imprisoned by his own devices in the back of the barn meant little to Sean. What he realized was that if Jessica had been in the barn when it started to collapse, she would have most likely run to Xander’s side, either praying for his help or trying to save him. Being a hero was apparently contagious.
Sean heaved with all his might, sliding the heavy, wooden door aside inches at a time. When it became overbalanced, the door crashed onto the ground, revealing, as Sean had assumed, that it had been teetering over the icy cylinder.
His heart leapt for a moment as the cocoon was revealed, only to have it break moments later.
Jessica wasn’t there. She wasn’t huddle beneath the icy cocoon for protection or even lying unconscious at its foot. Wherever she was, it hadn’t been with Xander.
It was a full second later that he realized the cocoon was no longer there either. The blue-white ice had shattered. Large chunks of jagged ice were strewn across the floor in all directions, leaving only half the cylinder intact. Amidst the broken cocoon, the perfectly smooth impression was visible, a spot where Xander had lain until mere minutes ago.
Xander, like Jessica, was gone.
Sean stumbled back toward what had once been the front of the barn. His feet caught on chunks of wood and s
huffled through piles of hay. The dust had mostly settled, but a haze of smoke had quickly replaced it as the hay caught fire throughout the ruined structure.
He looked up as his feet stepped down onto soft grass once more. Emerging from the barn, the smoke lessened as well, finally giving him a decent view of the field and forest beyond. As he wiped away the stinging smoke that clung to his eyes, Sean paused. His hand hovered next to his face, frozen at the sight before him.
Wilkes knelt on the grass, his hands on top of his head. He stared at Sean apologetically as a Fire Warrior stood over him, a small ball of flame dancing threateningly in his hand.
“On your knees,” the Fire Warrior demanded.
Sean hesitated, glancing left and right. All around the ruined barn, Frenchmen were likewise on their knees, having been overrun by the Fire Caste. While he had been hastily searching for Jessica, the Fire Warriors had used the confusion of the earthquake to overtake Wilkes and his men.
A fireball exploded at his feet, sending sparks careening into his pants. Sean hastily looked back to the warrior.
“On your knees or the next one goes through your friend’s head,” the leader of the Fire Warriors said, emphasizing his point by summoning another burning orb.
Begrudgingly, Sean dropped to his knees, keeping his hands raised in surrender.
“How many more of you are there inside?” the warrior asked.
Sean shook his head. “None. It was just me.”
“You’re lying. We sensed the Wind Warrior and we know he was here. Where are you hiding him? Tell me and maybe I won’t kill you all.”
Sean bit his lip, stifling a biting retort. “Who are you kidding? You’re going to kill us anyway. But it doesn’t matter. I’m telling you, man, there’s no one else in there. If there was someone in there before, they probably didn’t live through the barn’s collapse.”
Their leader appeared as though he wanted to refute Sean’s claim but instead turned to the Fire Warriors nearby. “Search the barn. Bring me anyone you find inside.”
“And if we should find the Wind Warrior?” one of the warriors asked.
“Bring him to me alive, if possible. Kill him, if not. Our master will be just as well served with only his head.”
The Fire Warriors walked past Sean and disappeared into the smoke, which had grown thicker as more of the dry hay caught fire. They seemed unfazed by the smoke, vanishing within its depths without so much as a cough.
They waited in silence, listening to the occasional shuffling of wood or scraping against stone. Eventually, those sounds grew silent as well. Nothing moved and no one spoke. Even the woods were devoid of the normal animal calls, as though they, too, had fled in advance of the Fire Caste.
“Marko?” the leader called out. He fidgeted when he heard no reply. “Parron? Someone answer me.”
“They won’t be answering you,” a female’s voice said, though the sound of her voice came from high above the men standing and kneeling in the grass.
Sean tilted his head backward and squinted against the sunlight filtering through the clouds. There, nearly two-dozen feet above the field, a shimmering bubble floated toward the ground. Inside, Jessica stood like a storybook fairy princess, floating toward the earth as though by magic.
She touched down between Sean and the Fire Warrior’s leader, seemingly unconcerned by the number of warriors surrounding her. The Fire Warrior scowled at the new arrival and gestured toward his men.
“Kill her.”
Balls of flame launched toward the bubble. They struck the transparent surface but dissipated on impact. Jessica remained completely protected within.
“What sort of magic is this?” the leader yelled. “You’re not the Wind Warrior! You have no powers!”
“No,” Jessica agreed before pointing skyward, “but he does.”
Xander landed in front of the bubble, though his feet never touched the ground. He hovered, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes glowing so brilliantly white and blue that Wilkes was forced to squint.
The Fire Warrior leader launched a fireball toward Xander but the Wind Warrior merely held up his hand. Humidity in the air coalesced around the ball of flame, turning it to harmless steam. The steam washed over Xander’s chest but did little else.
The leader paused nervously as he stared at the confident Elemental before him. He could feel the tug of insurmountable power being harnessed, more than he would have thought possible given the Fire Elemental’s description of Xander’s abilities.
The other Fire Warriors glanced toward their leader, but he had no orders to give. One of the others summoned a jet of flames that swirled madly in the palm of his hand.
“Kill him! Kill the Wind Warrior for our master!”
Xander raised his hand slightly, and the ground beneath the Fire Warrior split. Water shot upward like a geyser, encompassing the Fire Warrior and extinguishing his flame. Similar geysers sprang forth beneath many of the warriors nearest Xander until they were gurgling in the heavy spray. Glancing down at his hand, Xander closed it into a fist. The water flash froze, turning into beautiful ice sculptures, each with a Fire Warrior trapped within.
Sean glanced toward the nearest frozen spray, thinking it looked a lot like an ice-laden tree. Looking at the frozen geysers, Sean couldn’t imagine how anyone could still be alive within those solid sheets of ice. He glanced appreciatively, if not confusedly, toward his best friend.
The Fire Warrior’s leader looked as though he wanted to speak, but as he opened his mouth, white frost formed at the corners of his mouth. His eyebrows and eyelashes grew thick with frost as well, as did his blond hair. His skin went from a ruddy pink to a pale white as the temperature lowered unnaturally around him.
Shivering from proximity, Wilkes scrambled away from the freezing Fire Warrior and rushed to Sean’s side, safely behind Xander.
“You tried to kill my friends,” Xander said, the unconfident young man no longer apparent in the Elemental standing before them. “You threatened to kill me.”
“I… I…” the Fire Warrior stammered, though his mouth refused to move correctly in the cold. Nearby, the remaining Fire Warriors watched the scene unfold, too afraid to either fight or flee.
“Until recently,” Xander went on as though unaware of the anguish the Fire Warrior was under, “I had great reservations when it came to killing someone, even a Fire Warrior. I can’t even begin to tell you how much it pained me to see your kind die by my hands. But while I was recently frozen, beaten severely by your master and recovering from wounds that would have killed a normal man, I had… well, let’s just call it an epiphany. I was afraid to kill you all because I couldn’t imagine taking another man’s life. But you’re not men. That was my epiphany. You and your kind are monsters, murderers. I let someone convince me otherwise before and it screwed with my head, but not anymore. You all are monsters, and I have no problem putting down monsters.”
An icicle formed in Xander’s hand, growing progressively taller until it stretched over his head. He turned his open palm toward the leader, the icicle now pointing at his chest.
“The Fire Elemental will destroy you,” the leader spat.
The icy javelin launched from Xander’s hand, piercing the Fire Warrior’s chest and lifting him from his feet. He flew backward, still impaled, until the icicle struck a tree. It pinned the Fire Warrior in place, though the man was too far gone to worry about it any longer.
“I doubt it,” Xander replied calmly.
Xander turned toward the other Fire Warriors. “I’m going to let the rest of you live but only because you’re going to carry a message back to your master. Tell the dragon that Xander Sirocco isn’t dead and that I’m coming for it. And no matter how many Fire Warriors it puts in my way, I won’t be stopped until this war is over.”
The warriors needed little other provocation. They turned and fled into the woods, running until they were well out of sight.
Xander didn’t watch them
leave. He turned back toward his friends with a brash smile on his lips. The bubble faded from around Jessica, and she hurried to Sean’s side before wrapping him in a hug. His hands rose to her waist, but Sean’s eyes never left Xander.
“You’ve changed,” Sean said.
Xander walked toward them, but the glow never left his eyes. “I got some good advice recently. It kind of opened my eyes.”
Sean raised his hand to his face, pointing specifically at his eyes. “Speaking of eyes, do you know you’re still glowing?”
“It’s good to have you back,” Jessica said.
“Aye, Yank, you definitely have impeccable timing,” Wilkes added, slapping Xander on the back.
Jessica frowned slightly as she looked at Xander. “Are you sure you’re okay, though? This is a much different you than just a few days ago.”
“Your slap was very convincing,” Xander joked. “The truth is, I know now what I need to do… what we need to do.”
“Yeah?” Sean asked. “And what’s that?”
Xander smiled. “We’re going to win a war.”
“Gather your men, Wilkes, and salvage whatever equipment you can from the barn,” Xander ordered with a brash confidence that hadn’t existed before. “We’re going to need to leave France as soon as possible.”
“Where are we heading?” Sean asked.
Xander shrugged. “I don’t know exactly where, yet, but we’re going to find the Earth Elemental. I can sit here and fight individual battles with the Fire Warriors, or I can get the earth power and take the fight straight to the source.”
“Xander?” Wilkes said, tapping him on the arm. Xander turned toward the Brit. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Give me a second, guys,” Xander said to Sean and Jessica. He stepped away from the others. “What is it, Wilkes?”
Wilkes smiled wistfully. “My mates and I, we’re not going with you when you leave.”
Xander furrowed his brow. “You can’t stay here. This place is crawling with Fire Warriors. They know I’m here, and they’re coming out of the woodwork.”
Earth God Page 16
