Earth God

by Jon Messenger

  “Don’t you make me chase you,” Abraxas threatened as he landed.

  The flaming wings folded to his side before dissipating completely. Even without them, Sean was more than a little intimidated by the general.

  “I can see you, fat man,” the Fire Warrior said, his eyes glowing red as he saw their heat signatures retreating. “And you have the girl with you. Come here and bring Balor, and I promise all your lives will end quickly and painlessly.”

  They ignored Abraxas, running deeper into the hospital. Jessica pointed toward a door ahead marked “Logistics” as they ran.

  “If I have to chase you,” Abraxas continued, “I assure you I will flay the skin from your bones before I cook and eat you in front of your Wind Warrior friend. Now get back here!”

  “Go, go, go!” Jessica said, practically pushing Sean through the doors into an even more poorly lit hallway.

  The logistics corridor lacked the nice paint and fancy signs that marked the main hallway. Most of the walls were exposed concrete with cages set against them. The racks might have once been filled with medical supplies but most had been taken, leaving behind only scraps. Jessica ignored all the empty baker’s racks and led him toward a metal security room near the back of the hallway. There had once been a closed door blocking off this area, but it was open. As they passed through, Sean could see the melted lock in the door, still glowing faintly and dripping liquefied metal.

  They turned a corner just as the doors at the far end were thrown open, banging loudly into the walls on either side.

  “I know you’re in here,” Abraxas yelled. “You’re only making this harder on me, which means I’ll make it much, much harder on you.” A rack crashed to the ground. “I shouldn’t be wasting my time chasing after humans. You’re nothing more than insects, but you happen to have someone I need. Give me Balor and I’ll even let you two live… unless you keep up this stupid charade of making me chase you!”

  “Down here,” Jessica whispered as they rushed toward the back of the secured area.

  Sean expected to see another door melted away like the first, but instead, he saw only a solid wall. There were more storage rooms, separated by chain-link fencing, set against the left wall and a desk to the right, but no exit, no obvious escape, and nowhere left to run. Sean frowned as they came to a stop before the cages. Lord Balor stepped out from behind the cages and started turning nozzles on the canisters protruding from the cage. Sean turned and looked, seeing stacks of oxygen tanks stored horizontally in their racks.

  For a second, Sean didn’t understand. They had intentionally run into a dead end, trapping themselves in the back of a hospital with a psychotic murderer just so they could undo oxygen tanks? As Balor turned another nozzle, the cool gust of air washed over him. Maybe it was the lack of oxygen from running, but the sudden blast of pure O2 cleared his mind. He remembered chemistry class and, more importantly, some very important chemical reactions that occur with pure oxygen. He didn’t even need to see the warning stickers on the side of the silver canisters.

  “Back,” Balor said hastily. “Everyone, back.”

  He opened the last of the canisters before stepping through the cloud of cooled air. No sooner had he turned back toward the front of the cage than General Abraxas entered. The bald man smiled wickedly at the sight of all three prey, trapped as they were against the far wall.

  “Finally,” he hissed as he took a step forward. “Ran out of maze to run through, my little rats?”

  Sean gave his best derisive laugh. “You wish. I guess I wanted to see how I could handle myself against the supposedly big and scary general.”

  Abraxas paused before taking another few steps forward. “I could have saved you the trouble. The answer is—you can’t. You’ll die, just as your little whore will die, just like Balor will die.”

  “See, that’s funny,” Sean said, laughing again. “The way I remember it, you haven’t done so great when facing us.”

  Abraxas snarled as he walked forward. He was only a few steps away from the blast of oxygen. “You have done nothing. You have been the ankle biters who cling to the Wind Warrior’s deeds, claiming his accolades as your own.”

  “And you’re just one of the Fire Elemental’s lackeys, taking credit for everything the dragon does.”

  Abraxas chuckled. “I may not be the Elemental, but I am definitely a tool of its retribution.”

  “Oh, you’re a tool, no doubt.”

  “You two are worthless vermin,” the general hissed, his mirth gone. “You’re less than insects compared to me.”

  “Really? I remember things differently. I heard you ran away like a little bitch when Sammy set you on fire.”

  The general snarled, exposing his pointed teeth. He stepped into range of the first of the O2 canisters.

  “I heard you ran like a bitch when your attack on the Wind Warriors’ island failed.”

  Another step forward.

  “I saw you washed away, screaming like a third grade schoolgirl when the tidal wave took you out in London.”

  Yet another.

  “And from what Lord Balor has been saying, they dropped a whole cave on you.” Sean leaned forward and extended his middle finger. “I guess at the end of the day, I just wanted to see if you were just a bunch of hype.”

  Abraxas roared angrily and summoned balls of flame to his hand. Sean dove backward as the flames ignited the oxygen in the air. A roaring fireball, one that washed over Sean as he fell to the ground, consumed the cage. The emergency lights shattered in the explosion and canisters that hadn’t fully emptied launched across the room like missiles. Lord Balor threw up his hands, blocking most of the flames from reaching him and Jessica.

  The fireball died as quickly as it had appeared, casting the back room into impenetrable darkness. Balor summoned a small flame, enough to light the room. Sean lay on the ground, smoke rising from his back. Jessica broke free of Balor’s grasp and ran to his side. The skin of his forearm was lightly burnt and his hair still sizzled. She patted his head and his clothing, making sure there weren’t any embers remaining.

  “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow,” Sean muttered over and over.

  Jessica laughed nervously as she rolled him over. Sean stared up at her, smiling faintly, both of them glad he miraculously survived the explosion. A shuffling nearby drew their attention even as Lord Balor spoke.

  “This isn’t over,” Balor said.

  Sean and Jessica looked up to see a skinless General Abraxas stumbling toward them. His lips had been burned away, as had most of his nose. They weren’t sure if his eyes were still in place or if it was just flames dancing in their sockets, but he stared infuriated at the pair. The general’s steps were shaky as he approached, reaching out a mangled arm toward them.

  “Why won’t you just die?” Jessica cried, stupefied the Fire Warrior wasn’t dead.

  Sean shook off her grasp and climbed quickly to his feet. Abraxas’ attention shifted solely to him, and Sean could feel the hatred rolling off the general in waves. The general shambled forward, his arm outstretched as he reached for Sean’s shirt. When he was nearly close enough to touch him, Sean drew the pistol and squeezed the trigger.

  General Abraxas’ head rocked backward and his body staggered, trying to keep his feet. The outstretched arm started to curl inward, reaching for his split forehead before Abraxas fell to the ground.

  They all stared in silence, barely willing to admit even a modicum of victory. Finally, after Abraxas lay still without a rise of breath in his chest, Jessica sighed in relief.

  “You killed him,” Jessica said excitedly. “I mean, he’s really dead.”

  Sean walked over to Abraxas and shot him in the head once more. “Rule number two. The Double Tap. Now he’s dead.”

  Summoning as much phlegm as possible, Sean spit on Abraxas’ body. “And I was right. You’re totally a little bitch.”

  The pickup bounced along the interstate, rolling over the debris scattered across the roa
d. Their backpacks slid around in the bed of the truck with every sharp turn. Sean gripped the steering wheel tightly as he drove, his butt leaving the seat as they rolled over some of the larger potholes or scraps of tires.

  “Everyone okay?” he asked, though he looked the worst of the group. The cut above his eye had stopped bleeding but dried blood now caked his face. Road rash burned along his shoulder and hip. The worst pain was coming from the second-degree burns across the back of his neck and forearms from the explosion. They were blistering in tiny, water-filled dots across his skin, and they itched. Oh God, how they itched.

  “Still good,” Jessica said. She smacked his hand as he started to scratch his forearm. He frowned and his hand returned to the steering wheel. “You should have let me drive.”

  “I’m fine to drive,” he muttered.

  “You’re in no condition,” Lord Balor replied sternly. “General Abraxas nearly killed you and while you have earned my respect for slaying such a proficient warrior, you should be lying in the backseat instead of me.”

  Sean glanced into the rearview mirror, which he had intentionally angled downward to watch the Fire Warrior. The truck had been a blessing, one of the only vehicles still running at the hospital, and with an extended cab as well. It wasn’t a comfortable backseat, but for a man who was severely dehydrated and exhausted, it was working perfectly.

  Sean turned the wheel sharply and the truck drove onto the shoulder, narrowly avoiding the tail end of an overturned semi. A buzzing sound filled the cab as they drove over the rumble strips. Once they were clear of the wreck, he pulled the truck back onto the interstate.

  With a flip of a lever, windshield washer fluid splashed onto the windshield, followed quickly by the wipers. It brushed away much of the dirt and soot that was blocking their vision, though it turned much of the ash to mud. It was a temporary reprieve. Their windshield was now damp, which would only attract more ash. It was a vicious cycle they’d been dancing through for the past forty miles.

  Through the newly cleared window, Sean and Jessica could see the rises of the Los Angeles skyline in the distance. It looked vaguely familiar, even if it more closely resembled the backdrop for every post-apocalyptic movie Sean had ever seen. Put Mad Max or Milla Jovovich in the foreground and the scene would be complete.

  “Car,” Jessica said, pointing out the window. “Sean, car. Car, Sean!”

  Sean saw the car blocking the road, even before Jessica said it with progressively more panic in her voice. Unfortunately, the vehicle was the tail end of a multi-car accident that blocked the entire road. The rear bumper of the car jutted over the shoulder. He glanced quickly over to the left, but the accident stretched fully into the median.

  “Brace yourself,” he said as he angled toward the end of the car.

  Jessica grabbed the “oh-crap” handle as she glared at Sean. For a second, she swore she saw a faint smirk on his lips seconds before they crashed into the back of the car. The ram cage on the front of the truck sent the car spinning aside. They all lurched within the cab, but the truck barely slowed.

  Sean laughed hysterically. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that. That was full-on Grand Theft Auto.”

  Jessica flipped loose hairs out of her face. “Let’s not do that again,” she mumbled.

  The smile disappeared from Sean’s face as he noticed her disapproving stare. He drew her attention away from him by pointing at the city. “I’m not seeing a dragon flying around. That’s got to be a good sign, right?”

  “You think Xander’s still alive?” Jessica asked. “We asked for a couple hours, which is forever when you’re fighting a dragon. The battle in France took, what, three minutes?”

  “Fifteen,” Sean corrected, though that hardly put either of their minds at ease.

  “The Wind Warrior is still alive,” Balor said from the backseat. “If he were dead, the world would be tearing itself apart. This continent alone would be blanketed in some of the most brutal super storms the universe has ever seen.”

  “You are just a ray of sunshine,” Sean said flatly.

  “He has a name, you know,” Jessica said. “Xander. Xander Sirocco.”

  “Though I guess you could call him ‘son,’ if all this works out correctly,” Sean chided.

  His attempt at humor only solicited a growl from the backseat.

  “It’s only another five or six miles until we reach the edge of the city,” Sean said, quickly changing the subject as he remembered the man in the backseat was capable of summoning some rather brutal fireballs.

  “And you’re sure Xander has a plan once we get there?” Jessica asked. “The city’s full of Fire Warriors.”

  Sean shrugged. “He sounded like he had a plan. We kind of need to trust him on this one.”

  “I could destroy any of them who stand in our way,” Balor said confidently.

  “Let’s leave that as plan B,” Jessica muttered.

  Xander glanced down at his watch again as he sat atop a partially melted pylon jutting from the ruined top of a skyscraper. Raising his head, he glanced toward the red dragon, perched on the roof of its penthouse apartment, glaring at him angrily. It had taken the Fire Elemental longer than Xander would have expected to grow bored of chasing him around, realizing the futility of its actions. Xander was quicker in the air and far more maneuverable. Every time the dragon got too close, he simply lessened the lift under its wings or sent a powerful jet stream into its face, retarding its flight. Eventually, growing bored of the chase, it alighted on its throne room. For his part, Xander perched across from it.

  He wasn’t sure which it despised more—the fact that he eluded it or that there had been a power shift. The Fire Elemental clearly expected his arrival in Los Angeles to be the start of their final battle and, instead, Xander had taken away the power, choosing when and where they would fight.

  “You’re only delaying the inevitable,” the dragon hissed for the tenth time. Like all the times before, Xander merely ignored its diatribe. “I will kill you, even if it takes the rest of my life. I’ll chase you across the planet. It’ll only take one time, one moment where you lose your concentration, and I’ll be there to end you. I’ll—“

  It continued ranting, but Xander didn’t hear it. His consciousness wasn’t in his body any longer. He was gliding across the breeze outside of L.A., searching for signs of humanity beyond the city’s borders.

  A few miles outside the city, he found what he was looking for. A black pickup truck rumbled along the interstate, dodging the wrecked cars. Inside, he could sense the water and feel the breath of the occupants. Two humans sat in the front of the cab, bouncing along with the movements of the truck. A third, not quite human, lay prone in the narrow back row in the truck’s extended cab.

  Xander smiled as his consciousness roared back into his body. He glanced toward the dragon, which continued ranting, unaware the scenario had changed.

  “—suck the marrow from your bones,” it said.

  The building beneath its feet began to shake violently. The earthquake seemed localized, focused solely on that one building. The base of the skyscraper cracked as the intensity of the quake grew. Flapping its wings for support, the dragon craned its neck toward Xander.

  “What is this?” it yelled.

  Cracks appeared along the side of the building, and the few remaining windows shattered as the building shifted awkwardly. Atop the massive structure, the Fire Elemental swayed dangerously from side to side, in danger of being thrown from the rooftop at any moment. Pylons snapped and floors collapsed as Xander increased the shaking. A sinkhole opened in the building’s basement, dragging the first floors into the sewer tunnels beneath.

  At the top of the structure, the skyscraper tilted. Though it struggled to remain upright, the building was on the verge of collapse. The dragon sensed the danger in time to leap skyward as the structure tumbled into the street below. Clouds of debris filled the air, billowing upward and coating everything for b
locks in every direction.

  Xander’s heart pounded in his chest. This was the moment he had been dreading. Despite his newfound confidence and the power flowing through him, there was something daunting about facing a massive, fire-breathing dragon. His palms were sweaty, and he wiped them absently on his jeans.

  “What is the meaning of this?” the dragon yelled, hovering above where the building had so recently stood.

  Xander swallowed hard, knowing he needed to sound confident even if he didn’t feel it. “It’s time.”

  The air grew eerily still beneath the dragon. With no updraft, the leather of its wings fluttered for purchase. It stared infuriatingly toward Xander before a reverse gust of air slammed into it from above. The Fire Elemental roared as it was driven downward, crashing through the roof of the stadium below. Its body shattered the concrete ceiling and poured boulders of rock onto the basketball court beneath. It landed heavily amidst the stones and pitched from side to side as it tried to right itself.

  Xander laced his fingers together and watched as puffs of dirt rose into the air near the edge of the city, in the path of the truck.

  “You said Xander had a plan, right?” Jessica asked nervously as they approached the edge of the city. Fire Warriors were emerging from the buildings on either side of the street, lining the side of the interstate like a firing squad. No matter how quickly they drove, there wasn’t much of a chance of racing past them without being burned alive.

  “Of course,” Sean replied. “I’m pretty sure. Well, he’d better.”

  “I could—” began Balor.

  “Not now, Padre,” Sean interrupted. “I’m trying to think.”

  “Not your strong suit, I’d imagine,” the Fire Warrior retorted.

  “Should you… let up on the gas, or something?” Jessica asked.

  Sean shook his head. “It won’t make much of a difference now. If Xander doesn’t come through, it won’t really matter what we do at this point.”