Fearing for his friends, Xander shifted the current of the wind wall. Before the Fire Warrior could release his flames, he was lifted from his feet and tossed through a broken window, disappearing into the shattered interior of the store.
Only after he threw the warrior did he realize his mistake. Shifting the wind dropped the barrier long enough for the other Fire Caste to get closer. Flames now exploded around the two men.
“I’m already running low on ammo,” Wilkes yelled, his voice barely carrying over the din of battle.
Xander lifted another pair of Fire Warriors, tossing them high into the air. They both crashed down on rooftops nearby and didn’t reappear. Glancing around, he saw a few warriors sprawled on the ground unmoving, but far too many were still advancing. His technique of attacking one or two at a time wouldn’t be good enough to save them from this ambush.
Closing his eyes, he summoned a much smaller protective barrier just around the two of them as he concentrated. Aside from the heat that washed over them both, he barely noticed the unrelenting Fire Warrior assault going on just inches from his protected face. Instead, his mind reached out to the clean air high above the smoke cover over London. There, in the clean air, dark clouds began to gather. The clouds crashed into one another as they swelled in size, forming the general shape of an anvil hanging in the morning air. Within the dark cloud, a single brilliant flash of lightning crashed.
General Abraxas raised his head at the sound of rolling thunder. His lips spread into a crooked smile that revealed deadly, jagged teeth. The flaming wings on his back spread as he leapt from the top of the building and soared over the Thames.
Sean coughed roughly as he wiped soot from the side of his pudgy cheeks. He and Jessica stood hand in hand, staring at the end of the road from where they just fled. The intersection was consumed in flames, swirling in an angry pillar around where Xander and Wilkes were standing.
“Do you think they’re okay?” Jessica asked, squeezing Sean’s hand.
“He’s the freaking Wind Elemental,” Sean said. “If he’s not okay, there’s not much hope for the rest of us, is there?”
Instinctively, they knew they should run further. The Thames wasn’t far behind them and was probably the safest place they could go to survive the swarming Fire Warriors, but they couldn’t pull their eyes away from the onslaught at the intersection.
“We should go,” he said.
Jessica nodded but neither of them moved.
Thunder rumbled in the sky, rolling from clouds they couldn’t see through the smoky cover over the city. Rain began pouring around the blazing pillar surrounding Xander and Wilkes. It poured torrentially, but it was remarkably localized. Sean and Jessica could actually see the line on the road where the rain stopped and the dry air began. They looked to each other inquisitively and quickly looked back toward the battle.
They flinched as they saw a Fire Warrior emerge from a storefront between them and the inferno. The blond man had his back to them and he, like all the others, advanced on Xander.
“It’s raining just at the intersection, and the Fire Warriors are still going toward him,” Sean said. “That means Xander’s got to still be alive. Otherwise they wouldn’t bother, right?”
Jessica nodded again but didn’t speak.
A burly Fire Warrior emerged from an alleyway and turned toward the intersection. He started toward the battle before pausing and turning the other direction. His gaze fell on Sean and Jessica, and his brow furrowed in anger.
“He’s seen us,” Jessica said.
“In hindsight, we probably should have hid instead of standing in the road.”
“Run,” she said as she released his hand and hurried away from the running Fire Warrior.
Sean reached down and picked up his cricket bat before turning and running after her. It only took a couple strides before the stitch in his side returned. It had been coming more and more frequently the more often he’d been forced to run. Cardio had never been his strength but he had already determined that if he survived this apocalypse, he was going to put a lot more effort into his physical fitness.
“Move it, Sean,” Jessica yelled from nearly a block ahead. She paused next to the dilapidated fire truck and vigorously gestured for him to hurry. “He’s gaining on you.”
Sean looked over his shoulder and saw the massive Fire Warrior racing after him. The man was easily a foot taller than Sean was, with long strides with which he couldn’t hope to compete. At most, Sean figured he had another block before the big man caught him, if he even bothered. More than likely, he’d feel a scorching fireball hit him in the back.
Realizing the futility of the chase, Sean stopped and spun toward the warrior.
“Sean? What are you doing?” Jessica asked.
“I can’t outrun him, and I’m sure not going to get killed from behind while running away.”
Sean spun the cricket bat in his hand and sneered at the Fire Warrior. The bulky blond slowed his pace before sauntering to a stop twenty feet in front of him. Muscles swelled beneath the man’s leather armor as flames sheathed his hands to the wrist.
“Man,” Sean muttered, “this was a really stupid idea.”
He gripped his cricket bat tighter and ran through his options in his head. Running, fighting, pleading, or crying all ended with the same fatal result, as far as he could surmise. He swallowed hard and shook his head.
“All right,” he said louder so the Fire Warrior could hear him. “You want some? I’ll give you more than you can handle.”
The Fire Warrior smiled maliciously at him and took a dangerous step forward.
A jet of high-pressure water shot over Sean’s head and struck the Fire Warrior in the chest. The flames around his hands were extinguished as the man was driven to the ground. He sputtered as the geyser kept him pinned to the asphalt.
Sean turned and saw Jessica perched on the back of the fire truck, straddling the gap behind the cab. A water hose was mounted to the roof, and she angled it so that the blast struck the Fire Warrior in the face.
“It still has some water left in its tank,” she said giddily. She was clearly enjoying herself.
Sean smiled at the sorority girl. As much animosity as they shared when she and Xander were dating, he’d never have thought her as strong and tough as she turned out to be. Jessica noticed him smiling, and she pursed her lips. She held onto the hose with one hand while pointing impatiently toward the warrior with her other.
“He’s down,” she said. “Go hit him with the bat before he gets back up.”
Sean nodded excitedly. “Yeah. Sure. Right.”
He turned back to the man just as Jessica turned off the hose. The Fire Warrior coughed and ran his hand across his face, pushing his long hair out of his eyes.
Sean stepped forward, hefting the bat onto his shoulder. He didn’t see the Fire Warrior lying on the ground in front of him. Instead, he saw every jock and bully who ever gave him a hard time growing up. He saw an outlet for every bit of frustration he’d felt from long before the world started ending.
The warrior looked at him defiantly and started to climb to his knees. Sean rushed forward and swung the bat, connecting solidly with the man’s forehead. The wooden bat made a hollow thud as it connected, and the man’s eyes rolled back into his head as he pitched backward. He collapsed onto the ground, his arms and legs spread eagle as his eyes drifted closed.
Sean exhaled slowly and looked at the results of his release of frustration. “Well, that was probably unhealthy.”
Jessica jumped down from the truck and ran over to him, throwing her arms around his neck.
“That was amazing,” she said.
Without thinking, he slipped the bat behind her back and pulled her forward, pressing his lips against hers. She froze in surprise for a moment before her body relaxed into his.
When they finally parted again, Sean felt far more out of breath than he had after running from the Fire Warrior.
He looked over her shoulder to the fire truck. “You think it still has more water in it?”
Jessica saw the mischievous look in his eyes and smiled in return. “I’m sure there’s enough.”
“Then let’s go show these Fire Warriors that even normal humans can be really dangerous. I mean, aside from the ones who carry guns.”
Jessica punched him playfully in the arm and laughed. “Shut up, Sean, and get on the truck.”
Lightning slammed into the road around Xander and Wilkes, scattering the Fire Warriors. As they fled, more flashes of lightning crashed into the buildings around them. Stonework splintered from the brick edifices, showering the Fire Warriors as they tried to flee.
Xander could taste the heavy ozone in the air, and his hair stood on end as he summoned more and more lightning bolts. His eyes glowed with a blinding white brilliance as he spoke to the cloud, coaxing it into creating more of its deadly weapons.
The lightning pierced the smoke cover like glowing spears, leaving hallow gaps in their wake. The smoke rolled back into the wake, only to be pierced again as another bolt flashed through the darkened sky. A sheen of rain followed the lightning, pouring over the burning London street. It soaked through Xander’s hair, matting it to his head.
Thunder rumbled deafeningly through the street with each strike, rattling the few glass windows that still remained and jarring Xander and Wilkes’ teeth. As he concentrated, a sheet of lightning poured onto the street, driving the warriors even further away from the duo.
While Xander summoned the storm cloud above, Wilkes continued firing into the few Fire Warriors brave enough to stand their ground against nature’s onslaught. Struck by his precise gunshots, they collapsed to the ground, joining a dozen of their counterparts who already lay unmoving across the street and on the rooftops nearby.
Xander clenched his teeth as a wave of nausea washed over him. The strain of maintaining the cloud was taking its toll. The pressure was building in his temple with every strike he summoned. Despite his best efforts, he could feel the edges of the storm cloud above him dissipating. He tried to hold onto the evaporating storm cloud, but the strain was too much.
“We’re losing the lightning,” Wilkes said as he shot another Fire Warrior who risked advancing toward the pair.
“I can’t keep it up,” Xander said through gritted teeth. “It’s too much pressure.”
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think they’ve noticed we’re faltering.”
Xander noticed spots of flame reemerging further down the street as the Fire Warriors returned. He focused a few warning blasts of lightning toward them, but the strikes were weak and untargeted. The rain began to lighten as well, turning into a meager drizzle that faded further to a light misting.
“I really hope you had a plan B, Yank,” Wilkes said, though he hardly had to yell any longer without the constant rolling thunder. “I’m down to my last two magazines here.”
Xander swallowed hard as the rain petered off. The lightning trailed off as well as he lost control of the storm cloud. It faded into wisps that blew away in the wind. Only a gently rolling thunder high above the smoke cover remained as a reminder of his elemental assault.
He was exhausted, unsure if he even had the strength to summon a hurricane-strength hale, when the Fire Warriors attacked again.
“We’re going to have to make a run for it,” Xander said. “I can’t keep them back anymore.”
“Run where, exactly? They’ve got us surrounded.”
Xander turned in a slow circle and knew he was telling the truth. Spots of flames were emerging from all around them. They were blocks away but there wasn’t any side roads down which they could run that weren’t already covered by the incredibly angry Fire Caste.
“We’ll…” Xander began before shaking his head. “I don’t know, Wilkes. I’m sorry.”
Wilkes raised his rifle and shot another Fire Warrior. “So am I. Might as well take as many of them with us as we can, right?”
A howling siren split the air, startling both men. Xander dropped into a protective crouch as he looked around cautiously.
Red lights flashed from down the road, spinning lights that matched the intensity of its billowing siren. The fire truck sped past the line of Fire Warriors blocking the way. They dove for cover as the truck flashed past, its tires squealing as it slid to a stop in front of Xander and Wilkes.
“Sean?” he asked.
His friend sat just behind the cab of the truck, where the end of a fire hose sat mounted to the roof. Glancing through the window, Jessica sat in the driver’s seat wearing a broad smile.
“Going our way?” she asked.
“What are you two doing?”
“Saving your butt,” Jessica said. She glanced through the windshield and pointed at a Fire Warrior emerging from the smoke. “Sean, eleven o’clock.”
“What happens at eleven?”
Jessica shook her head and rolled her eyes. “No. There’s a Fire Warrior just to the left of straight ahead. Like a clock. Never mind, just spray him.”
Sean spun the mounted water cannon toward the leather-clad woman and pulled the nozzle. A stream of water shot from the end of the hose, striking her in the chest and knocking her from her feet. Xander couldn’t suppress a laugh at the sight.
“How did you luck out with the hose?” Xander asked. “I figured Jessica would want that job.”
Sean flushed, and Jessica leaned out the window. “Mister tough guy apparently can’t drive a stick.”
“We’re heading east, right?” Sean asked, pointing in the direction of Wilkes’ flat and casually changing the subject. When the Brit nodded, he patted the area beside him behind the cab. “Then mount up.”
Xander climbed onto the back of the truck and slid forward on the top ladder until he was crouched just behind Sean and the water cannon. The truck started with a lurch as Jessica threw it into gear and let out the clutch. It rolled forward with a jerk, and Sean began scanning the road with the hose.
Xander leaned forward until he knew Sean and Wilkes could hear him. “You know this isn’t going to last long, right? They’re going to tear us apart once they figure out what we’re up to.”
“Probably,” Sean said, “but we’ll make a little headway before they do. Every block we can drive is one block we won’t have to walk.”
“Here they come,” Jessica yelled through the back window.
The Fire Warriors emerged from the street ahead, scowling at the charging fire truck. Flames appeared in their hands as they formed a line along the street.
“Let them have it,” Wilkes said, patting Sean on the back.
Sean cranked the handle back and the hose sprayed the line of Fire Warriors. Like dominos, they fell one after another as he shifted the cannon. The Fire Warriors ran for cover after they overcame their surprise and, while the fire truck continued charging ahead down the road, flames started striking the road around them.
“Watch left,” Xander warned as they passed a Fire Warrior.
The warrior threw a fireball into the side of the truck, and the metal smoldered from the blast. A stream of flames struck the front windshield and rolled up and over the top of the cab. When the flames met the pressurized jet of water, the air was filled with a hiss of steam.
“Are you okay in there, Jessie?” Sean asked as he saw where the flames had blackened the front of the cab.
“I’m okay, but I can’t see very well anymore. Most of the windshield is covered with soot.”
The element of surprise quickly disappeared. As they drove past the initial line of Fire Warriors, they reemerged behind the truck and more and more balls of flame struck the speeding vehicle.
A loud pop warned the group as a flame ruined one of the back tires. The fire truck jerked sharply to the left as Jessica lost control of one of the rear tires. The truck slammed into the row of ruined parked cars. The sound of metal scraping together was ear piercing, and sparks flew over the concrete
sidewalk.
“There’s our turn,” Wilkes said excitedly, pointing to a road that angled off from Tooley Street.
The truck didn’t begin angling toward the side road, though they were speeding closer to their turn by the second.
“Jessica,” Xander said. “We need to turn.”
“I’m trying,” she retorted. “The truck’s not exactly cooperating anymore. I can’t get it to turn right with the ruined back tire.”
Xander looked over his shoulder and saw a large gouge torn out of the asphalt from where they were driving on the rim of the blown tire.
“I got more bad news,” Sean said. He pulled back and forth on the nozzle, and the stream of water struggled to spray past the front of the cab. “We didn’t think this thing had a lot of water left if they were using it to fight fires, but we kind of hoped it would last more than a couple of city blocks.”
The truck struck another parked car and rolled slowly past their turn. Xander slapped his hand on top of the cab to get Jessica’s attention.
“Just stop,” he said. “We’ll have to run from here.”
The fire truck pulled to the left again as Jessica applied the brake, and the vehicle came to rest against the burnt husk of a car. They jumped out quickly, landing in the inch of water that pooled on either edge of the road from both the rain and fire hose. It splashed as they landed and kicked up behind them as they ran away from the truck.
Whether the Fire Warriors knew the truck was abandoned or not was unclear, but they peppered the vehicle with bursts of fire until the entire red engine was consumed with flames.
Xander looked to the Brit for guidance as they looked for somewhere to run. He pointed inquisitively toward the side road, which was just past where they came to a stop.
Wilkes shook his head. “We’d never make it back past the Fire Warriors and, even if we did, without the truck we’d never shake them before we got to the flat. We need to lose them first.”
Water Shaper (World Aflame) Page 16
