Water Shaper (World Aflame)

by Messenger, Jon

  “Is he planning on keeping us at arm’s reach the whole rest of this trip?” Jessica asked sourly.

  Sean shrugged, but Wilkes responded. “Most people have trouble coping after they kill their first man. Xander just killed a hundred. Give him some time.”

  “We don’t have a lot of time,” Sean said, pointing ahead. “We’ve almost reached the mainland.”

  The French coastline stretched to either end of the horizon as they quickly approached. There was a marked lack of smoke billowing from the small towns they could see from the air, a good sign as they were trying to find somewhere to land.

  Once they began flying over dry land, Xander began descending. He dropped their elevation until they were barely skimming over the trees. When he found a clearing beyond the tree line, he stopped in midair and began lowering everyone down onto the soft grass.

  Wilkes nearly fell over once his legs touched the ground. He righted himself, pulling his family in close once more.

  Xander turned toward the Leftenant. His hair was disheveled, and his eyes red and swollen. Wilkes politely didn’t remark about the man’s appearance, just merely offered his hand.

  “I owe you my life,” Wilkes said. “My family owes you their lives. There’s no possible way I could ever repay you.”

  Xander shook his hand. “Take care of your family. Find somewhere quiet in the middle of the French countryside and keep your head down until all this is over.”

  “Is it going to be over?” Wilkes asked, stepping close to Xander so that the others couldn’t overhear their conversation. “Are you going to go back into the fight after London?”

  Xander stared unblinking at the Brit. “I don’t know.”

  Wilkes nodded. “For what it’s worth, I really hope you do. The world needs someone like you. I can’t imagine what’ll happen if you don’t finish what you’ve started.”

  Xander pulled his hand back and stepped away from Wilkes. He turned his back and looked out over the pastures.

  Wilkes turned to Jessica and pulled her into a strong hug. “You take care of these Yanks. You’re the brains of the operation, so I expect you to keep them safe.”

  Jessica smiled as she wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye. The officer then turned to Sean. The two stared at each other for a second before smiling broadly and hugging.

  “I’m going to miss you most of all, Scarecrow,” Sean said. “I really hope the Wizard gives you a brain.”

  Wilkes laughed. “You’re still fat, you know?”

  Sean pulled away and smiled. “What’ll you do now?”

  The Brit looked over his shoulder and smiled at his family. “It doesn’t really matter at this point. I have my family. We’re relatively safe here in the country, away from any cities the Fire Warriors may attack. We’ll figure something out.”

  “You guys take care,” Sean said wistfully. “It’s not like there’s a lot of planes around the area but if you’re ever in the United States, be sure to swing through Tennessee.”

  “I’d love to.”

  Sean and Jessica walked over to Xander with sad waves goodbye. Xander kicked off from the ground, lifting the trio into the air. Wilkes and his family waved after them until they were out of sight.

  “Xander,” Jessica said, once they were flying once more over the French countryside, “we need to talk.”

  “No, we don’t,” he replied curtly, without bothering to turn around and look at his friends.

  “Yeah,” Sean said. “We really do. You’re flying blindly through France. Do you even have any clue where you’re going right now?”

  Xander ignored his friend and continued to stare straight ahead.

  “What exactly is your plan?” Sean continued, unabated. “Keep on flying around until the end of the world? And what about the Water Elemental? She seemed pretty clear about her requirements. What are you going to tell her?”

  They stopped all forward movement abruptly, and Xander turned on them. They could see the tears that had fallen and just as quickly dried on his face during their flight.

  “I don’t know, okay?” he asked. “I don’t know what I’m going to do but until I figure it out, do you think you could get off my back?”

  “Why don’t we all just take a deep breath?” Jessica said. She looked at Sean, who crossed his arms and scowled at Xander. “We’re not trying to pick a fight here, but we need to deal with what happened in London.”

  “No we don’t,” Xander said.

  “Yes, we do,” Sean said, intentionally being argumentative.

  “We don’t,” Xander corrected. “I need to deal with this. On my own. My way.”

  They began drifting toward the ground.

  “What are you doing?” Jessica asked.

  They touched down on a farm beside an old, red barn. They looked around, seeing the small French village sitting in a valley a few miles away. Other than that, empty fields and old forest stretched as far as they could see.

  As they turned back toward Xander, they saw him floating up into the air.

  “Whoa,” Sean said. “What are you doing?”

  “Just stay here,” Xander said. “I’ll be back to get you both later.”

  “Stay here?” Jessica said indignantly. “How long are you going to be gone?”

  Xander didn’t reply and kept drifting higher into the sunny afternoon air.

  “Xander!” Jessica screamed, stomping her foot into the muddy ground.

  “No,” Sean yelled to the retreating form, “don’t worry about us. We’ll just hang out here in the middle of an empty field in a foreign country in the middle of the freaking apocalypse!”

  “He’s already gone,” Jessica said. “He can’t hear you.”

  Sean huffed. “Your ex-boyfriend really is a piece of—”

  “I know,” Jessica interrupted. “I know. Let’s go find somewhere to get comfortable. Maybe we can get something to eat in that village.”

  Xander flew upward, letting the world beneath him drop away until the cities became black smudges on the surface of Europe. He went higher and higher, until the greens of the woods blended seamlessly into the yellows of wheat fields.

  He looked away from the Earth, letting his eyes trail upward toward the unfiltered sky above him. His lungs burned, not from exertion, but from the thinning oxygen around him. He gulped for air, glad that the Wind Elemental’s power granted him the ability to breathe in such a thin atmosphere.

  When he felt that he was high enough, he stopped ascending and floated in the thin air. The cold was biting but he ignored the discomfort. He looked down on the planet, admiring the curve of the horizon. From this height, he couldn’t see the brutal destruction that marred so much of the planet’s surface.

  His heart ached looking down. He knew that somewhere, far below his feet, Sean and Jessica were still probably swearing at him. Somewhere along the curve of the horizon, Sammy was in trouble, her life hanging in the balance. Somewhere in the deep blue waters below was an Elemental, watching him and judging him.

  He had failed them all.

  His only mission had been to go to London and clear it of the Fire Warrior infestation. It was the only stipulation given to him by the Water Elemental in exchange for her powers. Instead, he had allowed himself to get sidetracked while playing the role of the hero. He had saved Wilkes and his family, but Xander had no idea how many other families were still in London. He hadn’t saved any of the others, and he certainly hadn’t cleared the city of the thousands of Fire Warriors. By saving one family, he had practically condemned all the rest of them to die.

  Being this far up in the air seemed to give him a lot of perspective.

  Failing the Water Elemental had much greater ramifications. Without her power, he couldn’t hope to stand up to the Fire Elemental. Even with her partial powers, he had struggled against General Abraxas. That failure hurt worse than any other did. Failing the Water Elemental meant that she wouldn’t be giving him her powers, and his ch
ances of saving Sammy dwindled by the second.

  He stared down at the world below and his eyes fixated on England, barely discernable off the coast of Europe. Looking at the island brought fresh tears to his eyes and a hitched sob escaped.

  Though he hated to admit it, failing Sammy wasn’t his biggest failure. In the process of trying to save a single family in London, he had failed someone far closer—himself. He had been so eager to be the superhero Sean believed him to be that he had thrown away his humanity in the process. He had taken a life. Not just a life, but a hundred lives. How many times had he told Sammy that he didn’t necessarily consider the Fire Warriors evil? But he had killed them just the same.

  He liked to think that Sammy was a rare breed among the Fire Warriors—that her connection with her own humanity made her unique. Except he didn’t know if that was true. He didn’t know if Sammy was unique, or if there were other Fire Warriors who didn’t agree with the scorched Earth mentality of the Fire Elemental. How many rebellious warriors had been on the bridge, only to be washed away by the tidal wave?

  That was his biggest regret. He hadn’t just failed in his mission. He had also been so willing to sacrifice his morality and humanity in the process.

  And that was the biggest joke. If he lost, he lost. But if he won, he also lost.

  Xander floated far above the planet and took hitched breaths as his lungs struggled to strain usable oxygen from the thin air. He could have flown down a few thousand feet and continued his self-flagellation, but it seemed fitting to drift aimlessly in the frozen upper atmosphere. He deserved his punishment. He deserved any pain he suffered while trying to sort out his thoughts.

  More importantly, he no longer felt the urge to rush back to the Earth and continue his fight against the Fire Caste. He had failed, and he hardly needed an Elemental to tell him all that his failure had cost him.

  He guessed that, for the time being, he would just remain in his lonely perch atop the world. Just for a little while longer.

  Sean and Jessica left their backpacks and the cricket bat at the red barn before walking toward the small French village. The countryside was surprisingly quiet, a drastic change from everything they’d encountered in the heart of London. They were glad for the quiet, even though Sean was still brooding over their abandonment.

  “You have to let it go,” Jessica said. “He’s under a lot of stress.”

  “Then he needs to down a six-pack of beer like a normal person.”

  “Why are you so mad? At least we’re safe. It’s not like he left us in London.”

  Sean stopped walking and turned toward Jessica. “We’re in the middle of World War Three, and he just dumped us in France. I don’t know about you, but my French leaves a little to be desired. I think the only word I ever learned was gesundheit.”

  Jessica smiled politely. “That’s German.”

  Sean threw up his arms dramatically. “That’s exactly my point. He might as well have dropped us on the moon.”

  Jessica turned away from him and started walking toward the village again. “You’re being a drama queen.”

  “I guess I’m just fed up with being the sidekick,” he said as he hurried to catch up. “I was okay with it when all this started. Xander was the big, bad hero, and we were just there to make sure he was successful. But he’s going through a Batman-style brooding period right now. And you know what happens in comics when the hero starts brooding and disappears from the public eye?”

  “No, but I have complete confidence you’ll tell me all about it.”

  “The sidekick puts on the uniform and takes his place,” Sean said, ignoring her obvious condescension. “If Xander’s going to run and hide from his responsibilities, we’ll have to face the Fire Warriors ourselves until he pulls himself back together.”

  Jessica stopped walking and sat down on a fallen log. She patted the spot beside her, inviting Sean to sit. Confusedly, he took his spot next to her. She took his hand and squeezed it gently.

  “I know this sucks, Sean,” she said, surprisingly compassionately. “All this bluster you’re doing is just to cover up the fact that your best friend is falling apart, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

  Sean frowned and pulled his hand back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Jessica took his hand again, pulling it back to her. “Yes, you do. You and Xander have been friends forever. No matter how much I disliked you before, I could never drive a wedge between you two. Now he’s running off on his own because he’s the world’s next messiah, and he’s leaving normal you behind. It sucks. You just have to realize everything he’s going through.”

  She pulled his hand up to her lips and kissed it softly. “I never thought I’d say this but I think you’ve shown a much better job at holding everything together than he has. Just bear with him a little longer.”

  “And if I don’t want to give him more time?”

  Jessica clenched down on his hand until his knuckles turned white. Sean groaned, surprised by the lithe woman’s strength.

  She saw his resolve weaken as he fixed his gaze on her hand holding his. “Okay, okay. I’ll give him some time. How are you so freakishly strong?”

  Jessica laughed and stood. He climbed to his feet as well, ensuring their fingers stayed interlocked.

  “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving,” Jessica began. “No, I take that back. Of course you’re starving, too.”

  “Oh, we’re back to fat jokes, I see.”

  Jessica smiled sweetly and caressed his knuckle with her thumb. “There’s probably something to eat in the village. I’d like to get some food and get back to the barn before it gets too late. You never know when Xander’s going to show back up.”

  The little village was quaint. Sean didn’t really know a better way to describe it. Thatched roofs and stone walls framed either side of a narrow road that passed through the town’s center. Aside from the modern asphalt of the road, the whole thing could have been taken straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting.

  The illusion of quiet peace disappeared as Sean made eye contact with the locals. They oozed malevolence. He had heard plenty of rumors about French people being rude; it was a stereotype that was constantly perpetuated by Americans. The looks he was receiving went beyond general rudeness. It was borderline violent xenophobia; they were afraid of anyone from outside their small town.

  Their anger dissipated immediately when they saw Jessica. The anger toward Sean became outright fear. People rushed into nearby homes and shut their doors. Sean could hear the locks sliding across the doors as they closed behind the villagers.

  “What was that all about?” she asked.

  Sean shrugged. “I don’t know, but our chances of getting a good meal seem to be dwindling.”

  They walked down the town’s center street, sure they could feel prying eyes watching them through the blinds of the homes they passed. Halfway through the town, the smell of fresh, baked bread wafted through the air. Sean’s stomach growled loudly in response. He placed a hand on his belly and smiled apologetically to Jessica.

  She pointed to a nearby building, one with a glass bay window and a small, wooden sign dangling from its awning. “It’s a bakery.”

  “Thank God,” he said. “Smelling the bread was torture.”

  Sean jogged to the front door and tried the handle, frowning when he found it locked. He stepped to the window and cupped his hands against the glass as he tried to look inside. The walls of the bakery were lined with loaves of bread, cooling on baker’s racks. Near the center of the room was an old woman, frozen in place as though holding still would somehow make him overlook her.

  “Hi,” he said, knowing his voice would be muffled through the glass. “Can you come unlock the door?”

  He pointed urgently toward the front entrance. She glanced nervously toward it as though contemplating her options. Begrudgingly, she walked toward the door.

  “She’s going to open u
p for us,” Sean said as he hurried back to Jessica.

  The lock slid aside, and the door opened a crack. A weathered old woman stuck her head into the gap and looked at Sean.

  “Oui?” she asked.

  Her gaze drifted to Jessica, and her eyes widened in fear. “Zut alors!”

  She tried to close the door quickly but Sean was quicker, putting his bulk against the wood and holding it open.

  “Stop pushing,” he said. “We just want something to eat. Bread. Do you understand me?”

  “She doesn’t understand you,” Jessica said. Her eyes drifted up to the sign hanging above them. She could read the single word well enough. “Pain?”

  The old woman stopped pushing against the door and stared with obvious distrust at the pair. “Pain?”

  Jessica nodded at the obvious correction of her terrible French accent. She brought her hand to her lips like she was mimicking the motion of eating. “Pain. Then we leave.”

  The old French woman looked back and forth between the Americans before disappearing into her store. She reappeared seconds later and shoved a round loaf of bread toward Sean.

  “Vous allez,” she said urgently.

  “You wouldn’t happen to have some cheese too, would you?” Sean asked.

  Jessica grabbed his arm and smiled toward the woman. “Don’t press your luck. Let’s get out of here. This town gives me the creeps.”

  The door slammed in their face, and the lock was drawn again. They walked back to the road with the loaf of bread tucked under Sean’s arm. It felt like the walls around them were filled with judgmental eyes, watching their every movement.

  From the corner of his eye, Sean caught sight of a man’s face watching him from a doorway. He turned and locked eyes with a bearded Frenchman who merely scowled at him. The man’s eyes never left Sean and Jessica as they walked out of town.