Water Shaper (World Aflame)

by Messenger, Jon

  Sean laughed softly. “There you are.”

  He rubbed the redness on her cheek as though it would make it fade away quicker. Jessica blinked hard, and her eyes struggled to focus.

  “Can you hear me?” he asked. “Why don’t you try to sit up? Can you talk?”

  “You ask too many questions,” she moaned. She placed a palm against her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut.

  “No, no. No closing your eyes. I just got them open again.”

  Jessica forced her eyes open and looked up at Sean. She immediately pressed her lips together, and her skin took on an odd shade of green. Pitching forward, Jessica threw up onto the floor and Sean’s shoes.

  For a moment, Sean was frozen with disgust. He reached forward and gently patted her back.

  “There, there. Let it all out.”

  Jessica coughed a couple more times and ran the back of her hand across her mouth and nose.

  “Oh God, I’m so sorry,” she said.

  “Don't worry. This isn’t the first time a pretty girl who isn't fully in control of her faculties threw up on my shoes.”

  Jessica sat upright and chuckled. “Aw, you think I’m pretty?”

  Sean laughed and brushed her hair out of her face.

  Jessica reached up and gingerly touched the side of her head. “What happened? My head is killing me.”

  Sean cringed, not sure he wanted to be the one to tell her about the attack. He certainly didn’t want to tell her about beating the Frenchman with the rock. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

  “We were sitting around the campfire. After that… that’s it.”

  “There was… you were…” He looked in her eyes and saw her obvious concern. Sean smiled softly and ran his hand down across her cheek. “You tripped when you were getting up and hit your head on a rock. I was worried about you.”

  Jessica closed one eye and was glad not to be seeing double. “Would you mind too much if I lay down? It’s killing my head to be sitting up.”

  “Just don’t fall asleep,” he said. Sean sat down in the hay and patted his lap. “Go ahead and lay your head on my lap.”

  “That’s the weakest pick-up line I’ve heard,” she joked.

  She laid her head down but immediately shifted as something firm pressed against her head.

  “Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” she mumbled.

  Sean blushed and pulled the pistol from his waistband, tossing it into the hay. “Strangely enough, both.”

  He patted his lap again and invited her to lie down. She lied her head down on his rough jeans but still felt nauseated. Sean ran his hand through her hair, avoiding the matted blood caked near her temple.

  “Say something funny,” she said.

  Sean frowned. His mind always froze when someone puts him on the spot.

  “Come on, Sean. My head is killing me, and I don't want to think about Xander and his crazy war anymore.”

  Sean cleared his throat. “Sometimes I lie awake at night thinking about how much scarier the world would be if there were evil mimes.”

  Jessica laughed, but it quickly became a groan as she clutched the side of her head.

  “Sorry,” Sean said.

  Jessica took a deep breath and placed her hand on his arm. “Don’t be. Tell me more about these evil mimes.”

  Sean brightened at her smile. “Think about it. You’d never hear them coming. And if they did get caught by the cops, they’d never talk.”

  “But would they actually commit a crime, or would they just act it out?” she asked.

  They both laughed, bringing a little bit of warmth back into their drafty barn. As their laughter died away, Sean looked down at the beautiful blond lying in his lap.

  “I hope Xander hurries back,” he said.

  Jessica smiled and reached up, brushing her hand across his cheek. “I don’t.”

  They stayed up most of the rest of the night, talking and laughing.

  The Fire Elemental drummed its fingers on the armrests of the recliner in irritation. Its host had been nothing but a bother. It couldn’t believe that she still existed at all, much less that she could assert her will onto their body.

  The Elemental slammed its fist into the armrest. “It’s not our body,” it corrected. “This is my body.”

  General Kobal looked up from his place across the room at the Elemental’s unmitigated outburst. He arched his eyebrow inquisitively but quickly looked away when he realized no explanation would be forthcoming.

  It sat back and stared out the broken bay windows. The Elemental should have been savoring its victory, since the last vestiges of the human resistance in Los Angeles had been crushed. Instead, its mind drifted to Xander and his constant elusion. Sammy had said time and again that the Wind Warrior would defeat Abraxas, and she had clearly been correct. She had also said it was only a matter of time before he found the other Elementals and was finally ready to face the Fire Elemental in their final confrontation.

  The Elemental smiled faintly at the thought. Sammy foolishly believed that gaining the strength of the other Elementals would be enough to defeat the Fire Elemental. There was so much more that she didn’t understand, nor did the Elemental believe Xander knew any better either. He would blindly march into combat with the Fire Elemental without ever knowing that he could never win.

  As the Elemental pondered its future, it heard a faint whisper in the air around it, a beckoning call from one of its distant minions. It knew the voice well enough, though it believed at last this minion was actually dead. The Elemental clenched its hand into a fist. Depending on how the conversation went, there was a strong chance that General Abraxas would wish himself dead.

  It closed its eyes and quickly teleported its awareness across the world. The glowing eye appeared once more above the broken building next to the Thames. It looked in a further state of disrepair than when it had seen it. The front wall was smashed as though from within. The bricks of the wall were scattered across the street, charred and blackened.

  In the middle of the debris, Abraxas sat on the asphalt. His legs were bent awkwardly beneath him, and he was forced to lean backward to look up at the Elemental.

  “Master,” Abraxas said.

  The Fire Elemental remained silent, watching the disgraced and broken Fire Warrior. A dominant part of it wanted to set the General’s blood on fire, igniting its own power that coursed through the man’s veins.

  Abraxas seemed to sense its inner debate and raised his hand apologetically. “Please, Master, forgive me.”

  “The Wind Warrior has escaped,” it said matter-of-factly.

  General Abraxas nodded slowly. “He wielded the power of the Water Elemental. I was… I was caught unaware. It won’t happen again.”

  “You weren’t caught unaware. You were arrogant. You treated my mission to you as a means to end a personal vendetta. Instead of realizing that the power I gave you granted you a second chance at leading my armies across the planet, you saw them as a means to an end. That brash overconfidence made you underestimate a man who single-handedly wielded the full might of one Elemental and at least the partial strength of a second. Only a fool would have assumed Xander Sirocco would have rolled over and died as easily as you nearly did.”

  “Please, Master. Let me prove my worth. Just heal my legs, and I’ll chase after the Wind Warrior. I won’t stop until he’s dead or I am.”

  The eye stared down unblinkingly. “No, General Abraxas. You’ve proven just how unworthy you really are. Your legs will heal in time and, when they do, you’re to report to our underground castle.”

  Abraxas raised his head in confusion. He furrowed his brow, and the new scars across his scalp twisted from the motion. “The castle? There’s no one still there. We only left a small retinue of guards behind. What could I possibly do there?”

  Though Abraxas couldn’t see it, the Elemental smiled wickedly. “That small retinue of guards is watching over a single
prisoner. You will replace them. Until I deem you worthy of a more important task, you will guard Lord Balor. And General, if your prisoner dies, so will you. This I promise.”

  The General looked like someone had stabbed him in the chest. He struggled for breath, knowing that his new assignment was a metaphorical death sentence. He would never lead the armies of the Fire Warriors again.

  “What of the Wind Warrior?” he asked meekly. “He’s still out there. Who will you send after him?”

  “No one,” the Elemental replied.

  Abraxas shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

  “You were my most trusted minion, and you failed me epically. Clearly, I can’t trust anyone to kill the Wind Warrior. So I won’t be sending any of my Fire Warriors after him. I’m going to kill him myself. I’ll find Xander Sirocco and show you what happens to those who stand against the Fire Caste.”

  Xander flew fast enough that contrails stretched for miles behind him. He flashed across the sky as he sped toward the heart of the Atlantic Ocean.

  He didn’t bother slowing as he reached the surface of the water. The impact sent a geyser of water hundreds of feet in the air and sent concentric circles of waves rolling from the impact zone.

  As he entered the water, his physiology shifted intuitively, and he started breathing in the briny water. Though the water should have slowed his descent, he moved through the liquid as though he were still in the air. He sank lower and lower, oblivious to the pressures of the ocean that would have crushed a normal man. The sea grew darker around him, but Xander didn’t notice. His eyes glowed neon blue. Through his eyes, the water near the sandy bottom of the ocean was as clear as the tropical waters in the Caribbean.

  The city ruins quickly approached and he finally slowed, drifting on the undersea currents until he was over the hilltop and its once-glowing pool. Under the water, the pool seemed a foolish piece of architecture, just a square flagstone framework around more of the flowing ocean.

  He knew the Water Elemental wasn’t in her pool. It wasn’t necessary anymore as it had been when they first found her. She was a part of the ocean, all around him. He could feel her presence from the moment he’d skimmed the surface of the waves, and she had followed him until he reached her ancestral home.

  Xander stopped in the water and turned himself upright. His hair floated freely in the water, drifting upward and framing his head like a halo.

  “I’m here,” he said. The words escaped as bubbles from his mouth, but the sound carried clearly through the heavy water.

  The water in front of him shimmered. A school of fish swam toward the disturbance, turning upward at the last moment to form tendrils of hair. The bubbles that had escaped his mouth drifted horizontally through the water, settling into position as eyes and a thin mouth. The eye bubbles filled with the bioluminescent he’d seen before. Though her form was virtually impossible to discern—just the impression of undersea currents framing her curvaceous hips, torso, and arms—he knew he was facing the Water Elemental.

  “I’m here,” he repeated. “Let’s get this over with.”

  “Get what over with?”

  Xander frowned. Despite it being unnecessary, he moved his arms and legs as though he were treading water. “Taking your power back. I just want this done with.”

  He got the impression that the Water Elemental tilted her head inquisitively to the side. “Why would I do that?”

  “Quit screwing with me,” he said. “I failed. You sent me to London with one purpose—to get rid of all the Fire Warriors. I didn’t. I got so sidetracked trying to save one family that I wound up leaving with thousands of warriors still in the city. I gave up my own humanity to save one stupid family. I screwed up. Now just finish this.”

  “Xander Sirocco,” she said, “I didn’t send you to London to get rid of Fire Warriors. I’m no fool. One man, even one wielding all the might of the Wind Elemental, and a portion of my own power, still wouldn’t stand a chance against thousands of Fire Warriors.”

  Xander furrowed his brow. “I don’t get it. If it wasn’t for the Fire Warriors, then why did you send me there?”

  “Sometime between when we agreed to create you and when you showed up in my city, I had lost my faith in humanity. I wasn’t sure I wanted to save it anymore. I wasn’t sure the Fire Elemental was wrong anymore. I sent you to London to prove that humanity was worth preserving.”

  She flowed closer to him, her bubble features stopping only inches from his face. “You say you gave up your humanity for one family. Do you know what I witnessed? I witnessed a single man willingly sacrificing his morality and his humanity to save even three of his fellow humans. Do you understand the difference?”

  Xander shook his head, confused.

  “What you see as a huge sacrifice for little reward, I see as someone willing to make an ultimate sacrifice to save the lives of even the fewest of his brethren. Had you known that they could have escaped but the cost would have been your life, would you have sacrificed yourself for them?”

  He thought back to his group standing on the bridge, surrounded by General Abraxas and his legion of Fire Warriors. Hundreds of thoughts went through his mind as he tried to formulate a plan, most of which had resulted in his death. He had only dismissed those options because a better one presented itself.

  “Yes,” he said simply.

  “That’s why you didn’t fail me. That’s why you’re the perfect choice to harness the power of the four Elementals. If you care so much for even one family, amidst the billions on the planet, then you’re the right person to save the planet from destruction.”

  Xander swallowed. He wanted to smile with relief, but the ache in his heart remained and refused to allow him any semblance of happiness.

  “So what happens now?”

  The essence of the Water Elemental turned away from him. He could no longer see the bubble facial features, and instead was faced with dozens of black fish eyes staring at him from her makeshift hair.

  “Now I give you my power.”

  He wanted to reach out to her but there was nothing there he could grab hold. “I mean after that. Where do I go from here?”

  “You find the Earth Elemental and complete the triad. Only with his power will you be able to find and face the Fire Elemental.”

  “Why can’t I find the Fire Elemental now? I felt the tug of your position the second I left the Wind Elemental. I’m sure if I concentrated right now, I could find the Earth Elemental. But every time I think about the Fire Elemental, I get nothing.”

  “You can’t find him because he doesn’t want to be found. He’s concealing himself from you, and your powers are too new to you to fully utilize.”

  Xander willed himself forward, and he drifted up behind the Water Elemental. She turned as he approached and he faced her glowing, seemingly soulless, eyes. “But you can find him, right? He has someone I love. If I can find him, then I can save Sammy.”

  Despite her features being made of nothing more than sea currents and bubbles, he swore she looked wistful. “Going to her now is suicide. Find the Earth Elemental. Only then will you be ready to find the Fire Elemental and rescue your lady friend.”

  “What are you not telling me?” he asked.

  “Your mission is done,” she said. “Accept my power.”

  The ocean flared brilliantly. The fish that created the illusion of her body fled in all directions as the water before Xander filled with sparkling stars. They were too brilliant to look at, and he was forced to turn away.

  He felt a concussive blast centered on where the Elemental had stood seconds before. A wave of energy rolled over him. The force of the blast forced the water away from his spot above the city’s central pool. The water and power washed over and past him, leaving him hovering in the stale air, hanging in a dry pocket of air deep under the ocean.

  He stared forward in wonder as he saw the brilliant blue, shimmering wall holding the water at bay. As he watched, the blue li
ght quickly receded and the water rushed back toward him.

  The crushing water slammed into him from all sides at once, but he didn’t feel its pressure. He became porous to the water, and it flowed over and through him simultaneously. It filled him from within until he felt like he was overflowing with its might. His body felt like it was tearing itself apart cell by cell as his consciousness stretched through the oceans, flowed into the seas, coursed up the rivers, and even fell in the raindrops from the sky.

  It wasn’t the connection to the water that scared Xander so terribly. It was the realization that with the power of the water came an instant connection to every man, woman, child, and animal on the planet. He felt the water in their bodies, flowing through their veins, and pulsing through their hearts.

  He gasped and sucked in lungsful of salt water. The physical connection to his body drew his awareness back to his spot above the pool. He looked down as his eyes came back into focus. The pool no longer glowed with its bioluminescence. Nor would it ever again, he realized.

  It was the Water Elemental that had made it glow.

  He was the Water Elemental now.

  I never thought we’d already be putting out the third book. If it weren’t for the amazing rockstar fans of the World Aflame saga, I’d still be meandering through the pages of book 2 instead of publishing book 3. You demanded more and, since you are what make me successful as an author, I aim to please.

  As with my other acknowledgements, my first and sincerest thank you has to go to my editor Cynthia Shepp. She believed in me as an author when I was unheard of beyond my close friends and family. She read my manuscripts and saw a spark of something great hidden within my overused commas, misplaced words, fragmented sentences, and the highly overused word: “tacky”. I know, I mentioned that word in both of the last two books I’ve published. Does that make it tacky?

  The greatest thank you goes to Beckie, Courtney, Dyan, and Marya (listing names alphabetically sucks when you work with a B, C, and D, huh Marya?). These amazing ladies sort through piles upon piles of manuscripts to find the absolute best. They’ve published some phenomenal books through Clean Teen Publishing and yet somehow keep believing in the sole male on their docket, publishing not just my World Aflame saga but the Brink of Distinction trilogy and even looking at my next steampunk series. Your support has been truly inspirational.