Water Shaper (World Aflame) (14 page)

“What’s on your mind, Yank?” Wilkes asked.

“We want to go with you tomorrow,” Xander said.

Wilkes shook his head. “Not going to happen. I don’t need or want your help.”

“We’re tougher than we look.”

The Leftenant turned and put his free hand on his hip. “You might be. I saw what you could do and while I don’t understand it, I’m sure you could handle yourself in a fight. But those other two? They’re not fighters. They’re scared kids. The best thing you can do tomorrow is take them by the hand and take them home. This isn’t a place for people like them.”

“They’re tougher than they look, too.”

Wilkes turned back to the window. “Go home tomorrow. I don’t need your help. Those things out there may be
weird, but they’re not bulletproof.”

Wilkes’ comment made Xander’s stomach flutter. He could still see the pool of blood spreading from underneath the Fire Warrior the Leftenant had shot. Though he wasn’t foolish enough to believe Fire Warriors hadn’t been killed
—he was pretty sure his aunts and uncles killed a few while he was inside the sorority house in White Halls—it still stunned him to see a dead body.

“Do you have anything else you wanted to ask, mate?”

“You shot those Fire Warriors earlier.”

Wilkes nodded. “That wasn’t much of a question.”

“You said it yourself. They’re not bulletproof. Why didn’t your army just wipe them out?” Xander asked.

The Leftenant shook his head sadly and stared out the window. “You’re absolutely right. They’re not bulletproof. And we did have a lovely
army, full of tanks, jets, helicopters, and men with guns.”

Turning,
he sat on the edge of the couch, propping up his leg on the cushion. He pinched the bridge of his nose, as though an awful headache was spreading through his forehead. “You may think soldiers are some kind of John Wayne type, but we’re not. Whether we were religious or not, there wasn’t a single man that didn’t know this was the end times. Call it Revelations, Ragnarok, or whatever you’d like. The world was ending.

“When the earthquakes started, they swallowed whole towns. The buildings would fall into massive ravines and disappear forever, taking everyone in the town with them.
Then, lava would pour from the gaps and burn away anything that remained. No bullets and guns could stop the ground from shaking. And none of our tanks or jets would stop our families from dying.”

Wilkes wiped soot from his face
and, in the darkness, Xander couldn’t be sure that he wasn’t also wiping away a tear. “We had nothing to shoot. We were a strong army without an enemy to fight. We were warriors without a war. When we realized how obsolete we’d become, some of the officers released their soldiers to return home to their families. Most just abandoned their posts.”

He looked at Xander with a stern
expression in his gray eyes. “So you’re right. These Fire Warriors—as you call them—aren’t bulletproof. But by the time they arrived, there wasn’t anyone left holding a gun.”

Xander sat in silence, unsure of how to respond. He had lost so much during his fight with the Fire Caste
—his parents, his grandfather, and now Sammy was their prisoner—he sometimes had trouble imagining what this war had done to normal people. Supernatural occurrences had become nearly commonplace for the trio of friends but it was still the beginning of Armageddon for those who didn’t know about the Fire Caste.

“My friend thinks you’re here because of family,” Xander said.

Wilkes’ expression turned steely. “I think it’s about time you went to bed.”

Xander nodded and stood. He walked to the hallway and to the base of the stairs before pausing.

“For what it’s worth,” Xander said, “I’m sorry all this is happening.”

Wilkes shrugged. “It’s not your fault.”

Xander cringed but remained silent.

“Go get some rest,” Wilkes continued. “I can’t guarantee when you’ll get another chance to sleep through the night.”

Xander felt nauseated as he walked up the stairs and searched for an empty bedroom.

“
That’s impossible,
” the Fire Elemental said.

“Improbable, sure,” Sammy said in the reflection, “but clearly not impossible.”

The Elemental swung behind it and connected with the side of a parked car. Its fist left a massive dent in the door, and it slid a few feet into the road.

“
Hosts don’t survive the procedure. You can’t exist. How are you still here?
”

Sammy smiled at the outburst. “You tell me. You designed me. You made me to be the perfect host, capable of containing the essence of the Fire Elemental. I couldn’t be a normal Fire Warrior, so you made me special. Maybe you made me
too
special.”

The Elemental opened its mouth to respond but quickly shut it.

“You were going to say it was a problem you’d quickly correct, weren’t you?” she asked. “I know what you’re thinking. I’m in your head. Or you’re in mine, I guess would be more accurate.” She placed her hands on her hips and lifted her chin defiantly. “Except you can’t correct your problem, can you? You don’t have the time to find a new host, which means you’re stuck with me.”

The Elemental sneered at its reflection. “
You may exist but you don’t control this body. It’s mine now to do with as I see fit. I’ll use it to put an end to the rule of mankind, and you can’t stop me.
”

“But I already have,” Sammy said. “Twice now.”

Sammy held her stern gaze, but she felt the butterflies in her stomach. Influencing her former body was taxing, exhausting to the point that she struggled to maintain her presence. She couldn’t let the Fire Elemental see her wavering resolve.

“You might as well realize that we’re stuck together. Until I figure out a way to get rid of you and reclaim my body, of course.”

The Elemental turned sharply away from the window and outstretched its hands. Flames erupted from its fingertips, setting fire to cars around it. The flames intensified and grew, engulfing the Elemental. It swirled madly, a reflection of the rage boiling within the Elemental. The concrete under its feet melted and boiled under its tantrum, making its footing uneven.

“Master?” a Fire Warrior asked.

The Elemental turned its ire toward the young warrior, who stood some distance away, watching the raging inferno around the naked, blond woman. The man quickly stepped away.

Before the Elemental could focus its blaze on the warrior, it heard Sammy’s derisive laughter from the window. It turned back toward the glass and saw Sammy’s taunting expression.

“
I don’t know how you survived being taken as a host, but you’re not in control of this body any longer.
”

Sammy felt the malicious glee within the
Elemental, and her gaze naturally fell toward the Fire Warrior. Even without acting, Sammy could sense the Elemental’s intent. Closing her eyes, Sammy tried to place herself back within the Elemental. It was physically painful for her to try to stop the Elemental from acting. It seemed like she was pulling on the bumper of a speeding car, trying to keep it from rolling over the edge of a cliff. She had been successful twice so far, but it left her emotionally and physically drained. Sammy could see the Elemental lifting its arm, pointing toward the warrior, but was helpless to stop it.

The Fire Elemental turned back toward the Fire
Warrior, and a jet of flame leapt from its hand. The blaze consumed the young warrior, who screamed in pain before collapsing onto the road. His body smoldered as it continued to burn.

The Elemental turned back toward Sammy and saw her pained expression. For the first time, Sammy saw the Elemental smile at its reflection.

“
You’re not nearly as in control as you’d like me to believe,
” it said. “
You may have caught me by surprise before, I’ll admit, but you won’t get that chance again.
”

Sammy frowned. “You can’t do this. What you’re doing is wrong. I don’t care what it takes, I’ll find a way
—”

The Fire Elemental punched forward. Its fist passed through the window, shattering the glass. Shards tinkled onto the sidewalk. The Fire Elemental stepped forward and looked at the
pieces scattered across the asphalt. It saw its own reflection staring back at it from a hundred places. It frowned, then smiled, and then raised its hand into the air. The reflections mirrored its movements without any of the pestering intervening images of the host.

The Elemental felt a dull ache in its
chest, but it couldn’t tell if it was residual anger or an artifact of Sammy’s frustration. It reached up and rubbed the exposed skin, trying to push the feeling aside.

A gentle breeze blew down the
street, and the Elemental felt the chill across its skin. It looked past the broken window and into the lobby of the battered skyscraper. Letting its eyes trail upward, it saw the top of the building towering overhead.

If the Fire Elemental was to rule the world of men as its king, it only made sense that it
had a throne. There was no better throne room than one in the tallest tower remaining in the city.

It stepped over the threshold, ignoring the bite of glass on its bare feet. It walked through the lobby and entered the stairwell on the far side of the room. Step by step, it climbed the stairs toward the penthouse.

Abraxas lit up the sky with his blazing wings as he soared over the eastern edge of London. Smoke hung heavy in the air, stealing the oxygen from his lungs. He flew on unfazed by the choking smog. The city burned in great swaths, bringing a great joy to the general. Though he reveled in the destruction of another of the human’s capital cities, it wasn’t the burning of London that drew him to the English city. He still felt the tug of the elusive Wind Warrior nearby.

Though the Fire Elemental had given him instructions on how to follow Xander, it had been difficult to pinpoint their enemy until he grew closer to the island nation. He had felt the pull right away, like a string was tied to his belly button, drawing him into the wake of the fleeing Wind Warrior.

The draw had been strong when he had been out over the ocean but had grown weaker the closer General Abraxas grew to the edge of London. He knew it meant that Xander had stopped using his powers. All Abraxas could still feel was the residual power still hanging over the city, like an echo. It was fading quickly, which is why Abraxas pushed himself faster as he flew toward the Thames.

As quickly as the feeling had appeared, the sensation of the Wind Warrior’s power disappeared. Abraxas stopped abruptly and hovered, his flaming wings beating in rhythm with his racing heartbeat.

The general frowned and scanned the city around him, as though he might catch sight of Xander. He punched his hand in disappointment, but his emotional outburst stopped short of actual anger. He had the Wind Warrior trapped. Xander couldn’t fly or fight without Abraxas sensing his presence. There was nowhere for his young adversary to go that the Fire Warrior General couldn’t follow. Though patience had never been his strongest attribute, Abraxas would find it within himself to wait for Xander to show himself.

The General scanned the city
again, and his eyes fixated on the smoking and burning ruins of the House of Parliament near the river. Unlike Xander, who had avoided the heaviest areas of destruction, Abraxas flew straight toward the still-raging inferno that consumed the building.