Flame Caller (37 page)

“
Our master has sent me to
make sure all the clans begin their march. His word is
non-negotiable. Regardless of the Wind Warriors’
presence…”

Abraxas paused and grimaced at the
thought of the Wind Caste.

“
No matter the Wind
Warriors. The time of man has come to an end. You are to march on
humanity and show them the might of the Fire Caste. Burn their
world to the ground. Am I understood?”

The second in command nodded hastily.
“Understood, my Lord.”

General Abraxas smiled, though the
expression had a markedly frightening effect on the worrisome Fire
Warrior.

“
Don’t disappoint our
master. We expect London to burn. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have
many more stops to make before my mission is complete.”

“
I can’t make this
decision on my own,” Xander told the Wind Elemental.

“
Make your decision
quickly
,” she replied. “
Time is short
.”

Xander staggered to the front door but
paused as his hand fell on the door handle. He slowly laid his head
against the cold wood and closed his eyes. A second ago, he had
been so sure that taking the Elemental’s power was the right
decision. It was the first step toward rescuing Sammy and finally
defeating the Fire Caste. After hearing the Wind Elemental’s
caveat, however, he found himself far less sure of his ability to
make this decision on his own.

His aunts and uncles had been Wind
Warriors for decades. Now in their fifties and sixties, all they
had known their entire lives had been serving the will of the Wind
Caste, helping bring enlightenment to humanity. They had watched
their breed grow old and die without any new offspring to
repopulate their dying race. They had lost friends to attrition
and, more recently, lost old friends to the war with the Fire
Warriors. After all they had been through, he was now getting ready
to open the door and ask them to make one final sacrifice, one that
would strip them of everything they’d known. He knew better than
anyone that it was hard to keep your feet on the ground when you’d
spent so long flying close to heaven.

Xander took a deep breath and opened
the door. He squinted at the cold sunlight beyond the small cabin.
The aunts and uncles climbed quickly to their feet when he stepped
out of the house, eager for news. The Wind Elemental had been a
myth among the Wind Caste. To know that they had found her at last
was nothing short of a miracle.

He looked over to Sean and Jessica,
who stood over to the side. His overweight friend flashed him a
smile and nodded supportively. Though the others had their doubts
about his decision to bring them along, Xander was incalculably
happy to have them by his side. They were a grounding force in the
midst of the insanity his life had become.

“
Is it really her?”
Giovanni asked. Frost had settled into the Italian’s long, wet,
black hair, leaving glistening icicles hanging from the tip of his
ponytail.

Xander nodded. “It’s really
her.”

“
Well, don’t keep us in
suspense,” Thea demanded. “What did she say?”

It didn’t take Xander long to recount
the story of the agreement between the Elementals. It took even
less time to explain her offer and the offer of both the Water and
Earth Elementals as well.

When he was finished talking, everyone
sat in stunned silence.

Xander tilted his head upward while
everyone digested the news. The air was remarkably crisp, like a
pillar of light shone down specifically over Iceland. His eyes
drifted toward the swirling, black clouds just beyond the borders
of the island nation. If he strained hard enough, he could hear the
angry, cresting waves slamming into one another less than a couple
miles out to sea.

“
You have to do it,”
Patrick said, finally breaking the silence that hung in the cold
air.

Xander laced his fingers behind his
head and lay back in the grass. He took another deep breath,
knowing that this was the part of the conversation he
dreaded.

Alicia nodded. “If there’s a chance to
stop the Fire Warriors from destroying everything, you have to take
it.”

“
I don’t really see how
this is even a debate,” Thea added.

“
It’s a debate because
this won’t come without a cost,” Xander said sadly.

“
It’s a lot of power to
take into yourself,” Giovanni remarked, misunderstanding Xander’s
concern. “Of course there are risks.”

Xander sat up so that he could make
eye contact with his aunts and uncles. “The cost isn’t to me. It’s
to each of you. You all are only Wind Warriors because she granted
you the power. When I take her power…”

He left the sentence unfinished but
saw the dawning realization in each of their eyes.

“
Will we die?” Alicia
asked. “I may be old but I’m not sure I am ready to die just
yet.”

“
No. Not die,” Xander
corrected. “But when I take her power, you’ll become humans.
Nothing more. No more flying, no more tornados, no more anything.
You’ll just be people again, like you were a lifetime
ago.”

Patrick sat down heavily on the
ground. Thea collapsed beside him. Alicia and Giovanni remained
standing but he could see the sadness spread through their faces.
This was the life they had always known; the only life they could
remember since their ill-spent youths. He was asking to take it all
away from them.

“
Can’t you just give us
back the power once you’ve taken it?” Patrick asked. “If you’re
going to become the Wind Elemental, can’t you just make us Wind
Warriors again?”

Xander shrugged but a gut feeling told
him the answer. “I’m not sure it works that way. I’m not actually
becoming the Wind Elemental. I’m actually the antithesis of all the
Elementals. I’m taking their power to stop the vicious cycle of
castes rising and falling.”

They fell silent again and Xander
hated himself for even having to be the messenger. In his short
life, he’d never been so attached to something as they were to
their powers. He could sympathize with their prospective loss but
struggled to empathize.

“
I told her I wouldn’t do
it unless you all agreed,” Xander said. “I couldn’t bring myself to
agree to her terms unless you all understood the risk. This
is…”

“
Do it,” Giovanni said,
wiping away defiant tears from his eyes.

“
I know this can’t be easy
for…”

“
Do it,” Alicia agreed.
“You have to.”

Xander turned slowly toward Thea and
Patrick. Of all the remaining Wind Warriors, he expected the most
resistance from those two. Still, his promise had been that he
wouldn’t take her offer unless they all agreed.

“
Thea?” he
asked.

She nodded. “We’ve had a good run but
this is the right decision. I can’t believe our future is in your
hands but it’s the best chance at a future any of us
has.”

Xander smiled, hoping her remark was
meant as a joke and not a backhanded compliment.

He turned finally toward Patrick. The
Irishman pursed his lips and shook his head slowly. Xander’s heart
raced in his chest.

“
You’d be a fool not to do
it,” Patrick said. “Quit being a whiny little Nancy girl and go
tell her you’ll accept her offer.”

Xander smiled and stood. “Thank you
all.”

“
Go, lad, before I change
my mind.”

He walked back into the cabin and
knelt beside the elderly woman. The glow from her skin intensified
as he approached, until the interior was nearly as brightly lit as
the hilltop outside.

“
They’ve
agreed.”

“
As I knew they would.
They were all chosen because they were men and women of exceptional
moral character first and foremost. They will always do what’s
necessary to ensure the safety of those under their
protection.
”

Xander cleared his throat. The door
was left open behind him and he could see the long shadows
stretching in the doorway as the aunts and uncles crowded close to
see the Wind Elemental.

“
What do we do
now?”

The Wind Elemental placed her hand on
his wrist and gave him a gentle squeeze. “Now, I give you my
power.”

The translucence of her skin grew more
pronounced as she glowed with an inner light. Xander could see
sparks of light flickering just beneath her skin, as her grip grew
stronger on his wrist.

The gently blowing, cold wind outside
turned to a howl. Sean and Jessica braced themselves against it, as
it seemed the hurricane winds shifted directions just to cut past
the small cabin.

The Wind Elemental’s nails cut into
his wrist. He could feel blood trickling over his palm and dripping
from the ends of his fingers. Despite the sudden pain, he refused
to withdraw his arm.

Deep within his chest, Xander felt the
bottomless hole open as her power flooded into him. The hairs on
his arms stood on end, as the room grew electrified.

Beyond the doors, dark clouds gathered
overhead and icy raindrops splattered on the frozen ground. The
wind hummed with power as it whipped madly around the house,
blasting the meager structure from all angles. Thunder rumbled
through the clouds as unseen lightning crashed between the massive
cells boiling overhead.

The light emanating from the Wind
Elemental faded as her power transferred between them. The
glistening stars beneath her skin twinkled before blinking out of
existence. Her grip grew weaker as she seemed to sink into herself,
finally becoming the frail woman she had first appeared to
be.

For one last moment, her grip
tightened again and her milky eyes locked on Xander.

“
Prepare yourself
,”
she said. “
It’s time.
”

The last of the power slammed into him
as a lightning bolt wider than the cabin crashed down over it,
blinding everyone before the world suddenly grew dark.

Xander was everywhere at once. He was
the wind caressing the wings of a bird in flight. He was the breeze
whispering through the pine trees. He was a warm gust that drenched
the swimmers on a tropical resort. He was the fuel that fed a
rapidly spreading wildfire. He was the arctic blast that froze the
breaths of mountain climbers in their lungs.

The sense of omnipresence was
disorienting. He was connected to the air itself. It surrounded the
planet like a transparent ocean, soaking itself into every visible
and invisible crevice that existed. Being everywhere was far too
much for him to fathom.

Xander tried to pull back within
himself but found the action difficult. His body seemed too small
to contain so much power. He was the proverbial cup trying to hold
back the ocean.

Despite the effort, his will was
strong. The bottomless pit within him grew deeper and wider as the
power receded from the world and settled back within his body. He
still felt connected to everything that was happening but it was a
more passive connection rather than a personal observation. With a
great tug, his consciousness raced back across the planet, finding
residence once again on the large island in the arctic, in the
center of an innocuous cabin on a frozen hilltop.