Flame Caller (20 page)

The second they entered his house, the
Fire Warriors knew they had found the home of a Wind Warrior.
They’d be coming for him soon.

The Italian closed the bedroom door
behind him and slipped into the bathroom door to his right. He
closed it quietly behind him and turned toward its dark interior.
The bathroom had a small window of frosted glass but the window
didn’t open and it was far too small for him to fit through. He
glanced around for a weapon but realized his house was poorly
designed for defending against the Fire Caste. Short of beating one
of them to death with a toilet plunger, Giovanni didn’t have any
real options.

Even through the closed door, he could
hear the creaking of the wooden steps as the two warriors climbed
toward the second-story landing. Giovanni wiped away a thin sheen
of sweat from his forehead before climbing into the claw-footed
tub. He quietly pulled the shower curtain in front of him,
realizing how ridiculous it was that his only protection was a thin
sheet of semi-transparent plastic.

The muffled footsteps stopped in front
of the bathroom door. The door handle jiggled as the Fire Warriors
checked the bathroom. Giovanni could see a glow flood the room as
the warrior stepped into the doorway. He couldn’t see the man but
it was easy to imagine the man’s arm sheathed in flames. The
proximity to the Fire Warrior turned Giovanni’s stomach. Despite
his concern about the shower curtain, he suddenly realized it was
his savior. The flickering flames were reflected off its shiny
surface, keeping him hidden. So long as the Fire Warrior didn’t
check the bathroom more thoroughly, he’d be safe.

The warrior stood in the doorway for
what seemed like an eternity before the light faded and the man
stepped back into the hallway. Giovanni refused to let out the
breath he was holding, for fear of being discovered.

He heard the closet door across the
hall open moments before he heard the two Fire Warriors make their
way toward his bedroom.

Waiting was no longer an option. It
wouldn’t take long for the other Fire Warriors to spread across the
island. There was a chance the other aunts and uncles were still
asleep and unaware of the danger. Despite the risk, he needed to
ring that bell.

Giovanni silently pulled aside the
shower curtain and stepped out of the claw-footed tub. His stomach
was still a giant, painful knot. The discomfort had been enough to
wake him from his sleep when the Fire Warriors began their assault.
Their use of the elemental powers so close to his home had been far
too telling for him to remain asleep.

Barefooted, he stepped into the
hallway. The shadows of the Fire Warriors fell on the walls in the
hallway, stretched from where they inspected his
bedroom.

He grinded his teeth as he watched
them tear through his room. The few papers he kept on his desk were
tossed unceremoniously onto the floor. The sheets were ripped from
his bed and discarded in a pile on the floor.

Giovanni walked down the hall without
making a noise and stood in the doorway. While the Fire Warriors
searched his room, he began focusing his energy. He kept his eyes
fixated over the Fire Caste, focusing on the bell tower that stood
above the central dome.

A distant cry split through the still
night air. The Fire Warriors seemed just as startled as Giovanni at
the scream. Breaking their relatively silent assault with such
noise meant only one thing—there was a battle between the Fire
Warriors and at least one Wind Warrior. Others were awake but it
was hard to tell whether the yell had been of surprise or
pain.

A sudden breeze swirled through the
room, sending the pile of sheets tumbling on the floor. Both Fire
Warriors suddenly clenched their guts as his power grew. Their
fires extinguished themselves, as their concentration was broken,
casting the room into sudden darkness.

The wind kicked up unexpectedly,
lifting a chair from its place beside the nightstand. It launched
through the air, slamming into the head of the older of the two
Fire Warriors. The man crumpled to the floor, blood flowing freely
from the wound on his scalp.

The younger man barely had time to
turn before Giovanni launched into the air. He grabbed the warrior
around his waist, lifting him from his feet and pulling him out the
window with him. With his eyes still focused on the bell tower,
Giovanni released the Fire Warrior and propelled himself forward.
Giovanni didn’t pause to listen to the young man’s scream, which
ended abruptly when he landed awkwardly on his neck on the marble
tiles below.

The bell tower grew quickly closer as
Giovanni pushed himself faster. He struggled with the fact that
Fire Warriors were on the island. There had never been any
indication they even knew where the Wind Caste was hiding all this
time. Had they grown complacent in their protected home far away in
the ocean? It had seemed like such a good idea all those years ago,
to be detached from humanity as they lived out the last of their
years. The ocean surrounding them seemed like the perfect
protection from an army of elementalists wielding the power of
fire. Yet, in the end, even the ocean hadn’t been a strong enough
deterrent for the assassins that were now at their
doorstep.

He barely slowed as he reached the
large bell positioned over the central dome. As soon as his feet
touched the cool surface, he pulled hard on the long rope that
dangled beside it. With a firm tug, a massive, wooden trunk swung
away from the bell. He released the rope and leapt from the window,
drifting down toward the makeshift hospital below where Xander’s
grandfather rested. Giovanni refused to leave the elder Wind
Warrior undefended.

Above him, the massive ringer swung
forward, colliding with the giant bell. Its tone rung pure across
the island, wrenching the other Wind Warriors from their sleep. The
bell had been installed at the behest of a paranoid Wind Warrior
when the island had been selected and taken aloft. It served only a
single purpose—to warn of an attack. In all the years since, it had
never been rung. Tonight, its sound echoed hauntingly over the
island.

Giovanni trusted that the others would
awaken and defend the island as best they could. The only thing he
was concerned with was protecting Xander’s grandfather. As he
glided toward the smaller building beside the dome, he didn’t even
notice the dark-clad Fire Warrior pushing aside the curtain to the
central dome.

The Fire Warrior sensed the Italian
soaring over his head. He was close enough to engage. Since the
warrior hadn’t been using his flame powers, he knew the Wind
Warrior couldn’t sense his presence. In the shadow of the central
dome, he watched the Wind Warrior land besides a building nearby
and hurry inside.

Killing the Wind Warrior would have
been easy but he had been given his task directly by General
Abraxas himself. No one defied orders from the General; no one that
had genuine concern for his or her continued existence.

At the entryway to the central dome,
the Fire Warrior could feel nauseating waves of elemental power
pouring from its interior. A Wind Warrior was inside, of that he
was certain.

Beyond the curtain, the room was
unnecessarily dark. No windows lined the walls of the room. The
Fire Warrior assumed there were lanterns or wall sconces nearby
that could be ignited but he had no reason to waste his time with
such frivolities. The ends of his arms ignited as he prepared to
face the Wind Warrior inside. The thrill of the anticipation sent
chills through his body, in stark contrast to the heat from his
generated fires.

The flames flickered across the
virtually empty room. He expected a Wind Warrior prepared for
battle, standing across from him with the winds under his command.
The Fire Warrior was horribly startled to find a shaggy-haired man
reclined in a chair in the middle of the room. Robert’s eyes were
closed and legs resting on a padded ottoman. Were it not for the
fluttering of the man’s wild beard, the Fire Warrior might have
mistaken him for a corpse.

He couldn’t help but think the room
was a clever trap. The power was evidently emanating from the room
but he assumed it had to have been from another Wind Warrior, not
the man resting comfortably—seemingly asleep—in the chair in front
of him. A quick examination of the room, however, showed that they
were alone.

The Fire Warrior couldn’t resist a
malicious smile. He knew this would be the easiest Wind Warrior any
of them would kill that day.

He approached the reclining Robert and
placed his hands on the armrests. He leaned forward until he could
smell the Wind Warrior’s underlying musky scent. His sense of
accomplishment slowly faded as he realized Robert wouldn’t be
putting up a fight. His smarmy smile quickly became a
frown.

“
Wake up and face me, Wind
Warrior,” he spat acidly. “Face me like a man or I really will kill
you like a dog.”

Robert didn’t respond. Beneath his
eyelids, his eyes flickered as though he were in deep
sleep.

Angry at being ignored, the Fire
Warrior grabbed Robert by his tunic and jerked him from the chair.
For a moment, he feared that the Wind Warrior wouldn’t stand on his
own and he’d have to drag a limp body to the man’s
execution.

Slowly, Robert planted his feet on the
ground and locked his knees. As the Fire Warrior pulled him in
closer, Robert’s eyes shot open. His pupils were dilated far beyond
normal and his breathing came in rapid gasps.

The Fire Warrior felt water splash
across his ankles, soaking his leather boots. He looked down in
surprise as it sounded like a torrential downpour of seawater
outside the front door.

Robert looked at the Fire Warrior as
though really seeing the real world for the first time in
years.

“
What have you done?” he
croaked, seconds before the island dropped out from beneath their
feet.

Xander’s hand shook as he reached for
the remote. On the screen, the announcer reported on an
uncontrollable wildfire that had already burned more than a million
and a half acres of the Chinese countryside. Firefighters had been
unable to get a handle on the blaze and had requested international
support. He muted the television and turned slowly toward
Sean.

“
You’re saying this is
happening everywhere?”

Sean pointed at the world map he
pulled up on his laptop. “Volcanoes have erupted in Hawaii, Europe,
South America, and Southeast Asia. There’s a massive hurricane over
Iceland. Earthquakes are shaking every continent. Wildfires are
burning through China, Russia, and a good part of California.” He
turned back solemnly toward his best friend. “I don’t know what you
guys are doing but it seems like the planet’s trying to rip itself
apart.”

Xander rested his elbows on his knees
and pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew there had been
earthquakes after Bart died but he hadn’t paused to think about the
type of destruction that had spread across the globe. All because
of one death, he had to remind himself.

“
Is this going to keep
happening?” Sean asked. “Is there more of this coming?”

“
Not if I can help it,”
Xander replied, though he was sure he lacked the bravado of his
words.

“
We have to let the other
Wind Warriors know,” Sammy said, her eyes still glued to the
television. “They have to know what’s happening.”