Flame Caller (28 page)

Xander shook but it was from sadness
instead of rage. His knees buckled and he sat down heavily on the
wooden planks of the deck.

“
I have to save her,” he
said. “They’ll kill her if I don’t.”

“
If you want to save her,”
Alicia said sweetly, “then you need to find the Wind Elemental. The
power of the five of us, even combined, just isn’t enough to go
storming into the home of the Fire Warriors. The only reason we’ve
had any success defending ourselves so far is because many of the
Fire Warriors are just now coming to terms with their power. In
their home, though, you’re going to run into a much stronger group
of elders, warriors like Sammy’s father. We’d never
survive.”

Giovanni crouched beside him and
placed his hand on Xander’s shoulder. He waited until Xander lifted
his chin and looked at the Italian before speaking.

“
You said you had an idea
on how to find the Wind Elemental, yes? The quicker we can get to
the Elemental, the better chance we have of not just saving Sammy
but stopping the Fire Caste. We need you, Xander.”

Xander nodded, knowing they were
right. Left to his own devices, he would have flown immediately
after the car of Fire Warriors. Thinking about it rationally, he
knew his flight would have tipped off the warriors long before he
reached the car, giving them a chance to prepare for him. No matter
the unmatched power he harnessed, there wasn’t any guarantee that
he would have succeeded or if they would have left Sammy unharmed
as soon as he threatened them.

“
So what do we do?”
Patrick asked callously.

Xander stood and dusted himself off.
He could see the dirt road leading away from the restaurant and
longed to launch into the air and give chase. Rationality
overwhelmed his emotional response as he took a deep
breath.

“
We stick to the original
plan,” he finally said. “We go to White Halls and find the one
person in this whole screwed up world capable of finding the Wind
Elemental.”

The buildings of White Halls looked
like models from their vantage point. Had there been people on the
streets, Xander wasn’t even sure he’d be able to see them walking
the sidewalks. It wasn’t an issue, however, since the streets were
as abandoned now as they had been when he had visited Sean and
Jessica previously.

“
You’re sure they’re down
there?” Giovanni asked as he hovered in the air.

From their height, they knew the Fire
Warriors couldn’t detect their elemental power. Eventually they
knew they had to land. The Wind Warriors seemed to be at odds about
how to proceed—if caution was the right course of action when time
was so short.

“
The Fire Warriors are
there,” Xander replied sternly. “They’re down there and they’re
waiting for us.”

“
All the more reason to
proceed with caution,” Thea advised. “As soon as they sense us
coming, they’ll be on us.”

“
I never pegged you as the
type to back down from a fight,” Alicia said.

Thea guffawed. “I’m not scared of the
Fire Warriors. If they start a fight, I’ll be sure it’s the last
thing they do in this life.”

“
That’s my girl,” Patrick
laughed.

“
We’re not here to pick a
fight,” Xander corrected. “There are dozens of them down there and
we can’t risk another one of us getting hurt or worse. The
planet
couldn’t handle another one of us dying. It would rip
itself in two.”

“
Then caution?” Alicia
asked.

Xander shook his head. “It would take
us most of the day to land and sneak into the town without any
powers. Even if we did sneak in, there’s no guarantee that we
wouldn’t be recognized right away. Even without knowing our faces,
the Fire Warriors would know we didn’t belong in White
Halls.”

“
Then we’re back to
picking a fight,” Patrick said, rubbing his hands
together.

“
Only if we have to,”
Xander agreed. “We swoop in, hold off any Fire Warriors that get
too close, get the information we need, and get out. The less time
we’re in town, the better.”

“
I hope your source is
well informed,” Thea chided. “Otherwise this whole trip is going to
put us in danger for nothing.”

Xander swallowed hard but remained
silent. Thea wasn’t the only one that hoped he was right. Xander
was putting a lot of weight on Sean’s shoulders but something he
had said during their last visit made him believe that Sean would
have the answers.

“
He won’t let us down. Is
everyone ready?”

A round of wordless nods let Xander
know it was time. With a deep breath, he tilted forward and began
rapidly descending toward the college campus and the Greek row
beyond.

The buildings rocketed closer as they
plummeted toward the ground. Small pockets of black smoke still
rose from the smoldering remains of homes around town but the area
toward which they flew seemed to have little fire damage. The
buildings were hardly in great condition, though. The earthquakes
that had rocked the planet had devastated the older homes. Their
foundations had cracked, as had the support beams concealed in
their walls. They had crumbled either during the earthquake or
shortly thereafter. Few of the houses remained fully intact. To
Xander, it seemed a solid mirror of the Wind Warrior island and its
decimated houses.

They skimmed over the top of the
campus. A tug began in Xander’s stomach as he saw small flickers of
light igniting around the perimeter of the campus’ central quad.
Blonde heads turned upward as the group flew quickly past. As one,
the Fire Warriors turned in the direction they were flying and ran
after them.

“
They’re coming for us,”
Giovanni said.

Xander nodded. He knew they were
quickly outpacing the Fire Warriors but any delay with Sean would
leave them in greater danger.

Greek Row appeared before them and
they dropped down to street level. The Tri Delta house quickly
approached and Xander slowed down until he could hit the ground in
a run. The aunts and uncles touched down beside him and raced
quickly after.

The Tri Delta front door was closed
and he couldn’t see any new damage to the building, either fire or
structural. It gave him hope that his and Sammy’s quick departure
hadn’t given away Sean and Jessica’s hiding spot. Smiling, Xander
rushed toward the door.

Patrick turned directions suddenly and
slammed into Xander, knocking him to the ground. A giant ball of
fire rolled lazily over his head, exploding as it struck a tree on
the sorority’s front lawn. They both rolled from one another and
looked at the Fire Warrior who emerged from his spot beside the
neighboring fraternity house. Flames reemerged around his hand as
he prepared for another blast.

His eyes suddenly widened and his
mouth opened in a choked scream. The Fire Warrior looked down in
surprise as the tip of a steel sword emerged from his chest.
Despite his dark armor, his bright red blood was obvious as it
blossomed from the wound.

The sword was rapidly pulled free as
the Fire Warrior slumped to the ground. Thea looked down at the
body, fresh blood still dripping from the edge of her blade. She
looked up toward where Xander stared at her in
disbelief.

“
Don’t give me that look,”
Thea said sharply. “We’re at war. It’s about time you realized
that. Our side shouldn’t be the only one suffering
casualties.”

Patrick pushed Xander’s shoulder from
where he lay prone beside the younger Wind Warrior. “She’s right.
Now get up, lad. The rest of the Fire Warriors won’t be far behind.
Go find the Wind Elemental while we hold them off.”

Xander scrambled to his feet, his eyes
having trouble leaving the dead Fire Warrior lying on the ground in
a growing pool of his own blood. He finally forced himself to look
away and rushed to the door of the sorority. He banged on the door
loudly.

“
Sean. Jessica. It’s
Xander. Open the door.”

The door creaked open and Sean peered
out. Xander had no doubt that Jessica was concealed somewhere
behind him with her telltale fire extinguisher still clutched in
her hands.

“
Is my tree on fire?”
Jessica yelled from her vantage point near the front
window.

“
Let me in,” Xander
demanded. “We don’t have much time.”

Sean opened the door and stepped out
of the way. Xander’s friend stood at the door a moment longer,
watching the four Wind Warriors spread out defensively around the
front of the sorority.

“
Friends of yours?” he
asked as he closed the door quickly.

“
Those are the rest of the
Wind Warriors.”

“
Didn’t you tell us that
the Fire Warriors could sense when you guys are around?” Jessica
said, setting down her fire extinguisher. “Doesn’t that mean
they’re coming here now? Doesn’t that mean that in one quick moment
you ruined all the hiding and sneaking we’ve been doing for the
past week?”

“
We don’t have time for
this, Jessica,” Xander chided.

“
Of course we don’t, now
that you brought the psychotic murders down on us,” she
retorted.

Xander sighed and turned away from his
ex-girlfriend. Sean smiled nervously.

“
So, what’s up,
buddy?”

Xander smiled at his friend. “I need
your help. We’re trying to find someone… or something.”

“
Well, that should narrow
it down,” Sean joked. “You want me to type that into
Google?”

“
I don’t really have time
to fully explain—”

“
Because you brought the
Fire Warriors straight to us,” Jessica reiterated. “I hate to be
the bearer of bad news but some of them are already
here.”

Red and yellow light flickered
suddenly through the closed blinds as a sharp pain struck Xander in
the stomach. He grimaced but stayed upright.

“
There’s something called
the Wind Elemental. Kind of an embodiment of all the powers the
other Wind Warriors and I have. I think you know how to find
her.”

“
Me?” Sean replied. “What
makes you think I can help you find it?”

“
It was something you said
last time I was here.”

“
Was it, ‘Oh God, we’re
all going to die’? Because I’ve been saying that a lot
lately.”

Xander pointed at the computer. “Are
you still tracking the weather reports from around the
world?”

Sean nodded excitedly. “Oh yeah. You
got to know, Xander. It’s getting really bad out there.
California’s practically gone.”

“
What do you mean
‘gone’?”

“
The last earthquake
struck right on the San Andreas Fault. Pretty much split California
in two. Most of Los Angeles fell apart. Some of the coastal cities
were washed away by a tidal wave. Wildfires are burning out of
control in the areas away from the cities. I mean, it’s pretty much
gone.”

Xander bit his lip and frowned. “We
can make it right,” he promised with a sense of false bravado, “but
only if we find the Wind Elemental. Last time, you said there was a
hurricane in the Atlantic, right?”

Sean slid into the office chair and
opened the web browser. A few keystrokes later, the world map
appeared. The entire planet seemed to be consumed in varying
degrees of red.

“
My God,” Xander
whispered. He never could have guessed how widespread the
devastation had been. It looked like every volcano on the planet
had erupted all at once. The Pacific Rim seemed to glow with an
inner light on the map. The line of destruction rolled along the
edge of California. Many of the spots along the United States’ west
coast had so many closely compiled individual red dots that it
looked like the State was bleeding.

“
Yeah. Volcanoes,
wildfires, lava flows, you name it,” Sean muttered.

Xander tore his eyes away from the
destruction, remembering the narrow time frame under which he was
operating. He quickly scanned the map until his eyes settled over
Iceland.

“
There,” he said, his
finger tracing the swirling pattern hovering over the island. The
hurricane was massive; the tendrils of the storm licked miles
inland on Greenland and reached as far as the Canadian coast. “Is
that the only non-fire disaster you can see?”