Flame Caller (31 page)

Begrudgingly, she picked up the bowl
and shoved a mouthful of the stringy meat into her mouth. The meat
was from a lizard, many types of which lived in the warm tunnels
around the main cavern. She smiled as she realized that Xander and
the other Wind Warriors wouldn’t believe the meals that she
considered normal. She had a far harder time finding her palette
for beef and pork when she was acclimating to the
surface.

Thinking about Xander made her heart
ache. She knew all the doubts they shared about their connection to
one another. They were both the youngest of their respective castes
to ever activate. While she didn’t share Xander’s obvious affinity
with his elemental power—he wielded the wind power as though it was
an extension of his body—she knew they were meant to be together
from their first date. She missed him more than she thought she
would and she had to force back the tears that felt overwhelming
once again.

The lock was thrown again, startling
Sammy. She quickly set aside the half-eaten bowl of food and stood,
intent on meeting her visitor eye to eye. As the door opened, Sammy
was staggered by who entered.

“
Hello, Sammy,” Lord Balor
said.

A female Fire Warrior followed him
into the room, carrying a chair. The woman set the chair across
from the mattress and then she stepped out of the room again,
closing the door behind her.

“
Aren’t you worried I’m
going to attack you now that we’re alone?” Sammy
threatened.

“
You’re not going to
attack me,” her father said confidently.

Sammy placed her hands on her hips. “I
burned your General. Don’t underestimate me.”

Lord Balor laughed as he took his seat
in the chair. “I’ve never underestimated you in your entire life.
Sit.”

Sammy refused to move, standing
defiantly in front of the room’s only other piece of
furniture.

“
Please, Sammy.” The tone
of his voice changed to something resembling sympathetic and
apologetic.

She looked at the mattress behind her
and sighed. She sat down and looked at her father. She immediately
regretted sitting. She was significantly lower than Lord Balor was
and he was looking down on her from her seat.

“
I’m sorry it had to come
to this,” he said. “This isn’t what I wanted.”

“
It doesn’t really matter
what you want, isn’t that right, Father? You’re just doing what
you’re told.”

Lord Balor furrowed his brow. “I don’t
know what—”

“
Don’t,” she interrupted.
“I’ve seen it. That thing you have hidden behind your throne. I
know what it is and I know that it wants me brought back to it. Why
don’t you just stop wasting both of our time and take me to
it.”

Her father looked legitimately
shocked. His surprised expression quickly dropped away and he
looked legitimately crestfallen. “You don’t know half of the
truth.”

“
Then tell me,” she cried
as she stood again. “Tell me the truth.”

Her father looked away and stroked his
chin thoughtfully. “I didn’t want this for you. I was disappointed
when the flames called to you so early in your life. I honestly
expected—”

“
Stop,” she interrupted.
“Just stop. Don’t give me some thoughtful diatribe. Don’t go off on
some narration that you think is going to make me feel sorry for
you. I won’t. Whatever is happening—especially between you and that
creature—there’s nothing benevolent about it. You’re not the
victim. You’re an accomplice.”

Lord Balor nodded as he slowly stood.
“It seems like there’s nothing I can say to convince you. You may
not believe it but if there were a way to protect you, I’d do it.
There just isn’t a choice available.”

“
You know what I learned
from my time with the Wind Warriors? There’s always a choice. You
just have to be man enough to make it.”

“
When they come for you
next, they’ll be taking you in front of our master. No matter what,
don’t let it see your fear.”

“
Will that help?” she
asked.

Her father paused momentarily.
“No.”

He walked stiffly to the door and
knocked loudly. The door opened and the Fire Warriors stepped aside
as he departed. The same female warrior reclaimed his chair and
gave Sammy a scowl before leaving the room.

As the door closed behind the Fire
Warriors, Sammy was left alone again in the relative
darkness.

She reclaimed her spot on the mattress
and brought her knees back up to her chest.

Sean stood on the bow of the ship,
staring at the boiling, swirling clouds. Though he knew they were
still hundreds of miles away from Iceland, he could already feel
the tug of the enormous super storm. The waves had become steadily
choppier since they set sail from Ireland. The gently rocking waves
had quickly grown taller than the ship. They rolled up the leeside
of the waves before plummeting back down into the valleys between
them. The horizon disappeared, leaving only the storm cell itself
as the only point of reference on the angry ocean.

Xander approached him from behind and
whistled softly at the hurricane. Sean glanced quickly over his
shoulder at his friend. Behind Xander, he could see the other Wind
Warriors talking quietly but nervously amongst themselves on the
deck. His eyes hovered for a second on Jessica, who sat alone near
a coil of ropes. Her blonde hair was tied into a tight bun on the
back of her head but the wind still tossed about tendrils of her
hair that had already pulled loose. The bun was practical but Sean
doubted it would hold in the coming storm.

He turned his head back to the sea.
“Are we really going to sail right into that thing?”

Xander took his place beside his
friend and watched the distant storm grow in size as they crested
the next wave. “It looks that way. Doesn’t really look like we’re
all that welcomed, huh?”

“
Like someone’s telling us
that nobody sees the Great Oz. Not nobody, not no how. This is
suicide, or as close as we’re likely to get. Can you and your
people really keep us safe?”

Xander wanted to reassure his friend
but didn’t want to lie. “I don’t know, Sean. We’re going to try.
Trust me, if we had another choice, we wouldn’t be sailing right
into this crap. There’s just no other way, not if we want to stop
the Fire Caste.”

Sean nodded. “If there’s a way, I
believe you’ll find it.”

“
I wish I shared your
confidence,” Xander laughed. “I don’t exactly have the best track
record for swooping in and saving the day.”

“
You’ve never given
yourself enough credit,” Sean said humorlessly. “You’re a good man,
Xander. You always have been. No matter how self-depreciating you
may get, you always find a way.”

Xander arched an eyebrow. “Are we
about to hug it out? Open up about our feelings and share a latte
over a pedicure?”

Sean smiled and turned back toward the
ocean. “You just don’t give yourself enough credit. That’s all I’m
saying.”

“
You’re starting to freak
me out a bit. Are you okay?”

Sean shrugged. “I’m not trying to be
pessimistic, just realistic. We’re flying into a hurricane that’s
big enough it should be featured on a really crappy, made-for-TV
movie. There’s a strong chance that we won’t make it to the other
side. I just thought you needed to hear the truth. I love you like
a brother, man.”

Xander threw his arm around Sean. “I
love you, too. Are you planning on sharing your feelings with
everyone else on the ship?”

Sean looked over at him. “What are you
talking about?” he replied innocently.

“
Don’t hand me that,”
Xander teased as he shoved his friend. “What’s going on with you
and Jessica?”

“
Me and the Hound of
Baskerville? No, there’s no me and Jessica.”

“
You’re so full of it. I
see the way you look at her. You make fun of her the same way a
sixth grader punches a girl in the arm to let her know that he’s
interested.”

Sean laughed. “You think she’s
noticed?”

Xander shrugged. “She’s a little
thick. You may have to punch her a little harder.”

“
You’re an
idiot.”

“
See,” Xander remarked.
“You’re even starting to talk like her.”

“
Nah. We just happen to
agree that you’re an idiot.”

Sean leaned over the railing and
watching the churning ocean as it was carved by the front of the
boat. “She’s hot, don’t get me wrong. I’ve actually had a pretty
good time hanging out with her. But she wouldn’t go for a guy like
me. She likes your type: athletic, ruggedly handsome, absolutely no
motivation to do anything other than hang out with her and be at
her beck and call.”

Xander laughed. “Thanks for the
backhanded compliment.”

“
I just don’t see her
going for me.”

“
Buddy, it’s the
apocalypse. You’ve never had a better chance with a shallow girl
like Jessica. If sailing into this hurricane doesn’t work out like
planned, you can even be the first guy to actually use the ‘what if
I was the last guy on Earth’ line correctly.”

Sean and Xander laughed heartily as
they both settled onto the rail. They pulled their thick, fur-lined
coats closer around their bodies as the biting wind cut over the
tops of the waves. The sea spray struck them in the face and ran
off the treated coats before pooling on the ground.

“
We’re going to find her,
you know?” Sean asked solemnly.

Xander didn’t have to ask to know whom
he meant. Sammy had been on his mind since they left the United
States. It was one of the reasons he was so eager to risk his life
by plunging into the hurricane. Finding the Wind Elemental was the
best chance he had of getting her back.

“
I know,” he finally
replied.

Sean stroked his chin thoughtfully. He
had a scraggly start of a beard growing along his jawline. It would
never be a rugged look on his face but it did make him look a
little older.

“
The sea’s getting
rougher,” Sean remarked.

“
We’re getting
closer.”

“
Not that close. If it’s
this rough already and we have a couple hundred miles to go, this
isn’t going to be a fun trip. I should have warned you ahead of
time that I don’t do well on roller coasters or spinning rides. I
have a horrible tendency of blowing chunks.”

“
See,” Xander chuckled,
“this is why we don’t hang out more. Just when I thought we were
having a moment, I have the sudden urge to run far away from you
and give you your space.”

“
Get out of here,” Sean
chided. “I’m sure you have plenty of prep work to do anyway. Go
talk to your siblings, or whatever the heck you call
them.”

“
Take care, brother,”
Xander said, patting Sean on the back. “I’ll see you on the other
side.”

“
I hope you mean Iceland
and not the other ‘other side’.”

Xander didn’t reply as he walked away
to rejoin the other Wind Warriors. He paused briefly by Jessica and
pointed toward the bow of the ship. Sean frowned as he noticed
their conversation. Curiously, Jessica climbed unsteadily to her
feet and walked toward where Sean waited.

When she reached the front of the
ship, she leaned against the rail beside Sean, taking the place in
which Xander had recently been standing. Unlike Xander, she clung
to the railing tightly until her knuckles were white and
bloodless.

“
Xander said you needed to
talk to me?” Jessica asked. Her voice sounded as unsteady as her
legs had been.

Sean felt the sweat bead on his brow
and he silently cursed his friend. “Yeah. No. It’s, uh, some crazy
weather we’re having.”

“
Sure,” Jessica remarked.
“Crazy weather.”

Sean leaned against the railing and
turned toward Jessica. “You didn’t have to come with us, you know.
It’s going to be really dangerous. You probably would have been
safer back in White Halls or even in the town in
Ireland.”

Jessica shook her head as she glanced
toward the heavyset man. “You guys keep telling me that nowhere is
safe from these Fire Warriors. I figured the best place to be would
be with the people trying to stop them.”