Flame Caller (34 page)

The winds from the hurricane shifted
directions. Instead of blowing against the ship, they drove down
from above it. Xander suddenly felt like he was in one of the
spinning rides at a carnival, where the centrifugal force was
driving him into the deck. He struggled for breath but continued to
focus all his might.

At the top of the massive wave, the
white cap wavered unsteadily. Slowly, it split in two. The break in
the wave cascaded downward, dropping a mass of water onto the
fishing vessel.

“
Hold onto something,”
Xander yelled as he felt something give way in his nose. Blood
trickled onto his upper lip and he tasted copper filling his mouth
as it ran down the back of his throat.

The wind split the wave in two just as
the ship threatened to tumble back down the wave. With a final
push, the ship broke through the middle of the tidal wave and slid
seamlessly to the smoother ocean beyond.

Xander held the towel pressed against
his nose and tilted his head backward. He could still taste the
metallic taste in the back of his throat but the pressure from the
towel had stopped the gushing nosebleed.

“
How are you feeling?”
Sean asked as he sat down beside his friend.

“
I think my head’s going
to explode.”

Sean looked at the red-stained towel.
“I think it already did. Who knew you were a bleeder?”

Xander lowered the towel, admired the
blood-soaked rag, and had to admit that Sean was right. He tilted
his head back again without the towel and looked up at the blue sky
above. The sun beat down on the boat as it coasted into the docks.
He tried his best not to look left or right toward the violent
clouds that encircled the island nation.

“
It’s like a little slice
of paradise,” Sean remarked as he looked toward Iceland. “Who knew
it existed in the middle of hell.”

Xander looked at the rolling hills
beyond the small village toward which they sailed and admired the
beautiful landscape.

Giovanni and Alicia climbed out from
below decks and joined the two men in the warm sun. Xander looked
up at the harried Italian and offered a faint smile.

“
We made it,” Giovanni
remarked.

“
We made it,” Xander
echoed.

“
Of course we made it, you
daft buggers,” Seamus called out from the wheelhouse. “Never had
any doubts.”

Xander laughed and was quickly joined
by the others.

“
How’s Thea feeling?” he
asked.

“
She has a bit of a
headache,” Alicia replied, “but she’ll survive. She and Patrick are
just checking her bandage one more time before they come up and
join us.”

Jessica came out of the wheelhouse and
sat down beside Sean. Xander looked at the pair and smiled softly
to himself.

“
I’m glad you both came
out of this unscathed,” he said.

“
Unscathed?” Jessica
asked. “Apparently not everything was strapped down in the hold.
Things were flying everywhere. It was like we were dodging bullets
in the Matrix.”

Everyone fell silent and they turned
their attention toward the docks that were quickly approaching.
Giovanni walked over to the edge of the ship and untied the ropes.
He looked for someone on the pier to whom he could toss the ropes
to tie off but no one was there. As the battered fishing vessel
slid beside the wooden mooring, Giovanni leapt gracefully from the
boat with the rope in hand. As Seamus turned off the motor, the
Italian tied down to one of the horn cleats on the abandoned
dock.

Sean climbed to his feet and looked at
the squat buildings, as though he was waiting for someone to emerge
and greet them. “Can I ask about the elephant in the room? I mean,
come on, no one is going to ask about the Wind
Elemental?”

Xander stood as well and walked toward
Giovanni. “She’s here somewhere. When she’s ready for us, she’ll
let us know.”

“
Great,” Sean replied. He
turned and helped Jessica to her feet. “Way to be
vague.”

Patrick climbed out of the hold and
helped Thea unsteadily climb the steps. Her head was wrapped in a
large, white gauze and both of her eyes were already bruised.
Despite the injury, she still offered a weak smile.

“
It’s time to head
ashore,” Xander said as he climbed over the side of the railing and
hopped down onto the dock. The others slowly followed until they
were all gathered.

Xander immediately felt the chill cut
through him. Despite the warm sun, the air was still cold and the
island’s gentle breeze cut through their coats. He hadn’t
considered how wet all their clothes had become until they were
huddling against the cold. The thick jackets offered little
resistance to the wind, which passed without resistance through the
damp fabric.

“
I’ll be here when you’re
done,” Seamus said with a slight shiver. The Irishman disappeared
back into the wheelhouse.

Xander shivered slightly as well and
led the group down the dock toward the dry land. The village beyond
was sparsely populated with buildings. Just beyond the last of the
buildings, the ground became lush green foothills.

“
Hello?” Xander yelled
toward the abandoned village.

Sean snickered beside him. “What
happened to ‘she’ll let us know when she’s ready for
us’?”

A door opened hesitantly and a bearded
man emerged. He glanced nervously at the odd assortment of soaked
warriors and humans.

“
We… come in peace,”
Xander said with a polite wave.

“
You really suck at this,”
Jessica muttered.

She stepped past the others and
approached the man. She flashed him a warm smile. Xander could tell
she was talking to the bearded Icelander but they were too far away
to hear what was said. She talked animatedly with her hands and he
quickly pointed toward the top of the hill behind the town. With a
smile and a wave, Jessica turned away from the man and walked back
to the group.

“
You speak Icelandic?”
Giovanni asked disbelievingly.

Jessica smiled and shook her head. “Of
course not, but I didn’t have to. Every straight guy speaks
girl-in-need. He says the old lady is at the top of the hill in a
small hut.”

Xander swallowed hard. He was going to
thank her but he was suddenly overwhelmed by nervousness. They were
in Iceland and the Wind Elemental was actually within walking
distance.

“
Come on,” he said, eager
to get moving before his feet decided not to leave the comfort of
the dock.

They walked through the village and
noticed a few other curious faces peering from within the darkened
windows. The hard-packed ground gave way to soft, lush grasses.
There weren’t any well-defined trails leading up the hill but
Xander didn’t mind. The struggle up gave him time to find his
focus.

He’d been so set on finding the Wind
Elemental and was stupefied that he had succeeded. The journey had
been his goal all along—he hadn’t even begun to consider what he’d
do if he actually found her.

“
You okay?” Sean asked,
stepping beside his friend.

“
What do I say to
her?”

Sean shrugged. “I’m guessing she’s
going to do most of the talking.”

As they crested the hill, a small,
dilapidated wooden cabin appeared. It sat on the edge of the
leeside of the hill, looking down on a crystal blue lake far below.
Without the protection of the surrounding hills, the wind was
bitterly cold and Xander wrapped his arms tighter around his
body.

The group stopped a few feet away from
the front door as Xander chewed on his lip nervously.

“
Well, go on,” Patrick
encouraged. “It’s you she wants to see.”

Xander looked at them and noticed
their supportive nods. Stepping forward, he raised his hand and
prepared to knock.

“
There’s no need to
knock
,” a musical voice called from inside. The woman’s voice
sounded like a breeze sighing through the trees of a forest.
“
The door’s unlocked. Come in, Xander Sirocco. I’ve been waiting
for you.
”

Sammy paced the small prison cell
bedroom for the seventeenth time. When she had arrived back at the
clan’s castle, she had been nervous but had come to terms with the
fact that she would probably die when brought before the Fire
Elemental. Having met the monster—the dragon, she had to remind
herself—she knew that it had a much more sinister plan. She didn’t
need to know the details to know that being its host was something
far worse than death.

She checked the door, rattling it on
its frame, but it remained solidly locked. Her efforts received an
angry rebuttal from the guard on the other side. Storming away, she
walked toward the narrow window again. The window was still far too
tall and thin for her to fit through.

Depression flooded through her chest
but she quickly brushed it away. She cried plenty before meeting
the Fire Elemental. After their meeting, she cried until her tears
ran dry. Her lack of tears made it easier to force down the
emotions when they threatened again. It left her with a better
sense of clarity, though it still did little to help her find an
escape from what seemed inevitable.

As she was looking out the window, the
lock on the door slid noisily aside. She turned toward the sound
and let a flame build, concealing it within her palm. If they were
going to come for her, to drag her back in front of the monster,
she wouldn’t leave without a fight.

The door swung open slowly and Lord
Balor stood in its frame. Sammy scowled at her father’s appearance
and hid the flame behind her back.

“
So it sent you again to
come retrieve me?” she said. “I won’t go without a fight. You’ll
have to take me kicking and screaming.”

“
Keep your voice down,”
her father requested. He looked cautiously down the hall beyond her
room.

The flame in Sammy’s hand faltered.
“Excuse me?”

“
You need to hurry. It
won’t be long until they figure out something’s wrong.”

Sammy stepped forward cautiously. She
could hear the wariness in her father’s voice; it quivered
nervously as he glanced over his shoulder. Once she was close to
the door, she could see the body of the Fire Warrior guard lying
prone in the hallway, concealed partially by the open
door.

“
What did you do?” Sammy
asked, her eyes fixed on the warrior.

“
What I should have done a
long time ago,” he replied. “Don’t worry about him. He’ll live. But
you won’t if I don’t get you out of here.”

“
You’re… you’re going to
let me go?” She was wrong. She still had some tears left in
her.

“
You were right. I did
have a choice. I just didn’t see it. Now, unless you have an issue,
can we talk about this while we run for our lives?”

Sammy smiled and wiped away her tears
before nodding to Lord Balor. She rushed toward the door and he
stepped aside to let her exit. Instead, she stopped and wrapped her
arms around him, pulling him into a hug. He seemed stiff for a
second before he returned the affection.