Guardian of the Earth House

Job, of the Earth House, became the oldest Elemental Phase alive on the fourth day of the Fall. Or, at least, that’s when he officially found out about his shocking new status. He stood in a wasteland of the dead and dying, reading the news that Ram, of the Smoke House had succumbed to the plague. Ram had been the oldest until two days before. Until the Fall had taken him, draining Ram from the inside out and leaving nothing behind, but a shriveled, gray corpse.

Now, Job was left as the only patriarch of the Elementals. He was the one who they’d look to for answers and for salvation from the relentless pestilence that threatened to kill them all. The fate of the entire world rested with Job and the decisions that he made. He was in charge of holding everything together.

The letter fell from his hand and, for the first time in one thousand, one hundred, and twenty-two years, Job cried.

All his life, Job had been taught the importance of self-discipline and decorum. And he tried to live up to the weight of his duties. The Earth House had always led the Elementals and the Elementals led everything else in the universe. They controlled the interconnected processes of nature and the Elements. Everything from Water, to Time, to Sound was supported by the various Houses. They insured the balance and harmony in the world. They maintained the survival of all; individual pieces of a symbiotic whole.

The Earth House stood as one of the pillars of existence and Job now supported most of it himself. Additionally, he held the highest Seat on the Council of All Houses, the Elementals’ ruling body. The largest of the Houses, the Earth House engendered respect from everyone and Job was the King. Plus, no one had Job’s skill and power. He was the strongest Elemental. His energy surpassed all the known boundaries, even though he tried to contain it. Now, he was the oldest Phase alive, as well.

If the Elementals had a leader, a single person in charge of charting their future, then Job was it by any definition. He was the “buck stops here” voice of authority and guidance.

Only he had no idea what to do.

Job’s grandfather, Wiset, had been the oldest Phase alive when Job was a boy. The old man had drilled a litany of expectations into Job’s head; everything that was expected from Kings of the Earth House. Obviously, becoming the High Seat on the Council had been on the list, so Job figured he at least got points for that. But, there were so many other ways that he’d failed as a ruler.

Earth Kings didn’t falter or allow themselves moments of weakness.

They made plans, anticipating disasters and betrayals.

They protected their people.

They didn’t yell or laugh or give into emotion.

And they
never
cried.

Except, there was no one left to see Job’s tears. He was alone. Job was
always
alone, but this was an entirely new sort of solitude. It was one thing to be alone by yourself. It was much, much worse to be alone with thousands of corpses staring at you, blaming you for not saving them.

Job scrubbed a hand over his face and forced himself under control. He looked out over the mountains of bodies and swallowed against his despair.

So many Phases were dead, now. Too many to count. Too many to ever replace. What the hell was he going to do?

Four days before all these Phases had been alive. Then, the Fall had struck. A disease that didn’t seem to care that Elementals were immune to disease. The Fall was an enemy like no other; an invisible microbe that, in less than a week, had destroyed everything that had taken millennia to create. It stole lives, and hope, and stability and no one could stop it.

Not even Job.

The small germ was just too big.

The Fall spread over the Elemental ranks like a wildfire, burning a path of destruction through every House. The pestilence killed everyone it infected and it infected everyone.

Or nearly everyone.

Job had realized at some point during the third day that he was immune. As everything around him descended into chaos, Job remained untouched by the illness. He didn’t know why. There were still a few other Phases left alive in the Earth Kingdom, but most of them were already sick. Some people huddled in their houses, coughing and coughing until, with terrible silence, they finally stopped. Others fled the town, leaving behind their loved ones, leaving all of their possessions, leaving with nothing but the futile hope that they could somehow outrun the plague.

And some -the worst- moved about the kingdom, tormented with fevers inside their bodies, causing them to shake with uncontrollable chills, and worse fevers inside their minds, driving them to commit horrible acts. Violence, as they looked for someone to blame and punish. Looting, as they searched for a miracle cure to steal. Drinking and debauchery, as they threw themselves into the last days of their lives. Law after law broken because there just wasn’t anyone left to enforce them and keep order.

Job could see the body of a doctor who’d been murdered, not by the Fall, but other Phases who blamed her for not giving them some antidote that didn’t exist. Many Phases had died on the streets and were then stripped of their valuables. Their bodies lay vulnerable and bare in the dirt, now. It made no sense to rob the dead, since nothing had value anymore. There was no one to pay and nothing to buy. Even the liquor was free because the bartender had died two days before.

Nothing made sense.

Job wandered through his kingdom, opening his mail and scattering it as he went. The postmaster was dead. Job had been forced to break into the post office to get the letters, although he wasn’t sure why he bothered. The mail was several days old and he knew what the news would be. Reports from every House in the Elemental realm relayed the same message, again and again: Death, disease, desolation.

It was the end of the world.

Job had been meeting with Council members for three solid days, trying to find a way out of the horror befalling them. But, most of the other Councilors were dead now, so there didn’t seem much use in continuing the discussions with them. Job had to do something to re-form the Council. He was the High Seat and oldest Phase alive. He had to ensure that the Elementals survived.

Only he didn’t know what to do.

Electricity had gone out the second night of the Fall, leaving the Earth Kingdom in darkness. Computer communications were dead, so emails weren’t coming in. Job hadn’t gotten any messages from the Electricity House, but he assumed that they were falling fast. Not even the phones were working. Job wasn’t even sure which House controlled that, but it wasn’t good.

If too many Phases died, their House wouldn’t be able to support the weight of their Element. If too many Houses toppled, they’d take the rest of existence with them. All the Elementals relied on
other
Elementals to sustain the connected chains of life. The Earth House needed the Water House to nurture the soil, the Water House needed the Weather House to control the rain, the Weather House needed the Cold House to freeze the snow, and so on into infinity. Once too many Houses collapsed, they would drag the rest of the Elementals down with them.

Without the Elementals nothing could survive.

And the Elementals were teetering on extinction, now.

Job kept walking back towards his castle, weaving through the stacks of putrefying bodies. His tasteful, polished shoes were coated in liquids he didn’t even want to identify. Job could hear drunken, slightly hysterical, voices coming from the tavern to his left. Someone was blaring Ozzy Osbourne’s
Road to Nowhere
. The smells of frying hamburgers and free-flowing liquor mixed with the stench of the decaying corpses.

How could anyone eat? What was the point?

Job ripped open another letter. It was a credit card application. The humans felt his credit rating was excellent and were offering Job an unlimited platinum card as a reward. The mock-up card that they’d attached to the document in an effort to entice him had a picture of a Sioux warrior on a horse. It read “Mr. Job Earth-House” in the corner. The humans always saw his name and assumed that he was Native American.

Job scanned the document for the interest rate they were prepared to give him and then laughed wildly when he saw that it was much too high. Not good. Nothing was going right today.

The laughter turned into a sob that he quickly squelched.

Not good, at all.

Job’s sister had died that morning. He hadn’t liked Senti, but deep in his heart he’d still loved her. When he’d felt her life give out, Job knew that someone –somewhere-- had made a mistake. Why was Job still alive, when so many others had perished? His kingdom was in shambles, all of existence poised on the cusp of oblivion, his people rotted on the ground…Why was he still healthy?

It didn’t make sense.

He wasn’t positive, but Job thought that he might be in some kind of shock. His brain felt fuzzy, like there was a fog coating the entire world. Earth Kings shouldn’t suffer from shock. His grandfather would never have tolerated any sort of emotional response. It showed weakness.

Maybe he was just tired. Job hadn’t slept in four days. All he’d done was work and listen to crazy, desperate ideas to stop the Fall.

And fail.

There was a child in the road. A dead child in a yellow sundress. Job stopped walking and stared down at her. He took in the small toy clutched in her bloated, purplish hand. The stuffed duck, with a polka dot bow around its neck and red lips on its beak, smiled back at him.

The credit card fell to the ground and Job lifted both hands to his eyes. Pressing the heels of his palms into his sockets, he tried to block out the image, even as he felt it burning into his memory.

How could Parald have done this?

Parald, of the Air House had released the Fall as an act of vengeance. The disease was one man’s revenge, but it had spread further than even Parald anticipated. The seeds of the Elementals’ annihilation were sown when Tritone, of the Water House refused to accept Parald as her Match. She’d petitioned the Council to severe their Phase-Match. And, as High Seat, Job had done it. He’d set Ty free, legally dissolving all her ties to the Air King.

Parald hadn’t taken the loss of his woman well.

A Phase-Match was the goal of most Elementals. Finding a Match allowed you to have children, allowed you to mingle your energy with someone else and create a larger whole, allowed you to have your other half. Most Phases were extremely grateful to find the one person that they could Phaze with. Job would have sacrificed
anything
to have his Match. He’d looked for her for so many years that they all became a blur in his mind. But, his hope of ever finding her was gone, now. Even if she had existed, the Fall would have taken her along with everyone else.

Job was meant to be alone.

Ty
chose
to be alone. She didn’t want Parald. Period. She wouldn’t have him and Job had enforced her decision to renounce the Match. The Fall was Parald’s way of striking back.

Even if Job had known that the Fall would result from his ruling… Even if he’d known of all the deaths that would come from allowing Ty to renounce Parald… He
still
couldn’t have changed his verdict. Ty had the right to refuse the Match. It was the law and Job had sworn to uphold the law.

There was no other choice to make.

Now, the consequences of Job’s inflexible judgment covered the Earth Kingdom. Little girls, desperately clutching toy ducks as if the stuffed animals could protect them from the specter of pain and death, were his responsibility.

Why had this happened? How could Job have
let
it happen? With all his power why couldn’t he fix this horror? Why hadn’t he anticipated Parald’s attack? Why hadn’t Parald come after
him
? Why did so many innocents have to die?

It didn’t make any sense.

Job couldn’t read any more of his mail. He just let the letters drop and pulled off his Council robes to lay them over the dead child. The draping, black fabric covered the small body and Job sighed. “I’m sorry.” He whispered, uselessly. “I’m so sorry.”

There was no answer. No absolution. How could there be?

Job resumed walking and wondered where his nephew was. Cross was the last member of his family. He knew that Cross was still alive. Job would have felt it if Senti’s son had died. But, Job still needed to go to the Shadowland and see the boy with his own eyes. He had to assure himself that Cross was okay, even if his nephew hated the very sight of him.

Another failure.

The song switched from Ozzy to AC/DC’s
Highway to Hell
.

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