Water Shaper (World Aflame) (4 page)

The meager light from above strained to illuminate the area into which they sank. The sunlight seemed to shrink from the depths to which they flew.

“It’s freezing,” Jessica remarked as she rubbed her arms. She pulled her fur-lined winter jacket from her bag and slid it on but still shivered against the chill.

Xander looked over his shoulder and saw Sean pulling on his jacket as well. It had been so warm when they were eating lunch at the Azores. The warmth was clearly gone, as a cold seemed to emanate from the ocean around them.

For some reason he couldn’t explain, the cold seemed to affect him far less than the other two. He remained in his T-shirt and, though he could feel goose bumps spreading across his exposed skin, it wasn’t enough to warrant putting on the thick winter coat.

The darkness swallowed the filtering sunlight, leaving the sea around them in perpetual dusk. The sunlight that had followed them surrendered its chase and retreated to the surface. The glassy perimeter of the vortex still swirled around them, but it was barely visible anymore.

“H-how far down are we g-going?” Sean asked as he began shivering uncontrollably.

Xander could feel the tug in his gut like someone had tied a rope to his stomach and dropped it from a bridge. “We’re close. Really close now.”

He looked back at both Sean and Jessica hovering behind him and noticed their lips were turning blue. Jessica’s eyebrows looked frosted as small ice crystals formed on her brow.

When the darkness was on the verge of swallowing them whole, their feet touched down on the silt and sand of the ocean’s floor.

“I can’t see anything,” Sean said.

Jessica fumbled in her pocket, and they heard the jingling of keys. She pulled out a massive keychain, its lengths adorned with charms and discount tags from assorted department stores. She sifted through the jumble before exclaiming loudly and raising her hand above her head.

“Found it,” she said.

“Found what?” Sean asked as he stared inquisitively at the barely visible shape in her outstretched hand.

Jessica lowered her hand and pressed a button on the object dangling from the end of her keys. Light spilled from the pocket flashlight. Though its illumination was weak compared to the oppressive gloom, they were able to make out the shapes immediately around them.

The light fell first on the ground at their feet.  Xander furrowed his brow as he leaned forward and brushed away some of the damp sand. His hand fell on hard stone with clearly defined edges. The narrow gap on the edge of the stone led immediately to another paver stone set artfully beside it. From that paver, Xander followed the path to another and another.

As his eyes adjusted, he was able to make out the silt-covered edges of the path—a clear trail that led forward from where they had landed.

“What is it?” Sean asked, crouching beside his friend.

“It’s a road,” Xander said unbelievably, his words escaping in an amazed exhalation.

The two stood and glanced along the path of the trail.

“Shine the light over there,” Xander said, pointing ahead of them.

As Jessica turned the meager flashlight forward, the light poured over the unnaturally sharp corner stones and dilapidated rooftops of the nearest buildings. Just beyond the crumbled buildings, the light exposed the rounded exterior walls that were now crumbled from age and choked with sea life.

“It’s a city,” he whispered unbelievably into the still air.

It was a city, or at least it had once been ages ago. Xander touched the slime-encrusted stonework of the nearest building with admiration. Despite the water being held at bay by his vortex, the sea still clung to the ruins around them. Coral had taken root on the collapsed walls, growing bulbous forms until the stonework was nearly unrecognizable at parts. Water still poured in miniaturized waterfalls down the facades of the ruined buildings. He stepped further away from the cobblestone road they had discovered as he explored the structures.

“Who built this?” Jessica asked as she took a squishy step forward. Her foot sank slightly into the ocean floor, and the seawater flooded into her shoes. It only added to the cold that had permeated ever corner of her body.

“I don’t know,” Xander said.

“This was a doorway,” Sean said, rushing toward one of the buildings. Though his breath still escaped in clouds of white, the adrenaline rushed through his body at their discovery, helping him temporarily forget about the cold. “I mean, if there had been a real door here once, it’s rotted away. But it’s clearly a doorframe.”

Jessica pushed gently on a stone that stood at her chest level. It slid easily off the top of the broken wall and sank into the silt beyond. “It’s falling apart. How old d-do you think this place is?”

Xander shrugged as motioned for Jessica to turn the light toward him. As she adjusted the beam, it fell over another nondescript structure.

“Centuries? Millennia? I have no idea. It’s been underwater for a long time. That much is clear.”

“Just so long as it’s not going to come rushing back in while we’re still here,” Sean said.

Xander shook his head and stepped over another set of fallen stones. The curved walls of the city stood before them. “It won’t. I have the water under control.”

“Just like that? You’re holding back the entire ocean just like that?”

“Just like that. I’m not even really concentrating on it. It’s just happening.”

Sean frowned. “Yeah, glad to know holding back the ocean hasn’t really rated high on your conscious thoughts. That really puts my mind at ease.”

Sean looked over to Jessica, whose feet were submerged in the damp ground. She held the flashlight aloft in one hand and her other was crossed protectively across her chest. She shivered uncontrollably as she followed Xander with the light.

She rubbed her arms as she tried to keep her body from shaking. “Holy c-crap, it’s freezing,”

She pulled a boot free of the sucking silt and frowned as water dripped from its sole.

“Come here,” Sean said as he walked over and wrapped his arm around her. “I’ll keep you warm.”

“I r-really want to make some j-joke about you not being as c-cold because of your blubber,” Jessica began through clattering teeth, “b-but it’s just t-too much effort.”

Instead of offering a stinging retort, Sean laughed and pulled her in closer.

Xander walked away from the pair, still admiring the ruins around them. The city was enormous and ancient. Despite the damage done by underwater currents over what must have been hundreds, if not thousands, of years, the city was still remarkably well preserved. He reached out as he approached the nearest building, his fingers dancing over the ancient stones. The craftsmanship seemed exquisite considering the obvious age of the houses around him, if indeed houses were what they were.

He walked around its perimeter until he found what looked like a doorway, though half the wall on one side had long ago collapsed. Around the edge of the doorframe, Xander could make out faintly etched symbols, intricately carved into the stone itself. The water currents had washed away anything discernable, though he doubted he could have read the symbols even if they’d been clear.

Turning slowly, he saw more and more similar homes stretching as far as he could see, eventually disappearing into the edge of the vortex he created to keep the ocean at bay. Whatever this place had been, it was enormous.

Sean and Jessica walked up beside him while he was lost in thought.

“I’m just throwing out ideas,” Sean said, “but you don’t think it could be… I mean, you don’t really think this could be Atlantis, do you?”

Xander turned toward his friend with a frown. “I think you read too many comic books.”

“So says the superhero,” Sean retorted.

“If you two are d-done, then can we p-please hurry? We can’t s-stay here much longer,” Jessica moaned.

She took a tentative step toward Xander but she seemed to be teetering unsteadily, as though her joints weren’t cooperating under the extreme cold.

“She’s right,” Sean said. He was clearly warmer than she was, but the strain was evident on his face. “You may be able to handle the cold, but we can’t. We’re going to freeze to death.”

“Where is the Elemental?” Jessica stammered.

“It’s here,” Xander replied, though he seemed unsure of himself. “It has to be.”

He led them to the edge of the curved wall. There were huge holes along its length where it collapsed under its own weight. The massive stones littered the ground on either side of the wall. Water sloshed along the edge of the remaining stones like a narrow moat, one that Xander easily stepped over. He climbed up the small incline of sand and stepped onto the lip of one of the holes.

“Let me borrow the flashlight,” he said as Jessica approached.

She handed him the light and he shone it over the wall, though the light from its small bulb diffused quickly as it shone over the crumbling city. Craning his neck, he was able to see over the nearest of the low buildings.

The road they had found when they landed entered the city to his right and continued straight toward the heart of the city. The design of the houses themselves seemed similarly built to the Wind Warriors’ island, with the flow of buildings seemingly pointing toward a center that he couldn’t see from his vantage point. The familiar architectural design set his mind at ease that they were at the right place, even though he still had no idea where the Elemental could be.

“D-don’t you have some mumbo-jumbo you c-can use to find it?”

Xander frowned at his ex-girlfriend. She was right, but his ability to sense the Elementals had gone haywire the second they arrived at the ocean floor. It seemed like the Elemental was everywhere at once, which left his sense of direction dizzy and unclear.

“What can you see?” Sean asked from behind him.

Xander looked over his shoulder to where Sean still stood, ankle-deep in the muck.

“It looks like there are some roads leading toward the center of the city, but I can’t see what’s there from here.”

“I don’t mean to be the guy pointing out the elephant in the room,” Sean said, “but I’m pretty sure that would be a good place to start.”

Xander frowned as he climbed down from the wall. He knew the smart thing would have been to fly directly to the center of the city and find out what was there, but he reveled in the fact that walking bought him time to collect his thoughts. Every step on his journey had brought both new responsibilities and new heartaches. He had become a Wind Warrior, and it had cost the lives of his parents and his grandfather. He had absorbed the power of the Wind Elemental but was now responsible for stopping a legion of Fire Warriors from destroying the planet. He still didn’t feel ready to take another leap of faith on his journey. Instead, he helped the other two climb through the hole in the wall.

The trio rejoined the road to their right, knowing it would make the trip easier than forging through the deepening silt.

The buildings around them quickly grew more dilapidated the closer they got to the center of the city. Xander frowned as he looked upon the ruin. The destruction had been the result of far more than just time and water currents. The stones that had once formed the walls of the buildings were split. Many of the buildings stood as little more than foundations, leaving gently raised outlines of structures in the sandy ocean floor.

Something sinister had happened ages ago that left behind only the broken foundations. It only reinforced Xander’s hesitation as they climbed through the wreckage. This city had once belonged to one of the Elementals, and it had still come to ruin. The Elemental power seemed to be a magnet for violence.

The road remained unwavering as it led them to the heart of the city. The rows of buildings ended abruptly, and the trio found themselves on the edge of a giant, circular courtyard. The ground in the center of the park rose slightly to a gentle hilltop, clearly the focal point of the entire city.

Xander took a step forward, but Sean’s hand closed over his arm.

“Turn off the flashlight,” Sean said.

Xander looked at him inquisitively but pressed the button on the keychain. For a brief moment, the city grew impenetrably black. As quickly as the darkness rushed into his vision, however, it was banished by a gentle glow radiating from the hilltop. A faint blue light poured from its peak, gently illuminating the surrounding area.