Jon Messenger

Xander Sirocco laced his fingers behind his head and lay back on the bed. His gaze drifted to the marbled ceiling above him and the faded mosaic that had once been elaborately painted on its surface. The images had faded until they were barely recognizable as people. Only the image of a man and woman holding hands hadn’t been worn away from constant exposure to the sun and salt water. The older couple stared at one another romantically amidst a boiling storm.

Reaching up, he wiped away tears that welled in his eyes. The woman in the painting had long, dark hair that cascaded over her shoulders as she looked up at the man. The older man also had dark hair similar to Xander’s. Both of their features had been worn away from exposure and age, but they reminded him remarkably of his parents.

A knot grew in his throat. He was forced to roll onto his side and look out the window before the emotion overwhelmed him. Outside the window, bright sun glistened off a wall of water that surrounded the narrow island. The red-tiled roofs baked in the warm sunlight and the white marble walls of the buildings reflected the light, bathing the entire island in its glow. At another time, it would have been a tropical paradise; a piece of ancient Roman architecture transplanted to the Gulf of Mexico. Xander didn’t have the heart to admire its beauty, however. He brought his knees up to his chest and stared out the window without seeing anything beyond its open shutters.

While he was staring out the window lost in his thoughts, he heard the faint click of footsteps ascending the marble staircase outside his bedroom door. He rolled toward the door as the footsteps came to a stop on the landing and a hand gently knocked. Without awaiting a response from Xander, the door opened and Sammy entered.

Her blonde hair was pinned up with small ringlets resting on the back of her neck. An airy, white blouse that was tied closed around her narrow waist had replaced her dark leathers. Her alabaster skin was marred only by the faint pink of sunburn.

“You’re not even dressed yet?” she asked. “We’re going to be late.”

She looked at him, noting the puffiness around his eyes. With a sad smile, she walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down beside him. She placed an abnormally warm hand on his bare shoulder and squeezed gently.

Xander reached up and wiped away the fresh tears. Sammy leaned forward and kissed him gently on his forehead. As she leaned back, he stared into her crystal blue eyes. Flecks of gray pierced the rims of her irises, giving her eyes a steely appearance.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” she said.

Her words were like a knife twisting in his gut. He cringed and shook his head.

“Please don’t say that,” Xander said. “If one more person tells me that they’re sorry my parents died, I think I’m going to explode.”

Sammy frowned and quickly looked away. Xander reached out and took her hand.

“I’m sorry, Sammy. I didn’t mean to snap at you.” He blinked away the newest wave of emotion. “It’s just that I miss them so much. And every time I think about getting dressed and going to their funeral, I get this wrenching in my gut. It’s like a constant reminder that they’re dead because of me.”

“Xander,” Sammy said. “It’s not your fault they died.”

Xander sat up in the bed so that he was eye level with Sammy. His eyes smoldered through the tears. “They died because I’m a Wind Warrior. If I hadn’t become one or if I hadn’t left them—”

“Then General Abraxas would have killed you too,” she finished. “You’re a good man, Xander, but you don’t understand the type of people you’re dealing with. Most of the Fire Caste aren’t evil like Abraxas was but men like him exist and they’ll stop at nothing to see you dead. If you had been at your parents’ house instead of here with the other Wind Warriors, then we’d be burying you today too.”

Sammy cradled the side of his head in her hand. “You lived, Xander. You lived so you can stop the Fire Caste from killing anyone else.”

Xander reached up and pulled her hand away. Shifting his weight, he turned his back to her and stared out the open window. Sea spray settled over the red tiles just outside the window and rolled off the roof in small rivulets.

“I’m not trying to pick a fight but what’s the point? A single Fire Warrior killed my parents, Bart, and nearly killed my grandfather. One man! If it hadn’t been for you, he would have killed me too. How could we possibly stop an entire army of them?”

Sammy laid her head on his exposed back and listened to his quickened heartbeat. “I don’t know.”

Startled by her honesty, Xander glanced over his shoulder.

“I don’t know how,” Sammy repeated. “But you’ll find a way. You and the other Wind Warriors will find a way to save the world, I know it.”

“I wish I could believe that.”

Sammy slid off the side of the bed, taking his hand in the process, and pulling him with her. “We have time to convince you later. Right now, we have a funeral to attend. Don’t let survivor’s guilt keep you from honoring their memory.”

Xander sighed and threw his legs over the side of the bed. As he placed his feet on the cold floor, he pulled her into a tight hug. She turned her head to the side and buried her face in the crook of his neck.

“All right,” he said, his voice rumbling against her ear as she lay against his chest. “Let me get dressed.”

They paused as they left his house. Sammy reached down to a basket set beside his door and pulled out a bundle of fresh lavender stalks. The smell was intoxicating, compared to the normal, overwhelming scent of the ocean. She handed the stalks to Xander, who took them with a look of surprise.

“What are these for?” he asked.

Sammy smiled sweetly. “I found a patch growing on the far side of the island. I figured they’d be a nice gesture to lay on the graves.”

Xander’s smile was mixed with a tinge of sadness at the mention of the graves. “Thank you. This is really nice.”

He slipped his hand into hers as they walked. He squinted against the bright sunlight and felt the first bead of sweat roll down his back. Despite the thin, loose-fitting shirt he wore, the sun and humidity was oppressive on the island.

Xander closed his eyes as he walked and concentrated on the still air around them. A soft breeze coiled around his sandaled ankles as he walked and the wind surged into his body as though being soaked up through his pores. The breeze whispered to him as it flowed through him, cooling him off. It spoke in a language that was completely alien, yet strangely familiar. He didn’t understand the words but the message was unmistakable.

“Thank you,” Sammy said from beside him.

Xander opened his eyes and saw the same breeze curling lazily around Sammy. Her hair whipped playfully in the air before settling back onto her shoulders. The slight flush in her porcelain skin seemed to fade away as the cold air washed over her.

Despite the sad event, he felt more alive when he was controlling the wind. It was part of his birthright, one that he wasn’t willing to give up just because the Fire Caste was eager to replace the Wind Warriors.

“How are my aunts and uncles taking everything?” he asked as the wind faded slightly, receding until it became just a faint whisper of air that seeped through their thin clothing.

He felt slightly guilty asking the question. The other remaining Wind Warriors—his “aunts and uncles”—were certainly suffering the loss of Bart as surely as he was suffering the loss of his parents, but he hadn’t bothered to visit with any of them since returning from White Halls. He had locked himself in his room instead, seeing only Sammy when she came to visit.

Sammy shrugged. “I don’t know, honestly. I mean, they’re obviously sad about what happened, but only Giovanni and Alicia will actually talk to me. Patrick and Thea just give me looks like I’m the devil every time I’m around. And Robert is always in the dome. I guess they’re taking it all in stride.”

He couldn’t imagine how they must be feeling. They just lost a friend they had known closely for thirty or forty years. He wondered if it had become easier for them over the years, though. His parents were the first people he truly lost that were close to him. The other Wind Warriors had once been part of a group that numbered in the hundreds. Surely, other Wind Warriors had died throughout the years.

“How are you doing, now that we’re actually going to the funeral?” she asked.

Xander shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m kind of numb right now. I’m just trying to hold it all together but I feel like a puzzle with a few pieces missing.”

She gave his hand a firm squeeze. “We’re here. Are you sure you’re okay?”

Xander sighed. “As good as I can be. Let’s go.”

As they rounded the last building, the stone walkway gave way to lush, green grass. The park before them stretched to the edge of the island, ending at the wall of sea spray rising to the sky above. A gentle mist of salt water cascaded over the pair as they left the protection of the marble buildings.

Three figures stood at the far end of the park, flanking three graves. The tops of the graves were covered with piles of stones, creating makeshift cairns.

Xander froze at the sight. He thought he’d prepared himself enough for this moment but he was quickly overwhelmed at the sight of the graves. The one to the far left concealed the body of Bart. The other two were actually empty graves; they were symbolic markers for Xander’s parents. Their bodies were still with the White Halls coroner. Though he had wanted to retrieve them to give them a proper burial, he knew the Fire Warriors who had accompanied General Abraxas would be waiting for him.

Despite knowing the graves were empty, it didn’t lessen the severe heartache he felt.

Sammy slipped an arm into his, giving him support as he walked forward. Xander looked quickly away from the graves and instead stared at the three older Wind Warriors who stood stoically behind the cairns. Only Patrick, Thea, and Giovanni were present, another reminder of all they had already lost since the Fire Caste declared war on them. Bart was gone. His grandfather had been badly burned and still hadn’t awoken since their return. Alicia tended to him practically day and night, meaning that another Wind Warrior was incapable of defending against the Fire Warrior invasion.

Not that they cared to fight back, Xander realized sourly as he and Sammy approached the graves. All the elder Wind Warriors—even the ones that seemed to support him the most like Giovanni and Alicia—seemed apathetic when it came to fighting back. It was as though the transition from the wind to the fire was a foregone conclusion. Xander and Sammy seemed to be the only ones that were willing to stand up to the advance.

As he caught Patrick’s eye, the Irish Wind Warrior scowled and opened his mouth to speak. Thea’s quick elbow to his ribs quickly silenced him and left him cringing. He didn’t need to speak for Xander to know what he was going to say. It wasn’t Xander at whom Patrick was scowling. It was Sammy, walking at his side.

He and Sammy stopped on the far side of the graves and stared at the others. Despite Patrick’s obvious displeasure at Sammy’s presence, all the Wind Warriors looked saddened by the occasion.

“Would anyone like to say anything?” Giovanni asked, breaking the awkward silence. “I don’t really know if any of us are truly qualified to oversee a funeral, so I thought we could just speak what was on our minds. Assuming that’s okay with you all, yes?”

So many different thoughts crashed through Xander’s mind. He tried to think of something meaningful to say but everything he thought of seemed paltry under the circumstances. No one cared like he did that his mother was always compassionate and loving. It seemed insignificant that Xander always knew the affection his father felt, even when the man was being a strict disciplinarian. He tried brushing aside the thoughts of his mother and father lying to him his entire life about the existence of the Wind Warriors, but even that invasive thought kept creeping back into the forefront of his memories.

The more he thought of everything they had been, the more he realized they were gone. Their love and affection would only be a memory; a shadow of what it had once been and what it had meant to him. A knot quickly formed in his throat and he had to swallow hard before the emotion rolled out of him.

Across the gravesite, Patrick cleared his throat. Xander could see the same deep emotion in the Irishman’s eyes as he prepared to speak.

“Bart was a good man and a good friend,” he began, his words thick with sadness. He laughed softly in the way people do when they don’t know what to say in an uncomfortable situation. “I still remember when we met nearly, God, thirty years ago now. I was fresh from the Isle and had an accent thicker than you wouldn’t believe. The poor lad couldn’t even understand me when I spoke.”

Patrick paused and wiped away a tear. “We always said we were terrible friends; that it would be ridiculous for us to grow old together because we never really got along. We argued like a married couple. But I never in a million years thought that we wouldn’t grow old together, you know?

“He deserved better,” he muttered, as much to himself as the others gathered around the graves.

The five men and women stood in silence, lost in their own thoughts and generally avoiding eye contact with one another. Xander knew the loss he felt but couldn’t imagine what it must be like to lose a friend like Patrick had—someone he had known for longer than Xander had even been alive.

Again, he sought the right words for his parents’ eulogy but nothing came. His mind became a white sheet, completely blank.

Giovanni raised his head and made the sign of the cross over his forehead. Looking toward Xander, he caught the younger man’s gaze.

“Would you like to say anything?”

Xander opened and quickly closed his mouth. He knew he should say something in this moment but nothing was able to break through the blanket draped over his thoughts.

“I…” he said, before stopping. The utterance of that single word opened the floodgates of his emotions. Tears rolled out of his eyes as he looked down at what he knew were the two hollow graves for his parents. They were simple piles of stone, strategically placed until they made a perfect ridge along the middle like an elongated pyramid. No headstones marked the ends of the graves; the larger stones had been too hard to carry from the mainland where the other rocks had been retrieved.

The breeze around them kicked up sharply and angrily, echoing the torrent of emotions rumbling through Xander.

Instead of speaking, Xander raised the lavender in his hand. Stepping forward, he laid a stalk on the peak of each of the stone gravesites before stepping back to Sammy’s side. The young Fire Warrior slipped her hand back into his and he savored her comforting warmth.

“If there’s nothing else,” Giovanni said, “then thank you all for attending today.”

The Italian Wind Warrior turned away, his black ponytail trailing behind him. Thea placed a hand on Patrick’s shoulder and began to step away but stopped when she realized the Irishman wasn’t coming. Patrick’s scowling gaze remained affixed on Sammy.

“Not now,” Thea said harshly, her permanent frown deepening as she stopped beside the redheaded man. “There’ll be time for this later.”

Patrick turned but quickly shrugged off Thea’s guiding hand. He stormed back to the graves and pointed at Sammy.

“She doesn’t belong here,” he said angrily. “This was a sacred event and it didn’t deserve to be sullied by her kind.”

Xander wiped away the tears with a brief swipe of his loose sleeve.

“Her kind?” he said. “She betrayed ‘her kind’ to save our lives. Giovanni, my grandfather, and I would have all died if it hadn’t been for her.”

“Aye, she did. And for what? Because she loves you? After you’ve known her for only a few weeks? After she already tried to kill you once?”

“So what if she does?”

“She’s a Fire Warrior, you daft bugger. You don’t just stop being a member of your caste. I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole thing was staged just so she could get close enough to kill us all.”

Thea grabbed Patrick’s arm roughly and started pulling him away. “This isn’t the time for this,” Thea said.

“Keep away from us,” Xander yelled.

“Why don’t you tell them the truth, lass? Tell me I’m wrong.”

Thea pulled him away until they both disappeared around the corner of one of the island’s empty houses.

Xander fumed, staring angrily at the retreating Irishman long after he had disappeared from view. When he glanced over at Sammy, she stood with her mouth agape as though still contemplating the right response to all Patrick’s accusations.

Angrily, Xander took her hand and led her away from the funeral.

Xander and Sammy walked in silence.. He shoved his hands in his pockets and frowned deeply. He glanced over at Sammy but she refused to return his gaze. She stared off into the distance as she walked by his side and a faint flush rose to her cheeks.

His stomach churned as his emotions rolled between sadness for his loss, anger at Patrick, and sympathy for the displaced Fire Warrior.

“I’m sorry about what he said back there,” he said, reaching out for her hand. She slipped it into his. “He was way out of line.”

Sammy shook her head and sighed. “We both know he wasn’t. I don’t really belong here. No one actually likes me here. Giovanni and Alicia only tolerate me because of you.”

She squeezed his hand and looked over with tears in her eyes. “Maybe I should just go.”

Xander’s heart dropped in his chest. “No.”

Sammy arched an eyebrow as she waited for him to say more.

Xander stopped walked and turned her toward him. “Sammy, I made the mistake of letting you go once before. I’m not going to do that again.”

He pulled her close and slid his arms around her waist. She leaned in closer and rested her head against his chest.

“Everything that’s happened,” he continued, “has been some crazy whirlwind ride.”

Sammy chortled at his unintentional pun. He felt her shoulders shake with suppressed laughter and forced a smile.

“Laugh if you want but very little about all this makes sense to me. I barely understand my powers. I barely know my aunts and uncles but they all look to me like I’m some prodigy… like I’m supposed to change the world. Right now, you’re the only thing in my life that makes sense. You’re the only thing I actually understand. I can’t do this without you. If you leave, so do I.”

“It’s sad that I’m the only thing that makes sense to you,” she replied, “since I’m the only one here that’s tried to kill you.”

Xander sighed. “Yeah, but at least I know where I stand with you.”

Sammy laughed weakly again. He could still feel the tension in her body and the obvious sadness and indecision that coursed through her.

“Don’t you worry about ‘us’, though?” she asked.

Xander stepped back from her so he could look into her eyes. “What do you mean?”

Sammy tried to smile but the mirth fell far short of her eyes. “Patrick was right about us, too.”

“No, he wasn’t—”

“You just don’t want to admit it to yourself, Xander, but he was,” she replied adamantly. “Think about it. We’re from opposing castes. For God’s sake, I tried to kill you.”

“What do you want me to say?” Xander asked angrily. He didn’t understand where all this was coming from or why she would chose this painful day to bring it all up, but he just wanted the conversation to end.

“I want you to admit that something is off about our relationship,” she said. “I don’t think it’s wrong, exactly, just strange. I spent my entire life training for the sole purpose of eliminating the Wind Warriors and razing the Earth. Yet the second I meet you, I’m willing to throw away the life I knew. And you, you immediately forgave me for attempted murder. I don’t know about you but when we were apart, you were all I thought about; all I thought about after only a couple weeks of knowing each other. I was trained to be physically tough and emotionally distant. You broke through nineteen years of training in an hour.”

“Maybe love makes us do strange things,” he replied flatly.

“Is that it, Xander?” Sammy grabbed his hand and squeezed it, the entire time her eyes never leaving his. “Can you honestly tell me right now that you love me?”

He wanted to tell her he did but those words had never come easily for him. He finally shrugged. “I don’t know if it’s really love or not. But I do know that Patrick isn’t right. We have something special. Call it an infatuation or an obsession. Call it whatever you want. I don’t really care what we call it, so long as we’re together.”

Sammy looked away and turned toward the sea wall surrounding the island. He stood behind her and lost himself in the wave of curls that fell from her pinned-up hair.

Xander was surprised when he heard Sammy laugh. It was a nervous laugh. “God, we’re so messed up. What kind of future can we possibly have together?”

He hadn’t lied to her when he said he didn’t know if it was love between them. What he did know was that now that she was in his life, he couldn’t imagine how he survived without her. Maybe that made him blind to the truth. At this point, with so much loss, he just didn’t care if he was blind, just so long as he didn’t lose her as well.

Xander slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. She rested her back against his chest and they stared at the glistening waterspout.

“Whatever future we want,” he finally replied. “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy but the feelings I have for you aren’t suddenly going to go away.

“Patrick wasn’t right, no matter what doubts you might have in your mind,” he reiterated. “If he wants to force you off the island, he needs to be ready for me to go as well. You’re stuck with me. Where you go, I go.”

Sammy turned back to him, her face streaked with tears. “You’re a good man, Xander Sirocco. I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“We’re going to find out… together.”

She stepped into him and buried her face in his chest once more. Xander smiled and leaned forward, kissing her softly on her perfectly coifed hair.

“Do you have plans for the rest of the day?” he asked.

“You’re stuck with me, too,” she replied. “I go where you go.”

“Then there’s someone we need to go see.”

They walked down one of the cobblestone streets that led off from the central dome of the island. The roads were all laid out like the spokes of a wheel, converging at the rounded building. The dome towered over the nearby structures, reaching four stories into the air at its pinnacle. It was large enough to house the city hall building of White Halls but it was inhabited by only a single man: his uncle Robert.

Xander had only seen Robert once before. The man had a destitute appearance; his long hair and unkempt beard accentuated his pasty complexion. He was cared for by the other aunts and uncles, since he was unable to leave the cushioned seat on which he rested.

Robert controlled the waterspout that surrounded the island. His unconscious mind kept it aloft even during his sleeping hours. Likewise, he kept the island floating hundreds of feet above the surface of the ocean below. His task was repetitive but necessary. Keeping the island so high in the air ensured any Fire Warriors that sailed nearby couldn’t detect his outpouring of elemental power, since the elemental wielders could only detect the individual, not the result of their power.

Xander and Sammy turned before they reached the dome and walked to one of the more squat outlying buildings. A thin tarp had been pulled across the entryway, keeping out the misting rain and glaring sun but letting through the day’s cool breeze.

Alicia stood in front of the thin veil, smiling at the approaching young lovers. Deep wrinkles carved across the surface of her face and deepened considerably as she smiled. Her back was slightly stooped from age and her silver hair was pinned up into a loose bun on the top of her head. She looked grandmotherly, though Xander knew her looks were very deceptive. As one of the last Wind Warriors, she wielded considerable abilities.

“How is he?” Xander asked matter-of-factly.

“He’s as good as can be expected,” Alicia replied. “He’s still sleeping.”

Xander frowned. Though she called it sleeping, he knew his grandfather was actually unconscious, as he’d been ever since being attacked by General Abraxas.

“Should we come back another time, then?” he asked. “I don’t want to wake him up.”

Alicia shook her head. “You don’t need to worry about waking him up. It’s better that you come to see him.”

She pulled the cloth tarp aside, revealing the cool darkness of the one-room building. Xander looked to Sammy, who only shook her head and gestured for him to go inside. She knew as well as Xander did that this was something he needed to do without her.

Xander stepped past Alicia and was swallowed by the deep shadows in the room. His eyes strained to adjust to the dim light; a single lantern was the only light source in the room. As his eyes came into focus, he saw his grandfather lying on the room’s sole bed.

The elder man’s chest rose and fell unevenly as he clearly struggled for breath. The left side of his face and part of his exposed left arm were heavily bandaged in white linen but Xander could see spots of red and yellow, as the fresh burns oozed through the wrapping.

Xander fought the urge to throw up. The emotional turmoil within him reached an apex as he stared at the man he had loved his entire life. His grandfather had lived with him and his parents since he was a child. Though Xander had never known the Wind Warrior secret his grandfather had harbored, he had always shared a special kinship with the old man. To see him injured and—though Xander was loathed to admit it—dying on the bed left an unending ache in his chest.

Alicia closed the tarp behind her as she followed him into the room. She moved wordlessly past Xander and retrieved a bowl of water from a nearby table. Dipping a rag into the cool water, she patted his grandfather’s forehead.

“How… how is he?” Xander stammered.

Alicia looked up at him and smiled meekly. “He’s dying, Xander. He’s a strong man, one of the strongest among us, but he’s old just like the rest of us, too. His body just can’t take abuse like this.”

Looking around, Xander found a chair nearby. He pulled it over to the bedside and sat down heavily. Reaching out, he took his grandfather’s uninjured hand and squeezed it tightly.

“There has to be something we can do,” he whispered, without looking up at his aunt. “Take him to a hospital or something. There’s a really good burn hospital in Texas, I think.”

Alicia shook her head sadly. “If it were an option, we would have done it. He’s just too weak. He’d never survive the flight. To be honest, I’m surprised he made it all the way here. He’s obviously holding on for something important. I’m assuming that something is you.”

Xander leaned his head forward and rested it on his grandfather’s arm. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly as a tear rolled off his eyelashes and fell to the floor.

“You guys keep saying that,” he muttered. “I’m not special. I’m just a kid trying not to lose the only family member he has left.”

He didn’t hear Alicia move from the far side of the bed but she placed a compassionate hand on his back.

“You are special, Xander. There’s a reason you were chosen to be a Wind Warrior when it seemed like our time was done. Even if you don’t believe in yourself, you’ve ignited something in the rest of us that we all thought had died. You’ve given us hope for the future, not just our own but all of humanity’s.”

Xander lifted his head and turned it toward his aunt. “You may believe that but the rest of them are still ready to lie down and die.”

“Give them time,” she replied. “They’ll come around.”

“We don’t have time. The Fire Warriors are coming for us.”

Alicia sighed and retrieved a second chair. She placed it next to his and sat down so they were eye level with one another.

“Xander, dear, you have to remember that we’re old and stubborn. We’ve been Wind Warriors for decades now. We became warriors back in a time where there were literally hundreds of us living on this island alone, and we were only one clan of many throughout the world. Over the years, we’ve watched our loved ones, our friends, and our fellow warriors die of old age. We’ve seen so many of our kind simply fly back to their homes to live out their days alone. And all because we knew our time was coming to an end. We spent so much time being Wind Warriors that we never stopped to consider starting families. And those of us who did start families never had our children activate.”

Xander was surprised to see her reach up and wipe away a tear. He’d been so saddened by his own loss that he had trouble remembering how painful this must be for everyone else.

“We all knew the signs,” she continued. “Our time was coming to an end. That was probably the most painful thing of all. We knew what it meant when we were gone. It meant that nature had decided humanity wasn’t a good fit for the Earth any longer. It meant that… that it was time to wipe the slate clean and start again.”

Xander sat in silence, letting the weight of that realization sink in. He remembered how surprised he had been when he found out what would happen when the Fire Warriors rose to power. He couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to have that realization while actively a Wind Warrior; to realize that the world had suddenly decided you were obsolete.

“Then why didn’t you fight back?” he asked. “Why didn’t you do everything you could to stop the Fire Warriors?”

Alicia laughed softly. “Oh child, you sound so much like your grandfather. That’s exactly why he became our leader.”

Xander frowned at the implication. “So you did fight back? But it didn’t work, did it?”

“Humanity had progressed too far beyond our help. We were its spiritual guides but humanity no longer had a need for spirituality. The world prayed to technology and cared less and less about its impact on the world around it.”

She stood and moved her chair back against the wall. “You have to appreciate that we’ve had years to realize that we were going to die and no Wind Warriors would take our place. I guess, eventually, we just gave up trying. That’s why you’re getting so much resistance from the others. They were content thinking that this was the end for them. They were resolved in the thought that they were going to die and there wasn’t anything they could do to change the world for the better.

“And then you came along. You’re giving them hope, but that hope has to break through some pretty resistant barriers.”

She slipped her hand under his arm and helped him to his feet. “Just don’t stop trying, okay? Give us a chance and we won’t let you down. It’s what he would have wanted, out of you and out of us.”

Xander looked over at his grandfather before turning back to Alicia. He wrapped his arms around the elderly woman and pulled her into a tight embrace.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“My pleasure, dear,” she replied as he released her.

Xander looked back at his grandfather once again, taking in the sorrowful image of the wounded man. He hated to see the older Wind Warrior that way and just wished there was something he could do to make him better.

“Promise me you’ll let me know as soon as he wakes up,” he told his aunt.

Alicia nodded. “On my honor.”

Xander nodded and walked back out through the draped tarp. He had to squint momentarily as he was assaulted by the glaring sunlight. As his eyes cleared, he saw Sammy watching him intently from beside the doorway.

“How did it go?” she asked pensively.

Xander managed a faint smile. “It went well.”

“So where do we go from here?”

“I’m going to fight back,” he said sternly, finding a strength in his voice he hadn’t heard in a while. “I’m going to train and I’m going to convince the other aunts and uncles to help me.”

Sammy stepped up beside him, a beaming smile on her face. “I’m so glad to hear it. There’s something I didn’t tell you before but I think you need to hear it now. You’re something special—”

“Don’t you start with that, too,” he interrupted.

Sammy shook her head. “I’m serious. You told me before that you didn’t see the point in fighting since one Fire Warrior did so much damage. But that Fire Warrior was one of the strongest and deadliest I’d ever seen. And you’re fighting at a disadvantage since your caste was created only to bolster our abilities. But when you and General Abraxas faced off, he threw some of the most powerful fire attacks I’d ever seen and you stood your ground. You were able to tap some reserve of power, even without any real training.”

Xander felt a hollowness inside of him that wasn’t related to his depression. He remembered the fight with Abraxas and the power that flowed through him, how it seemed to pull from his very soul as it poured from his body. Could Sammy be right about him? Could they all be right?

“Great,” he said, “now I just need to convince all the others.”

Sammy cringed as she looked over his shoulder. “Looks like you’re about to have your chance.”

Xander looked over his shoulder and sighed heavily. Of all the people to approach, Thea was probably his last choice. The stern Wind Warrior looked set to walk past him when he stepped into her path.

Thea arched an eyebrow, expressing her displeasure. “Yes?”

Xander took a deep breath. “I want you to train me.”

“We tried that already,” she replied curtly. “You’re not very good. And frankly, I don’t have the time right now.”

She pushed her way past him, glowering at Sammy as she went.

“Please,” Xander called after her.

Thea stopped. She turned sharply on her heel and stared at the young man. “Why should I?”

He swallowed the hard lump in his throat. He looked at Sammy from the corner of his eye but she was staring off into the distance, either oblivious to the conversation or not eager to get involved.

“Because I want to make a difference.”

“Like you did with Bart?” she retorted.

Her words stung far worse than if she had struck him. He took a step back but kept his gaze locked on Thea.

“No, not like Bart,” he replied softly. “But because of him. And because of my grandfather. And… and because of my parents. And because of the billions of other people on this planet who are all in danger right now. Because if I don’t do something—if we don’t do something—they’re all going to die. The Fire Warriors are going to cleanse the world so it can start again. And I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to lie down and die just yet.”

Thea stood tall but he could see her resolve faltering in her gaze.

“Did you ever have children?” he asked.

Thea’s hard gaze quickly returned before she shook her head. “No.”

“But you did have family, right?” He didn’t wait for her response. “Parents, of course, and maybe some siblings. Maybe even some nieces and nephews?”

He could see his words cutting through her rough exterior.

“I know you don’t like me and you don’t want to help me, if you can avoid it. And I know you don’t like Sammy. If you won’t do it for me, though, then do it for all the family of yours that probably still exist out there, all your family that’s still in danger.”

He took a step forward and was surprised when she didn’t back away. “I don’t know if we can actually stop the Fire Warriors but I’m sure not going to give up without a fight. Will you help me?”

Xander could see her jaw muscles clenching and unclenching as she considered her options. Finally, she nodded sharply.

“Meet me in the courtyard in fifteen minutes,” she said before turning away.

As she walked away, she called over her shoulder, “And Xander, you won’t enjoy this.”

Xander didn’t care about her thinly veiled threat. He smiled broadly as he turned back to Sammy.

Sammy didn’t meet his gaze. She stared past him in the direction of the retreating Thea. He glanced over his shoulder quickly to make sure Thea wasn’t giving Sammy a sour look but only saw the back of her as the older Wind Warrior walked away.

He turned back to the Fire Warrior. “Sammy? Earth to Sammy.”

Sammy blinked hard as her eyes came back into focus. Reaching up, she wiped away a thin sheen of sweat from her forehead.

“Sorry,” she said before coughing politely. “I was off in my own little world.”

Xander couldn’t blame her for wanting to avoid any confrontation with Thea. Only Patrick would have been a more unpleasant encounter.

“Thea’s going to train me again. Do you want to come with me?”

Sammy smiled weakly. “I’ll be there in a little bit. You go on ahead.”

Xander nodded and stepped forward. Pulling her close, he kissed her gently on the forehead, feeling the heat that radiated from her skin.

“I’ll see you soon,” he said before hurrying away.

Sammy watched Xander disappear around a building before turning her gaze back to the wall of water that surrounded the island. She knew Xander assumed Thea distracted her. She only wished it were that simple.

Hovering behind the curtain of water, a giant reptilian eye looked down on the island and stared intently at the wayward Fire Warrior. Sammy shrunk from its gaze and felt her temperature rising, as though her skin would burst into flames at any moment.

She had seen that eye in a hidden chamber behind her father’s throne room. It had frightened her so badly then that she had fled, never looking back. Despite knowing the threat it posed, she hadn’t seen it again outside of her dreams since. To see it hovering behind the water left her heart pounding in her chest.

Sammy was so intent on watching the eye that she didn’t hear the tarp being pulled aside behind her.

Alicia stepped into the bright light and stared at Sammy. The elderly woman followed her gaze toward the wall of water and furrowed her brow in confusion.

“Is everything alright, dear?” she asked, turning back to Sammy.

Sammy jumped and let out a slight scream of surprise. She looked to Alicia just as the grandmotherly Wind Warrior looked back at the waterspout. Despite looking directly at the spot where Sammy had seen the eye, she clearly didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

Sammy nodded and looked back to Alicia with what she hoped was a disarming smile. “I’m fine. It’s just been a really long day, you know? I probably just need to go rest for a little while.”

Alicia smiled. “It’s been a hard day on all of us, love. Why don’t you go lie down for a while? Let me know if you need anything at all.”

“Thanks, Alicia.”

The older woman disappeared back inside and Sammy exhaled a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

Turning back toward the waterspout, the eye was gone.

The flat of the blade struck Xander across his shoulder. He dropped his own sword and stumbled backward, cringing as he grabbed his wounded shoulder.

“That really hurt,” he yelled to his sparring partner.

“Then block me next time,” Thea demanded. The middle-aged Wind Warrior narrowed her eyes. Her perpetual frown deepened as she stared at the twenty-year-old man.

Xander turned his back and rubbed his shoulder furiously. He could feel the welt forming underneath his white shirt. He lowered his head, letting his dark hair fall over his eyes, concealing the tears of pain forming in their corners.

“Pick up your sword,” Thea said, pointing to the thick wooden weapon resting on the marble tiles between them. “We’re not done yet.”

“Yes, we are,” Xander replied. “We’ve been training for an hour. We’re done.”

He looked skyward, following the curve of the wall of water surrounding their narrow island. Sunlight sparkled off the glimmering walls, bathing the floating island in warmth. The marble buildings surrounding the pair of dueling Wind Warriors formed a virtual arena, flanking the two in finely carved pillars and smooth marble building exteriors. Under normal circumstances, Xander would find the remote island a virtual paradise.

“We’re not done until I’ve dismissed you,” Thea said, quickly shattering the illusion of a wayward paradise.

“Listen,” he replied, turning sharply on his instructor. “I have a lot on my mind right now. Can’t we take this up later?”

“No,” she retorted. “You wanted this, remember, and I clearly told you that you wouldn’t appreciate my style of teaching. Either you can train like a man or you can run away like a boy.”

Xander huffed angrily but didn’t respond.

“You more than anyone should appreciate what we’re doing here. The Fire Warriors that killed your parents won’t stop until we’re all dead. We’re all that remains of the Wind Warriors. The seven of us are all that are left and we’re the only thing keeping the Fire Caste at bay. You know the prophecy?”

“Of course,” he growled.

“Then say it.”

Xander glowered at the woman, immediately regretting his decision to have her train him.

“Say it.”

“Earth gives way to the sea, the sea bows before the wind, wind feeds the flame, and the flame burns the world of man down to the earth.”

Xander had seen the Fire Warriors in action and knew how precarious their position had become. Seven Wind Warriors against a thousand Fire Warriors seemed like an exercise in futility but he refused to give up and let the Fire Caste destroy the world.

Reaching down gingerly, Xander picked up his sword and took a few practice swings. His shoulder was stiff but he’d felt far worse before during his training. He assumed his position on the far side of the marble courtyard and hefted his sword into a ready position.

Without a word, Thea advanced on Xander. Her sword flashed out in an unwavering jab toward his chest. Instinctively, he knocked the wooden blade aside but was unable to change his block into an offensive swing before Thea was attacking him again. He could feel the usual panic seeping into his mind as adrenaline flushed through his body. There had yet to be a sparring session with Thea that didn’t result in him floundering defensively against her onslaught.

A twist of her blade turned Xander’s parry aside. She used her momentum to swing downward, striking his thigh. The pain was exquisite as the leg buckled and he dropped to a knee. Xander looked up in time to see her shifting her blade and preparing to strike him while he was down.

The wind around the pair immediately grew from a gentle breeze to a driving gale. The air billowed beneath Xander, lifting him from the ground, and shooting him into the air less than a second before Thea’s blade drove into the spot where he had been. He twisted in the air, buffered by the blowing wind. Flipping over Thea’s head, he dropped toward the ground behind her.

Thea dropped into a crouch, ducking beneath his off-balanced swing. Swinging her blade in an arc, she struck his legs. The strike broke his concentration and the gusting winds dissipated. No longer held aloft, Xander dropped heavily to the ground, driving the wind from his lungs.

Before he could cough in frustration, the dulled blade of Thea’s sword was pressed against his throat.

“I told you no powers,” she reprimanded.

Xander struggled to catch his breath and could offer no response other than a muted groan. Her blade withdrew and Xander was able to roll over onto his side as he took hitched breaths.

“It looks like we’re done for the day,” his instructor said disdainfully. “Your girlfriend has arrived.”

Xander smiled weakly before rolling onto his back. He heard Thea’s footsteps withdrawing from their sparring arena as a softer set of footsteps approached. A thin shadow fell over his prone form as Sammy’s body blocked out the glaring sunlight.

“That looked brutal,” she joked.

Her blonde hair had been loosened from the tight ringlets she had worn for the funeral and her long hair hung in a wave over her shoulder. As his eyes adjusted to the shadows, Xander could see a teasing smile beneath her small button nose.

He chuckled but it quickly turned into another groan. The laugh seemed out of place with the turmoil of emotions inside him but he was glad for the distraction. He forced a smile to go with the soft chuckle. “Don’t make me laugh.”

She offered her hand, which he gladly took. Her hands were uncomfortably warm in his.

Sammy’s blue eyes sparkled as she looked at Xander. After a moment, they flickered over his shoulder toward the departing Thea.

“I just don’t know how to make her like me,” Sammy said. “I mean, after everything that’s happened, she still doesn’t trust me.”

Xander shrugged. “It’s not her fault. You’re a Fire Warrior and we don’t exactly have the best relationship with the Fire Caste. They are actively trying to kill us right now.”

“You think she’d remember that I betrayed my own kind just to save all your lives,” she responded defensively.

He looked into her sparkling blue eyes and felt his heart leap in his chest. Since they first met in his college class, Xander felt an irresistible pull toward the young Fire Warrior. Though he hated to admit it, Patrick and Sammy were both right about their odd relationship. The longer they spent together, the more he knew something practically spiritual existed between them, pulling them toward one another.

By all accounts, they should be enemies. A Fire Warrior and a Wind Warrior seemed an odd pairing. Because of Sammy’s betrayal, however, instead of enemies they were both outcasts, hunted by the Fire Warriors who wanted the Wind Caste dead so they could begin their rule.

Xander slipped his hand into hers appreciatively. After all he’d been through over the past few weeks, he wasn’t sure he could have survived without her by his side.

“I’ll never forget all you’ve done for us,” he said. “No matter what, I’m glad you’re here.”

Sammy smiled, her irritation temporarily forgotten. “So what would you like to do today?”

Xander looked over his shoulder to the departing Thea. “Not training. That was a terrible idea on my part and I’m already regretting it. No more training for the day.”

Sean adjusted the video camera on the tripod until it pointed at his dilapidated couch. He stepped back and took a seat, making sure he was fully visible in the viewfinder. When he was satisfied, he turned on the record feature.

“If you’re watching this, it means I’m already dead.”

“Lame,” Jessica said from the doorway to the kitchen.

Sean stopped recording and looked at her sourly. “Do you mind?”

He hit the record button and began again.

“In your life, you’re obviously the main character to your story,” he said. “But don’t forget that you’re a supporting character in a lot of other lives, and sometimes those supporting characters manage to steal the show.”

He leaned back and ran a hand over his ample belly. “I’m not the main character here, don’t worry. My buddy Xander, he’s practically a superhero. I mean, he controls the wind. I saw him make a freaking tornado in the middle of White Halls.

“No, I’m not the hero, here. I’m the sidekick. I’m the Robin to his Batman. I’m the Kid Flash to his… well, regular Flash. I’m the Patrick to his SpongeBob.”

Sean reached nervously over his shoulder and pulled aside the blinds. The parking lot in front of his apartment building seemed relatively deserted but he wasn’t fooled by the quiet appearance.

“The problem is that Xander isn’t the only one who can control the elements. There’s a new group hunting for him who control the flames instead of the wind. And, sometimes, being a supporting character means that they’re after you too.

“If you happen to see Xander,” he said, leaning forward once again and dropping his voice into a harsh whisper, “tell him not to come home. Tell him, no matter what, to stay safe.”

Sean turned off the video camera and sat quietly, reveling in the silence that stretched after his heartfelt recording.

“That was dumb,” Jessica said, breaking the reverent silence. “What are you even doing?”

“I’m narrating our story. Something crazy is going on in town and people need to know the truth. And we don’t have a lot of time. Since you were kind enough to lead the bad guys right to my apartment, we suddenly became redshirts in this episode.”

Jessica arched a perfectly plucked eyebrow and took a drink of her bottled water. She gestured over her shoulder toward the closed bathroom door. “You do remember we have someone tied up in the bathtub, right? How about you ‘narrate’ your butt back there and check on him?”

“You’re such a sorostitute,” he muttered.

“What was that?”

“Sorostitute. Part sorority girl, part…”

She stomped her foot on the ground. “I can guess the last part! Now get back there and check on the guy in the bathtub.”

Sean huffed as he pushed off the couch. “I really hate you.”

“You’re an idiot,” Jessica said. “And I hate you too.”

He stormed past her without looking at the pretty blonde. He would never admit it to her but he shared her concerns about the Fire Warrior unconscious in his bathtub.

Sean cringed as he turned the door handle to the bathroom. It creaked louder than he would have liked and he could hear Jessica suck in a breath behind him. Slowly, gingerly, he opened the door.

The tiled bathroom was dark. The blackout curtains were pulled closed and the lights were off. The shower, which they had left running for the first few hours in case he woke up and started a fire, had been turned off the day before. Now, the bathroom was as quiet as it was dark.

Sean refused to leave the doorway, hoping he could see all he needed to from where he stood.

For a long moment, the Fire Warrior didn’t move. He couldn’t see the normal rise and fall of his chest and he feared the worst. Suddenly, the man took in a shallow breath.

Satisfied, Sean quickly closed the door and led Jessica back to the living room.

“So?” she whispered harshly.

“He’s alive,” Sean said in his normal tone.

“But still out cold?”

“Yeah,” he replied, scratching his chin. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. Exactly how hard did you hit him? He’s been out for two days straight.”

“You didn’t seem too concerned about that when he was choking you to death.” Her expression quickly softened.

He walked past her and toward the couch. Sitting down, he started pulling on his shoes.

“Where are you going?” she asked in disbelief.

“Out.”

“Out? We have a guy that tried to kill us tied up in the bathtub. What are we going to do?”

“We aren’t doing anything. I am almost out of groceries, so I’m going to the store.” He stopped and held up his hand to stop her retort. “And don’t you dare make another fat joke.”

Jessica looked over her shoulder and down the hall. She shivered at the thought of the unconscious man.

“So what am I supposed to do?”

Sean shrugged as he pulled on the other shoe. “I didn’t ask you to bring him here. You brought him on your own, so you can deal with him on your own.”

He stood but Jessica stepped between him and the door. “And what do I do if he wakes up?”

Sean put his hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her aside. “I would recommend running. I don’t think he’s going to wake up in a good mood.”

“No way. How about you stay here and I go to the store?”

Sean laughed derisively. “I’m glad to know you’ve kept your sense of humor through all of this,” he said sarcastically.

Jessica frowned, unhappy at being on the receiving end of his jokes. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Then I’m going with you.”

“Not if your life depended on it, which it very possibly might.”

He walked toward the door but paused when he heard her soft footsteps on the carpet behind him. When he stopped, she ran into his back gracelessly. Sighing, he turned toward the sorority girl.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked flatly.

“I told you,” she huffed. “I’m going with you.”

“And I told you that wasn’t going to happen.”

“And you can’t exactly stop me,” she replied. The confident sorority president reasserted itself, drowning the scared girl who had been there seconds before.

Sean frowned but could recognize a losing battle when he saw one. He threw up his hands exasperatedly and groaned.

“Fine. You can come.” He pointed his finger dangerously at her. “But if we find another one of those fire users, don’t think for a second I won’t trip you to get away.”

They saw another Fire Warrior before they reached the end of his street. The blonde woman leaned against a building across the street, casually perusing the few pedestrians that walked past her. Most people gave her a wide berth, switching to the other side of the street to keep as far away from the strange woman as possible.

She wore the telltale black leather outfit. Her stiff collar rose to just below her ears, framing the sides of her face. Sean wasn’t entirely sure that she could have turned her head from side to side if she wanted to. Still, the look did what it was intended—it was incredibly intimidating.

As they watched, the Fire Warrior looked over at the unusual pair. With a flick of her wrist, a dancing flame burst to life in the palm of her hand.

Jessica gasped softly and leaned into Sean. He could feel her racing heartbeat as she pressed against him. Her hands were sweaty as she dug her nails into his arm.

Sean pulled his arm free gently and placed his hand on the small of her back. With soft pressure, he turned her away from the Fire Warrior and led her down the street.

When they were far enough away, he looked into her startled eyes. Her pupils were dilated and he wasn’t entirely sure if she was seeing the road in front of her or if she was trapped in a general daze while lost in her own head. He had seen a similar look after his freshman year of college when he hit a deer while driving home from school. The deer had the same look moments before it was run over.

He flashed a broad grin to an elderly lady that passed the pair on the sidewalk. As soon as they were past, his grin was replaced by a look of genuine concern for Jessica’s wellbeing.

“Jessica?” he asked.

She shook her head slowly and turned toward him as though surprised to find Sean walking beside her.

“I can’t do this,” she said. “I need to go back.”

She spun on her heel and started walking back toward the apartment. Sean had to hurry to catch up to her. When he did, he placed his hands on her shoulder and turned her toward him.

“What’s gotten into you?”

She wrung her hands together. “They’re going to know, Sean. They’re going to take one look at us and they’re going to know that we attacked one of their kind.”

Sean laughed softly. “They’re not bloodhounds. They’re not going to somehow smell the scent on our skin.”

“This isn’t funny,” she cried. “They won’t have to smell it. I’ll give it away. I always give it away. They’ll take one look at me and they’ll just know.”

Her pitch grew steadily higher and her words came quicker the more she spoke. “I can’t do this. They’re going to be able to tell something’s wrong and they’re going to ask me questions and I’m going to have to lie and I’m a terrible liar. This is senior skip day all over again. When I was in high school, we took off for senior skip day and when I got home, my parents asked me how school was, like they already knew. And I was going to lie but as soon as I opened my mouth, I completely froze. I couldn’t think of anything and I got so nervous that my stomach cramped up and next thing I knew I threw up. And while my mother was holding my hair back, I told her everything. I told her we skipped class. I told her who went with us. I told her everything we did… oh, God, I told her everything we did.”

She put her hand to her mouth and her eyes glistened with a combination of panic, guilt, and sadness. “Everyone hated me after that. They even stole all my clothes while I was in the shower after cheerleading practice and made me come outside in nothing but a towel. And that’s what’s going to happen if you make me lie.”

“Holy crap,” Sean blurted. “Are you seriously having a panic attack right now?”

“Shut up, Sean.”

“Take a breath between sentences before you pass out there, Princess.”

“I’m not kidding, Sean. It’s going to happen all over again.”

“What’ll happen again? You’ll walk around outside in a towel?” he teased.

To Sean’s surprise, Jessica sat down on the curb and dropped her head to her knees. For a moment, he stood over her haughtily until he saw her shoulders shaking with sobs. It was a side of Jessica he wasn’t used to seeing. She was always so proud and arrogant; he had trouble imagining her being a sensitive woman.

He reached out but his hand froze just above her shoulder. He had never been very good with crying women, especially one that he normally disliked. It seemed somehow disingenuous to comfort her now, after making so much fun of her in the past.

He didn’t know what to do as she continued crying. Sean had never been the sensitive type. His only experience consoling a sad creature was with his dog. Shrugging, he reached out and patted her on top of her head.

“There, there.”

His awkward attempt at consoling her did nothing. She continued to sob into her arms.

After a brief internal conflict, Sean sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulder.

“Come on. It’s not that bad. Listen, I’m sorry for teasing you earlier.”

“Just leave me alone,” she replied between hitched breaths.

“You can’t just sit here, Jessica.”

“Yes I can,” she said irrationally. She tried to shake his arm free of her shoulder but he nimbly slipped it around her waist.

“Come on. Let’s just go to the store and then we’ll go hide back in the apartment until this all blows over.”

She lifted her head and looked at him. Her crystal blue eyes sparkled in the sea of tears. Reaching up, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

“That’s a terrible plan,” she muttered. “There’s already one of them in your apartment.”

Sean shrugged. “You got me there. Fine, let’s just stick with the first part of the plan and go get groceries.” He shook his ample belly. “Fat kids gotta eat.”

She nodded with a sigh and let him lift her to her feet. She stood but kept looking down as she tried to compose herself. She didn’t even realize that she was staring at Sean’s waist until he waved his hand in front of her vision.

“Hey, my eyes are up here. I’m not just a piece of meat for you to ogle.”

Despite her self-depreciation, Jessica laughed at his joke.

They walked the rest of the way to the store with Jessica staring down at her feet. Her normally well-kept blonde hair hung over her face, blocking her view of the street. Her limited vision was fine as far as Sean was concerned. With her looking at her feet, she couldn’t see the other Fire Warriors they passed on the way.

They walked back toward the apartment in relative silence, their arms laden with grocery bags. They hadn’t talked much in the grocery store; Jessica chose to keep mostly to herself despite Sean’s best attempts at humor.

He tried to ignore the stern and scared looks the man at the checkout register gave him as he paid for the food. He wasn’t sure how much of it was because of the Fire Warriors in town—which everyone seemed to had noticed by now—or how much of it was because Sean looked rather slovenly. He hadn’t been able to shower before they left the apartment because there was a dangerous killer taking up his bathtub. At least Jessica had the advantage. Women often skipped washing their hair to give it a more lustrous sheen. Sean’s hair just looked greasy and unkempt.

“Thanks for helping me back there,” Jessica blurted out, catching Sean by surprise. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he replied. “You would have done the same for me.”

Jessica shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t have and you know it.”

Sean shrugged but wasn’t entirely sure she was wrong. “I guess I’m just a better person than you, then.”

He had hoped for a smile but got nothing.

“You know, this trip to the store has been the most human you’ve ever sounded when talking to me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she snapped.

Sean frowned. “And just like that it’s gone.”

She seemed ready to say something in return but she stopped with her mouth agape as they turned the last corner toward his apartment building.

Sean turned and followed her gaze. The air was thick with the dark black smoke that billowed from the second floor of his building. Flames rolled from the partially collapsed roof and licked high into the air. He could hear the distant wail of fire trucks, responding to what he was sure was one of dozen mysterious fires around White Halls. He knew they’d never make it in time to save anything worthwhile in the apartment.

“Is that…” Jessica asked, letting the question hang in the air.

“Yup,” Sean replied flatly. “Well, I can’t say I didn’t see this one coming.”

“Are you okay?”

Sean sighed. “My favorite waffle iron was in there.”

Jessica didn’t quite know what to say. They stood in awkward silence as they watched the fire consume the upper floor of the apartment building.

“What are we going to do?” she asked finally. “Everything you had was in that apartment.”

“Everything I had was in there,” Sean agreed, grinning suddenly, “but not everything you have.”

Jessica turned sharply on the heavyset man. “You can’t mean… no, Sean. Absolutely not.”

“I mean,” Sean continued as though she hadn’t spoken, “you do live in a sorority house, right? And you did kind of directly lead to my apartment burning down. You kind of owe me.”

Jessica groaned. “Fine. Let’s go.”

Sean raised his fist in the air. “To the sorority house!”

The sun had already set when Sammy approached Xander’s two-story house. She held a tray in her arms, laden with a sandwich and a bunch of grapes. It wasn’t much but she knew he wouldn’t eat much more than that.

The closer she got to the house, the more the wind tugged at her now-braided hair. Her loose-fitting shirt billowed in the gusting breeze and she was forced to cover the tray with a free hand for fear of the food being blown away.

Glancing upward, she could barely make out Xander’s feet dangling over the edge of the red clay roof. Lowering her head against the wind, she walked through the front door without knocking. Immediately after entering the house, the wind died away and she was left in the still dark air.

The first floor was a single large, open room. A wood stove was pressed against the back wall and a narrow staircase led up from the opposite corner from where she entered. The middle of the room had a square dining room table with four chairs pushed in around its edge.

Sammy leaned across the table and picked up an unlit candle, setting it on the tray beside the night’s dinner. She reached her hand out above the candle’s wick and snapped her fingers. A flame leapt to life above her thumb and she used it to ignite the wick. With a quick wave of her hand, she extinguished the flame on her finger before picking up the tray and walking toward the back staircase. Using the gentle glow as her light source in the dark, marble home, she climbed the narrow stairs.

Pushing her way through the partially closed door at the top, Sammy felt the cool night’s breeze blowing in from the open window. The flame danced angrily, protesting against the wind. She balanced the tray precariously with one hand while protecting the fire with her other.

Beyond the open window, she could see Xander sitting on the edge of the red clay roof, hugging his knees with his chin resting on his crossed arms.

She stepped through the window and onto the roof. The tiles beneath her feet were slick from sea spray and the gentle mist of salt water fell over her. The wind kicked up at her presence, whipping her long blonde ponytail over her shoulder. Despite her best efforts, the candle’s flame extinguished with a sigh, leaving only a thin wisp of smoke in its passing.

Sammy mirrored its sigh as she walked over to Xander.

“Can you stop the wind?” she asked softly. “It’s hard to balance with it blowing.”

Xander looked up as though surprised by her presence. His eyes were completely consumed by a glowing white light and she wasn’t even sure he was seeing her when he looked. He blinked hard and his normal dark pupils replaced the white glow.

The wind faded until it was just a playful breeze dancing around her bare feet.

“I brought you some dinner,” she said, offering him the tray.

Xander shook his head sadly. “I’m not really all that hungry.”

“You’ve been saying that for the past four meals,” Sammy replied as she took a seat beside him. She threw her arm around him and laid her head on his shoulder. “You need to eat sometime. I’m worried about you.”

“I know you are. I’ve just got a lot to work through right now.”

Sammy lifted her head and stared into his eyes. “You can’t keep beating yourself up about your parents.”

Xander fell silent and turned his gaze back to the wall of water surrounding the island. Sadness crept into his eyes and he angrily wiped away the threatening tears.

“It’s my fault they’re dead,” he muttered.

“No, it’s not,” she replied sternly. “It’s General Abraxas’ fault. He was the one who set your house on fire, not you.”

“But I should have been able to save them. I should have known they’d be in trouble.”

He held out his hand and a miniaturized tornado appeared in his palm. “What good does it do to have these powers if you can’t protect the ones you love?”

A tear rolled down his cheek. Sammy reached out and pulled him to her. He laid his head on her shoulder and felt the heat radiating off her skin.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered as she kissed his head.

“I just miss them,” he muttered.

She reached over and picked up the sandwich she had made him for dinner. Soft red and orange flames rolled over her hand, illuminating the rooftop as she reheated the now cold dinner. The smell of toasted bread and melted cheese made Xander’s stomach rumble. He couldn’t deny the urge to eat despite the knots twisted in his stomach.

He took a bite from the sandwich with a weak but appreciative smile.

“Thank you,” he said between mouthfuls of food.

“How is your training going?” Sammy asked, eager to steer the conversation away from the morose subject.

Xander swallowed his most recent bite and picked up a stalk of grapes. “Frustrating. I just don’t understand the other Wind Warriors. No one wants to stand up to the Fire Caste. They’re so ready to just give up and die. It’s like they don’t even care what’s going to happen to the world once we’re gone. I can’t be the only one that wants to stop the Fire Warriors.”

“You’re not,” she replied.

“I just want to find Lord Balor and stop this entire war, once and for all. You know what I mean?”

Sammy flushed and looked away. The truth ate at her as she watched how impassioned Xander grew when he talked about revenge against her father. She knew she should tell him the truth—about her father and about the frightening monster in the cavern behind her father’s throne room—but she knew now wasn’t the right time to broach the subject.

Xander continued talking, oblivious to her discomfort. “And everyone else just treats me like I’m a child. Granted, I know they were all in their twenties and thirties when I was born but it really drives me crazy, you know?”

Sammy turned her face back toward him and shrugged. “I think they’re intimidated by you.”

A sarcastic laugh rumbled in his chest before he could stop it. “Intimidated by me? Are you kidding? Have you seen these people in action?”

Sammy laid her hand on his. “You don’t give yourself enough credit. You’re stronger than you think. You’re the only one willing to stand up to the Fire Caste.”

It was Xander’s turn to shrug. “Maybe I am. It doesn’t mean that I want it. God, Sammy. I’m not the responsibility type. I’m the guy that was sitting in the back of the classroom doodling in his notebooks instead of paying attention in class. I was the twenty-year-old who still lived with his…”

He let the end of his sentence trail away. Finally, he shook his head.

“I never wanted this. I just wish I could hit the rewind button, you know? I wish I could just go back to a simpler time, like when we first met.”

Sammy smiled. She sat upright and extended her hand.

Xander smiled. “What are you doing?”

“I can’t change everything that’s happened to you over the past few weeks but I can help us start over. Now shake my hand.”

Xander reached out and took her hand.

“Hi,” she said. “My name’s Sammy.”

“Xander.”

“Nice to meet you, Xander. So where are you from?”

Xander smiled. “Just a small town in Tennessee. A worldly girl like you? You’ve probably never heard of it. What about you?”

“California,” she replied.

He was genuinely surprised. “Really?”

“The middle of nowhere in the California desert is where I came out of the ground when I left home. So what brings you here?”

Xander looked around at the cluster of squat buildings spread across the island. “You mean to a floating island in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico? You know… the usual. I was chasing a girl.”

“Oh, a girl. Those are always the best reasons to start an adventure. What’s she like?”

Xander leaned in until he could feel the heat radiating from Sammy’s body. “She’s gorgeous. Long, silky hair. Entrancing eyes. Legs that seem to go on forever.” He leaned in closer, until he could feel her moist breath on his skin. “Lips that just beg to be kissed.”

“Yeah?” Sammy said breathlessly.

Xander suddenly leaned back with a coy smile. “Yeah, just be sure not to tell my girlfriend I was talking about such a cute girl, okay?”

Sammy laughed and shoved Xander playfully.

“Are these the simpler times you meant?” she asked.

Xander’s broad smile faltered as he looked at her. “Almost.”

He reached out and caressed her cheek. Sammy closed her eyes and leaned into his gentle touch. She brought up her own hand and cradled his, pressing it tightly against her skin before softly kissing his exposed wrist.

Xander slid his hand down her cheek and under her chin, tilting her head upward. Leaning forward, he brushed his lips against hers. She responded to his touch by leaning into him, pressing her lips tightly against his as she slipped a hand around his waist.

Xander felt his face flush with heat and knew it was more than just the warmth emanating from Sammy. Her lips were sweet and tasted of the plump grapes she had eaten for dinner. He quickly ran his tongue along her bottom lip, drinking in the intoxicating taste of her skin.

Sammy leaned back with a sigh, as a broad smile spread across her lips.

“Not everything is complicated in your life,” she whispered.

He started to lean in again but she placed her index finger on his lips. “I should probably go to bed.”

“You don’t have to go home,” he offered. “You could stay the night.”

Sammy smiled sweetly. “Not tonight.” She noticed his obvious disappointment. “Don’t read too much into that, though. That doesn’t mean ‘not ever’.”

She slipped her hand into his. “Are you going to stay up much longer?”

“Just a little bit longer. I just want to work through some things rattling around my mind.”

She looked into the deep pools of his eyes. Leaning in, she kissed him softly on the lips.

“Don’t stay up too much later, okay?”

Xander smiled and brushed some of the blonde hair out of her face. “I won’t, I promise.”

Sammy stood from the rooftop and gingerly climbed back to the open window. As she stepped back inside the marble house, she could hear the wind blowing strongly behind her.

Xander awoke the next morning feeling rested for the first time in days. Though his shutters were closed, a gentle light already filtered through the slats. He threw his legs over the side of the bed and took in a sharp breath as his feet settled on the frigid marble floor.

Reaching up, he ran his fingers across his lips. He swore he could still taste the sweetness of Sammy’s lips from the night before. A smile spread unbidden across his face. After all the hardships he’d been through over the past week, it felt incredible to have something he could trust so completely.

He dressed quickly, eager to start his day. He was slightly less eager to get back to training with his aunts and uncles. At least today, he would be training with Giovanni. Of all his aunts and uncles, Giovanni was the most approachable and the one with whom he had the strongest connection. The Italian was quirky and used humor Xander didn’t always understand but his laughter and smile was infectious.

Downstairs, a cold breakfast sat on the table. He assumed that was Sammy’s doing, since he doubted any of the others on the island would actively go out of their way to help him out like that. The cold oats didn’t have the best consistency and he wondered exactly how long they’d been sitting out. They had the consistency of gruel, as though the oats had soaked up too much moisture during cooking and left to congeal for too long. Xander didn’t love all the food they ate on the island—especially since they were limited on what they could eat since they didn’t have ready access to a grocery—but this was exceptionally unpleasant. He shoved the bowl away and politely spit the oats into a napkin, being sure to scrape his tongue at the same time.

The breakfast wasn’t normally this bad. He looked at the light seeping around the edges of the door and wondered what time it was. They didn’t have a whole lot of clocks but that usually wasn’t too much of an issue. The heat from the rising sun and the constant humidity usually forced him out of bed early. Today it seemed he might have overslept quite a bit longer than he had planned. That would explain why the oats had congealed so badly.

Dumping the contents of the bowl into the trashcan, he wrapped his tunic around him and walked to the front door. He raised one hand to cover his eyes as he opened the door. As he expected, the sunlight was immediately blinding. Xander knew he’d kill for a pair of sunglasses. For some reason, those small necessities never seemed to make the shopping list whenever one of the Wind Warriors escaped to the mainland on an excursion. He was just biding his time until he made that trip. The island was quickly going to become much more livable.

The street in front of his house was empty, as it was every morning. There were only a couple dozen buildings on the island but they were nearly all abandoned. He recalled the conversation earlier with Alicia and tried to imagine hundreds of Wind Warriors living on the island. It must have been a remarkable sight to behold.

He turned toward the central dome and reveled in the click of his sandaled feet on the cobblestones. Before he reached the end of his street, he heard another set of feet rushing up from behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Sammy hurrying to catch up. Her face was flushed from exertion and her breath was labored.

“What’s wrong?” he said with concern.

He spun toward her as she slowed in front of him.

She placed a hand on his arm and smiled despite her exhaustion. “I didn’t think you’d still be at home. I ran all over the island trying to find you.”

Xander laughed. “Well, you found me. What’s so important that you had to run all over the island?”

Sammy stood up straight and took a deep breath. “Your grandfather’s awake.”

The other aunts and uncles were inside the building by the time Xander and Sammy arrived. He let the cloth tarp drop behind him as he entered, cloaking the room in its dim light once again.

The Wind Warriors parted at his arrival, allowing him to see the elder man prostrate on the bed. The old man’s eyes were open and staring at Xander. A small, weak smile spread across his lips at the sight of his grandson.

Xander hurried over, pushing past Patrick and Thea so he could take a spot beside his grandfather. He immediately took the man’s uninjured hand and had to swallow hard to stop himself from crying. It was becoming a trend that he didn’t enjoy.

His grandfather rolled his head to the side to look at Xander. Half his face was still bandaged but Xander tried his best not to focus on it. Instead, he stared into the man’s eyes and focused on his smile.

“Hey, kid,” his grandfather croaked through a dry throat. “You look terrible.”

Xander laughed despite himself. His grandfather rarely took anything as seriously as he ought to. Xander shook his head softly and chuckled again.

“I guess we balance each other out, because you look like a million bucks.”

“Yeah. A million bucks that’s been dragged through the mud and left out in the rain. I know I look bad. You don’t have to sugarcoat it for me.”

“Is there anything I can get for you?” he asked.

His grandfather shook his head, though the movement looked as if it was painful for him. He was overcome by a wracking cough that sounded wet in his chest.

“No,” his grandfather replied as the cough subsided. “I’m just glad you’re here right now.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Giovanni coughed politely to get Xander’s attention. When he looked up, the Italian placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“We’re going to wait outside so you two can talk. We’ll be just outside if you need us.”

Xander reached up and squeezed the man’s hand in appreciation. The Italian ushered the others outside—including Sammy—leaving him alone with his grandfather.

“Glad they’re gone,” his grandfather said. “They’re like mother hens, all trying to sit on me like I’m their fragile egg.”

The mental image made Xander laugh again but his laugh quickly threatened to become far more emotional. He lowered his head so his grandfather wouldn’t see.

“Hey, hey. None of that. I didn’t raise you to turn into a blubbering kid when things get tough.”

Xander frowned. “Things aren’t just ‘tough’ right now, Grandpa. They’re impossible. I need you to tell me what to do.”

Another coughing fit overcame his grandfather before he could reply. Xander took a damp rag from beside the bed and wiped away the spittle that settled on the old man’s lips.

“You want to know what to do?” his grandfather asked after forcing a deep breath. “You need to listen to your heart. What do you think you should do right now?”

Xander shook his head. “My heart isn’t what I should listen to right now. My heart tells me to fight. It tells me to find every Fire Warrior I can find and make them suffer as revenge for killing my parents.”

He stopped speaking when he saw the sadness reflected in his grandfather’s eyes. Xander had spent the past couple days absorbing the fact that his parents were gone but his grandfather had just woken up. He wasn’t even sure the elder man fully realized what had happened in White Halls.

“I’m… I’m sorry, Grandpa,” he stammered. “I didn’t mean to—”

“I’m old,” his grandfather interrupted softly. “I’m not fragile. I knew it had happened when we got there.”

The pair sat in silence. His grandfather turned his head away and stared up at the plain ceiling. Xander felt like he should say something else but couldn’t find the right words.

After what seemed like an eternity, his grandfather broke the silence.

“Can I be the wise old man on the mountaintop one more time for you, Xander?”

“Of course.”

“Your heart’s in the right place but you’re doing it for all the wrong reasons. You want to fight. I respect that. Under different circumstances, I’d even be right there beside you. But you can’t be some impulsive kid anymore. You’re a Wind Warrior now.”

The exertion caused his grandfather to cough again, sounding even wetter and more dangerous in the old man’s chest than before.

“I don’t understand, Grandpa. They killed my parents and Bart. They hurt you—”

“They killed me, Xander,” his grandfather said matter-of-factly. “I told you not to sugarcoat it with me. I’m on borrowed time and we both know it.”

“All the more reason to get revenge.”

“No. Wind Warriors don’t fight for revenge. We fight for one reason only—to protect humanity. We old codgers have forgotten that. We’ve given up on humanity, knowing that the Fire Caste is coming to cleanse the world. If you want to fight and if you want them to fight with you, remind the others of the old ways. Remind them that we’re all that stands between humanity and the end of the world. Fight for the people, Xander. Find someone worth fighting for. Fight for that Fire Warrior girlfriend of yours. Heck, fight for that fat friend of yours back home, if that’s what it takes.”

Xander laughed again. “His name is Sean.”

“It doesn’t matter. Just remember all the faces of the people that you want to fight for. Keep them in your heart and you’ll always be fighting for the right reasons.”

Xander sighed and laid his head on his grandfather’s arm. “I want to fight but how can we hope to win? There are so many of them and so few of us left. One of them did all this damage. What chance do we have?”

His grandfather pulled his arm free of Xander’s grip and used it to hook the back of Xander’s neck. His grandfather pulled him in close until he could smell the pungent scent of his injuries.

“You want to win this war?” his grandfather asked. His voice was frightening clear. “If you want to win, you need to find the Elemental. She’s the only one that can help you now.”

His grandfather let him go and settled back onto the bed. Another coughing fit wracked his body.

“What’s an Elemental?”

His grandfather didn’t answer. His eyes were closed and his chest rose and fell in the steady rhythm of a sleeping man.

The brackish water lapped at the pillars supporting the outer deck of the Louisiana restaurant. From the edge of the deck’s railing, patrons could see the crashing waves of the Gulf of Mexico beyond the stagnant eddies on the edge of the river delta. A stairwell on the edge of the deck led down to a small dock where a single, large boat was moored. The still, dark green waters clung to the side of the sturdy motorboat, leaving a slimy film along its hull.

The restaurant was hardly on any major roads through the region. Most of the patrons were regulars who lived and worked in the area. Strangers came by only by accident when they had turned inadvertently from the main thoroughfares. The presence of strangers was unusual and often met with surprise. As quickly as they came, the strangers often ate and left without looking back at the meager restaurant.

When the door opened late that evening and strangers entered, all sets of eyes within the restaurant turned toward the small group. These strangers were unusual, even by the restaurants lowered standards. Most of the group wore leather masks that concealed all of their faces except their eyes, mouths, and chins.

The restaurant’s owner rolled his tongue around the roof of his mouth, trying to remove the sudden taste of ash. The stranger’s presence carried with it the scent of rotting eggs and the owner wrinkled his nose from behind the narrow, wooden bar.

He opened his mouth to speak but immediately shut it when a man pushed his way through the throng of leather-bound strangers. Unlike his counterparts, the new man’s features were hidden entirely underneath the folds of a bulky robe. A long hood hung low over the man’s eyes, casting his face in deep shadows.

The man walked with a limp, practically dragging an injured right leg behind him. Though his body was disguised well beneath the layers of fabric, he obviously held one arm in close reverence to his body.

When he was in front of the rest of the group and standing in the middle of the restaurant’s rounded tables, the new stranger spoke.

“And this dung heap is the closest point to the Wind Warriors?” he asked to one of his masked compatriots.

Before the bartender could speak, one of the dark-clothed men nodded hastily. “We’ve watched them land near here upon their return to the mainland.”

“Good,” the heavily cloaked man said before turning his attention to the stupefied bartender. “I’m looking for the owner of the boat docked outside,” the man said. His words were muffled and slurred as though his lips were unfamiliar with forming the sounds.

The owner cleared his throat. “That would be me. What can I do for you?”

The restaurant’s regulars, normally hearty men, moved aside and took refuge near the restaurant’s far walls. The owner felt the urge to shrink away from the new stranger as strongly as they did but the concealed gaze of the stranger kept him rooted in place behind the bar.

“I have need of your boat.”

“It’s… uh,” the owner stammered. “It’s not really for sale.”

The owner could sense the sinister smile beneath the robe. “I clearly misled you. I had no intention of paying for it.”

“Listen, pal,” the owner said, gaining some nerve against the man’s thinly veiled threat. “I don’t know who you are or why your whole crew is dressed like you’re coming from some crazy Goth convention but you ain’t taking my boat.”

The owner’s hand dropped beneath the bar and closed over the shotgun concealed there. Before he could pull it free, the lead stranger extended his hand from beneath the thick sleeve. His fingers were warped, the skin pulled taunt over the bone. The man’s palm and wrist were mangled from severed burns that still oozed from their freshness.

Flames engulfed the man’s hand in a sudden burst. The fire swirled around his hand as though possessed before launching forward toward the nearest table. The glass mugs exploded from the sudden heat as flames consumed the entire tabletop.

The owner slowly withdrew his hand from under the bar and raised them defensively over his head.

“You want the boat,” he stuttered. “It’s yours.”

“Good,” General Abraxas replied as he took an unsteady step forward. He craned his head toward one of his men. “Load the… equipment.”

Abraxas turned back toward the nervous bartender. “Now, I hear there have also been some odd weather events happening further out in the ocean. Tell me about them.”

“Come, Xander,” Giovanni said as they walked into the marbled courtyard. “It’s time to fly.”

Xander smiled as he and the Italian kicked off from the ground in a gust of wind that send dirt and dust billowing behind them.

“You seem to be in a better mood today,” Giovanni said as he darted quickly past Xander.

The two men flew gracefully through the air. The red roofs of the island’s buildings quickly grew miniscule far beneath them as they soared toward the shimmering walls of the waterspout.

Xander smiled at the Italian man as he flew past. “I was able to get some decent sleep last night.”

“It’s about time. I’ve always said that a man needs three things: a full belly, a well-rested body, and a beautiful woman. You’ve neglected two of those but at least you’ve managed the most important of the three.”

Xander laughed as he released the pocket of air beneath him. He dropped into a free fall, reveling in the air whipping past his face. His speed increased until his eyes watered and his skin stung from the wind. As the island rocketed upward to meet him, Xander summoned another bubble of pressurized air and rode it upward.

Giovanni followed close behind, giving the younger Wind Warrior a sturdy chase. Xander turned gracefully in the air and shot toward the wall of water on the perimeter of the island. The air bubble beneath him rolled over his body until he was cocooned within its interior. When he struck the water, it splashed harmlessly over the pressurized air while he remained completely dry.

Despite the wind howling in his ears, he could hear a second splash as Giovanni followed him outside.

Beyond the punishing waterspout, the endless ocean stretched in all directions. The tang of salty water filled Xander’s nostrils, mixing with the faint fishy smell of the sea. He raised a hand and covered his eyes as the sun glistened off the rolling waves below.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Giovanni asked as he came to rest just above Xander’s shoulder.

“It is,” Xander whispered, suddenly wishing he had brought Sammy out to enjoy the view. She lacked the ability to fly, which excluded her from enjoying some of the more enjoyable aspects of being a Wind Warrior.

“Come,” the Italian added. “We aren’t protected out here. Let’s return back inside the waterspout.”

Xander frowned, realizing that the waterspout and the island had inadvertently become his prison. They were secluded for their protection but it also left him feeling isolated. Without television or internet, he had no idea what was going on in the world. The realization only added to his concern over the friends he left behind.

Xander heard Giovanni rush past him and turned to follow. Together, they dove near the ocean, leveling off close enough to reach out and touch the white-capped waves that rolled beneath them. They burst through the bottom of the waterspout and flew into the dark shadow of the island.

The beauty of the island’s surface was missing when viewed from beneath. Instead of the flat, sun-drenched surface, the bottom was a multitude of stalactites hanging down toward the ocean’s surface like predatory teeth. Water ran down the outer pillars as the waterspout’s spray pooled around the edges of the island. They dropped like bullets, spraying the area through which Xander and Giovanni flew.

He followed the Italian as he turned upward, skimming the edge of the island before emerging once again on its pristine surface.

The much quicker Italian was nearly thirty feet ahead of Xander when Giovanni pulled up and hovered in the air. Xander came to a stop beside him, panting from the exertion. Giovanni’s speed and stamina had been honed over nearly thirty years of use, whereas Xander had only had his powers for a month.

Breathlessly, the two men floated a couple dozen feet above the rooftops and admired the small, secluded village.

Finally catching his breath, Xander nodded toward the older Wind Warrior.

“I’m glad you’re here, Giovanni,” he said somberly.

Giovanni arched an eyebrow as he brushed his long ponytail out of his face. “And why is that?”

“Because you’ve always been a good friend. You didn’t just look at me like a kid, not like everyone else has. You haven’t treated me like crap since I’ve been here.”

Giovanni hovered lower until he was side by side with Xander. “We don’t dislike you. Alicia is quite fond of you.”

Xander laughed. “Yeah, but she just sees me as a grandson. I don’t know that I’d ever be able to convince her that I’m an equal.”

Giovanni shrugged. “You are good but you aren’t her equal.”

“Maybe not,” Xander conceded, “but you’re a good man for another reason, too.”

“Oh?”

Xander looked down on the island below and imagined he could see hundreds of Wind Warriors marching across its surface.

“You were always nice to Sammy,” he finally said. “No one else, not even Alicia, has gone out of their way to welcome her the way you have. You never judged her as a Fire Warrior, at least not when I was around to hear it.”

Giovanni reached up and stroked his chin. “Do you remember when you first came here? I promised you I would teach you two things. First, I would teach you how to fly. You seem to be doing okay with that. Second, I would teach you about women.

“The truth is that Sammy is good for you. Fire Warrior, Wind Warrior, Italian, not Italian… I don’t hold these things against her.”

Xander laughed at the older man. Despite the obvious age difference, talking to Giovanni was like talking to an older brother.

“The most important thing is to be happy,” the Italian continued. “If she makes you happy, keep her close. We’re going to have some hard times ahead of us, I think. You’ll need people like her by your side.”

“Thank you,” Xander said.

“Anyway, if I had a woman like her, I’d keep her very close, if you know what I mean.”

Xander turned toward the Wind Warrior with a broad smile. “You really are a dirty old man, you know that?”

Giovanni shrugged. “I am a man. The rest is redundant.”

The pair hovered over the island, taking in the wheel-shaped island below. From above, it was easy to believe the entire island had been carved away from ancient Rome and hidden away like a floating time capsule. He almost expected to fly down and see legionnaires standing shoulder to shoulder with spears and shields in hand.

Xander’s eyes drifted toward the central dome and continued until he found the smaller outlying building where his grandfather was resting. Their last conversation flooded back into his mind.

“Can I ask you something else?” he asked.

“You have my undivided attention.”

“Do you know what an Elemental is? My grandpa said it when I was with him and it sounded important, like a proper noun. I could almost hear him capitalizing the first letter in the word.”

Giovanni furrowed his brow. “What exactly did he say?”

Xander turned toward the Wind Warrior, surprised by his tone. “He said that if I wanted to fight the Fire Caste, I needed to find the Elemental.”

“I won’t pretend to know what your grandfather was thinking but I think I might know what he was referring to. Have you ever wondered where we get our powers?”

Xander shook his head. “Not really. I mean, I know they’re hereditary, but that’s about it.”

“Before that. Before you had a parent to pass the powers in the first place. Do you ever wonder where the first of us came from? Or where the Fire Warriors suddenly came from?”

Xander realized he never had. “I guess I just assumed they came from nature.”

“Indirectly, yes. There is a story I was told when I was young, a fairy tale, if you will. I warn you, it’s nothing more than a myth, though most myths are based off some level of fact.

“It’s said that at the beginning of time, Nature knew there needed to be balance if life on the planet was to survive. Nature knew that life so rarely formed in the universe—that it would have to be cultivated to succeed. So Nature created four Elementals, one for Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire. Each was tasked with a responsibility. Earth was to create the world on which life could live. Water would ensure plenty of the basics of life in its namesake. Wind would inspire life to reach new heights. And if the life they created ever lost its way, the Fire would wipe it away and make way for life to grow anew in a new form.”

“So,” Xander began hesitantly, “these Elementals created the castes?”

Giovanni shrugged. “The world is a big place, even for an Elemental. Each Elemental needed help to ensure its success. So each Elemental breathed life into the first generation of each caste. The castes would then breed and pass along its power to a new generation.”

“If all of our power comes from a single Elemental, then we just need to find it. The Elemental should be able to give us enough power to fight back against the Fire Caste.”

Giovanni shrugged noncommittally but didn’t respond.

“You don’t believe in the Elementals, do you?”

“I’m an old man and have only ever heard about the Elementals as a story told by my parents who heard it from their parents who heard it again from their parents. People also used to tell their children that the Gods lived in the heavens and would cast down a mountain of fire if displeased. It’s myth.”

Giovanni shakes his head as though to clear away the seriousness of their conversation. “Come, we’ve lingered far too long. It’s time to eat, drink, and get you back to your woman.”

Xander smiled as the Italian rocketed toward the surface. Tilting forward, he followed suit.

He and Sammy chose to eat dinner at his house that evening. Despite saying their attitude didn’t bother her, Sammy didn’t seem very eager to spend time around his aunts and uncles, especially Thea and Patrick.

As they sat across from each other, their faces and meals illuminated only by the pair of candles resting in the middle of the table, Xander couldn’t help but admire the way the candlelight danced over her delicate features. Her blonde hair sparkled in the dim light. The faint shadows traced her button nose and, as she looked up, twinkled against her crystal blue eyes.

He smiled broadly at her but she only returned a halfhearted smile. Looking down, she leaned her head against her hand and moved her vegetables around her plate with her fork.

Xander’s smile faltered. “Are you feeling okay? You just seem really distracted tonight.”

Sammy looked up and tried her best to look enthusiastic. “I’m sorry. I’m really glad to be here. I’m just not really feeling all that well tonight.”

“Of course not,” Xander chuckled sadly. When she looked up in confusion, he quickly continued. “This was supposed to be a date. I realized the other day that we’ve never really had a real date before.”

“Sure we did,” Sammy replied defensively.

“We went to a dance and then you tried to kill me. I don’t think that counts.”

Despite her weary expression, she managed a smile and soft chortle.

“I’m really sorry,” she said sympathetically. “Don’t take this personally. I promise we can do a rain check on our date.”

“You want to get out of here instead? Maybe go for a walk?”

Sammy pushed her plate away. “I would love to. Maybe the fresh air will do me some good.”

The evening air was cool and soothing against their skin. It was quite a bit brighter outside than it had been inside the cramped house.

Xander and Sammy watched the sun set as they walked along the cobblestone streets. The rainbow hues of the sunset, unmarred by city lights and pollution, sparkled along the water walls surrounding them. It was magical. For the first time since Xander lost his parents, he was feeling content, if not happy.

Reaching out, he took Sammy’s hand. He immediately pulled away when he felt the heat radiating from her skin. She was always warm but tonight her skin was practically on fire.

“Ow,” he explained as he examined his hand for burn marks. “You’re burning up.”

At his touch, she shook her head and turned toward him. In the brighter light, he could see that her crystal blue eyes were red rimmed as though she’d been crying, though he knew she hadn’t. A thin sheen of sweat coated her face and made her clothes cling tightly to her figure.

She raised a hand to her forehead. “I guess I am a little warm.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Xander asked.

Sammy chuckled. “I don’t remember ever being sick before. I guess this is what happens when a Fire Warrior gets a fever.”

Xander’s heart froze in his chest. With everything else going on in his life, the last thing he could handle was something happening to Sammy. Despite them both realizing there was something odd about their connection, it didn’t lessen his magnetic need to be around her. If she was truly sick, he didn’t have the first clue where he could take her for treatment. What hospital could handle a woman with a one hundred and forty degree temperature?

“I think maybe I just need to go to bed early tonight,” she offered. “We’ve been running around so much and been so stressed, I think my body is just telling me to take it easy for a while.”

“Do you want me to bring you anything? I can go get you some soup or cold water or something?”

Sammy smiled and placed her hand on the side of his face. Leaning forward, she kissed him gently on the lips. He wanted to pull her in closer, but her touch was practically painful, though he dared not pull away from one of the few kisses they’d been able to share.

“You’re sweet,” she said, “but I’ll be okay. I’ll see you in the morning?”

Xander nodded slowly. “I’ll check in on you first thing.”

“Goodnight,” she said as she turned away.

Xander watched her disappear around a corner as she walked toward her own small, marble home.

When Sammy was out of eyesight, she leaned heavily against the closest wall and rested her head against the cool stone exterior. She could practically hear the sizzle of her hot skin against the cold marble.

Her body felt achy. Every muscle seemed to scream defiantly when she moved and her joints were unwilling to bend accordingly. She hadn’t lied when she told Xander that she’d never been sick before. Unfortunately, she also knew that what she was experiencing had little to do with sickness.

She raised her head hesitantly and stared at the exposed sky between the narrow rooftops. There, high above her and looking down watchfully, the glowing draconian eye followed her every movement. Its gaze made her skin feel like it was on fire. She was forced to look away. Though as her vision settled on a nearby building, the red eye peered at her from behind the open window.

Everywhere she looked, the eye was ever present. Its presence was burning into the core of her. As it watched, she could feel beads of sweat rolling down her back. The heat was becoming oppressive and she stripped away her thin tunic, letting it fall to the ground forgotten.

She stumbled forward wearing only her pants and sports bra but even those few articles of clothing seemed too tight. The sweat that coated her body made her pants cling uncomfortably to her legs.

Rounding the corner, she could see her house directly ahead. The air in front of her eyes seemed to shimmer like a mirage and breathing was becoming difficult, as though she were parched in hot, desert air.

Sammy crashed through her front door and immediately dropped to her knees. Within the cool interior of her house, she couldn’t see the watchful reptilian eye. The cool from the marble seeped through the thin, damp fabric of her pants. Groaning, she laid out flat on the floor, pressing as much skin as possible onto the cold stone. Without the present eye, the marble stole the warmth from her body. By the time she dared stand, she felt almost normal again.

She hurried upstairs and changed into her loose-fitting pajamas. Before climbing into bed, she made sure her shutters were all closed and locked tightly, as though the thin wood would keep the eye at bay.

Exhausted, both physically and emotionally, Sammy fell almost immediately to sleep.

When she opened her eyes, Sammy was standing on a narrow, black stone walkway, perched hundreds of feet above a boiling river of lava. She knew the location well, having walked these narrow catwalks for most of her youth. She knew that if she turned around, she’d be face to face with the charred black exterior wall of her father’s keep.

The surprise of being home made her stagger. Her foot slid to the side and dropped precariously over the edge of the catwalk. She dropped painfully to her knees to keep from falling sideways and teetering into the angry, molten magma below.

“This is a dream,” she muttered, despite the very real pain she felt in her knees. She knew they were cut from the sharp obsidian walkway. She could practically feel the blood seeping into her pant leg.

“It’s just a dream,” she reiterated. “I’m not here. I’m with the Wind Warriors. Wake up, Sammy, wake up.”

Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t seem to escape her dreamscape. Nervously, she climbed back to her feet and looked to the far end of the catwalk. A dark crevice in the cavern’s stone beckons her forward. She didn’t remember there being an exit like this one from the castle, though she had explored every inch of their expansive cave system as a child.

For a moment, she considers turning back toward the keep. The great unknown of that crevice, combined with the realism of her dream, left her greatly unnerved. She was ready to turn back to the familiar castle when a voice boomed through the cavern.

“Welcome back, fleshling.”

Sammy’s body shivered uncontrollably, as though the words were reverberating through every cell of her being. She recognized the voice at once and knew that it belonged to the giant orb of an eye that had haunted her waking moments since her encounter with it.

She instinctively knew that if she turned back toward the castle, she would see that eye staring at her unblinkingly. Instead, she sprinted nimbly along the obsidian catwalk toward the strange crevice in the stone face in front of her.

The demonic voice cackled at her retreat, its voice chasing her into the narrow chasm in the stone edifice. She disappeared into its dark tunnel, enveloped by its consuming darkness.

She slowed to a walk, knowing that the eye couldn’t fit into the narrow tunnel. Reaching out, Sammy ignited flames around her hand, illuminating the narrow shaft. The tunnel ran generally downward, deeper into the earth. She risked a quick glance behind her but the entrance to the tunnel was lost in shadows. Sighing, she continued forward, hoping her mind would awaken from her nightmare sooner rather than later. Everything about this dream frightened her.

As she followed the tunnel deeper, the walls became smoother and carved, as though worked by hand. Moments later, she came across her first support beam. The beam was set against the wall but still required her to turn sideways to bypass its girth. As she slid past, her breath caught in her throat. She remembered doing this before, in a similar passage behind her father’s throne room.

Sammy quickly turned away from the passage, willing to take her chances back on the black stone catwalk. When she turned, however, she found herself facing a solid stone wall. What had once been a descending, sloped passage was now an alcove.

She sobbed silently as she turned back around, already aware of what she would find. The passage ended directly in front of her feet, opening into a massive underground chamber. The stone wall behind her slid forward, screeching against the floor and forcing her into the room.

Despite her light’s inability to illuminate the far end of the room, she knew what awaited her.

As if on cue, the giant burning eye flicked open, illuminating the far end of the chamber. Its presence set her skin aflame. The fire oozed from her pores. Though she could feel the intense heat, she knew she wasn’t going to burn to death.

“I told you we’d meet again,” the reptilian voice hissed, its voice filling the chamber.

Flames flickered from the left of the glowing eye, illuminating blood-red scales surrounding an elongated snout. Sammy tried to scream but the licking flames around her body swallowed her voice.

“Come to me, my child.”

Sammy tried to resist but her body moved of its own volition. She strode into the center of the room while the draconic eye followed her movements. Slowly, the eye turned away until another joined it; both eyes burned on opposite sides of the creature’s enormous, reptilian head. Flames danced from the end of its snout, briefly illuminating the rows of razor-sharp teeth beneath its nose.

“Come to me and be consumed,” it hissed.

The giant maw opened and flames poured out, consuming Sammy where she stood.

Xander cleared the table, scraping the vast majority of the uneaten food into the trash. His romantic date with Sammy had been a bust. He didn’t go into the date with high expectations of how the evening would end, but he didn’t expect his girlfriend to stagger away from his home looking ill.

He smiled as he set the plates in the sink. Sammy was his girlfriend. He hadn’t really dared admit it to himself since they reunited. It wasn’t that he was unused to being in a relationship; he had dated Jessica for years. Sort of dated, he had to remind himself. It was hard to think of Jessica now. She seemed to pale in comparison to Sammy. Maybe it was the elemental connection they shared, or the strange attraction they had for one another, but their relationship was already far stronger than his and Jessica’s had ever been.

With the table cleared, Xander climbed the narrow staircase and walked into his bedroom. He wasn’t feeling very tired despite the late hour and the exhausting day he’d had. He had already mentally prepared himself for a late night with Sammy and now that he was left to his own devices, he was frankly bored.

Lying down on the bed, he stared up at the faded mosaic on his bedroom ceiling. His eyes didn’t fixate on the clearer figures this time as they had before the funeral. Instead, he let his mind drift to the dinner and the ending of their date. He ran through all the conversations in his head, every gesture and glance, and psychoanalyzed them for hidden meaning. He knew it was a sign of his own insecurities and that he was probably reading too much into her expressions, but he couldn’t stop his mind from delving into the details of the night.

The sun finally set over the island, casting his room into darkness. He had some lanterns strategically placed around his room but didn’t bother lighting them. He almost wished the other Wind Warriors had splurged for portable generators so he could at least have some basic electricity. It was amazing how much he longed for the simple amenities. It was a sign of his generation, he knew. If he were back home, he’d be clinging to his cell phone like it was all that was keeping him afloat in a sea of technology. Thinking about it, Xander realized that he didn’t necessarily miss the technology. He had been managing just fine without it, just like he was doing without television or computer games. He no longer felt like he needed technology, but on nights like this when he was so incredibly bored, he really, really wished he had access to some video games to pass the time.

Sighing, he climbed out of bed. Sleep wasn’t going to come any time soon and it seemed like a waste to spend his evening lying around. Not that there was much else to do on the island other than walk the cobblestone streets, but it seemed a far better option than lying in bed until he passed out from sheer boredom.

He considered checking on Sammy. She would have been back at her home for an hour or so by then. She was probably asleep, he realized. She had barely seemed able to keep her eyes open when she was leaving after dinner.

Xander frowned. Checking on her wouldn’t be worth his time. Best-case scenario was that he found her asleep, recovering from whatever illness suddenly struck her. Worst-case scenario was that he accidentally woke her and had to face the wrath of an angry woman and Fire Warrior.

Whatever was wrong with her, he hoped it wasn’t serious. He had never considered her getting sick. He had always just assumed that her internal fire would burn away any germs. Realistically, it would have to, he realized. She had been raised in a cavern underground. It was practically an isolation chamber where the germs of the outside world didn’t dare to go.

Did she even have immunities to most of the basic illnesses that he had and gotten over when he was a kid? Or worse, did her higher body temperature actually just work like an incubation chamber for bacteria?

Xander suddenly wished he had never taken college biology.

The room was growing far too dark to sit in with any practicality. Despite his eyes adjusting to the dark fairly quickly, the room seemed morose and—despite his hesitation to admit it—haunted.

He walked toward the windows. He had closed the shutters on the windows that morning when he went to train to keep out the virtually constant sea spray. He had made the mistake of leaving his windows open after first arriving on the island and quickly realized that leaving them open here was like leaving his car window cracked during an unexpected summer shower. His clothes had been drenched that afternoon and he hadn’t made that mistake again.

He hadn’t bothered to open the windows again after training that day because he was too distracted with dinner preparations.

As he approached the shuttered window, he caught a whiff of something unexpected. The smell wafted through the closed shutters—an odd combination of campfire and sulfur. His blood ran cold as the smell of rotten eggs permeated his room. He had smelled that before when encountering Fire Warriors.

As his hand was closing over the shutter’s handle, a sharp pain stabbed into his gut. The pain buckled his knees and he moaned as he slid down to the floor. His head lowered toward the hard ground as it felt like the knife in his stomach was twisted sharply upward, aiming for his heart.

He had felt the twisting in his guts before whenever a Fire Warrior was using their abilities nearby but this pain far exceeded anything he’d experienced before. Moaning, he reached upward and searched for the windowsill. He fought the urge to curl into the fetal position on the floor and wait for the pain to pass. If he was feeling this exquisite of pain, it could only mean that the island was in trouble.

Finding the windowsill with his hand, Xander pulled himself up to his knees. A dim light was visible, flickering through the closed slats. The smell of smoke was stronger now and he could see wisps of gray ash seeping through the closed window. Reaching out, he knocked the shutters open.

Dancing flames were visible through the cloud of putrid smoke that billowed down the street in front of his house. The vibrant oranges, reds, and yellows illuminated the island in ghostly shadows.

He couldn’t see the source of the flames through the black cloud but he didn’t need to. There were only a few houses on the island that were occupied and only one that was that close to his own house.

Sammy’s house was on fire.

Despite the pain, Xander leapt from the window without a second thought, buoyed by a sudden updraft of wind. The smoke stung his eyes and burned his throat. He shifted the direction of the wind around him, blasting the smoke away from him. It obeyed his command and parted as he flew forward, but the smoke curled angrily around behind him, enveloping him in its consuming darkness.

The smoke parted before him as he approached Sammy’s house. The heat was intense, rolling from the upper floor of the building in scorching waves. Flames licked the roof as it poured through the slats of her closed shutters on her bedroom window.

Xander started to approach, pushing the smoke aside with the wind he generated. The angry flames reacted to the extra flow of air by flaring brighter. The clay tiles of the room cracked in the sudden increase of heat. He saw the red shingles fall from the building in shattered clusters and smash into the ground below.

Panicked, he pulled up short and pulled his buffeting wind in closer to his body. He didn’t know what had happened to Sammy but he couldn’t risk harming her in his poorly conceived rescue plan.

“Sammy,” he screamed into the night’s air but the roar of the fire stole his words.

The smoke around him whipped chaotically, signaling the arrival of the other Wind Warriors. Giovanni emerged first, being the fastest flier of the group. Xander turned to the others as they approached, signaling for them to keep their distance.

He turned back to the house and saw the shutters on her window catch fire. They glowed a vibrant amber as the paint peeled away, quickly turning from wood to smoldering embers.

“Sammy,” he yelled again.

He could hear the warning calls of his aunts and uncles as they gathered behind him. They saw something in his body language that was only just now occurring to Xander. He knew Sammy had to be inside. Whether she was inside with another Fire Warrior or by herself, he didn’t know. Frankly, he didn’t care. Sammy was in trouble and he was going to save her.

Xander tilted forward and launched toward the closed bedroom window. The others called cautions behind him but he ignored them as he flew to her rescue.

He crossed his arms defensively over his face moments before he struck the burning shutters. The shutters exploded in a spray of sparks and wooden splinters as he crashed into the room. The wind faltered with his concentration and he tumbled onto the bedroom floor. He tumbled across the floor, slamming into a chair and writing table before sliding to a halt.

The smoke was choking inside the bedroom. He could barely see his hand in front of his face as his eyes watered where they burned from the ash. Xander tried to keep himself low to the ground, remembering that the oxygen in the room would remain on the floor.

“Sammy,” he choked. He tried to yell for her—to find her in the gloom—but the smoke burned his lungs every time he tried to inhale.

He crawled along the floor, his fingers digging into the cracks between the marble tiles. The closer he grew, the more he could see that the bed was completely swallowed by swirling flames. The light from the fire was intense, to the point of being blinding. Whatever had started the fire on the bed had been insanely intense.

Xander’s eyes watered, not just from the smoke. Sammy had gone home to go to bed. With the bed so fully consumed, he feared the worst. He wondered again if it had been some plot by the Fire Warriors, as retribution for her betrayal.

He stared as long as he could at the swirling inferno on the four-poster bed before finally looking away. Blue dots danced in his vision, after effects of staring into the intense light. He blinked furiously to wash away the artifacts floating in front of his eyes. As the blue lights began to clear, he saw her smooth, exposed legs sprawled beside the bed.

A coughing fit overcame Xander as he crawled toward her prone form. His body felt heavier than it had when he first entered the room. Dragging himself while staying low to the floor was growing increasingly more difficult.

As he rounded the clawed foot of the formal bed, he saw Sammy collapsed on the floor. Her breathing came in labored gasps and her eyes fluttered in her unconsciousness.

Her alabaster skin practically glowed from an inner light. She didn’t seem harmed aside from the scorched nightgown that clung feebly to her body.

He reached out for her leg and wrapped his fingers around her soft flesh. Smoke curled from between his fingers and he heard the searing of his palm. He screamed in pain and quickly withdrew his hand, cradling the injured hand to his chest.

Her skin was burning from within, like her skin had been transformed to a living ember. He glanced down at his hand and saw blisters forming from his brief contact.

The ceiling above them creaked loudly as the flames weakened the wooden supports. Plaster poured from the ceiling in shards as the roof began to crack from the heat. Xander cringed at the sound but was just as quickly overcome by another coughing fit.

Another massive crack split through the room. One of the wooden beams collapsed, crashing into the bed. The canopy crumbled on the four-poster bed. The beam striking the smoldering mattress sent a wave of sparks into the air. They stung Xander’s skin as they settled over him.

He knew that there wasn’t any time left to dawdle. Despite knowing the anguish he was about to be in, Xander pushed to his feet and rushed to Sammy’s side. When he was a foot away from her unconscious form, his skin began itching from the heat. His tunic steamed as it threatened to catch fire.

His hands paused just before her body. With a shallow breath, he slipped his hands beneath her and lifted her off the ground.

Pain lanced up the length of his arms as he cradled her close to him. Tears welled in his eyes as he staggered under his burden. He knew immediately that he should have just carried her within a bubble, rather than lift her himself. He hadn’t wanted to risk his wind powers further weakening the support beams.

Xander ran forward as quickly as his burning lungs would allow. Without breaking stride, he leapt through the open window and plummeted toward the ground.

Sammy slipped from his grasp as they fell. His hands were numb and unresponsive as he tried to reach out for her. Reaching through the pain, he concentrated enough to create a pillow of pressurized air beneath them both.

They struck the bubble with incredible force, shattering his concentration. The wind had slowed their decent but hadn’t come close to stopping their fall. They both slammed into the cobblestone street and rolled away from the burning building.

The aunts and uncles converged on the pair. Alicia threw a bucket of water over Sammy. A cloud of steam erupted from her skin as the cool water connected with her body. They all stepped away in surprise.

Xander tried to stand but moving his head left him horribly disoriented. He felt a trickle of blood seeping from his hairline, running down over his left eye. He reached out toward Sammy and saw the angry red blisters spread across his hands and forearms.

“Sammy,” he moaned as darkness crept into the corners of his vision.

Try as he might, he couldn’t keep his head aloft as his world went black.

Xander looked at the gauze wrapped tightly around his hands. His fingers were protruding, their skin only pink as opposed to his fiery red and blistered palms and wrists. He knew he was lucky. The burns turned out to be second-degree burns, which meant the blisters would eventually subside and the skin would return to its pink. There probably wouldn’t even be any major scarring, except for the fact that he would probably never tan quite right again.

There was acute pain that radiated up his arms and seemed to pool around his elbows. He occasionally shook his arms as though the action would drain the pain back down to his hands where it belonged.

He flexed his fingers as he walked down the narrow hall that led to the back bedroom. The whole building had been converted to a makeshift hospital long ago; Xander assumed it was when the island was full. They had offered to move his grandfather to the hospital but he knew it would hardly make a difference. He was comfortable where he was and Xander saw no reason to move him.

Sammy had been set up in the back room once she could be moved. It had taken buckets of water to cool down her body. She had originally glowed like a smoldering ember but had returned virtually to normal by the time they carried her away from the burning house.

As he slid down the hall, the friendly Italian greeted him. Giovanni nodded to Xander as they met in the narrow hall, each turning sideways to allow the other to pass.

“How is she?” Xander asked, pausing before the long-haired man.

“She’s awake but hasn’t said more than two words to anyone. Maybe she will talk to you instead?”

“Is she hurt?”

She hadn’t seemed injured when Xander carried her from the heart of the flames but giving her a thorough examination wasn’t possible as he was dangerously close to succumbing to the smoke.

“Nothing that I could see but I gave her a certain degree of modesty during my exam. She doesn’t seem to be suffering, if it makes you feel better. Alicia offered to come by after she tends to your grandfather. She can check her a bit more… thoroughly.”

Xander smiled at the Italian’s obvious discomfort. Giovanni spoke brashly about his knowledge of women but blushed like a candle when faced to confront an actual lady.

“Thanks for all you’ve done so far,” Xander offered. “Did she happen to say what happened? How her room came to be on fire?”

“I asked. She wouldn’t say. Maybe she’ll tell you instead.”

Xander nodded. “I’ll talk to her. Thanks again.”

Giovanni slipped past in the hallway and walked toward the front of the hospital. Xander turned toward the closed door that marked the back of the house. He reached for the door handle but his hands stung as they closed over the cool metal. He gritted his teeth, wrapped his hand around the rounded handle, and turned as gently as possible.

A lantern dimly lit the room beyond. There was a window but the shutters were closed and a sheet was draped over the opening. Sammy lay on the bed in the room. She was on her side, with her back toward the door. A sheet was pulled up to her shoulder, but she had long ago kicked off the blanket that had been draped over her.

“Sammy?” he said from the doorway.

She didn’t move or even seem to acknowledge he was there. He stepped inside and closed the door quietly behind him.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better,” she said, though he could barely hear her low tone.

Xander walked over to the side of the bed and placed his hand on top of her exposed shoulder. She withdrew slightly as the smooth gauze rubbed against her skin. He could feel the heat from her skin but it was bearable; nothing like the heat she had been radiating when he rescued her. Still, his hands were abnormally sensitive to heat and he had to withdraw his hand sooner than he would have liked.

Sammy rolled toward him. Her eyes were puffy from both crying and lack of sleep. She looked drawn and exhausted. His heart ached for her.

She looked at his bandaged hands and bit her bottom lip.

“Oh God, Xander,” she moaned. “Look at your hands.”

Xander shook his head. “Don’t worry about me. I’m way more worried about you right now. How are you feeling? I mean, really?”

Sammy looked away. “I’m frightened and a bit embarrassed. How are the others taking what happened?”

“I’m not really sure,” Xander shrugged. “I don’t really care, though, as long as you’re okay.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said as tears spilled from her eyes. “I screwed up pretty bad, didn’t I?”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Xander said. He reached up and wiped away a trail of tears from her cheek.

“Of course it was my fault,” she retorted sharply. Brushing aside his hand, she rolled away from him, offering her back to him once again. “I screwed up and it nearly killed you.”

Xander felt frustrated. Every time he felt like he was getting somewhere in the conversation, Sammy shut down emotionally. Even though she only rolled away from him, she might as well have thrown up a wall between them.

Xander took a deep breath. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

“I had a bad dream,” she replied softly, the acidity drained from her voice. “Can we please just leave it at that?”

“You know I can’t, Sammy. Your bad dream burned an entire house to the ground. It could have been much worse, if the others hadn’t managed to get the fire under control. Please,” he begged. “Please tell me what happened.”

Sammy threw her legs over the far side of the bed and sat up. She was naked aside from the underwear she wore. Xander’s eyes traced the soft ridge of her spine down her creamy-skinned back. His admiration was short-lived as Sammy threw a shirt over her head.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

Sammy shook her head as she retrieved her pants and thin-soled shoes. “I need to go.”

“Tell me why?” Xander pleaded. “What’s happened?”

Sammy reached up and wiped her eyes. She stood on the far side of the bed, her smooth legs sticking out from underneath the long shirt. Despite his concern for her wellbeing, his heart still raced in his chest.

“You’re all in danger and I think it’s my fault.”

Xander stepped around the bed and put his hands lovingly on her shoulders. “Take a deep breath and tell me what happened.”

“Something happened when we were apart, after… after…”

“After you tried to kill me,” he finished. He gestured for her to continue.

“When I went back to the Fire Warriors, I saw something… something I wasn’t supposed to,” she started, her words tumbling over one another as though her secret begged to be told. “I followed a hidden tunnel, one I’d never seen before. It led deeper underground, deeper than I’d ever been. The tunnel ended in a huge room and when I went in…”

She swallowed hard before laughing softly to herself. “This is going to sound insane. There was a monster trapped inside that room. Its eye was bigger than me and it breathed fire. I never even got to see what it was. I was so scared. All I could think to do was run. But when I went in the room, I think I woke it up. I didn’t mean to, but now it’s going to come for all of you.”

Xander paused as he tried to digest everything she had told him. He hadn’t had a lot of time to fully appreciate his new powers and the responsibilities that came with them, but he had adapted as quickly as he could. It was easy since he had grown up reading so many comic books. It wasn’t a far stretch to believe that normal people like him could have strange super powers. As far as he had seen, however, there weren’t any monsters hidden among the Wind Warriors.

He shook his head. “But you said it was trapped in that room, right? As long as it’s trapped, then we have nothing to worry about.”

“I don’t know if it is trapped,” she corrected. “For the past couple days, I’ve been seeing it around the island.”

“What? You’ve been seeing it here?”

He turned sharply, half expecting to see a monster pushing its way through the narrow doorway.

“Not… it’s hard to explain. When I was face to face with the monster, all I saw was its eye. It was taller than I am. I feel like I’m losing my mind but it’s the eye I’ve been seeing. Always floating overhead, watching me everywhere I went.”

“Was this what happened last night?”

Sammy blushed. “I dreamt about it and it made me lose control of my power.” She turned and paced the square room. “I haven’t lost control of my powers since they first manifested. We’re trained day in and day out until we can control them perfectly. But last night, I actually lost control. That and…” she began, before quickly closing her mouth and shaking her head. After a deep breath, she continued. “It’s yet another reason that I should leave.”

Xander could tell how painful the conversation was for Sammy but he couldn’t shake the feeling that she was holding something back. She still seemed far too stiff, despite sharing what he considered a dark secret.

“Sammy,” he said, stepping into her path. She turned on her heel and walked around him. Smiling, he raced around the bed until he could block her path again. “Sammy, stop walking, please. Listen to me. You’re not going to leave.”

She sighed as she stopped in front of him. “But what if I lose control again? You burned your hands last time. Who knows what’ll happen next time.”

“Let me put it this way—if you leave, I’m leaving too.”

Sammy smiled despite her exasperation. “Why are you so eager to put yourself in harm’s way? You have a death wish?”

“Apparently I do,” he replied. “Otherwise, I never would have become a Wind Warrior in the first place.”

“I don’t think you actually had an option on that.”

“Semantics,” he laughed.

“So you want me to stay?”

Xander reached up and wiped away the drying streaks of tears on her cheeks.

“You’re stuck with me, for good or bad. We’re in this for the long haul.”

Sammy chuckled to herself. Standing on her tiptoes, she leaned in and placed a kiss on his lips.

“I don’t understand the connection between us,” she said, “but I’m really glad it’s there. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Until death do us part, right? We’re not married, but somehow I feel like it’s a lot more fitting for us.”

She laid her head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“You want to get a bite to eat?” he asked suddenly. “I think we both could use a break and we both need to get out of this room.”

“I’d like that.”

She stepped away and led the way out of the room. Xander watched her for a second before following. No matter what she told him, he still couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something she wasn’t telling him.

They walked hand in hand to the cafeteria. The island was empty, with only the gentle breeze that poured between the walls of the waterspout keeping them company. Xander assumed his aunts and uncles were eating lunch already since it was already past noon.

The cafeteria had a door on the front of the building, unlike many of the other buildings that dotted the island. Most just had curtains or tarps drawn across their openings, offering privacy without a real concern for safety or theft. Only the Wind Warriors lived on the island, so they had little reason to fear for their safety.

The door was a two-way bump through door without a lock or handle. Xander stepped to the side and pushed it inward, allowing Sammy to enter before him.

Despite thinking that he was being chivalrous, Sammy seemed hesitant as she stepped to the doorway. She looked nervously at Xander before stepping into the cool interior.

Xander followed into the well-lit room. The cafeteria was circular, following the gentle curve of the building’s architecture. A single wall bisected the far end of the room, granting a bit of privacy for the kitchen area beyond. Open windows allowed bright sunlight to fill the room. The light reflected off the sparsely decorated, white marble walls, giving the entire room a soft, warm glow.

There were still nearly a dozen round tables spread throughout the main room in the cafeteria, despite there being so few Wind Warriors remaining. It seemed like an unnecessary effort to remove the tables and store them elsewhere, so most just remained unused.

The four uninjured and ambulatory Wind Warriors—Giovanni, Alicia, Thea, and Patrick—sat in the room, enjoying their lunch. They could have all easily fit around a single round table but they were separated over two. Giovanni and Alicia talked in loud tones, laughing at one another’s jokes. In contrast, Thea and Patrick sat beside one another at a second table, their heads close and talking in low tones. Their conversation died away as they looked up and noticed Xander and Sammy entering the cafeteria.

Xander saw Patrick’s withering glare but chose to ignore him. He slipped an arm around Sammy’s waist and led her toward the silver containers spread across a long table against the bisecting far wall. Most of their meals were a buffet style, with the cooked food being kept in heated, steel containers.

He handed a plate to Sammy before retrieving one for himself. They walked down the line in silence, picking through the different containers as they filled their plates.

Xander winced as his plate got fuller. It seemed hard to hold his heavy plate on his injured hands. The heat from the food seemed to seep through the ceramic plate, only adding further discomfort to his burned hands. Sammy glanced over and noticed his grimace.

“Want me to carry that for you?”

Xander frowned. “No. Thanks, though. If I can’t even carry my own lunch, I’m in for a world of hurt next time I have to face off against a Fire Warrior.”

With their plates full, Xander led them to a table adjacent to Giovanni and Alicia. He didn’t have to ask Sammy to know she was nervous about interacting with the aunts and uncles. She hadn’t really spoken to any of them since her house caught fire, aside from the perfunctory and curt conversation she had with Giovanni after he examined her in the hospital. She didn’t seem eager to talk to them any further, at least not yet.

Sammy pulled out a chair and sat down, spreading a napkin across her lap. As Xander set his plate on the table, he heard the scraping of a chair being pushed hastily back and the rattle of a plate and silverware being tossed together. He looked up to see Patrick standing from his table. His plate was still half-full but his expression said that he had no interest in remaining in the cafeteria.

“I think I’m done here,” he said loudly to Thea as he picked up his plate. “Somehow, I seem to have suddenly lost my appetite.”

He stepped to the edge of the long table and dropped his plate unceremoniously into a plastic bin. As he turned toward the front door, Patrick paused beside Thea.

“Maybe we can continue this conversation elsewhere.”

Part of Xander wanted to let the Irishman walk away, to let him just disappear so he and his girlfriend could eat their lunch in peace and quiet. The smug look on Patrick’s face, however, set Xander’s blood boiling.

Xander slammed his hand down on the table, startling the other aunts and uncles.

“If you have something to say, why don’t you just go ahead and say it to my face?”

Patrick paused and arched an eyebrow. “I already did, lad. I told you everything I needed to say at the funeral.” He pointed angrily at Sammy, who merely lowered her head to avoid eye contact. “She’s a menace to everyone here and she doesn’t belong.”

“And I told you then that she wasn’t going anywhere,” Xander retorted. He was practically shaking with anger. “She’s staying for as long as I say she is.”

“Aye, because you love her,” Patrick smirked. “You have some deep connection that simple-minded folk like myself just couldn’t possibly understand. Aye, I got that. It’s touching… and absolute crap.”

“Both of you just need to settle down,” Giovanni said from his seat in between them. “We’ve all had a rough time over the past few days. It’s set everyone on edge. Let’s just take a deep breath and—”

“And nothing,” Patrick said. “If none of you will be man enough to say it, I will. You little bird set fire to her room. Burned the whole thing down.”

“It was an accident,” Xander snarled.

“Was it? Was it now? And you know this how? Because she told you it was an accident? Well, I’m prone to believe her, since she’s been nothing but trustworthy so far.” He turned toward the other aunts and uncles. “Everyone else feeling very reassured because the Fire Warrior promised that her setting fire to the island was just an accident?”

“Shut your mouth, Patrick,” Xander threatened.

He clenched his hands into tight fists. He could feel his nails digging into the palms of his hands. Deep within his gut, he felt a stirring as some primal power yearned to be released.

“And what happens when she accidentally burns us all to death in our sleep?” He turned his attention directly to Sammy, who still refused to look at him. “Will you feel really bad about that accident too? Will you cry yourself to sleep before or after you slaughter the last of us?”

Patrick slammed his hand down on the table in front of him, startling Sammy. “Look at me,” he yelled at the Fire Warrior. “Tell me all about how sad you’re going to feel when you finally finish what you started at the dance.”

“Enough,” Xander yelled.

The power inside him broke free of its own volition. The wind tore through the open windows, pulling the shutters free from their moorings. It scooped up a chair from the far side of the room and flipped it into the air. The chair crashed onto the table in front of Patrick, who stumbled backward in surprise.

Patrick sneered and stepped forward dangerously but Alicia leapt to her feet before the incident could escalate any more.

“Stop it, both of you,” she yelled. Her stern tone, so different from her normal matronly demeanor, startled both Xander and Patrick.

Almost immediately, the wind faded and the room settled into its previously quiet disposition.

“If you two want to act like children, you can do it outside,” she continued once she had everyone’s attention. “It’s Patrick’s day to train you anyway, Xander, so go train.”

Xander shook his head. “I think I’ll pass.”

Patrick snorted derisively. “Of course you will. You’re about as committed to our cause as your little Fire Warrior. You’re perfect for one another.”

“You want to train?” Xander asked. “Fine, let’s train.”

“I look forward to it, lad.”

Patrick turned away and walked out the door. The door swung closed behind him as he walked into the warm sunlight.

Xander seethed at the Irishman. His hands dug into the table as he glowered at the man’s departure. Within him, the power boiled and churned, yearning for a release.

He felt a sudden tug at his sleeve and he looked down to see a very concerned expression on Sammy’s face.

“Xander,” she said breathlessly, “your eyes.”

Xander blinking heavily and the power within him seemed to subside as the anger left him temporarily.

“What’s wrong?”

Sammy furrowed her brow as she watched him. “Your eyes were glowing bright white a second ago, like you didn’t even have a pupil. I saw your eyes do something similar when you were fighting General Abraxas.”

Xander frowned and he felt the anger rolling back to the surface. “That’s because I haven’t been this pissed off since Abraxas. Man, that guy really gets under my skin.”

Sammy pushed back her chair and stood. “Just let it go,” she begged. “It’s not worth all this heartache.”

“Yes, it is,” he replied. “He’s not going to let up until someone puts him in his place. He’s just going to keep making both of us miserable.”

He lowered his tone until he was sure he couldn’t be overheard by the other aunts and uncles in the cafeteria. “He’s already got me so angry that I’m not even sure I want to stay here anymore. Part of me just wants to get out of here and go back to White Halls. Check on Sean and the rest of the town and make sure everyone’s okay. You know what I mean?”

“I’m not going to lie that I hate being around some of your relatives,” she whispered in response. “But that doesn’t mean I want you rushing off to defend my honor every time one of them says something bad about me. If you did, you wouldn’t have any time for anything else. Anyway, I’m capable of taking care of myself.”

Xander smiled and took her hand. “I know you are. But in this case, it’s not a fight you can win. If you stand up to Patrick, it’s only going to give him the ammunition he needs to have you thrown off the island. No, this is something I’m going to have to do for the both of us.”

He turned toward the door but Sammy didn’t let his hand go. He turned back to see her smiling softly.

“Was he right?”

“About what?” he asked.

“Are you standing up for me because you love me?”

Xander knew Patrick had said it just to get a rise out of them both but he knew it wasn’t as far from the truth as Patrick believed.

He reached up and ran a hand across her cheek. “It sounds a lot better than saying we have some strange infatuation with each other, doesn’t it? Yes, Sammy. I love you.”

She leaned in and kissed him passionately. As they parted, he could hear her exhaling softly.

“I love you, too,” she said, smiling.

Xander took a deep breath to calm his pounding heart. “You really do make me happy, Sammy. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go beat that fact into an arrogant Irishman.”

Xander had to duck underneath the low-hanging archway that led into the courtyard. He had trained not too long before with Thea in the same area. With the marble archways lining the perimeter of the courtyard, it still looked quite a bit like a modern Coliseum.

Red clay shingled roofs crowded the tops of the arches. They were angled downward like auditorium seating. Glancing at the surrounding rooftops, Xander could imagine ghostly figures lining the sloped roofs, watching the ensuing battle. The Wind Warriors of times past were the spectral observers, watching as Xander and Patrick faced one another.

“Let them watch,” Xander muttered angrily as he turned his attention toward the redheaded Irishman.

Patrick removed his shirt and set it on a sheered half-pillar that sat along the edge of the arena. Despite his age, Patrick was still in incredible shape. He flexed and his chest muscles swelled against his bare chest.

“I didn’t figure you would show,” he yelled, though he barely needed to raise his voice to be heard.

Xander scowled at the older man as he untied the cloth belt that held his tunic closed.

“Got nothing to say, lad? Cat got your tongue? Or maybe you need to ask your lady if it’s okay to talk back.”

Xander tossed his shirt aside unceremoniously, letting it fall in a crumpled heap underneath an archway. “I don’t have to run my mouth for people to know what I’m thinking.”

Patrick laughed derisively. “Everything you do and say just reminds me of how much of a kid you still are. You’re barely out of diapers and already thinking you’re tough enough to play with the big boys.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Sammy cross her arms defensively across her chest. Her mouth was etched in a permanent frown as she watched the exchange between the two men. From behind her, the other aunts and uncles emerged from between the pillars surrounding the courtyard, their curiosity piqued by the gauntlet thrown down between the two men. Xander knew what they came to see; both he and Patrick had their axes to grind. He wasn’t sure how far this would go but he was feeling angry enough to match whatever Patrick wanted to throw his way.

Looking over his shoulder, Xander looked into the faces of his aunts and uncles. They all watched with general interest. He didn’t see sympathy or concern for either of the combatants. They only saw two men eager to work through their respective testosterone-driven frustrations. How quickly they forgot that Xander just lost both his parents. It was infuriating to see their generally dismissive attitudes.

Xander felt a swelling of anger in his gut. The wind swirled around his legs. As it skimmed over the large, flat marble stones around his feet, the wind seemed to whisper to him. He couldn’t understand the words but he understood its message well enough. The wind brought whispered, half-heard promises of power.

“This isn’t a training session like you’ve been doing,” Patrick continued. “We’re not here to teach you how to use your powers. You’re a smart young man who clearly knows everything, so there’s nothing left to teach.”

The wind crept around his body like a serpent, climbing first up his legs before slithering around his torso. The air drew itself up higher until Xander could practically see it dancing in front of his vision.

Patrick smiled wickedly. “Don’t hold back. I definitely won’t be.”

“You just planning on talking me to death?” Xander asked dismissively.

Patrick sneered and shoved his hands toward Xander. A blast of dense air struck Xander in the chest and threw him across the courtyard. He slammed painfully into a carved marble pillar before collapsing to the ground.

The blow knocked the air out of him. Every time he tried to take in a breath, the muscles across his back and ribs constricted, tightening over his lungs.

“Xander,” Sammy yelled in concern. She took a step toward him but he held up his hand, telling her to stay where she was.

He sat on his knees for nearly a minute before his muscles finally relaxed and breath flooded into his screaming lungs. He coughed but the jerking movement sent pain roaring up his bruised back.

“What’s wrong, boy?” Patrick taunted from across the arena. “Is this not as easy when one of the Wind Warriors isn’t holding your hand? You want to go crawling back to your Fire Warrior and ask for her help?”

Xander drove his fist into the stone floor. The sudden pain in his knuckles helped him focus as he pushed himself back to his feet. He turned sharply toward Patrick and flicked his head to the side, brushing his shaggy hair out of his eyes.

As soon as he was back on his feet, the Irishman swept his arms to the side. Xander reflexively raised his arms and the wind responded, surrounding him in a bubble of pressurized air. Despite his defense, Patrick’s hurricane strength wind shattered his bubble and lifted him from his feet.

Xander tumbled end over end across the courtyard. His shoulder slammed awkwardly into the marble as he careened across the ground. Pains lanced down his arm, feeling like a hot needle sliding just under his skin. He groaned and tried to stop his momentum but Patrick’s control of the elements was too strong.

He looked up to see the base of an archway speeding toward him. Panic raced through him as he saw the sharper corners of the pillar’s square base. The white marble glistened in the sunlight. It didn’t take a creative imagination to envision the beautiful white stained with his red blood.

Instead of trying to stop his momentum, Xander redirected the wind. A blast of air struck him in the chest and face, pushing him out of the way of the oncoming pillar and its deadly edges. Though it wasn’t his intent, it had a second unintentional effect of stopping his end over end tumbling. Patrick’s power still moved him forward across the arena but his redirection had him skidding diagonally across uneven marble tiles. The pillar passed less than a foot from his face as it shot past. Looking up, Xander realized he wasn’t out of the clear yet. Beyond the archway, the hard wall of a nearby building barreled toward him. He flipped himself around moments before he reached the house, taking the strike across his back once again.

Xander coughed painfully and tasted a metallic twinge in the back of his throat. He reached fingers into the back of his throat and pulled them out tinted red with blood.

He looked up, though it was hard to see through the lights dancing in his vision. He could see either or aunt or uncle—it wasn’t easy to tell through blurry vision—stepping into the courtyard. Their voice carried easily to where Xander sat.

“That’s enough, Patrick,” the Wind Warrior said sternly. Their voice was muddled by the constant ringing in his ears. “You’ve made your point.”

“Stay out of this,” the Irishman retorted. “If he wants to start a war with the Fire Caste, then he needs to grow up faster than any of you will let him. He’s going to need to fight as if his life depends on it. I’m giving him a taste of that now.”

“And when will you stop?” Alicia said. The sense of having cotton shoved in his ears was fading and the voices were clearer. “Maybe when you’ve killed him?”

“He wants a war,” Patrick snarled. “People die in war. He should know that better than anyone, since he just lost both of his parents.”

Xander felt the knot in his gut ignite with his rage. Of all the people to remember his recent loss, Patrick had the least right to mention them. The wind that had been holding him in place suddenly passed through him, as though absorbed by his skin. He felt it build inside of him, like it was water pouring into a very deep well. The power swelled within him, granting him a sense of strength he hadn’t felt in a while.

The world around him seemed to lighten as he watched Alicia and Patrick argue. The edges of his vision were painted with a white halo. The dark color of his pupils faded first to a light brown before paling to near white. Before long, even the dark rim around his pupils had faded away until a glowing white light consumed his eyes.

Sammy rushed to his side, staggering against the strong wind that Patrick kept aloft with barely a subconscious thought. Her blonde braid billowed away from her body as he braced herself against the wall.

“Oh my God, Xander,” she said. “Are you okay?”

Xander looked up at her and she stepped back in surprise. He smiled softly to his girlfriend as he pushed himself off the floor. The strong wind didn’t seem to bother him. In fact, his dark hair didn’t even waver in the wind as though he were completely buffered from its power.

Reaching out, he squeezed her shoulder affectionately before turning back toward the arena.

“Just leave him alone,” Alicia told Patrick. The two stood inches away from each other, their noses nearly touching as they argued loudly.

Patrick opened his mouth to reply but he was paused when Xander spoke.

“It’s okay, Alicia,” he said as he stood in the archway. Xander’s arms were crossed over his chest. “Let him say what he’s got to say.”

Patrick furrowed his brow in confusion. He gently pushed Alicia back, more for her safety than anything else. Wisely, she backed up and rejoined the other aunts and uncles.

The Irishman tensed his shoulders and the wind responded, blowing past him as it roared toward where Xander stood. Xander shifted his right foot behind him, bracing for the blasting vortex. The wind struck him with incredible force but he not only kept his feet, he barely even had to rock backward.

“I’ve been listening to you run your mouth about me. I’ve listened to you run your mouth about Sammy. That’s her name, by the way, no matter how much you may not want to get to know her. But now that you’ve decided to bring my family into this, now I’ve had enough.” Xander took a step forward, despite the torrential wind, much to Patrick’s surprise. “If you don’t want to give me any respect, then I’ll just have to make you respect me.”

The wind tore through the openings between the arches behind him. Instead of flowing past him like it had with Patrick, the wind poured into Xander. The bottomless well within him filled quickly with the raw elemental power. The white halo in his vision consumed more of the arena, leaving his gaze as a pinpoint focused solely on the Irishman.

The wind started as an angry hiss as it flooded across the island, slithering through the streets from all directions as it consolidated around the arena. The shutters of the nearby buildings fluttered as the wooden planks were ripped from their moorings and spun on their hinges, before slamming back into the marble walls. Ceramic shingles rattled and clinked against one another as the individual flows of wind merged. The power of the cyclone around them built in magnitude. A slab of marble that formed the top of a bench screeched loudly as the tornado drove it off its stone base. In the distance, Xander could hear a crack of stone, though he couldn’t tell what broke or where.

Sammy huddled beside the aunts and uncles underneath a broad archway. The elder Wind Warriors focused on keeping the driving winds at bay but Sammy was still forced to cower against the pillar and cover her face.

“Is that the best you got?” Patrick yelled with a nervous laugh.

The howl of the wind grew louder as Xander’s response. The arena became the eye of a violent storm. The buildings nearby groaned, as the wind grew even stronger. The aunts and uncles, trapped on the periphery of the storm, stooped lower as they fought to control the destructive winds streaming past them.

The sky overhead darkened as clouds blotted out the bright tropical sunlight. Thunder rumbled across the sky and brilliant flickers of lightning split the dark gloom that spread over the island.

Patrick glanced around nervously. A loud rattle warned him moments before a shingle tore free of a rooftop and launched into the middle of the arena. He threw up a hand and a quick gust of wind pushed the red clay tile aside. It shattered on the marble floor, sending shards of clay spraying across the courtyard.

A blinding flash of light split the air as a lightning bolt struck one of the abandoned buildings. The blast blew through the roof, leaving a smoldering crater in the ceiling. The loosened shingles around the blasted hole were lifted by the vortex and spun aggressively around the perimeter of the arena.

A second bolt struck a cobblestone road that ran parallel to the courtyard, cracking the heavy stones.

Patrick stepped toward Xander and yelled to be heard over the deafening storm.

“That’s enough. You’re going to tear the island apart if you keep this up.”

Xander glowered at the man. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it? You wanted to see if I could hold my own against the Fire Warriors. You wanted to know if I had what it takes to start a war. Are you satisfied yet? Maybe you need a more personal demonstration.”

Though the tornado continued to roar around the arena, a shard of the wind split from the cyclone and flashed across the courtyard. Patrick summoned his own wind and the two forces of nature slammed into one another in between the two men. The crash of the winds sounded like an explosion splitting the air.

Xander sneered and pushed his wind forward. Sweat beaded on Patrick’s brow as he struggled against the crushing pressure.

The vortex around the arena increased in pressure, mimicking the growing power of the wind within the courtyard. The wind shredded the rooftops just outside the ring of archways, filling the air with flying debris. Spinning shingles grew closer to where Sammy, Thea, Alicia, and Giovanni hid. Lost in their protective focus, the aunts and uncles didn’t notice the dangerous shards growing ever closer. Sammy threw up her hands and the air in front of her wavered from the heat. The shingles shimmered for a moment as they flew toward the hiding group. One after another, they exploded in the heat, leaving behind melting shards that dripped harmlessly to the ground.

“Xander,” she yelled as she destroyed another volley of red clay shingles. “Xander, you need to stop!”

Xander couldn’t hear her. His focus was solely on the battle between him and Patrick. She could see the Irishman buckling under the onslaught of gale-force winds. It wouldn’t be too much longer until he was broken under the pressure. If she didn’t stop him soon, he was likely going to kill his fellow Wind Warrior.

The vortex around the arena grew wider, consuming more of the empty buildings. A loud crack split the air as a wall collapsed under the driving winds.

Around the island, the waterspout wavered as it struggled to maintain its integrity. Sections of the waterspout caved as the vortex within its interior grew in ferocity. Sheets of seawater poured over the buildings like rain. Beyond the island, lightning struck the ocean in rapid succession, lighting up the dark cloudy sky.

“He’s going to tear the island apart,” Giovanni warned as he knocked aside a shard of marble that had gotten caught up in the storm. “When did he get this powerful?”

“Who cares?” Thea replied. “I’m going to stop him.”

She turned toward the interior of the arena, watching the two men locked in combat. With her back turned, she couldn’t see the stray shingle soaring toward the back of her head.

Sammy leapt from beside the pillar and tackled Thea. They fell to the floor together, a jumble of limbs as they struck the hard ground. The shingle flew dangerous close to their heads and smashed into the pillar beside them. The anger was drained from Thea as she realized Sammy had just saved her life.

“I’ll take care of it,” Alicia said, stepping over the pair.

She lowered her head against the staggering wind.

“Xander. Patrick. You need to stop this.”

Neither man heard her yelling. The wind stole her words from her lips as soon as they left her mouth. She frowned and closed her eyes. She channeled the elemental power to her fingertips. The air around her grew deadly still, a stark contrast to the gale whirling around her. She could feel the pressure building in her ears as she cultivated her power.

The normally sweet, maternal woman’s brow creased with frustration as she watched the two egotistical men. She pushed her strength to its limits, knowing that nothing short of her best would separate the two warriors. When she knew she had done all she could, she took one strained step forward and raised her hands above her head.

“I said stop!”

She slammed her hands down to the marble floor and an explosion ripped through the air.

Both men were lifted from their feet by the blast and thrown to the ground. As quickly as it had arrived, the tornado around the courtyard disappeared. The dark skies cleared and brilliant sunlight streamed back through the walls of the waterspout. Even the rolling thunder faded away into the far distance.

Xander rolled onto his side and clutched his ringing ears. The pressure had rattled his brain. There was a faint trickle of blood seeping from his nose and he reached up and wiped it away.

Across the courtyard, Patrick struggled to a seated position as well. Between the men, the marble tiles were shattered. Shards of stonework jutted up toward the sky, forming rows of razor-sharp teeth.

Xander no longer felt the tug in his gut as the power pulled at him. It was gone, leaving a hollow wake in its absence. He felt exhausted, like the unnatural power had pulled at his very soul. He brought his head up to his chest.

From the corner of his eyes, he could see Alicia climbing to her feet as well. Her normally smooth hair was frizzy and unkempt. Her lips moved but he couldn’t hear anything through the deafening ringing.

“What?” he yelled, though even his words seemed muffled. He was pretty sure he was screaming far louder than was necessary.

Slowly, the sounds of the world flooded back into Xander’s ears. He opened and closed his mouth a couple times, stretching his jaw as Alicia’s words filtered back to him.

“Can you two hear me?” she asked.

Xander struck the side of his head with his palm, symbolically shaking away the deafness. Across from him, Patrick mumbled something that sounded like agreement. Xander nodded as well.

“Good,” Alicia said.

Giovanni and Thea, the latter of whom looked far more disheveled than Xander ever remembered seeing her, joined Alicia in the middle of the arena. Sammy pushed her way past the trio and ran to Xander’s side.

“Are you okay?” she asked in a low tone that was hard for him to hear. He understood her intent, however, and nodded to her as well. “I was worried about you. You didn’t seem like you were in control.”

“I’m fine,” he muttered sourly.

Alicia turned her attention back to Xander. “Are you better now?”

Xander’s eye narrowed as he looked back at her. “No. I’m really not.”

He pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the surprised expressions of his aunts and uncles. He helped Sammy to her feet and pulled her in close.

“Go get your stuff and meet me at my house.” He looked over his shoulder to where Patrick still sat on the shattered ground. “We’re leaving.”

Xander and Sammy pushed off from the ground and immediately took to the air, passing through the wall of the waterspout unhindered. Their lightly packed bags were carried in the buffeted air around them. Neither of them had really spoken since the episode in the courtyard. Sammy had packed quickly and joined Xander without bothering to ask where they were going. Even though Sammy was the recipient of most of Patrick and Thea’s ridicule, Xander seemed far angrier about the situation.

As they sped over the Gulf of Mexico, she reached out and took his hand.

The yacht rocked in the tall waves as it coasted across the Gulf. The crew felt the tug in their core at the same time. As a group, they looked up at the sky as the silhouette of two people passed overhead.

A cloaked figure stepped out of the captain’s quarters and followed the gazes of the other Fire Warriors. The Wind Warrior’s power was unmistakable, even from their distance.

General Abraxas pushed back his cowl, letting the tropical sunlight fall over his burnt face. Reaching up, he ran a hand over his bald palette, tracing what remained of the plethora of tattoos over his scalp.

“Do we follow them, sir?” one of the Fire Warriors asked as the Wind Warrior fled toward the mainland.

“No,” Abraxas hissed. “Let them go. We stick to the plan. By the time we’re done, the stragglers will come to us.”

He raised his cowl back over his melted facial features and turned back toward the captain’s quarters.

“Don’t bother me again until we’re within sight of this ‘strange weather’ everyone keeps talking about. I’ll be below decks, planning the slaughter of the Wind Caste.”

The bayou gave way to forest as Xander and Sammy sped over the landscape. His fingers were interlaced with hers as they flew side by side. A few packed bags hovered in the air behind them, seemingly floating of their own volition. A pocket of air kept both people aloft and buffeted the bags along through the sky as well.

Neither had really spoken since leaving the Wind Warriors’ island. Xander had needed the time to let the blood drain from his face and his racing heart to finally relax. He had been infuriated enough to leave the island immediately after his duel with Patrick without so much as a farewell to any of his aunts and uncles.

Their time aloft had let his blood cool. He wasn’t sorry he left so hastily. He wasn’t interested in spending time around people who would use the death of his parents as some sort of training aid. With some time flying, however, he started to regret leaving without saying goodbye to his grandfather. Even though he knew they’d return once some time had passed, it seemed irresponsible of him to have not even stopped by the building where his grandfather lay injured.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Sammy asked loudly. Despite the pocket of air around them deadening some of the roar of the wind, it was still loud and heard to hear one another.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I feel I have a thousand things bouncing around my brain and none of them are what I should be worried about. I’m stressed about my grandfather. I’m angry at Patrick and Thea. I’m disappointed in Giovanni and Alicia, since they didn’t seem too interested in stopping Patrick before everything escalated. I’m worried about what the future holds for you and me.”

“Those are all good things to be thinking about. They all matter.”

Xander shook his head. “But the only thing I should be thinking about is stopping the Fire Caste. They’re right on the cusp of starting World War III and I’m worried about someone talking bad about my parents. I need to be grounded again, to get my head screwed on straight.”

“Is that where we’re going?” Sammy asked.

Xander smiled mischievously. “Yeah, we are. There’s only one person I know that can keep me grounded. There’s only one guy that’s a big enough jerk to look me in the face after I got my powers and tell me he wasn’t impressed that now I could break wind.”

Sammy laughed, despite the seriousness of the situation ahead of them. “I have to assume you’re talking about—”

“Sean,” Xander finished. He laughed to himself at the thought of his heavyset friend. “That man gives the best advice in the world, no matter how weird his advice may be.”

“But he’s in White Halls,” Sammy said, her smile fading away to a concerned frown. “The Fire Warriors are probably still there.”

Xander shrugged as the forest beneath them gave way to rolling hills, tall corn plants, and symmetrical rows of vibrant, green soy plants. He knew they were close to the Tennessee border, which meant it wouldn’t be that much longer until they arrived at his old hometown.

“They might be but I’m not turning back. If they’re there and they’re looking for a fight…”

“Which they will be,” she replied. “Assuming it’s the same Fire Warriors that came with me when I showed up in town, killing you is the only reason they exist.”

“If they’re looking for a fight,” Xander continued unfazed, “then I’ll give them more than they can handle.”

Sammy squeezed his hand and flashed him a nervous smile. “We will. We’ll give them hell together.”

From a distance, the air above White Halls was stained with smears of greasy, black clouds. The sooty smoke rose from buildings across the town, seemingly chosen haphazardly.

Xander’s heart sank. He knew there was a chance the Fire Warriors would still be in town but he had foolishly expected to find the town relatively unscathed. If it was him they were after, it didn’t make much sense to destroy the town, especially once they realized he was no longer there. Then again, he had to remind himself, the Fire Caste existed to burn away the stain of mankind. He didn’t think they had many qualms about starting with even an insignificant town like White Halls.

They skimmed over the rooftops of the houses that formed the border of the town. A short distance to his right, he could see the large, faded, wooden sign that welcomed visitors as they entered the town from Highway 41. The streets below them flashed by in a blur as they sped toward Sean’s apartment.

Glancing beside him, Xander caught Sammy’s eye and immediately knew that she saw what he had already noticed. The streets were empty. No one wandered down the sidewalks, sat on their porches, or yelled over the fences to their neighbors. Kids were curiously absent, as were their discarded bicycles and toys. On the warm afternoons, he would have expected to see plastic child pools inflated on the lawns with children and adults alike splashing in the shallow waters. Instead, grasses grew too tall in front lawns and vegetables went untended in home gardens.

Nervousness twisted Xander’s gut. Everything about the town was wrong. He prayed quietly that Sean was all right.

“Look,” Sammy said hurriedly. “There’s someone down there.”

Xander followed her gaze but immediately frowned. The man that looked up at their passing had telltale blonde hair and wore leather armor stained so dark it was nearly black.

“Fire Warrior,” he muttered, though he knew Sammy couldn’t hear him over the billowing wind around them. Then again, he also knew she didn’t need to hear him. Her bitter expression told him she recognized what the man was as well.

As soon as they passed overhead, the man turned and ran down the street in the direction they were going.

Xander regretted flying into town so recklessly. He had been caught up in the mixed emotions of leaving the other irritating Wind Warriors and the excitement of seeing Sean again. He never stopped to consider that the Fire Warriors could sense his use of power, even his ability to fly. Soaring into the center of town like a cowboy vigilante had been foolish and, more importantly, incredibly dangerous and stupid.

“We need to land,” Sammy said, echoing his thoughts.

He glanced over at her and smiled. If they started finishing each other’s sentences, then he’d know that they’d become “that couple”. He knew the type; the type of couple that also referred to themselves as “we” rather than “I” as though they lost the ability to think as a single unit.

“We’re almost to his apartment building already,” he replied. “We might as well land once we get there.”

“Be on your guard. If one felt your elemental power, there’ll be others. The place could be crawling minutes after we touch ground.”

Xander kept her warning in the back of his mind as they soared toward the nearest cloud of smoke. The smoke billowed from the remains of a smoldering house, recently set ablaze and extinguished not by firefighters but left to burn until it was nothing but a framework of cinders and ash. The pillar of black soot obscured his view of the apartment.

The duo tilted to the right and skirted the edge of the cloud. As they came around the far side, Xander felt crestfallen. His heart did flips in his chest and he clenched his jaw tightly to keep from screaming in frustration.

Sean’s apartment was destroyed.

Specifically, the corner of the apartment where his room had been located was gutted by fire, long since burned out. The roof was collapsed, exposing the hollowed interior. Water damage stained the brickwork of the building’s exterior and turned the ash within the scorched room to thick paste. Clearly, this fire had been put out by what remained of the firefighting crews.

The pair dipped toward the parking lot of the apartment and their feet touched down gently on the grass marking the edge of the asphalt slab. Xander hit the ground running as he hurried toward the exterior stairwell.

“Xander,” he heard Sammy yell from behind him.

He didn’t stop, instead keeping his pace toward the apartment. There had to be something inside the apartment that could tell him where he could find Sean. He refused to believe that Sean wasn’t alive; he had to keep hope that his best friend survived the Fire Warrior’s attack.

“Xander, watch out,” Sammy cried out.

He glanced to his right just in time to see a jet of flame shooting toward him. Xander dropped to the ground and slid on the dry asphalt. The inferno soared just over his head, singeing the tips of his dark hair. The knees of his loose-fitting pants tore and scraped the skin beneath. He felt the trickle of blood running down his calf as he slid to a stop and leapt back to his feet.

The Fire Warrior sneered and shifted his aim. The stream of fire angled back in his direction.

Instinctively, Xander threw aside his hands and a miniaturized tornado immediately appeared beneath his attacker. The flames disappeared as soon as the Fire Warrior lost his concentration, the conflagration stopping inches from the side of his head. He felt the hairs curl under the onslaught of heat.

The Fire Warrior was caught in the cyclone and spun wildly, hovering only a few feet off the ground. The man’s eyes rolled in his head as vertigo overwhelmed him.

“Are you okay?” Sammy asked as she rushed over to Xander’s side.

He nodded slowly, keeping his eye fixated on the swirling, blonde warrior. “I’m good.”

Sammy followed his gaze. “What are you going to do with him?”

Xander flicked his wrist and the Fire Warrior catapulted into the air, quickly becoming little more than a distal, shapeless blob.

Sammy’s expression slackened with surprise. She clutched Xander’s arm tightly, her nails digging into the flesh up his triceps.

“Don’t kill him,” she said hastily.

Xander arched an eyebrow and looked at her worried expression. He couldn’t imagine the inner turmoil she dealt with every day, knowing that she was taking a stand not just against a faceless mass of the Fire Caste, but against people she knew by name and had trained with in her youth. For all he knew, she was friends with the man he had just flung carelessly into the air.

Sammy turned toward him, her eyes swimming with concern. “Please, Xander.”

Xander shook his head. “Don’t worry. I haven’t killed one of them yet.”

The Fire Warrior crashed into a tree on the far side of the parking lot. They heard the man grunt loudly as he tumbled through the thick branches. Eventually he broke through the dense foliage on the bottom boughs and dropped unceremoniously onto the hard ground.

“I never promised he wouldn’t wish he was dead when I was done,” Xander smirked, “but at least he’ll live.”

Sammy offered her hand with a thankful smile. He pulled himself to his feet and they walked together toward where the Fire Warrior rested, still groaning softly.

As they skirted the side of a parked car, Xander came to a sudden stop. His eyes widened in surprise and he stared in amazement at the paint spread childishly on the concrete.

Sammy looked at the same crude marks but couldn’t make sense of the triangles.

“What is it?” she asked.

Xander could hardly contain his laughter. “Sean’s alive and I know where to find him.”

They walked the rest of the way to the White Halls College. On the ground, they could see people peering nervously from behind drawn curtains or through the slats of closed blinds. It set Xander’s mind at rest knowing that there were plenty of people still alive and well within White Halls, even if they were too scared to leave their homes.

He and Sammy turned sharply in front of the familiar lecture hall. For a brief moment, Xander paused and stared up the steps leading to the long stretch of glass doors. Even though he had never believed it at the time, life had been so much simpler when he was just an unenthusiastic college student, halfheartedly stumbling his way through his classes.

Turning away from the building, he led Sammy toward a row of Victorian-style homes. The homes all looked remarkably similar, with large pillars framing wrap-around porches. Balconies jutted out invariably from the second floors, supported by the pillars below. The only difference between the homes was the general cleanliness of both the lawns and building exteriors. Some were immaculately kept while others, like the one they currently walked past, had patches of dead grass that had died from reasons Xander would rather not guess.

A series of Greek letters had been nailed above the doorways of each of the houses. Sammy gasped in surprise as she pointed at three triangles hanging above one of the better-kept homes. The triangles were an exact match for the crudely drawn symbols on the concrete.

“That’s it,” she said. “What does it mean?”

“Literally?” he asked. “It means ‘Tri Delta’, which is a sorority on campus. Metaphorically, it means that Sean is hanging out with the last possible person I would have expected.”

They walked up the steps of the house and knocked loudly on the door. For a long moment, they heard nothing from inside. Xander’s jovial attitude began to fade as doubt crept into his mind. He was so sure he’d find Sean at the Tri Delta house that he hadn’t even considered what they’d do if we wasn’t.

After a long wait, they finally heard the scuffling of shoed feet. Xander had been in the house plenty enough. He knew the footsteps were walking across the hardwood foyer. Xander chewed on his bottom lip as he waited for someone to answer the door.

The door was flung open suddenly. Beyond its darkened archway, Xander could see Sean holding a baseball bat as though he were ready to swing for a Major League fastball. Behind him, a familiar blonde woman stood with a shocked expression and a fire extinguisher clutched in her bloodless fingers.

Both their weapons slowly dropped toward the floor, as recognition passed through the odd pair of Sean and Jessica.

“Holy crap,” Sean whispered.

“It’s been far too long, buddy,” Xander replied as he pulled his portly friend into a huge hug.

The engine sputtered as it was turned off, the swirling blades chopping the ocean water before coming to a rest. The large motorboat coasted through the salty water, rocking gently with the rolling waves.

On the surface of the boat, a group of dark-armored men moved sluggishly as they strained to carry a heavy canvas bag between them. The burlap fabric strained from the weight and the men tried to time their steps so as not to rattle the contents more than necessary. They moaned as they reached the small set of stairs that led up to the observation platform at the bow of the ship.

Near the tip of the bow, another Fire Warrior stood a metal beam upright. Bright arcs of flame leapt from his fingers as he welded the steel tube into place. The burlap bag fell to the deck of the boat and the laborers fell to the ground, exhausted.

One of the Fire Warriors looked up as a blast of sea spray fell across his face. Though he didn’t dare question General Abraxas, he doubted their leader’s wisdom. Not far from the front of the ship, a massive waterspout dominated the horizon. Even from their distance, he could feel the tug of the water, drawing their ship closer to its devastating wall.

“Come on,” the older Fire Warrior demanded as he finished welding the support beam into place. “Pick it up and bring it over here.”

The laborers huffed in irritation before climbing back to their feet. They lifted their heavy burden and shuffled over to the beam. With a loud grunt, they lifted the burlap bag until it hovered over the metal pole. The older warrior shifted the bottom of the bag until a hole was exposed. The massive steel contraption within the burlap bag shone in the setting sunlight. The older man lined up the top of the support pole with a similar hole on the contraption and signaled for the laborers to lower their burden. The metal monstrosity settled into place with an audible click.

“It’s ready,” the older Fire Warrior explained. “Go let the General know we’re ready to proceed when he is.”

The youngest of the warriors, a man barely twenty-six, frowned at his task. Like all the men on the boat, they were deathly afraid of General Abraxas. The man was practically invulnerable, having survived being set aflame, with dangerous burns covering most of his body. Rumors spread through his men that he couldn’t die, that he had been blessed with immortality. The younger man didn’t believe that was true, but it didn’t stop him from being afraid. General Abraxas might not be immortal, but he also had no compunction about killing a fellow Fire Warrior if he was somehow displeased. More and more, it seemed the smallest things displeased the General.

The young Fire Warrior walked down the steps, bracing himself on the railing so as not to fall on the sea-soaked stairwell. Despite his best efforts, his feet still slid from underneath him and he was forced to cling to the railing to keep from falling. The sudden movement made his stomach churn dangerously. He wasn’t used to being on the water—none of them were. They were born in a cavern surrounded by heat and lit by lava flows far beneath them. There was serious doubt if he’d ever find his sea legs, but he hoped to be done with their mission long before that became an issue.

Pushing himself upright, he walked hurriedly but deliberately across the deck to the closed door at the stern of the boat. It led down to a small galley, which the General had turned into his personal quarters.

The Fire Warrior rapped on the door and stepped back to let the door swing outward. Within seconds, the door opened and the cloaked General looked out with an expression of electric anticipation.

“What is it?” he hissed from beneath his long hood.

The hood cast his face in deep shadows, making his features invisible to the young Fire Warrior. The man didn’t mind, however. Despite their favored element, the look of Abraxas’ melted skin made him ill.

“We’re in position, sir,” the man replied. “We’re ready to proceed.”

“Then it’s set up already? Everything’s in place?”

The young man nodded quickly, eager to be done with the cat and mouse dialogue with his leader.

“Excellent,” Abraxas hissed.

The General stormed past the young man, pushing him aside with barely a passing glance. Abraxas walked with a faint limp and a loud exhalation due to the ceaseless pain. He didn’t complain about his discomfort and no one was brave enough to ask.

General Abraxas climbed the stairs quickly and took his place beside the blanketed contraption. The other Fire Warriors fell aside, leaving their leader alone beside the metal monstrosity. He reached over affectionately and placed his hand on top of the bag, feeling the metal’s coolness seeping through the fabric. He closed his fingers over the top of the satchel and ripped it away, exposing the long, metal tube beneath.

The whaling harpoon gun had been a fortuitous find; a recommendation from a fisherman who hadn’t lived long enough to regret the amount of information he shared with Abraxas. As the General stepped away from the harpoon gun and stared at the waterspout in the distance, his men went to work loading the pressurized air canisters and tubing beneath the steel gun.

“It won’t be long now,” Abraxas mused. He turned his head toward the setting sun. “Sleep comfortably in your beds, old men. Death will be coming for you soon enough.”

Behind him, he heard the clicking of the metal harpoon being loaded into the breach of the weapon. He turned as the Fire Warriors linked the corded rope into place, snapping it into a metal ring at the base of the support pole.

“Full speed ahead,” General Abraxas yelled toward the stern of the ship.

The Fire Warrior at the controls pushed the lever forward and the blades churned the water behind the boat. With a lurch, the ship rolled forward toward the angry, water-borne phenomenon before them.

Abraxas could taste the anticipation in the air. It had a metallic taste, like blood pooling on his tongue. He took in a deep breath as the boat bounded over a cresting wave.

“Warriors,” he called out. “On line.”

The foremost Fire Warriors took their positions on either side of the General. As one, they raised their hands and extended their fingers toward the waterspout. The air above their hands smoldered as flames crackled to life.

The wall of the waterspout grew closer. The roar was deafening the closer they sailed. It felt like a heavy weight settling into the General’s brain. She ground his pointed teeth against his bottom lip, drawing blood and forcing away the thoughts of the pressure on his ears.

The water itself splashed up over the railing of the boat, soaking the Fire Warriors. As quickly as the water settled over them, it dissipated in waves of steam from the heat radiating from their bodies.

Caught in a sudden eddy, the boat lurched, nearly tossing the Fire Warriors from their feet. General Abraxas shot the driver a deadly glare and the man at the wheel shrunk from his unspoken reprimand. Abraxas turned his attention back to the waterspout, which had grown dangerously close.

As close as they were, the lead warrior could feel the wind itself tugging at his billowing cloak. His hood was pulled from his head, exposing his wax-like features to the dying rays of the setting sun. Abraxas snarled through the good half of his mouth, the skin on the other half having melted and run over both lips.

When he was satisfied that they were close enough, white-hot fire leapt from Abraxas’ hands. The other Fire Warriors followed suit and soon the entire air between the boat and the waterspout was consumed with flames. The fire struck the wall of the waterspout. The two elements crashed into one another like Titans of Greek mythology, hissing and sizzling as they fought for supremacy.

Slowly, the spout of water faltered and crumbled under the heat. The sheets of ocean water evaporated, blanketing the area in boiling steam.

Unfettered, the boat passed into the heated cloud. General Abraxas’ skin crawled and itched from the heat. He knew he was more sensitive to the temperature now that most of his body was covered with puckered scars but he could see the others from the corners of his eyes, suffering similarly.

The air was thick and humid, like trying to breathe through a bowl of soup. General Abraxas grimaced but kept his flames aloft, keeping the wall of the spout at bay until his ship could pass through the surprisingly calm eye of the storm.

Once the boat was sufficiently past, the Fire Warriors dropped their flames and the waterspout reformed behind them. Even had the sun not already sunk into the horizon, the interior of the waterspout would have been cast in darkness. Within the heart of the raging ocean storm, the surface of the water was cast in dark shadows from the massive landmass hovering over their heads.

He craned his neck upward to look at the hanging stalactites. The sharpened teeth on the underside of the island felt strangely comforting to the Fire Warrior leader and he smiled wickedly at its menacing visage.

The other warriors set to work pulling free rock climbing gear and attaching Swiss seats. Abraxas moved beside the harpoon and looked upward again. Even once they got the serrated metal tip of the harpoon to hold in the rocky underbelly, it would still be quite a climb up to the island’s surface. Not all his men would make it but he wasn’t overly concerned about their safety. He really only cared about his own life, and the retribution he would take on the Wind Warriors once he caught them sleeping on their island home.

A Fire Warrior carefully turned the knobs on the pressurized air canisters and watched the PSI needle climb. He nodded to the General when he was happy with the results.

Abraxas tilted the harpoon gun skyward and squeezed the trigger. Even over the din of the swirling waterspout, he heard the explosion as the harpoon launched toward the island’s hardened underbelly. The metal harpoon grew small as it rocketed upward. The rope unwound beside them, uncoiling as the harpoon reached its mark.

He couldn’t hear a satisfying strike as the harpoon sunk into the stone but a firm tug on the rope told him it was firmly attached.

With a quick look to his fellow Fire Warriors, General Abraxas took hold of the rope and began his climb.

“Why are you wearing a bathrobe?” Sean asked as he and Xander leaned against the wall of the sorority’s common room.

Xander uncrossed his arms and looked at the loose-fitting shirt that he had been given by the Wind Warriors. “It’s not a bathrobe. It’s a tunic.”

“It opens in the front and is held closed by a cloth belt. That’s a bathrobe, dude.”

The two looked across the common room and stared at the two women, who sat as far apart from one another on the couch as possible. The sorority house was abandoned, the girls having all gone home when the chaos began in White Halls. They had the house to themselves, though it was clear that Jessica and Sammy resented having to stay in the same room together.

“Man,” Xander said with a shake of his head. “Those two really do hate each other, don’t they?”

“Uh huh. Speaking of which, is this going to be one of those awkward love triangles you always hear about in soap operas?” Sean asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Xander shrugged and laughed. “I wouldn’t know. I don’t watch soap operas. And I don’t have any feelings for Jessica anymore, so there’s not going to be any love triangle.”

Sean arched an eyebrow as he looked at his friend. “Who’s talking about you?” he asked with a coy smile. “I meant Jessica, Sammy, and me. Just take a look at me. I’m like a giant teddy bear. Fact: chicks dig teddy bears.”

Xander laughed again. He had forgotten how good it felt to laugh without an underlying, morose sense of impending doom. The Fire Caste seemed pretty far from Xander’s mind as he reunited with his best friend.

The two girls looked over at the laughing pair but quickly returned to their inner brooding.

Sean looked from Sammy to Jessica and back again. “You know, you really do have a ‘type’.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Tall, blonde, blue eyes, athletic, nice big…”

Sean paused as he noticed Xander’s frown.

“Personalities,” Sean concluded.

“Nice save, buddy.”

Xander tried to laugh again but was fairly dumbstruck by how right Sean was. He didn’t notice it before but Jessica and Sammy really did look similar. No one was going to mistake them for sisters any time soon. Sammy had a sternness that was a strong counterpoint to Jessica’s general aloofness, but they did look like they could be distantly related.

“It’s really nice to hang out with you again, Sean,” Xander said, changing the subject. “It’s really nice to be hanging out with someone who just likes hanging out with me because of who I am, not what I am.”

“Funny is what I do,” Sean explained. “I don’t have much of a choice.”

“No?”

Sean shrugged. “Fat people have to be funny. It’s a law. You have to choose to either be fat and happy or skinny and rude. No one likes being around the person who’s angry about being fat.”

“I’m glad you are,” Xander replied with a broad smile. “I’ve missed you, brother.”

“Aw, shucks.”

Xander squeezed Sean’s shoulder before giving him a playful shove and walking over to where the girls sat miles apart on the seven-foot couch.

Sammy looked up at him as he approached. Her eyes pleaded, as they had last time she and Jessica were left alone, for him to save her from the uncomfortable situation.

Begrudgingly, Jessica looked up at him as well. Her gaze lacked the affection he saw in Sammy’s eyes. She didn’t seem happy at all to see him.

“I got to say, Jessica,” Xander said as he sat down in one of the armchairs facing the couch. “I’m really surprised to see you and Sean hanging out together.”

“You’re not the only one,” Jessica said with a sigh. “But misery acquaints a man with strange bed…”

“—fellows,” Sean finished with a smarmy grin. “You almost called us ‘bedfellows’.”

“Shut up, Sean,” Jessica replied. She turned back to Xander. “So, you’re a superhero now?”

Xander flushed at her scrutiny. He realized they hadn’t left on the best of terms but he hadn’t expected her to be so aggressive.

“I don’t know about superhero,” he replied sheepishly. “I just have powers.”

“Don’t be modest,” Sammy interjected. “You’re one of the most powerful Wind Warriors alive.”

Xander smiled at his girlfriend. He knew what she was doing; she was making him look good in front of his ex-girlfriend, giving him some confidence in a conversation he was clearly losing.

“Wind Warrior?” Sean asked. “Is that the official title?”

Xander shrugged. “It’s what we’re called, apparently.”

“We? So there’s more like you?”

“Seven,” he started before he frowns. “Six. There are six others.”

Everyone fell silent, recognizing the pain barely concealed behind his words. Xander looked down at his hands, his mind drifting back to everyone he’d already lost. With a quick shake of his head, he shook away the morose thoughts.

“So, Jessica,” he began, “you seem to be taking this way better than I would have expected.”

She crossed her arms across her chest and chewed on her bottom lip in frustration. “Well, it’s been a whole week of strange events. My ex-boyfriend can fly. Some guys can make fire out of the air and burned down an entire apartment building. And, stranger than all the others, I’ve been hanging out with Sean.”

“And you love it,” Sean replied with a smirk.

“You’re an idiot,” she said, not for the first time.

“I’m a little more impressed that Sammy is still hanging out with you,” Sean said. “I would have figured she would have left you as soon as things got… weird.”

“Weird like, ‘I want to have a relationship with you but I can be awkward,’ or weird like, ‘I can make tornados’?”

Sean smiled. “A little from column a, a little from column b.”

Xander looked over at Sammy and smiled at the nervous blush on her cheeks. He knew why she was nervous. Despite all the time he’d spent defending her to the other Wind Warriors, the two other people in the room had no idea that she was a Fire Warrior. If Sean’s stories of their experiences while he was away were any indication, they weren’t going to handle the news well.

Jessica looked back and forth between the two. “Someone want to fill us in?”

Xander cleared his throat. “Sammy’s pretty okay with my powers. She’s…”

“She’s what?” Jessica asked darkly.

“I’m a Fire Warrior,” Sammy explained.

Sean arched his eyebrows but stayed in his armchair. Jessica’s response was a bit more severe. She leapt from the couch, putting as much space as possible between her and Sammy. Jessica reached out quickly for the fire extinguisher beside the couch but Xander was quicker. He kicked it aside and it skidded across the hardwood floor.

“Stop that,” he said harshly to his ex.

Jessica fumed, her nostrils flaring with anger. “You brought one of those monsters into my house? What were you thinking?”

Sean raised his hand and waited for her to recognize him. “No offense, but it was just a couple days ago that you brought a Fire Warrior into my apartment.”

“Shut up, Sean. Anyway, how did that work out for us?”

Sean shrugged. “Semantics.”

“She’s not a normal Fire Warrior,” Xander interceded before the atmosphere got any tenser. “She’s on our side. She left her kind to save my life. No can everyone please sit down so we can talk about this like adults?” Xander shook his head. “God, who would have ever thought I’d be the one trying to get everyone to act like an adult? Next thing you know, Sean’s going to be telling me that comic books are stupid.”

“You shut your dirty lying mouth right now,” Sean replied quickly.

Xander looked up at the rigid Jessica. He motioned toward her spot on the couch. “Please.”

With a frown, she slid past the armrest and sat down, keeping her body angled as far away from Sammy as possible. If looks could kill, Jessica would be trying to commit genocide.

Xander looked at Sammy, who shrugged weakly. He glanced over at Sean, who simply gave him a look that said he understood how awkward the whole situation was.

“Well, isn’t this awkward,” Sean said, voicing what everyone was thinking.

Jessica stroked her chin thoughtfully as the expression on her face rolled from betrayed to infuriated.

“Wait a second,” Jessica blurted. “So when we were at the Spring Formal and the sleeve of my dress caught on fire…”

Xander looked over quickly to Sammy. “You didn’t.”

“I didn’t,” she quickly replied. “It was the candle, I swear.”

“You tried to set me on fire,” Jessica screamed.

Sammy stood quickly and held up her hands defensively. “I swear I didn’t. If it happened, it was purely a coincidence.”

“You tried to kill me.”

“She does that a lot,” Xander said, before immediately regretting opening his mouth. Sammy and Jessica both glared at him.

“Can we calm down?” Sean asked. “There are apparently Fire Warriors around town that aren’t on our side and I’d rather not draw attention to us.”

“She tried to…” Jessica started to repeat.

“All right,” Sean said as he stepped past Xander. He put his arm around Jessica and led her out of the room. “Let’s let everyone cool down for a while and we’ll try this again later.”

He and Sammy watched the unusual pair leave the room before they turned back toward one another.

Sammy smiled sheepishly. “That went well.”

“As well as I expected it to,” Xander admitted. He bit his lip as he furrowed his brow. “You didn’t, did you?”

Sammy laughed at the absurdity of the situation. “For the last time, I didn’t. The bimbo really did lean over a lit candle.”

Xander laughed too.

They heard the heavy footsteps on the hardwood floor moments before Sean returned alone.

“Jessica decided to take some time to herself and think through everything,” he explained. “I kind of agreed with her.”

Xander smiled. “I think you made the right choice.”

Everyone took his or her seats once again. Xander glanced over his shoulder at the archway, checking to make sure Jessica wasn’t going to suddenly make a reappearance. As he started to look back toward the others, his eyes slid across the flat-screen television on the far wall.

He pointed to the television. “What have I missed since I’ve been gone?”

Sean followed his gaze. “You serious?”

“I’ve been stuck on an island in the middle of nowhere. No TV, no internet, not even a newspaper. I literally have no idea what’s happened in the last couple weeks.”

Sean looked over to Sammy as though she were going to refute everything Xander just said. She merely shook her head and shrugged.

“Man, we’ve got a lot of work to do. Turn your chair around and let’s start flipping through the channels.”

The island should have been nearly pitch black. It was far from the normal lights of civilization. Even on nights of full moon illumination, little of the light filtered through the walls of the waterspout surrounding the marble homes.

Giovanni slammed his fist angrily onto the windowsill as he looked out over the island. The waterspout reflected the red glow of the flames. The air was starting to smell of burning drywall and wooden support beams. While he stood at the window, he heard the splintering of a roof’s support beams and the clay tiles collapsing into the interior of the home.

He couldn’t see the fire; the flames were being started further down the wheel’s spoke from where his home was located. He didn’t need to see the blazes or the people starting the fires to know what was happening. The twisting in his gut told him that elemental wielders were nearby.

Looking out the window, he shifted his gaze to the island’s central dome. A small bell tower stood at the crest of the dome, its bronze bell concealed in the darkness. Giovanni crouched, ready to leap from his window, when he heard voices beneath his window.

“What are you doing?” a cloaked man growled at a younger Fire Warrior. The younger man quivered in the presence of his obvious superior and stammered a response.

Giovanni slid into the shadows of his room but kept his gaze locked on the mysterious leader. The man’s dense robes concealed every inch of skin, leaving his hands draped with the elongated sleeves and his face hidden beneath the folds of its protruding hood.

“If I find you standing around again,” the leader continued berating the younger man, “I’ll burn you to ash.”

“Yes, General,” the Fire Warrior stuttered.

“Go,” the General demanded. “Burn this island to the ground.”

The younger Fire Warrior hurried away, angling down the road and far away from his threatening leader. When he was passing Giovanni’s house, an older Fire Warrior grabbed him by the arm and dragged him toward the Italian’s doorway.

Giovanni scowled at his bad luck. He would have preferred to fly toward the central dome but with the two Fire Warriors at his doorstep and the General hovering nearby, he wasn’t sure he’d make it far before being set ablaze. He took another longing glance at the bell tower, hoping that the others would be alerted to the threat without him having to ring the bell, before turning back into the interior of his room.

Unfortunately, the house didn’t have another exit, aside from the available windows and the front door. With both options blocked, he had little choice but to search for a place to hide.

As he stepped into the hallway beyond his bedroom door, he heard the front door crash open. It hadn’t been locked and the Fire Warriors clearly had little care for the damage done. As soon as they entered the downstairs, however, Giovanni could hear their heated conversation. The Italian swore under his breath. They had been burning houses, one after another. Nearly all the houses on the island were abandoned, their living rooms and dining rooms completely barren of furniture or other amenities. As soon as the Fire Warriors entered the house’s foyer, they would have seen his dining room table and paintings hanging above the console table against the wall.

The second they entered his house, the Fire Warriors knew they had found the home of a Wind Warrior. They’d be coming for him soon.

The Italian closed the bedroom door behind him and slipped into the bathroom door to his right. He closed it quietly behind him and turned toward its dark interior. The bathroom had a small window of frosted glass but the window didn’t open and it was far too small for him to fit through. He glanced around for a weapon but realized his house was poorly designed for defending against the Fire Caste. Short of beating one of them to death with a toilet plunger, Giovanni didn’t have any real options.

Even through the closed door, he could hear the creaking of the wooden steps as the two warriors climbed toward the second-story landing. Giovanni wiped away a thin sheen of sweat from his forehead before climbing into the claw-footed tub. He quietly pulled the shower curtain in front of him, realizing how ridiculous it was that his only protection was a thin sheet of semi-transparent plastic.

The muffled footsteps stopped in front of the bathroom door. The door handle jiggled as the Fire Warriors checked the bathroom. Giovanni could see a glow flood the room as the warrior stepped into the doorway. He couldn’t see the man but it was easy to imagine the man’s arm sheathed in flames. The proximity to the Fire Warrior turned Giovanni’s stomach. Despite his concern about the shower curtain, he suddenly realized it was his savior. The flickering flames were reflected off its shiny surface, keeping him hidden. So long as the Fire Warrior didn’t check the bathroom more thoroughly, he’d be safe.

The warrior stood in the doorway for what seemed like an eternity before the light faded and the man stepped back into the hallway. Giovanni refused to let out the breath he was holding, for fear of being discovered.

He heard the closet door across the hall open moments before he heard the two Fire Warriors make their way toward his bedroom.

Waiting was no longer an option. It wouldn’t take long for the other Fire Warriors to spread across the island. There was a chance the other aunts and uncles were still asleep and unaware of the danger. Despite the risk, he needed to ring that bell.

Giovanni silently pulled aside the shower curtain and stepped out of the claw-footed tub. His stomach was still a giant, painful knot. The discomfort had been enough to wake him from his sleep when the Fire Warriors began their assault. Their use of the elemental powers so close to his home had been far too telling for him to remain asleep.

Barefooted, he stepped into the hallway. The shadows of the Fire Warriors fell on the walls in the hallway, stretched from where they inspected his bedroom.

He grinded his teeth as he watched them tear through his room. The few papers he kept on his desk were tossed unceremoniously onto the floor. The sheets were ripped from his bed and discarded in a pile on the floor.

Giovanni walked down the hall without making a noise and stood in the doorway. While the Fire Warriors searched his room, he began focusing his energy. He kept his eyes fixated over the Fire Caste, focusing on the bell tower that stood above the central dome.

A distant cry split through the still night air. The Fire Warriors seemed just as startled as Giovanni at the scream. Breaking their relatively silent assault with such noise meant only one thing—there was a battle between the Fire Warriors and at least one Wind Warrior. Others were awake but it was hard to tell whether the yell had been of surprise or pain.

A sudden breeze swirled through the room, sending the pile of sheets tumbling on the floor. Both Fire Warriors suddenly clenched their guts as his power grew. Their fires extinguished themselves, as their concentration was broken, casting the room into sudden darkness.

The wind kicked up unexpectedly, lifting a chair from its place beside the nightstand. It launched through the air, slamming into the head of the older of the two Fire Warriors. The man crumpled to the floor, blood flowing freely from the wound on his scalp.

The younger man barely had time to turn before Giovanni launched into the air. He grabbed the warrior around his waist, lifting him from his feet and pulling him out the window with him. With his eyes still focused on the bell tower, Giovanni released the Fire Warrior and propelled himself forward. Giovanni didn’t pause to listen to the young man’s scream, which ended abruptly when he landed awkwardly on his neck on the marble tiles below.

The bell tower grew quickly closer as Giovanni pushed himself faster. He struggled with the fact that Fire Warriors were on the island. There had never been any indication they even knew where the Wind Caste was hiding all this time. Had they grown complacent in their protected home far away in the ocean? It had seemed like such a good idea all those years ago, to be detached from humanity as they lived out the last of their years. The ocean surrounding them seemed like the perfect protection from an army of elementalists wielding the power of fire. Yet, in the end, even the ocean hadn’t been a strong enough deterrent for the assassins that were now at their doorstep.

He barely slowed as he reached the large bell positioned over the central dome. As soon as his feet touched the cool surface, he pulled hard on the long rope that dangled beside it. With a firm tug, a massive, wooden trunk swung away from the bell. He released the rope and leapt from the window, drifting down toward the makeshift hospital below where Xander’s grandfather rested. Giovanni refused to leave the elder Wind Warrior undefended.

Above him, the massive ringer swung forward, colliding with the giant bell. Its tone rung pure across the island, wrenching the other Wind Warriors from their sleep. The bell had been installed at the behest of a paranoid Wind Warrior when the island had been selected and taken aloft. It served only a single purpose—to warn of an attack. In all the years since, it had never been rung. Tonight, its sound echoed hauntingly over the island.

Giovanni trusted that the others would awaken and defend the island as best they could. The only thing he was concerned with was protecting Xander’s grandfather. As he glided toward the smaller building beside the dome, he didn’t even notice the dark-clad Fire Warrior pushing aside the curtain to the central dome.

The Fire Warrior sensed the Italian soaring over his head. He was close enough to engage. Since the warrior hadn’t been using his flame powers, he knew the Wind Warrior couldn’t sense his presence. In the shadow of the central dome, he watched the Wind Warrior land besides a building nearby and hurry inside.

Killing the Wind Warrior would have been easy but he had been given his task directly by General Abraxas himself. No one defied orders from the General; no one that had genuine concern for his or her continued existence.

At the entryway to the central dome, the Fire Warrior could feel nauseating waves of elemental power pouring from its interior. A Wind Warrior was inside, of that he was certain.

Beyond the curtain, the room was unnecessarily dark. No windows lined the walls of the room. The Fire Warrior assumed there were lanterns or wall sconces nearby that could be ignited but he had no reason to waste his time with such frivolities. The ends of his arms ignited as he prepared to face the Wind Warrior inside. The thrill of the anticipation sent chills through his body, in stark contrast to the heat from his generated fires.

The flames flickered across the virtually empty room. He expected a Wind Warrior prepared for battle, standing across from him with the winds under his command. The Fire Warrior was horribly startled to find a shaggy-haired man reclined in a chair in the middle of the room. Robert’s eyes were closed and legs resting on a padded ottoman. Were it not for the fluttering of the man’s wild beard, the Fire Warrior might have mistaken him for a corpse.

He couldn’t help but think the room was a clever trap. The power was evidently emanating from the room but he assumed it had to have been from another Wind Warrior, not the man resting comfortably—seemingly asleep—in the chair in front of him. A quick examination of the room, however, showed that they were alone.

The Fire Warrior couldn’t resist a malicious smile. He knew this would be the easiest Wind Warrior any of them would kill that day.

He approached the reclining Robert and placed his hands on the armrests. He leaned forward until he could smell the Wind Warrior’s underlying musky scent. His sense of accomplishment slowly faded as he realized Robert wouldn’t be putting up a fight. His smarmy smile quickly became a frown.

“Wake up and face me, Wind Warrior,” he spat acidly. “Face me like a man or I really will kill you like a dog.”

Robert didn’t respond. Beneath his eyelids, his eyes flickered as though he were in deep sleep.

Angry at being ignored, the Fire Warrior grabbed Robert by his tunic and jerked him from the chair. For a moment, he feared that the Wind Warrior wouldn’t stand on his own and he’d have to drag a limp body to the man’s execution.

Slowly, Robert planted his feet on the ground and locked his knees. As the Fire Warrior pulled him in closer, Robert’s eyes shot open. His pupils were dilated far beyond normal and his breathing came in rapid gasps.

The Fire Warrior felt water splash across his ankles, soaking his leather boots. He looked down in surprise as it sounded like a torrential downpour of seawater outside the front door.

Robert looked at the Fire Warrior as though really seeing the real world for the first time in years.

“What have you done?” he croaked, seconds before the island dropped out from beneath their feet.

Xander’s hand shook as he reached for the remote. On the screen, the announcer reported on an uncontrollable wildfire that had already burned more than a million and a half acres of the Chinese countryside. Firefighters had been unable to get a handle on the blaze and had requested international support. He muted the television and turned slowly toward Sean.

“You’re saying this is happening everywhere?”

Sean pointed at the world map he pulled up on his laptop. “Volcanoes have erupted in Hawaii, Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia. There’s a massive hurricane over Iceland. Earthquakes are shaking every continent. Wildfires are burning through China, Russia, and a good part of California.” He turned back solemnly toward his best friend. “I don’t know what you guys are doing but it seems like the planet’s trying to rip itself apart.”

Xander rested his elbows on his knees and pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew there had been earthquakes after Bart died but he hadn’t paused to think about the type of destruction that had spread across the globe. All because of one death, he had to remind himself.

“Is this going to keep happening?” Sean asked. “Is there more of this coming?”

“Not if I can help it,” Xander replied, though he was sure he lacked the bravado of his words.

“We have to let the other Wind Warriors know,” Sammy said, her eyes still glued to the television. “They have to know what’s happening.”

Xander scoffed. “They don’t care. They take trips to the mainland to resupply all the time. They had to have heard by now.”

He stood up quickly from the couch. The other two turned their attention to him.

“Are you going somewhere?” Sammy asked. “You know you can’t go outside, right? Not right now, at least.”

Xander nodded. “I’m not. I’m just having trouble sitting right here and watching TV. I just need a break. I’m… I’m going to go check on Jessica. Make sure she’s okay.”

He didn’t turn around, which saved him from seeing Sammy’s disapproving look. Even without seeing it, he was more than capable of imagining her stern glare. As he passed Sean, he swore his best friend wore a similarly disapproving frown.

Beyond the large common room, most of the sorority was dark. The lights were off so as not to draw too much attention from any passing Fire Warriors. Plus, the lights were unnecessary. The girls were all gone, long since fled back to their respective homes. They thought getting out of White Halls was the best decision; that somehow the violence and destruction was isolated to a single Tennessee town.

At the end of the hall, he could see a glow coming from underneath one of the closed doors. He knew the room and could have found it even without the lights on. With a smile, he realized that most of the times he had been to Jessica’s room, the lights had been off. It was against the rules for a guy to spend the night in a sorority, even for the order’s president. He knew how to navigate this hallway in the dark for the same reason he knew that the hinges on the screen door leading out of the kitchen only squeaked if you opened the door more than halfway.

Xander paused before the door and knocked gently. He turned the handle and walked in before Jessica had a chance to respond.

“Just come on in,” Jessica said with a frown.

She sat on her bed with her legs dangling over the side. She wasn’t facing Xander when he came in but he had no doubt she knew whom it was. To his surprise, she didn’t look angry. She just looked defeated.

“Can I talk to you?” he asked.

“I’d prefer you didn’t but I don’t think what I say is really going to make a difference.”

Xander took a seat in the wooden chair in front of her computer desk. There was a thick cushion on the bottom of the chair and he sank into memory foam as he got comfortable.

He knew what he wanted to say to her but it seemed abnormally hard to start the conversation. Jessica looked up from where she had been staring at her hands and arched her eyebrows with impatience.

“Why did you come back here, Xander?” she asked softly.

Xander shrugged, not entirely sure he knew the answer anymore. “I just… I wanted to tell you… God, I don’t know.”

“You wanted to tell me what?”

He sighed and looked into her blue eyes. It didn’t take a mind reader to see the pain behind them. “I wanted to tell you I’m sorry. You aren’t a bad person but I sure treated you that way. You didn’t deserve what I said and you sure didn’t deserve the way it ended.”

Jessica quietly reached up and wiped away a threatening tear from the corner of her eye. She laughed softly to herself.

“I’m not mad at you for breaking up with me.” She threw her head back and laughed a little louder at the audacity of her last statement. “No, that’s not true. I was mad at you for breaking up with me. I was pissed at you. I’m not saying I’m perfect, because I know I’m not. But I’m a lot better than the way you made me feel.”

Xander looked down at his hands and fidgeted in the seat.

When Jessica spoke again, her voice was much softer and her words thick with emotion. “But you know why I was really mad at you? Because you dumped me for someone that looks just like me. You basically dated me for a few years, and then dumped me for a prettier version of me. That really sucks, Xander.”

He reached behind him and retrieved a tissue from the desk. As he handed it to Jessica, she used it to completely cover her face.

“She’s not a prettier version of you,” Xander said as he placed his hand on her leg.

Jessica looked over the top of her tissue. “So you don’t think she’s prettier than me?”

“That’s not what…” Xander stammered. A thousand wrong answers all flooded through his mind at the same time. “There’s no possible way to answer this that doesn’t get me into trouble, is there?”

Jessica smiled through her tears. “No, Xander, there really isn’t.”

Xander felt a bright flush spread through his cheeks. He had never been so relieved to have a woman let him off the hook.

He took a deep breath and tried to explain. “I didn’t break up with you because some cute new thing walked past me. It’s complicated. We’re, well, we’re kind of destined for one another.”

Jessica furrowed her brow. “Like an arranged marriage?”

Xander laughed. “God, I wish it were that simple. No, I mean actually destined for one another. Like, hand of God stuff.”

Jessica wadded up her tissue and tossed it into the wastebasket beside her bed. She ran fingers beneath her eyes, removing the smudges of mascara that had smeared when she was crying. With a quick cough, she cleared her throat. Aside from the redness in her eyes and the slight puffiness around them, she looked like her old self again.

“Life was so much simpler when you were just a slacker without a future. This whole superhero thing doesn’t suit you.”

Xander smiled, glad to see his old ex-girlfriend back again. “You’re preaching to the choir.”

He stood up and extended his hand to her. “You want to go back and join the others?”

Jessica bit her bottom lip as she stood. “Do I get to spray your new girlfriend with the fire extinguisher?”

Xander laughed and put his arm around her shoulder. “I’d really prefer you didn’t. She knows where I live.”

They stepped toward the door, feeling like old friends finally reunited. As they reached the doorway, the ground beneath their feet lurched. Xander’s arm slipped from Jessica’s shoulder as she dropped to the floor for support. He stumbled forward into the doorframe as the ground beneath him rattled like it was a rodeo bull trying to toss him off.

“What’s happening?” Jessica yelled.

Xander tried to stay upright but found it harder and harder to do. He dropped to his knees and pulled Jessica into the relative safety of the doorway.

“It’s an earthquake…” he said, but his voice trailed off at the implications. He’d experienced a violent earthquake once before but that had only come after Bart died.

The shaking stopped as abruptly as it began. Xander climbed quickly to his feet and ran down the hall, leaving Jessica behind. As he rounded the entry into the common room, he saw Sean and Sammy lying on the floor with their hands protectively over their heads.

“Is everyone okay?” he asked breathlessly.

They both looked up from their spots and slowly stood.

“I think we’re good,” Sean said as he dusted himself off.

“Xander,” Sammy said nervously.

“I know,” he replied. “I know what it means.”

“What does it mean?” Sean interjected.

“We don’t know that for sure,” Sammy said, trying to put his mind at ease. She grabbed both their backpacks and crammed the few items they had taken out back into the bags. “It could just be an after-effect of everything that’s happening across the world. We don’t know if it happened.

“If what happened?” Jessica asked as she walked up behind Xander.

Before he could reply, the first aftershock struck White Halls. The aftershock seemed far more violent than the original earthquake. The television tumbled from its stand and shattered on the floor. Glassware in the kitchen fell from the cupboards and smashed on the counters and on the ground.

A thunderous crack erupted in the room. The drywall along the front of the house split. The seam raced up the wall and across the ceiling, tracing its way to the wall beside where Xander and Jessica stood. Dust poured from the new crack, filling the room with white powder and choking the oxygen out of the room.

The group coughed as they tried to crawl out. In the hallway, the air was clearer, but they still clung to the sides of the hallway for safety.

The aftershock rattled the house for minutes before petering away to a gentle rocking. A few seconds later, the world settled back into relative silence.

“What was that?” Sean blurted. “You guys clearly know something we don’t.”

Xander leapt to his feet only slightly quicker than Sammy. “We need to get back to the island.”

“Where are you going?” Jessica called after them as the two raced toward the front door.

Xander threw open the door and looked out on a seemingly sea of rubble nearby. At least three of the sorority and fraternity houses on the Greek Row had collapsed entirely. Xander counted them lucky that the Tri Delta house had withstood the shaking.

“I need to fly now,” Xander explained as he slipped his arm around Sammy’s waist. “I don’t care if they can sense me.”

“Do what you need to do,” she replied, her lips shaking as she said the words.

Xander kicked off the ground and launched quickly into the air, leaving Sean and Jessica standing confusedly in the doorway. As he leveled off high above the sorority house, a boom rocked the sky as he reached supersonic speeds.

Night had retreated and the sun was cresting the horizon by the time Xander and Sammy flew out over the ocean. The waterspout was gone. In fact, the ocean was smooth and calm, stretching to the horizon. The only thing breaking the flat Gulf of Mexico was the Wind Warrior island, canted and resting half-submerged in the water.

The island was in disarray. As Xander and Sammy flew toward it, they could see a few red roofs cresting the lapping waters. Other buildings were barely visible as dark shadows just beneath the surface of the ocean.

The buildings that were still above water were shattered from the impact. Narrow walls were still standing in silhouettes of the buildings they had once been. The roofs and interior walls were crushed into bricks of rubble, resting within the broken frameworks.

Xander landed in a run, dropping his bag as he went, and not bothering to look behind him to see if Sammy was still following. He ran past a couple of houses that still smoldered. Their exteriors were charred, the marble blackened from heat and smoke. There wasn’t any doubt in Xander’s mind what had happened to the Wind Warriors.

“Grandpa,” Xander yelled as he cupped his hands around his mouth. “Giovanni. Alicia. Anyone.”

His screams were met with silence. He had felt the earthquake shaking White Halls, which meant a Wind Warrior had died. Clutching a half wall for support, Xander raised his hand to his mouth and bit back a wave of panic. Sammy caught up to him as he caught his breath. Slipping her arm around him, she laid her head on his shoulder. She saw the scorched marks on the houses around them as well and knew it had been her people that attacked.

“He can’t be dead,” Xander muttered.

“I don’t think your grandfather is,” she answered.

He stood and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “He was already so weak. If they attacked, how could he possibly have walked away from this?”

Sammy didn’t have an answer for him, so she leaned closer and squeezed his arm. Xander pushed away from the wall and looked uphill. The way the island came to rest in the water left the far end a couple dozen feet higher than where they landed. The climb would be difficult, especially since they had to maneuver around the rubble that lined the street. Even the cobblestones were now slick with sea spray, leaving them slippery to climb. Cobblestones were meant for walking on even ground. They became awkward for climbing.

He thought about just flying but didn’t want to risk being too visible as they inspected the island. The Fire Warriors had clearly been there. There was no way to know if they were still around, lying in wait to ambush Xander now that he’d returned.

They didn’t have far to climb. Xander had no intention of checking the far end of the island. His only concern was the ruined central dome and the home nearby in which his grandfather had been recovering. The dome was visible from where he stood, though it was barely recognizable. The bell tower had vanished in a cloud of debris. The roof was collapsed. Large shards of broken stone jutted from its battered interior like spearheads. The central dome had been a sturdy building but it hadn’t stood a chance in the island’s collapse. If the island’s main structure hadn’t withstood the impact, he wondered what chance there would be that the side houses had remained standing. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Xander began scaling the sloped road.

The rubble quickly proved to be a benefit during the climb. The marble slabs were heavy enough that they wouldn’t shift as they used them for support. In between the debris, he strained to find purchase with his shoes on the slick cobblestone.

As they climbed past a ruined building, Xander caught sight of a pale hand jutting from beneath a crumbled wall. His stomach danced in his gut at the sight. He hurried over and tried to lift the stones but they were too heavy for one person alone. Sammy materialized beside him and wordlessly took her place on the far side of the stone. Together, they lifted. Their muscles strained from the weight and Xander gritted his teeth as he lifted.

With a final grunt, they lifted the stone and slid it aside. Beneath the marble debris, the body was barely recognizable as human. Most of the bones had been shattered by the impact. Xander had to look away in disgust. A few important details remained seared into his mind, though. The man—if, in fact, it had been a man—had been clad in dark leather armor and what remained of his head was framed in a halo of pale blonde hair. Despite his queasiness at the sight of the crushed corpse, he smiled slightly to himself. The body had been a Fire Warrior. It hadn’t been a member of his family.

A sob from the far side of the body drew his attention. He turned and found Sammy crouched beside the body, tears streaming down her face. It was easy for Xander to forget that she was a Fire Warrior first, that she had grown up with the people that were trying to kill him.

“Did you know him?” he asked, though he doubted she would have been able to recognize the warrior as the man he had once been.

Sammy shook her head and wiped her eyes. “No. It’s just… I may have betrayed them but these are still my people. It’s hard to see this. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry,” he said as he walked to her side.

He pulled her into a hug and let her hide her face in his chest. Looking over her head, Xander cringed at the sight. Beyond the ruined house, there were a dozen other Fire Warrior corpses in various stages of ruination. He wasn’t sure how many had died as a result of conflicts with the Wind Warriors and how many had just died from the fall. Either way, he wasn’t eager for Sammy to see that sight.

“Come on,” he said, guiding her gently away from the scene of death behind her. “Let’s go find the others.”

He cast one last glance over his shoulder, catching the gaze of a Fire Caste body who stared at him accusingly, even in death.

They climbed past a few more ruined houses before the streets all converged into what had once been the center of the island. The damage to the central dome seemed far worse up close than what it had been from a distance. Xander cringed as he saw that the entire wall around the front entrance had shattered into little more than a mound of sharpened marble shards.

“We need to find my grandpa,” Xander said as he took her hand.

He paused as they skirted the side of the dome. It had been easy to locate the buildings on the island when it had been held aloft and all the buildings had been whole. Now, everything looked the same. It was impossible to tell where one ruined building ended and another began. He wanted to yell again for his aunts and uncles but was more hesitant after seeing all the Fire Warriors strewn about. There was no way to know if some survived.

“Which way?” Sammy asked, echoing Xander’s concerns.

He looked both directions and chewed on his lip. He shook his head before pointing randomly toward the right of the dome. They stepped off hesitantly. Xander wished he could keep the wind swirling around his legs in preparation. Despite not having his powers for long, he felt naked without the wind summoned in defense. He also couldn’t forget the lesson he just learned in White Halls. The Fire Caste could sense their power the same way the Wind Warriors could sense the flames.

Xander climbed up a sloped marble slab that blocked the way ahead. It rested against a crumbling wall, leaving the far end hanging nearly six feet over the cracked roadway. As Xander reached the crest, he finally had a better view of the area around the dome. He saw what he expected to see—nothing remained standing.

As he scanned the area, his breath caught in his throat when he saw someone moving amongst the rubble of the central dome. It was hard to see the person as they emerged and disappeared quickly behind more jutting shards of stone. Xander looked over his shoulder and waved for Sammy to join him. She crawled up to the top in time to see the figure emerging once again from the pile of stones.

The man’s dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Dirt coated his face and chest, which was exposed since his tunic had long ago been removed.

Xander leapt to his feet and jumped from the edge of the slab. His feet never touched the ground as he flew toward the figure.

“Giovanni,” he yelled as he landed directly in front of the weary and worn Italian.

Giovanni’s face lit up at the sight of the young Wind Warrior. The Italian wrapped his arms around Xander and buried him in an emotional hug.

“Oh, silly boy, I’m so glad you’re okay,” he muttered.

As they pulled apart, Xander’s furrowed his brow suddenly in concern. “What happened? We saw some dead Fire Warriors. How did they find us?”

Giovanni shook his head. “I don’t know. They showed up in the middle of the night. They were on top of us before we even knew what was happening.”

Xander grabbed the Italian’s arm and squeezed tightly. “When we were in White Halls, we felt the earthquake.”

He left the question hanging but he could read the sadness in Giovanni’s eyes.

“Is everyone okay?” Xander finally asked.

Giovanni shook his head. He tried to explain but Xander could see him choking with emotion.

“Please tell me,” Xander said quietly. He heard Sammy approaching from behind but he didn’t turn. He needed to know the truth first. “Please tell me my grandpa is still alive.”

“He lives,” Giovanni replied with a sad smile. “I was with him when the island fell and was able to fly him to safety.”

“Then who?” Xander frowned. “It was Robert, wasn’t it?”

He cursed himself for not seeing it sooner. Robert had controlled both the waterspout and kept the island aloft. With both gone, he should have been able to guess right away.

“I’m so sorry,” Sammy added, stepping beside Xander.

“He was too weak to fight back when he was attacked,” Giovanni explained. “He couldn’t even fly away after he lost his concentration and the island fell. He’s…” the Italian had to pause as he looked around him at the rubble. “He was still in the dome when it collapsed. I’ve been trying to find him so he could get a proper burial.”

“Where’s my grandpa?”

Giovanni motioned to the far side of the rubble. Before Xander could fly in that direction, he felt Giovanni’s hand close over his arm.

“You need to know something, Xander. Your grandfather was already weak from his fight with the Fire Warrior general. Alicia told you before that he shouldn’t have been moved but I didn’t have a choice when everything was falling apart. He’s in bad shape. I don’t know if I helped or hurt him even more by flying him out of his house. I don’t know how much longer he has. Go to him.”

Xander turned to Sammy to explain but she didn’t need one. “Go. I’ll catch up.”

Xander launched into the air and soared over the rubble. From the air, it was easy to see the other aunts and uncles stretched out on a churned stretch of grass and mud. Between them, his grandfather lay prone on a blanket.

He touched down in the middle of the ground, landing directly beside his grandfather. The elder man’s eyes were closed but they opened slowly as Xander knelt at his side.

“You look terrible,” his grandfather croaked, staring at the streaks of tears that cut through the smudges of dirt on his face.

Xander laughed lightly. “You still look like a million bucks, Grandpa.”

“Xander,” his grandfather said seriously. “We have too much to talk about and I don’t have nearly enough time to go through it all with you.”

“Are you kidding?” Xander joked, not ready to admit how serious the situation was. He wouldn’t have guessed it possible before his return to the island but his grandfather looked thinner and weaker than he had been. His burns looked infected and they oozed through the bandages wrapped tightly around his body. “You’ll outlive us all.”

“Enough of your crap, kid. I’m dying. And before I go, there’s something you need to know.”

“You’re special, Xander,” his grandfather began, after he had taken a sip of water. “I don’t mean the window-licker kind of special either. I’m sure you’ve noticed that you tap into a power that most of us can’t. And you’re young, way younger than all of us.”

“I know,” Xander replied, “but I don’t know what it means.”

His grandfather coughed painfully. “It means you were chosen. I can’t think it’s just some coincidence that you come along when the Fire Caste is ready to burn the planet.”

Xander shook his head. He didn’t want to contradict his grandfather but he didn’t believe he was destined to stop the Fire Warriors. “I don’t know, Grandpa. I don’t exactly have a great track record when going up against the Fire Warriors. I just don’t know if my power is enough.”

His grandfather looked at him sternly. “It’s not, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

The growl in his voice led to another coughing fit. Alicia stooped beside him and rolled him onto his side, letting the phlegm spill onto the edge of the blanket as he coughed. As the fit subsided, she rolled him gently onto his back once again. His grandfather took a deep breath and Xander could hear the rasp in the elder man’s lungs.

“He shouldn’t be straining himself right now,” Alicia said. “It could kill him.”

His grandfather reached up and pushed Alicia aside. “If I speak, I die in the next couple minutes. The alternative is, if I don’t talk, I die in the next hour. Three may be a bigger number than two, but both of them sound pretty crappy to me.”

Alicia nodded and stood, taking her place beside the other aunts and uncles. When he was satisfied she wasn’t going to interfere again, Xander’s grandfather turned back toward his young grandson.

“I respect your drive, boy. I like that you’re willing to fight back against the Fire Warriors. I even like that you’ve lit a fire under these other slackers. I guess that was a bad choice of words, huh?”

Xander laughed abruptly, surprised by his grandfather’s continued ability to be abrasive even when injured and dying.

“But you’re not strong enough on your own,” he continued. “You’re just not tough enough to stop the Fire Caste alone.”

“That’s exactly why we need you. You hold this group together.”

He had wanted to say that his grandfather was the rug that held the room together but he doubted his grandfather would get the pop-culture reference.

“We can’t do this without you,” Xander said. “We just don’t have enough of us left.”

“I’m not talking about me, boy,” the elder replied hastily.

He coughed again and Xander feared the man would be overcome with another fit. Every time his grandfather was overcome with a coughing fit, there was a greater chance he wouldn’t recover. They were fighting against the clock but Xander knew he couldn’t force his grandfather’s hand. Whatever he had to say, he would say in his own time.

The cough faded as quickly as it had come and his grandfather was able to continue shortly thereafter. “We’re tough but we’re too few. We can’t stop the Fire Warriors alone.”

“Who else is there?”

His grandfather smiled softly and Xander knew they had reached the crux of the conversation. “The Elemental.”

Xander shook his head and looked up for sympathy from his aunts and uncles. They seemed stunned, though he couldn’t tell how much of that was from his grandfather’s comment and how much was due to the violence of the situation they had just survived.

The elder man’s hand flashed up and slapped Xander across the cheek. “I’m dying. I’m not senile. Quit looking at them like I’ve lost my mind.”

“The Elemental is a myth, Grandpa,” Xander replied as he returned his gaze to the old man. “They’re not real.”

“And you know this how, oh wise boy who just finished going through puberty?”

Xander frowned but didn’t really have a response.

“Where do you think we came from?” his grandfather asked. “Or a better question would be—where do you think the Fire Caste came from? You think it was some strange mutation that just happened to occur right in line with a prophecy that’s existed for generations? You think it started with one guy who could start a fire, who had a kid who could start a fire, who had a couple kids who could start a fire, and so on and so on?”

Xander hadn’t really considered where their enemies had originated. He had fairly willingly accepted that they just were.

“Our powers came from somewhere. It wasn’t just chance. It didn’t just happen by accident. Someone made us Wind Warriors just as much as something made the first of the Fire Warriors. They may have grown because they had kids, just like we did—just like how you got here—but they started with a big group of Fire Warrior clans all around the world.”

“Then where are they?” Xander replied angrily. “Where is the Wind Elemental, if it really exists? And why have we been fighting and dying while it did nothing to help?”

“She. I always thought of the Elemental as a she.”

Xander clenched his fist in frustration. He knew his grandfather wasn’t senile. Whenever he gave a nonsensical response like he just had, he was trying to diffuse Xander’s rashness.

“She’ll help you, Xander, if you let her,” his grandfather continued when he saw Xander relaxing again. “You just have to find her.”

“Where? No one’s seen her in generations. That’s why she’s a myth now. If no one’s seen her, how am I supposed to find her?”

His grandfather sighed sadly. “If I knew, I would have found her years ago.”

Sammy rested her hand on Xander’s shoulder and he was glad to feel her warmth coursing through his shirt and soaking into his sweaty skin. Her presence also gave rise to another concern.

“If we have an Elemental, doesn’t that mean that they do too? Even if I find the Wind Elemental, wouldn’t I still have to contend with a Fire Elemental?”

“You’re putting the cart before the horse, boy,” his grandfather laughed. “A second ago you didn’t even believe in the Elemental. Now you’re thinking about what you’re going to do after you find her. Maybe you should start looking for her first.”

Xander wanted to push for more information but his grandfather was consumed by coughs. He was able to roll onto his side by himself this time but Xander saw the splash of bright red blood fly with the spittle from his lips.

“Grandpa,” he said, rubbing his grandfather’s back. He doubted it did anything helpful but he couldn’t think of anything else. He hated the feeling of helplessness.

“I’m okay,” he croaked as he wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

Xander looked to the others and saw their shared concern. They were all helpless as they watched an amazing man waste away before their eyes.

“Help me roll onto my back,” his grandfather asked.

“I think it’s better if you stay on your side, in case you start choking again.”

“I didn’t ask what you think, Xander. It won’t matter now how I’m facing. I’d rather look up at the sky when I go. Now roll me over.”

Begrudgingly, he rolled his grandfather onto his back. Xander wiped away the tears in his eyes as he clutched the old man’s hand tightly.

“Find the Elemental,” his grandfather said quietly, his voice barely over a whisper. “Promise me you’ll find her. She’ll know what to do.”

“I will,” Xander cried. “Anything you want. Just don’t die. You’re all I have left.”

“I don’t have much of a say in that. Not anymore.”

His grandfather gestured for him to lean closer so that he could be heard.

“Be safe, boy. There are plenty of people that are going to try to stop you. Don’t ever give up. You’re the last chance the planet has to survive.”

“I won’t,” he sobbed.

“I love you, boy.” His grandfather’s words were accompanied by a quiet sigh. The old man’s hand went limp in Xander’s and the younger man had to clutch it tightly to keep it from slipping to the ground.

The ocean around them boiled angrily and seawater sloshed onto the canted island. Dark clouds gathered overhead with flashes of lightning dancing across the sky.

Xander didn’t bother looking up when his aunts and uncles cried in surprise. A towering wave slammed into the higher end of the upturned island and a deluge of water coursed through the cobblestone streets and poured like waterfalls over the fallen blocks of stone. The young Wind Warrior cradled his grandfather’s head to keep it out of the draining water. He ignored the frigid water that soaked through his thin pants. He rocked the elder man’s body as he cried, his sobs lost in the crashing of thunder.

The planet seemed to cry out in pain at the loss of the oldest of the Wind Caste.

They buried his grandfather in a grave covered in marble stones. He was buried alone, since the cairns for Bart and his parents had been swallowed by the ocean.

Xander had cried as he carried his grandfather’s body to its new resting place, but by the end of the haphazard funeral service, he had run out of tears. His sadness was replaced with anger and thoughts of revenge. The words of his grandfather—telling him to fight the Fire Caste for the benefit of mankind instead of personal vendettas—were pushed to the back of his mind.

“What will you do?” Thea asked in a surprisingly compassionate tone. “Will you find the Wind Elemental?”

Xander sorted through the rubble that had once been his house and scavenged what clothes and personal belongings he could retrieve. He shoved them unceremoniously into his backpack until it was straining against its zippers.

“Eventually, but I have something to do first.”

“You can’t hold this anger in your heart,” Giovanni offered. “Your grandfather would have told you the same thing, if he were here.”

Xander threw his bag onto the ground and turned sharply toward his aunts and uncles. “But he’s not here, is he? No, he’s dead. Just like my parents. Just like Bart and Robert.” He threw his arms up in disgust. “Open your eyes for once. You’re going to give me some Yoda crap about how I should be a better man than the Fire Warriors but guess what? I’m not. I’m not better than they are. They want us dead because we’re standing in their way. Well, if they want me, I’m going to oblige them. I’m going to find them and I’m going to kill every one of them.”

“Xander,” Sammy said softly, stepping to his side.

“Don’t,” he said, brushing her outstretched hands aside. “Just don’t right now, okay?”

Sammy bit her bottom lip. “Don’t push me away, please. You can’t just go rushing off, hunting down Fire Warriors.”

Xander laughed hysterically. “No, of course I can’t. I forgot that you wouldn’t want me to harm any of your kind.”

“My kind?” Sammy replied angrily. “I’m here with you, aren’t I? Not with them. God, you’re starting to sound like Patrick.”

The Irishman shrugged but refused to leave, despite Alicia’s urging that they all give the young lovers some time alone.

“Maybe he’s not all wrong,” Xander retorted, though he immediately regretted his comment as soon as the words left his mouth. He didn’t really believe that. He was intentionally being hurtful and he knew it.

Sammy nodded but he could see the tears glistening in her eyes. She stoically raised her chin and refused to let them fall. “Fine. You want me to leave? Is that what you want?”

Xander shook his head. “No, I don’t. I don’t know what I want right now.”

“Think about it, Xander,” she continued. “Remember the monster that I saw behind my… in the Fire Caste’s cavern? What if it’s the Fire Elemental? Have you considered that it could be pulling all the strings? The Fire Warriors aren’t evil. Even your grandfather knew that. If it is the Fire Elemental, then it’s guiding their actions. They don’t deserve to die.”

“I hate to break the news to you, lass,” Patrick interrupted, “but neither do we. If they are being controlled by the Fire Elemental, then we’re doing them a favor by putting them down like dogs.”

“Especially Lord Balor,” Thea added.

“You can’t,” Sammy responded vehemently. She stopped as she saw the odd looks at her sudden outburst.

“Behind your what?” Xander asked skeptically.

“What?” she asked.

“You said, ‘behind my’ and then you stopped yourself. Behind your what?”

Xander stared at her reaction. He had been willing to accept her concern for the Fire Warrior’s safety when they were in White Halls. He knew that despite her betrayal, she still had a deep connection to the people with whom she had grown up. Her reaction, especially to the mention of Lord Balor, seemed beyond the normal level of concern. It could be a form of brainwashing, he presumed. Spend enough time among evil people and you stop seeing the evil they do.

Sammy looked away nervously. It was confirmation enough to Xander that she was hiding something.

“Sammy?” Giovanni asked.

“Behind your what?” Xander repeated.

“Behind my… my… my clan’s castle,” she stammered.

“She’s lying,” Patrick said.

“Shut up, Patrick,” Xander demanded of the Irishman, though his eyes never left his girlfriend. “He may be a jerk but he’s also right. Tell me the truth. Why are you so opposed to us going after Lord Balor and the rest of the Fire Warriors?”

She muttered something inaudible as the first tear fell from her eyes.

“What did she say?” Patrick asked callously.

“Shut up, Patrick,” Xander ordered.

“Because he’s my father,” Sammy yelled as she turned sharply toward the aunts and uncles. “And it was ‘behind my father’s throne’.”

She turned much slower toward Xander. He tried to think of what to say in response but couldn’t find the words. They’d been struggling to survive against Lord Balor and his assassins and this entire time he’d been not only living with, but also dating, his mortal enemy’s daughter.

“Please say something,” Sammy said weakly.

Xander grinded his teeth in anger and frustration but said nothing.

“Xander?” she asked.

“Lord Balor ordered the deaths of my parents and my grandfather. He sent his men after us and killed Bart and Robert. They would have killed all of us—myself included—if they had the chance. And you somehow didn’t think it was necessary to tell me that you were his daughter?”

“I…” she began but he quickly turned his back on her.

“Don’t. Don’t waste my time with any explanation. I don’t want to hear it.”

He heard her sob loudly but her cry couldn’t pierce the coldness that wrapped its icy fingers around his heart.

“I want you to go,” Xander said, his voice quivering with anger.

“Go where?” she asked.

“Off the island. Back to the mainland. To the middle of the ocean. I don’t care. I want you out of my sight.”

“Xander, please.”

He spun quickly toward her and steeled himself against her tear-streaked expression. She hadn’t bothered to wipe away the tears running down her cheeks. She had crossed her arms over her chest and rubbed her shoulders nervously.

“Please,” she sobbed quietly.

“Sammy,” he said softly.

“Yes?” she asked hopefully.

His frown deepened. “I want you out of my sight and off my island.”

She cried louder as Alicia stepped to her side. The older Wind Warrior wrapped her arms across Sammy’s shoulders and led her out of the ruined wall of the house.

“I’ll take her,” Alicia said over her shoulder. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Xander turned his back dismissively, not bothering to say goodbye to either of them.

They flew in relative silence. The quiet was broken on occasion by Sammy’s emotional outbursts but she quickly regained her composure. Alicia looked over sympathetically toward the younger woman. Despite her equal feeling of betrayal, the Wind Warrior hated to see Sammy looking so devastated. If nothing else, it confirmed that she had genuine feelings for Xander.

“Give him time, dear,” Alicia offered as they approached the mainland.

Sammy raised her head and looked at the approaching river delta. Beyond the triangular shape of wetlands, she could see marshy and swampy trees hanging from the shoreline. Thick mosses climbed the tree trunks before dangling limply from the twisted branches.

“I don’t think so,” Sammy replied. “I don’t think he’s going to be willing to forgive and forget. I lied to him.”

Alicia shrugged. “You didn’t technically lie to him. You just weren’t completely honest. He’ll realize that eventually.”

“This was just so stupid,” Sammy sighed. “I wanted to tell him the truth so many times. Somehow, there was always something else that got in the way. Or I just chickened out.”

“I like you, dearest. I have since the beginning. But the secret you kept was a pretty big one. Your father is in charge of all the people that have been hunting us to extinction.”

“But I’m not my father,” Sammy pleaded.

“I know. We never are.”

Sammy looked away from the shoreline and tried to glance over her shoulder. They’d traveled quite a ways since leaving the island. Even if the waterspout was still in place, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to see it from the mainland. Without it, the island was invisible on the endless horizon of ocean. Actually seeing the island wasn’t her intent, however. She was looking behind her in hopes that Xander would know how sorry she was for the entire situation.

“He wasn’t always a bad man, you know?” Sammy said absently, as she turned back forward.

“Who, dear?”

“My father. He was a good man when I was growing up. He was considerate and supportive, like a father should be. I know Xander didn’t want to hear it but he changed when he started visiting the monster in the cavern. I really think it is the Fire Elemental. It changed him, made him angry and aggressive. All the things he’s done—including attacking all of you—that’s not him. That’s the influence of the Elemental.”

Alicia seemed pensive as they started descending toward the shore. “Just give him time. If you’re right, he’ll see the truth once he’s had time to calm down.”

They landed without any further conversation. Not far from where they touched down, Sammy could see an outcropping of a wooden pier jutting out over the water. A wooden structure stood behind it, though she couldn’t read the hand-painted sign that hung over the front of the building. Floating in the water tethered to the pier was a long motorboat that had seen better days.

“I have to get back,” Alicia said apologetically.

Sammy nodded toward the Wind Warrior. She leaned in suddenly and wrapped her arms around Alicia. The older woman was temporarily startled before she returned the hug. They separated as quickly as they had embraced without a word of explanation.

With a nod, Alicia kicked off from the ground and quickly disappeared into the distance.

Sammy stood in the soft mud and watched Alicia depart until she was little more than a dark speck against the bright blue sky. She sighed and turned away, ready to make the short walk to the building in the distance. Despite being grateful for Alicia flying her to the mainland, she didn’t actually know where she was. Her hope was that the wooden structure would have a phone at least so she could find somewhere to stay while she waited for Xander.

“Welcome back, fleshling,” a familiar voice hissed in her ear.

Sammy turned sharply, her mouth agape in fear. Hovering in their air, contrasted against the bright blue sky, was the dark yellow orb of an eye. It dominated the sky as it locked its slit of a pupil on her. She immediately felt sharp pain across her temples, culminating behind her eyes. Sammy cried out and her knees threatened to buckle.

“You’re not really here,” she moaned as she clutched the sides of her head.

A hand suddenly wrapped around her waist, pulling her upright. A second hand closed over her mouth as she attempted to scream. She could feel the waxy skin; its ridges and taut texture felt unnatural.

“It may not be,” General Abraxas hissed in her ear, “but I most certainly am. We’ve missed you, Sammy. It’s time to take you home.”

“I don’t know if you’re up there looking down on us but I could really use some advice right now.”

Xander hugged his knees as he looked over at the pile of marble stonework that made his grandfather’s makeshift burial plot. The slope of the island wasn’t so severe where he sat so he didn’t feel like he was going to slide off into the ocean, like he did in some areas of the dilapidated landmass. Reaching out, he ran his hand along the closest of the stones and searched for some connection with the man who was buried beneath.

“I’ve never been much on religion,” Xander continued as he withdrew his hand. “I don’t really know how much stock I put in the afterlife or heaven or whatever you want to call it. But if there is one, I hope you’re there and watching. Because if you could send me a sign, I’d really appreciate it right about now.”

Xander wiped his eyes and glanced hastily around his relatively flat stretch of land. He didn’t think the aunts and uncles would intrude on his private farewell but he didn’t want them seeing him so vulnerable. With everything weighing on his shoulders, the last thing he needed was for them to start doubting his ability to defeat the Fire Warriors.

“It’s all coming apart at the seams. You, Mom, and Dad are all dead. Just saying that is so hard, Grandpa. Of all of the members of our family, I’m the last one that should still be sitting here. I know that if you were here, you’d give me some line about having my whole life ahead of me but I wasn’t exactly doing a bang-up job with my life so far. I’m the last person that should be saving the world. Even Dad, no matter how much he pissed me off, was at least responsible. You guys somehow put the responsibility on the shoulders of the guy that was too busy playing video games to finish his philosophy paper just a couple months ago.

“With you gone now, there’s no one keeping this dysfunctional Wind Caste family together. Giovanni seems supportive and Alicia wouldn’t say a bad word even if she thought it. I’d be surprised, though, if Patrick and Thea were still here by the end of the day.

“I’m trying to hold onto sand. I’m clenching my fists as hard as I can to keep it all together but it’s not just the responsibilities of a Wind Warrior that are slipping away. I’m slipping away, too. This hole in my chest is getting bigger every day. At first, it was losing Sammy the first time, despite the fact that she tried to kill me. Then Mom and Dad—when they died it was like someone took a shovel to the sides of that hole and dug it as wide as the Grand Canyon.

“Then you, Grandpa. I don’t know if I ever really told you how I felt about you. It always seemed silly to tell your grandpa that you loved him but I really did. I thought I was going to shatter when you died. If losing my parents was like a shovel digging out the hole in my heart, losing you was like someone taking an axe and chopping to pieces whatever was left.”

Xander threw himself back and savored the cool, damp grass soaking through his shirt. A strong wind coursed through the labyrinth of remaining structures on the island and rolled over Xander as he lay prone.

“Now there’s Sammy again, like we’ve come full circle and every point on that circle was another layer of crap in my life. I sent her away. I don’t even know where; I couldn’t bring myself to ask Alicia when she got back. I should be happy about it, right? But I’m not. I know she’s the dynamite that’s going to blow apart everything I have left. But she was also my anchor and I just willingly cut the line and now I’m adrift in an ocean that just doesn’t make any sense anymore.”

A cloud passed between Xander and the sun, casting the island in a gratifying shadow. Covering his eyes, he looked up at the sky and noticed the dark edges to the cloud. In the distance, it was joined by more of its kind, filling the horizon with a brewing summer storm.

“If you’re up there, Grandpa,” he muttered as the cloud blew away and the sun beat down on him once again, “I could use a sign. Anything you can send my way would really help me out.”

The first raindrop struck Xander between the eyes. He blinked away the water as it rolled over his eye and down his cheek. By the time he was able to push himself into a seated position, the sky darkened as the fast-moving clouds blotted out the sun.

With a single crack of thunder, the clouds released their burden over the island. The rain came down in driving sheets, soaking Xander to the bone and leaving his tunic and pants stuck to his skin. Sputtering away the rivulet of water running over his mouth, he stood and looked over at the grave.

“Yup, it could always get worse,” he nodded to the stones. “Message received, Grandpa.”

With a sigh, he walked toward what remained of his house.

Xander stepped through the hole in the side of the building rather than using the wooden door, which miraculously was still standing. Like so many other homes on the island, flames had gutted his house. The table had burned to cinders. The legs, weakened by the fire, had given way and the whole debacle rested on the marbled floor.

He stepped over the wooden debris and paused beside a cabinet that had once rested against the far wall. It, like the table, had fallen in the fire and most of its hardwood split from the heat. Bending over, Xander fingered the delicate shards of glass that protruded from underneath the cabinet’s wreckage. He recognized the pattern on the glass. It had once been a delicate candleholder. Sammy had carried it in and a lit candle to him not so long ago when he was mourning the loss of his parents.

The stairs in the back of the house were in a state of disrepair. He doubted they’d hold his weight but that wasn’t really an issue. His feet left the ground with barely a thought and he floated up the stairs, hovering an inch or two above their surface as he moved.

The upstairs was in worse condition than the downstairs. That which hadn’t been destroyed by the fire had been ruined when the island crashed into the Gulf. The front of the house had nearly sheered cleanly from the rest of the building. His bedroom had a gaping hole where his far wall had once stood. Xander remembered there being a desk and chair against that wall once upon a time, but they must have been taken with the rest of the wall in the crash. The chair’s mate still clung to the edge of the room, teetering on the cusp of falling into the street below.

Luckily for him, the cant of the island allowed the rainwater to pour out of the house, rather than pool and flood what little of his home remained.

Xander turned to his left and smiled faintly. His bed was still intact and someone had retrieved the backpack he had brought back with him from White Halls. It was sitting on the edge of the bed, his only connection remaining with the real world.

It wasn’t optimal living conditions to be sure, but aside from now being a little drafty Xander was sure he would make it work. He supposed he could have searched the island for a house less decimated by the past day’s activities but it seemed like far too much of an effort.

Stepping to the edge of the bed, Xander sat his backpack upright and unzipped it. Sitting on the top of the bag was one of Sammy’s shirts. It had probably wound up there by mistake when they were grabbing their belongings from the sorority house. He didn’t have to lift it from the bag to smell Sammy’s perfume on the clothes. In fact, her scent seemed to seep from the interior of the bag, a constant reminder of the woman he loved and hated all at the same time.

He was getting ready to toss the bag aside when he felt an unexpected gust of wind. Turning toward the hole in the wall, he saw Patrick shake his red hair, spraying droplets of water into the room. The Irishman looked up apologetically when he saw Xander’s disapproving glare.

“It’s really coming down out there,” Patrick said.

“If you came here to gloat or to give me an I-told-you-so speech, just don’t. I… just don’t, okay?”

Patrick took a step into the room, dripping water onto the floor from his soaked clothes.

“I didn’t come this far through the pouring rain just to rub your face in everything that’s happened,” he replied solemnly.

Xander sighed. “Then why are you here?”

“I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry.” Before Xander could reply, Patrick shook his head. “Not about the girl. I stand by everything I said about her. I’m sorry about your grandfather. He was a really good man and I miss him already.”

“Thanks,” Xander replied flatly and turned back to his backpack.

“What are you going to do now?” the Irishman asked.

“I don’t know. I’m still trying to figure it all out.”

“You’re, uh, not planning on going after Sammy, are you? We all support you but we’re none too keen on bringing her back into the fold any time soon.”

Xander spun angrily on his heel. “Is that really why you stopped by? A halfhearted apology because my grandpa died and a crappy segue into explaining all my poor life decisions? Get out.”

Patrick raised his hands defensively before floating off the ground and drifting toward the hole in the wall.

“Just think about what I said,” the Irishman said as he prepared to emerge into the driving rain.

Xander threw Sammy’s shirt at him, though it fell well short of its intended target.

He growled in rage before turning back to his backpack full of unpacked clothes and Sammy’s lingering scent.

The car skidded to a stop and Sammy was thrown painfully against the back half of the trunk. She groaned as she tried to brace herself but the car quickly accelerated again, causing her to roll uncontrollably once more.

She grabbed a hold of one of the trunk’s interior pockets for support but she knew it was meager at best. The driver was careening from side to side on the road and it was hard for her to keep her grip.

Her hands weren’t tied but that wasn’t very surprising to her. Keeping her hands tied was at best a stopgap measure, since she could easily burn through most materials they’d use to keep her restrained. Being in the trunk, however, meant that she wouldn’t be prone to use her fire abilities. Setting fire to the trunk would do nothing to help her get free and would be far more likely to result in her burning to death before she managed a way to escape.

Sammy’s stomach was in knots and not only because of the erratic swerving of the car. Without smelling the burned flesh close to her body, she had known the evil hiss of General Abraxas the second he had placed his hand over her mouth. Panic had caused her to hesitate and the General had quickly burned away the oxygen around her nose and mouth, causing her to pass out in mere seconds. She was now the captive of one of the most ruthless men she had ever met; a man she was certain she had killed just a few days before.

More than just the General, however, she had also seen the eye once again. She had no doubt that the eye belonged to the Fire Elemental. The thought of being dragged before that monster once again left her terrified.

A quick turn pulled her from her revelry and threw her awkwardly against the side of the trunk. The rough gravel road they had been on became suddenly smoother and the cloud of dust that had been seeping through the edges of the trunk dissipated as fresh air flooded in. Sammy was grateful for both changes, though it only meant they were committed to the long drive to California.

She tried to remain calm but every time she stopped thinking about being taken before the Fire Elemental, she thought about Xander and his obvious anger toward her. Both situations left her heart aching and she had to stop and wipe her eyes, smearing the dust that had settled on her skin.

The car lurched again and she heard the squeal of brakes just before being slammed further into the trunk. The car slid to a halt and she groaned, both from the pain and because she heard the driver’s side door opening. Footsteps crunched on the gravel parking lot where they had stopped as they approached the trunk.

Sammy steeled her nerves, ready to set fire to whomever opened that latch. The trunk popped open quickly and bright sunlight flooded into the dark interior. Sammy had to squint until a long silhouette stepped in front of the glaring sun.

“Don’t try to be a hero,” Abraxas demanded as he roughly grabbed a hold of Sammy’s wrist. With a sturdy tug, he pulled her unceremoniously from the car and let her fall roughly onto the large-stone gravel.

She could have set the General aflame as she struggled to right herself but a look at what remained of his face left her cowering in his presence. The flames from their last encounter had melted his skin like wax, leaving it runny and coalesced in abnormal spots on his face. His nose was barely recognizable, save for the two lizard-like slits of his nostrils. One eye was closed, though she couldn’t tell if the eye was missing or merely covered by the pooled flesh. Part of his mouth was sealed from where his lips had fused together. He was barely recognizable as the barbaric man he had once been, aside from the pointed teeth and tattoos that were still present on parts of his shaven scalp.

“What?” he hissed. “Are you not happy to see me?”

Sammy clenched her teeth. “I liked the look of you a lot better last time, when you were on fire and running through the woods screaming like a girl.”

She spat in his face and caught a backhand across her chin for her efforts. Her head rocked back and she fell against the car. She refused to give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream or cry, so she quickly locked eyes with Abraxas. Sammy slowly opened and closed her mouth, flexing her jaw to make sure it wasn’t broken.

“Try it again, little girl,” General Abraxas threatened, “and you’ll find setting me on fire a much harder task.”

Sammy looked at the Fire Warrior and noticed that his attire looked quite a bit different as well. His cloak was gone, which had ignited so well for Sammy before. His leather armor was sturdy and stained with a shiny substance she didn’t recognize, though she could easily deduce that it was a flame retardant. She knew she could always burn his skin but probably not before he did the same to her. Something told her that General Abraxas was probably more willing to be set on fire than she was. She sighed an exasperated sigh.

“I see you’ve realized the futility of your situation,” Abraxas said with a wicked smile. “Now get in the passenger’s seat. We have a long trip ahead of us.”

Sammy narrowed her eyes at the man as she weighed her options once more.

“Unless you’d like to ride the entire way to California in the trunk of the car,” the General added.

A quick glance around her told Sammy she was probably still in Louisiana. It would be an insanely long way to ride in the trunk.

Begrudgingly, she walked around the car and sat in the front passenger’s seat. When she looked behind her, she noticed two other Fire Warriors sitting in the back seat of the sedan. Her chances of escape dwindled as she realized defeating three Fire Warriors and surviving would be nearly impossible.

General Abraxas slid comfortably behind the wheel and dropped the gearshift into drive. He stomped on the gas pedal and stones flew from underneath the tires as they sought purchase on the uneven ground. With a lurch, the car sped from the shoulder where they had stopped and accelerated down the highway.

Sammy glanced over at the speedometer and saw it creep above eighty miles per hour. The narrow highway was relatively straight but hardly catered to such a high speed. As the road gently curved, Abraxas overcompensated and caused the car to fishtail dangerously. At least now, she understood why her ride in the trunk had been so painful.

“I see you still haven’t learned how to drive,” she said sourly.

The General laughed. “I still find half the things humans do to be nonsensical but driving makes me happy. It makes my mission that much shorter. It’s just that everything in this contraption is just so touchy.”

The car jerked again and Sammy heard the rumble strip roaring under the passenger-side tires. Abraxas quickly pulled the car back into their lane.

“Go ahead and ask me,” the General demanded.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sammy replied curtly.

“Ask the question. I know you’re dying to know.”

Sammy remained silent and crossed her arms defensively over her chest.

“Ask it!” Abraxas yelled.

“Why aren’t you dead?” Sammy shot back.

The General laughed heartily. The sound of a gleeful Abraxas was frightening. “It’s not for lack of effort on your part, trust me. You really caught me by surprise. I give you credit; not many people get to do that to me. But my master has much greater plans for me. I knew he wouldn’t let me die in that horrible little town.”

Sammy shook her head. “I saw the island. There’s no way you would have survived its crash into the ocean.”

“You’re absolutely right, had I been stupid enough to be on the island when it fell. It didn’t take a genius to realize that they were using their powers to keep the island aloft. I led my warriors up the ropes until I could locate the most obvious location for the Wind Warrior controlling the island. I ordered my soldiers to retrieve the Wind Warrior and then I returned to the boat to watch the destruction. And the destruction was magnificent.”

“You just sent them to their deaths, knowing the island would crash into the ocean? You knew they’d die.”

“But I didn’t care. A king on the chessboard doesn’t care about the sacrifices a pawn has to make to ensure his safety.”

“You’re not a king; you’re like a cockroach. You just don’t know when to lie down and die,” Sammy huffed. “What’s stopping me from trying again? What’s stopping me from just setting you on fire right now and making this whole car crash into those trees? The world would be a better place without you in it.”

“You won’t do it and we both know it. You actually have something to live for. That little boy toy of yours has made you weak when you should have been one of the strongest among us. If you die now, you’ll never see him again.”

The mention of Xander caused a hot knife to settle in Sammy’s gut. She didn’t dare betray that they had a falling out, not to someone as maniacal as the General.

“Besides, you’re a smart girl. Killing me won’t make any difference. Even if I die, my master will still raze the world, cleansing it of the human stain. Someone else will take my place. Someone like your father,” he chided.

Her neck muscles tightened at the mention of her father, though she didn’t give Abraxas the satisfaction of seeing her squirm in discomfort.

“You’re going to sit there quietly,” he continued, “because you know the only chance of saving your boyfriend and everyone else you’ve met and care about on this wretched planet is to find a way to stop my master.”

Sammy frowned and turned her head away from General Abraxas. She stared out the window at the blur of trees that flew by. In time, she knew they’d give way to the cacti in the American Southwest and eventually would end at a familiar rocky outcropping, concealing a murderous clan of Fire Warriors deep beneath the earth.

She knew Abraxas was right. She wouldn’t risk anything happening to Xander or the other Wind Warriors, regardless of how they felt about her and treated her. If there were going to be a way to stop the Fire Caste from destroying the planet, she would have to find a way to stop the Elemental. Thinking about the glowing draconic eye, however, made her cringe in fear.

She only hoped that when the time came, she’d be strong enough to fight back.

Xander stopped unpacking his meager backpack of belongings halfway through removing a wrinkled shirt. He ran the fabric between his fingers as he chewed on the inside of his lip. With a huff, he pulled the shirt free of the bag and threw it hard against the wall. He hoped his outburst would make him feel better but the fact that the shirt did little other than flutter harmlessly to the floor just angered him even further. He turned the backpack over and dumped its contents onto the bed before brushing the rest of the clothes and toiletries onto the floor.

“Is this a bad time?” Giovanni asked, swooping in and landing behind him.

“I really need to fix the hole in that wall,” Xander replied without turning around. He stood in a mound of his own clothes and belongings. “You’d be surprised the things that are fluttering through that gap.”

“I’ll assume that was a joke that I don’t understand,” the Italian said, making himself at home on the only chair that survived the Fire Warriors’ assault and the collapse of the island.

Xander reached down and picked up a handful of clothes, tossing them onto the unmade bed. With a sigh, he picked up the closest shirt and tried folding it. Folding laundry had never really been his forte and the shirt looked far worse folded than it had simply crumpled. With a growl, he threw it back down on the bed.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Giovanni asked from his seat.

“It or her?” Xander asked, cutting to the crux of the conversation.

“Either. Whatever’s on your mind.”

Xander stared at the clothes for the third time and realized what a wasted effort it was to take out his frustrations on the inanimate objects. He sighed and pushed the backpack out of the way, clearing a spot on the bed to sit down on.

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Xander began. “I’ve been killing myself, trying to find a reason to go on, and I just don’t know if I can anymore. He’s the one that wanted me to fight. If none of this had happened—if I hadn’t suddenly gained my powers—I’d still be a nobody living a nobody life in a nobody town.”

“Don’t you think he’d want you to keep fighting—to not give up hope just because he’s gone?”

“I don’t know, Giovanni. His last words were telling me to go find the Wind Elemental. He wants me to find this mythical being somewhere on a planet of seven billion people. ‘Needle in a haystack’ doesn’t even do it justice. It’s an impossible task.”

“But?” he asked, as though he knew there was more to Xander’s train of thought.

“But the Wind Elemental is the only hope of us stopping the Fire Caste. I don’t really have a choice in this, do I?”

“I think you answered your own question.” Giovanni leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Your grandfather was a good man and a wise one, too. He wouldn’t have told you to find the Wind Elemental if he didn’t think you capable of doing it.”

Xander sighed and looked over his shoulder toward the Italian. “I don’t think he knew me as well as he thinks he did. I’m not as strong as he thought I am.”

“You’re stronger than you think. I don’t know if I’d still be fighting if I had lost all that you had.”

Xander turned back and lost himself in the pile of halfheartedly folded clothes on the bed.

“Do you want to talk about her?” Giovanni asked.

“Do we need to?”

“I think you need to. When I said you had lost so much, she doesn’t have to be included in those numbers. Are you mad at her?”

“It’s complicated and it depends. I’m angry because she lied to me—to us—but I’m also feeling guilty for sending her away. But as soon as I realize I’m guilty, I feel angry about feeling guilty because she was the one that did something wrong, not me. Does that make sense or did I completely confuse you?”

Giovanni smiled. “You just sound like a man in love going through a lover’s spat.”

“That’s part of the problem,” Xander replied, throwing up his arms. “Do I really love her? I’ve been defending what she and I have this entire time but now I’m second-guessing myself. Was everything we had faked? I just feel like she was playing me the whole time.”

The Italian stroked the stubble on his chin. “What do you think? Do you think it was all a trick?”

“No,” Xander replied as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, I feel like what we had was real. I guess that’s why it hurt even worse that she betrayed us.”

“When we first met, I promised you I would give you advice on flying and women. I seem to spend far less time teaching you to fly.”

Xander smiled despite his growing headache. “So what would you recommend? That I just forgive and forget?”

“Do you really think she betrayed you?”

“Of course I do. She’s the daughter of the man trying to kill us all. That’s information that’s worth sharing. Why would she keep something like that secret?”

“Maybe because she knew this is exactly how you would respond?” Giovanni postulated.

“I hate psychoanalysis,” Xander replied flatly. “I hope you realize that.”

“I’m not defending what she did, but ask yourself if her keeping this secret was really as bad as you’re making it out to be.”

“Of course it is. She put us all in danger.”

“All of us,” Giovanni agreed, crossing his legs and leaning back in the seat thoughtfully. “Herself included. Think about it, Xander. If the Fire Caste hates us as bad as they do, how do you think they feel about one of their own that betrays them for the sake of loving one of their mortal enemies? Her life is in greater risk than any of ours. Don’t you think she knew that all along when she was keeping her secret? Don’t you think that ran through her mind every time she thought about telling you the truth?”

Xander frowned and crossed his arms across his chest. Everything Giovanni said chiseled away at his resolve.

“So what? Do you think I made a mistake?”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far. I probably would have reacted the same way. But don’t you think she deserves a chance to explain? She did save both of our lives.”

“So give me some advice. What do we do now?”

“I think we find the Wind Elemental,” Giovanni said matter-of-factly. “I don’t think that’s up for debate.”

“And Sammy?”

“That’s up to you. If it were me, we’d stop by and pick her up on the way.”

Xander smiled. “You’re killing me, Giovanni. What do the others think?”

Giovanni shrugged. “Patrick and Thea still don’t trust her.”

“That’s going to be a problem.”

“No it won’t. They may not trust her but they trust you. We’re not crazy. We know the world is hanging by its fingertips to the edge of a cliff. If you want to go after the Wind Elemental, every one of us will support you. If you stop and pick her up on the way, they may not like it but they’ll still support you.”

“Then we need to go let them know.”

“There’s nothing left for us here,” Thea remarked after Xander had explained his plan. She had her sword lying across her lap. He had only seen her with the practice wooden versions—which she wielded expertly—and he was surprised to see her so comfortable with the cold, glistening steel setting across her knee.

Xander was glad they were prone to agree with his plan. He had intentionally left out his plan to stop for Sammy, figuring it would be easier to surprise them later, after they’d already committed.

“You all agree?” he asked, specifically turning toward Patrick.

“I think you’re daft and are probably going to get us all killed,” the Irishman responded, “but I’m hardly just going to sit here and wait for the Fire Warriors to return. If finding the Wind Elemental means we can take the fight to them, then I’m in.”

“I’m glad you’re all on board but it doesn’t solve the bigger problem. How do we find the Elemental that no one believes exist?”

Silence fell over the aunts and uncles. They sat on the blocks of marble that was strewn across the courtyard. The pillars that had once framed the arena were gone, either collapsed or claimed by the ocean. The far end of the arena was submerged and gentle waves lapped against the shattered, tiled ground.

“Don’t you all speak at once,” Xander said.

“I just don’t know what to say, sweetie,” Alicia replied with a shrug. “We’re not the first ones to go looking for her but no one’s ever succeeded.”

“Wouldn’t it be a lot easier if there was just a big arrow pointing the way to her?” Giovanni joked.

“You figure she’s the embodiment of the wind,” Patrick remarked. “There should be a big gust of wind that just screams ‘this is where I am’. What’s the point of hiding from us?”

Xander froze in the middle of scratching the stubble on his cheeks. “Say that again.”

“Why is she hiding from us?” Patrick asked.

“No. You know what, never mind,” Xander said breathlessly. His mind spun with possibilities. “I think I know how to find her. Or at least I know who would know. We need to go back to White Halls.”

He smiled sheepishly to his aunts and uncles. “We just need to make one stop on the way.”

“There,” Alicia said, motioning toward a dock and building that seemed strikingly out of place amidst the swampy ground. The other aunts and uncles nodded in agreement, having landed there many times themselves during resupply flights from the island.

Xander looked around as they set down a few hundred feet away from the restaurant, though they seemed alone on their stretch of land. There wasn’t any sign of Sammy nor did it look like she had been there any time recently.

“You didn’t expect her to still be sitting her waiting for you, did you?” Patrick asked as he gestured toward the wooden building. “Her fair skin would be eaten alive by mosquitoes out here in the marsh. If she was smart, she’d be inside eating a good meal and enjoying a beer or two while waiting for you to ride in to her rescue.”

Xander glanced at the Irishman but couldn’t tell if he was being condescending or not. Like it or not, he had done exactly what Patrick implied. He had swooped in to save the day and carry Sammy away with him.

“You’re right,” Xander finally conceded. “If she’s around, she’ll be in there.”

He tugged at the collar of his T-shirt as sweat rolled down his back. A combination of nervousness and humidity left him sweltering. The flash rains of the morning had done little to alleviate the Deep South heat and humidity. He almost regretted changing out of his tunic and thin pants that the rest of his Wind Caste relatives still donned. While he was happier in his T-shirt and khaki shorts, they left him sweating in places that he’d rather not think about.

The spongy ground pulled at his tennis shoes as he marched toward the wooden building. The day was still young—barely noon yet—and the heat was intense. He longed for the cool air conditioning he knew would be blowing within the restaurant.

The soft ground gave way to the hard, wood deck around the building. The deck turned quickly into a floating dock once it stretched out further over the water. The large boat he’d seen when they landed was moored to the dock.

Ignoring the boat, Xander turned the handle to the restaurant’s front door and found it unlocked. Despite the “closed” sign that hung inside the glass window, he opened the door and reveled in the blast of cool air that rolled out of the interior.

“We’re closed,” a man’s voice called out lazily. “We open up at four.”

Xander led the Wind Warriors into the room. Most of the overhead lights were turned off, leaving the spotty lights intermittently illuminating the large, open dining hall. Chairs were turned upside down and sat on the tabletops. There was only one table that wasn’t packaged like the others. Its chairs still sat on the ground, pushed up against the wall next to the rounded table. Its surface was charred and pitted as though from a sudden and intense fire.

As the door swung shut behind them, the bell above the doorway jingled faintly.

“I said we’re closed,” the owner said, emerging from the kitchen and slipping behind the restaurant’s bar. “Y’all will have to come back later.”

“I’m looking for a girl,” Xander said.

“Aren’t we all, kid,” the owner chuckled. “But you ain’t going to find one here. Not now, at least.”

“She would have shown up here earlier this morning by herself. Blonde, blue eyes, pale skin.”

The owner looked up slowly from the glass he was absently cleaning and took in the odd sight of the Wind Warriors, most of whom were still dressed in their thin, white attire. His eyes drifted uncomfortably to the metal sword hanging from Thea’s hip. Xander couldn’t be certain but the owner seemed abnormally nervous after the description of Sammy. The owner’s eyes drifted over to the burnt table. Xander followed his gaze. The sight of the burnt table steeled his resolve and left an anger burning in his gut.

“What happened to the table?” Xander asked.

“I think it’s about time you all left,” the owner demanded.

“Your table,” Xander repeated, pointing at the burnt surface of the round table.

The owner set down the glass with which he’d been fidgeting to keep himself occupied. His hands continued from the surface of the bar and disappeared beneath its polished surface.

“I don’t think you’re welcome here anymore,” the owner said sternly. “You need to leave.”

Xander clenched his teeth. Something bad had happened here, he knew it. Worse, he knew that somehow Sammy had been involved. The owner had piqued his interest when he seemed so nervous at her description. Despite knowing his description matched the majority of the Fire Caste, the fact that they’d been here at all didn’t bode well for his hunt for Sammy.

“I just want to find my friend,” Xander said, feeling the tension in the air.

A gust of wind knocked open the shutters along the right wall. The owner jumped at the sudden noise and shivered as the gust of wind brought with it an arctic chill.

The owner pulled his hands from beneath the bar. A shotgun was clenched firmly in his hands and he started turning its wide-bore barrel toward the Wind Warriors.

“I’m getting real sick of you freaks coming into my bar and making a mess of the place,” the owner yelled. “I’m not going to ask you to leave again.”

The gust of wind coalesced as it slithered across the surface of the bar under Xander’s control. The wind became a gale as it drove the barrel of the shotgun toward the ceiling. The owner squeezed the trigger reflexively and the rapport echoed through the vaulted room. The blast went harmlessly high, blasting a hole in the wooden ceiling.

Xander’s eyes frosted over with white light as the breeze spun into a maelstrom in the center of the dining hall. The bottles of liquor behind the owner rattled loudly as they yearned to launch from their racks against the mirrored wall. The nearest tables screeched loudly as they slid against the hardwood floor, gouging lines in its lacquered surface. A pair of chairs—much lighter than the tables—were picked up by the vortex forming in the room and tossed by other nearby tables. The collection of furniture collapsed loudly onto the ground as it scooted further and further away from the angry, young Wind Warrior.

The owner dropped his shotgun and raised his hands defensively as the windows on the front of the building cracked as a result of a sudden change in air pressure.

Seeing the owner seemingly submissive, Xander released his grasp of the wind and the room fell immediately into silence.

“I’m sorry,” the owner quickly apologized. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“The girl?” Xander asked calmly.

The calm in his voice clearly left the owner more unnerved than if he had been yelling angrily. “I saw her this morning. She was taken by some other blonde people.”

Xander clenched his fists, digging his fingernails into his palm until he swore they were bleeding.

“Taken how?” Giovanni asked when he realized Xander would be unable to continue his line of questioning.

“They had a car waiting. She seemed drugged or asleep, one. They stuffed her in the trunk and drove off.”

“And you didn’t try to stop them?” Patrick interrupted.

The owner stood taller and lifted his chin. “This ain’t the first time I’ve met these boys. You’ve seen my table over there. They tried to burn my place down around me last time they were here. I didn’t get to my ripe old age by being stupid. They want to toss one of their own in the trunk of a car and drive off, then I’m not getting involved. Ain’t no stranger worth risking my life over.”

“You’re pathetic,” Thea spat before turning on her heel and walking out. Patrick and Alicia followed her out of the restaurant.

The owner deflated as they left, looking apologetic under Xander’s stern gaze.

“I’m sorry for your girl. I am. But there wasn’t anything I could do.”

Giovanni placed his hand on Xander’s shoulder and led him out of the building. On the wooden deck, the other aunts and uncles turned toward Xander, waiting for him to speak.

“They have her,” he said angrily.

He couldn’t help but feel directly responsible. If he hadn’t sent her away, she wouldn’t have been within reach of the Fire Caste. To make matters worse, he didn’t even know how to find her. Sammy had told him that she had emerged from the desert outside of California but there was far too much land to cover to locate the Fire Warriors’ hidden entrance. Their only chance was finding the car they were driving.

“The Fire Warriors took her, which means she’s in danger,” he said. “We’re going after them.”

“Hold on, now,” Giovanni said. “I know you’re worried about her but we can’t go chasing after her without a plan.”

“I have a plan. I’m going to kill them and get her back.”

“I’m sorry for what happened, lad,” Patrick said. “No one’s pulling their foot out of their mouth more than me. I mean, she obviously wasn’t working for them if they were dragging her unconscious body around. But let’s keep everything in perspective. One Fire Warrior killed Bart and almost killed your grandfather. A group of them came back and finished the job, nearly killing the rest of us in the process. You go flying after them, all you’re going to do is get yourself killed and not be any closer to saving Sammy.”

“So you want me to leave her to them?” he growled.

“Aye,” Patrick replied, “that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“I know it’s not what you want to hear,” Thea interjected, “but it’s the truth. We can’t risk everything because we go off half-cocked chasing after the Fire Caste.”

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?”

Sean looked but quickly nodded. “I don’t see anything else. What does it mean?”

“I think it’s her,” Xander replied excitedly. “I think it’s the Wind Elemental trying to tell us how to find her.”

An explosion from outside rocked the front of the house. Jessica screamed and stumbled away from the window.

“I think we’re out of time,” Sean said. “When do we leave?”

Xander arched an eyebrow. “We’re not leaving. You’re staying here.”

Jessica stepped beside Sean and pointed toward the front window. “I don’t think staying here is an option anymore.”

“My abrasive and annoying companion is right,” Sean added. “We can’t stay here. If you’re going to Iceland, I’m coming with you.”

“We’re coming with you,” Jessica corrected.

“Neither of you are coming with me,” Xander replied. “You’ll find somewhere else to hide until all this blows over. It’s way too dangerous for you to come with us.”

“It’s way too dangerous to stay here,” Sean said, “even if we found somewhere else to hide. Anyway, you need me.”

“Do I?”

Sean reached over and turned off the computer monitor. The world map immediately vanished, replaced by a black screen.

“I know how to find Iceland without relying on the internet,” Sean explained. “Can you, Xander?”

Xander frowned. Another burst of flame licked the front window and he heard the glass crack under the heat.

“You can’t leave us here,” Jessica said, surprisingly humbled and concerned.

“All right,” he conceded. “If you’re going, let’s go.”

The trio rushed to the door. Xander put his hand on the door handle and felt the heat through the metal. It wasn’t unbearable but it was clear fire had struck the door more than once.

“As soon as I open the door, stay very close to me,” Xander ordered. “As soon as we’re clear of the building, we’ll be airborne. You two understand?”

They both nodded, though Sean’s nod seemed far more enthusiastic than Jessica’s fearful response.

Xander threw open the door and ran into the front yard. Most of the grass was blackened and the remaining trees burned freely. He was surprised how many dark-clad Fire Warriors were strewn across the yard and the street, most face down and unmoving. The aunts and uncles looked singed to varying degrees, with Alicia holding her arm protectively to her side. In the distance, he could see more Fire Warriors emerging from the side streets, rushing toward the dilapidated and smoking Tri Delta house.

“We’re leaving,” Xander yelled over the din of combat. “Let’s go.”

Xander kicked off from the ground, his pocket of air surrounding both Sean and Jessica and pulling them along. They rocketed skyward, eager to get out of the reach of the Fire Caste’s pursuing flames.

With a quick glance around, he saw all four of the others flying close by. Despite the danger, they had all emerged from White Halls relatively unscathed.

“Where to?” Giovanni asked.

Xander smiled, glad to finally have good news to share with everyone.

“Iceland. We’re going to Iceland.”

The land around the California desert was severely changed from what Sammy remembered. The sky was stained black from raging fires all around them. The few scrub brushes that spotted the desert were charred and dead.

The desert itself was what had changed the most. Massive upheavals from the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions had driven limestone and obsidian rock from the ground. They rose toward the dark sky like massive spearheads, tearing through the sandy ground.

General Abraxas turned the car sharply, avoiding the crumbling edge of the road. One of the many caverns underneath the desert had obviously collapsed and a sinkhole was quickly swallowing part of the asphalt road as it spread. Sammy’s stomach turned as she saw the dark maw of the sinkhole staring at her as they drove past.

Everything about the desert looked alien and deadly. The edges of the rock formations seemed abnormally sharp and threatening. She could count more than just the one sinkhole forming across the desert surface as more of the fragile cavern passages crumbled from the tectonic shifts.

Unexpectedly, Abraxas slammed on the brakes and the car skid to a halt with an overwhelming smell of burnt rubber and brake pads. Sammy looked around at where they had stopped but didn’t recognize the area. Regardless, the other Fire Warriors climbed wordlessly from the car and opened the passenger door for Sammy to emerge.

She climbed out without resistance and turned toward the General. A short, jutting plateau just beyond the edge of the road distracted Abraxas. He barely offered an acknowledgement as Sammy walked up beside him.

“Where are we?” she asked.

General Abraxas turned toward her with a smile. His sharpened teeth were far more unnerving on his desiccated face.

“We’re home,” he hissed. “Don’t you recognize it?”

Sammy turned back toward the plateau but nothing looked familiar. General Abraxas stepped off the edge of the road and walked briskly toward the rocky outcropping. Sammy hurried to keep up until she was able to match his long stride.

From behind a seemingly smooth rock face on the plateau, a Fire Warrior emerged. Abraxas led the group toward the man before storming past the single guard. The three Fire Warriors, with Sammy in tow, were quickly engulfed by the cool darkness within the concealed cavern entrance.

Sammy looked around quickly as they paused inside the dark interior and ignited their personal flames. The walls were smooth and looked carved by intense heat. She assumed they could have once been lava flow tubes but it seemed far more likely that the Fire Warriors themselves had carved these tunnels. She thought suddenly of the sinkholes and the collapsed tunnels underneath. There was no telling how much damage had been done to her clan’s kingdom during the ground-shattering earthquakes. It was likely that new tunnels had to be carved after their original tunnels were destroyed.

One of the Fire Warriors shoved her from behind as they started down the gently sloping path. The carved tunnel quickly converted to a natural cavern passage. She chose her steps more carefully as the ground became uneven. Much like the desert above her head, slivers of stone jutted from the path. What had begun as a simple walk underground quickly became an adventure that involved climbing over, around, and through crystalline spurs of stone.

Sammy was forced to focus on the moment, instead of letting her mind drift to what was to come once they arrived at her father’s castle. Except it wasn’t her father’s castle, she quickly corrected. The Fire Elemental was pulling the strings, including controlling Lord Balor.

“Watch your head,” the Fire Warrior behind her ordered.

Sammy ducked beneath a rocky shelf that would have struck her across the bridge of the nose had she not been warned. She quickly realized again that she needed to pay attention instead of letting her mind wander.

Once beyond the maze of stone spears, the tunnel smoothed out once again and began to look familiar to her. The passageway through which they walked slowly widened as the heat in the tunnel increased. Sammy hadn’t been away from her birthplace for that long but the heat seemed suddenly stifling. It felt like she was standing in front of an open oven as waves of heat rolled over her.

As they made a sharp turn in the tunnel, the stone path gave way to a giant, stonework bridge. The walls of the tunnel fell away to either side, forming the distant walls of the cavernous chamber. The vaulted cavern was illuminated by a combination of burning fires and a harsh glow coming from far below the bridge.

Beyond the bridge, her father’s obsidian castle loomed overhead. The sight of the keep made Sammy’s knees go weak. She feared seeing her father again but she knew even meeting with the intimidating lord was just a precursor to being dragged in front of the Fire Elemental once again. Even though her encounter with the draconic eye had been so brief, it had haunted her ever since. If given the choice, she knew she’d never want to come face to face with that creature again. Unfortunately, she knew she didn’t really have a choice. If she resisted, they’d drag her in chains down the narrow tunnel that led to the monster concealed at its end.

General Abraxas stepped gingerly onto the wide bridge. With a sigh, she prepared to step onto the bridge after him but a firm hand fell on her shoulder.

“Wait your turn,” the Fire Warrior demanded.

Sammy was surprised to see the General moving with such caution onto the large-stone bridge. A quick scrutiny of the full length of it revealed why. Near the far end, a section was missing. She couldn’t imagine what could have possible destroyed so thick a bridge until her eyes drifted upward. The ceiling of the cavern was covered with massive stalactites. She had never paid much attention to the stalactites when she lived here because they were as much a part of the environment as the walls themselves. Looking up, though, she was sure at least a few of the enormous stone teeth were missing. It seemed like even her clan’s home hadn’t remained unscathed from the damage to the rest of the world.

The General skirted far from the gaping maw of a hole in the bridge and arrived at the main entrance into the obsidian keep. She didn’t need prodding by the Fire Warrior behind her this time. She stepped onto the bridge and began making her way toward the large, stone doors.

Sammy had walked on the bridge hundreds of times before in her youth but couldn’t remember her steps ever being so unsteady. She wasn’t sure how much of her hesitation was the shifting of the large stones beneath her feet, and how much was the unsteadiness of her own legs, but every step left her teetering on the edge of collapse.

As the hole approached, a brief thought of jumping through its gap ran through her mind. While she knew she couldn’t follow through with such a brash plan, the thought of being dragged before the Fire Elemental was almost strong enough to drive her to suicide.

She stepped to the edge of the chasm and looked down, admiring the swirling reds and blacks of the lava river far below. The heat from the magma felt like a blast furnace roaring through the wide hole. She could practically feel the heat melting the mortar holding the already weakened bridge together.

“What are you doing?” General Abraxas yelled from the far edge of the hole. “Quit wasting time.”

With a sigh, Sammy stepped away from the hole and walked around its edge. When she was close enough, Abraxas grabbed her arm and pulled her to the relative safety of the stone platform on the far side of the bridge.

They waited for the other two Fire Warriors to cross the unsteady overpass. When the second was halfway across the bridge, Sammy heard a rumble echoing through the stone passages that surrounded the main cavern.

The aftershock struck the chamber and drove Sammy to her knees with its force. She clenched her teeth together to keep them from rattling in her head.

She raised her head as she heard a man scream. The nearest of the two Fire Warriors fell backward as the large stone beneath his feet gave way and tumbled into the hole on the bridge. For a brief moment, she locked eyes with the panicked man before he disappeared from view. The echoing rumble of the quake swallowed even his scream.

A loud crack drew here attention to the far wall. A sheet of stone calved from the wall, falling into the lava below. She wasn’t sure how many aftershocks had struck the castle but she was sure their entire home was on borrowed time.

As quickly as it had begun, the quake came to a stop and the cavern fell into silence. Abraxas roughly grabbed her upper arm and pulled her to her feet. He led her through the open stone doors and into the keep proper.

“Come now, girl,” General Abraxas said with a malicious smile. “There are lots of people who are looking forward to seeing you again.”

The edge of the horizon was boiling with angry, black clouds, a nothingness that slowly devoured the steely gray of the evening sky. Despite flying far south of the hurricane, Xander could feel it pulling on him, tugging at his clothing as they approached land.

Patrick led the group lower until they skimmed over the top of a cliff face and touched down on the lush grass at its crest. Xander collapsed onto the damp grass, exhausted from carrying Sean the entire flight. He rolled over on his back, ignoring the moisture that seeped through his T-shirt.

The other Wind Warriors sat down beside him and caught their breaths.

“It’s beautiful,” Jessica remarked as she looked around the sloping countryside.

Below them, they heard the waves crashing into the rock face like thunder. The air was crisp without being overly cold and was filled with the scent of the ocean.

“Where are we?” Xander asked as he propped himself up on his elbows.

Patrick took a drink of water and cleared his throat. “Ireland. My home.”

“That’s a little ways away from Iceland, isn’t it?” Jessica asked as she rubbed her exposed arms for warmth.

“About a thousand miles, give or take,” Patrick replied.

Patrick pointed at the dark horizon to the north. “We can’t fly through that. Even with all our power combined, a stray gust of wind would blow us all right into the ocean or worse, into a cliff like this one. We’re far too exposed in the air without an anchor to keep us grounded. So we’re not going to fly there. We’re going to sail there.”

“I hate to be the voice of reason—since I so rarely am,” Sean said, “but what’s going to keep us any safer in a boat?”

“I grew up on these waters. The boat will ride the waves no matter what we do,” Patrick explained. “Knowing that, we can focus on keeping the hurricane from tearing the boat apart. That’s a much easier task for the five of us than trying to stay in the air and defend against whatever wild debris the hurricane has picked up. I’m the last man that wants to see a large fish or shark flying through the air at me.”

“I loved that movie,” Sean said with a smile.

“What movie?” Patrick asked, genuinely confused.

“That doesn’t explain how we’re going to find a boat,” Xander said, ignoring their sidebar conversation. He stood up stiffly and stretched his aching lower back. He felt far older than his twenty years. “There’s not a boat captain alive who would risk sailing into that insanity.”

“Oh, I think you’d be surprised to find that there are one or two out there.”

Patrick pointed to the lights of a small town glowing below them. The street lamps were just beginning to shine as dusk quickly approached. A few lights flickered in the windows of the tightly packed houses. On the far edge of town, barely visible in the dimming light, Xander could see the buildings give way to a small dock jutting out over the ocean.

“Is that your home?” Xander asked in amazement.

The town was smaller even than White Halls, with only a single main street cutting through the fishing community.

“Ardara, Ireland,” Patrick said with a broad smile. “Home, sweet home. Come on. We don’t want everyone to go to bed for the night or get three sheets to the wind before we have a chance to talk to them about a boat, do we?”

The Wind Warriors swooped through the valley that led to the outskirts of the town. The sun was nearly set, turning the rest of the sky a mirror to the stormy clouds. Xander got unnerved as he looked north again. Twinkling stars were emerging above him, filling the sky with shimmering brilliance. To the north, though, there were no stars. The inky blankness of the sky seemed to absorb the light from the sky around it.

It was dark enough by the time they arrived that the Wind Warriors were able to fly around the outside of the town without worrying about being seen. They arrived shortly at the far end of the docks.

With the storm brewing violently off the coast, most of the boats were dry-docked. Only a few still sat in the water, owned by those either brave enough or stupid enough to risk fishing in the turbulent ocean.

The boats in the water looked covered and tied tightly to the docks, obviously packaged for the night. Only one ship still had a light burning in its cabin. The owner stood on the dock, checking the motor as it was propped out of the lapping waves. With a push of a button, the redheaded man turned on the boat’s engine and watched as the propellers started spinning quicker than Xander’s eyes could follow.

Patrick stomped down the dock and the others hurried to follow. The sound from the motor was deafening, drowning the noise from their approach. As they got closer, Xander could see the boat owner’s mop of red hair waving in the cool evening breeze. The man’s back was turned but he was large, built like a man who had spent his entire life doing manual labor.

“Oy, wanker!” Patrick yelled over the rumble of the boat’s engines.

The redheaded man quickly turned off the engine and spun sharply, glaring at the gathered group of Wind Warriors. Upon seeing Patrick, his face split into a toothless grin.

“You bloody Mick bugger,” the man yelled. “You’ve got to be daft, coming back here.”

The two men stepped toward each other before embracing in a massive hug. Xander could hear the rush of exhaling air as the two men squeezed one another.

Sean leaned toward him. “Do you have any idea what they’re saying?”

Xander shook his head. “Only every third word or so.”

The two men separated, each smiling broadly. The older man slammed his hand onto Patrick’s shoulder.

“What brings you back here?”

“We need a boat.”

“Seems a long way to come just to find a boat. Don’t they have those where you’re living now?”

“They do, but we also need a captain.”

“Aye, those usually help with boats.”

“We need a captain crazy enough to take us north.”

The man’s smile faded. “Toward Iceland? Are you staring up your own arse? There’s bad weather that way. No one’s crazy enough to take their boat up that way.”

“You are, Seamus.”

Seamus stroked his stubbly chin. “Bollocks. These others with you, are they like you?”

Patrick gave a quick glance to the odd assortment of Wind Warriors and humans. “Aye, for the most part.”

“And this reason you have for going to Iceland, does it have something to do with everything happening around here?”

Patrick nodded. “Aye. Going there could stop it.”

“Bollocks,” Seamus repeated.

“So you’ll help us?” Xander said, stepping up beside Patrick.

Seamus nodded. “Aye, I’ll help you, though I must be daft for even considering it. If we’re going to Iceland, you’re going to need some warmer clothes.”

“I always thought Greenland had more ice than Iceland and Iceland was greener than Greenland,” Sean said from behind everyone.

Seamus arched his eyebrow. “True. But three might be a bigger number than two, but it’s still a right wee number, isn’t it?”

Sean shrugged. “I don’t really know what you just said, so maybe?”

“Come on,” Patrick demanded. “Let’s find some coats and get on the boat.”

Sammy’s room had been stripped of all its furniture. Her desk and chair were missing. Even the bed frame had been stripped from the room, leaving only her hard mattress resting on the floor.

The Fire Warrior shoved her roughly inside. As she struggled to maintain her balance, she heard the door behind her slam shut and the external bolt thrown across. Aside from stripping her room of any semblance of comfort, it had clearly been converted into a prison cell.

Sammy collapsed on the mattress and brought her knees to her chest. She rocked in silence. Once she was sure she was alone, she let the tears fall from her face. All the pent-up stress and worry flooded out of her as her shoulders shook uncontrollably. She had tried to keep a brave face in front of General Abraxas. She didn’t want him to see her break down or give him the satisfaction of seeing her fear. Alone, she had no such reservations.

When the tears finally dried, she forced herself to stand and walk to the window. It was far too narrow to climb out of and too high up to try to climb down, even if she could get out of it. The view only offered her a brief escape from her prison.

Sammy looked down on the courtyard far below and laughed sadly to herself. She was a trapped princess, high in the lone tower in the evil castle. It was a fairy tale, except she didn’t remember ever reading such a dark ending to any of the normal fairy tales.

Her story did have a dark ending. She knew it from the moment Abraxas kidnapped her in the swamp. There was no way to tell what the Fire Elemental had in store for her—or her father, for that matter—but she knew it could only end one way. For a moment, she remembered standing at the gap in the bridge and wondered if she should have just jumped.

She turned back to the room and chewed on her lower lip. Whatever was going to happen, Sammy wished there was a way to speed it along. Patience had never been her strongest virtue. It was a trait of the Fire Caste. It was as hereditary as the blonde hair on her head.

She heard the bar slide back on the door and foolishly thought for a moment that her prayers had been answered. The door opened only a narrow crack, just far enough for a Fire Warrior to slide in a bowl of food and a small glass of water. As quickly as it had opened, the door was slammed shut and locked again..

Walking to the door, she picked up the meager meal and walked back to her hard mattress. Despite the grumbling in her stomach, the food seemed horribly unappetizing. She took the metal spoon and pushed the gamey meat and mushrooms around the bowl but didn’t bother taking a bite. With a sigh, she sat it down beside her and instead just took a sip of water. With the dryness gone from her mouth, she sat the glass down as well and simply lay back on the bed. She stared up at the ceiling and tried to count the obsidian stones above her. Many of them were lost in the shadows but she frowned just the same. She used to know the numbers by heart, when she was a little girl. Now, though she struggled to remember the exact count, the number wouldn’t come to her.

Her stomach rumbled again and she looked back over to the bowl of food. A debate raged in her head. On one hand, not eating would be a silent protest toward her unwanted captivity. Knowing what was to come, however, she wondered if it would be more worthwhile to have her strength.

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, furlined 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.”

Sean shrugged. “I just wanted to make sure you were safe. I don’t know if we’re actually going to make it through this sailing trip alive. It could be the last thing we all do together. I just didn’t want things left, you know, unsaid.”

Jessica arched an eyebrow but her gaze didn’t seem full of condescension like he was used to seeing. “Why, Sean, what exactly hasn’t been said between us?”

Sean flushed a brilliant red that was visible even through the gloomy darkness of night. “It’s just that… well… um…”

“We’re going to be hitting the edge of the storm soon,” Patrick said as he approached the pair. “It’s going to get really rough so you both might want to head below deck while we try to ride this out. It’ll probably be the safest place.”

Sean sighed, though he wasn’t sure if it was from relief or disappointment. “Yeah, let’s go ahead and head there, for safety.”

Jessica smiled at Sean. “Mind if I lean on you for support? I haven’t quite found my sea legs yet.”

“Of course,” Sean said, brightening considerably.

He glanced over his shoulder as they crested another wave. The storm looked ominous, even in the darkness. The brilliant lightning flashes split the night sky like rumbling warnings that they, much to Sean’s chagrin, obviously weren’t going to heed.

The lock was slid aside on the door and it swung open. The light from the torches in the hallway was temporarily blinding and Sammy raised her hand to cover her eyes. Dark shadows stepped in front of the light and she squinted to make out the features.

“It’s time,” her father said.

A pair of Fire Warriors entered the room and pulled Sammy to her feet. Their traditional, dark leather armor had been replaced by ornately carved leather breastplates and brilliantly dyed, furlined sashes. Whatever the end result of her meeting with the Fire Elemental, it was clear this meeting would be a ritualistic event for her former clan.

Sammy didn’t offer any resistance as they led her out of her cell and down the spiral staircase. She knew the stairs would end near the formal exterior hall that led to the throne room. From there, her path was one she’d traveled once before and dreaded ever since.

The shadows danced around them as they entered the stairwell. The torch she had seen when they opened her door was now carried by one of the warriors and its light cast dark shadows around the walls that encircled the twisting stairs.

Her father walked before her, his pace slow and deliberate as they marched down the stairwell. Like the Fire Warriors, he was dressed in livery, though his outfit was far more regal and affluent than those of the warriors. She was almost surprised not to see a golden crown resting upon his head.

“Will this be the last time we get to talk?” she asked.

Her father was silent for another full rotation of the spiral staircase and she feared he would simply ignore her for the rest of their journey. As he rounded the next corner, he looked over his shoulder with sadness in his eyes.

“I hope not.”

“You don’t have to do this,” she whispered as she leaned closer to her father. “You can let me go. There’s still time.”

Lord Balor shook his head. “That time has passed. I can’t deny the will of my master.”

Sammy frowned as she resumed her spot between her father and the Fire Warrior that followed dangerously close behind her.

“At least tell me what it wants,” she said, loudly enough that the warrior behind her could hear the conversation as well.

“I don’t know. That’s the truth.”

They reached the bottom floor of the castle and Lord Balor led her to the throne room. A pair of guards pulled open the large doors as they approached, granting access to the pillared room beyond. Without hesitation, her father walked past the throne and pulled aside the tapestry that hung against the wall. A press of a specific stone opened the secret door, leading to the dark passage beyond.

The guard behind Sammy handed Lord Balor the lit torch. The black smoke from the tip of the flame stung Sammy’s eyes as it washed over her. She blinked away the burning sensation and rubbed her face with the back of her hand. Without looking behind him, Lord Balor ducked into the passage. A rough shove from behind her forced Sammy to follow, despite her desire to put space between herself and the sooty smoke.

Her father resumed his deliberate pace once more and Sammy was glad for his slow movements. His pace delayed the inevitable and hid the fact that her legs and hands wouldn’t stop shaking. One glance of the eye before had haunted her ever since, as though the Fire Elemental had taken up residence in her subconscious during their meeting. She was mortified to think about what would happen during this encounter.

She squeezed by one of the support pillars without any thought to what she was doing. Her mind was a maddening mess of her wild imagination and what would happen when she was dragged before the Elemental. The further down the tunnel they walked, the less sure she was that she wouldn’t have to be dragged the last few feet into the massive chamber. She wasn’t sure her legs would support her weight or if she would make it all the way down the tunnel before her insides revolted and she vomited into the narrow passage.

When she had snuck into this tunnel previously, it seemed to take a lifetime to traverse its length. She was surprised when her father suddenly stopped, his feet teetering at the edge of the inky blackness of the room beyond. It seemed impossible that they could already be at the end.

“Fleshling,” it hissed, its voice filling the vaulted chamber.

Despite her father’s body blocking the entrance, she could easily see the draconic eye emerge in the darkness. It was joined by a burst of flame propelled from a long, scaly snout.

“Bring her to me.”

Lord Balor stepped into the room and those marching behind her forced Sammy forward. She moved into the room but immediately hugged the wall beside her, too afraid to fully enter. She had no doubt that the Fire Elemental could reach her regardless of where she stood but there was a psychological sense of safety by keeping her back pressed against the hard stone.

Her father moved the torch to the wall beside his and set its flame in a recessed crevice. The fire ignited the stream of oil within the canyon and flames raced along the wall. The chasm connected to other similar recesses and the flames lit braziers setting in the stonework alcoves. Foot by foot, illumination from the racing fire pushed back the darkness, leaving the room brightly lit.

Sammy’s stomach dropped at the sight and a whimper escaped her lips. She had to tilt her head backward to take in the full size of the monster before her.

The Fire Elemental tilted its serpent head to the side so that the giant orb of an eye watched Sammy’s every expression. Deep red scales as broad as Sammy’s hand coated its long neck and bled into the thick plates of scales that covered its back and chest. Long spines rose and fell with its heavy breaths.

The rise and fall of its chest was echoed in the furling and unfurling of its long, leathery wings, which scraped the vaulted ceiling as they expanded. The membranes of the wings were nearly translucent and the glow of the braziers was easily visible as the Fire Elemental stretched them upward, though the distant walls made it hard for them to expand to their full span. Sparks flew from the stone ground and gouges appeared in the obsidian floor as it slid its clawed feet further underneath it for support, as though it was preparing to take flight.

Her mind struggled with the vision before her and spots danced in her vision. Reality and fantasy crashed together and, despite everything she had experienced with the elemental powers, she was dumbfounded by the sight before her.

Sammy couldn’t believe she was staring at a dragon.

“The final piece is finally in place,” it hissed. Fire dripped from its maw like saliva as it spoke. The flames seared the ground beneath it. “Welcome to your destiny, young Lady Balor.”

“You can’t be real,” she mouthed, though she was uncertain if she actually made any noise or not. Her mind tried to fathom standing before a creature of mythology, but instead she struggled to even keep herself conscious.

“I assure you I’m most definitely real.”

“You’re a myth,” she replied weakly.

“He’s your new master and you’ll show him respect,” a figure said from the far side of the room.

Glad to look away from the dragon, she followed the curve of the monster’s coiled tail. Standing before its scaled tip was a familiar, cloaked face. She didn’t need to see beneath the hood to know that a disfigured face stared back at her.

“This thing will never be my master,” Sammy retorted, finding a fire within her that she feared had been extinguished in the presence of the Fire Elemental.

She turned toward the beast. “Tell me what you want.”

“So brash and full of life,” it replied as though not hearing her demand. “She’s perfect.”

“What do you want of me?” she repeated, though some of her bravado had already faded.

“In time, Lady Balor.” The long, draconic head swung toward General Abraxas, its horns nearly scraping the wall as it turned. “The time for our ascension grows near. Go and tell the other clans to prepare.”

General Abraxas knelt in genuflection to the dragon. “I will do as you ask, my master. My soul exists to do your bidding. However…”

“Go on, General.”

“My flesh has been weakened by the actions of this girl. It’ll be difficult to contact all the other clans in time.”

The dragon swung its head closer until its massive maw hovered inches from Abraxas’ prostrate form. The Fire Elemental breathed in sharply and Sammy felt the heat leave the room.

When it exhaled, a thin ribbon of flames slid from between its elongated teeth. The tendril consumed the General’s head. As he threw his head back to scream, the flames raced into his nostrils and down his gullet, igniting him from within.

A bright white light illuminated his skin as though it were made of paper. His body rocked backward and he shook violently. His screams became a garbled groan as the Elemental’s power changed him. The waxy skin of his face slowly receded, uncovering the sealed corner of his mouth and reforming his decimated nose. The skin on his hands and arms relaxed and the high, burned ridges were smoothed. From beneath the folds of retreating flesh, a fiery red eye emerged to replace the one he had lost.

As quickly as it had begun, the flamed poured from General Abraxas like water. The Fire Warrior slumped to the ground but managed to catch himself before his face struck the hard stone. Slowly, the man pushed himself upright before climbing all the way to his feet.

Gone was the desiccated man Sammy had tried to kill. General Abraxas was reborn like he had been before her attack.

He turned his glowing red eye toward her and smiled, exposing his pointed teeth.

“I feel incredible,” he said. “I’ve never felt such incredible power before. I didn’t know it was possible for so much strength to exist in such a soft frame.”

“I’ve given you a gift, General Abraxas. Go and tell the other clans of my return. If you fail me, the fire that still burns inside you will turn you to ash at my whim.”

Abraxas bowed to the dragon. “I won’t fail you, my master.”

Standing upright again, Abraxas stretched his arms out wide and large flaming wings erupted from his back. Mimics of the leathery dragon wings that towered over him, the fiery wings pulled him aloft and he hovered a few feet above the ground.

Abraxas laughed maniacally before launching forward. He passed dangerous close to Sammy and she felt the heat roll from the wings as they skimmed by her face. The General disappeared into the tunnel, his glow receding as he sped toward the surface.

Sammy’s stomach clenched tightly and she turned aside, vomiting onto the stone floor. She had warned the Wind Warriors of the Fire Elemental, though she doubted they took her warning seriously. There was no way, though, to warn them of the rebirth of General Abraxas. He was a dangerous assassin before she attacked him. Now, with the power of the Elemental coursing through him, he would be practically unstoppable.

When her vomiting turned to dry heaving, Sammy righted herself and stared back at the dragon. She didn’t want to give it the satisfaction of seeing her weakness but the nausea had come on unexpectedly.

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and stared at the Elemental defiantly. “What do you want with me?”

The dragon crawled forward, though Sammy quickly realized that it didn’t have a lot of room to move.

“Your boyfriend, the Wind Warrior, has upset the balance of the elements. His very existence is an abomination, a trick on the part of the Wind, Earth, and Water Elementals to deny me what is rightfully mine—my reign as master of the planet.”

“I won’t help you against Xander or any of the other Wind Warriors,” she said, placing her shaking hands on her hips.

“When I’m done with you, you’ll do anything I tell you.”

The dragon scraped its claws across the stone floor. A pain erupted through Sammy and she pitched forward, collapsing onto the floor. She cried out in pain as it felt like all her nerves were suddenly ignited simultaneously.

“I gave you your powers. You control the flames at my bidding. Right now, I’m taking back what’s mine. The pain you’re feeling is a result of your powers being ripped from your body. Do you want the pain to stop?”

Despite her best efforts, Sammy screamed loudly as the pain intensified.

“Do you want it to stop?”

“Yes,” she cried out. “Please.”

The pain stopped completely. She still felt phantom pains radiating through her limbs but the burning sensation was gone. Meekly, she climbed back to her feet.

“The other Elementals have conspired against me. They have created the perfect vessel for their power within your Wind Warrior. This abomination cannot exist in nature. You’re going to help me eradicate it.”

“I… I don’t understand.” Sammy choked on the words as she tried to speak, her throat still reeling from the pain.

“They’ve grown weak over the generations. They believe humanity deserves to live, in contradiction to the prophecy we all agreed upon millennia ago. To ensure my defeat, they manipulated genetics until Xander Sirocco was born.”

Sammy wiped away the tears streaming down her face. “You expect me to help you kill him? No matter what you do to me, I won’t help you do it.”

“Silly fleshling,” the dragon mocked. “The creation of your Wind Warrior wasn’t their only betrayal. While I slumbered, the Earth Elemental trapped me within this stone prison. You’re here to do more than just help me destroy Xander Sirocco.”

It leaned dangerously forward until she could smell its sulfurous breath.

“They bred a champion for their cause, so I created one of my own. I can’t escape this stone prison in this form, so I created you to help me.”

It exposed its rows of teeth and Sammy flinched involuntarily.

“You’re going to be my new host.”

“Watch the wave on the left,” Xander yelled seconds before the wave crashed over the deck of the ship, soaking the Wind Warriors as they concentrated on keeping the ship afloat.

Xander sputtered, spitting out a mouthful of salt water. He shook his head, knocking his wet, dark hair out of his eyes.

“Hold the line,” he said, trying to be heard over the howling wind. “Don’t break your concentration.”

The sea boiled as waves crashed over them from all angles. The water’s color had gone from the deep blue green near Ireland to a nearly steely gray the further north they had sailed. Now, the sea was nearly the same dark black of the sky overhead. Xander looked up but he couldn’t tell if it was day or night. No sunlight penetrated the swirling clouds, though he knew it had to be past sunrise by now. With a cough, he cleared his throat from the remnants of the seawater. He reached up and wiped away the water that pooled in the strands of his hair and over his eyebrows. The driving rains had left everyone soaked long before the first wave crashed over the deck of the ship.

The wind was staggering and Xander struggled to keep his feet. The ship was blanketed in a cushion of air created by the Wind Warriors but the force of the hurricane imposed its way through their strong defenses and sent the boat careening from one cresting wave to another.

“This is insane,” Patrick said. The protective wall shimmered just beyond his reach. “This thing is going to kill us long before we make it to shore.”

The ship lurched as another gale-force wind broadsided the vessel. Xander dropped to a knee to keep from being thrown overboard. The other warriors clung to the railing but quickly righted themselves and reinforced the protections.

“Do you wankers think you can do something about this wind before our whole boat capsizes?” Seamus asked from within the cabin of the ship. He leaned out the room’s single window and shook his shaggy, red hair as the beating rain poured over him. “I’d like to make it home in one piece.”

The burly Irishman started to say something else but a crash of thunder drowned out any other sounds. Seamus quickly pulled his head back inside the helmsman’s cabin and shut the window behind him.

“He’s right,” Thea said. Her normally carefully coifed hair hung wet in her face and Xander could see the fear in her eyes. “We’ll never last in this. We have to turn around.”

“No,” Xander replied. “We’re over halfway through this already. Turning around is suicide.”

“Staying here is suicide,” she retorted. “We need to turn the boat around and head back to Ireland.”

“Then what? Where will we go? No matter where we settle, it’ll only be a matter of time until the Fire Warriors hunt us down. We’ll burn with the rest of the planet. Either we push forward or we let everyone die.”

“We go forward,” Giovanni added. “We’ve already come too far.”

“Xander,” Alicia said, the concern evident in her voice. She pointed toward the front of the ship.

Xander gritted his teeth at the sight. A massive wave bore down on the bow of the ship. The tip of the wave grew white capped as it threatened to crest and swallow the little fishing vessel whole.

“Brace yourselves,” he ordered.

Xander quickly glanced around and realized he was the last that still needed to hold on to something as the ship started to tilt upward, riding the angle of the wave. He stumbled backward on the slick deck and leaned against the wheelhouse.

The angle of their ascent grew steeper and Xander wondered if the whole ship would simply careen backward, end over end, to be swallowed by the sea. They had no choice but to drive forward but he wasn’t sure Thea wasn’t right. This was very possibly a suicide mission.

Thea cried out as she clung to the ship’s railing. Her feet were nearly dangling off the surface of the boat, as the vessel grew nearly vertical.

“We’re going over,” Patrick said as he reached out his hand and grabbed a hold of Thea.

“No, we’re not,” Xander replied.

A swell of power roared through him as his eyes turned ghostly white. A surge of wind struck the back of the boat, driving it forward. It bounced on the tall wave as it sliced through the waters at neck-breaking speeds. Xander was driven against the wooden cabin.

The boat crested the top of the massive wave in a rush and for the briefest moments flew from the top of the wave.

Xander looked out over the top of the roaring ocean and swore he saw a glow of sunlight not far from where they sailed. The sun beat down on an island of lush greenery in the distance. For a moment, he allowed himself to smile at the sight. His happiness was immediately washed away as the boat crashed back down into the water and hurtled down the backside of the huge wave.

Thea, already unsteady, was thrown forward. She dropped to her hands and knees, her hair dangling down over her face. She reached up slowly with one hand and touched her forehead. As she pulled her hand away, Xander could see the dark red blood staining her fingers.

“Thea?” Patrick said as he turned and saw her stooped behind him.

As soon as she focused on the blood in her hands, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed onto the deck.

“Thea,” Xander and Patrick yelled at the same time.

The Irishman turned and rushed to her side. Xander watched him roll her over and cradle her head to his chest. He was worried about her safety until the strain of maintaining the protective wall around the ship became physically painful. A blinding pain erupted behind his eyes and he staggered. His stomach churned and he swore he was about to vomit.

“Patrick, we need you.”

Patrick remained sitting on the deck, holding Thea close.

“We can’t hold this by ourselves,” Giovanni added.

The wind was picking up as it slowly dismantled the wavering wall around the ship. Xander could hear it howling and the deck groaned against the pressure. His ears popped suddenly and his hair whipped around his face.

“There’s no time,” Alicia warned again.

Xander didn’t need to see where she was pointing. The boat leveled out between the waves before it began climbing again. Xander tilted his head upward and saw a wave twice as large as the one they had just ridden. They had no chance of riding a wave this enormous without sinking the ship.

“This is it,” Giovanni mouthed, though his words were stolen by the stormy wind.

The roof of the wheelhouse cracked as the hurricane tore loose a wooden beam. Xander ducked quickly as it flew overhead and disappeared off the starboard side of the ship. One of the cables snapped and swung wildly, slicing through the railing beside Patrick and Thea. It thankfully wrapped tightly around one of the railing supports, keeping it from slashing through any of the men and women stuck above deck.

“Keep the wind back,” Xander ordered.

The roar of the hurricane was deafening but Xander could hear the whisper of the wind singing hauntingly underneath. The core of his body responded to the music and the power built within him. His eyes turned ghostly white again as the gale-force winds flowed around and through him.

Another gust pushed him aside and he staggered toward the railing. He struggled to keep his footing and plunged headfirst toward the boiling ocean. Giovanni reached out and clutched his thick jacket, catching him inches from the edge of the railing. Xander let out an exasperated sigh and stepped lightly backward.

The boat began to tilt upward as the massive wave before them pulled it into itself. Xander’s stomach dropped as the boat picked up speed, not from his power this time but from the pull of the ocean.

He closed his eyes and sought the song of the wind again. It slowly came back into focus and the power swelled again in his gut. It built until it matched the howl of the hurricane around him. It built until he didn’t think he could stand the pressure within him. His skin felt like it was crawling, trying to escape the elemental strength inside. His head pounded and each pulse was a hammer pounding inside his skull. He had once thought it felt like water trying to fill a bottomless pit. Now he realized it wasn’t bottomless at all. He felt filled beyond capacity.

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.

Lord Balor led her down the spiral staircase. When they reached the bottom floor, they turned away from the throne room and rushed down a back hallway. As they approached a turn in the hall, they slowed and her father raised his hand, telling her to stay behind him. He peered slowly around the corner, spotting a pair of Fire Warriors standing at the end with their backs to him. Her father raised a finger to his lips and led her quickly around the corner. They slipped into a side passage before the warriors turned toward them.

The side tunnel led out of the castle. They were soon running along the edge of the cliff surrounding the keep, the lava flow burning brightly far below. Ahead, Sammy could see a familiar natural rock bridge leading across the chasm. The far side of the bridge disappeared into a dark hole in the cavern’s wall. She knew the way and knew more than one path that would lead back to the surface.

As they reached the near end of the bridge, her father pulled up short and leaned over, resting his hands on his knees and breathing heavily.

“Come on,” Sammy said. “We need to hurry.”

Lord Balor stood straight and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Sammy. I’m not coming with you.”

Sammy grabbed his wrist and stared into her father’s eyes. “No, we need to go together. They’re going to know what you did. You can’t stay.”

“When you became a Fire Warrior, I knew what it meant for your future. The Fire Elemental had laid claim to you and I, in my cowardice, agreed to help him. You know what it feels like when it strips your power by force. It’s excruciating. I was scared, so I went along with whatever it said. For that, I’m sorry.”

“Okay,” Sammy said hurriedly. “Your apology is accepted. We need to go.”

“My place is here, with my people. I’ve risked everything to protect you and I need to be ready to do the same for any of the other Fire Warriors that need me.”

Sammy opened her mouth to protest but her father put his hands on her shoulders.

“You were right. The Elemental is going to know when you’re gone. The only chance you have is if I buy you the time you need.”

“What will you do?” Sammy whispered.

Her father shook his head. “Don’t you worry about that. Worry about getting yourself to safety. Get to the surface and get as far away from here as possible. As long as he doesn’t have you, he’ll stay trapped in his prison. No one else can contain his power without immediately burning up.”

She embraced her father and laid her head on his chest. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so close to him.

“Dad, I just wanted you to know—”

“I know,” he said, nodding.

He gently pushed Sammy away and pointed toward the bridge. “Now go. You don’t have much time.”

“We’ll see each other again,” she said as she stepped onto the bridge. “I promise.”

He nodded. “Of course we will.”

She turned, ran across the bridge, and disappeared into the darkness on the far side.

The Fire Elemental was coiled in its room, its tail wrapped tightly around its slumbering form. At once, the Elemental’s eyes opened and it stretched its long neck upward.

The dragon’s forked tongue flickered from between its sharp teeth. A low growl escaped its wide mouth. The growl quickly became a roar.

Fire Warriors rushed into the room in response to its anger.

“What’s wrong, Master?”

“Lady Balor has escaped,” it hissed. “Find her and bring her back to me.”

The woman on the bed of animal furs was frail. Her skin was marred with liver spots and her skin was translucent enough that Xander could see the blue veins lacing her arms and neck. The edges of her skin seemed unfinished, however. Her flesh seemed to dematerialize into wisps of gas as he watched, though she didn’t seem in any threat of losing her coherence. He looked over his shoulder and the aunts and uncles raised their eyebrows inquisitively. The old woman suddenly spoke again, her voice belying a hidden strength.

“What I need to say is for you alone, Xander. They will be safe outside while we speak.”

After all they’d been through, he had to believe that she could be trusted. As though reading his concerns, everyone outside nodded their support and found places to sit while they waited.

“Please,” the woman said, “close the door behind you.”

Xander closed the door. It should have cast the room into darkness, since there weren’t any windows around the perimeter of the tiny, one-room cabin. He was surprised at the glow that filled the room. The illumination seemed to radiate from the prone woman.

“You’re really her, aren’t you? You’re the Wind Elemental. You’re real.”

The Elemental smiled and nodded. “I’m real and I’ve been waiting for you for some time.”

Xander knelt beside the bed, since there wasn’t any other furniture in the room. “If you’ve been waiting for me, then you know why I’m here. We need your help. The world is on the edge of being destroyed by—”

“The Fire Caste. I know.”

“Then you know why we need your help. I’ve tried to stop them myself and I can’t. We need your power.”

She smiled again. “Yes you do, far more than you even realize.”

Xander sat back on his feet and set his hands on his legs. “I can’t help but feel that you brought us here for a purpose. I don’t think we could have gotten through that hurricane by ourselves, which means you helped us with that too. Why do you need us so bad? What can we possibly do to help someone as powerful as you?”

“Not ‘us’, Xander. ‘You’. I brought you here for a purpose.”

“Why me?”

“That’s a far more complicated question than you realize, young warrior.” The Elemental looked up toward the exposed beams that crossed the ceiling. “Forgive the history lesson, but you need to understand where all this started before you can fully understand the part you play in this game.

“Millennia ago, we four Elementals gathered to decide our role in the future of humankind. We knew that we each had something to offer the youthful creatures, but disagreed on how best to help. We didn’t always agree with one another, you have to realize. Fire and Water bickered often. Earth was stoic and unbending in his ideas. Even I was lured into the disagreements, despite my agreeable nature. In the end, we realized that we couldn’t hope to help humanity if we were forced to work together. To that end, we made a pact in which only one element would exist on Earth at any given time.”

“The Earth gives way to the Water, the Water bows to the Wind, the Wind feeds the Flame, and the Flame burns the world of man down to the Earth. I’ve been told it once or twice. Is this where it came from?”

The Elemental looked over to him, her eyes milky with early stages of cataracts. “The words to describe it came much later but yes, our meeting was where it began. We agreed to take our turns, starting with the Earth Elemental. He had the power to create the land that would support humanity. Next came the Water Elemental, who ensured humanity had all it would require to sustain life. When humanity had grown enough, I awoke to lead humanity to a higher level of consciousness.

“I’d like to think I’ve done a good job with humanity. Under our guidance, they built cities and roads, flew through the air, and walked on the moon. We were muses for invention, poetry, and prose. We truly helped humanity reach its fullest potential.”

Xander shook his head. “But the Fire Caste is going to ruin all that. They’re going to burn everything you did to the ground. But you already know this. It was part of the prophecy from the beginning. ‘The Flame burns the world of man down to the Earth.’”

He stood and stretched his legs, which had already grown stiff from kneeling. “I don’t get it. Why bother? Why go through all the effort of cultivating humanity if your plan all along was just to destroy it?” He felt himself growing angry. “Why give us hope at all?”

The Wind Elemental sighed in a very human manner. “Because we made our decisions about humanity before we ever knew you. The young creatures we knew when we made our pact were juvenile, hardly capable of speaking a formal language or using tools. We hoped, but could have never known, exactly how you would turn out. Believe me when I tell you that we’ve grown to love you and don’t want to see you destroyed.”

“Then help me stop the Fire Elemental,” Xander said. “If you don’t want to see us destroyed, then get out of bed and help us.”

“I—we—already have,” the Elemental said with a smile. “We gave the world a chance when we made you.”

Xander stopped his incessant pacing. “Me?”

“You. You’re humanity’s future.”

“How? What can I do that you can’t?”

“You were created to be the next stage of the elemental evolution. When the Fire Elemental awoke, it argued that humanity had overstepped its bounds, causing irreparable damage to the planet. It no longer took into consideration the needs of the world when it blasted through mountains, pumped toxins into the air, or polluted the oceans. Fire argued that it was time to fulfill the prophecy and burn down the world of man, letting the world reset after humanity was gone. We could try again with whatever took humanity’s place.”

Xander sighed and sat heavily on the floor beside the bed. “He’s not wrong, you know? We’re not exactly good to the planet.”

“But he was wrong about it being irreparable. Humanity has the potential to fix its mistakes. Earth, Water, and I understood that and argued the point, much to Fire’s chagrin.”

“I’m sure he took that well,” Xander smirked. His experience was that the Fire Caste didn’t have much of a sense of humor.

The Wind Elemental cackled. “No, he was quite upset at what he viewed as a coup against his right to rule. We knew we could never convince him to see the wisdom of our words, so we tricked him. Earth trapped Fire deep under the ground in a cavern too small for him to escape. While he was gone, we set to work finding a salvation for humanity.”

The humor bled from the Wind Elemental’s face as she continued. “You were our salvation.”

“You still haven’t explained what I can do that you three Elementals can’t.”

“You have youthful exuberance, Xander. When you’ve used your powers, have you noticed the sense of an unending well of power within you? We created you to be able to hold vast amounts of power.” She looked at him sternly to ensure he understood what she meant. “Vast amounts of pure, Elemental power.”

Xander covered his mouth with his hand as he tried to absorb what she was telling him. “Are you saying…?”

He paused and she finished his thought. “We created you to replace us, Xander. To replace all the Elementals.”

“I can’t. There are four other Wind Warriors standing outside that are much stronger than I am. Giovanni or, God help me, even Patrick, would be better suited for this. I’m not strong enough to be your host.”

“Not host,” the Wind Elemental corrected. “Replacement.”

Xander shook his head. “I don’t think I understand.”

“This body is a host. In my pure form, I appear more like a mist or a cloud. But to pass amongst the humans, most of the Elementals choose a human host. This body was once a Wind Warrior like you but she was dying of a rare disease. She agreed to become my host, giving her life so that I could more easily move among humanity and influence its development.

“What I’m asking of you is different. I’m asking you to take my power, all of it. Not as a host but as a replacement. I want you to become the Wind Elemental.”

Xander blanched. Sammy had told him before that she was amazed at the depth of the power within him whenever he faced General Abraxas and later when he faced Patrick in their duel. It had been hard enough to come to terms with the fact that he went from being a slacker college student to a powerful Wind Warrior. Now, he wasn’t sure he was ready for what she was asking.

“I’m not sure I’m the right person,” he replied. “Even if I agreed, what good would it do? If the Wind Warriors are weak against the Fire Caste, wouldn’t that make you weak against the Fire Elemental?”

“You’re not wrong. I’m so very tired. With so few of the Wind Warriors remaining, I should be preparing for my own slumber, not planning a revolution.

“My power alone isn’t enough. To defeat the Fire Warrior and save the planet, you’ll need the combined powers of the Water and Earth Elementals. The other two Elementals know that you’re our best chance. I’m not just offering my power, Xander. I’m offering you their power as well.”

His mind spun with hundreds of possibilities. When they had set off from the ruined island, he had known their only chance at victory rested on the shoulders of the Wind Elemental. He never could have fathomed the offer she would make or the implications. He thought again about Sammy and wondered what she would think about the offer.

“I had a friend, a Fire Warrior,” Xander blurted.

The Wind Elemental smiled sadly but didn’t reply.

“She was like me; she gained her powers really young. We have this connection, something I couldn’t explain before. If you created me for something special, then that means that she was created for a purpose too, right?”

The Elemental’s smile faded. “I know of your friend and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean you’re sorry?”

“When we discussed giving humanity another chance and postponing the Fire Caste’s awakening, the Fire Elemental vehemently disagreed. That was why the Earth Elemental trapped him in the first place. But Fire can escape if he has a host. By his nature, the Fire Elemental’s power burns up a normal host. He needed someone… special.”

Xander’s heart fluttered in his chest. “Are you saying that she’s going to be its host?”

“I did say I was sorry. You were both created directly by Elemental influence, though for such very different reasons. It’s why you felt such a strong connection to one another.”

“But you also said that your host gave her life when you took over,” Xander yelled angrily. The fluttering in his heart had become a pounding as he swore his heart would soon leap out of his chest. “Please tell me it hasn’t happened yet.”

“The Elementals can sense one another. As far as I can tell, Fire still remains trapped in his prison.”

“Then I have to save her before it can happen.”

“All the more reason for you to accept my offer,” the Wind Elemental said calmly. “You can only face and defeat Fire if you wield our combined strength.”

“Then I’ll do it,” he said hastily.

The Wind Elemental nodded. “There’s one more thing you need to know before you make your final decision. The Elementals grant the power to their followers. We create the castes to further our goals. What it means is that when I give you my power, the rest of the Wind Warriors will be cut off from their power forever. If you take my power, they’ll become normal humans once again.”

The flames from his wings looked like a shooting star, visible even in the morning light. General Abraxas didn’t slow as he approached land, instead increasing his speed as he focused on the sensation of other Fire Warriors nearby. His velocity broke the sound barrier. The sonic boom in his wake shattered the windows of the automobiles and houses underneath his flight path. A wail of car alarms and screams were left in his aftermath.

Imbued by the power of the Fire Elemental, his body glowed with flames as he flew. His vision danced in patterns of blues and reds as his eyes slid seamlessly between normal vision and infrared. Heat signatures from farmhouses and country cottages burned brightly. In the distance, the horizon ignited in wavering shades of red as he approached the western edge of London. Abraxas smiled wickedly at the sight. It looked like London was on fire.

With reservation, he turned his attention away from London. His target was quickly approaching and the General angled downward while he rocketed toward the ground. The flames of his wings poured over his body as he flew, encompassing him in a flying ball of flames. He turned sharply downward as he reached the outskirts of Reading. Without slowing, he slammed into the ground.

An explosion of dirt, grass, and stone showered over him. His body dug a trench through the earth until he finally came to a stop, pushing a mound of unearthed soil in front of him. Smoke billowed from the end of the trench but it quickly dissipated in the strong, English wind. As the smoke cleared, flaming wings emerged from the top of the trench, as Abraxas stood, unscathed.

The flaming wings faded in a cloud of smoke as the General stepped onto the moist grass beyond the trench. He frowned deeply as his eyes fell on the lonesome cottage resting far beyond the city limits of Reading.

He leaned down into a crouch and placed his palm on the cool soil. The plants withered and charred from his touch but Abraxas didn’t notice. With his hand on the ground, he could feel the Fire Warriors nearby.

His frown turned to a smile as he admired the small, wooden-framed home. It had a quaint architecture that decried its true purpose. Dried herbs hung beside the front door and a welcome mat sat, muddied and neglected, on the narrow doorstep.

Abraxas’ eyes ignited in violent, red flames and he clutched his fist. The house exploded in flames, showering wood and glass for hundreds of feet in all directions. The debris turned to ash as it neared him, leaving him sooty but unharmed. He stepped over the shattered remnants of the home as he approached its now-exposed foundation.

Beams and segments of the roof still lay over the frame of the destroyed home. He pushed a sheet of shingles aside with his booted foot, exposing a hidden staircase beneath. The stonework of the upper stairs was blackened in the explosion but still remained sturdy.

General Abraxas descended the stairs, entering the cool natural cavern past the base of the stairwell. The passage led him under one of the nearby fields before it ended at an intricately carved door. Dancing flames were intermixed with a symbol General Abraxas didn’t immediately recognize but assumed it was a clan notation.

He raised his hand to knock but paused, his hand hovering inches from the ornate door. He smiled again, opened his hand, and the shattered inward. The flaming shards fell to the floor and scattered across the polished tile of the room beyond.

Fire Warriors leapt to their feet, flames erupting from their clenched fists. General Abraxas strode confidently into the center of the room, allowing himself to be surrounded by the warriors.

“Where is your Lord?” General Abraxas asked, his voice carrying clearly across the room. The warriors looked at one another hesitantly but offered no answer. As Abraxas opened his mouth to ask again, a door on the far side of the room was flung open and an opulently dressed, blonde-haired man emerged. A gold-trimmed cloak hung over his shoulders, barely concealing the carved leather breastplate he wore over his torso.

“By what right do you barge into the home of my clan?” the Lord asked, his words tainted faintly with a British accent.

General Abraxas sneered at the man, exposing his sharp teeth. “I come on behalf of our shared master. You’d do well to hold your tongue in my presence.”

The older Fire Warrior blanched momentarily before regaining his composure. “What do you want here?”

“I come bearing a message.” His eyes rolled back into his head as Abraxas looked unseeingly up at the ceiling. When he spoke, his voice was raspy and hoarse. “Gather your men. It’s time.”

Abraxas recovered quickly and coughed to clear his now-sore throat.

“It’s time for…” the Lord began before shaking his head quickly. “You can’t be serious. A pact remains between the elements. We don’t move until the last of the Wind Caste is dead, that’s the law. That hasn’t happened. What do you think you’re trying to do here?”

“I’m passing along the word of our master, you insolent whelp. You’d do well to heed my warning.”

“You say you bring His word but I have only your word, don’t I? I think it’s about time you leave before we find a place to bury you.”

General Abraxas clenched and unclenched his fists. The Lord turned his back to leave and the dozen Fire Warriors in the room pressed in around the General. He opened his mouth, as though to speak, but instead a brilliant fire ignited in the back of his throat. The Elemental flame—a gift from the Fire Elemental himself—poured from Abraxas’ mouth and consumed the clan’s Lord.

The man screamed as the intense flames flowed over his body, consuming every inch of him simultaneously. He reached out his hand toward his second in command, who had remained behind in the throne room. Before the Fire Warrior could reach the Lord, the elder warrior’s skin had turned gray, as had his leather uniform and hair. He appeared to be nothing more than ash.

Like a virus, the flames leapt from the body of the Lord and set ablaze the two closest Fire Warriors. Their screams of pain mixed with the yelps of anger from the rest of those surrounding Abraxas. They let loose their flames but the fire rolled harmlessly off the General’s body.

Abraxas smiled as the flames leapt again and again until all twelve Fire Warriors were consumed by its unimaginable might. When the last of the warriors had turned to ash, Abraxas turned lazily in a circle, admiring his work.

At the end of his turn, he stared at the back of the former Lord of the clan. He strode to the Lord’s side, admiring the look of anguish on the man’s frozen face. The hand remained outstretched, though Abraxas could already see the flaking of the ashy skin on the boney fingertips.

“What have you done?” the clan’s second in command asked in disbelief.

“I’ve done our master’s bidding, as I encourage you to do as well. That is, unless you wish to share the same fate as your former Lord.”

Abraxas slammed his fist through the Lord’s arm, which erupted in a cloud of ash and dust. The forearm and hand fell to the ground, where it shattered as well. The General finished the arc of his swing, striking the Lord in the chin. The head exploded, showering everyone in black, choking soot.

“Our master has sent me to make sure all the clans begin their march. His word is non-negotiable. Regardless of the Wind Warriors’ presence…”

Abraxas paused and grimaced at the thought of the Wind Caste.

“No matter the Wind Warriors. The time of man has come to an end. You are to march on humanity and show them the might of the Fire Caste. Burn their world to the ground. Am I understood?”

The second in command nodded hastily. “Understood, my Lord.”

General Abraxas smiled, though the expression had a markedly frightening effect on the worrisome Fire Warrior.

“Don’t disappoint our master. We expect London to burn. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have many more stops to make before my mission is complete.”

“I can’t make this decision on my own,” Xander told the Wind Elemental.

“Make your decision quickly,” she replied. “Time is short.”

Xander staggered to the front door but paused as his hand fell on the door handle. He slowly laid his head against the cold wood and closed his eyes. A second ago, he had been so sure that taking the Elemental’s power was the right decision. It was the first step toward rescuing Sammy and finally defeating the Fire Caste. After hearing the Wind Elemental’s caveat, however, he found himself far less sure of his ability to make this decision on his own.

His aunts and uncles had been Wind Warriors for decades. Now in their fifties and sixties, all they had known their entire lives had been serving the will of the Wind Caste, helping bring enlightenment to humanity. They had watched their breed grow old and die without any new offspring to repopulate their dying race. They had lost friends to attrition and, more recently, lost old friends to the war with the Fire Warriors. After all they had been through, he was now getting ready to open the door and ask them to make one final sacrifice, one that would strip them of everything they’d known. He knew better than anyone that it was hard to keep your feet on the ground when you’d spent so long flying close to heaven.

Xander took a deep breath and opened the door. He squinted at the cold sunlight beyond the small cabin. The aunts and uncles climbed quickly to their feet when he stepped out of the house, eager for news. The Wind Elemental had been a myth among the Wind Caste. To know that they had found her at last was nothing short of a miracle.

He looked over to Sean and Jessica, who stood over to the side. His overweight friend flashed him a smile and nodded supportively. Though the others had their doubts about his decision to bring them along, Xander was incalculably happy to have them by his side. They were a grounding force in the midst of the insanity his life had become.

“Is it really her?” Giovanni asked. Frost had settled into the Italian’s long, wet, black hair, leaving glistening icicles hanging from the tip of his ponytail.

Xander nodded. “It’s really her.”

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Thea demanded. “What did she say?”

It didn’t take Xander long to recount the story of the agreement between the Elementals. It took even less time to explain her offer and the offer of both the Water and Earth Elementals as well.

When he was finished talking, everyone sat in stunned silence.

Xander tilted his head upward while everyone digested the news. The air was remarkably crisp, like a pillar of light shone down specifically over Iceland. His eyes drifted toward the swirling, black clouds just beyond the borders of the island nation. If he strained hard enough, he could hear the angry, cresting waves slamming into one another less than a couple miles out to sea.

“You have to do it,” Patrick said, finally breaking the silence that hung in the cold air.

Xander laced his fingers behind his head and lay back in the grass. He took another deep breath, knowing that this was the part of the conversation he dreaded.

Alicia nodded. “If there’s a chance to stop the Fire Warriors from destroying everything, you have to take it.”

“I don’t really see how this is even a debate,” Thea added.

“It’s a debate because this won’t come without a cost,” Xander said sadly.

“It’s a lot of power to take into yourself,” Giovanni remarked, misunderstanding Xander’s concern. “Of course there are risks.”

Xander sat up so that he could make eye contact with his aunts and uncles. “The cost isn’t to me. It’s to each of you. You all are only Wind Warriors because she granted you the power. When I take her power…”

He left the sentence unfinished but saw the dawning realization in each of their eyes.

“Will we die?” Alicia asked. “I may be old but I’m not sure I am ready to die just yet.”

“No. Not die,” Xander corrected. “But when I take her power, you’ll become humans. Nothing more. No more flying, no more tornados, no more anything. You’ll just be people again, like you were a lifetime ago.”

Patrick sat down heavily on the ground. Thea collapsed beside him. Alicia and Giovanni remained standing but he could see the sadness spread through their faces. This was the life they had always known; the only life they could remember since their ill-spent youths. He was asking to take it all away from them.

“Can’t you just give us back the power once you’ve taken it?” Patrick asked. “If you’re going to become the Wind Elemental, can’t you just make us Wind Warriors again?”

Xander shrugged but a gut feeling told him the answer. “I’m not sure it works that way. I’m not actually becoming the Wind Elemental. I’m actually the antithesis of all the Elementals. I’m taking their power to stop the vicious cycle of castes rising and falling.”

They fell silent again and Xander hated himself for even having to be the messenger. In his short life, he’d never been so attached to something as they were to their powers. He could sympathize with their prospective loss but struggled to empathize.

“I told her I wouldn’t do it unless you all agreed,” Xander said. “I couldn’t bring myself to agree to her terms unless you all understood the risk. This is…”

“Do it,” Giovanni said, wiping away defiant tears from his eyes.

“I know this can’t be easy for…”

“Do it,” Alicia agreed. “You have to.”

Xander turned slowly toward Thea and Patrick. Of all the remaining Wind Warriors, he expected the most resistance from those two. Still, his promise had been that he wouldn’t take her offer unless they all agreed.

“Thea?” he asked.

She nodded. “We’ve had a good run but this is the right decision. I can’t believe our future is in your hands but it’s the best chance at a future any of us has.”

Xander smiled, hoping her remark was meant as a joke and not a backhanded compliment.

He turned finally toward Patrick. The Irishman pursed his lips and shook his head slowly. Xander’s heart raced in his chest.

“You’d be a fool not to do it,” Patrick said. “Quit being a whiny little Nancy girl and go tell her you’ll accept her offer.”

Xander smiled and stood. “Thank you all.”

“Go, lad, before I change my mind.”

He walked back into the cabin and knelt beside the elderly woman. The glow from her skin intensified as he approached, until the interior was nearly as brightly lit as the hilltop outside.

“They’ve agreed.”

“As I knew they would. They were all chosen because they were men and women of exceptional moral character first and foremost. They will always do what’s necessary to ensure the safety of those under their protection.”

Xander cleared his throat. The door was left open behind him and he could see the long shadows stretching in the doorway as the aunts and uncles crowded close to see the Wind Elemental.

“What do we do now?”

The Wind Elemental placed her hand on his wrist and gave him a gentle squeeze. “Now, I give you my power.”

The translucence of her skin grew more pronounced as she glowed with an inner light. Xander could see sparks of light flickering just beneath her skin, as her grip grew stronger on his wrist.

The gently blowing, cold wind outside turned to a howl. Sean and Jessica braced themselves against it, as it seemed the hurricane winds shifted directions just to cut past the small cabin.

The Wind Elemental’s nails cut into his wrist. He could feel blood trickling over his palm and dripping from the ends of his fingers. Despite the sudden pain, he refused to withdraw his arm.

Deep within his chest, Xander felt the bottomless hole open as her power flooded into him. The hairs on his arms stood on end, as the room grew electrified.

Beyond the doors, dark clouds gathered overhead and icy raindrops splattered on the frozen ground. The wind hummed with power as it whipped madly around the house, blasting the meager structure from all angles. Thunder rumbled through the clouds as unseen lightning crashed between the massive cells boiling overhead.

The light emanating from the Wind Elemental faded as her power transferred between them. The glistening stars beneath her skin twinkled before blinking out of existence. Her grip grew weaker as she seemed to sink into herself, finally becoming the frail woman she had first appeared to be.

For one last moment, her grip tightened again and her milky eyes locked on Xander.

“Prepare yourself,” she said. “It’s time.”

The last of the power slammed into him as a lightning bolt wider than the cabin crashed down over it, blinding everyone before the world suddenly grew dark.

Xander was everywhere at once. He was the wind caressing the wings of a bird in flight. He was the breeze whispering through the pine trees. He was a warm gust that drenched the swimmers on a tropical resort. He was the fuel that fed a rapidly spreading wildfire. He was the arctic blast that froze the breaths of mountain climbers in their lungs.

The sense of omnipresence was disorienting. He was connected to the air itself. It surrounded the planet like a transparent ocean, soaking itself into every visible and invisible crevice that existed. Being everywhere was far too much for him to fathom.

Xander tried to pull back within himself but found the action difficult. His body seemed too small to contain so much power. He was the proverbial cup trying to hold back the ocean.

Despite the effort, his will was strong. The bottomless pit within him grew deeper and wider as the power receded from the world and settled back within his body. He still felt connected to everything that was happening but it was a more passive connection rather than a personal observation. With a great tug, his consciousness raced back across the planet, finding residence once again on the large island in the arctic, in the center of an innocuous cabin on a frozen hilltop.

Xander opened his eyes, though the world seemed blurry and limited when viewed through his own eyes. He had just delved into the heart of erupting volcanoes. Being a twenty-year-old man again seemed anticlimactic.

A shadow fell over him and he struggled to make out the face. He could hear the man talking but his words seemed lost amidst the more intoxicating whispers of the wind beyond the cabin’s front door.

“Xander?” the man said loudly again.

The words took on more clarity, as did his vision, when Sean repeated himself. “Xander? Talk to me, buddy.”

Xander shook his head and the sense of detached omnipresence faded away. “I’m okay.”

He groaned as he tried to stand. He wasn’t alone in his pain. His aunts and uncles were in various stages of consciousness as they recovered.

“What happened?” he asked.

Sean shrugged. “My best guess is that since we’re close to Scandinavia, you pissed off Thor, God of Thunder.”

Xander smiled as he accepted Sean’s arm for support. They turned toward the interior of the cabin and Xander felt his heart drop. The Wind Elemental’s eyes were closed as though she were asleep, though he knew the truth long before he checked for her pulse. The Elemental power had been all that had kept the host alive. With her power now in Xander, her host body had nothing left to sustain its life.

Giovanni limped into the cabin and stood beside the newly appointed Wind Elemental.

“You did the right thing,” the Italian remarked.

“How do you feel?” Xander said, without being able to bring himself to look at the former Wind Warrior.

“Like a bird that had its wings clipped.”

Giovanni turned away from the old woman in the bed and gestured for Xander to follow him outside. “Come and say your goodbyes. You have much to do and not much time to do it.”

Xander followed him outside and stared into the sad eyes of the other three aunts and uncles.

“Who knew this would suck so bad?” Patrick said as he sat on the ground.

“I’m sorry, for what it’s worth.”

“Don’t be,” Alicia said. She looked far older than she had even minutes before. “You did what was right—what needed to be done.”

“Do you know where you need to go from here?” Thea asked.

Xander furrowed his brow. The Wind Elemental had said they would sense one another, like it was a magnet drawing them toward each other. He closed his eyes and focused on the Earth Elemental.

His consciousness leapt from his body and soared over the ocean. He sped down the length of the Atlantic until stopping suddenly above an unremarkable stretch of water. As quickly as it happened, Xander returned to his body.

“Yeah, I think I do.”

“Then get going, lad,” Patrick replied. “Go be the hero. Go save the world.”

“What will all of you do?”

Patrick smiled. “Take a look around. The hurricane’s gone and we have a boat. We’ll be fine. We’ve spent so long being Wind Warriors; it’ll be nice to just be a human again for once.”

Xander hadn’t noticed, as caught up as he was with his new powers. Blue skies reigned as far as he could see in all directions.

“I’m sorry,” Xander said as he turned back to them.

“Come here,” Giovanni said as he pulled Xander into a tight embrace. The other aunts and uncles stood and joined them.

“I’m going to miss you all,” he said. “I really wish you could come with me, regardless of losing your powers.”

Thea shook her head and surprised him by smiling. “In case you didn’t notice, we’re old. Old Wind Warriors are still dangerous. Old humans aren’t worth much in a fight.”

“Quit talking the boy’s ear off,” Alicia said as she sobbed quietly. “He’s got work to do.”

Xander turned toward the only two people left. Sean smiled broadly at him. Even Jessica seemed slightly happy at the attention.

“What about you two?” he asked. “You’re not old yet.”

Sean shrugged. “I’ve got nothing else to do. What about you, Jessica?”

Jessica looked at him and pursed her lips. She looked away and scanned the surrounding rolling hills. “I don’t really work well in the cold. It dries out my skin. Can you promise me you’ll take me somewhere a little more tropical? Maybe stop by the Bahamas on the way?”

Xander laughed at his two friends and pulled them both tightly into a hug. “I wouldn’t want anyone else by my side.”

Sean looked over at Jessica, who nodded approvingly. “We’re with you to the end, brother.”

With the two still close by, he kicked off the ground and the three of them flew into the air.

“Just try not to get us killed, okay?” Sean remarked nervously as they rocketed out over the ocean. “Xander? Okay?”

Sammy clenched the large rock tightly in her hand until one of its sharp edges bit into the flesh of her palm. Sunlight trickled through the distant opening of the cavern and she could smell the fresh desert air taunting her with her freedom.

A Fire Warrior stood near the entrance, his back to her as he stared out at the blasted landscape. He was oblivious to her presence and stood leaning against the limestone wall with only passive attention paid to his job of protecting the entrance.

She slid silently behind him, her booted feet making no noise on the hard, stone ground. Her heart fluttered and her skin grew clammy as she raised the stone over her head. With a quick downward thrust, she struck the rock against the back of the guard’s head. Blood blossomed across his scalp, staining his blonde hair. Without so much as a grunt of acknowledgement, his knees went limp and he slumped to the ground unconscious.

“I’m sorry,” Sammy said as she dropped the rock beside him. “I really am. But I can’t have you trying to stop me.”

She stepped over his prostrate form and ran out into the hot California sun. The land beyond the cool tunnel still seemed so foreign to her. Having exited the cave many times while training for her trip to White Halls, she had become intimately familiar with the rock outcroppings and bushes that made up the landscape. What she looked upon now was as alien as it was bizarre, with large stone shards jutting from the ground at odd angles.

Turning away from the foreign view, she rushed toward the highway that ran not far from where she emerged. Her steps faltered as she realized the road was empty. When she and Abraxas had arrived, he had left the car abandoned on the side of the road. She silently cursed herself for assuming it would still be there. It would have been the perfect vehicle for escaping the clutches of the Fire Elemental but leaving it abandoned on the side of the road would have been a clear indication to anyone driving past that something unusual was occurring in the area. Of course, one of the Fire Warriors would have moved it, though she couldn’t fathom where they would hide it in such a desolate area.

Frowning, she ran to the edge of the road. The pavement itself had seen better days. Sand drifted over the black asphalt in droves, concealing the soft edge of the road and blurring the white lines that marked the right and left most edges of the highway.

Her feet crunched on the sand and she could feel the rumble strips concealed beneath her step. She looked quickly left and right, hoping to catch sight of a passing car, but the road was as abandoned as she always remembered it. Few people drove through this part of the State, especially when better options like Interstate 40 existed just south of where she stood.

Panic welled within her as she realized she didn’t have time to wait. It wouldn’t take long for the Fire Warriors to realize she was gone, if they hadn’t already. They’d quickly be in pursuit, emerging from the same entrance that she just left. She didn’t have time to stand around, lost in a sea of indecision.

She chose east, since she had driven that road many times, and started to run. Driven by panic and adrenaline, Sammy knew she was running far faster than she could sustain over a long period. She would tire soon but she hoped to put enough distance between her and the cavern entrance that she wouldn’t be immediately visible on the long stretch of desert when they looked for her. If they were confused about which direction she fled, it might buy her a few extra minutes or even hours while they bothered searching both east and west.

To her amazement, she ran for nearly twenty minutes without seeing any sign of pursuit. She glanced nervously over her shoulder from time to time, checking for the telltale signs of flames or dark leather-clad warriors giving chase, but none of those signs appeared.

Her lungs started to burn as she ran and she could feel cramps starting in her calves and thighs. A twinge of pain started in her shoulder as she pushed herself on, a result of staying so tense in her neck and back as she ran. She knew her body couldn’t sustain much longer at the pace she had set, yet she was hesitant to slow. She’d almost rather them find her facedown in the sand, having collapsed from exhaustion, than catch her standing by the side of the road, having given up in defeat.

Past the pounding in her ears, she caught the sound of a low rumble starting from behind her. Her first instinct was to hide, thinking it was Fire Warriors driving one of their cars as they searched. As she turned, however, she saw a small, brightly colored Volkswagen Bug driving down the road. It seemed far too small and conspicuous for the normally proud Fire Warriors.

She stopped her running and tried to yell but her lungs burned too strongly from the effort. Instead, she simply waved her hands over her head in an attempt to get the driver’s attention.

She knew the chances of him or her stopping was slim. She knew how she looked. Her blonde hair was no longer in its long braid down her back and it was greasy from her time in captivity, both with Abraxas and later at the castle. The thin clothes she wore were stained with soot and dirt, as was her face and hands. Had she been carrying a bag of any sort, she knew that she’d look like a drifter. Instead, she just looked like a crazy woman by the side of the road.

The Bug drew closer and she could see the driver and passenger pointing at the disheveled woman by the side of the road. The rumble of the car’s engine dropped into a lower gear as the car started to slow. Sammy allowed herself a moment of relief, knowing that if she got into the car there was a chance she could put enough distance between herself and her clan that they’d never find her again.

A hiss of flames reached her ears moments before multiple jets of fire struck the Volkswagen. The car caught fire moments before its undercarriage exploded, flipping it into the air. The car crashed down onto its hood and skidded across the middle road before coming to rest less than twenty feet from where Sammy stood in disbelief.

Despite knowing the danger, she couldn’t bring herself to run as the Fire Warriors emerged from the desert around her. Defiant tears ran down her face as they tied leather straps around her wrists and elbows, pinning her arms painfully behind her. Even as their hands closed over her shoulders and started pushing her back the way she had come, her eyes never left the scorched and burning ruins of the car and the memory of the two Samaritans within who were only going to offer her a ride.

Dozens of Fire Warriors lined the inner courtyard of the keep as they dragged Sammy back to the castle. They watched with abject curiosity, pointing and whispering amongst one another as she passed. It wasn’t animosity in their expressions—it was anticipation. There was a heaviness in the air, as though everyone realized something remarkable for the Fire Caste was on the cusp of occurring.

They marched through the towering front doors of the castle but rather than turn toward the spiral staircase leading back to her prison cell, they dragged her through the throne room doors.

The secret door on the far side was already open. Sammy planted her feet on the ground but her resistance did little. The warriors on either side lifted her arms upward behind her, pinching her shoulders and sending waves of pain radiating down her arms. The toes of her feet bumped along the uneven stones of the floor as they continued dragging her forward.

With the narrow tunnel ahead, one of the guards released her, leaving her lifted arms held entirely by the burly Fire Warrior behind her. As they entered the passage, Sammy saw her opportunity to fight back. She kicked backward, slamming her heel into the man’s shin. He howled in pain and released her arms. Before she could turn, though, the warrior in front of her struck the side of her head with his elbow, driving her face into the rough, stone wall. She felt blood trickle from the edge of her scalp as it reopened a wound given to her during her battle with General Abraxas.

“Hold her this time,” one of the warriors growled, though Sammy was having trouble focusing as the tunnel swam in her vision.

The firm hands behind her reasserted themselves and her arms were lifted even higher than before. The angle forced her to lean forward and she released an involuntary cry of pain.

The rest of the march down the tunnel was unpleasant. Sammy’s head rang with pain from the open wound on her scalp. Every time she tried to slow her pace, her arms were lifted slightly higher and someone shoved her in the small of her back.

Before long, the tunnel gave way to the dragon’s chamber. The room was already lit and the massive, scaly body dominated her view as she entered. Jets of flame roared from its nostrils excitedly at the sight of her and its enormous vertical slits of eyes blinked in rapid succession.

“Welcome home, fleshling.”

Sammy didn’t have a witty or sarcastic response. Her voice felt frozen in her throat, even as beads of sweat formed on her brow. In the presence of the Fire Elemental once again, she forgot the blood trickling down her face or the bruise already forming against her left temple.

The draconic eye drifted toward the left of the room. Sammy had been so caught up in her own dreadful position she had failed to notice anyone else in the dragon’s chamber. Against the leftmost wall, two Fire Warriors flanked a third man, who was kneeling awkwardly on the stone ground. Around his neck, he wore a yoke like she would expect to see on an ox. His arms were lashed to the ends of the yoke, stretching his neck forward while pulling his shoulder blades backward.

“I’m disappointed in you, Lord Balor,” the dragon hissed. “I had such hopes for your future when first you swore fealty to me.”

Sammy’s mouth opened in surprise. Despite his promise to give her more time to escape, she never expected he’d be discovered and captured so quickly. The guard behind her let her hands go and her arms fell limply against her back. Blood flowed back through the limbs and pins and needles exploded down their length. The pain was exquisite but she pushed it aside as she walked forward until she could see around the bulk of the yoke.

Her father’s face looked horrible. He was haggard and drawn from the pain he was experiencing. Beyond that, he had obviously been beaten severely. Bruises were glowing an angry purple in the torchlight and his right eye was nearly swollen completely closed. With his head angled forward, blood dripped from his bottom lip and pooled on the ground in front of him.

“Please let him go,” Sammy cried. “He didn’t do anything wrong. This is all my fault. Punish me if you have to but please let him go.”

“He’s hardly without blame. I know he helped you escape. Did you think anything happened in my domain or to my servants without me knowing? As for punishing you, I’d never do such a thing. You have far too great of a future as my host.”

Sammy’s throat swelled and she had trouble swallowing. She didn’t know what it meant to be a host but her imagination ran rampant with possibilities, none of which ended well for her.

“In fact,” the dragon said as it shifted its reptilian head toward her, “untie her. I’d hate for anything to happen to her body.”

A Fire Warrior stepped behind her. His knife slid easily through the leather thongs holding her arms behind her back. Once cut free and feeling returned, Sammy felt the marks on her wrist and upper arm where the leather had cut into her skin when she struggled against it.

“Take Lord Balor and hang him as he is from the front of the castle walls. Let his slow death be a reminder of what happens to anyone who betrays me.”

“No,” Sammy screamed. “Please, you can’t kill him.”

The dragon’s forked tongue flickered between its rows of razor-sharp teeth as it reveled in Sammy’s fear and sadness. “I can and I will. The Fire Caste doesn’t need water as often as regular humans,” it mocked her, “so he’ll be able to last for more than a week hanging crucified from the parapet. It’ll be excruciatingly painful on his body but nothing is too severe if it reminds the rest of who their master is.”

The dragon lowered until it hung just above the ground, mere inches from Sammy’s face. The smell of brimstone was overwhelming and she had trouble catching her breath between hitched sobs. She was paralyzed in the Elemental’s presence, unable even to move as the Fire Warriors dragged her father away. Her sobs only increased as they pulled awkwardly on the yoke and her father let out a cry of pain.

“You might have had more time to prepare for this great honor of serving at my host but your boyfriend has left me no option. He’s claimed the power of the Wind Elemental. The line of the Wind Warriors is dead, which makes it my turn to rule.”

Firm hands grabbed her arms and held her in place as the dragon’s head pulled away. The Elemental rose to its full height, its head and wings brushing the ceiling in the tall chamber.

“This is a great honor, becoming my host,” the dragon said as the membranes of its wings melted into flames. “Few ever get chosen for such a task. You should count yourself lucky.”

Sammy struggled against the grip of the muscular Fire Warriors but her fighting was to no avail. Their grip was unwavering. She turned her head upward as the scales on the dragon’s tail lost their composure and burst into living flames. The transition spread up the length of its body, consuming its back legs and torso as it flowed over the beast.

“I should warn you, I’ve heard this is a very unpleasant experience.”

The flames rippled over the dragon’s head, leaving behind a sheet of flames in the outline of a massive dragon. The blaze poured forward as the head seemed to dive straight toward her.

She opened her mouth to scream but the flames poured into her mouth and nose. The heat was unbearable as the fire rolled down her throat, taking refuge in her lungs and stomach. Sammy tried to breathe but the blaze stole the oxygen from the air.

Her body stiffened as the Elemental flowed into her. She could feel its saturation as the mystical flames soaked into every cell of her body, washing away the woman she had been and replacing it with the Fire Elemental’s essence.

The thought of Xander appeared in her mind and she fixated on the memory of his face. The sadness within her faded as the Elemental took her as its host. The edges of her memory of Xander burned in her mind’s eye, like a photograph tossed into a roaring blaze. The image blackened and curled away from her conscious mind as the dragon overwhelmed all that was Sammy.

She said a silent apology to Xander before her consciousness faded away.

When the flames died, the room was cast into a deep darkness. The fires that had illuminated the room had been swallowed by the Elemental’s transformation.

With a flick of her arms, the two guards holding Sammy in place were tossed easily aside. They crashed into the walls and slumped onto the hard ground.

As she turned, her eyes smoldered with red and yellow flames, casting a faint glow into the dark room. The Fire Warriors near the entrance to the chamber ignited their fists and placed them over their hearts as they bent on one knee to their master.

“Gather the warriors,” the Elemental said through Sammy’s mouth. “The time has come for the Fire Caste to lay claim to the world.”

The first enormous thank you has to go to all the fans that have made the World Aflame series a best seller! Nothing could be done without your support. If it weren’t for you buying the book, supporting my releases, and berating me to finish the next in the series, this would just be a hobby that no one else really enjoyed. You’ve made this series a success and I can’t thank you enough.

A special thank you has to be shared with my fellow Clean Teen Publishing authors. You have created phenomenal stories, with complex worlds and even more complex characters. I hope every one of you enjoys incredible success with your releases.

This series has been successful first and foremost because of my editor, Cynthia Shepp. When I talk about fans berating me, you’re the loudest voice and I appreciate all you’ve done for me. I continue to learn and I promise to limit my use of the word “tacky”.

The biggest thank you has to be shared with a special group of ladies. Beckie, Courtney, Dyan, and Marya, who are the heart of Clean Teen Publishing. You’ve created an exceptional cover (it still looks like a movie poster), interior (even though you have to listen to the demands of a diva author), and marketing/distribution plan that has really made me successful. I can’t thank you enough.

This has been a wild ride so far and the series isn’t done. I’m so excited to show you how the first story in this world wraps up.

Clean Teen Publishing

www.cleanteenpublishing.com

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Burden of Sisyphus (Book #1)

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Purge of Prometheus (Book #3)

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