Flame Caller

by Jon Messenger

  “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?”

&nbs
p; “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 rela
tives 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.”