“I don’t know where we’ll go after Paris.” Sean sighed. “You’re right; I’m kind of driving blindly here. I was just kind of hoping there would be a sign by now, something that would tell me where Xander ran off to.”
Jessica opened her mouth to reply when a dark shadow fell over the truck. An infernal screech pierced the cab, deafeningly loud even with the windows rolled up. Sean slammed on the brakes, and the truck slid to a stop amidst the gravel on the shoulder of the highway.
As quickly as it had appeared, the shadow passed over them. They leaned forward in the cab of the truck and stared toward the sky overhead. A red-scaled tail dragged through the sky behind a bulbous body that was mostly hidden by the clouds. With a sharp, downward stroke of its wings, the dragon caused enormous eddies in the clouds, which circled before dissipating in its wake.
A belch of fire lit up the clouds like lightning moments before the dragon disappeared from view, heading south and east toward Paris.
Sean opened his door slowly and stepped onto the running board. The wind felt warmer as it fell on his face. The air smelled strongly of sulfur and brimstone, and the moisture in his mouth seemed to dry up and turn to ash. He licked his lips dryly before climbing back into the truck.
“I think we’ve found our sign.”
It was a tidal wave, rolling over the French countryside. Xander had felt it make landfall a few minutes earlier and since then, the weight of its presence had been sweeping steadily toward him, unwavering from its path. His breath came in labored gasps as he struggled, not just against the feeling of its elemental power, but also against his growing fear. He had told Sean and Jessica that he was a warrior; that he was finally manning up and accepting his responsibilities, but nothing scared him more than knowing he was standing in a clearing next to a river awaiting the arrival of a dragon.
The wind billowed angrily around him, an involuntary response to his chaotic emotions. The river beside him lapped furiously at its bank, threatening to overflow and spill across the causeway on which he stood. His hands felt like ice, which he knew was probably accurate as his breath escaped in small clouds.
When the forest grew still and quiet around him, he knew it had arrived. The wind died and the river ceased its incessant boiling. The world turned silent, as though the planet itself held its breath at their inevitable meeting.
The silence was split by a reptilian screech, something Xander had only heard before in badly dubbed Japanese Godzilla movies. From the churning sky overhead, the red dragon dipped from the clouds, diving toward his position. It was terrifying, staring at a creature out of children’s fairy tales suddenly come to life, pursuing him doggedly across the world. For a moment, he imagined standing at the end of a runway as a 747 came in for a landing.
The Fire Elemental opened its mouth and howled again, its roar deafening. Spittle flew from its open maw as it revealed rows of dagger-like teeth, protruding taller than Xander’s forearm.
Though his inclination was to turn and run, Xander stood his ground in the face of the beast. His mind was abuzz with different scenarios, ways in which he could use either the wind or the water to his advantage to defeat so fearsome a beast, yet nothing seemed quite enough when face to face with the enormity of his task ahead.
The dragon plummeted toward the earth in a blur, hurtling toward Xander. At the last moment, it arched its wings, slowing its descent and twisting its body so that its clawed feet struck the ground first in an earthquake-inducing crash. Xander stumbled but maintained his balance.
Standing on its hind legs, the Fire Elemental stretched its wings and tilted its long neck skyward. The weak sunlight that fought its way through the clouds filtered through the leathery wings, drenching the Wind Warrior in a sea of red light. With a belch, flames shot toward the heavens in a spray that quickly fizzled, filling the air instead with the acrid smell of smoke.
It dropped its front legs to the ground, shaking the soil once more. With all four clawed feet firmly entrenched on the ground, the dragon leaned forward so that it could stare derisively at Xander.
“I have long anticipated this meeting, Wind Warrior,” the dragon hissed, its forked tongue darting from between its sharp teeth. “I have been foolish in sending my minions to end you. I should have become far more personally involved in your demise.”
“I’m not dead yet,” Xander replied defiantly, though he felt anything but. He stared into the Elemental’s draconian eye, which was half as tall as the man himself.
“You are, even if you don’t yet realize it. You reek of fear. It would take nothing more than a strong wind to knock you over.”
Xander clenched his teeth as he tried to regain his composure. “Then it’s a good thing that I control the wind, not you.”
The dragon’s laughter shook Xander, vibrating through his body. “There is a difference, Xander Sirocco, between possessing the power of the wind and controlling it. I have had a thousand of your lifetimes to master my powers. Do you honestly believe that absorbing the Wind and Water Elementals would be enough to destroy me? Your wind powers feed mine, or do I need to remind you?”
Xander had learned that lesson all too well during his fights with the Fire Warriors. “Maybe, but I’m pretty sure fire isn’t too fond of water, unless I’m mistaken.”
The Fire Elemental swished its tail, knocking over thick trees in its wake. “Opposite sides of the elemental wheel, to be sure, but without the Earth Elemental, you’re nothing. I shall enjoy destroying you.”
Xander stared at the beast, though it seemed wholly disinterested in anything he had to say. It craned its neck as it looked around the ruined countryside, as though admiring the handiwork of its subjects for the first time. In the distance, it could see the broken spires and twisted, melted metal of Paris and its scaly face twisted into a sadistic smile.
He had no idea what it would take to stop a creature of this size, but Xander had one thing going for him. The dragon greatly underestimated him. People had been doing that his entire life, most recently General Abraxas. He had destroyed the general in London because he thought Xander weak, much like the Fire Elemental did now. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage.
“You think you’ve already got this won, don’t you?” he yelled, drawing the dragon’s attention once more.
“I won this war the moment it began. Destroying the world is my destiny.”
“Yeah?” Xander asked. The water at the edge of the river ebbed and flowed as though the tide were coming in, its water soaking into the ground near Xander’s feet. “I’ve been hearing a whole lot about destiny for the past few months, and you know what I’ve discovered? Destiny is an absolute load of bull crap. You haven’t won a single thing as long as I’m still standing.”
The forked tongue emerged, licking the dragon’s lips excitedly. “You’re far too right, Wind Warrior, yet you seem foolishly deceived about our roles in this battle. You view yourself as the champion, the underdog struggling against the oppressive destroyer. The truth is that I’m not the villain, you are. Since the planet was formed, an agreement has existed between the four Elementals. The other three would guide humanity, helping them achieve their potential as a species. Yet I existed as a balance. Should humanity ever overstep its bounds and become a hindrance to the world, I would awaken with the sole purpose of destroying the human race.”
Xander set his jaw angrily, clenching his fists. His tennis shoes sank slightly in the overly saturated ground, the water seeping from the base of the plants nearby as the ground continued absorbing water from the river.
“You’re wrong,” he said. “Humanity isn’t ready to be destroyed. If it were, there wouldn’t still be a Wind Warrior alive. You don’t get to destroy humanity until the Wind Caste has officially failed in its mission.”
“You already have,” the dragon replied, frustrated. “Humanity has spread like a plague, raped the planet of its resources. You see your wars as a battle between two sects of humanity but ignore
the irreversible damage done to the surface of the planet with every bomb you drop. You fail to see the encroaching desert, consuming once fertile land now left desolate due to massive population surges. Your race is unsustainable, and I won’t let the world suffer because of your hubris.”
“You’re so fixated on all the bad humanity has done that you’re blinded to all the potential good. The artwork, the technological advances, our missions to the planets. How can you say humanity has reached its peak?”
The Fire Elemental stomped in place, each footfall shaking the ground. It huffed angrily, blasting thick smoke from its nostrils. “I never did. This isn’t about humanity reaching its utmost potential. This is about humanity reaching the tipping point beyond which the elements may never recover. This is the natural order of things: birth, development, and eventual destruction. I’m the bringer of order whereas you’re the renegade, the agent of chaos. You, like humanity, must be destroyed.”
Xander shook his head. “You’re not order. I’ve seen the world. It’s in chaos, all because of your kind. It doesn’t matter, though, because you’re wrong. You may think it’s time for humanity to be destroyed but obviously, the rest of the world disagrees. If it were really your time, I wouldn’t exist. If the planet agreed with you, I’d already be dead.”
The dragon stomped its foot and Xander heard the telltale sound of squishing, spongy ground. Water began bubbling up from the imprint left behind by its massive, clawed foot.
“I couldn’t agree more, Wind Warrior. That’s something I intend to rectify!”
The Elemental’s head launched forward, its maw open as it tried to swallow Xander whole. It approached blindingly quick, but Xander held his ground unflinchingly. It drove forward, its long neck extending as it stretched toward the stubborn Wind Warrior.
Xander waited until he could practically see his reflection in the dragon’s teeth before he sprung his trap. The ground before him erupted as spears of ice, frozen river water that had saturated the ground as they talked, launched skyward.
The Fire Elemental sensed the surge of elemental power in a heartbeat, just before the spears launched toward its overextended neck and face. It reared back, its front legs lifting from the ground as it tried to withdraw.
The spikes of ice rose rapidly in the air, buffeted by a sudden gust of wind, but most passed harmlessly wide of the retreating dragon. A particularly wide and sharp spear, however, struck the dragon squarely beneath its eye, slicing through the thick, red scales. The Elemental turned its head aside at the last moment, protecting its eye even as its dark blood dripped from the fresh wound. Where the blood struck the ground, it sizzled like lava.
The dragon howled in rage before launching itself into the air, the buffeting wind from each flap of its wings nearly knocking Xander aside.
“I’ll kill you for this,” it howled. “I’ll kill you slowly. I’ll let you watch as I devour you piece by piece!”
It rose into the air, though Xander had no illusion it was going to leave. The dragon disappeared into the clouds, but he could follow its movement by the jets of flames illuminating the sky.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Xander muttered to himself.
The Fire Elemental emerged from behind the clouds in a dive, though Xander had no illusions that it was going to stop like it did the last time. Its red eyes smoldered, burning brilliantly even in the sunlight. It screeched as it sped toward him.
The temperature around Xander dropped substantially as the dragon grew closer. Frost formed on his clothing and hair and every exhale sent another cloud of steam rising from his lips. Despite the cold, Xander didn’t shiver. He didn’t notice the biting cold, even as the damp ground beneath his feet became a solid sheet of ice.
As it opened its mouth wide, Xander could see the furnace in its gullet burning brightly. Flames at the back of the dragon’s throat roared to life, squirming like snakes as the heat built. Xander swallowed hard at the sight, knowing it was the moment of truth for him and his poorly devised plan.
The dragon’s neck bent as it inhaled sharply. The flames in its gullet turned from orange and red to nearly a searing white. Xander stepped back for support, the toes of his shoes biting into and cracking the frosted ground behind him. He raised his hands and fought the strong urge to close his eyes as the dragon grew closer.
Flames erupted from the Fire Elemental’s mouth as it soared overhead, fire pouring from its mouth like napalm. Plants near the tree line were the first to be struck by the viscous, dripping fire. They ignited instantly and burned furiously before being reduced to ash within seconds. From the moment the fire hit the ground, Xander could feel the intense heat washing over him, cutting through his arctic wind. He cringed as it grew closer, searing the ground, leaving the soil dry and cracked.
As the flames raced toward him, Xander summoned the remaining water nearby, creating a frozen wall before the blaze. Between him and the ice wall, arctic air filled the void until Xander’s ears popped from the suddenly increased pressure. He turned his head away just as the pouring flames struck his barrier.
The ice evaporated under the onslaught, turning to steam that filled the air around him. Frozen air filled the void, absorbing what moisture remained from the dissolving ice. As the fire rushed toward him, Xander felt the power surge within him, an overwhelming sense of might he hadn’t experienced before. The wind wasn’t as much summoned as it billowed from within. The cold wind struck the fire, holding it aloft. Fire washed over him but remained feet away from his body as the wind formed a bubble in which Xander remained protected.
Even alive, Xander felt as though he was dying. The heat was oppressive, scalding his outstretched arms even as it passed harmlessly overhead. His exposed skin turned first pink and then angry red. Small blisters formed on his palms and forearms as sweat began matting his hair. His clothes steamed, and the heat stole the breath from his lungs. His mind drifted to his first battle with Sammy, in which he trapped her in a similar bubble. In that instance, it had been her fire that had threatened to burn away all the oxygen within. Now it was Xander in a protective bubble, but the outcome was the same. The oxygen was burning away with no hope of being replaced so long as the fire continued.
He wasn’t sure how much more he could endure. If the flames didn’t end soon, all his accumulated power wouldn’t matter; he’d be dead just the same.
As quickly as it began, the dragon finished its soaring pass and the flames died away. The searing heat all but vanished, quickly replaced by his own cold winds, which felt refreshing on his scorched skin. With the flames gone, the world around him was consumed by thick smoke. His powers kept the smoke at bay, but he couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of him.
A summoned gust of wind carried the smoke away, pushing the black cloud out over the already soot-filled river. With it gone, he could see the utter destruction all around him. Every bit of foliage had been burned to cinders. The thicker trees were felled but burning embers still rested in their cores, though Xander was sure a nudge from the toe of his shoe would make the entire trunk collapse into charcoal. A small circle remained around him, dried and withered but still green amidst a sea of black ash.
He tilted his head skyward and watched the dragon turn for a second pass. His plan had worked once, but Xander was feeling exhausted from the effort, not just from the lack of oxygen but also from the intense drain from using such a huge wellspring of power. He didn’t want to face another flaming barrage, though he could already see the Fire Elemental opening its maw and inhaling deeply.
He wished there was a way to take away the air it needed to breathe, the oxygen required to make its internal blaze. He doubted he had the strength to create a bubble around its head, like he had done before against the Fire Warriors.
Xander smiled. “I may not be able to steal the air from your lungs, but you need air for more than just breathing fire.”
His eyes turned white as he concentrated. He could feel the air
being pulled into its lungs in massive gulps, but he ignored it. Instead, he focused on the air flowing around the dragon’s body, billowing beneath its wings and keeping it aloft. Like pulling a rope, Xander jerked the wind backward. The air beneath the dragon’s wings went still. The leather flaps no longer fluttered as it flew. Instead, they drooped beneath the Elemental’s belly.
The dragon turned its head warily as it realized its lift had been stolen. With a panicked cry, the Elemental plummeted much quicker toward the ground than it had anticipated. Its original angle of descent would have taken it just over Xander’s head once more, where another searing blast awaited the nervous Wind Warrior. Instead, it angled toward the river below.
It turned its head away as it crashed into the water, sending a wave pouring over the shores on either side. Xander remained dry in the middle of the spray of water, though the moisture was soaked greedily into the dry ground around him. The water crested the natural sides of the river, overflowing as far as the road behind where Xander stood, before quickly receding back into the river proper. The large wave rolled downriver, washing away much of the collected debris.
The water’s depth didn’t come close to covering the dragon. It lay awkwardly within the riverbed, its head barely held above the water’s surface while one wing was crumpled painfully beneath the bulk of its body. Its front legs were submerged, though the back ones stretched with its tail onto the far shore.
Xander changed his focus from the wind to the water. An undertow suddenly appeared within the river channel, pulling the dragon further into its depths. The Fire Elemental struggled against its watery prison, trying to free itself even as its head began sinking beneath the lapping waves.
The dragon sucked air in between its teeth. Xander foolishly believed it was drawing in a deep breath before disappearing under the water. As it exhaled a second later, Xander was stunned as a stream of flames shot in his direction. He dove aside, the flames barely missing, but his concentration was broken.
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