Free Wind Warrior by Jon Messenger

putting the
duties of the caste above my duties as a father. I think he knew
that I was disappointed when he didn’t become a Wind Warrior. I
swore that it wasn’t too late to be a decent father, so I became a
father and grandfather rather than a warrior.”
    Xander was surprised by the depth of his
grandfather’s answer. He never considered the sacrifices the elder
man had made—first for the caste and then after for his family.
    “ So if we’re Wind and Sammy
is Fire, then there are whole other groups of Earth and Water
Warriors running around too, right? How come I’ve never heard
anything about them?”
    His grandfather shook his head. “Because
there are no Earth or Water Warriors left. There wasn’t even a Fire
Caste until a few decades ago.”
    Xander sat forward on the bench. “Where did
the others go?”
    “ They died.”
    Xander looked mortified but his grandfather
dismissed his concerns with a soft chuckle.
    “ No one killed them, if
that’s what you’re thinking. Each element serves its purpose,
helping the evolution of the planet, but no two castes ever exist
at the same time.”
    Xander remembered something Sammy had said
in the dilapidated house. “Earth gives way to the sea, the sea bows
before the wind—”
    “— the wind feeds the flame,
and the flame burns the world of man back to the earth. I see
you’ve heard it before.”
    “ Sammy said it to me—the
Fire Warrior.”
    “ Well, she’s a smart girl.
Dangerous but smart.”
    “ If no two castes can exist
at the same time, how can there be Fire Warriors now?”
    His grandfather looked solemn. “I think you
can figure out that answer.”
    “ It’s because our time is
coming to an end, isn’t it?” he sighed.
    The old man nodded. “There used to be
thousands of us but we’ve slowly been growing old and passing on
without leaving new Wind Warriors to take our place. You’re the
first new Wind Warrior in over twenty years.”
    “ How many of us are
left?”
    “ Too few,” his grandfather
replied sadly. “Far too few. The Fire Caste has been born because
our era is nearing its end.”
    “ Wait, the prophecy says
that the flames burn the world of man. What does that
mean?”
    The elder shrugged. “Exactly what it says.
Don’t look so surprised. Nearly every religion has a prophecy about
the end times, when the Earth as we know it is destroyed and reborn
anew. Christians have Revelations. The Norse had Ragnarok. This is
just our version of the same story.”
    Xander stood and turned toward his
grandfather. He couldn’t believe the man he’d known all his life,
the man who showed so much compassion for everyone he met, was so
calm about the end of the world.
    “ They’re planning on
destroying the world. How are they not our mortal
enemies?”
    “ Because they’re not,” his
grandfather replied gruffly. “They’re not evil people. They’re
fulfilling their role in the natural cycle of
evolution.”
    Xander leaned forward until his face was
inches from the old man’s. “No, they’re not. They’re trying to kill
us. There’s nothing natural about that.”
    “ I will admit that trying
to kill us isn’t part of the plan. It sounds to me like there’s an
offshoot of the Fire Warriors who don’t want to wait their turn,
especially with a new Wind Warrior being activated after so many
years. Before you, they might have just been content waiting out
their turn for a few more decades.”
    “ How do they even know
about me?” he said, walking away from the bench and staring up at
the clear night’s sky.
    “ The same way I knew about
you. We’re all connected through the elements. When one of us uses
our abilities, everyone else can sense it. We used to use that
ability whenever a new Wind Warrior reached the age so that we
could bring them into the fold. I guess it makes sense that Fire
Warriors have the same connection to us, though that’s just
speculation.”
    Xander cursed himself quietly for being so
stupid.