“No,” Xander whispered, as he stared at Sammy. “This is a trick.”

The Fire Elemental stepped forward; the ice melted beneath it with every step, sluicing into a stream that refroze behind it. “It’s no trick, Wind Warrior. This body is why you fight, isn’t it? There are no altruistic reasons in this battle, other than to save the woman you love. Well, that woman is gone, claimed as my host.”

Xander staggered backward as though he had been kicked in the chest. It suddenly made sense, why the Water Elemental had seemed so reluctant to discuss Sammy and her fate. She had known what Sean and Jessica had assumed all along. Sammy was gone, claimed by the Fire Elemental. Hosts didn’t survive the process; Xander had been told over and over.

“I don’t believe you,” he said defiantly, his vision blurred by the welling tears.

The Elemental scoffed as it climbed higher out of the ravine. “Your eyes don’t deceive you. We Elementals can do many things, but shape changing isn’t one. We have a true form, and we have a host for passing amongst the humans. You’ve seen the true me, even had it trapped in the ice. This is the only other form I can assume, the human skin I wear.”

Xander turned away from the sight, looking instead toward the scorched and ruined forest along the shore. Everything he’d done, he’d done to save Sammy. She couldn’t be gone. She was far too much like him, perhaps the only person who truly understood everything he’d been through and would continue to go through, as he claimed Elemental powers.

“Give up this charade,” it said. “What you fought for is gone; there’s no more reason to resist the natural order. Allow my Fire Caste to complete its mission and reduce humanity to ash. Perhaps, with the power of both the Water and Wind Elementals, you can help shape the next dominant species to work in harmony with the planet, rather than against it. Be a better guide than your predecessors.”

Xander didn’t hear its plea. He was thinking of all their times together, his and Sammy’s. When he had first met her, it had seemed like love at first sight, a concept Xander hadn’t even been sure he believed in before that moment. He had even dumped Jessica just to spend more time with Sammy, never knowing all along that she was a Fire Warrior sent to kill him.

It wasn’t as though he hadn’t questioned their odd connection. Xander was a natural skeptic and certainly questioned why a beautiful woman was suddenly interested in a directionless college student. Then he discovered the truth. Their connection wasn’t random. It wasn’t even love at first sight. They were created similarly, part of the grand design of the world. He had been designed to harness the power of the four Elementals while she had been nurtured to be the next host for the Fire Elemental. They were far more alike than they had ever realized.

“We’re alike,” Xander mumbled, raising his head and wiping away the streaks of tears from his face.

“There’s no reason for this senseless war to continue,” the Elemental said, oblivious to Xander’s inner turmoil. “Stop fighting and this will all be over before you know it.”

“We’re alike, she and I,” Xander said, turning toward the pit. He was surprised to see Sammy standing before him, the heat from her naked body radiating from her in waves.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying you’re full of crap,” he said angrily. “Sammy and I were crafted to be alike. It was in our genes, genes your kind helped cultivate in the both of us. That’s why we always felt so connected to one another. I can hold the power of two Elementals within me without losing myself, and I’m willing to bet Sammy’s the same way. You made the perfect host, but I’m willing to bet you made her just a little too perfect.”

The Fire Elemental shook its head emphatically, its ragged, blond hair shaking like a mane. “Your love is lost. Accept reality, Xander Sirocco.”

The Elemental stared intently at Xander, its reptilian eyes practically burning with an inner fire. Then, nearly quicker than Xander could see, the bright red eyes turned blue, a beautiful shade of blue Xander knew all too well. He had stared into those eyes every day, longing to love the woman behind them. As quickly as they changed, however, they turned back, returning to the fuming red.

“Sammy?” he whispered.

The Fire Elemental sensed the shift, a momentary lapse during which its infernal host claimed possession of their shared body. It had only been the briefest of moments, but it had been enough. Xander had seen something change in its face and now he knew that she was still alive, against all possibility.

It howled angrily, an unnatural noise from such a diminutive woman. It swung a closed fist that Xander didn’t dodge. He stood transfixed, staring at Sammy as though she’d reemerge. The fist connected with the side of his head, but carried far more weight and power than Sammy could have managed. The focused might of the Fire Elemental struck Xander, lifting him from his feet.

He launched into the air, flying not of his own volition for once. Crashing into the far shore, he tumbled end over end. A cloud of dirt and grass was tossed into the air in his wake.

For a long moment, Xander had trouble concentrating. His mind couldn’t wrap around all that had happened. Sammy was alive, trapped within the Fire Elemental! Everything he had hoped was true, but it was the Elemental who was clearly still mostly in control.

He tasted a metallic tinge in the back of his throat as a wave of pain washed over his face. Absorbed as he was with the fact that Sammy was alive, he hadn’t realized the damage the Elemental’s punch had done. As he came to a rest, staring skyward, he reached up and gingerly touched his cheek. Pain lanced from his touch and his fingers came away slick with blood.

As he started sitting up, Sammy’s shadow fell over him. He raised a hand to defend himself but couldn’t bring himself to summon his powers. The Elemental was trying to kill him, but all he could see was his girlfriend. The Elemental was right. Killing it would mean killing Sammy, too. Now that he knew Sammy still existed inside, trapped, he couldn’t bring himself to do her harm.

The Fire Elemental reared back and kicked him in the ribs. He heard the breaking of bones as he was lifted from the ground and thrown into a tree from the force of the kick. Slumping onto the ground, he coughed, blood spilling from between his lips.

“You won’t fight back, will you?” the Fire Elemental asked as it stomped toward him. The ground sizzled underneath its feet. “You care more for this body than you do for your own safety, don’t you?”

It stopped beside him and knelt down. With a gentle push, it rolled Xander over onto his back. “You’re a fool, Xander Sirocco, and you’re going to die because of it.”

The Elemental raised a fist and drove it downward into Xander’s chest. In a moment of desperation, he summoned a blanket of air to cushion the blow. The force of the strike shredded his meager defenses and drove him into the ground. The soft soil split as his body sank. Concentric rings of torn ground radiated outward from his chest and the trees nearby shook, dropping leaves onto the ground.

“Fight back!” it demanded.

Again and again, the fist came down on his chest. His body reacted instinctively, keeping a barrier of dense air between his broken body and the punches, but each one broke more of him.

Xander’s vision swam, and he had trouble focusing on the world around him. His body was on fire, he hoped figuratively rather than literally. Each gasp of air seemed to come through a throat and lungs filled with broken glass. His own spit dripped into the back of his throat, causing him to cough. Blood splattered over his face and ran down his cheek

The Fire Elemental drove its fist down once more. Sammy looked nothing like his loving girlfriend as she attacked Xander. Her features were twisted in rage and her blonde hair hung over her eyes, blocking her vision. Xander didn’t notice.

With the last punch, the world came into sharp relief. He saw the cloudy French day overhead, the clouds drifting lazily across the sky as though pulled by an unseen hand. The few branches above him swayed gently back and forth, their branches nearly barren of leaves. The pain fled from his body, leaving him in a state of serenity. A small voice in the back of his mind cried out in panic, knowing that serenity was the last thing he wanted to experience in a moment like this. The rustle of fallen leaves rolling across the forest floor quickly drowned the voice out.

The Fire Elemental climbed to its feet, brushing the wayward strands of hair out of its face. Its chest heaved from the exertion, though its face was wrought with a sadistic glee at the sight of a broken Wind Warrior before it.

“You thought your humanity might save Sammy from her fate, but your humanity has been the death of you. Your unwillingness to fight back has killed you. When you’re gone, reduced to nothing but ash, my host’s last hope will die as well and the rest of humanity will soon follow suit.”

It raised its hands over its head. A flame grew between its hands, growing steadily in both size and intensity. It glowed brighter as the Elemental focused more and more of its power. The air shook as it tried to contain pure elemental power but failed. The ball of fire grew until it nearly touched Sammy’s hair, which whipped madly beneath the chaotic orb. The color ran the spectrum, ending as it had in the gullet of the dragon at a brilliant white. Xander could only see the effect from the corner of his vision, but it was like looking at a second sun. He squinted and tried to look away, but his body refused to cooperate.

“Goodbye, Xander,” the Elemental cried as the fireball reached its pinnacle of might.

“No!” Sammy cried, her voice emerging from her own mouth for the first time in a while.

Miraculously, Xander was able to turn his head inquisitively at the sound. The ball of swirling flames over her head dissipated, evaporating into superheated air that was washed away by the cold breeze. The smoldering red of her eyes were replaced once more by stunning blue and the rage on her face had melted to heartbroken concern.

“Xander,” she whispered with a sad smile. “I’m so sorry.”

He moved his lips, but nothing came out. Tears welled in his vision as he stared at the woman he loved. A tear escaped, rolling down his cheek and cutting through the filth on his face.

Sammy’s lips moved again, but it wasn’t her voice that emerged. “Stop this!”

Her eyes flickered between blue and red as both entities fought for control. Sammy’s skin began to smoke from an unseen heat. The smoke turned from gray to a light red as it coalesced behind her body. Slowly, from the depths of the smoke, a winged and scaled shape began to emerge.

Sammy’s arms lifted out to her side as her head tilted backward. She stood with a shadowy figure of the dragon behind her, both similarly positioned with their heads facing skyward, her arms silhouetted in front of the red, leathery wings.

As quickly as the dual image appeared, the smoke was reabsorbed into Sammy’s body. Her arms dropped back to her side and she lowered her head, looking once again toward Xander’s prone body. Gone was the blue, replaced entirely by the dragon’s eyes. Her sad smile grew more malicious as the Elemental reclaimed control over its host’s body.

“This ends now!” it hissed.

Xander turned his head away as his vision wavered. He was struggling against unconsciousness and felt a pain in his chest unrelated to the damage done to his body. If he fell asleep, the Elemental would kill him and he’d lose any chance of saving Sammy. Now that he knew she was still alive, his hope was bolstered for the first time in what felt like a lifetime.

The second sun began to form between the Fire Elemental’s hands as it recreated its destructive power. Xander knew he needed to do something, but he lacked the energy. None of his elemental powers seemed to respond to his summons. He was helpless, broken, and weary, lying on the ground before the monster in Sammy’s body.

“Once again, for the last time this time, goodbye, Xander.”

It raised its hands far over its head as it prepared to bring the fireball crashing down on top of him.

A horn blared suddenly as headlights fell over the Elemental. It turned its head confusedly just as a dilapidated truck slammed into it. Sammy’s body flew out over the ice as the truck came to a sudden and abrupt stop beside Xander. The ball of flames flew harmlessly aside, dissipating once again as it left the Elemental’s control.

The door closest to Xander flew open and a much different blonde woman climbed out.

“Did we just hit Sammy?” Sean asked as he leapt out from behind the driver’s side.

“Who gives a crap?” Jessica replied. “We need to get Xander into the back of the truck.”

Sean ran around the hood of the truck but paused to inspect the damage. There was a large dent in the hood and water poured from the busted radiator. Steam seeped from around the edges of the hood, but the engine was still idling.

“They just don’t make them like this anymore,” Sean said, admiring the truck’s sturdy construction and minimal damage after hitting a person at nearly fifty miles an hour.

Jessica knelt beside Xander and cringed. His face was swollen and some parts of his body seemed to be lumpier than they should have been. She wanted to lift him but wasn’t sure if she’d just be doing more harm than good. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Sammy laying unmoving on the surface of the frozen river.

“Do you think we killed her?” Jessica asked nervously.

Sean stepped beside her and stole a glance toward Sammy. “No idea, but did you see how far she flew when we hit her? She took off like a rocket.”

Jessica ran her hand affectionately over Xander’s broken face. His eyes fluttered briefly before closing. “He’s still alive at least. I don’t know how much longer he would have lasted against the Fire Elemental.”

“You mean the one that, officially, has taken over Sammy’s body?” Sean asked. He stared at the naked woman once more. “You do think the Fire Elemental’s in there, right? I mean, I didn’t just ruin some seriously touching reunion or anything, did I?”

“She’s possessed all right.”

Sean sighed. “That’s a relief. And for the record, I told you we’d find Xander if we just followed the dragon.” He lowered his voice to a barely audible mutter. “I told you we didn’t need a map.”

Jessica ran her hand over Xander’s neck and shoulders, finding more broken bones than she cared to admit. “I don’t know if we should move him. We might kill him if we do.”

Sean looked down, really seeing Xander for the first time. He blanched, the humor immediately draining from his face. “Oh, God. What did she do to him?”

“Not her,” Jessica corrected. “It.”

Sean glanced back again toward the ice at the reminder that the monster was far more dangerous than it appeared in the guise of Sammy. As he watched, the Elemental lifted an arm and placed it awkwardly onto the ice as it tried to find purchase. Sean grabbed Jessica by the shoulders and moved her out of the way.

“We need to move him,” he said hastily.

“I told you it could kill him if we do.”

“I’ll take that chance since I know that thing will kill us all if we don’t.”

Jessica looked to the ice as the Fire Elemental placed its hands down for support. It was clearly disoriented and in pain but recovering quickly.

“Yeah, we need to go now,” she agreed.

“Get in the truck and put it in gear. I’ll ride in the back with Xander.” As Jessica rushed toward the truck, closing the passenger side door as she went, Sean reached down and slipped his hands underneath his friend. “I’m so, so sorry about this, because I’m pretty sure this is going to hurt like a bitch.”

Sean lifted Xander, but the Wind Warrior didn’t make a sound. The only thing Sean heard was Xander’s labored breathing and his own pounding heartbeat. With his best friend in his arms, he ran to the back of the truck and climbed into the bed, avoiding the few areas where rust had eaten through the metal and he could see the ground below. He sat down, placing Xander beside him, and cradled the man’s head in his lap.

“We’re in! Go, Jessica!”

The truck sped backward as she reversed through the trees toward the road nearby. The Fire Elemental slid its knees beneath it but was moving far too slow to stop the retreating truck. They crested the road with a jarring bump before she turned north and sped back toward the barn.