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  WIND WARRIOR

  Jon Messenger

  Copyright © 2013 by Jon Messenger

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  Cover concept and design by Marya Heiman Copyright © 2013 by Clean Teen Publishing

  Editing done by Cynthia Shepp

  Wind Warrior is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s over-active imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Clean Teen Publishing

  PO Box 561326

  The Colony, TX 75056

  https://www.cleanteenpublishing.com

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Extras

  THE EARTH GIVES WAY TO THE SEA,

  THE SEA BOWS BEFORE THE WIND,

  THE WIND FEEDS THE FLAME,

  THE FLAME BURNS THE WORLD OF MAN DOWN TO THE EARTH.

  Xander Sirocco leaned back in his seat at the back of the White Halls College lecture hall. Reaching up, he rubbed his eyes as the professor droned on in the front of the class. His hands slid down from his eyes and covered his mouth just in time to suppress a strong yawn.

  Brushing his dark hair out of his eyes, Xander looked down at his thick notebook sitting on the flip-out tabletop in front of him. His copious notes were intermixed with doodles of dragons, giants, and cartoonish characters in various stages of murdering one another.

  “That’s cute,” Jessica said from beside him as she leaned over and looked at his drawings. She pointed to a silhouetted figured with a gaping hole in his chest and a cannon ball sitting on the ground behind him. “That one’s my favorite.”

  Xander looked over at the sorority girl and flashed her a smile. “It’s how I felt about halfway through this class.”

  The blonde girl covered her mouth as she laughed, trying not to let the professor hear the disruption. Though the lecture hall was built like stadium seats and large enough to hold over a hundred students, most classes at White Halls contained barely over twenty.

  As the professor continued lecturing, Jessica leaned over again and whispered into his ear. “Are you going to the spring formal next weekend?”

  Xander shrugged. The spring formal was one of the largest events on campus and everyone he knew would be attending. Unfortunately, his grades had been slipping recently and he knew what his parents would say—grades came first. Of course, he knew his grades wouldn’t be suffering if he started paying more attention in class and spent less time doodling.

  “I’ll try, but I can’t make any promises.”

  Jessica pouted and Xander knew his resolve would quickly weaken. He and Jessica had known each other since sharing classes their freshman year. Though they weren’t officially dating, they spent quite a bit of time together and he was sure she wouldn’t be resistant if he expressed interest.

  “I’ll try,” he reiterated.

  “That’s good enough… for now,” she replied impishly.

  Jessica’s expression suddenly changed and she furrowed her brow as goose bumps erupted across her skin. She crossed her arms over her chest and rubbed her exposed skin, trying to warm up.

  “Did they just turn on the air conditioning?” she complained. “It’s suddenly freezing.”

  Xander held out his hand but didn’t notice a draft or breeze. “Do you want my jacket?”

  Jessica nodded and Xander retrieved his pea coat from the seat beside him. She threw it over her upper body and snuggled against the thick jacket.

  “You sure you’re not just having menopausal hot flashes?” Xander joked to the nineteen-year-old.

  Jessica pursed her lips and elbowed him in the ribs. They were both still laughing as the professor concluded his lecture.

  “Don’t forget to read chapters sixteen through twenty before next week’s class,” the professor said as the class stood and collected their bags.

  Xander took his time putting his books and pens back into his backpack. Jessica stood beside him and stretched. Surprisingly, she handed him back his jacket.

  “Feeling better?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” she said with a slow nod. “It’s strange but I don’t feel cold anymore.”

  “Hot flashes. Told you so.”

  She laughed as she threatened to hit him again. “You’re such a jerk.”

  Xander followed her into the corridor and out the back doors of the lecture hall. The room emptied into the building’s foyer and the three sets of double doors that exited onto the aptly named College Street.

  The pair merged with the rest of the exiting students and walked down the wide stairs.

  “Think about the formal,” Jessica said. “You really should come.”

  “I have to run it by my family first.” He held up a hand before she could make a snide remark. “I know—I’m twenty and I live with my parents.”

  “And your grandfather,” she quickly added.

  Xander frowned playfully. “Yes, thank you for that reminder. But they’re paying for college and I still have obligations to them. If I can make it—”

  “You better.”

  “If I can make it,” he said again, “I promise I’ll let you know.”

  A gentle wind kicked up from behind them as they reached the street. It blew across Xander’s back as they walked and sent his dark hair cascading down his forehead and into his eyes, leaving him little visibility beyond the next few squares of weathered sidewalk. He absently brushed his hair aside but a sudden gust of frigid wind threw his hair back into his face.

  “Man, it’s freezing around here,” Jessica said. “I thought it was supposed to warm up in April?”

  “No one told Mother Nature, apparently.”

  “Mother Nature is being a jerk,” she joked. “Which way are you heading?”

  Xander pointed across the street. “I parked in the gravel lot.”

  He rubbed a hand over the two days of stubble that coated his cheeks as another cool breeze blew across him. Despite the chill he felt on the end of his nose and the threatening cold it foretold, he was glad for the warmth his scraggly beard provided. The unseasonably cool weather left him shivering and wishing that the White Halls College had parking closer to campus. The walk from his lecture hall to the parking lot was only a few blocks but the wind was strong enough to gust aside the tails of his pea coat. Xander pulled the front of his jacket closed as he and Jessica stopped at the crosswalk.

  “I have to head back to the Tri Delta house,” she said, motioning the opposite direction from where he was heading. “I’m serious. Think about the formal.”

  “Hey Xander,” a heavyset student said, pushing his way up beside the pair.

  “Hi Sean,” Jessica said flatly as she looked at the man with disdain.

  Sean wore a big smile, which matched the large Captain America T-shirt he wore proudly beneath his thin windbreaker. Xander found the smile infectious and, despite the cold, found himself smiling in return.

  “How’s it going, Sean?” he asked.

  Sean shrugged. “I didn’t think I’d catch you when you came out of class. I had to run the whole way here.”
r />   “Color me impressed,” Jessica said sarcastically.

  Xander shot her a sour look but let the smile return before he looked back at Sean.

  “I’m glad you did. You park in the gravel lot?”

  Jessica placed a hand on Xander’s arm, getting his attention. “I’m going to go ahead and take off. Call me and let me know if you can go.”

  She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. With a light wave, she turned and walked away.

  “Go where?” Sean asked.

  Xander sighed as he watched her walk away. “She wants me to go to the formal with her.”

  “Is it possible for you two to go together and not have her talk all night? She’s hot, but really annoying.”

  Xander laughed despite immediately feeling guilty. “You be nice too. Anyway, anything new with you?”

  Sean stroked his chin. “I’m still struggling with my freshman fifteen three years later, so no, not really.”

  Xander laughed again. Sean and Xander looked odd, standing side by side. Xander had been blessed with good metabolism and had always been athletic. No matter the horrible college food he ate—and he had eaten his fair share of pizza and microwave macaroni and cheese—he stayed thin. Sean, however, wasn’t nearly as lucky. He’d been struggling with his weight since they met in middle school but college seemed to give him a chance to stop worrying about impressing people and be happy. It was food that made Sean happy.

  “How are your folks?” Sean asked.

  “Folk-y,” Xander replied with a shrug. “It’s hard enough to be in college without having to live with your parents. I’m pretty sure I’m drifting further and further away from ‘cool’.”

  “Don’t forget your grandfather lives there too,” Sean chided.

  “Thanks,” Xander said flatly.

  Sean beamed another smile. “No problem. You doing anything fun this weekend? If not, come over to the apartment.”

  “I don’t know if I’ll be able to fit it in. I’ve got Yahtzee with the family, and then I might mix it up and try a game of—”

  Xander stopped in midsentence as a man rudely pushed his way past, talking loudly on his cell phone. As the man pushed past, he knocked Xander’s backpack free from his shoulder. The swinging weight of the book-laden bag nearly knocked him from his feet.

  “Excuse you!” Xander said as he righted himself.

  The man ignored Xander and kept pushing his way toward the front of the throng of students. The front students parted as the man approached, cued into his presence by the grumbling of all the other students behind them.

  “What a jerk,” Sean grumbled.

  “Yeah,” Xander replied.

  He watched the man reach the edge of the curb and step out into the street, despite the light still glaring an angry red “Don’t Walk” hand. Xander quickly glanced down the street and his eyes widened in surprise as he saw one of the city buses hurtling toward the intersection.

  “Watch out!” Xander yelled but the man didn’t hear him.

  The man stepped into the street, oblivious to the danger. The bus driver saw the suited man and stepped on the brakes. The tires on the bus locked and screeched loudly but the momentum drove it forward. It wasn’t going to be able to stop in time to avoid hitting the man.

  Xander heard a whisper in the air, a haunting melody that seemed to speak to him. The gentle breeze around him grew stronger as the wind seemed to pass through his body. In an instant, he felt an incredible surge pour through him, roaring from his abdomen to his extremities. The wind around him seemed to respond to the surge and his hair whipped chaotically as he stood in the center of the maelstrom. Involuntarily, he threw up his hands and the surge of energy rushed from him in a violent gust of wind that ripped through the crowd. The funnel of wind roared through the students and into the street, just as the bus collided with the man on his phone.

  The man was thrown from his feet and crashed onto the street, his cell phone shattering as it skidded into the intersection. The bus came to a sudden stop with a hiss of decompressing air brakes. For a moment, everyone stared in stunned disbelief until finally the first of the girls in the front of the crowd screamed.

  Some of the students rushed to help the collapsed man as the bus driver opened the door and hurried down the bus’ steps.

  “Oh my God,” the bus driver moaned as he rushed to the man’s side. “He stepped right out in front of me. There wasn’t anything I could do! Is he—?”

  “He’s okay,” someone said with obvious surprise.

  In the center of the encircled students, the man stood up and brushed off the grime that had collected on his suit.

  “There’s not a scratch on you,” one of the sorority sisters said. “How is that possible?”

  “I didn’t even feel a thing,” the man said, stupefied. “It was like I was hit with a pillow. That’s it!”

  Sean and Xander stared in disbelief. Xander’s hands shook as he lowered his arms and the strong wind suddenly died away. He felt drained, as though he just spent hours in the gym.

  “That was awesome,” Sean gushed. “Did you see that?”

  Xander nodded weakly and pulled his pea coat tighter around his body.

  “You feeling okay?”

  “Yeah, just suddenly tired.”

  Sean pointed at the crosswalk light, which suddenly glowed with a bright white “Walk” symbol. “The guy looks fine. Let’s get out of here.”

  They walked in silence down College Street, stepping gingerly over the uneven pavement. They rode the crests and falls of the cracked sidewalk like the cars of a rollercoaster.

  When they were out of earshot, Sean laughed with nervous excitement. “That was so cool, man. He just walked away after getting hit by a bus. He should have been flattened!”

  Xander looked over his shoulder to make sure no one could hear their conversation.

  “I think I—” he began before deciding better.

  “You what?” Sean asked.

  Xander shook his head. “You know what, it’s crazy. Never mind.”

  “Consider it never minded.”

  They strolled into the gravel parking lot and weaved through the lines of cars until they reached their equally pathetic vehicles.

  “You still want to come over this weekend?” Sean asked.

  “Yeah, sure,” Xander said distractedly.

  “Awesome. Take care. I’ll see you then.”

  Xander waved as Sean climbed into his car and drove off. The smile hung on his face until he slid behind the wheel of his car. For a long moment, Xander just held on tightly to the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. His heart thundered in his chest and a cold sweat broke out on his brow. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so scared. He bounced his knee nervously as he thought about the strange sensation of the wind pouring through his body. He had trouble believing he had been responsible for saving that man’s life, but he couldn’t explain the surge of power he felt or the crazy winds that suddenly sprang up.

  He slapped the steering wheel angrily, wiping away his crazy thoughts. “It couldn’t have been me,” he muttered.

  Turning the key, his car started with a loud cough of black smoke out of the exhaust pipe. Dropping it into drive, he pulled out of the parking lot and turned toward his parent’s house.