Born of Fire: The Dawn of Legend (109 page)

“Are you two all right?” AnaSaya asked, eyeing them both with concern.

“Nothing that should prove permanent,” ShinGaru replied, feeling somewhat relieved.

“Speak for yourself,” EeNox said as he rotated his right leg and winced. “Damn, I think it’s sprained!”

“Can you walk?” LyCora asked.

“I’m going to have to,” he replied less than enthusiastically. “Question is, where to?”

“Up, by the looks of it,” she replied, motioning to the top.

“Wait a minute,” AnaSaya interrupted. “The other Highwings. I don’t see them…”

“They didn’t make it,” NyEssa said, stepping next to her.

“Oh no,” she gasped. “NyEssa…I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to act as if—”

“I understand, young one, so do not burden yourself with guilt,” the alpha interrupted, spreading her wings slightly. “They were brave, proud flames who died for a noble cause.”

“You’re assuming we’ll win the day,” EeNox replied somberly.

“I was talking about them saving your lives,” NyEssa corrected, evoking looks of surprise from the four of them.

“But…but we’re not important,” AnaSaya said. “No better than anyone else in the world.”

“And thus just as precious as everyone else in it,” NyEssa said, bringing them in close with her wings. “We fight not for some grand purpose, but for you, our children.”

“But…these DraGons threaten our future,” EeNox said, feeling smaller than he ever had. “Don’t the needs of the many outweigh those of the few?”

“And if the whole world felt that way, we would have no future. Besides, what future would any of us have without our precious children?”

The four of them felt their hearts well up with emotion for the first time since their lives changed. They had been through so much together, and now realized they were nearing the end of the journey, one they might not return from alive. Still, even if this morning’s sunrise was destined to be their last, they felt no regrets, for they had forged new bonds of friendship that could fill lifetimes.

There was a sudden sound of an explosion that drew their attention below. Gazing all the way down, they saw what appeared to be the glow of numerous flames.

“It’s VayRonx,” said a male Highwing. “The attack has begun! NyEssa, we must move quickly, while the DraGons are distracted!”

NyEssa nodded. “All right now, you four, stick close to us and we will get you to your friends.”

“But how?” EeNox asked. “I don’t see any openings.”

“They must have some way of getting from the top to the inside of the tower,” said ShinGaru. “Something that wouldn’t be obvious to anyone not familiar with the tower’s inner workings.”

They scanned the ceiling far above them for several minutes, when suddenly one of three large circular rings on it began to glow.

“What the hell?” EeNox said as he cocked his head to the side.

From the circle came a narrow beam of white light, which struck a similar circle directly beneath the one above. From it materialized a fiery form, which quickly took on that of a flesh and blood DraGon. Stepping out of the circle, the knight regarded the six of them in wide-eyed surprise.

“What?” he bellowed. “How did you get in here?”

Wasting no time, NyEssa and the other Highwing shot forward, driving their beaks into the DraGon’s chest. He gasped breathlessly before collapsing to the floor, dead, a pool of blood spreading out from beneath him.

“This way,” NyEssa said.

The other four all ran up to the circle and regarded it nervously. “Is this thing safe?” EeNox asked warily.

“Looks like we’re going to find out,” LyCora said as she bravely took the first step into the ring. “Coming?”

EeNox took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and leaped in, only to find that nothing happened. Opening his eyes, he saw LyCora giving him a strange look. He quickly looked away now, feeling embarrassed. Then, in an effort to sound stoic, he called over to the others. “Okay, it’s safe.”

ShinGaru and AnaSaya glanced at one another, then stepped into the ring with the other two and awaited for the Highwings to join them, when suddenly three more circles above illuminated, and sent down more beams of light, which resulted in three more DraGons materializing.

“Hurry and get to the top, now!” NyEssa ordered. “We’ll be right behind you!”

“We can’t just leave you!” AnaSaya cried back.

“She’s right,” EeNox said. “Come with us!”

“Kill them!” one of the DraGons roared upon seeing them.

“We’ll hold them off long enough for you to get to the top safely,” NyEssa said. “Then we’ll follow you up! Now go!”

“But…we don’t know how,” LyCora said despairingly.

All of a sudden everything around them went white as their bodies became weightless. There was no sound or smell, and before any of them could even formulate a thought on their current state, everything went dark. Several seconds passed before they could once again feel the weight of their own bodies and the world come back into the light. They were instantly startled to see themselves mere meters away from the enormous beam of red flame. “Holy shit!” EeNox said in awe as he craned his head back to take in the whole thing.

“The sky,” AnaSaya said. “There’s a huge hole in it!”

Far above them a rift in the sky stretched for several dozen kilometers, which seemed to be a doorway to some other place. As to where or what that place was, none of them could say. The distant wail of something echoed from it. “What in the world was that?” EeNox asked.

“I think…it’s some form of doorway,” ShinGaru replied, rearing up on his hind legs. “Can you feel it? Flames…hundreds of them, no—thousands!”

“So that was their plan all along,” LyCora said as the gravity of the situation came crashing down on her. “They’re opening a door to their world. They’re bringing the whole of their army to EeNara!”

“Look there, it’s DayKar,” AnaSaya said.

EeNox looked at the huge DraGon, then ahead of him to the large black stone structure rising out of the tower itself. Peering in closer, he was immediately surprised by what he saw. “Hey, look! At the base of the flame! It’s them…DiNiya and Rex! Looks like you were right, LyCora!”

“I knew it!” she exclaimed enthusiastically, causing all the DraGons to turn in their direction. “Oops.”

“Kill them!” DayKar roared.

The four of them scattered as seven DraGons descended upon them, gnashing their teeth and spewing fire.

“So what now?” EeNox cried over to LyCora.

“Why are you asking me?” she called back as she ducked under one of the DraGons and shot a blast at his underbelly. The DraGon collapsed and rolled on his back, moaning, while holding his stomach.

AnaSaya was doing her best to avoid the biting jaws of another who was hot on her tail, and voraciously doing her best to close the distance between herself and the small DroMevora. Seeing that she was quickly nearing the edge, AnaSaya spun around, hooked one of the sickle claws into the DraGon’s cheeks, and launched herself up and over it. The DraGon, now furious, roared as she placed a hand on the side of her face. “Damn you!” she bellowed as she pushed off and charged after AnaSaya on her hind legs.

“Uh oh,” AnaSaya said with a chirp as she crouched down, standing her ground.

Lunging forward, the DraGon dropped back down to all fours and was practically on top of AnaSaya, when she seemingly dropped out of sight. The DraGon barely had time to halt when she felt a sharp pain rip through the armor of her underbelly and into her stomach. Curving her long neck down to look underneath her, she was alarmed to see the young DyVorian hanging upside down, hooked into her underside with her claws. “Get out from under there, you little pest,” she cried angrily, preparing to fire a blast.

“Wait,” AnaSaya protested. “You can’t!”

“Where were you about ten seconds ago?” the knight replied sarcastically.

“No, I mean if you breathe fire at me now, you’ll burn yourself too!”

“A fair point. So what would you have me do? Just stand here and let you cling to me like some parasite?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she replied in a mischievous tone.

Sinking her claws in deeper, AnaSaya managed to tear off a chunk of armor and bury the end of her snout into the DraGon’s stomach, digging in deeper with her small serrated teeth before firing a ball of flame deep into the DraGon’s innards. With an ear-piercing shriek, the DraGon reared back and fell on her side as AnaSaya scampered out from underneath. With a heavy thud, the DraGon fell forward with her arms tucked underneath, clutching the burning hole in her stomach. “H…how is this…any better?” the beast coughed and sputtered as she fixed her dying eyes on AnaSaya.

“I didn’t mean for you, of course,” she replied innocently, cocking her head to the side. “I just meant it would have been bad for me if you fired before I had a chance to get out of the way…really thought that would have been obvious.” To her own surprise, she did not feel the same uncontrollable pull to drain her enemy of her very life force like she had two days ago. Rather, she felt a type of control over herself the likes of which she had never before experienced.

“Damn you,” the DraGon said in a failing voice. “Damn you…for making me…die…like this…”

AnaSaya watched her laborious breathing slow then come to a stop. With a sigh, she looked down for a moment before a familiar cry of pain pulled her back into the moment. Turning, she was horrified to see a DraGon with its jaws clamped down on ShinGaru’s tail. “Oh, no, ShinGaru!” Wasting no time, she raced over to him and, using her sickle claws like meat hooks, dug them into the Dragon’s armor, climbed her way up and over to his head, then began viciously biting the brow ridge of his left eye. Letting go of her friend’s tail, the knight reared up and swung his head furiously from side to side in an attempt to shake her off. In an effort to not be tossed aside, AnaSaya sunk her claws deep into the DraGon’s face, causing him to tense up before slamming his face into the ground, creating a wide indentation where AnaSaya lay unconscious.

“You idiot!” DayKar called over. “Stop putting dents in my tower!”

“I’m sorry, my lord,” the DraGon apologized. “I just wanted—”

He was cut off by something choking him around his throat, just behind the base of his lower jaw. Glancing down, he saw the gold, scaly, and furry serpentine hide of ShinGaru wrapped around him. He gasped for air but found himself getting less with each breath. Slowly the world began to dim all around him as he felt like his head was lazily floating away.

ShinGaru was straining all the muscles in his body as hard as he could. The irony of the situation was not lost in him, for he had spent his whole life trying to find peaceful means to always resolve his problems, rarely ever resorting to acts of aggression; however, the sight of AnaSaya’s battered body lying motionless in the smashed-in surface of the tower sent a surge of rage through him unlike anything he had ever experienced.
Now I understand you, Rex
, he thought to himself as he contorted and twisted the whole of his form until he heard a loud snap. It was then that he felt all the fight in the DraGon vanish. Releasing his grip, he saw his adversary’s head fall limp, his tongue hanging out from beneath long dagger-like teeth and eyes devoid of any fiery glow.

DayKar watched as a second of his knights fell victim to the four young warriors who had now proven themselves a legitimate threat. Stepping away from LemaRes, he fixed the foursome with a fearsome gaze. “If you want something done right…”

With a bellowing roar, VayRonx slammed into the base of the tower alongside dozens of other warriors. Instantly they were bombarded by an array of assaults from DraGons, who rained fire down on them. “Smash your way in,” VayRonx commanded. “This is not over until the tower is ours!”

Several large cracks began to appear in the side of the tower, sending a surge of panic through the DraGons. Looking down from four levels up, PeroDay watched in horror as their stronghold shook from the power of the DyVorian army at their gates. “Damn it!” he cursed, turning his head skyward to the otherworldly sound emanating from the rift. “We’re so close!” Leaping into the air, despite not having fully recovered from his last battle, he raced down the length of the tower and over the army below, pounding it with powerful blasts of fire. The DyVorians shrieked in pain and anger, much to his delight. Preparing for another pass, he noticed that some of those that had come possessed more than a passing familiarity to him. “So it’s them,” he said at last, recognizing VayRonx and the others from the attack in KaNar. “I told DayKar they would come despite his warning. No matter.” Turning to the other knights, he spoke to rally them to what he hoped would be a formidable defense. “All of you on my wing, now!” Turning, they all swooped down low for another pass.

“Hey, VayRonx!” NyRo called over. “Recognize him?”

“Yes, indeed,” VayRonx replied, eyeing the large brown DraGon with a stern stare.

“I say we indulge ourselves in a little revenge,” TarFor said, raising a flaming fist.

“What do you think this is, you daft fool?” VyKia exclaimed as she pounded the side of the tower with blast after blast.

“True enough, but it’s always that much sweeter when you can strike at the face of your enemy.”

“Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast,” NyRo said, “because he’s coming back with more of his friends!”

All heads turned skyward as they were engulfed by the great shadow cast by the horde of DraGons. VayRonx and VoRenna instinctively threw up shields to protect against the DraGon’s fire.

“Here they come!” BaRone said. “NyRo, can you give me a lift?”

“Hop on,” he replied, lowering his head. BaRone leaped up onto his shoulders. NyRo crouched low, charging his flame before springing directly up into the air. In what would have only taken the time to blink twice in real time, NyRo and BaRone joined flames, concentrating them to their center of mass, before exploding up and out.

PeroDay watched as the green flame came racing directly at him, and without giving it a second thought, grabbed the knight next to him and used him as a shield. The other DraGons had no time to get clear of the wave of fire that swept through the air, canceling out their flames, causing them to collapse in the angry mob below, which wasted no time in tearing them to pieces. PeroDay could hear the young knight he was holding shrieking in terrible agony, and could feel him thrashing about wildly as his wings burnt up and his armor begin to melt into his skin. He was not a perfect shield, however, and soon PeroDay felt the armor plating on his shoulders, wingtips, and lower legs begin to burn painfully. At last the flaming onslaught ceased, and he looked up to see the extent of the damage. The knights who had been with him had fallen into a sea of horns, club tails, and serrated teeth. A far crueler fate than what had befallen the poor young knight he had reduced to a meat shield, and was now a lifeless corpse of melted armor and charred flesh. Turning him around, he stared into the empty sockets that only moments ago contained two blue eyes filled with terror. He wondered what must have been going through his mind as his body was being burned alive.