Born of Fire: The Dawn of Legend (26 page)

Rex, stop!
came EliCia’s voice once again.
Do not walk down this path again. You know where it leads!

All they ever do is hate and fight me…and each other
, he told himself as his flame pulsed.
I will never allow myself to fall victim to the likes of them. Never forget the life they subjected me to, or the hate that they forced into me!

With those final words, the silhouette of a monstrous beast rose in front of him. There it hovered in silence before two lavender glowing eyes opened and it erupted into flame of the same color. Rex felt anger grip him like nothing he could ever remember doing. Then he heard it, a distant cry calling out something he could not make out.
Whose voice was it though
?
Why did it sound so familiar
? The beast’s flames began to engulf him, and he could feel DiNiya slipping away. “
No
,” he whispered.

His blood turned to liquid fire, and he let out a mighty roar with an explosion of crimson flame, instantly overtaking the burning lavender beast and causing it to vanish. His flame burned into DiNiya’s, which resonated with his and grew in turn.

Back on the outside, only a few brief moments had passed, and FyNasia watched in awe as a red flame emanated from Rex’s hand and DiNiya’s chest.

“He’s doing it,” she gasped, watching as the two began to glow, ablaze within a beautiful red radiance. DiNiya’s eyes suddenly shot open as a gasp escaped her lips. “DiNiya,” FyNasia exclaimed, sliding her paw behind her head to prop her up as Rex’s flame suddenly disappeared and he fell backwards. She moved quickly and caught him with her other paw, finding herself cradling both of them.

“Rex!” DiNiya cried out. “Rex, what’s wrong? Wake up, please! What happened to him?”

“I’ll explain later,” FyNasia replied. “But right now we need to get you two out of here.”

“But is he—?”

“He’ll be fine. Trust me…it will take far more than that to kill him.”

“FyNasia,” NyRo called out. “Catch!” He threw TarFor over to her, and she caught him in her teeth and slung him limply onto her back. “Get them all out of here!”

“NyRo, come back to me alive! Do you hear me?”

“You have my word, love,” he replied as he turned and slashed one of the creatures with his paw.

DiNiya jumped on her back behind TarFor. “Hold on tight,” she said to the girl as she bent down and gently picked Rex up in her jaws like a cub, and then she turned and took off running into the forest.

DiNiya glanced back and saw one of the shadowy foes running for the tree line after them, but it was suddenly blasted back by a ball of blue flame. Turning quickly, she saw LyCora riding up beside them on TyRoas.

“I thought you were dead,” DiNiya exclaimed in surprise.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” LyCora replied. Her gaze quickly shifted to Rex and TarFor. “Are they—?”

“They’re alive,” DiNiya said quickly.

“Good,” she said, visibly relieved.

Back in the clearing, NyRo and the other two OroGon had moved to the center as all their dark assailants surrounded them.

“All right,” NyRo said. “Now that we have no one to get in our way, let us end this.”

The three of them bellowed loudly, their deep roars carrying through the forest. The shadows, however, remained undaunted and continued to move in. Igniting their flames, the three cats moved with lightning speed, running around the outside of the clearing. Faster and faster they moved until their incredible speed created an emerald ring of fire around the entire perimeter of the clearing, trapping the shadows in its center. Higher and higher the burning ring rose until it passed even the canopy. The three of them leapt from the flaming wall, landing in the center of the clearing amongst all the undead monstrosities who instantly rushed them. With another roar, the flaming walls closed in and consumed them all.

DiNiya and LyCora heard a loud, concussive blast and turned to see a small green mushroom cloud climbing into the sky. FyNasia and TyRoas stopped running to look back. The air was once again silent, still from the aftermath of battle just as it had been when they first arrived. They all watched intently for any sign of life from the way they had come, but there was nothing. Just a lonely gust of wind that carried with it the scent of scorched vegetation.

“NyRo,” FyNasia said softly as she felt her heart sink.

Then came the silhouette of three large felines, moving slowly out of the gloom.

“He made it!” shouted TyRoas as DiNiya breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

The three of them walked up slowly and surveyed the group. “Everyone all right?” NyRo asked.

“I don’t know,” replied DiNiya. “Rex and TarFor won’t wake up.”

NyRo looked them over closely then said, “We need to get them home.” He walked up ahead to lead the way, but his back left leg gave out momentarily.

“NyRo, are you all right?” FyNasia asked, running up to his side.

“I’m fine,” he said with a laugh. “I think I overdid it a bit back there. Just a bit.”

“You should have VoRenna look at you when we get to KaNar,” she said urgently.

“It’s nothing I can’t heal on my own.”

“Please,” she insisted. “For me?”

He stared into her big green eyes and conceded. “All right, love, but don’t forget we have bigger problems than just our health to worry about now.”

“We’ll have to break the news about the SoNarvora tribe to their relatives in the north,” said DiNiya somberly.

“True, but there’s something else. We have an enemy in our midst.”

The scene in the bedroom was a somber one as DiNiya checked TarFor’s bandages. They were in one of the guest bedrooms of their home where they had returned five hours earlier after the battle in the forest. TarFor had yet to awaken, and she worried that he might never, even though her father assured her that his flame was currently healing him from within. She finished checking the last of the bandages, walked out of the room, closed the door behind her gently, and rested against it.
What is happening?
she wondered.
What happened to our peaceful lives
? She was finding it difficult to get a handle on the current reality of things. Her life had never exactly been normal, but at least she always had the support of those she loved. Now, however, it was those very people who were being hurt, and she was unsure if she could stand to lose any of them. She pushed herself off the door, trying to shake off all despairing thoughts as she made her way back downstairs to the others.

Everyone was gathered in the kitchen. Dark storm clouds rumbled outside as if to set the mood. The air in the room was grim and foreboding to a point where it almost felt tangible. BaRone stood on the far side of the room, conversing with NyRo and FyNasia at the window. LyCora and EeNox sat by TyRoas, conversing in hushed tones. Rex sat at the far right side of the table with his head down. Despite practically being in the same state as TarFor, he had miraculously awoken just prior to them entering town. All had not been well, though, for he had displayed signs of severe disorientation. Upon arriving, VoRenna had tried to make him lie down, but after Rex refused insistently, she settled for him simply sitting so he could regain his bearings. DiNiya walked over and sat next to him. She wanted to say something comforting but found herself at a loss for words. So instead, she settled for the obvious question. “How are you feeling?”

Rex simply replied, “Alive.”

“Well,” she said with a slight smile. “That’s at least something.”

“I suppose so,” he replied, laying his head back down and staring forward at nothing in particular. He never felt comfortable in serious situations.
Hell, I don’t feel comfortable in any situation
. When things grew serious, he was already too detached from everyone around him to really be affected by it or even be involved. Things were different now, though. He knew these people—knew their names, knew their faces, and knew they seemed to care about him. Try as he might, he simply could not just turn it off like he always had. He sat back up and looked over to LyCora, who had given up on her sarcastic outward demeanor and resigned to staring down at the table. Rex was surprised to have seen her bounce back so quickly. According to her, “All blue flames can draw life energy from EeNara itself far better than any of the other flame types.”

“With the exception of one,” DiNiya had been quick to add. “Those possessing a lavender flame are the most proficient, but like my father already explained, to master such a great power is exceedingly more difficult than any other form of discipline regarding the varying capabilities of flames.”

“DiNiya,” BaRone called over to her. “How is he?”

DiNiya looked down, afraid to tell him the truth even though she was sure the look on her face said it all. “He’s hurt worse than we thought,” she finally replied.

“Can his flame not heal him?” asked VoRenna from the corner where she was squatting down, concealing most of her body in her thick plumage.

“It’s trying, but it doesn’t seem to be enough,” DiNiya said. “It looks to be suffering from…” She trailed off as the realization of what she was about to say dawned on her for the first time. “How could I have been so stupid and not have noticed?”

“Not notice what?” asked EeNox as he stood up from the table and walked closer to the group.

“He seems to be suffering from the same thing Rex was when he first arrived.”

As if on cue, everyone turned to look at Rex, who was leaning on his arms on the table. “What?” he asked, feeling anxious at the sight of all eyes on him.

“Tell us again how you came to be here?” asked EeNox.

“I told you, I don’t remember!” Rex barked back with more ferocity than he had planned.

“Nothing at all?” he asked more insistently.

“No, nothing,” said Rex slumping over in his chair. “Nothing but bad dreams.”

“Why so persistent, son?” asked BaRone.

“Because ever since he arrived, the forest has been acting strange.”

“So you think Rex is responsible?” DiNiya asked, shocked that her brother would suggest such a thing.

“Maybe not directly, but we can’t ignore that his arrival was one of several strange occurrences on the Northern Continent.”

“A fan of his I might not be,” said TyRoas. “But it’s still not right to hold him responsible simply because he happened to drop in at a bad time.”

“Didn’t stop you,” Rex grumbled.

“TyRoas is right, EeNox,” BaRone said. “Looking for someone to blame just because we want to establish blame is wrong.”

“Could everyone please stop talking about me like I’m not here?” Rex said angrily.

“I’m sorry,” BaRone replied apologetically.

EeNox turned to Rex and gave him a pleading look. “Listen, I’m not saying you purposely brought this whole thing down on us, but you have to admit it’s a big coincidence that around the time you arrive we are marred with so many tragic events?”

Rex wanted to say something, wanted to lash out as he always did when he felt backed against a wall. The truth of the matter, however, was that he didn’t know if he was somehow responsible or at the very least connected to what had been happening in some way. His memories were lost in a dense haze when he reached a certain point of recollection. Still, he refused to believe based on what he knew to be true about himself that he would ever purposely go out of his way to do the kinds of things that EeNox was suggesting. He was no murderer and resented the fact that someone would think him one. “I’m no murderer,” he said at last. “My life was on the line out there just as much as DiNiya’s and LyCora’s. I’m sorry about what happened to TarFor, I really am, but I did not do it.”

Everyone remained silent, many holding their heads low. “It started close by the coast,” NyRo suddenly spoke up. “A lot of the sea life that we normally saw had been disappearing, and then many of the river-dwelling species started moving upstream too early in the season.”

“Not many things could have such a large-scale impact on the local ecology like that,” said DiNiya.

“You’re right,” BaRone said with a heavy sigh as he looked over to NyRo, who met his gaze in silent acknowledgment. “In fact, given the signs, it would seem that there is really only one possibility, and it makes me more than a little scared.”

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” EeNox said, slightly annoyed that his father had apparently figured it out so quickly when he had been trying to for so long.

“Think about it. First the sea life right off the coast starts thinning, then juveniles start being killed just a little further up on land near the edges of the forest. Shortly thereafter, tribes start moving further east. Now one gets completely wiped out not far from where we sleep. On top of that, all evidence that might have pointed to the identity of the mystery killer was destroyed by a terrible act of destruction, one that also left behind a security system that intended to eliminate anyone who might find the killing grounds.” Everyone stared at him expectantly. “This isn’t the work of some rogue predator. Whoever this is, they have been gaining strength and slowly moving up the food chain. They seem to have an eastern trajectory that puts us all square in their path.”

“KaNar might even be the end of their path,” said VoRenna.

“You mean this person might be coming here for a reason?” DiNiya asked with a look of dread. “But why? What could they hope to accomplish by attacking a settlement as large and populated as KaNar?”

“She’s right,” FyNasia said. “I don’t care how powerful they are, this killer couldn’t hope to take on an entire tribe this size. Why would they even want to anyway?”

“We keep assuming there’s only one of them,” said NyRo. “I think we need to start considering the likelihood that there is more than one perpetrator behind all of this. How else could they affect the ecology on such a large scale? I mean, not even a super predator like VayRonx could do this amount of damage on his own. There have to be others.”

“Well, if that’s true, then KaNar really may be in danger,” BaRone stated gloomily.

“The ash of the dead,” said LyCora. “It took on the form of those it had once been. Plus they burned with blue flame. How could such a thing be possible? How can ash be alive?”

“It wasn’t,” said VoRenna. “Well…not exactly, anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

VoRenna gave her daughter a troubled look before scanning the room and seeing faces awaiting an explanation. “When I was a child in ClyVen, my father told me a story. Rather, he gave me a history lesson. He said that the war brought with it blue-flamed DraGons of untold power, of untold abilities. After all, the blue flame is one of manipulation, able to hold sway over all living things when in use by one who had complete mastery over its power. Such a power even extended to the remains of the dead.”

“Yes, but these things were beyond death,” explained Rex. “There were no physical remain still intact. All that was left was the ash itself.”

“Yes, but ash can still be a byproduct of a living thing. Stories and ancient texts speak of DraGons who could use their blue flame to reanimate the ash of the fallen, and turn them into weapons. Sentinel clones, my father said they were called. Battlefields were used to manufacture these necro-warriors to pick up the slack when their armies were stretched thin. The perfect weapon: mindless, obedient, and above all else, lethal.”

“I still have a hard time believing all of this,” said LyCora. “Neither you nor anyone else has ever told me anything of this, and you taught me everything.”

“I may have taught you everything I know, but it is hardly everything. In truth, no one knows the true measure of the blue flame’s power; however, we can infer based on historical records that many of the DraGons were using it in ways we had never dreamt of or knew how.”

LyCora was doing her best to process everything she was hearing. All her life her mother had been a beacon of truth and knowledge, a guiding light in her understanding of the natural world and the scientific pursuit of knowledge of all things relating to the power of flame. Now, however, came talk of what sounded like mysticism: ignorant notions born of superstition…

Rex had been listening quietly this entire time, doing his best to take in and make sense of everything that was being said. Perhaps he was having a better time coming to terms with all that had transpired because, for him, everything about EeNara was like something out of a dream. As strange as it even sounded to him, the idea of sentinel clones seemed to fit right in with a world filled with creatures that had the power of the cosmic fire that gave birth to the cosmos themselves. He, however, sensed that his burgeoning understanding of EeNara might prove to be a handicap rather than an asset if he could not distinguish between what was natural and what was uncommon in this world. At last he decided to venture a question of his own. “Why would somebody do that? Use the dead to fight?”

VoRenna regarded the young red flame for a moment as if trying to discern the possible hidden meaning behind his question. To Rex’s relief, she quickly relaxed and answered. “It could be used for several reasons,” she explained. “Like I said before, the most obvious is to give oneself an army that they could control entirely on their own. That way they would be able to wage an enormous battle without having to use any living combatants to conserve resources. Living bodies need to eat and sleep, but the dead are beyond such mortal necessities. The second would be to continuously reuse warriors fallen in battle so they would never need to replenish their ranks, thus conserving precious numbers in war. There is, however, one other reason why the manipulation of the fallen could prove beneficial.”

“Fear,” Rex said, meeting her eyes.

“Precisely,” she said with a slow nod. “The notion that your enemy will stop at nothing to eradicate you is a daunting one. Seeing those you loved, those who before stood behind you and fought alongside you in battle, now twisted and manipulated in a perverse display of life and death, coming to tear the life out of you. Think of what such a sight can do to one’s mind, what kind of effect it would have on the enemy ranks. The idea that your foes were so committed to the destruction of everything you are that they would even send the dead after you would strike such a chord of fear in anyone that it could potentially unravel even the most disciplined of warriors.” Rex regarded her with cryptic silence as an uncommon fear spread through him like icy frost. “In short…it is someone’s way of saying there are no means which they won’t utilize to kill you.”

Everyone seemed to be feeling the same cold chill that Rex was. In truth, he was almost sorry he had asked. This place that he had thought was paradise now contained something that scared him, something the worst human on Earth could never do. The idea of such a dreadful power being real had been something difficult for him to initially accept, but over time it had become more a part of his notion of reality. Even so, the addition of those who could control the dead was a whole new level of surrealism.

“This is the first I’ve ever heard you talk about any such thing,” said BaRone. “And we’ve known each other for a very long time.”

“That is because there is nothing to say on the matter,” VoRenna replied. “There has not been a blue flame capable of such power since the war, and even then, they were DraGons.”

“How do you know that?” asked Rex, crossing his arms.

“Because sentinel clones were created by the DraGons,” she answered.

“So you’re saying only DraGons could make them?”

“I really can’t say, but in theory every being born of the blue flame has the potential to develop the ability to perform such a feat, but only DraGons had the gall to use the remains of the fallen for their own ends.”