Born of Fire: The Dawn of Legend (41 page)

The low hood once again concealed his eyes and a gentle voice said, “Hello, DiNiya, I wanted to catch you.”

“Huh…wha…what?” she replied breathlessly as she snapped out of her trance.

“I wanted to come see you and the others in person sooner after what happened in the forest, but was unable to because of my work.”

DiNiya smiled as she exhaled loudly. “No need to apologize. It’s not like any of us expected the whole world to come to a grinding halt because of it.”

“Still, I have known your family for many years and have a personal interest in all of you. When I heard you were attacked, I immediately sent word to be notified if you were all right.”

“I was, and still am. It’s just that a lot has happened lately, and I’m…”

“Trying to make sense of it all.”

“Yes,” she replied, meeting his gaze.

“Well, it seems like you’re doing a good job of it.”

DiNiya laughed. “Then you must be seeing something I’m not. Half the time I’m running around minding the shop because my father is away, or working the fields.”

“You have your brother to help you.”

“EeNox is always off in the forest somewhere doing one thing or another. I’m on my own more often than not.”

“But you have them by your side now,” he motioned towards the others at the table. “The one who has just arrived seems to have developed a particular liking to you.”

“AnaSaya may be my age but has had little to no contact with anyone. The only other female I think she’s really spent time with is KyVina.”

“Ah, yes, her mother. Strange that she would have kept her so isolated all her life. Then again, AnaSaya being a healer of such power makes her a very rare and precious one.”

“The lavender flame,” DiNiya said as she watched AnaSaya.

“Yes,” KyGahl said before looking back down at her. “I was not, however, referring to her in my initial comment.”

DiNiya turned in surprise. “Then…who?”

He motioned again to the table, this time to the broad-shouldered, silver-haired boy sitting on the floor, finishing off the little that was left of the once big fish.

“You mean Rex?” she said, turning back to him.

“He never leaves your side.”

“He doesn’t know anyone else. I mean…not like me, he doesn’t,” she trailed off.

“What about your brother, or father, or even VayRonx, for that matter, who brought him to KaNar? He’s known them for just as long. Why is he so attached to you?”

DiNiya looked as if she wanted to answer but felt the words she sought eluding her.
Why are you interested in him all of a sudden…in me? And whose voice was that I heard? It couldn’t have been his…he was so far and it felt like it came from right next to me…inside me
.

“I suspect that, like you, the day he awoke here was the first time he beheld another with crimson eyes. I can only imagine what that must have felt like.” He regarded Rex now with an almost intense fascination. “But not you, DiNiya,” he said, turning his head towards her. “You know exactly how he felt the moment he found himself caught in the gaze of the red flame.”

DiNiya smiled. “You’ve always had a poet’s tongue, KyGahl.”
But this is the first time it’s made me feel uncomfortable
.

“Spend as much time alone as I do and you find solace in books and scrolls for much of your waking life. Read enough of them and you find that the words become creative outlets of self-expression. That, or they make you sound like a pompous ass.”

DiNiya laughed, which melted away the uncertain feelings that were stirring within her. KyGahl had always been kind to her and had always reached out to her in times when she felt small. Fear had now been replaced by guilt for having felt anything negative about him. It was her own weakness of being self-conscious and to doubt those who had stood by her for so long that she feared was the true cause for worry. Feeling like a fool and needing to somehow reach out to him the way he had always done to her, she said, “You know, you don’t always have to be alone. I understand you have a great passion for science, but you always have a home here. You know that, don’t you?”

KyGahl stared off at the long table of people gathering food and engaging in all manner of conversation. “Thank you, DiNiya. That means more to me than you know,” he said before turning back to look at her. “Especially coming from you.” DiNiya smiled warmly. “Some people in this world, however, feel differently, and, try as they might, cannot help but feel apart from everything else. Like there are hands holding theirs back, keeping them from embracing life to its fullest. I suspect you are no stranger to this feeling.”

The solemn feeling in the air returned. “And here I thought you were done cheering me up,” she said with a half-hearted smile.

“Forgive,” KyGahl replied with a bashful smile of his own. “In any regards, things seem to be looking up for you. I will see you again soon.” He bowed slightly before turning and heading for the doors.

DiNiya watched him leave before refocusing her attention on Rex, who was now hunched over, not moving. The others were standing over him, and AnaSaya’s hand was on his back. DiNiya rushed through the crowd to where they were all gathered. “What’s wrong?” she asked, kneeling down next to him.

“I think I might throw up,” Rex replied in a breathless voice.

DiNiya and EeNox immediately scooted back a bit, remembering the last time Rex got sick.
How could so much come out of one boy
? she thought.

“Oh, shit…I’m so stuffed that I can’t feel my legs.”

“How does that work?” LyCora asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Was hoping you could tell me,” he said as he cupped his mouth.

DiNiya looked up at AnaSaya. “I don’t suppose you could do anything for him?”

“Me?” she asked, pointing at her herself.

“Yeah, you know,” said EeNox, “like a healing belly rub.”

“I suppose I could try.”

“No!” Rex groaned as he held a hand out. “Nobody touch my stomach!”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to try?”

“I swear I’ll cover this table if anyone so much as breathes on me too hard!”

Everyone wrinkled their faces.

“Okay, come on,” EeNox said as he put himself under Rex’s arm and hoisted him up. “Let’s get you some air before you fill everyone’s plates with seconds.”

They made their way upstairs to one of the balconies where they were greeted by the cool night air. Rex lifted his head as the crisp dusk breeze washed over him.

“That’s it,” said EeNox as he brought him over to the railing and let him lean on it. “Breathe it in.”

“Mmm, it’s so nice out tonight,” DiNiya said as the breeze blew through her fur.

“It really is,” her brother said, placing a hand on the railing. “Winter is on its way. Guess that means we’ll be gathering the harvest soon.”

“So soon?” asked AnaSaya. “Those who tend the land in the foothills don’t gather the harvest until the days are at their shortest.”

“That’s because they’re in the lowlands,” explained EeNox, turning and leaning against the edge. “It gets colder much sooner up here in the mountains. Not as cold as ClyVen, though, but still enough to kill everything in the fields if we don’t gather it beforehand.”

“Things are so different here,” she said, gazing out at the lake, which was so crystal clear that it reflected the starlit sky like a mirror. “Back home we have endless rolling hills of purple and gold that sway in the wind like waves at sea. Of course, I’ve never seen the sea, but that’s how my mother always described it.”

“It sounds beautiful,” DiNiya said, leaning against the edge next to Rex, who was still hunched over it.

AnaSaya nodded as she stared off, remembering the hills she had grown up running through barefoot. “It is. I’ve always been happy there. My mother would always tell me stories of all the regions of EeNara, but none compared to when I got to come to KaNar, her home.”

Rex, while appearing to be almost catatonic as he lay practically limp over the railing, listened intently to AnaSaya, who seemed almost as out of place here as he first did when he arrived, despite being of this world. He envied that there was still enough in the place she grew up in to capture a sense of wonder. Earth seemed like a dead world by comparison, devoid of the beauty and splendor that once made it shine.

“It’s strange to hear someone talk so eloquently about our little corner of the world,” DiNiya laughed. “I mean, I understand it’s all new to you, but for us it’s nothing special, just home.”

“Home can be the most special place of all,” AnaSaya said, gazing up to the sky. “Still, I must admit that it has been a lot of fun seeing new places.”

“How long will you be staying?”

“Until my uncle is well again, then mother says we must return.”

“Damn,” said EeNox, leaning back. “Not much of a vacation.”

“Well, VyKia has never exactly been the rest and relaxation type,” mused DiNiya. “Remember how she used to yell at father when we were really little when she’d come to visit?”

“‘BaRone, look how weak and impudently frail your children are growing,’” EeNox said in a boastful voice as he stuck out his chest and put his hands on his hips. “‘At this rate, they would not even serve as an adequate meal for a nest full of CeraVora, let alone grow into successful members of society, you shameful symbol of inadequacy!’” The two laughed while the others simply looked at one another.

“Hey, that just got me thinking,” said DiNiya. “Why haven’t we seen more of you over the years?”

“I’m sorry, but mother always said it was too dangerous for me to spend much time on the road traveling.”

“Too dangerous? Were you sick?”

AnaSaya shook her head.

“How very strange.”

“Well, you’re here now,” said EeNox. “So I say you make up for lost time and enjoy all KaNar has to offer.” AnaSaya looked up at him thoughtfully. “In truth, you couldn’t have come at a better time, seeing as it’s almost time for the Autumn Festival.”

Rex slowly pushed himself up and off the edge. “So why is no one talking about the elephant in the room?” Everyone stared at him with blank expressions. He rolled his eyes and said, “The CeraVora who attacked us.”

“Oh,” said EeNox. “Why didn’t you just say that?”

“I did,” he started before shaking his head. “Never mind. Anyway, has anyone heard anything?”

“Afraid not,” answered DiNiya. “I know Father was meeting with VayRonx to discuss what they’re going to do with him, but I haven’t heard anything beyond that.”

“My mother hasn’t said anything, either,” LyCora added. “Seems like they’re keeping it a closely guarded secret.”

“Maybe,” EeNox said with a sly grin. “But not guarded enough.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m just saying word always slips out no matter how tight-lipped people are.”

“So you’ve heard then?”

“I’ve heard something.”

“Quit trying to be mysterious and spit it out, damn it,” Rex exclaimed in a commanding voice, prompting EeNox to jump.

“All right, all right,” he said, glancing behind them to make sure no one else was nearby, then leaning in and signaling for the rest to follow suit. “Okay, you can’t breathe a word of this to anyone else. Apparently they’re holding him somewhere in town.”

“Stands to reason,” said Rex. “They’re probably holding him for questioning.”

“Yes, but why all the secrecy?” asked LyCora.

“Exactly,” EeNox replied. “Anyone who would attack a member of any tribe on their tribal land has to answer for it to the tribe itself.”

“How so?” Rex asked.

“Usually a tribunal, or at the very least a questioning from the alpha in a public setting.”

“KaNar hasn’t had to do that since before we were born,” DiNiya said, recollecting a scroll she had read once that listed all such proceedings held in KaNar in the past four hundred years. “The last happened when ZinKya was still alpha, if I remember correctly.”

“So even the need for one is a pretty big deal I take it?” asked Rex.

“Considering how few and far between cases like these are?” EeNox said with a nod. “Yes.”

“Could that be why they’re keeping it a secret?” AnaSaya asked. “Perhaps they don’t want to damage morale any further, in light of what happened, or simply just don’t want to scare people.”

Rex shook his head and frowned. “This just sounds like a cover-up, plain and simple. Whatever the reason for why that CeraVora attacked us, they don’t want anyone knowing.”

“You think it has something to do with what happened to you three in the outer forest?” EeNox asked, looking at Rex, DiNiya, and LyCora.

“Don’t you? Whatever is going on around here, it’s bigger than they want any of us to know. Remember how quick they were to get us to just drop what happened? They wouldn’t even talk to us about the sentinel clones, let alone keep us posted on any progress they were having in finding the culprit.”

“He’s right,” DiNiya said in a cryptic tone. “Father and the others have been acting…well, different since the attack. Normally he’s very open about anything, but lately…he’s been distant.”

EeNox rubbed his face with his hands and looked at the ground for a moment, gathering his thoughts. “I was starting to wonder if it was just me. I thought that maybe all of this had begun to get to me,” he said with a faint smile, “what with my sister and friends almost being killed.” LyCora raised an eyebrow at the sound of the word friends. “I remember how you and he have been saying I should spend more time at home, so I went to Father and offered my help in searching for whoever was behind these murders. Do you know what he told me?” DiNiya just shook her head silently. “Don’t trouble yourself with grown-up affairs, son. Why don’t you take your sister and Rex out for a few days in the inner forest and have some fun?’”

“He really said that?”

“Have you ever known him to tell us to ignore responsibility and duty to the tribe?”

“No,” she said somberly, looking down.

“Something has got him rattled, all of them, and they want to keep us far from whatever it is. I want to know why.”

“That’s a good theory,” Rex interjected. “But if that’s really the case, then why keep the person you suspect to be behind the killings right here in KaNar? Shouldn’t they ship him out as far away as they can?”