Born of Fire: The Dawn of Legend (47 page)

“Not this time,” NiroTy replied, shaking his head. “My parents had to stay behind because of work, so they sent me up with a group of KaNar merchants.”

“They sent you alone?” Rex asked, sounding more than a little surprised.

“Not alone, with merchants,” the little one replied as if Rex had not heard him properly.

“People are really trusting here it would seem.”

“Everyone looks out for each other,” explained TolNy. “Unity brings strength and a degree of security not found when one is alone.”

“Did you really not know that?” his grandson asked inquiringly as he reared up, putting his shorter front limbs on the counter to bring his face closer to Rex. “Where are you from exactly? My grandfather never said.”

“California,” Rex replied dryly.

“Hmm. Is that on the Western Continent?”

“It is somewhere,” Rex replied with a bemused look.

“Come now, NiroTy,” the older StyNovora said. “Rex hasn’t the time for an inquisition. Not when the praise of a young beauty is at stake.” DiNiya began to turn as red as her eyes while Rex just rolled his. “So what do you say, boy? Care to put your skill to the test?”

“Sure,” replied Rex. “Why not?”

“Excellent! NiroTy, take your position.”

“On it,” his grandson replied, dropping back down below the counter and taking his place beneath the elaborate contraption, down with the roots where he immediately linked up with the tree. “Okay, I’m ready down here!”

“All right then, Rex. Just give the word.” Rex gave a quick nod as he focused his flame into his hands. “Hit it!”

The candles began to rotate in random circles over a seven-meter spread, slowly picking up speed as they went. Taking a deep breath, Rex allowed his flame to flow up and down through his arms like a stream before jabbing a fist forward, launching a small fireball that instantly struck one of the candles nearest him, successfully lighting it.

“Well done,” TolNy said. “Six more to go.”

“Nice shot, Rex,” EeNox echoed. “Keep it up!”

“Try minimizing the amount of power you’re using, though,” LyCora instructed before giving him a more pressing look as if to say,
Remember what we talked about?

With a quick nod, Rex returned his attention in front of him, and this time fired off a blast only half the size, scoring a second hit. Everyone cheered and Rex felt his confidence spike. Tracking the candles’ movements with his eyes, he began to feel as if he was moving with them. Taking aim, a third time, he fired directly at two candles as they lined up with each other, lighting them both, before taking another shot which lit the one in front of him but missed the one behind. Feeling a ping of frustration, he noticed the candles were now moving faster.

“I wouldn’t hesitate too long,” TolNy said. “Time is running out, and the longer you wait, the faster the candles move.”

“Go on, Rex, you can do it,” EeNox encouraged.

“Yes! Yes!” AnaSaya said, holding up two clenched fists with a look of excitement.

“It’s okay, Rex,” DiNiya said. “It’s really not a big deal. I don’t care if you light them all or not. Just try to have fun.”

Rex looked crestfallen at the sound of her words; the red glow of his flame around his hands faded.

“A little encouragement would go a long way, dear sister,” EeNox whispered through clenched teeth as he leaned in close to her.

“I just don’t want him stressing himself out over me,” she replied in the same hushed tone.

“So you cut his legs out from underneath him?”

“Something tells me it’s not his legs he feels she’s cutting off,” LyCora added, leaning over to ShinGaru, who suppressed a laugh by covering his mouth.

“I can hear every word you’re saying,” Rex called over.

“They just started moving quicker,” AnaSaya exclaimed, pointing to the candles.

Rex gave DiNiya an inquiring look, who in turn gave a nod of her head and said, “Light them up.”

Rex gave a silent nod before turning back to the moving targets. With an outstretched hand, he began firing off small blasts in rapid succession, when suddenly one missed its target and struck the tarp behind, catching it on fire. Everyone jumped back as the intense heat could be felt almost as if singing the very top layer of skin. Within seconds, the entire booth caught fire.

“Uh oh,” Rex said as he watched the fire grow rapidly out of control. “NiroTy!” Rushing forward and grabbing the stand with one hand, he effortlessly lifted the wooden barrier off the ground and threw it aside before running in and pulling the young DyVorian free. Turning back to the rising flames, Rex felt a rush of fear overtake him as he watched the fire, when suddenly a brilliant flash of green struck the flames, causing them to vanish. Standing bewildered for a moment as he tried to process what had just happened, he felt the low vibration of something large near him, beneath his feet. Turning, he saw the towering form of VayRonx standing over him, eyeing the result of his misjudgment.

“NiroTy, are you all right?” TolNy asked as he moved quickly over to the two of them.

“Yes,” his grandson replied. “Thanks to him.”

Rex turned around when he realized everyone had stopped speaking and were looking at him.

“Thank you, Rex,” NiroTy said, rising to his feet. “You probably saved my life.”

“But…I’m the one who almost took it,” Rex stammered in disbelief.

“That was an accident,” TolNy said. “We all saw that. It was I who pressed you to participate in something you were not yet comfortable in doing, and for good reason. I should have been more sympathetic to the fact that I was asking too much of you. I am the one who put my grandson at risk, and for that I am sorry, NiroTy,” he said, looking down at his grandson.

Rex shook his head in disbelief. “This is crazy! I’m the one who took on the challenge, and I’m the one who burned down your stand, nearly killing your grandson!”

“Rex,” DiNiya said as she reached out with a hand, only to have it pushed away.

“No! Don’t try to brush this aside like it’s nothing, damn it! I was a fool to think I was ready, that I was like the rest of you!”

“Rex, it was an accident,” EeNox insisted. “We know you would never try to hurt someone on purpose.”

Rex walked right up to him and brought his face close enough to EeNox that he could see his eyes burning with fury. “Now, we both know that’s not true,” he said, giving a sideways glace to LyCora.

“Rex…that was an acci—”

“An accident? Seems like I’m responsible for a lot of those lately. How many more before you all realize that I’m just one big one waiting to happen?”

With that, Rex pushed past him and disappeared into the crowd back the way they had come. EeNox sighed as he turned back to look at the charred remains of the booth.

“Well, this festival is off to a great start,” LyCora said. “We haven’t even been out an hour and already one booth has burned to the ground and someone was almost killed.”

“LyCora, that’s enough!” VoRenna exclaimed.

LyCora just threw her hands up and turned away, shaking her head.

“It really was an accident,” EeNox said, turning to his father and the other adults. “I have been working long and hard with Rex to teach him how to control his flame.”

“We all have,” ShinGaru added.

Nodding, EeNox continued, “He would never do something like this on purpose.”

“Not unless his nature got the better of him,” LyCora interjected.

“What do you mean?” VayRonx asked.

“LyCora, stop,” DiNiya said.

“Shut up, DiNiya,” the other girl snapped back, taking her by surprise. “Don’t even get me started with you! As for Rex, EeNox here has been most elusive about his reasons for having us all work so closely with him.”

“And that reason would be?” the alpha pressed.

“That he almost killed me.”

Everyone gasped and gave a look of surprise, everyone except EeNox and DiNiya, who just lowered their heads.

“Son, is this true?” BaRone asked, stepping closer to the boy who still refused to meet his gaze.

After a moment of silence, DiNiya finally answered, “Yes. It’s true.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Either of you?”

“Because Rex was afraid you would send him away…I was afraid you would send him away.”

“Send him away?” her father repeated in disbelief as he glanced up at VayRonx then back down to the children. “Why would you ever think that?”

“Because he was dangerous,” EeNox blurted out. “Because he couldn’t control his own power…”

“Because he could not control himself. Is that it, son?” EeNox looked as if he wanted to say more but just resigned himself to yet another simple nod. Stepping forward, BaRone put a hand on each one of his children’s shoulders and pulled them in close. “You two should know better than anyone that I am not in the habit of casting those aside who are in most need of help.”

“Nor are any of the rest of us,” VayRonx declared. “A tribe is a community, a family, and when a member of that family needs help, the tribe rallies together to give it to them.”

“Yes, but Rex technically was not originally a part of this tribe,” DiNiya said. “So we thought—”

“You thought what?” the big TarBoranx asked as he lowered his eye down to her. “That because he came from somewhere else, because he was a little different from us, we would turn our backs to him? Is that what you would have done, or did do?”

“No, of course not!”

“Then why would any of us, the ones who raised you, taught you, guided you your whole life, not extend the same kindness?”

DiNiya did not know what to say. In truth, it had been foolish of her, of all of them, to keep the truth of the severity of Rex’s problem a secret. He was a boy suffering from something deep within himself, something he could not control but desperately wanted to. DiNiya could relate, but unlike him, did not live with the fear of losing control and hurting those around her.
Not anymore, anyway
. Still, the feeling of guilt that came with that was not something unknown to her. “I’m sorry,” she said at last in a small voice. “It’s all my fault. I should have come to you about this.”

“No, DiNiya,” her brother spoke up as he placed a hand on her back. “The blame isn’t yours alone to shoulder. I could have said something, too, but chose not to.”

“Well, then I suppose that means I am just as guilty,” ShinGaru added.

“As am I,” AnaSaya said.

All eyes shifted over to LyCora, who in turn returned with a cross look. “Don’t any of you dare try to lump me in with the blame. I told you, all of you, from the very beginning, that he was bad news!”

“That didn’t stop you from training him,” EeNox fired back.

“What else was I supposed to do? You all made it very clear that he was here to stay, so if I was going to have to sleep under the same roof as him, even the same hemisphere, I was damned sure going to do whatever I could to minimize any danger he posed. Even if it did ultimately prove futile,” she added, glancing over to the burnt-down pile of wood that had once been TolNy’s booth.

“If what you say is true,” TolNy said, “then he was a boy who would lash out dangerously in anger. That, however, was not what I witnessed this evening, for I saw a boy struggling with something that got away from him, and rather than standing idly by, did everything he could to correct the mistake, and in doing so saved the life of my grandson. Obviously, whatever you all have been doing has been working.”

“I should go after him,” DiNiya said, but VayRonx stopped her.

“Why don’t you proceed to the tavern with the others?” he offered.

“But Rex is—”

“I will tend to Rex. I feel that he believes he has disappointed all of you who have worked so hard to help him, but you most of all, DiNiya.”

“Me?” she said with a look of disbelief. “But I haven’t done anything to help him. I can’t even help him.”

“You have done more for him than you realize. So much so that it is for you I feel he has made it his mission to bring order to the chaos raging inside him.” DiNiya found herself speechless once again, something that was beginning to become more and more of a habit as of late. “KyGahl is expecting you all now, so be on your way. I will be by later with Rex. I give you my word,” he added with a pressing look to DiNiya. With a slight nod of his head, VayRonx turned and proceeded in the direction Rex had run off in, the throngs of people parting as he passed through.

DiNiya watched him walk away before she felt a hand gently clasp her shoulder. Turning, she saw her father’s reassuring smile and allowed herself to be led away just as a crew of workers arrived to clean up the wreckage of the booth.

Rex had stormed all the way back home, up the stairs, and down the hall, where he slammed the door to his room shut behind him. He slid to the floor, feeling a heavy knot rise in his throat; his vision blurred with tears that now streamed freely down his face. He could not remember the last time he had cried. So much of his life had been spent forcing the pain down deep so it would not affect him on the outside.
What had changed?
he wondered. Why was he so bothered by any of this? The truth seemed to lie in the fact that for the first time in his life, he was surrounded by those he felt actually deserved the best he could give, the best he could be. Now he saw himself failing them and realized that perhaps it was better to live amongst those you did not respect or even like. There was no fear of disappointment that way, at least none that would matter to him. Clenching his fists, he slammed one right through the floor and cursed to himself. “What a fool I’ve become. What the hell was I even thinking? This world may be perfect, but that should have been my first clue that I don’t belong in it.”

He drove his fist deeper into the floor as he gritted his teeth, trying to force back the tears, but he found that the pain rising to the surface was much stronger than the floor beneath his fists.

“Well, now. I know you picked up some bad habits growing up on that savage world,” came a booming voice off to his right. “I would have surmised, however, that enough of this one would have rubbed off on you by now to keep you from reducing yourself to a petulant child.”