Born of Fire: The Dawn of Legend (62 page)

“All right, we’ll meet in front of the hot springs when this is all done,” EeNox said, looking to make sure there was nothing swooping down on them. “Be safe, everyone, and watch each other’s backs.” He watched as everyone took off in different directions before he noticed Rex crouching down. “Hey. You all right?” he asked, concerned.

Rex coughed up blood, which splattered on the ground in front of him, before looking up and grinning, his teeth stained red with blood running from the corners of his mouth. “Mind keeping this from your sister until after the fight?” he asked, rising to his feet. “Assuming we don’t just die anyway.”

EeNox placed a hand on Rex’s side. He smacked it away forcefully and gritted his teeth in an effort to not cry out. “Sorry ’bout that,” he said, forcing another grin, but this time looking far less sincere.

“Damn it, Rex,” EeNox said, looking mortified. “Your ribs—almost all of them are broken!”

“I feel a little lightheaded,” Rex said, breathing more heavily now.

“Some of them must have punctured something inside when they broke.”

“Oh,” Rex replied, sounding underwhelmed.

“Why the hell didn’t you say something? At the very least AnaSaya could have patched you up enough until we could have her look at you better!”

“No time,” Rex answered, returning to his usual cool and resolute tone. “There are others who need her more. I can walk this off,” he said, taking a few steps forward.

“The hell you can,” EeNox yelled angrily, grabbing him by the arm. “You’re going to get yourself killed like an idiot and leave the rest of us to—”

“To what?” Rex growled as he quickly spun around, grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt, and lifted him just off his feet, ignoring the pain that was flaring up in his ribs. “Huh? What?”

“To mourn you.”

Rex just smiled and said, “Look around you, EeNox. No one else is running away because of a few bumps and bruises. Besides,” he added with the glow in his eyes brightening, “I’m not dead yet.” He released EeNox and gave him a hard pat on the back. “Let’s go.”

EeNox looked at Rex with a moment of reluctant concern before nodding. Together they took off into the chaotic masses, not truly knowing what they would or even could do.

High above, BaRone and KySer soared over KaNar, scanning for those who could benefit the most from the kind of support that could swoop down out of the sky.

“I sincerely hope VoRenna and VayRonx can find a way to get those gates open,” KySer said, banking to the right to avoid a plume of smoke.

“Have you spoken to any of them since they got trapped out there?” BaRone asked.

“Yes. I was the one who first brought word to TarFor of what had happened. I offered to stay with them, but he and KyVina both agreed that we needed all aerial support on this side.”

“Don’t tell me that crazy fool is on his feet!”

“Are you kidding me? He was preparing for a battle royale minutes before I found you.”

“I should have figured.”

“You know TarFor. He’d rather get bitten in half than lay in bed while there’s a proper battle to be fought.”

“Especially when it’s just outside his bedroom window,” BaRone added with a wry smile and shake of his head.

Suddenly a ball of green fire rocketed past them and exploded on the ground below. The two of them looked up and saw a DraGon four times the size of KySer bearing down on them with murderous intent in her eyes.

“Hard right!” BaRone cried. KySer did as he was told, tucking his wings under himself and banking quickly off to the side just as the DraGon rushed past them. Spreading his wings wide, KySer stopped himself in midair and, with a single flap, unleashed a wave of fire. The DraGon, however, saw the counterattack, and with an impressive display of power, spun to the point where she looked like a flaming disc, which cut right through the wave and continued on straight for them.

“Hang on,” shouted KySer as he dove below her, barely missing being sliced in half, while BaRone clung for dear life as KySer sped, rose, dove and maneuvered through the forest canopy with the DraGon close behind, delighting in the chase. Firing one blast after another, she incinerated branches and entire chunks of the large trees.

“Don’t tell me you were only planning on running,” she called out after them. “Turn and fight, heathens!” With a low growl and pulse of green, she smashed through the trunk of an enormous tree, causing it to collapse.

BaRone risked a glance back and yelled to KySer, “Looks like this one has it in for us.”

“Bit of the persistent type, isn’t she?” the CyTorian replied.

“Not to mention eloquently spoken.”

“BaRone, I can’t keep going at this pace! It won’t be long before she sinks her teeth into us!”

The DraGon’s wings suddenly grew flaming extensions twice their normal length, and rather than dodging all the obstacles put forth by the trees, she cut straight through with a maniacal laugh that filled the air and sent chills down their spines.

With another powerful push, KySer shot forward but could not keep her from closing the gap. “She’s too fast! We’re going to have stop her here or we’ll never make it back to the gates!”

“Looks like the divide and conquer method is in order,” BaRone decided.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” KySer replied, banking upward and redirecting himself to a head-on course with their pursuer.

“So you’ve decided to fight after all,” the DraGon said delightedly. “Don’t disappoint me!”

“Get ready,” KySer called up to BaRone, who was already standing up on his back and preparing to leap.

The DraGon, flushed with bloodlust and the thrill of the prospect of a stand-up fight, curled back her lips and revealed her numerous dagger-shaped teeth. The gap between them shrank and shrank, until it looked as if they would collide in midair, when BaRone suddenly jumped off KySer, who jarringly reared back, coming to a dead stop. Before the DraGon had a chance to react, BaRone had brought a flaming, over-the-head roundhouse kick down on her skull, driving her under KySer and causing her to collide into a tree, where she scrambled desperately to get a grip.

BaRone, having delivered the first decisive blow, wasted no time in climbing behind her head, grabbing hold of one of her horns that protruded from the top of her skull with his right hand, and striking her at the base of her skull repeatedly. The DraGon, although somewhat disoriented by the repeated blows to the head, managed to dig her claws into the bark of the tree and stop herself from falling farther. Desperate to get her unwanted passenger off, she tried to unleash her flame to cook him alive, but to her great horror was unable to ignite it. KySer buzzed her multiple times in an effort to distract and disorient her. Using this to his continued advantage, BaRone gritted his teeth and tightened his grip around her horn, his right bicep flexing and bulging, until he snapped the horn off.

The DraGon roared in rage and pain as she refocused all her attention on the enemy clinging to the back of her head. “Damn you,” she bellowed as pain seared down through the broken stump of her horn and into her head. “I will kill you and all who have laid eyes upon you!”

But before she could reach back to grab him, seeing a gap in her focus, KySer shot down with great speed and drove his beak into the top of her jaw, just as BaRone drove the severed portion of the horn he was holding through the back of her head. In a moment, all the rage and fight in her eyes vanished as they rolled back in her head. Her grip on the tree disappeared, and with what could have almost been described as grace, she fell lifelessly backwards, down to the forest floor.

BaRone pushed off her just as KySer did a fly by and landed squarely back in his previous position on his back. “Well done,” KySer said, clearing the canopy and soaring over the treetops back towards the main battle.

“Sure,” BaRone replied. “We managed to take down one. How many of our people have they killed?” The two felt a somber drop in the pit of their stomachs as they flew back to the heart of the battle.

LyCora and AnaSaya had been fortunate that the majority of the fighting had been behind them, meaning there was little to nothing to slow them down on their way there. LyCora was surprised to find herself having difficulty keeping pace with AnaSaya, who was continuously slowing down so she could catch up. She had been less than pleased with being paired with this strange, seemingly absentminded girl, who besides possessing an admittedly superior healing ability was probably better suited to cowering with the rest of those who were not able to put up enough of a fight.
Looks like I’m on my own, as usual
, she thought, glaring over to the lavender-eyed girl, who seemed too focused on the path ahead to take notice.

AnaSaya was still feeling disheartened by LyCora’s comments from before but had chosen not to let them impede her in aiding KaNar in any way she could. This, after all, was bigger than her wounded sensibilities, and just as she’d always done, she had put them aside for the usefulness of her abilities.
I will prove that I’m not useless
.

The forest, while very open, could surprisingly conceal many of its massive occupants. Something that worked against them, for no sooner did they round one of the massive trees than they found themselves jumping to either side to dodge a golden fireball that exploded against one of the large tree trunks.

The sound of cracking wood echoed throughout the forest, triggering the girls to look back in unison and see the tree slowly come down, picking up speed as it approached the forest floor. Both girls leaped to their feet and ran to the right just as the massive redwood crashed down behind them, shaking the forest beneath it.

“And you were worried we’d gotten the boring job,” LyCora said, looking over to AnaSaya, who frowned. Their attention was grabbed by two dark shadows that swooped low over them through the canopy under the moonlight. “We’ve got company,” she said, pointing up to a dark mass that perched itself on a branch thirty meters above them. The girls watched as a pale DraGon only slightly smaller than a TarBoranx pulled his wings back and shifted his weight on the branch. Cocking his head to the side, the DraGon peered down at them with what looked like curiosity, while the sounds of roars and battle rang out through the forest.

“Why doesn’t he just attack?” AnaSaya asked.

“Best not to give him any ideas,” LyCora fired back at her in a mortified tone.

“As if I needed to take suggestions from the likes of you two,” the DraGon said as if somehow offended by the prospect.

“Who are you?” LyCora demanded.

“And why are you attacking our people?” AnaSaya followed.

The DraGon unleashed bolts of electricity from its wings, sending the girls scrambling in opposite directions. “Do not presume to think I have to explain myself to you,” he roared angrily.

“So, what, we’re supposed to just lie down and die while you burn our home to the ground?” LyCora called out from behind a tree.

“If you would be so inclined,” the DraGon replied, then with lightning speed, thrust his head forward and blanketed the surrounding area in fire, driving both girls from their hiding places and sending them running frantically in all directions as they desperately tried to avoid the flames.

“Hey, am I going crazy or are these flames actually following us?” LyCora called out to AnaSaya as she ran partly up the side of a tree and back flipped off to avoid the flames that rose up after her.

AnaSaya, who was also having difficulty outrunning the lapping flames, said, “It’s like they’re alive!”

The DraGon bellowed with laughter as he watched the two girls run and jump to and fro in a desperate effort to avoid being burned alive. “That’s it, girls, keep it up! You’re making this much more enjoyable than I had expected!”

“I’m starting to think he’s some sort of sadist,” AnaSaya said as she stopped next to LyCora for a moment to catch her breath.

“Wow, really? But the other ones seemed so nice,” LyCora replied angrily with fierce sarcasm.

“No time to rest, ladies,” the DraGon said as the flames rose high above them like the necks of two BorMax. “The fun has just begun!”

“Is that what this is supposed to be?” LyCora retorted.

“I’m thoroughly enjoying myself,” he said before the towering pillars of flame came racing towards them. Both girls powered up their own flames to their max and prepared to receive the full brunt of the attack, knowing it was pointless to keep running.

“Don’t you dare run,” LyCora said.

“I’m not going anywhere,” AnaSaya replied before the flames were suddenly intercepted by a blast from a green fireball.

Both the girls and the DraGon whipped their heads in the direction it had come from and saw two glowing eyes of the same color emerging out of the smoky forest.

“Whoever you are, I think you’re going to find that getting in the way of my good time was very ill-advised,” the DraGon said as fire rose from his eyes.

“Funny,” came the calm and stoic voice of TolNy, who was covered in fresh battle scars. He parted the flames as he spoke and emerged in full view like some ghostly apparition. “I just ran into one of your cohorts who said something similar. That was, of course, before I crushed his spine in three places.”

There was a noticeable shift in the DraGon’s demeanor now as his voice grew low, devoid of sarcasm and wit. “Well, then, I suppose I will have to be better at keeping my promises than he was.”

“From what I’ve seen, none of you are good at keeping promises,” TolNy replied, now clearly infuriating his enemy.

“Then allow me to redeem us in your eyes.” The fire suddenly came together into the form of another DraGon to everyone’s great shock.

“How did he do that?” AnaSaya asked in surprise. “Only a blue flame can take the shape of its wielder!”

“I don’t think that’s changed,” LyCora replied.

“What do you mean?”

“This whole time we thought we’ve been fighting only one enemy, but I remember seeing two shadows when we were first attacked!”

AnaSaya thought back to the initial explosion and how she had tucked and rolled behind a large root just as the light of the moons directly above her was darkened briefly—twice. She had suspected two assailants, but upon seeing only one DraGon, had just assumed he’d done two quick flybys.