Born of Fire: The Dawn of Legend (7 page)

“Practically yes, exactly no.” VayRonx reared up slightly and brought his massive head over to TyRoas, who looked more determined than ever to state his case. “If you allowed your nose to guide you rather than your hunger for revenge, you would have noticed that their scents, while indeed similar, are in fact quite different. Truthfully, the only comparison that can be made is that they were both near the sea at one point recently. Hardly proof that he is our killer.”

“I just wanted to be the one to—”

“You wanted to be a hero so your brother and the rest of us would shower you with praise.” VayRonx shook his head in disappointment. “To act for something so selfish is not becoming of anyone, TyRoas. I know for a fact your brother taught you better than that.”

The saber tooth stared at him in silence before lowering his head with a sigh. “You’re right,” he conceded at last. “I was acting out for all the wrong reasons, and I let my emotions get the better of me, something that could have resulted in that one over there getting hurt…or worse.”

“I don’t know if I would go that far,” VayRonx mused. “He was not the one doubled over crying over a bruised nose only moments ago.”

“That was a lucky shot and you know it!”

“I only know what I saw,” VayRonx replied, all the while chuckling to himself.

Rex had been so high off adrenaline that the reality of the situation had not fully set in. Now, however, it slowly crept up on him, and he found himself weak in the knees as he watched his dream unfold right in front of him: seeing a real live dinosaur. It was then that he began to feel the familiar pain in the back of his head return. Almost immediately, he grew lightheaded. Reaching back and touching the sensitive part, he was shocked when he saw blood on his hand.
What happened to me?
he wondered.

“Boy,” called VayRonx. “Are you all right?”

Rex wanted to answer, but suddenly the image of the dinosaur and saber-tooth blurred as he felt consciousness quickly slipping away. The last thing he heard was the sound of thunderous footsteps moving towards him.

Rex found himself falling amidst total darkness, spiraling wildly out of control. He tried to get his bearings but found it to be impossible. He flailed his arms wildly and kicked his legs furiously until suddenly he felt ground underneath them. In fact, he was suddenly just standing, like he had never been falling at all. He looked around at the familiar surroundings. “This place again,” he said to himself, sighing deeply. It was then he sensed he was in fact not alone. “Who’s there? Show yourself!”

A tall, lean, fair-skinned woman with long straight silver fur that draped itself over a lean naked frame and ran down to her ankles emerged out of the darkness in front of him.

“Who are you?” he asked, looking her up and down. “And what is this place?”

“My name is EliCia, and I would have thought the answer to your second question obvious?”

“Think again.”

“I’m sorry, Rex, it is not your fault that you are unable to remember. I should not forget that. Please do not take my pushing you the wrong way. It is just that it is important you set forth on the path to reclaim your memories.”

“Memories,” asked Rex. “What memories?”

“It will all come back to you in time, but now we have…he’s coming back. Please remember, Rex, that I am always near,” she said as she slinked back into the shadows. “Remember that.”

“Hey, wait! Where are you going? What am I supposed to remember?”

There was a massive tremor that shook the ground beneath his feet. Rex instantly went silent as he was filled with a sense of dread. “Damn,” he whispered in an anxious tone. “So it’s you again.” Rex slowly turned only to find the two eyes already there staring down at him. “Who are you?” he demanded. The eyes continued to gaze down in silence. “I asked who you are,” he repeated more forcefully, fear and frustration growing inside. The eyes began to lower and glide silently towards him. Rex could see that they were part of an enormous dark shape that seemed to exude raw power. As they came within two meters of him, he immediately felt weak in the knees as they seemed to pierce right through, burning holes in him. Looking deep into the great beast’s eyes, he found himself lost within bellowing plumes of red fire. It was like seeing the birth of the stars themselves and was unlike anything he had ever felt. So pure, so full of life…and then he heard them—cries of pain and horror. Despite the flames, Rex felt his body go cold, as tortured faces of an anonymous nature emerged from the fire, burning alive. Fear now gripped Rex in a predator’s grasp, preventing him from running away and forcing him to stay and watch as the horrible burning faces now called out to him, and a long skeletal clawed hand reached out to him from the flames.

Rex awoke in darkness, shouting franticly and flailing his arms. Sweat poured from his face as tears ran down his cheeks. He looked all around him but could hardly make out anything despite his now heightened sense of sight; only a thin sliver of pale silver light came from a slit in the darkness several meters off to his left. His breathing was heavy and labored, as if he had been running for his life.
Had it been just a dream?
Had everything been just a dream
?
Where am I now
?
Am I in my room back home
?
Wait…where is—?”

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a soft gentle voice of a girl gliding out of the darkness. He felt her slowly easing him back down in bed, with his head cradled in her arms, her touch soft and tender. She gently caressed the side of his face, which was damp with cold sweat. Then she began to sing a hypnotic melody in a language he did not at first understand, then slowly, as he relaxed his mind, became clearer…recognizable. As if the words were a magical incantation, he felt all his fear slip away, and he drifted back to sleep. His dreams were filled with love and affection from a female figure he could not see but rather felt all around him, the warmth of her love keeping him safe and her sweet scent sweeping over his mind like a warm blanket. He felt the fire in his veins again, but this time flowing through him like a river, slow and everlasting. It was like the speed of the current was directly linked to him. Increasing in speed with every forward-thinking thought at the core of his being and slowing again every time they subsided. It was like sailing on the wings of a dream, his dream.

Rex awoke once again without opening his eyes. He could feel the warmth of the sun against his face as it bathed him in its light. Slowly, his eyes opened and he was greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling, one made of stone. 
No
, he thought.
A cave
? He rose out of bed groggily and rubbed the back of his head, which felt a little sore but otherwise better than had remembered. Looking around the room, he saw that it was built partially inside of a mountain, or some other stone structure. The room was filled with beautiful plants and flowers of all different colors, some of which were growing straight out of the ground. To his surprise, several at the head of the bed were connected to his chest by long tendril-like vines. He at first pondered as to what their purpose was or what they were doing to him, when he noticed a soothing sensation emitted around the areas they were touching him. Slowly he sat up, and they immediately disconnected from him and recoiled back into the main body of the thick leathery stalk. He slowly scanned the room until he got to an open window, and he looked on in surprise. There, sitting at the sill, was a young woman who looked to be his age with long, thick, flowing auburn fur that elegantly draped over her shoulders and ran down to her lower back. She gazed out the window, lost in thought with the sun lighting up her face so it looked as if it glowed. She was beautiful. Never before had Rex seen such a girl. Not even Allison…
wait…Allison
? What felt like a memory slowly trying to claw its way back into his head was cut off by the sound of what he recognized as a familiar voice.

“Good morning, Rex,” said the girl as she turned her head to him and smiled.

Whatever thought Rex was trying to recall quickly vanished as he took her in. She stood just a little taller than he did with a curvaceous frame and muscular build. She wore a tan, short-sleeved leather top with straps and beautifully embroidered dark-grey leggings that ran down just short of her knees. It was her eyes, however, that held his attention above all else. They were like his—scarlet red—or rather the way his used to be, for they did not have the same brilliant glow that his now possessed. Still, it was the first time in his life he had ever seen anyone else with eyes remotely resembling his. If that was not enough, her ears were also pointed; however, they stuck out horizontally rather than up, like his.

“How do you feel?” she asked, her demeanor changing to one of concern.

“I…uhh,” Rex stammered. “I…my head…it’s a little sore in the back.”

“Oh, I know,” she said, suddenly more serious as she walked over and quickly examined the back of his head. “You suffered a massive blow to it,” she continued as she ran her fingers lightly through his fur over the spot. “Can you remember what happened to you?”

“Not really,” he replied honestly. “I mean, I have a few images in my head, but nothing really clear…nothing that seems real, anyway.” Rex was, of course, referring to the saber-tooth and the dinosaur.
Was it all a dream?
he asked himself.
It must have been
. How could any of it be true, but then where was he now? “Where am I?” he asked as if the thought jumped out of his mouth. “And…who are you?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the girl replied, slightly embarrassed. “You must think me rude. My name is DiNiya of the KaNar tribe, which is where you are now.”

“KaNar?” he asked, looking confused.

Giving him a look of confusion in return, DiNiya explained, “You know, the home of the KaNar tribe, nestled deep within the Black Ridge Mountains.” She spoke quickly and cheerfully, and he could tell she was trying to be a good host. She had such a mature air to her that he almost forgot that she was as young as him. The growling of his stomach, however, quickly interrupted his thoughts. “You must be starving,” she said. “Here, come with me.”

She took him by the hand and led him out into a long corridor lined with wood and stone. There were three more doors further up, which they passed as they went down a staircase that veered a sharp left after seven steps. Descending the remaining ten, they entered into an enormous round room filled with a large round table in the center.

“Sorry, there’s no one else here at the moment,” DiNiya said as she went to a wooden cabinet and pulled out a plate before going to another and pulling out a cumbersome basket of something, which she brought to the table. “Here, come eat,” she insisted cheerfully.

Rex was at first unsure about the whole situation, but the overwhelming smell of food suddenly wafted over to him, and he heard his stomach growl again.

“See, I knew you were hungry,” she said with a laugh. “Come, sit down. I promise it’s not poison.” She took a bite to prove her point then held it out for him to try.

Rex made his way over to the table, eyeing the entire room as he did so. Looking down at the table, he glanced at the plate with uncertainty. “What is it?” he asked, looking up at her.

“Salted tow,” she replied.

Rex just stared at her with a blank expression.

DiNiya chuckled and clarified. “It’s fish, salted fish.”

“Oh,” Rex replied as he looked back down at the plate.

“Oh, wait,” she suddenly said as she ran to the far right corner and grabbed a chair, which she brought back and set behind Rex, who watched her slightly scatter-brained behavior with unusual curiosity. “Here you are.”

Rex slowly sat down and grunted in surprise as she forcefully pushed the chair with him in it closer to the table. “Oops, sorry,” she blushed with a slightly embarrassed smile.

Rex stared at DiNiya for a moment, still not sure just what to make of her, before his attention was once again caught by the smell of food. Turning to the plate in front of him, he picked up a piece of fish and brought it close to his face, smelling it curiously. Seeming satisfied, he shoved the entire piece into his mouth and chewed vigorously. He must have been starving because the fish tasted like candy. One after another, all the pieces vanished into his toothy maw.

“Is it good?” DiNiya asked as she watched intently.

Rex, suddenly remembering she was watching, turned his head and gazed up at her. She was smiling but seemed to be anxiously awaiting his response. “Uh, yeah,” he said, swallowing the piece he still had in his mouth. “It’s not bad.”

“Oh, I’m so glad,” she exclaimed, clasping her hands together. “I was worried that it would come out like it did last time.”

“Why, what happened last ti—”

“Nothing,” DiNiya quickly countered with a big, unassuming smile.

He noticed that, like him, she had sharp teeth, but only in the upper and lower incisors. Rex was about to say something else when he heard his stomach growl once more, demanding another offering. He turned and continued stuffing his face while DiNiya pretended to tidy up around what he assumed was a kitchen, but he could tell she was really trying to hide the fact that she was watching him intently. Rex began to feel a little uneasy.
Who is this girl?
he wondered.
And why is she so interested in me
? Still that was hardly the only thought he had of her on his mind.
Her eyes
,
they are the same as mine
. He found himself getting lost in thought, when suddenly he heard a voice call her name from outside.

“Coming,” she called back as she ran out the door; she then popped her head back in and said, “Keep eating, I’ll be right back! Promise!”

Rex was now thoroughly confused. What was going on here? Where exactly was “here,” for that matter? So many unanswered questions plagued his mind that he finally pushed his chair back and stood up. “I want some answers,” he said sternly and made his way to the door DiNiya had disappeared through. Pushing it open, he was instantly greeted by bright sunlight. Quickly shielding his eyes with an arm, he squinted and looked out where he found himself standing before a most incredible sight.