Born of Fire: The Dawn of Legend (79 page)

“How so?”

“For starters,” ShinGaru explained, “it’s on the coast itself and in some seriously treacherous terrain. On top of that, the back roads, as you call them, take us through some of the wild carnivore tribes’ territories.”

“That’s why nobody except the really big herds or bigger carnivores pass through that way,” EeNox added.

“Ideal it may not be,” said ShinGaru with a less-than-enthusiastic demeanor, “but it would appear we have no choice.”

“Agreed,” Rex said. “So here’s the plan. We’ll head back, grab what we need, then meet back here at the edge of the forest in an hour. With any luck they’ll all still be having their meeting of the minds, so we can slip out without them noticing.”

“I’ve got a better idea,” said EeNox. “You and me grab a boat, take it down river, and pick these three up further downstream.”

“Why a boat?”

“It’ll take longer to pick us up at first. Remember, they can track us by scent on land, but if we can go as far as we can by water, it’ll help put some distance between us and them.”

“What about the CyTorians?” LyCora asked. “Land or water, they’ll have them scanning the entire region for us from the air.”

“Not to mention they’ll probably figure out we’re on the river when they can’t pick up our scent on land,” added ShinGaru.

“The section of the river that runs through the forest is dense enough that it should conceal us from the air, but you’re right about the other part. They’ll be onto us for sure once there’s no physical trace of us leaving KaNar in any direction. That’s why we’ll have to get off and go on foot at some point.”

“Then let’s get to it,” EeNox said.

“Wait!” Rex blurted out.

“What?”

“Won’t they just realize we’re on the water when they notice one of the boats is missing?”

Everyone turned and looked at EeNox, who recoiled slightly. “Some of the smaller vessels have been coming and going since the attack to bring in supplies. They’ll just assume that’s what happened with the one we take.”

“And you’re sure about this?” LyCora pressed.

“Do you have a better idea?”

With a sigh she just said, “No.”

“Well, all right, then. Now we’ve wasted enough time, so let’s get moving.”

The five headed back through the forest and split up once back in town, each one heading to their respective domiciles to gather what they needed.

Rex went into the kitchen and stuffed two bags with as much bread and smoked meat as he could fit in them. LyCora and AnaSaya grabbed clothes and other amenities for the road, while EeNox and ShinGaru pilfered several maps from the shop. From there, Rex met up with EeNox, and the two snuck down to the docks, which to their great relief were free of the town’s residents.

“It looks like everyone’s still gathered at the tavern,” EeNox said with relief.

“I don’t like this,” Rex said, eyeing the dock nervously. “It seems all too easy.”

“You’re just being paranoid as usual.”

“Hey, it’s kept me alive this long!”

EeNox rolled his eyes, took another look to either side, darted out across the wooden planks, and ducked behind the first boat. Rex was right behind him, now completely on edge.

“Okay, we’ve got one,” Rex said in a hoarse whisper. “Let’s hurry up and get out of here!”

“What, are you, crazy?” EeNox replied, giving him a wide-eyed look. “We can’t take this boat!”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because it’s TarFor’s!”

“So fucking what? We’re going to get caught if we take any longer!”

“You better believe we will if someone comes by and sees this boat is gone! This is one of the three main fishing vessels that travel down the entire length of the river all the way to the sea to fish!”

“Fascinating. Can we steal it now?”

“Someone will notice it’s gone before day’s end, I promise you that.”

“Okay, so which one then?” Rex asked, growing more and more impatient.

EeNox grinned. “Don’t worry. I have the perfect one already picked out.”

The boys darted from ship to ship, each time ducking in between and looking around to make sure no one was coming. After creeping between five more, they arrived at what could best be described as a six-meter sailboat with two long oars on either side. The sails were beige and folded up, looking as if they had not been used in some time.

“There she is,” EeNox said, walking up to the side and running a hand over the stern. “Isn’t she a beauty?”

“As long as she floats,” Rex said, giving the small boat a quick look over.

“Oh, she’ll float,” the other boy said, stepping onto the deck and untying the line tethering it to the dock. “And get us well enough out of KaNar before anyone notices.”

“You hope,” Rex said, stepping aboard and looking uneasy for a moment from the feeling of the small vessel rocking side to side.

With one final turn of his wrist, EeNox undid the thick knot and cast the line over the bow and onto the dock. Then, using the two oars on the left side, they pushed off. EeNox scurried over to the other side and took the other oar, quietly pushing through the water, with Rex doing the same on his side. The boat began to move away from shore and make its way downriver, slowly at first, but once they rounded the first corner and were out of sight and out of sensory range of their flames, they applied them to the small vessel and sped off downriver. The two of them looked at each other and grinned triumphantly.

Meanwhile, ShinGaru, LyCora, and AnaSaya had hiked down through the forest to where the river wove west and intersected their path. They sat low, just short of the tree line, looking upriver for any sign of Rex and EeNox.

With a look of apprehension, LyCora said, “Just for the record, I thought this was a bad idea.”

“You think everything is a bad idea,” AnaSaya replied.

“We’re out here on the edge of wild tribe territory, on the run from our families, with only enough supplies to last three, maybe four days at the most, and waiting for two numbskulls who were going to ‘try’ to steal a boat, all so we can go rescue DiNiya from a gang of armored DraGons! Can you blame me?”

AnaSaya shrugged. “Well, when you put it that way, you make it sound like it’s no fun at all.”

“Fun? We’re probably going to die, and you’re talking about having fun!”

“If you think we stand so little chance of success, why did you agree to come along?” ShinGaru asked.

LyCora looked taken aback by the question. “Well, I…uh…hey, wait: I don’t have to explain myself to you!”

ShinGaru just smiled and said, “No, I suppose I’m not the one you’re going to have to explain it to.”

She was about to say something else but was interrupted by AnaSaya, who pointed up the river and said, “There they are!”

The three of them watched as Rex and EeNox maneuvered the sailboat towards land, not daring to bring it any further into the shallows for fear of running aground.

“Hurry,” EeNox said with an outstretched hand.

“Were you seen?” ShinGaru asked, taking his hand and hefting himself onboard.

“No, but I’d still rather not risk hanging around here too long in case they decide to inquire if this boat really did go to pick up supplies,” EeNox replied, helping LyCora up, while Rex did the same with AnaSaya.

“Whose boat is this?” LyCora asked, looking around suspiciously.

“There was a historian from the capital who came up last month. Since he was here to do research, he was allowed to keep his boat docked in KaNar while surveying the surrounding region. After the attack, he agreed to let the tribe use it to run supplies from the nearby villages to KaNar for relief aid. He’s not supposed to be back for another twenty-four days, so I figured no one would miss it.”

“To be honest I didn’t think you’d go through with it.”

“It was this or walking, so don’t complain!”

“In any case, we’re here now,” ShinGaru said. “I only hope we know what we’re getting ourselves into.”

“I’ve been trying to figure out how to do that for as long as I can remember,” Rex said.

“It doesn’t matter,” EeNox said. “We’re not turning back, no matter how bad things get. Those monsters will have to kill me if they want to stop me from getting my sister back.”

“I say we kill them instead,” Rex replied with a serrated grin and flash of red in his eyes.

EeNox smiled and nodded. They focused their attention on the path, shimmering in the golden orange light of the setting sun, none of them truly knowing what lay ahead, knowing only that the journey had begun.

DiNiya watched the forest far below race by as the DraGon carried her through the sky. She fought to keep her eyes open as the wind whipped across her face and sent her long fur flailing about. She knew she should be scared, but felt that everything had happened so fast that the reality of the situation had not yet fully set in. Still, it was beginning to dawn on her just how dangerous a situation she was in. All of them had been notably shaken by the attack on KaNar, but for some foolish reason had tricked themselves into thinking the worst was behind them, that the battle had been won. In truth, none of them knew what lay ahead, or even if the threat of the DraGons was truly over. Now they had their answer, and it seemed she was paying the price for its discovery.

She looked up to take stock of her captor. Had the DraGon not currently been the figure of malevolence in her eyes, she would have been beautiful. Her long serpentine neck was held out straight and rigid like the tail of a DyVorian, with her legs pulled back and tucked underneath her body, long and straight. Her tail, kept almost perfectly on the same axis as her neck, bobbed slightly up and down and side-to-side, acting like a rudder as she effortlessly arched and banked through the air. A row of bony ridges lined the underside of her body from the top of her neck to the end of her tail, which terminated in a club that could open, revealing a deadly arsenal of blades inside.  As with the other DraGons, she was clad in an ornate type of organic armor.

DiNiya was firmly within the grip of the DraGon’s right forehand, which showed no sign of loosening. All around her, she could see the blue glow of her flame, giving her the bonus of powered flight, something she would not be able to achieve without it. Unlike the CyTorians, who had evolved millions of years ago to sail through the air with nothing more than their wings, despite now using their flames for extra power in flight, DraGons, judging by their varying appearances, had long since become too bulky and heavy to rely solely on their four wings for flight. And while having adapted quite well to life on the wing, they were still far from being perfectly at home amongst the clouds without help from their flames. Still, DiNiya surmised, judging by this particular DraGon’s anatomical design, her entire race was probably at an evolutionary transitional period, moving from creatures of the land like the DyVorians, to those of the sky like the CyTorians.

However, evolutionary pathways aside, these creatures far from resembled either race in nature. From what she had witnessed already, DraGons loved causing chaos and destruction on a large scale.
They seem a lot like the humans of Earth that Rex described
, she thought as she recalled one of the conversations they had shortly after he arrived. He had said that humans were dangerous and destructive animals that spread meaningless violence everywhere they went, to everything they touch…
like a plague
.

DiNiya had found it difficult to believe that there could be such a species that was incapable of living in balance with the very world it inhabited. From what she had been able to gather, Rex was definitely what one would call a pessimist, and that
they really couldn’t be that bad
. But now she found herself rethinking that very notion. Still, there was so very little outside of the varying yet ancient historic accounts she had grown up hearing that she really knew nothing of DraGons.
Who are they
?
What are they
?
Where have they been all this time? And most importantly, what do they have against us
?

The DraGon glanced down briefly when she felt DiNiya squirming but said nothing and returned her attention to the seemingly endless sky in front of her.

“Hey,” DiNiya called up. The DraGon did not respond. “I said HEY! Can you hear me up there? You must be able to, so it’s pointless to ignore me!” DiNiya thought she saw the DraGon’s upper lip curl up ever so slightly but still she did not respond, let alone look down. “Fine, but if you don’t say something to me I’m just going to start screaming as loud as I can until you at least acknowledge me!”

With that, DiNiya took a deep breath and let out a shrill cry that took her captor by surprise, causing her to dip in midair. DiNiya, seeing the DraGon clearly frazzled, did not waste any time or offer any reprieve, continuing her sonic assault on her captor’s sense of hearing.

At last the dragon roared, “SHUT UP! I’ve already got a splitting headache and your screaming is just making me want to drop you!”

“So why don’t you?” DiNiya asked defiantly, immediately regretting it.
You idiot, don’t encourage her!

“Because I’ve been given strict orders to bring you back alive,” LemaRes said irritably. “And unscathed, no less. Honestly, after everything I’ve done for him, he sends me to go fetch some scrap of meat and fly you halfway across the damn continent! You should consider yourself lucky to be alive, AmaRanthine. If it were left up to me, I would have killed you on sight!”

“AmaRanthine?” DiNiya repeated. “I don’t know who you think I am, but my name is DiNiya. I have no idea who this AmaRanthine is, but I can assure you it’s not me.”

“Maybe not now, but once upon a time it was a name instrumental in changing the course of history and all of our lives. I just can’t believe he would make me do this knowing how badly I want you dead after what you did to me.”

DiNiya looking perplexed; she truly had no idea what her captor was talking about or why it had resulted in her being taken prisoner, but she feared that if she did not somehow manage to get away, she would find out soon.
I have to get her to land, but how
? She looked down, making note of the fact that she was much too high to survive a fall should she be able to get the DraGon to drop her. Even if she could miraculously use her flame, she doubted it would be enough. Still, she knew that she had to think of something, and quick, or else she might never get another chance.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” she called up.

“So go,” LemaRes responded.

“I’m not going to go in my pants!”

“Then hold it.”

“But that’s disgusting!”

“Do I strike you as someone who cares?”

Seeing that she was getting nowhere fast with this particular tactic, DiNiya decided to try something a bit more drastic. “Fine, but if you don’t land right now and let me do my business, I’m going to hold my breath until I die!”

“Foolish girl! Be serious! Exactly how stupid do I look?”

“What are you talking about?” DiNiya asking, pretending to be ignorant.

“I land, let you go, and you take off running through the forest, meaning I have to take my already sore and tattered carcass and chase you down. Not exactly what I would deem as a good allocation of my time, so if it’s all the same to you, we’ll just stay aloft.”

Deciding she had no choice, DiNiya pursed her lips together as tight as she could and closed her eyes. The DraGon at first seemed to not take notice, but when she felt DiNiya began to squirm in her grasp once again, she glanced down and gave a look of surprise. To her astonishment, DiNiya was actually turning blue. “Stop that!” she commanded.

DiNiya ignored her and continued to hold her breath.

“Breathe, damn it!”

Continuing to ignore her, DiNiya clenched her fists as the desire to open her mouth and swallow huge gulps of air became almost unbearable. Still she managed to fight the urge and continued to hold her breath. She could still hear the DraGon shouting at her, but now she seemed to be some distance away from it. She began to lose feeling in all her extremities, and shortly after her vision began to blur.
At this rate, I might actually kill myself before she puts me down. Then again, maybe this is what she wants
?

LemaRes watched in frustration as her captive began to go limp in her hand. “Damn it,” she growled as she banked hard to the left and shot downward quickly.

The rush of air barraging her face snapped DiNiya back to consciousness; she opened her eyes to see the treetops below rushing up to her. Panic cut through her as she feared they would crash right into them, but at the last possible moment, the DraGon spread her wings wide and reared back. DiNiya cried out as a sharp pain exploded in her back as her body was violently jolted.

Now LemaRes circled above the canopy as if searching for a place to land. DiNiya figured the trees would not be able to support her bulk and that she would have to search for a clear spot to land elsewhere, but no sooner had that very thought entered her mind, was she startled by a sudden burst of fire shot from the DraGon’s mouth, clearing an area of forest half a kilometer wide. Slowly, they descended through the opening to the now charred forest floor below, stirring up a small plume of ash when they touched down.

Holding DiNiya up to her face, LemaRes asked, “Are you still breathing?” DiNiya looked back at her, dumbfounded. She was still shaken up by the sudden act of destruction that had seemingly been perpetrated without so much as a second thought. With what felt like great effort, she nodded. “Then make it quick,” LemaRes said, setting her on the ground forcefully.

“Make what quick?” DiNiya asked, forgetting the initial ruse that got her down here in the first place.

“You have to go, right? So go!”

Quickly remembering now, DiNiya turned and walked towards one of the trees at the far end before the DraGon’s clubbed tail came slamming down in front of her, causing her to fall on her rear.

“Where do you think you’re going, little one?” LemaRes demanded.

“To the bathroom!” DiNiya replied, getting to her feet.

“Well, no one’s stopping you, so just go already! I don’t want to be here all night!”

“I’m not going to just go right here!”

“You will, or you’re holding it for the rest of the way!”

With an angry look, DiNiya clenched her fists and clamped her lips shut once again.

“Oh no, you don’t! Stop that right now!”

DiNiya gave her a condescending look that that sent ripples of rage through LemaRes, who had to refrain from grabbing hold of the tiny girl and squeezing the life out of her. DiNiya placed her hands on her hips and tapped her foot as if to say
I’m waiting
.

The DraGon spread her claws wide and bared her teeth, so desperately wanting to undo DiNiya right then and there but remembering that she had been charged with the task of delivering her safely, so with great effort, she recoiled her wicked talons and clamped her jaws shut. In a tone that sounded like she was using every ounce of energy she had to refrain from screaming, she said, “Very well. Go now, but be very quick about it.”

DiNiya exhaled loudly and spun around, where she jogged over to the nearest tree and crouched down behind it.
What now?
she thought as the realization that she did not have a part two to her plan dawned on her.

The sun had now practically disappeared in the western sky, a dark red hue being all that remained. She snuck a peek around the tree to see if the DraGon was watching her; she was. DiNiya pulled her head back behind the tree and sighed.
I can’t stay like this forever. I need to get away from her. Maybe I could try screaming for help? No…I don’t want to risk putting someone else’s life in danger for me. I guess I could try running. But then again, there’s no way I could outrun her. But she might not be able to catch me through the dense underbrush. Not to mention she apparently needs me alive, so she can’t risk burning me up by setting the forest on fire as long as I’m in it. This might actually work! No, wait! She has a blue flame so she could just use the forest itself to get me
.

“What’s taking so long over there?” LemaRes called angrily from the clearing.

“Don’t rush me,” DiNiya yelled back. “I have a hard time going under pressure!”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” LemaRes said to herself with a look of aggravation. “You’ve got another thirty seconds before I come over there and shake it out of you!”

“Damn,” DiNiya whispered, glancing at either side of her. “Looks like I don’t have a choice.” Pushing off with both legs, she shot forward and tore off through the underbrush. Not daring a look behind her, she heard the DraGon release a throaty growl and the sound of her massive leathery wings flapping, which sent a strong gust of wind that nearly sent her sprawling forward. Next she heard the sound that informed her she was now in trouble—a loud
whoosh
, which she knew meant LemaRes had ignited her flame and was quickly closing the distance between the two of them. At last mustering the courage for a quick look back, DiNiya was terrified to see the DraGon completely engulfed in blue flame and burning right through the trees, mere meters off the ground.

With what felt like an almost lethal injection of adrenaline, DiNiya pushed the muscles in her thighs harder than they had ever been pushed, and almost doubled in speed.
What is she trying to do, kill me after all
? DiNiya feared that she had pushed her boundaries one too many times with her captor and that now she had snapped beyond the point of all reason.

Faster and harder she ran, not knowing where she was going, just that she could not stop. Suddenly she felt the ground behind her shake and saw a surge of blue rush by beneath her feet. Before she could even inquire as to what that had been, two trees directly ahead of her jerked and contorted downwards, their branches reaching out for her. DiNiya ducked and rolled just beneath them before bounding back to her feet and continuing at full tilt.
I’m so stupid
, she berated herself.
Damn it, I knew this would happen!
Now she’s going to turn this whole forest against me!

The forest seemed to come alive with murderous intent. DiNiya jumped, dodged, ducked, and sidestepped the multitude of trees and branches that swung, jabbed, and reached out for her from every direction.
Damn it, I can’t keep this up!
She knew that at any moment one of the branches would ensnare her, send her flying, or slam her to the ground. She clearly had not thought this through and was paying the price for it, but then again, it was still better than being some monster’s hostage high in the sky.