Born of Fire: The Dawn of Legend (25 page)

“No,” TarFor said in a stunned voice.

The ash SoNarvora stood motionless, not making a sound. That is until Rex took a small step forward. Instantly, their eyes glowed blue and turned on him. Rex looked as if he was about to say something but never got the chance, for within seconds they were in front of him. The one nearest him spun around and slammed its tail into his gut, sending him flying back.

Leaping forward, TarFor managed to catch him with one hand. “Rex,” he exclaimed. “Talk to me, boy! Are you all right?”

Rex groaned as he tried to sit up, but winced as a sharp pain shot through his ribs.

“Easy,” DiNiya said as she supported him in her arms and felt his side. “Oh, no, one of your ribs is broken!”

“Only one?” he replied sarcastically, gritting his teeth in pain.

“Be careful moving him,” TarFor exclaimed. “The broken rib may have splintered into his lungs!”

“Rex, can you use your flame to try to hold the rib in place until we can get you back?”

Rex felt a sense of dread greater than the one he had been feeling wash over him at the realization he had no idea how to do what TarFor was saying.

“You’ll have to deal with it until we can get you to a healer, lad, but first, we need to make it out of here alive!”

“What are they?” DiNiya asked as she watched the shadowy figures slowly encircle them.

“I don’t know, but I believe they were made to keep anyone who found this place from leaving.”

Glancing back down at Rex, she saw him wincing in pain with every breath. “Rex is hurt,” she said frantically. “We need to get him out of here now!”

“Rex, just use your flame like I told you!” he barked, frustrated.

“Because he can’t control his,” DiNiya fired back angrily, taking him by surprise.

“Well…that complicates things—”

“Watch out,” LyCora cried out as one of the creatures leaped for them, but it was stopped by a fast and heavy right hook from TarFor, sending it flying into a tree.

“Stay behind me,” he ordered as he repositioned himself to keep any of the other ones from attacking the three young flames behind him. “When I say so, you three run as fast as your legs can carry you back to town. Tell VayRonx and KyVina what’s happened here!”

“But we can’t just leave you,” cried DiNiya.

“No discussion,” he roared as all ten of the creatures moved in on him at once. His flame ignited in a green fury as he leaped into the air. Rex, in his half-conscious state, looked up in surprise to see the huge, muscle-bound man do a wide, arched roundhouse kick down on all ten of the assailants like a mighty hammer. The three of them covered their faces as a massive plume of ash rose into the air, obscuring all from sight.

“I can’t see anything,” LyCora said, coughing.

“Rex!” DiNiya called out.

Rex felt his lungs burning as he breathed in the ash cloud. He staggered to his feet as he tried to get his bearings but found it nearly impossible. Feeling around with his hands, he was startled when he bumped into someone.

“Rex, is that you?” came DiNiya’s voice to his great relief. “Are you all right?”

“Been better, but I’ll live,” he said, grabbing his side in pain as he began coughing violently again.

A blue flame suddenly erupted in the air and began consuming the thick, asphyxiating cloud. “That’s better,” LyCora said as the last of it burned away.

“Next time give me a warning before you do something like that,” she yelled to TarFor, but then she quickly gasped at the sight of the ash rising up over him.

“TarFor, hang on,” DiNiya cried out. “We’re coming!”

“No,” he fired back. “You three need to get out of here now!”

“Forget it,” she said, turning to LyCora. “Can you burn those things off of him?”

“Only one way to find out,” LyCora said as she spread her hands apart, forming a ball of blue flame between them that grew to twice the size of her head. Then, thrusting her hands forward, she sent the fireball at the base of the smothering ash, scoring a direct hit. The ash recoiled, freeing one of TarFor’s arms, which he quickly set ablaze as he punched a shadowy tendril that was reaching up for his face.

“I thought I told you three to get out of here!” he shouted furiously.

“Excuse me, but I do believe I just saved your life,” LyCora fired back angrily.

“Lot of good it did,” said Rex, standing up on his own and looking around them to see the ash taking form once again and surrounding them.

“This does not look good,” LyCora said as she got back to back with Rex and DiNiya.

“Fire another blast,” Rex said urgently.

LyCora unleashed another ball of fire, hitting more of their assailants, which fell to piles before reforming seconds later. “Any other ideas?” she asked, glancing back at Rex.

“Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing!”

One of the ashen assailants who had taken on the form of a dromaeosaurid that resembled RenTin had pinned TarFor down and held one of the sickle claws on its foot to his throat.

“No, TarFor,” DiNiya cried out as she ran towards him. She barely made it two meters before another that looked like a pachycephalosaurus rammed its domed head into her chest and sent her flying back, where she slammed hard into a tree before sliding to the ground. She immediately tried to move but cried out as an immeasurable pain ripped through her chest. Rex rushed over and knelt down beside her while LyCora gave him cover fire.

“Are you all right?” he exclaimed, trying to help her lean up against the tree.

“I think my—” DiNiya began coughing up blood.

Rex found himself gripped by a fear more visceral than the one he had felt when he thought his own life was in danger. He had no idea what to do or if there was anything he even could do. He had rarely been the type to come to the aid of others, and when he did it generally resulted in making things far worse. He was surprised by how worried he actually felt, for he could not recall a time where he felt so concerned for another.

“Hey, what’s going on over there?” called out LyCora, who was barely able to hold the shadowy horde at bay. “Is she alive?”

“She’s hurt badly,” he called back. “We need to get her out of here now!”

“Easier said than done,” she replied, backing up as the shadows moved in closer. “I can’t keep this up! If you have any clever ideas, now would be a great time to try them out!”

“What the hell am I supposed to do?” Rex asked, angry that she expected him to be able to do anything and furious with himself for being so useless.

“Come on, Rex! You’re a red flame! You and it are one and the same, meaning its power resides within you! Use it, damn it!”

Rex furrowed his brow. What did she mean one and the same? He had no idea how he had unleashed that power before, as it seemed to ignite on its own. How was he supposed to make it happen again?
If it is going to come out…shouldn’t it have happened already
?

One of the attackers sprang up in front of LyCora and hit her with its tail, sending her sailing back into the forest out of sight.

“LyCora!” Rex growled. “Damn it!” He wanted to go after her but could not leave DiNiya, who was trying so hard not to cry out in pain as she lay cringing in his arms. He looked to see if TarFor could help, but saw he was still pinned down, bleeding all over. The shadows moved in quickly towards him and DiNiya. Closing his eyes, he held her tightly, and then he felt a familiar rush surge through him.
This feeling
, he thought.
I know it. It’s power…my power
. Red flame rose off him just as it did before. His blood boiled with what could only be described as unbridled rage.
Release me
, came something menacing in his head that sounded nothing like a voice but a combination of every sound around him compressed together into a cohesive thought or will. He laid DiNiya down gently at the base of the tree and rose up. Clenching his fists, he felt the rage reaching its boiling point just as a familiar roar rang out through the forest. His eyes shot open and his flame immediately vanished. Turning, he saw four enormous OroGon burst from the tree line engulfed in brilliant emerald fire. Rex watched as they leaped into the air effortlessly and landed between him and the dark horde.

“Sorry we’re late,” said the lead cat.

Rex recognized him immediately. It was NyRo, TyRoas’s older brother, accompanied by three others he had never seen before.

“They’ve got TarFor,” Rex said, pointing over to where they had him pinned down.

“FyNasia,” NyRo said, giving her a nod.

“On it,” said the female at NyRo’s side. With lightning speed, she cleared the distance between herself and the creature who was about to deliver the deathblow to TarFor, and in the time it took to blink, had burned right through it, dissolving it into nothing. She turned back to face him and asked, “Is DiNiya all right?”

“She’s badly hurt,” Rex replied, not knowing how to give her a more precise prognosis. “She keeps coughing up blood!”

FyNasia ran over to them and lowered her head to inspect the girl. “She’s bleeding internally,” she said at last.

“How can you tell?” Rex asked

“I can smell the blood. We need to get her out of here and to a healer as soon as possible! Rex, quickly, put your hand on her chest!”

“What?” he asked, surprised.

“Just do it!” she insisted with a roar.

Rex took his right hand and nervously placed it on DiNiya’s chest, not knowing what she expected to happen.

“Now close your eyes and breathe deeply.”

“I don’t see how this is supposed to—”

“Rex! Listen, we don’t have time to argue! You have to trust me. Now, close your eyes and relax yourself.”

Rex closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. He could hear the other OroGon battling the shadowy monsters, which made it very difficult to stay focused. Through sheer determination, he forced his mind to stay focused on the task at hand.

“Now, focus on DiNiya,” she continued. “See only her in your mind. Feel her flame.”

Rex tried to do what was asked of him but found it difficult to focus on anything other than what he heard happening all around him. Even DiNiya had stopped struggling in his arms and had lost consciousness. “I…can’t,” he said at last.

“Yes, you can,” FyNasia said in a surprisingly soothing voice. “Find her flame.”

He focused all his energy and suddenly felt something warm. He could not describe it but felt as if he was floating in a sea of black, all outside sensations growing fainter with every breath. The only thing he could feel in this darkness was a faint warmth in the distance. He moved in its direction, drawing nearer. He saw a faint red glow far ahead. Moving ever more quickly towards it, he felt it grow warmer, until it became an enticing heat. He watched as the glow revealed itself to be a ball of red flame, burning alone in the darkness.

“Is this DiNiya’s flame?” he asked himself, and was surprised to hear FyNasia reply.

“Yes, Rex. This is DiNiya’s very essence—her internal fire, her flame. You must awaken its power.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” He looked at it, not knowing what to do. Even though it was burning, it seemed subdued somehow. Like it was being held back by something. “It’s…it’s too weak,” he said. “I can feel it. It’s not burning as strongly as it should be. It won’t be enough to heal her.”

Then you must help her flame with your own
, came the gentle voice that dwelled within his dreams and spoke to him on the wind: EliCia.

Rex thought for a moment, then moved towards the small ball of flickering red. He felt an amazing warm and powerful sensation as he drew ever closer, almost as if it was pulling him in. In fact, it was doing just that. Rex felt his mind go numb as he passed through the flame. Inside he could feel and see all that was DiNiya: her memories, her dreams—all there for him to witness. He watched as she grew up, as she played with her father, and the mysterious fuzzy image of a woman that looked like an unfocused photograph.
Was this her mother
, he wondered? He also could sense that there was another memory that she was keeping hidden, tucked far away in the farthest recesses of her mind. Rex wanted to get to it but was stopped by the same voice.

Remember what you are here to do, Rex
.
DiNiya needs you. Only your flame can give hers the strength she needs to live
.

“All right,” he said. “I don’t really know what I’m doing, but here goes nothing.” He began focusing on his own memories, drawing from his own past. He watched as events and images played out before him in rapid succession: walking through a world that seemed so large and frightening, faces of those he recognized as people he used to know; forgotten faces who had passed through his life like shadows themselves, or was it he who had been the shadow, ever present yet never touching anyone, never making contact and vanishing into darkness with the fading light? They continued on through the timeline as best as he could remember. “Where is it?” he asked himself. “Where’s the one I need?” The memories continued to unfold and became less pleasant. Now filled with fights and betrayal from the very same faces that he had watched from afar with their actions becoming erratic, violent, and incomprehensible. He watched as he was mercilessly beaten to the ground when he was very young by people older and larger, kicked repeatedly, and forced to carry his broken and beaten self home, only to repeat the same cycle of violence the next day and all others after it. He had become so numb to the mere memory of these events, but seeing them again with his own eyes reopened old wounds he thought long since closed. The memories continued to change as did he within them. Now larger and stronger, he had punished all those who had ever laid a hand on him, sending a message to all the others to keep away or suffer the consequences. Now he was alone; no one spoke to him or even looked at him, all of them too fearful to cast their gaze upon the monster sitting in the corner watching them with a predatory gaze. All the hope and joy faded from his heart as pain and rage began to creep up and consume him.
Damn it
, he thought.
What is the point? It always ends the same. No matter how hard I fight, these people never change. Why should I fight for them? Why shouldn’t I
—?