Born of Fire: The Dawn of Legend (50 page)

“Yes, but at least you smile from time to time now.” Rex found himself laughing, much to his own surprise, before managing a modicum of seriousness in his outward demeanor. “You see? That wasn’t so painful, was it?”

“Positively excruciating.”

Now it was DiNiya who grew more serious as she cast a look of concern upon him. “In all seriousness, though, are you all right?”

Rex nodded. “Yes. I will be. I just feel like I haven’t made any progress in all this time.”

“Trust me, Rex, you’re doing far better than you realize.” She took his hand and gave it a light squeeze while staring deep into his eyes. “Please believe me when I tell you that.”

The sound of someone clearing their throat broke them apart as they turned to see EeNox motioning to the orchid in Rex’s hand with his eyes.

“Oh, right,” Rex said, suddenly realizing what his friend was hinting at. “This is for you.”

He handed the moon orchid to DiNiya, who took it with both hands and brought it up to her face where she drank in its sweet aroma.

“Mmm,” she said as she closed her eyes. “I love it. Thank you, Rex.”

“Don’t mention it,” he said, hoping his face was not turning red.

“Well, then,” said KyGahl as he slapped Rex on the back. “Now that this little matter has been resolved, I think it is time I reveal to you my little surprise.”

KyGahl disappeared behind the tarp, where he could be heard speaking with three men, while Rex, DiNiya, and EeNox did their best to listen in.

“What are you three doing?” asked AnaSaya as she approached with a plate filled with an assortment of food.

“Trying to listen in on what KyGahl has planned for us tonight,” replied EeNox.

“I see,” she said, putting a piece of fruit in her mouth. “So you’re eavesdropping?” The three turned and gave her a telling glare that warned her not to pass judgment. “Oh, no, please do not misunderstand,” she spoke with a grin and her right cheek filled with fruit. “It doesn’t bother me. I do it to my mother all the time when she has men over.”

Further back in the tavern, LyCora sat at one of the bar stools and nursed a glass of wine, all the while reflecting back on the evening’s events. She had been battling herself internally as to whether her comment had been truly justified. She kept coming back to the same conclusion, but everyone seemed to now give her a wide berth.
What is wrong with all of these people?
she thought to herself.
Have they no concept of the type of danger they put themselves in even allowing him to walk amongst them
? She took a sip from her glass before setting it back down on the counter.
No, I suppose they wouldn’t. After all, no one besides me has seen what the red flame can truly do…no one alive, anyway
. She lifted her glass once again, only to find it empty. “Another, please,” she called to the barkeep.

A large man with long auburn braided sideburns that ran down past his chest and arms like tree trunks topped her off with another round before giving a curious look. “You know, as a barkeep I am generally good with faces, but I don’t believe I have had the pleasure, young blue flame.”

“LyCora,” she replied simply, glancing up momentarily before returning her focus at seemingly nothing.

“Just ‘LyCora’?” he inquired with a raised eyebrow.

“My mother and I are not beholden to any tribe, so yes, it’s just LyCora.”

“Ah, so you’re the girl who came with VoRenna. Strange that I’ve never seen you in here before.”

“Oh, I’ve been here,” she said, raising her voice slightly before letting it drop back down. “I just normally don’t come to this little corner of the room.”

“I see. So to what do I owe the honor of your presence on this night?”

“My need to put some distance between myself and certain others.”

“Hmm,” he said, stroking one of his braids. “I certainly hope I am not one of those bothersome folk.”

“If you were, believe me, I would not still be sitting here no matter how fine a drink you made.”

“Ahh, so you fancy my skill at making wine, do you? Much appreciated, young one.”

“It was hardly anything worth thanking me over.”

“Quite the contrary,” he said with a wide-eyed expression. “Anyone who works to perfect their mastery of a craft, regardless of what it may be, holds any compliment given for it in high regard.”

“Is that right?” she asked, leaning back in her seat with a look of mild amusement.

“Indeed,” he replied before holding out to her his forearm, which emitted a soft green burn. “My apologies for not introducing myself sooner. FeroBay is the name.”

“A pleasure,” she replied, returning the gesture.

“So you would not by any chance be referring to that red flame boy that arrived in KaNar a little more than half a year ago now?” LyCora slammed her glass down on the counter, rousing a few looks from several other patrons further down. “So that would be a yes,” he added, wiping off the wine that spilled onto the counter.

“I just cannot escape it, no matter what I do,” she said almost to herself. “I thought if I helped then maybe I could ward off another disaster.”

“Disaster?”

“But in the end it seems that fool is destined to go off and take whoever is around with him.”

“Wait, you’re not referring to what happened a few years ago with—?”

“I hate this place.” FeroBay remained silent, as if rendered inactive by her bold statement. “I never wanted to come back. Not ever again. But like always, here I find myself. Someplace where I am the only one who grasps the severity of the situation, and am probably doomed to pay the price for not being anywhere else.”

“Perhaps you have had enough to whet your palate for one evening,” he said as he reached for the glass only to have her grab it before he could and drain the remainder of its contents.

“I am inclined to agree,” she replied, wiping her mouth.

“You know, I never would have guessed you for someone who prefers the older type,” said ShinGaru as he joined her in the seat to her right.

“Come again?” she replied with a cross glare.

“Then again, there is something distinguished about full facial fur, aged with a hint of grey by a lifetime of experience.”

“Oh, look, a patron who needs a refill,” FeroBay said, now feeling awkward as he moved down to the far end of the bar with a bottle in hand.

“But I didn’t order another round,” said the man at the far end.

“Shut your mouth and drink, damn you!” FeroBay growled through gritted teeth.

LyCora sighed and turned to face the golden-eyed young man, who smiled innocently back at her. “So?”

“I’m sorry, what’s that now?” ShinGaru replied with a look of feigned ignorance.

“Oh, enough already, ShinGaru! Stop pretending to be as clever as you think you are! You obviously have some form of judgment to pass on me, so get it out of your system already so I can have some peace.”

“I know not of what you speak, my lady,” he replied smugly as he turned and faced the wall of bottles behind the counter.

A moment passed, then another, and LyCora quickly realized he was not going to leave. “Are you going to just—?”

“Pardon me, barkeep,” ShinGaru suddenly called out, cutting her off. FeroBay cast a nervous glance in his direction. “I will have what she is having.”

FeroBay nodded and turned behind him to grab another glass.

“What do you think you’re doing?” LyCora asked, sounding less than pleased with how her efforts to distance herself from the group were turning out.

“Why, ordering a drink, of course. Why else would I be sitting at a bar?”

“Why else, indeed?”

“If you do not wish to speak with me, you do not have to.”

“Trust me, I am well aware of that. The question is are you?”

“You speak in riddles, my lady. I am simply quenching my parched palate.”

“Damn it, enough already! And stop calling me ‘my lady!’ Makes you sound like a lecherous old fool!”

“You wound me, my—” ShinGaru stopped when he saw the look she was giving him. “Very well. I suppose I will just drink in silence.”

“Somewhere else?”

“I would, but this stool seems remarkably conducive to my particular backside.”

LyCora threw her hands up before slamming them down on the bar and burying her face between them, where she remained for a time before being baited once again into talking.

“You know DiNiya is very worried about Rex,” ShinGaru said.

“Good for her.”

“You could just tell she wanted nothing more than to run after him when he took off earlier. In truth, I’m glad VayRonx was there. I don’t think anything less than our mighty alpha could have prevented her from doing so.”

“Why would you care either way? What concern is it of yours—of any of ours?”

ShinGaru just looked at her and smiled. “You know that is precisely what I thought you would say.”

“Is that so? Well, then, why don’t you enlighten me on the subject of me since you apparently seem to know so much about it?”

“Believe me, it’s far from complicated. You’re rather easy to figure and thus predict.” LyCora just stared and waited for the real explanation, which she sensed was on its way. “You and DiNiya are essentially the same, but display opposite behaviors.”

“Then we’re not the same.”

“What I mean is that you two represent both sides of a mirror. The same image just flipped.”

“And how exactly did you come to that conclusion?”

“The same way any scientist tests a theory and comes to a conclusion: observation.”

“Oh, you mean the same way a normal person gauges whether a conversation possesses the key component needed for its continuation. A point.”

ShinGaru laughed. “‘Point’ taken.”

“Pity you had to steal one from me.”

“What I have been alluding to this whole time is that while DiNiya sees a problem and runs to it in order to fix it so it is no longer one, you dodge and hide from it every chance you get; two courses of action as a result of a single incident. Both of you could have gone either way, so I find myself curious as to why you both chose the paths you did.”

“Is that why you’re still here in KaNar?”

“What do you mean?”

“I may have spent my fair share of time away from this place, but I do remember you never staying more than a cycle at a time, when I used to spend the summers here with my mother. ShinGaru: the youngest graduate of the Science Guild in its history and always on the go in search of the next big discovery. Yet here you are, almost half a year in one place without even so much as talking of your research.”

“What makes you think I have not been doing research?” he asked coyly, taking a drink.

“Because the behavioral intricacies of socially inept teenagers hardly qualifies as fascinating, let alone contributes to the overall understanding of EeNarins. This coming from one of them, of course.”

“We all have our reasons for doing what we do, LyCora. Yourself, for instance.”

“Here we go again. And just what is it you are trying to accuse me of now?”

“I’m not accusing you of anything, just saying that people do not run from others unless they are afraid.”

“Of course I’m afraid of Rex! That’s no secret to anyone, least of all me.”

“I was not talking about him.”

“All right, who then?” she asked, turning in her seat and folding her arms in front of her.

“Yourself.”

“Now I know you’ve lost it. Leave me be. I’ve had enough of this.”

“Why is it you were so persistent about deeming Rex some terrible menace?”

“Because he is! You know what he almost did to me!”

“Indeed he does seem to possess unparalleled anger-management issues.”

“That’s putting it lightly,” she scoffed.

“However, he was not guilty of anything you could not find yourself on the receiving end of, if you took a stroll through wild tribe territory.”

“So like everyone else, you’re saying I should just forget about what happened and drop the whole issue?”

“Not at all. In fact, I think you should do just the opposite, which you have already begun to.”

“If you are referring to my agreement to train him, and I know you are, it’s like I already explained. If I cannot escape him then maybe I can focus all that energy on something constructive so he doesn’t aim it at us again. You’ve been working with him, too, so you should see the logic in that as well.”

“And I do; however, I sense that your decision to help was hardly motivated purely out of a selfless desire to keep us all safe from the big, bad alien. No, I suspect that you wanted to belong, to be a part of something again, and saw that as a perfect opportunity to do just that, without forfeiting any mistaken sense of dignity.”

“You know you have a good deal of nerve talking to me in such a way! Where do you get off coming over here and accusing me of such nonsense?”

“I meant no offense.”

“And yet here I sit feeling very much offended. Perhaps it’s time you finish your drink and be on your way. I think I have had just about all I can stomach of your grand all-seeing, all-knowing intellect. Wouldn’t want you to dull that edge of yours by wasting time figuring out someone as simple as me, now would we?”

“I said you were not difficult to figure out,” he said, sounding more serious now. “I never said you were simple.”

“Well, you may as well have,” she said, turning back to the counter and staring into the now empty glass.

“It changed you, LyCora. What happened four years ago…it made you not as you once were.”

“Well, what do you expect?” she replied without looking up.

“I would expect you to sympathize with how she is feeling. The way she has felt for the past four years and will feel for the rest of her life.”

LyCora looked back in his direction and said, “So am I to simply forget the past?”

“One should never forget the past. I just wish you would realize that she knew that as well, and that may be her reason for wanting to do right by Rex. For better or for worse, because of what happened she has a unique perspective on his power that no one had with hers. I believe she feels if she can teach him how to master the red flame, then she can atone for what happened before.”