by Dreagen
“What the fuck are you going on about?” he forcefully interjected, startling her in the process. “What does any of this have to do with her or me?”
“Why don’t you ask her?”
“That is enough,” her mother said, bringing her head down next to the both of them. “Rex is new here and does not need to be burdened with such matters.”
“No,” replied LyCora, growing angrier. “Why shouldn’t he know? Ask her, Rex! Ask DiNiya why she has not been able to ignite her flame in four years, why she feels the chill of a cold night?”
“Perhaps I will, or I could just figure it out for myself by gauging your reactions,” he said as he brought his hand close to her face and focused intently, igniting his flame around it. Panic swept over LyCora’s face as she stumbled backwards, bumping into VoRenna’s leg. “As I thought,” he said, studying her with an inquisitive look. “You’re afraid of the red flame.”
“Keep away from me!” LyCora hissed.
“Tell me,” he asked, taking a step towards her, “what fun is it really to push someone who can’t push back?”
“I mean it, stay back!”
“How bored you must be going after someone whose bark is worse than their bite?” he continued, drawing nearer. “Well, I assure you, I’m all bite.” His lips parted as he menacingly flashed a smile filled with serrated sharp teeth.
“All right, you two, that’s enough,” BaRone said, placing a hand on Rex’s shoulder.
Rex allowed his flame to fade before glancing back up at BaRone, who in turn gave him a pleading look. Looking back at LyCora, he said, “Then again, I suppose it’s only respectful to give DiNiya the opportunity to set the record straight. If you’ll excuse me.”
Rex walked past the frightened girl, emitting an ominous red glow from his eyes as he briefly glanced in her direction before moving off through the crowd, which cleared out of his way.
He pushed through the smaller set of doors and immediately found himself in a torrential downpour. He looked in every direction but saw no sign of DiNiya.
“Where would she have gone?” he asked himself. He remembered the night he had climbed to the top of the house and found her sitting under the stars. Would she really be there now in this weather? he wondered. She probably just went home.
Rex took off at full speed through town back the way they had come earlier. Water splashed with every step, while lightning streaked across the sky. What is happening here? he wondered. A few days ago, he was just some kid from an anonymous town, and now he was running through the streets of a town in a fantasy world chasing after a girl he barely even knew. What else does this place have in store for me? he wondered.
He ran through the streets, looking in every direction and asking everyone he came by if they had seen her. After questioning seven people who were in a hurry to get out of the rain, he came across a small ceratopsian that said he had seen her run through the cave that led out the way they had come in earlier. Rex thanked him and took off in that direction.
Once through, he stopped as a warm sensation in his chest took hold of him. Placing a hand over his heart, he felt it pounding like a drum. At first he thought it was because he had run the entire way, but soon he realized that it was not from exertion, but a yearning—a pull, but for what? DiNiya suddenly popped in his mind, and the warm sensation in his chest turned to one of burning, and his heart began to beat even faster. Something was guiding him, he did not know what, but he could now clearly feel it. Every time he thought of her, he would feel a pull telling him to go in a certain direction. He took off in the direction of her home, his heart now burning within, but strangely enough, not uncomfortably. He ran and ran until he could see his bedroom window emerging out of the darkness, but still he did not know what was driving him forward. He could feel a fire, not his, but that of another…DiNiya.
His legs began moving faster and faster as his eyes began to glow. His muscles grew until his clothes were tight against his skin and red flame flowed off him. He was practically at the front door when, without even thinking, he pushed off the ground into the air and landed effortlessly on the roof. He stood for a moment with the rain turning to steam as it fell on him. Breathing heavily, he could still feel the rush. Then, slowly, it began to subside. His heart rate slowed, and the rain turned back into cool droplets against his skin as his flame subsided before disappearing entirely. He looked down and saw that his muscles had shrunk back down to normal as well. He could still feel the pull, however, the other flame that had drawn him here. Looking up, he saw DiNiya standing in the rain, staring up at the sky, her fists clenched and trembling. Rex went to call out to her but stopped when he felt a rush of air pass right through him, sending him staggering backwards.
He looked back and saw DiNiya rear back and scream savagely up to the sky. The sound cut through him like a knife and stirred something deep within. It was at that moment the rain stopped falling. Rex looked high above and saw the clouds opening, creating a circle of clear sky above them. DiNiya’s scream became lower and lower and sounded less like a fifteen-year-old girl and more like…something else. He had heard all the cries and calls of the DyVorians of the land, but this was not among them. Still, it seemed strangely familiar. Driving itself deeper into Rex’s psyche, he began seeing flashes in his mind, like sparks of a fire trying to ignite; fragments of memories rising to the surface in a sea of black before disappearing into its depths once again. He found himself captivated by the outpour of such raw emotion from this girl. Driven to it like a moth to a flame, he put one foot slowly in front of the other. Is this it? he wondered. Will I finally see her flame…will it be like mine? He prepared himself to finally witness with his own eyes what everyone was so afraid of in him, but instead, her scream gradually turned back to that of a normal girl, and the clouds moved back in to fill the empty space, causing the rain to immediately resume its cascade down on them. Rex did not know what had just happened but he could still feel the rush in him; he could still feel…her.
DiNiya dropped to her knees and began to cry. She could feel an all-too-familiar pain swelling up inside her. It was like hopelessness; a pit of despair she could never fully climb out of. There she sat, motionless, as her tears mixed with the rain. Rex just stood and watched her for several minutes in silence. DiNiya felt utterly drained. Her body was exhausted and her mind felt like it was floating lazily in a pool of water. Before long, there was a break in the rain just above her head. Looking up, she saw Rex standing bareback, holding his shirt over her.
“Hi,” he said simply.
She just stared back up with a look of defeat before quickly standing up and pulling the shirt out of his hands. “Put this back on before you get sick again,” she said, wiping her eyes as she tried to pull his shirt over his head.
“Hey, hey, I’m fine,” he protested, pulling away, a little embarrassed by her reaction. “Besides, I’m not the one standing out here in the rain.”
DiNiya turned away from him. Rex did not know what he was supposed to do in a situation like this. He had never actually tried to cheer someone up. After all, he was the one usually feeling tortured by living in a world where no one understood him. Being on the other side was a switch, to say the least, and one he was still growing accustomed to. DiNiya stood in silence with her back to him. Neither one of them knew what to say to the other. The rain began to thin as hints of the sun crept through the grey sky.
“Aren’t you going to ask me?” she spoke at last in a soft tone.
“What do you mean?” Rex asked, pretending to be ignorant of her meaning. “Ask you what?”
“Don’t play dumb, Rex,” she said, turning around to face him with a look that said she was too tired to cry and too disheartened to yell. “I know she told you why she hates me. It was only a matter of time before someone did.”
Rex looked at her curiously, studying her solemn expression. “I know what hatred in the eyes of another looks like all too well,” he said, crossing his ar
ms. “It’s not hate that’s responsible for the unpleasantness between the two of you.”
“But you saw how she spoke to me back there. Of course she hates me. What else would you call it?”
“Fear,” he replied bluntly.
“Fear?” she repeated in disbelief. “You really think she’s scared of me after having watched her go on the offensive like that?”
“People often try to put up a loud front to cover up the fact that they’re scared, but no matter how convincing their performance, they can never hide the stench, the smell of fear,” he added, bearing his teeth slightly.
“Are you serious?”
“Of course; that girl reeked of it. You’re not the only one who lost their nerve when whatever happened between the both of you went down. Trust me.”
DiNiya felt dumbfounded. “LyCora is afraid of me…no,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t believe it, and even if I did, it doesn’t change anything! She’s cruel, mean-spirited, ill-tempered, and without remorse!”
“Sounds like someone else I know,” Rex replied thoughtfully while smiling to himself.
“You know what I mean, and besides, I don’t want anyone being afraid of me.”
“Why not?” he asked, standing at attention and cocking his head curiously as if having just heard something conceptually alien to him.
“What do you mean, ‘why not’? Why would anyone want others to fear them?”
“To keep your enemies from getting too close.”
“Enemies? Who exactly do you think is after me, Rex? Or you for that matter?” she said, giving him a sardonic look.
“Potentially everyone, maybe no one. The point is you never know, so it’s best to play it smart and use what you’ve got to your advantage.”
“And what exactly do I have?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips.
“Your flame. That girl’s heart nearly leaped out of her chest the instant I ignited mine. You people claim that this world is accepting of everyone, but I’ve seen the way people look at me because my flame is red. It’s very different from the way they look at you, and I suspect it’s because you can’t ignite yours. It’s out of sight, out of mind.” DiNiya looked away, feeling the weight of his words and the truth they held. “LyCora has seen it though, hasn’t she?” he asked, stepping closer. “So the real question is not why she hates you, but why she’s terrified of you.”
“Rex…it’s complicated.”
“Oh, I doubt that. Most things are simpler than people allow themselves to believe.”
“Is it not the same for you, having lost some of your memories?”
“How do you figure?” he asked, fixing her with a challenging gaze.
“Perhaps the reason why you can’t remember certain things is because those memories are ones you want to forget.”
“Why would I want to forget?”
“I don’t know,” she said in earnest. “But sometimes things happen that we cannot undo, that we can’t take back, and it leaves a scar. For you it was the loss of your memories.”
“And for you the loss of your flame.”
“My flame isn’t lost,” she said softly. “I have always known where it is. I just can’t…reach it anymore.”
“Why doesn’t it ignite?” Rex asked bluntly, no longer in the mood to dance around the issue. “To be honest, I thought it was some sort of disability, but LyCora said you could use your flame like everyone else up until only a few years ago. So what happened?”
For a moment it appeared DiNiya was going to answer the question, but then just as quickly decided not to. She could feel the same heavy weight on her heart every time someone asked her that question, every time she thought back to that day. Most of the time she could bury it far down and forget about it, but it was at times like this that it stabbed at her conscience like a knife.
“I’m sorry,” said Rex, reconciling that he may have pushed too hard. “I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s not your fault,” she said. “It’s mine, really. Rex…I know we have only known each other for a short while, but…I feel like I can be open with you. So much so that it scares me…but comforts me at the same time.” Rex recoiled back slightly, unsure how he felt about such a declaration. “But this is one thing I am still not ready to tell you,” she continued, clenching her fists. “I’m not ready to have you stop seeing me the way you do, and start looking at me the way they do.”
“I don’t care how ‘they’ look at you. All I know is who you’ve shown yourself to be. That girl talked big back there, but talk does not count for much. Actions speak louder than words. Know what I mean?”
“I do,” she said, nodding. “But it’s my actions I’m afraid of you learning about.”
Rex found himself standing there with no idea what else to say. He wished he could be one of those people who always had something smart and profound to contribute at a time like this. How did he even find himself in this situation? Why had he been so anxious to chase after her in the pouring rain? LyCora was right: how much did he really know about DiNiya? The smart thing to do would be what he had always done: stay off to the side and watch events play out in front of him to other people while he observed from safety…but here he was. Right in the middle of it all, staring into a pair of eyes that so were so much like his, but so different at the same time.
The rain finally stopped, and the clouds parted to let the dying light of the sun shine through. The light touched them and seemed to somewhat dissolve the somber mood, while all around them, the mountain glistened.
“We should probably get back,” Rex said.
DiNiya just shook her head. “I want to stay right here.”
“Well, then I’m staying too.”
DiNiya smiled. She was happy to at long last have a friend she could be at ease with. She only hoped he would not see that which she so desperately tried to keep hidden from the world, a secret that had already robbed her of any chance at a normal life. Then again, Rex hardly came across as one devoid of a dark side, so she wondered if he really would be as put off as she feared. He was incredibly difficult to pin down in terms of mood and temperament. At times he could make her laugh like no one else, but then just as quickly reveal a cold and almost sinisterly detached sense of distrust in others. Now is not the time to think of such things, she told herself. What mattered most was that despite any and all apprehensions she had about his personal character, he was in the one place that no one else in the world was: at her side. She had no idea what the future held for her and her new friend, but for now, in this moment in time, things seemed just right.
They sat down at their usual spot and looked up to the clearing sky where CyTorians circled high above.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“Don’t mention it,” he replied
Gently, she leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
The next morning, the two of them walked to the shop with BaRone, who seemed to be his normal jovial self—something that came as a surprise to Rex, considering the scene at the tavern the day before. Then again, moving on and not dwelling on it was probably the best course of action in terms of easing tensions between him and DiNiya. As for her, she seemed a little tired this morning but otherwise back to her normal self. Rex found himself marveling at how quickly she was able to bounce back, a testament to her own strength of will.
Upon reaching the shop, BaRone immediately went downstairs, leaving Rex and DiNiya alone for the first time since the day before.
“Hey,” called Rex to her quietly. “Are you all right?”
She smiled and nodded. “Yes, I’m fine. You know this new kind streak is going to ruin that dark and sinister persona of yours.”
“What?” Rex asked, confused, as he cocked his head to the side.
“Never mind,” she laughed, smoothing out a loose fiber on his shirt. “Come on, let’s get ready to open.”
They spent the next half hour dusting off statues, reorga
nizing books on shelves, and double-checking orders. Rex, not really knowing much of anything regarding working in the shop, basically just did what he was told. Hold this, put that over there, hand me that. They were kind enough to keep it simple while he learned. They finished with everything just as a familiar face walked into the shop.
“Good morning, TarFor,” DiNiya said cheerfully.
“Good morning to you, DiNiya,” the big man said as he walked up to the counter and gave her a hug.
Rex was still impressed by how large and powerful TarFor looked, with a barreled chest and arms like tree trunks. His thick mane of fur, which was normally tied back, hung free today, elegantly draped over his shoulders.
“Morning, TarFor,” BaRone said as he emerged from the back and put a statue he had just finished polishing back on the shelf. “I thought you would be down at the docks, what with your son pulling into the harbor today.”
“Well, that was the plan, but he sent word that he had to head south instead,” TarFor replied. “Something about a major score he couldn’t pass up. I would, however, like to make a trade.”
“Oh?” BaRone replied curiously. “And what might that be?”
“A little help checking on the state of the SoNarvora who moved into the outer forest not too long ago in exchange for a smile on DiNiya’s face.” He reached down to the leather pouch that hung from his hip and pulled out a beautiful crimson flower that looked like an elaborate crown for a tiny king, with six long pointy petals that angled straight up. Inside was a swirling pool of light, which emitted an intoxicating smell that filled the room.
“Wow, a fire rose!” DiNiya said in awe as she gently took it into her hands and breathed in the sweet aroma. “It’s beautiful. Thank you, TarFor!”