Born of Fire: The Dawn of Legend

by Dreagen

  “Uh oh,” Rex said as he watched the fire grow rapidly out of control. “NiroTy!” Rushing forward and grabbing the stand with one hand, he effortlessly lifted the wooden barrier off the ground and threw it aside before running in and pulling the young DyVorian free. Turning back to the rising flames, Rex felt a rush of fear overtake him as he watched the fire, when suddenly a brilliant flash of green struck the flames, causing them to vanish. Standing bewildered for a moment as he tried to process what had just happened, he felt the low vibration of something large near him, beneath his feet. Turning, he saw the towering form of VayRonx standing over him, eyeing the result of his misjudgment.

  “NiroTy, are you all right?” TolNy asked as he moved quickly over to the two of them.

  “Yes,” his grandson replied. “Thanks to him.”

  Rex turned around when he realized everyone had stopped speaking and were looking at him.

  “Thank you, Rex,” NiroTy said, rising to his feet. “You probably saved my life.”

  “But…I’m the one who almost took it,” Rex stammered in disbelief.

  “That was an accident,” TolNy said. “We all saw that. It was I who pressed you to participate in something you were not yet comfortable in doing, and for good reason. I should have been more sympathetic to the fact that I was asking too much of you. I am the one who put my grandson at risk, and for that I am sorry, NiroTy,” he said, looking down at his grandson.

  Rex shook his head in disbelief. “This is crazy! I’m the one who took on the challenge, and I’m the one who burned down your stand, nearly killing your grandson!”

  “Rex,” DiNiya said as she reached out with a hand, only to have it pushed away.

  “No! Don’t try to brush this aside like it’s nothing, damn it! I was a fool to think I was ready, that I was like the rest of you!”

  “Rex, it was an accident,” EeNox insisted. “We know you would never try to hurt someone on purpose.”

  Rex walked right up to him and brought his face close enough to EeNox that he could see his eyes burning with fury. “Now, we both know that’s not true,” he said, giving a sideways glace to LyCora.

  “Rex…that was an acci—”

  “An accident? Seems like I’m responsible for a lot of those lately. How many more before you all realize that I’m just one big one waiting to happen?”

  With that, Rex pushed past him and disappeared into the crowd back the way they had come. EeNox sighed as he turned back to look at the charred remains of the booth.

  “Well, this festival is off to a great start,” LyCora said. “We haven’t even been out an hour and already one booth has burned to the ground and someone was almost killed.”

  “LyCora, that’s enough!” VoRenna exclaimed.

  LyCora just threw her hands up and turned away, shaking her head.

  “It really was an accident,” EeNox said, turning to his father and the other adults. “I have been working long and hard with Rex to teach him how to control his flame.”

  “We all have,” ShinGaru added.

  Nodding, EeNox continued, “He would never do something like this on purpose.”

  “Not unless his nature got the better of him,” LyCora interjected.

  “What do you mean?” VayRonx asked.

  “LyCora, stop,” DiNiya said.

  “Shut up, DiNiya,” the other girl snapped back, taking her by surprise. “Don’t even get me started with you! As for Rex, EeNox here has been most elusive about his reasons for having us all work so closely with him.”

  “And that reason would be?” the alpha pressed.

  “That he almost killed me.”

  Everyone gasped and gave a look of surprise, everyone except EeNox and DiNiya, who just lowered their heads.

  “Son, is this true?” BaRone asked, stepping closer to the boy who still refused to meet his gaze.

  After a moment of silence, DiNiya finally answered, “Yes. It’s true.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me? Either of you?”

  “Because Rex was afraid you would send him away…I was afraid you would send him away.”

  “Send him away?” her father repeated in disbelief as he glanced up at VayRonx then back down to the children. “Why would you ever think that?”

  “Because he was dangerous,” EeNox blurted out. “Because he couldn’t control his own power…”

  “Because he could not control himself. Is that it, son?” EeNox looked as if he wanted to say more but just resigned himself to yet another simple nod. Stepping forward, BaRone put a hand on each one of his children’s shoulders and pulled them in close. “You two should know better than anyone that I am not in the habit of casting those aside who are in most need of help.”

  “Nor are any of the rest of us,” VayRonx declared. “A tribe is a community, a family, and when a member of that family needs help, the tribe rallies together to give it to them.”

  “Yes, but Rex technically was not originally a part of this tribe,” DiNiya said. “So we thought—”

  “You thought what?” the big TarBoranx asked as he lowered his eye down to her. “That because he came from somewhere else, because he was a little different from us, we would turn our backs to him? Is that what you would have done, or did do?”

  “No, of course not!”

  “Then why would any of us, the ones who raised you, taught you, guided you your whole life, not extend the same kindness?”

  DiNiya did not know what to say. In truth, it had been foolish of her, of all of them, to keep the truth of the severity of Rex’s problem a secret. He was a boy suffering from something deep within himself, something he could not control but desperately wanted to. DiNiya could relate, but unlike him, did not live with the fear of losing control and hurting those around her. Not anymore, anyway. Still, the feeling of guilt that came with that was not something unknown to her. “I’m sorry,” she said at last in a small voice. “It’s all my fault. I should have come to you about this.”

  “No, DiNiya,” her brother spoke up as he placed a hand on her back. “The blame isn’t yours alone to shoulder. I could have said something, too, but chose not to.”

  “Well, then I suppose that means I am just as guilty,” ShinGaru added.

  “As am I,” AnaSaya said.

  All eyes shifted over to LyCora, who in turn returned with a cross look. “Don’t any of you dare try to lump me in with the blame. I told you, all of you, from the very beginning, that he was bad news!”

  “That didn’t stop you from training him,” EeNox fired back.

  “What else was I supposed to do? You all made it very clear that he was here to stay, so if I was going to have to sleep under the same roof as him, even the same hemisphere, I was damned sure going to do whatever I could to minimize any danger he posed. Even if it did ultimately prove futile,” she added, glancing over to the burnt-down pile of wood that had once been TolNy’s booth.

  “If what you say is true,” TolNy said, “then he was a boy who would lash out dangerously in anger. That, however, was not what I witnessed this evening, for I saw a boy struggling with something that got away from him, and rather than standing idly by, did everything he could to correct the mistake, and in doing so saved the life of my grandson. Obviously, whatever you all have been doing has been working.”

  “I should go after him,” DiNiya said, but VayRonx stopped her.

  “Why don’t you proceed to the tavern with the others?” he offered.

  “But Rex is—”

  “I will tend to Rex. I feel that he believes he has disappointed all of you who have worked so hard to help him, but you most of all, DiNiya.”

  “Me?” she said with a look of disbelief. “But I haven’t done anything to help him. I can’t even help him.”

  “You have done more for him than you realize. So much so that it is for you I feel he has made it his mission to bring order to the chaos raging inside him.” DiNiya found herself speechless once again, something that was beginni
ng to become more and more of a habit as of late. “KyGahl is expecting you all now, so be on your way. I will be by later with Rex. I give you my word,” he added with a pressing look to DiNiya. With a slight nod of his head, VayRonx turned and proceeded in the direction Rex had run off in, the throngs of people parting as he passed through.

  DiNiya watched him walk away before she felt a hand gently clasp her shoulder. Turning, she saw her father’s reassuring smile and allowed herself to be led away just as a crew of workers arrived to clean up the wreckage of the booth.

  Rex had stormed all the way back home, up the stairs, and down the hall, where he slammed the door to his room shut behind him. He slid to the floor, feeling a heavy knot rise in his throat; his vision blurred with tears that now streamed freely down his face. He could not remember the last time he had cried. So much of his life had been spent forcing the pain down deep so it would not affect him on the outside. What had changed? he wondered. Why was he so bothered by any of this? The truth seemed to lie in the fact that for the first time in his life, he was surrounded by those he felt actually deserved the best he could give, the best he could be. Now he saw himself failing them and realized that perhaps it was better to live amongst those you did not respect or even like. There was no fear of disappointment that way, at least none that would matter to him. Clenching his fists, he slammed one right through the floor and cursed to himself. “What a fool I’ve become. What the hell was I even thinking? This world may be perfect, but that should have been my first clue that I don’t belong in it.”

  He drove his fist deeper into the floor as he gritted his teeth, trying to force back the tears, but he found that the pain rising to the surface was much stronger than the floor beneath his fists.

  “Well, now. I know you picked up some bad habits growing up on that savage world,” came a booming voice off to his right. “I would have surmised, however, that enough of this one would have rubbed off on you by now to keep you from reducing yourself to a petulant child.”

  Rex looked over to the window and saw VayRonx staring in at him.

  “What are you doing here?” Rex asked as he wiped his eyes and rose to his feet.

  “I was going to ask you the very same thing.”

  “Wallowing in self-pity. What does it look like?”

  “It looks like you are still running from something, but you have yet to trust us with what that may be.”

  Rex just bared his teeth in a grimace as pain shot through his head then vanished just as quickly. “Please, not now. I’m really not in the mood.”

  “Nor, I trust, will you ever be,” VayRonx replied, pushing his head into the room. Wiping his eyes again, Rex just cocked his head and gave the alpha an exhausted look. “Do not mistake my silence on the matter this entire time for ignorance. I could sense something was not right with you the moment we met.”

  “You really know how to cheer someone up. Anyone ever tell you that?”

  “I apologize if I sound crass or insensitive, but the fact of the matter is that until you come to terms or subdue the storm brewing inside you, I fear you will never know peace, Rex.”

  “I doubt very much that peace was ever an option for me, VayRonx. For as far back as I can remember, I have always been one breath away from a complete meltdown.” Rex allowed himself a small laugh as he recalled the countless moments where his strength had gotten the better of him and created more problems than it ever solved. Now he had awakened an awesome power within himself, but rather than being liberated, he felt caged by it, forced to hide behind the shadow of deception.

  “I know what happened between you and LyCora,” VayRonx said at last.

  Rex looked up in momentary shock before accepting the fact that one of his dark little secrets had come to light. “I see. It was only a matter of time before you found out. LyCora told you herself, didn’t she?” VayRonx nodded. “I figured she would after my little fireworks display back there.”

  “She said she agreed to assist in your training in order to bring you under control.”

  “And look how well that turned out.”

  “I feel this was not just her error, but all of ours. We were so happy to hear that she and the others had taken such an interest in you that we did not stop to ask if binding you was the right thing to do.”

  “Binding me?” Rex repeated, confused.

  “By now I’m sure that you have realized that, unlike the rest of us, your flame rages with an intensity and ferocity that, if not guided, will burn out of control.”

  “Yes, I know. That’s the problem; it’s not safe to use. I’m not safe.”

  “Holding your head under water for too long is not safe, but that doesn’t stop people from swimming.”

  “You’re comparing what I did back there to going for a brisk dip in a lake?” Rex replied, sounding almost mortified. “NiroTy almost died! You know that, don’t you?”

  “Yes, he could have, but he did not because you were there.”

  “Exactly! Which is why he was even in danger in the first place!”

  “Accidents will happen; that is simply a fact of life. No matter how careful we are, there will always come a time when the situation gets away from us whether we like it or not. In those moments we have a simple choice to make: sit idly by and watch the events of our miscalculations unfold, or try to reduce the severity of the damage. Maybe even prevent it altogether.” Rex said nothing, but instead looked down at the floor, lost in quiet contemplation. “Despite what you may think, tonight your flame did exactly as you made it do. It did not burn out of control as it did that day when you and LyCora had your…shall we say, ‘altercation’?”

  “That’s putting it a little mildly, and besides—you’re wrong. My flame did go out of control, you saw it for yourself, and it would have caused more damage had you not been there to put it out.”

  “Now you’re just being arrogant.”

  “Come again?”

  “You really think I, the alpha of KaNar, was the only one suited in subduing that glorified campfire you set tonight? Dear boy, you may possess a wealth of power, but you have yet to tap into its full potential. Anyone there about your age could have put out that fire. I just happened to be right there when it happened.”

  “But you said that the—”

  “The red flame is great and powerful, yes, yes, but that does not mean you are. Not yet, anyway. Certainly not without further training.”

  Rex was dumbfounded. This was the first time anyone had spoken of the red flame as something not completely dark and cryptic. “So what you’re saying is that what happened tonight was different than what happened before? How?”

  “Because the booth burning down was a result of it catching on fire from your flame, not because you became angry and blew it up. It was no different than someone dropping a lit torch on a forest floor covered in dry leaves. An accident on their part, yes, but also very different from purposely dropping the torch to start a fire.”

  “But TolNy’s booth…”

  “Burnt to the ground because of you, yes, but what do you think that matters to him when compared to the fact that his grandson’s life was saved—who, I might remind you, came out unscathed because of your quick response.”

  “Well, of course, what was I supposed to do? Just let him burn?”

  “And it is exactly that type of thinking that makes you who you are as opposed to the monster you think you are. Accidents happen, Rex. Some worse than others, but it’s because they’re not intentional that makes them accidents as opposed to heinous acts. As children of flame, we all live with the understanding that one day any of us could be on the receiving end of its burn. It is a truth that all children of EeNara are taught. Tonight was one such occurrence; however, that is not what the people of this tribe will remember when they think back to this night, but rather how a hero saved the life of another.”

  “A hero, you say?” Rex said with a small breathless laugh. “Now how am I supposed to take you
seriously when you say something as ridiculous as that?”

  “Do not take my word for it,” VayRonx said, leaning in closer. “Come back with me and discover the truth for yourself.”

  “I can’t go back there.”

  “Of course you can; you simply do not wish to.”

  “Fine, you’re right! I’m scared, all right? How am I supposed to show my face now? Even if they don’t try to run me out of town, any act of kindness will just be for show. But I’ll know what they’re all really saying about me…what they’ll really be thinking…”

  “You really think you have us all so figured out,” VayRonx said, raising his head slightly. “Rex, if there is one thing I would have thought you would have learned by now it’s that there is more to life than what you know from your mere fifteen years being a part of it. Do you truly believe that it holds no more surprises for you?”

  “I hate surprises.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they are never good.”

  “So you hate us then?”

  “What? No! I mean…what?”

  “Tell me, what did you know of EeNara exactly one year ago?”

  “Nothing. I didn’t know it even existed.”

  “And what of KaNar?”

  “Same, obviously.”

  “And DiNiya?”

  “You know the answer.”

  “So then I am correct in assuming that your discovery of all these things qualifies as a surprise.”

  Seeing where VayRonx was leading him with this particular line of questions, Rex just sighed and replied, “Yes, I suppose they were.”

  “And yet you say you feel no hatred or ill will towards any of those things. So obviously after analyzing all the facts, we can conclude that the reclusive, distant, uninspired, unimpressed Rex can in fact be…pleasantly surprised.” He cocked his head to the side as if awaiting a rebuttal he knew would not come.

  “Do you really think I should go back?” Rex asked at last.