by Dreagen
“Ahh…oh…um…what happened?” DiNiya stammered, looking around at everyone, and then back down at Rex, who was struggling to sit up.
“I have no idea,” he said as he placed a hand on his throbbing head. “Feels like my skull is splitting in half, though.”
BaRone jumped down and extended a hand, helping him to his feet. “You were…well, you were something else.”
“Wha…why? What did happen?”
“You don’t remember?” he asked, sounding astonished.
“No,” Rex replied, looking around at all the concerned and even nervous faces. “I mean…I remember that damn thing grabbing DiNiya, but after that…blank slate. Someone want to fill me in?”
Everyone looked at each other before VayRonx stepped forward to speak, but there was a sudden rush of energy that tore through them.
“What was that?” EeNox asked.
“A massive release of energy,” VyKia answered.
“Energy release from what, though?”
“A powerful flame.”
“That, or many of them,” VayRonx said, craning up to his full standing height and gazing out in the direction of town.
Everyone turned and saw the glow in the distance. The realization of what they were seeing and feeling was a terrible one. Their home was under siege.
17
THE FACE OF THE ENEMY
Rex and the others raced back to town as fast as their legs could run and flames could push them, across the rocky expanse, over the mountain pass and to the eastern cliff face overlooking KaNar, where they beheld a horrific sight.
Rex gasped as he felt a rise of panic stab through the pit of his gut. Below, the whole of KaNar was under attack from above by creatures like the one they had just witnessed, only made of flesh and blood, which unleashed torrents of green, gold, lavender, and blue fire. He could not believe what he was seeing—something that came as a surprise even to him, given all the wonders he had witnessed since he arrived in EeNara. These were beings not of some bygone era but those out of the pages of legend. “DraGons,” he spoke aloud.
They watched as the people below fought fiercely against the aerial assailants who seemed to be reveling in the destruction and mayhem. The DraGons seemed to be of seven species, which while varying in size and appearance all seemed to have the classic look of those of Earth’s Western mythology: large yet lightly built quadruped forms with two sets of enormous wings growing out of their backs. All of which carried long and deadly looking lances and were clad in elaborate suits of armor that were unique in design to each.
“Oh, no,” DiNiya gasped in horror.
“What’s happening down there?” asked EeNox. “What are those things?”
Rex knew the answer but could not remember why. The image of two large lavender eyes burned in his mind, spurring on a terrible pain. The difference, though, was rather than burrowing deep in the back of his skull, it spread across his entire head. He squeezed his eyes shut and tilted his head up, baring his teeth as the pain felt as if it was literally spilling into his veins and coursing through his entire body. Hearing cries of anguish above, he opened his eyes and saw six CyTorians attacking the DraGons in the air, one of which drove his entire beak through the neck of a grey DraGon that had been spewing blue fire down on the populace below, while another did so to the back of another’s head, who was preparing to drop down on a small girl.
Recognizing the first as KySer, a young, brash CyTorian, BaRone called to him. KySer banked over in their direction and landed on the ledge with them. “KySer, what’s happening?”
“There was an attack,” the CyTorian replied in an exasperated voice. “Just beyond the gates in the fields. Sentinel clones, dozens of them! Most of the people went out to face them head on!”
“What about KyVina?” VayRonx asked with obvious anxiety in his voice. “Where is she now?”
“She was the one leading the charge! She ordered the gates to be sealed behind them until she gave the all clear, but…” He was momentarily distracted by a huge fireball that cast a bright glow on them.
“KySer,” VayRonx called to him to regain his attention. “What happened to those who went beyond the gates?”
“We don’t know. They attacked us inside shortly after the gates were sealed. They managed to cut us off from everything beyond them, and we haven’t been able to receive any word on the status of others. I’m sorry, VayRonx…I don’t know what happened to them.”
VayRonx rose to his full height and looked out at the burning scene below, watching the invaders swoop down and ravage his home. “This will not stand,” he said in a low, anger-laden voice. “VyKia, you stay with the children and get them deeper into the mountains. BaRone, I want you to go with KySer and round up all the young you can find and lead them down into the hot springs and seal it. VoRenna, you come with me.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, stepping up next to him.
“To the gates. We need to get them open.”
“VayRonx, I understand KyVina is out there, but shouldn’t we concentrate our efforts on the enemy within the village?”
“Do not mistake the love I have for my mate as something that blinds me to my responsibilities as alpha of my tribe. She and those she led out to fight the clones are amongst the strongest we have and could turn the tides of this fight in our favor.”
“VayRonx, I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to—”
“Furthermore, I do not believe the strength of our forces being divided in more than half was a coincidence. The attack beyond the gate was a distraction to lure most of our defense away from the real battle, which is what we are witnessing now. We need them,” VoRenna nodded. “Is everyone clear as to what it is they must do?”
“Don’t worry about us,” said BaRone. “VyKia can take care of the children, and KySer and I will make sure to get those left down there to safety. You two just focus on getting the others back here.”
“We will. Good luck, old friend.”
“You too.”
VoRenna looked down at her daughter and regarded her with eyes that only LyCora could recognize as filled with emotion. “Do as VyKia tells you, and keep your wits about you.”
“Yes, mother,” LyCora replied.
“Ready?” asked VayRonx as she stepped up on the ledge next to him.
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go.” The two erupted in green and blue and took off down the steep incline.
“We should be off, too,” KySer said to BaRone as he spread his wings and faced away from him.
“Much appreciated,” BaRone said as he prepared to climb onto his back, but he felt someone take hold of his arm. He turned and saw DiNiya looking up at him with her big red eyes. “Please, Father,” she said.
“My precious, I know, but I have to,” he said gently, pulling away from her. He mounted KySer, and the two pushed off the edge where they swooped in low over the chaos. DiNiya stood there, fearful that she might have said goodbye to her father for the last time.
Meanwhile, Rex looked down intently at the battle raging below. Something inside him began to stir. The pain normalized in his body, and felt more like a part of him rather than an affliction. It was as if the cries of the scared, the angry, and the dying were calling up to him…pulling him off the edge and down into the madness. He began to feel the now all-too-familiar presence beckoning him to the battle below. He placed one foot on the edge, but then felt a hand on his shoulder. Glancing back, he saw DiNiya staring at him with a look that he knew meant she wanted to go down there with him. Rex shook his head and just said, “You can’t and you know it.”
“I’ll go with you, Rex,” EeNox said as he stepped up to him before VyKia grabbed him by the arm.
“Damn it, EeNox, you heard VayRonx and your father!”
“How can they just expect us to run away while everyone else stands their ground and fights?” EeNox demanded angrily.
“I understand and respect your desire to defend you
r home, but none of you are strong enough to face what’s down there.”
“Liar, you’re just scared!”
“EeNox,” DiNiya exclaimed, forcing him to stop immediately.
EeNox gave her a look that she understood all too well. It was the look of feeling helpless. Her brother was starting to understand how she felt all the time, and like with her, it was tearing him apart. “VyKia…I’m sorry,” he said, looking down at the ground.
“It’s all right,” VyKia said, placing a hand on his shoulder and tilting his head up. “The day will come when you will prove yourself as a man of this tribe, but that time is not now.”
“Live to fight another day, is that the plan?” came Rex’s low throaty voice as he slowly turned to reveal a face that seemed to carry anger beyond its years with burning embers rising in the sky behind him.
“The plan is to see that you six do not die, boy,” the older woman replied sternly.
Rex knew she had his and the others’ best interests at heart, but he could not shake the feeling that he should be down there. Suddenly, something caught his eye below: a large ceratopsian-like DyVorian rearing his head up in an attempt to gore a DraGon that kept swooping down on him. “Hey, look, it’s TemBol,” he said, pointing down.
“He’s in trouble,” EeNox exclaimed.
They all watched as TemBol burst into green flame and charged up and off the ground, trying to strike his attacker, who seemed to have no trouble evading.
“I’m going down there,” Rex said.
“No, Rex,” KyVina protested. “It’s far too dangerous. As it is, we should already be moving away from this area.”
“But—”
“Those were VayRonx’s orders!”
“Not a fan of taking orders, lady!” Rex said, pointing to her defiantly and taking her by surprise before suddenly leaping over the edge.
“Rex!” DiNiya cried out after him as she attempted to follow, but VyKia reached out and grabbed her arm.
“What are you doing?” DiNiya shouted.
“I could ask you the same thing,” VyKia fired back. “It’s suicide for you if you go down there!”
“I have to help him!”
“And how are you planning to do that exactly? DiNiya, you know you can’t draw out your flame like he can! If anything, you would just be in the way!” DiNiya looked as if someone had ripped the fight out of her. “I’m sorry, but you know as well as I that it’s true. Rex made his choice, and it pains me to say that I was unable to stop him, but I can still save the rest of you and that’s exactly what I intend to do. Now let’s go!”
There was a sudden flash of green and VyKia collapsed to the ground, unconscious. DiNiya looked up in surprise and saw EeNox standing behind where she had been with a glow of green vanishing from his hand.
“EeNox, what did you do?”
“Don’t worry, she’ll be fine,” he said, scooping her up in his arms and propping her against a rock. “She’s just unconscious.”
“This is serious! What if you had killed her?”
“Damn it, DiNiya, give me some credit. Besides, she wasn’t about to let you or me go willingly, and this way we won’t have to worry about making her follow us into harm’s way. For all we know I could have just saved her life.” LyCora smacked him up side the back of his head. “Oww!”
“You make it sound like you did us a favor! She’s stronger than all of us, which means she would have been the only one who could have kept us alive down there, you idiot!”
“Stop arguing,” AnaSaya exclaimed, causing everyone to stop and turn. “There are people dying down there and you’re up here bickering! We need to help them…please!”
“She’s right,” DiNiya said. “This isn’t the time to be fighting amongst ourselves. If we’re going to do this, we need to go now!”
“Agreed,” EeNox said as he scooped up his sister in his arms. “Let’s go find Rex.” He took off down the mountain with LyCora close behind. AnaSaya was preparing to follow when she heard the labored voice of her mother call her name from behind. She turned and saw her reaching up to her with a shaky, outstretched hand.
“Please,” she spoke. “Don’t go. I…can’t bear…to lose you.” AnaSaya reached down and took her mother’s hand into hers. “Please,” VyKia urged, trying to force herself up, but to no avail.
“I’m sorry,” AnaSaya said before letting go of her mother’s hand and taking off after the others.
“AnaSaya,” VyKia called out after her with her hand still outstretched before succumbing to unconsciousness once more.
The scene below was one of chaos, born of a nightmare. Burning winged monsters filled the sky and swooped down like flaming kamikazes. DiNiya and EeNox reached the bottom and were quickly entrenched in the scene of battle. All around them DyVorians and SaVarians were locked in combat with DraGons, who continued to drop down out of the sky.
“EeNox, over there,” DiNiya shouted in panic as she pointed to three young children and their mother who was doing their best to fend off a green DraGon with a large fan-shaped fin at the end of its tail.
EeNox furrowed his brow and held out his left hand, unleashing a blast and striking the DraGon in the back of the head. The beast let out a cry that was more of surprise than pain, and quickly turned around to face his attacker.
“Run,” DiNiya cried to the mother, who obeyed and rushed her children towards the huge tavern doors that were being guarded by three large BorMax. The DraGon, meanwhile, fixed them with a predatory gaze and let out a piercing cry. “Well, I think you’ve got his attention,” she said without turning her eyes away from the angry beast. “What now?”
“Funny, I was just about to ask you that,” EeNox replied, feeling his courage fading fast.
The DraGon was preparing to charge when out of nowhere Rex rammed into its side in an impressive display of strength, sending the beast staggering back and crashing into one of the nearby ships in the harbor.
“Rex?” DiNiya blurted out in surprise.
“Stole my thunder,” EeNox said, trying to hide his relief.
DiNiya glanced over at him skeptically before returning her attention back to Rex, who had already rushed up to them. “So you two decided to fight after all,” he said, glancing behind and all around them before adding, “but only the two of you?”
Suddenly there was a flash of blue above them and they leaped out of the way just as a small, seven-meter DraGon fell dead at their feet, its neck broken. They looked up to see LyCora running down the mountain with ShinGaru and AnaSaya behind her. DiNiya looked down at the dead DraGon, then back to LyCora.
“Nice of you to join us,” EeNox said. “You might want to get out of my way, though, when I really start to fight.”
“Hope you find time to do that between Rex and me saving your ass,” LyCora retorted without skipping a beat.
“Enough,” DiNiya said. “We need to regroup with VayRonx and the others.”
“She’s right,” ShinGaru said. “We’ll need their help if we hope to drive these things out. Have you three seen them?”
“No, not yet,” DiNiya replied before looking to Rex, who just shook his head.
“Damn,” EeNox cursed.
“Finding them in the middle of all of this might not be the easiest thing to do,” ShinGaru said.
“Incoming,” Rex shouted when he noticed that four DraGons had spotted them and were quickly swooping in for the kill.
Rex moved to EeNox’s side, and the two charged their flames and fired at the enemy, one of which was hit directly in the face and fell to the ground while a second was wounded in the upper shoulder, but still continued forward with the others. “Again,” Rex yelled.
They both fired off another pair of blasts, which both missed, just before the DraGons breathed a torrent of fire, giving them a mere second to leap out of the way as the ground they were standing on exploded with a deafening blast. The DraGons swooped over then back up and prepared for another pass. The two b
oys, now flushed with adrenaline, quickly got back up on their feet and looked back at the others, who were readying themselves for another go. Suddenly, the DraGons dive-bombed them from a point directly above, bursting into flame as they raced to the ground.
“Damn it, they’re going to level this entire area!” Rex exclaimed.
“Everybody run!” EeNox shouted.
They all ran as fast as they could in either direction, when the DraGons slammed into the ground, sending up a huge plume of dirt and fire. Rex slowly opened his eyes to the blurry images of dust falling. A ringing in his ears drowned out most of the world, but the voices that sounded like they were far off in the distance pushed their way closer to his ears, and he felt someone grab his shoulder and raise him to a sitting position. “Rex…Rex…REX…REX!”
Rex shook his head and looked over to see DiNiya crouching down in front of him. “Rex, are you all right?” she asked in a panic-stricken voice. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes,” he replied, feeling pain everywhere. “I’m okay, what about you?” he asked, noticing the blood running from her head down the right side of her face.
Wiping it off, she said, “I’ll be fine.”
Rex was about to say something else in regards to her wound when she was suddenly hit from the side by a tail. Before he could even react, he was grabbed from above by a large clawed hand and brought face to face with one of the two DraGons that had attacked them.
“Well, now,” the beast said with a hint of amusement in his voice. “It would appear that we have found several who are determined to make us put forth a certain degree of effort.”
“No games,” said the other DraGon as she flew down next to him. “We haven’t the time for this and you know it.”
“Why are you doing this?” Rex demanded as he struggled within the DraGon’s grasp.
“Silence!” shouted the DraGon.
Rex was trying his hardest to generate the kind of energy he had earlier, but the blast had rendered him shell-shocked. I need more power, he thought as he closed his eyes and tried to focus his flame. Unfortunately for him, he was now far too weak. He tried repeatedly only to feel it rise then fall way.