by Dreagen
“What’s got him so worked up?” Rex asked as he watched the large herbivore stomp his feet agitatedly.
“Not sure,” replied EeNox joining him at his side. “KarVora generally aren’t spooked so easily.”
“Is it us?” AnaSaya asked worriedly.
“Doubtful. I mean…it shouldn’t be. None of the other herds seemed to mind us.”
“Well, something’s got him rattled,” said Rex.
Just then, the KarVora stopped calling out and stepped aside as an even larger bull took his spot and stared in their direction. Even at a distance they could see the intensity in his eyes, as if he were daring them to take even one step closer.
“I think we better give them a little extra room,” EeNox said, stepping back.
“Damn it,” Rex groaned unhappily. “We’ve already lost so much time by oversleeping! This is just going to set us back further!”
“Well, it’s that or we go introduce ourselves.”
“Do you really think it’s that serious?” Rex asked, still eyeing the big bull.
EeNox nodded. “Oh, yeah. That first one who made all the noise was the sentry. If he spoke up, that means there is something close that he deems a possible threat to the herd.”
“I assume you mean a predator of some kind,” ShinGaru interjected.
“That’s right, then the alpha bull comes to check it out to see if it really is something worth getting all worked up about. Right now, he’s not sure what to make of us. That’s why he hasn’t charged. He’s still assessing the situation, but if we do anything to tip the scale in the other direction, he’ll burn his way over here in a heartbeat and trample us into the ground or gore us to death.”
“Then by all means, let’s give them that breathing room already,” LyCora insisted.
“Agreed,” said ShinGaru.
They began to turn, when there was another gust of wind that pushed against them. It was at that moment that they all sensed a very familiar sensation. It was that of someone igniting their flame. The rush of energy shot through them, and before they could even turn around, they felt the thundering footfalls of something large charging. Stealing a quick glance, they saw the big bull burning green with rage in his eyes, barreling straight down on them.
“Run!” EeNox shouted.
The five of them took off in the opposite direction. Faster and faster they ran, not one of them wanting to look back, but one by one succumbing to the urge. To their horror, the KarVora was a mere twenty meters away and gaining fast. With their muscles and flames pushed to their max, they ran headlong for the horizon in hopes that their pursuer would give up once he felt he had driven them far enough away from his herd.
Taking another breathless look behind him, Rex was relieved to see that the bull had slowed down to a trot and was turning back. “Hey! I think he’s giving up! We can sto—”
The ground in front of them erupted in another burst of green flame as a huge female AcaroVora sprang from a burrow like the one they had slept in the night before.
“Shit!” EeNox shrieked as they all skidded to a stop.
LyCora raised her hands and brought all the tiny plants at the Ridgeback’s feet whipping up to cut her face. The fearsome carnivore roared angrily and charged forward.
Scrambling and stumbling, they quickly turned around and ran back the way they had come. “It all makes sense now,” EeNox exclaimed as he ran up next to Rex.
“What does?”
“Why the bull charged! We were downwind, remember? But it wasn’t us he was smelling, it was her!”
The Ridgeback suddenly lunged forward with her jaws at AnaSaya, who saw her at the last second and sped up, narrowly avoiding the dagger-like teeth, which gnashed just behind her. They continued up one of the many rolling hills that covered the plains, which combined with the fatigue from running so long slowed them down dangerously.
“Hey, I don’t know if anyone has thought of this,” LyCora cried out. “But if we keep running in this direction, we’ll run right back into—”
As if on cue, they heard the bellow of the bull, which appeared seconds later at the top of the hill. “Oh no,” EeNox exclaimed.
Rex had no idea how it happened, but suddenly his flame was all around him, burning with furious intensity. He could feel a great rush surging through him, then it was almost if he was weightless, hovering just above the ground. Feeling his body rise up out of itself, there was a brief moment of physical disconnect before suddenly he felt soil beneath his feet, his bare feet. Looking down, he saw a pair of three-clawed toes, and immediately remembered. Looking up, he was startled to see the others enveloped in their own flames as well, as they, too, shifted, taking on the forms of various DyVorians, with the notable exception of ShinGaru, who was once more the strange serpentine creature that to Rex seemed to almost resemble a DraGon from Earth’s Eastern mythology. Rex was also surprised to see the bull standing no more than three meters away, staring down at them with a look of wide-eyed bewilderment. Turning quickly, Rex received a second shock when he saw the Ridgeback doing the same.
“Looks like I did it again,” Rex said. He rose to his full height of five meters, and cracked his neck loudly before looking back and forth at the two giants. There was an awkward silence from both of them while they tried to discern what to do next. This was also the first time Rex had seen the others in their other forms in broad daylight.
The Ridgeback had been biding her time for the past two hours, lying in wait for the herd of KarVora to move close enough for her to strike at one of its sick or elderly members, but instead she had another meal come charging in, causing her to abandon her original plans for lunch and give chase to these strange, wayward children. However, this unwillingly brought her face to face with the herd’s alpha, someone she had been hoping to avoid. There was also the matter of just having seen the most unbelievable thing she had ever witnessed in her entire life.
The bull was finding himself in an equally perplexing situation. He had picked up the Ridgeback’s scent not long after spotting the five SaVarians. Assuming she had been stalking them, he decided to try to chase them off so as to not lead her straight to the herd. He, however, did not expect to see them running right back to him with her hot on their heels. There was now the issue of them having just turned into DyVorians, two of which were unfamiliar to him.
“Uhh…Rex,” EeNox half whispered. “Is it um…still you?”
“Who the hell else would it be?” Rex replied.
“Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you turned into a TyRanx…again.”
“Speak for yourself…all of you.”
“His voice sounds more like a DyVorian now,” AnaSaya said enthusiastically. “You know, deeper!”
“He is a DyVorian in case you haven’t noticed,” LyCora said. “We all are.” ShinGaru cleared his throat. “Oh…sorry, ShinGaru. What I meant is that it’s foolish to point out the obvious.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, waving one of his small forearms dismissively.
AnaSaya looked down somberly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
“Hey. Don’t be mean, LyCora!” EeNox said angrily. “This whole thing is new to her, that’s all!”
“It’s new to all of us, you fool,” she countered.
“Don’t call me a fool!”
“Then don’t act like one, and I won’t have to!”
“Fighting is not going to solve anything!” ShinGaru tried to interject as the voice of reason. More often than not, he would find himself in this type of situation, trying to mediate the warring factions within the group dynamic. Sadly, though, he seemed to fail most of, if not all of, the time. When people get it in their heads to fight, there’s rarely anything someone else can say to talk them out of it. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Rex’s rough voice.
“Says who? People usually need a little incentive if you want them to back off.”
“All I was saying is that there�
�s probably a more effective way of resolving issues instead of always screaming at each other,” he replied, irritated.
“Don’t give me that high and mighty talk! If LyCora wasn’t always stirring things up, then he wouldn’t have to fight with her!”
“Yeah!” EeNox exclaimed with a vigorous nod.
“Nice, Rex,” LyCora said sarcastically. “That’s just like boys to always stick together, even when they’re being ridiculous!”
“I’m sorry, but who’s being ridiculous?”
The bull suddenly cleared his throat.
“You, of course!”
“Excuse me?” said the Ridgeback.
“What are you talking about? All you’ve done since day one is piss and moan about absolutely everything!”
“Can I say something here?” the bull asked, but he was utterly ignored.
“Trust me, she’s always been this way,” said EeNox. “Always complaining, never happy, and constantly judging everyone like she’s got life all figured out!”
“If I may,” interjected the Ridgeback, but she received the same indifference.
“I am so sick of following you two morons around from one bad situation to another,” LyCora yelled furiously.
“No one made you come!” EeNox fired back.
“HEY!!” the bull cried.
“WHAT?” the three bickering teens yelled back in a knee-jerk response before suddenly remembering where they were.
“Would one of you please tell me what’s going on here?” the bull asked, cocking his head to the side. “Who are you, exactly?”
“And you two,” the Ridgeback said, motioning to Rex and ShinGaru with her snout. “What are you two supposed to be?”
“And how did you manage to go from one to the other?” the bull asked.
“Oh…yeah…that,” Rex said awkwardly. “Well…I’m still sort of trying to figure all that out myself.”
The Ridgeback lowered her head and nipped at his tail, taking some of his feathers with her.
“Hey!”
“Well, you certainly taste real,” she said with what sounded like surprise.
“Of course I’m real! Do I look like a figment of your imagination?”
“He does,” she replied, looking over at ShinGaru.
“I believe what she is implying is that you are not the sort of thing that, well…just happens, so naturally we must question our own mental faculties before deciding that you are, indeed, not some form of psychosis on our part.”
“Precisely,” said the Ridgeback.
“Well, you’ve got your proof now,” Rex said begrudgingly, looking back at his missing tail feathers.
“Which raises the next question, and be warned, for this will be the last time I ask,” the bull continued. “What and who are you, and what are you doing so far from a tribe?”
The five all exchanged quick glances before Rex spoke up. “We’re from KaNar,” he said in a neutral tone. “Seven days ago we were attacked…caught off guard. Because of that, many people were hurt, and a lot of others were killed…people we knew. In any case, our friend was taken hostage, and we’re on our way to rescue her.”
The two adults looked at one another. “Who perpetrated this attack?” the Ridgeback asked.
“That’s not important,” EeNox said.
“I disagree,” Rex replied. “Everyone needs to know what happened so they can be ready if it happens again. As long as they’re out there, no one is really safe.”
“Be my guest then,” EeNox said, giving him a sarcastic look as he stepped aside.
Rex turned his gaze back on the large predator and said, “DraGons.”
“Come again?” she replied.
“Did you say…DraGons?” asked the bull.
“That’s right,” Rex replied. “A small army of them. They came in the night and slaughtered several dozen of our people!”
“Aren’t DraGons extinct?” the bull asked.
“I have been alive for over three hundred years, and the only giant creatures I’ve ever seen flying over my head are the Highwings.”
“Listen,” LyCora spoke up. “We realize what this sounds like. If we were in your position, we probably wouldn’t believe us, either, but I saw them with my very own eyes. I even killed one.”
“You?” the Ridgeback said in surprise, pulling her head back and blinking quickly. “But you’re so…small.”
“Unlike my power,” LyCora replied venomously, blue flame beginning to rise off her.
“All right, all right,” ShinGaru said, gently nudging her with his snout, which seemed to calm her down enough to make her flame subside and everyone breathe a little easier. “All we ask is that we be allowed to pass. We have no interest in getting in the affairs of any of the wild tribes.”
“A little late for that, snake,” said the bull, eyeing him menacingly.
“I’m not a snake.”
“Whatever, the point is that you have unknowingly led a dangerous predator straight to my herd, and now I have to deal with that.”
“Oh, come on,” Rex roared, startling everyone. “She was already here when she jumped out of the ground and scared the hell out of us!”
The scene was one of absolute surrealism as the five of them, now shifted, argued against one who could bite each of them in half, and another that could gore them into the ground. Yet despite this, their resolve remained steadfast, for they knew that to be stopped now, or at any point on their journey, could spell doom for DiNiya.
Rex led the charge, ranting and raving at how they were wasting their time and getting in his way. The other four also began to speak up more aggressively, shouting complaints of their own, filled with an unprecedented surge of aggression that unknowingly stripped them of any fear or apprehension of picking a fight with two adults who regarded them with what could have been described as either amusement or astonishment. Suddenly, the bull broke out into deep laughter, causing the onslaught of complaints to cease.
“Did I miss something?” Rex asked.
“Maybe in all that yelling you slipped in a joke without realizing,” EeNox replied sarcastically while staring at the bull, which was still bellowing with amusement.
After what seemed like an eternity, the three-horned brute regained his composure and snorted loudly. “Well, now! I certainly did not expect to come across such a motley crew when I awoke this morning.”
“I beg your pardon?” said ShinGaru. “Motley?”
“Easy, boy, I meant no disrespect. It’s just that…well, look at all of you! Such an eclectic-looking bunch, especially you,” he said, looking at ShinGaru before turning and focusing on Rex. “Then there’s you.”
The Ridgeback lowered her head and drew in close to Rex, who recoiled back uneasily as her huge green eyes came unnervingly close to his face. He watched as they traveled up and down the length of his body, as if scanning him for some clue or trait unseen. At last her eyes locked on to his and the two stared back at one another for a moment before Rex saw a glint of surprise flash in hers. Rearing back, she said, “You’re a TyRanx!”
“What?” asked the bull in surprise.
“I can’t believe I didn’t see it!”
“See it? No one has seen one of those in thousands of years!”
“Well, you’re looking at one now,” she said excitedly as she paced back and forth.
“How can you be so sure?” he asked, bringing his head over to Rex for yet another close inspection.
“He is of the red flame! Name any other creature alive or dead of such power.”
“I suppose,” the bull said, rearing back up. “But then why are you even alive?”
“I have no idea, and frankly could not care less right now,” Rex said, tired of yelling in protest. “Someone important to me is in trouble, and now you two are in my way.” His flame began to burn wildly around him, causing the two of them to take several tentative steps back. “The only fight I came out here to fight is with the DraGons, but I wi
ll not hesitate to go through anyone who tries to slow me down.”
The proverbial line in the sand had now been drawn, and everyone knew the next move would be the Ridgeback and the bull’s. What exactly that would be was now the source of high tension amongst the five. Time seemed to drag on for an eternity, as seconds felt like minutes, minutes like hours. The bull stared deep into the red eyes of the young TyRanx. So deep did they run that he felt his mind’s eye traveling deeper than it ever had before when communing with another’s flame. In fact, there almost seemed to be no bottom, but then he saw, or rather sensed, something lurking in the black depths of this boy’s flame. Something immense. At last he brought his focus back to the moment and saw the fierce look on his face.
The Ridgeback too had sensed something else from the boy, from all of them. It was as if they carried within them something older than their own years, like vessels for something untouched by time. It was only when she took another look at the golden serpent that she was suddenly gripped with a deeper understanding that passed over her conscious mind and spoke directly to her flame. Turning back to Rex, she asked, “What is your name, TyRanx?”
“Rex,” he replied without unlocking his gaze.
“Very well then, Rex. I shall not stand in your way. You and your friends are free to pass.”
“The herd will not block your passage, either,” the bull declared. “But take care, for we may hardly be the worst you encounter on the path ahead of you.”
Rex gave him a nod of thanks, then glanced back to the Ridgeback, who also seemed to have adopted a more rigid stance. She looked down at him for only a fraction of the time that the bull did, but spoke in a tone of reverence. “The TyRanx were said to be the most terrifying of all DyVorians to ever live—ruthless with immeasurable power, and the first of our race to match the DraGons in battle. Even the first to surpass them. If you really are one of them, then it could mean the DraGons have indeed returned. Where did they take your friend?”