by Dreagen
Rex could feel gentle warmth consuming him as the heat from EeNox’s flame dried him. Several minutes later, EeNox lowered his hands and the two patted themselves to make sure they were not still damp anywhere.
“A flame comes in handy, I see,” commented Rex.
“Well, of course,” EeNox replied. “You didn’t think they were just good for destruction and mayhem, did you?”
“The thought had crossed my mind.”
“As time goes by, you’ll see that your flame is really an extension of you and so can be applied to any number of practical uses. You just have to learn how to use it properly.”
“We should probably head back,” DiNiya said. “I told Father we would grab something from one of the vendors by the docks for lunch and bring it back to the shop.”
They proceeded back to town, where first they stopped home to change out of their dirty clothes. Rex stripped out of his clothes and grabbed the first clean things he could find and threw them on before proceeding down the hall and knocking on DiNiya’s door. “You almost done in there?”
“Just about,” she called back from the other side. “Go ahead and come in though.”
Rex opened the door and stepped through, immediately finding himself staring at the elegantly muscular nude frame of DiNiya, who was holding up two tops, deciding which one she should wear. Rex just stood in place, unable to speak or take his eyes off her. His eyes traveled from her broad shoulders, down to her full breasts, curvaceous backside, and seemingly endless long legs. To his surprise, she did not seem to mind the fact that he was getting quite the eyeful, as she remained indecisive about her choice of attire.
Finally, she turned to him and held both tops up in front of her. “Which one?” Rex just stared back. “Hey, you awake?” she asked, lowering her head so her eyes met his.
“Huh?” he stammered. “Wha…what?”
“I asked, which one do you think I should wear? The black or the brown?”
“Uhh…the black one looks nice,” he replied, doing his best to keep his eyes trained on hers.
“See, that’s what I think, too, but it’s not as warm as the brown. That and it’s getting a little tight in the chest. I don’t know, should I just wear the brown one?”
Try as he did, he could not help but steal several more quick glances at everything below her neck, and realized that she was far more well-endowed than any other girl he had ever known at that age—something he wished he had not, for he immediately began to sense his teenage body react accordingly to the sight of a beautiful full-figured naked girl standing in front of him. Adopting an awkward pose by leaning against the doorframe, he crossed one leg in front of the other in an effort to conceal his embarrassment, and did his best to act natural. “Yeah, the brown is nice, too…I mean, if it’s more comfortable.”
“So you don’t think the other one looks good on me?”
“No, it’s not that. I mean…I’m just saying when it comes down to it, comfort over style is breast, I MEAN BEST!”
“I suppose you’re right,” she said, tossing the other top back on the bed.
EeNox walked past the open door in the hall before backing up and popping his head in. “Hey, are you going to stand around naked all day or get a move on?”
“Sorry, Rex was just helping me decide what I should wear,” DiNiya replied, holding both tops up again.
“Wear the brown one,” EeNox replied as he turned and headed back out into the hall. “You always look like you’re going to burst out of the black one.”
Seven full moons after they had decided to begin teaching Rex, they found themselves out earlier than usual in KaNar’s inner forest by an enormous tree towering well over a hundred meters tall. The mighty tree once stood as the center of the KaNar village in the early days of the tribe, but when the tribe began to grow in numbers, the focal point of the town was moved to the lake, which gave quicker access to lowlands for merchants. Still, this spot served as a reminder of the history of the KaNar and just how far the town had come since its formation centuries after the war.
Rex was standing at its base on one of the enormous roots protruding from the soil, eyes closed and deep in concentration. DiNiya and EeNox stood below, watching him from either side, waiting expectantly.
After a moment, the now familiar red glow of his flame began to emanate from his entire body. Slowly it grew in intensity before stopping, as Rex managed to maintain it at that specific level of output. He could feel the urge to push it further, to max it out. The strength of this desire had not waned since his training began; however, his ability to resist had, and as a result, he could now increase and decrease his flame accordingly, so long as he kept the output below thirty percent, something he knew was pitiful when compared to any SaVarian his age. Still, that he was basically learning in the course of several lunar cycles what it took others their entire life up until that point to do reminded him that he was accomplishing a great deal in record time. He continued to increase and decrease the intensity of his flame before extinguishing it entirely. With a loud exhale, he opened his eyes and looked down at his mentors, who were smiling back up at him.
DiNiya was the first to climb the root and hug him. “You did great, Rex! Absolutely wonderful! I’m so proud of you!”
“We both are,” EeNox said, following her up.
“It really isn’t a big deal,” Rex said casually, feeling awkward that the two of them were making such a big deal over what he deemed as little more than being able to light and extinguish a pilot light in an oven.
“You’re forgetting that it takes more than twice the effort to do that with your flame than it does with any other,” said EeNox. “I can push mine much further than that and more safely, too, but the difference is once I start, I don’t have to worry about my flame basically running away from me and growing out of my control.”
“Exactly. So why is it such a big deal that the only thing I can do safely is make myself glow?”
“Because it takes the average SaVarian the first three years of their life to do that, and you did it in seven lunar cycles.”
“Think of what you may be able to do in another seven,” DiNiya added.
Rex considered the notion that he was some sort of prodigy, but quickly dismissed the idea. He had never been particularly good at learning things growing up; he always ended up falling behind from being confused by the explanations and/or teaching methods of whichever instructor was getting frustrated with him. Still, he could not ignore the fact that he was picking this up faster than he had anything else in his life, and that he felt now more in control of his flame when igniting it. The pull to draw it completely out, however, was still very much there, and he knew that it would take only a small push too far to unleash the full uncontrollable magnitude of its power. The memory of how it felt was still in the forefront of his mind, and he could not deny the truth that he had indeed enjoyed it. Still, as with most things with him that felt good, the aftermath was usually one of complication and strife. He did not want to repeat his mistakes from before. I want things to be different here, but I still don’t know if I can truly belong, or if I should.
He shook his head, casting the memories of his former solidarity aside and deciding to focus entirely on each day as if it was the first in his new life. “I think I’ll try again,” he said, looking at EeNox and DiNiya. The two of them exchanged glances, looking somewhat apprehensive. “What’s wrong? Don’t you want me to keep getting better?”
“Of course we do,” DiNiya replied, quickly replacing her look of concern with a smile. “It’s just that we don’t want you overexerting yourself.”
“She’s right, Rex,” her brother echoed. “You’ve been making great strides but you’re still not there yet. And since control is your biggest hurdle, you have to be careful about pushing your flame past your current ability to control it.”
Rex groaned angrily as he rubbed the back of his head. “This is so frustrating. It seems like eve
ry time I take a step forward, I have to then take another two back. How am I ever going to catch up with everyone else in EeNara if I have to stop myself as soon as I get going?”
“Don’t think of it as a race or competition. The power of one’s flame doesn’t make them any better than anyone else.”
“It comes down to how you use it,” DiNiya explained. “Just look at VayRonx for instance. He’s probably one of the most powerful DyVorians in all of the Northern Continent, and one of the strongest in the world for his size. Still, it’s his methodology, not his might, that makes him great.”
“I don’t understand. Everyone looks up to him because of the fact that he’s so powerful,” Rex said. “No one can beat him in a fight, so they have no choice but to fall in line behind him.”
“Really?” EeNox asked, sounding surprised. “Is that really what you think?”
“Well, yeah. That’s how things always work. ‘Might makes right.’ The strong rule the weak.”
“Well, we can’t fully discard such a notion,” DiNiya said understandingly. “After all, that’s how things were in ancient times, before the formation of the unified tribes. But that was back in the days when everyone was living like the wild tribes.”
“Wild tribes?” Rex repeated.
“Those who chose not to be part of EeNara’s unified tribal law that was established sometime after the war,” EeNox explained. “They remain living the way all DyVorians did in ancient times. Still, they have to respect the territorial boundaries of each of the unified tribes and not attack anyone within those boarders.”
“So they’re not allowed to enter KaNar, for instance?”
“Well, no, it’s not that,” EeNox said, wiping sweat out of his eye. “It’s just that many of them aren’t accustomed to our way of life, and so when they do sometimes cross into a unified tribe’s territory, they don’t always conduct themselves in accordance with our laws.”
“In other words, everyone tends to be happier when we all just stick to our own lands,” DiNiya said.
“So how do you get from one place to another without making them angry?” Rex pressed, fully engrossed in this new topic. “You must have to cross through their lands at some point.”
“We do, but we have a mutual respect that usually prevents clashes between any unified and wild tribe.”
“Usually?”
“No system is perfect. Remember, Rex.”
Rex immediately recalled the conversation they had had over the merits of bartering and currency, before conceding with a smile. “Point taken.”
“In any case,” EeNox said. “Getting back to what you had said earlier, might may have made right once upon a time in EeNara, but like with all things, life in this world evolved, and we all had to change to adapt. So now the strongest still rule over all others, but it’s to protect those who are weaker instead of preying on them like they once did.”
“Also, the term ‘strength’ now extends to strength of character,” DiNiya said. “Which counts for most.”
Rex stood in silence for a time, processing all he had just learned as if upgrading his entire perception and outlook on life. The power to change had always been his strongest attribute. From an early age, he had discovered that nothing remained the same forever or even very long, and so it was necessary to adapt to an ever-changing environment. Now, in this fantastical world of prehistoric creatures, this very skill was being put to the test like never before. A test that he was determined to pass. “Would it be all right if I just keep going for a little bit longer?” he asked.
EeNox smiled and gave a nod in response, much to the great pleasure of Rex, who grinned and instantly ignited his flame. The two of them watched him as he resumed the exercise of raising its intensity, all the while holding a nagging apprehension at bay.
Further back, above them in the canopy and unbeknownst to them, a pair of glimmering blue eyes were watching them carefully. LyCora had been spying on them ever since the morning Rex had lost all control and nearly killed her. She had spent time wondering if he, in his current undisciplined state, would have truly been a match for her, but she quickly remembered how he had been able to overcome her own flame in a matter of minutes after she unleashed the full magnitude of its power to hold him at bay. She shook her head in disbelief. How can he be so strong? He’s only fifteen years old, and before EeNox decided to make him his newest distraction in a long attempt to avoid responsibility, this boy had no formal training of any kind.
LyCora also knew why she was feeling the way she was. All her life her mother had forced her to undergo some of the most grueling training any young SaVarian could go through. She was not the type to show mercy on a prodigy simply because they were their child. So much of her still very short life had been devoted to the mastery of the blue flame. Her childhood was something she had forfeit before she was even old enough to remember, nor had she ever had much luck making friends. Not since that day, anyway. Now here was this boy, who in so short a time had surpassed her, as if it had required no effort at all. Something that she feared may in fact be the case.
She continued to watch them from a safe distance, not daring to get any closer for fear of being detected. Her eyes now fixated on Rex and his red flame that rose off him into the air like blood streaking through water. “Who are you really, Rex?”
Unbeknownst to LyCora, there was a second pair of eyes watching Rex with a ravenous curiosity. Hiding high up in the canopy, the concealed form of something unknown moved silently over the large branches of the even more enormous trees that made up KaNar’s inner forest. So massive were they that even DyVorians as large as VayRonx and TemBol could walk across branches effortlessly without any danger of them breaking underfoot.
Now they concealed something else, something…alien.
12
ANASAYA
Autumn was now in full swing and it had been a little over half a year since Rex had begun his training, having made a promise to himself to accept this world as his own. It was not always easy; he found himself at odds with many ideas that ran contrary to what he had learned on Earth. However, he was quickly learning that different did not necessarily mean bad, and that the EeNarin way of life was a better one. That fact alone did not always prove at making certain transitions any easier.
Still, much had changed during that time. LyCora and her mother had decided to stay in KaNar for the rest of the year to help increase the town’s defense to any further attacks, a decision that he suspected was due to VoRenna rather than LyCora, who continued to glide amongst them silently with a gloomy disposition.
On a brighter note, he and EeNox grew to be good friends. While he still felt closer to his sister than anyone else, it was admittedly nice to have a male friend to discuss many of the things that boys did at that age, and felt more than a little uncomfortable discussing with members of the opposite sex. As it turned out, EeNox was more than pleased to go over all the finer points of courting a female in EeNara, or rather what he believed those to be. Me with friends—wonders never cease.
Then there was DiNiya, of course—the ever-present constant in his life since his new one began in this world. Close as they had grown since their initial meeting, there was still so much about her that remained a mystery, including the most tantalizing one of all: why she could no longer ignite her flame.
A year had nearly gone by now since he arrived in this world, and he was still no closer to solving the mystery. He had tried gently coaxing an answer out of her but was continuously disappointed when each attempt met with failure. He had long since suspected that she was well aware of what he was doing and was simply being kind in not embarrassing him by calling him out on the issue; instead, she pretended to be ignorant of his intent by simply deflecting the topic of conversation to a different one when it began to creep into their discussions.
Everyone else, including her brother and father, seemed to be equally committed to staying tight-lipped on the subject, and so in th
e end Rex decided to drop the issue.
This morning he was feeling especially tired. He had stayed up late with DiNiya and EeNox the night before, practicing at maintaining his flame at little more than a low burn that could only be recognized by the naked eye by the faintest of glows around the body. To his surprise, keeping his flame at such a minimal level was exhausting, for it required all his concentration to keep it from expanding any further. My body feels wrecked, he thought as he walked downstairs where he met DiNiya for breakfast.
“Morning,” he said, trying to put his best foot forward for once and go on the offensive with kindness instead of always just being on the receiving end. After all, if any one deserved it, it was DiNiya. She had been so good to him ever since he first laid eyes on her in his room a year ago. Has it really been that long?
With a slight look of surprise that she was saying it as a reply for the first time, she smiled and said, “Good morning. How did you sleep?”
“After yesterday, like a rock. You?”
“Same…is that wrong?”
“What do you mean?” he asked, taking a seat and cracking his neck loudly.
“Well, I just mean I’m worried that you may be letting my brother push you a little hard with your training.”
“I think worrying is what made you pass out and sleep so well last night to begin with.”
She gave Rex a quizzical look. “How do you figure?”
“Well, think about it,” he said, tearing off a piece of bread from a loaf and stuffing it into his mouth. “You’re always worrying about someone or something that it’s bound to take its toll. Know what I mean?”
“I guess,” she replied, slumping down in the chair across from him. “But I just can’t help it. How am I supposed to relax when there is always something that needs dealing with?”
“Who says you always have to be the one dealing with it?”
