Born of Fire: The Dawn of Legend

by Dreagen

  “Wait, should I even be hearing any of this?” EeNox said as he looked at his sister and Rex uncomfortably, while the other three snickered behind him.

  “Quit while you’re ahead, Rex,” LyCora said.

  “Indeed,” ShinGaru agreed. “Be happy with what you can get, my friend.”

  Rex looked back at DiNiya, who was doing everything to avert her gaze, before falling back in the water with a plop and allowing his body to just hang limply in the water. “You know, it’s funny.”

  “What is?” LyCora asked.

  “On Earth, my appearance made me a freak, had people staring for a closer look then turning away when they got it. Here, though…well, it’s nice to walk around and not feel ugly.” He felt a hand touch his arm, and he looked over to see DiNiya smiling down at him. Rex smiled back and returned his gaze to the high ceiling of the cave covered in phosphorescent moss.

  “Um…Rex,” came AnaSaya’s now softer voice. “Do you still not remember what happened to you? I mean, that is to say, how you came to arrive in EeNara?”

  DiNiya flashed a sudden look of surprise and anger. Seeing this, Rex sat up and smiled at her. “It’s all right. No, it still hasn’t come back to me, and at this point I don’t know if it ever will. But I’m all right with that, I think.”

  “Rex,” DiNiya gasped in surprise.

  He waved his hand dismissively. “It’s fine. It used to bother me, and I suppose it still does a little, but I realized something during the festival.”

  “And that is?” LyCora asked.

  “That whatever I left behind was not nearly as important as what I found. EeNara, KaNar,” he said, as he looked back at DiNiya. “I remember enough to know I wasn’t truly happy back there. That my life was spent wanting something else, something I could never have there.”

  “But if you don’t know what that is, then how can you know you’ve found it here?” DiNiya asked.

  “Because I found you,” he said, looking deep into her eyes before turning to the others. “All of you. I never had a friend, not a real one, until I came to this world. So what could I possibly have left behind that was so important?”

  “You’re not going to ask us to hug you now, are you?” LyCora asked.

  “Try it and you’ll see just how ferocious this sexy smile is.”

  LyCora laughed, and the others joined in.

  Rex allowed the joyful sounds of their laughter to fill him the way it did the cavern. It was a feeling of almost completion, for it was more than just friends he knew he had found, but a family.

  Later that evening, after they had sufficiently soaked their aching muscles in the hot springs, they dried themselves off and returned home for a fresh change of clothes before making their way to the tavern for a drink.

  Upon reaching the entrance, EeNox was called off to the side by the same young boy who had spoken with him during the festival.

  “It’s that kid again,” Rex said.

  LyCora nodded. “KenSito. His little ear to the ground.”

  “Wonder what’s so important that he can’t say it in front of the rest of us?”

  “Why don’t we ask?” ShinGaru said as EeNox walked back over.

  “So?” Rex asked.

  “Got some interesting news,” EeNox replied.

  “How interesting?”

  “So interesting that I dare not speak it here. Come on.”

  They followed him upstairs to the same balcony where DiNiya had shared a private conversation with FiNaya two nights earlier.

  “Enough suspense, EeNox,” DiNiya said. “What’s going on?”

  Turning on his heels, EeNox spun around with a grin on his face. “I know where they’re keeping him.”

  “‘Him’ who?” LyCora asked.

  “Who do you think?”

  “Wait, you mean the CeraVora? I thought they sent him down to the capital.”

  “So did I, but KenSito overheard one of the astronomers asking him when the telescope would be fixed.”

  “So what does that have to do with anything?” Rex asked.

  “The telescope is housed in The Spire.”

  “What’s that?”

  “A really tall pointy rock formation on the far western edge of town. It’s used as an observatory, but apparently it’s been closed off for repair several cycles now. Don’t you see—it makes perfect sense!”

  “Oh, really?” LyCora asked.

  “Why would they take him there?” AnaSaya asked.

  “Probably to keep him separated from everyone else. You can’t have him going crazy in a populated area again.”

  “If you ask me, he was lucky that he ran into us when he did the first time,” said DiNiya. “Or we would be having a very different conversation about him had he bumped into someone like VayRonx.”

  “I was thinking that, too,” said Rex. “Isolating him was probably the only way of keeping him from picking a fight with someone who could bite him in half.”

  DiNiya nodded in agreement. “At least VayRonx and the others have his best interests at heart.”

  “Something tells me there’s more to this than just that.”

  “So you’ve been thinking the same thing?” EeNox asked.

  “Aren’t any of you a little curious as to why he was so dead set on coming after us?”

  “He was mad with hunger,” DiNiya explained. “We just happened to cross paths with him at the wrong time.”

  “I don’t think so,” he replied, crossing his arms. “He’s obviously not from around here, which means he had to travel from somewhere else. Why would he keep himself from eating along the way? Why starve yourself? Why not just go catch something in the river where it would be a hell of a lot easier and less dangerous?”

  “You’re saying it wasn’t a coincidence that he ran into us?” asked LyCora suspiciously.

  “I’ve been in plenty of fights, but I could always tell when I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or when someone was just swinging at me on someone else’s behalf.”

  “But if that’s true, who would have sent him?” DiNiya asked. “And why?”

  “Probably whoever made those sentinel clones that almost killed us.”

  “That still leaves the question of why,” EeNox said.

  AnaSaya was feeling both lost and a little scared. She was unclear as to who they were referring to but recognized the talk of sentinel clones because she had heard the name from her mother when she was told of the reason they were coming to KaNar. Having never been in any precarious situations before, she found herself feeling anxious but curious at the same time.

  “I have an idea,” Rex spoke up. “Why don’t we go pay him a visit?”

  “Who?” DiNiya asked. “You don’t mean the CeraVora?”

  “Who else?”

  “Are you crazy? We can’t go do that!”

  “Why not?” asked EeNox. “Don’t you want to find out who’s behind all of this?”

  “Well, yes, but I think it would be better to leave this to father and the others.”

  “And we will. I’m just saying we should sit in on some of the questioning of who he is and what happened to him to make him want to come after us. Discreetly, of course.”

  “In other words, you want to sneak in there and spy on them.”

  “You make it sound like I’m up to no good,” he said, grinning.

  DiNiya rubbed her forehead and frowned. “I don’t know.”

  “Come on,” her brother insisted. “We’d be there and back without anyone knowing, and that way we can help Father, VayRonx, and the others put the pieces of this mystery together. I mean, it is for the greater good, after all.”

  “The greater good?” asked LyCora, giving him a questionable look. “Somehow I doubt that’s what’s motivating you.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he replied sarcastically.

  “Regardless,” Rex cut in. “I don’t feel like sitting tight waiting for someone to bring me answers or for so
meone else to have a go at me. I’m with EeNox. Let’s go get our own answers.” Wish I felt as fearless as I sound. Hell, I hope that actually sounded fearless.

  “Now that’s more like it,” EeNox exclaimed, slapping Rex on the back and receiving a disgruntled look in return. “Come on, this could be our only chance to get to the bottom of this!”

  “Again, what do you have against letting the adults handle this?” DiNiya asked angrily. “Do you really think they aren’t trying?”

  “Because there’s something they’re not telling us!”

  DiNiya looked surprised. “What…what do you mean?”

  “Oh, please, don’t pretend you haven’t noticed. Those quick little sideways glances they give to one another the few times we asked them about something related to the attacks?”

  DiNiya wanted to believe that her brother was just being paranoid with all his talk of conspiracy, but the truth was that she had noticed a difference in the way her father and many of the other adults had been acting since the incident in the forest. She glanced over to Rex, who seemed determined in his resolve. Wish I could be that sure of myself in a situation like this. “All right,” she finally said. “What’s the plan?”

  An ear-to-ear grin spread across her brother’s face. “We wait for nightfall then sneak out through caves and follow the cliff path all the way to the Spire.”

  “Are they connected?” Rex asked.

  “No, but it runs above and parallel to town and opens far up in the mountains where there’s nothing else until you reach the Spire.”

  “And you’re sure no one will see us?”

  “Pretty sure. The path only leads to the Spire, and because no one goes besides the astronomers, who aren’t even going there right now, we should be able to make our way there unseen.”

  “No one but the very people we are trying to avoid,” said LyCora.

  “Do you ever say anything that contributes to whatever we’re talking about?”

  “I’d say stating the obvious facts that you always miss that could keep us out of trouble is a pretty big contribution.”

  “Well, then, you come up with a plan!”

  “Sure, how about this? I go back and tell my mother about your ingenious little scheme, which will probably result in someone or something trying to kill us again, and have her tell your father, who will no doubt lock you in your room, thus keeping you from dragging anyone else on one of your little suicide missions!”

  EeNox stood in silence for a moment with a look that said he was anything but impressed. “Good luck doing any of that right now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  EeNox smiled. “Who do you think is with my father and VayRonx, interrogating our friend as we speak?”

  LyCora suddenly looked shaken. “What?”

  “Oh, she didn’t tell you?” he replied sarcastically, clearly enjoying having bested her. “I thought you two were thick as thieves.”

  Why wouldn’t she tell? LyCora agonized. She has never kept secrets from me…or so I thought.

  Sensing that LyCora was very much bothered by the revelation that her mother was in on the secretive goings-on in KaNar, AnaSaya decided to try to ease her mind. “I’m sure your mother had a good reason not to tell you wha—”

  “What would you know of it?” LyCora snapped, causing AnaSaya to jump. Now feeling embarrassed, she threw her hood over her head and turned away from everyone.

  Rex, who had been watching the back and forth, had reached his limit and decided to get things moving. “All right, listen. Whoever wants to stay here, stay, but I’m going. EeNox, I assume you’ll be joining me?”

  “You know it,” he replied. “Besides, you’ll need someone to show you the way.” He shifted his focus to DiNiya, who was still looking very uncertain. “How about you, DiNiya? You coming or staying?”

  DiNiya gave them both an earnest look before sighing loudly. “Fine.”

  “Great!” EeNox exclaimed. “AnaSaya, what about you? Up for a little mystery and intrigue?”

  AnaSaya looked at him, and then at DiNiya, who said, “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. I’m sure VyKia doesn’t want you doing anything that could get you into trouble.”

  AnaSaya thought for a moment. All her life she had been sheltered and protected by her mother while she regaled her every night with stories of danger and excitement by adventurers from all corners of EeNara. The prospect of doing something she was not supposed to left her terrified yet excited at the same time. Despite having been raised to always play it safe and apply common sense to every situation, she had always been possessed by the hunger to learn and explore, to indulge in her curiosity. I’ll never get another chance, especially when mother finds out. “I’ll go!”

  “You will?” DiNiya asked in surprise.

  “Really?” Rex and EeNox said in unison, while LyCora just snorted derisively.

  “ShinGaru, what about you?” Rex asked.

  “I will accompany you as well.”

  “Really? Just like that?”

  “You sound surprised.”

  “You just strike me as the type who plays by the rules.”

  “I am a scientist. It is in my very nature to seek out answers to questions that would otherwise remain unanswered. If we hesitated to seek them out because of what others thought was and was not our business to know, then we really wouldn’t know much of anything.”

  “Well put as always, ShinGaru,” EeNox replied, while Rex nodded silently. “Then it’s decided. After dusk, we’ll leave in two groups so we don’t draw too much attention. Rex and I will go first and make sure it’s all clear. You four wait about half an hour, and if you don’t hear of anyone catching us, come and meet us at the mouth of the path.”

  The group made its way back to the house where they changed and waited restlessly in their rooms for the sun to disappear behind the tall craggy peaks. Each one was a ball of nervous energy who, despite apprehensions.

  Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the sun bid farewell to their side of the world for the night, giving Rex and EeNox the signal to mobilize what they had been patiently waiting for. They used the passage leading to the roof where Rex and DiNiya had sat several times, staring up at the luminous night sky, but stargazing was not on the agenda for Rex this evening. “Where is it?” he asked as they sprinted up the steep incline leading to one of the peaks.

  “Just up ahead over that ridge,” EeNox replied from up ahead.

  They ran the rest of the way up and cleared the top, where they found themselves standing on a landing in front of a narrow pass carved into the mountain by wind and time. “Now we wait.”

  Rex nodded and sat down on a rock, but immediately he felt his legs begin to tingle with the coursing of adrenaline as they often did when he was fueled with anxiety, anticipation, or in this case, a coupling of the two. “Hey, EeNox?”

  “Yes?” the other boy replied, glancing down at the path they had come up for any sign of the others.

  “What’s your angle in all of this?”

  “What do you mean?” he said, leaning back and turning to face Rex.

  “You were hell-bent on going on this little stakeout tonight. Why?”

  “I told you already. To get to the bottom of what’s been going on. Why else?”

  Rex had not doubted EeNox’s intentions for the longest time, but something he had said earlier, or rather mentioned, struck a pinprick of suspicion.

  “How did you hear about where they were holding our mutual acquaintance?”

  “What do you mean? KenSito, of course.”

  Rex knew he was hiding something. It was far from the first time he had seen that quick glance away and use of a question to deflect his. “I mean, how did some boy find out where they’re keeping the assassin that they’ve been so successful at hiding from the rest of the tribe this whole time?”

  “If you think I had some sort of inside track, then you’re more paranoid than my sister thinks I
am.”

  Rex rose up so quickly that it caught EeNox by surprise and caused him to stumble backwards. “Damn it, EeNox I’m not stupid, but you are, if you think I am!”

  “I don’t know what you’re—”

  Rex let out a ferocious growl as his eyes glowed red.

  “Okay, okay,” EeNox said, putting his hands up. He looked around them to make sure they were in fact alone before saying, “All right, but you have to promise me you won’t tell anyone, especially not DiNiya.”

  “Why? What did you do?” he asked in a more sinister tone.

  EeNox gave a nervous look before mustering the courage to answer. “I’ve had KenSito listening in on his father’s conversations with my own and VayRonx since we brought the CeraVora back with us.”

  “How?” Rex asked, surprised.

  “Shhhh,” EeNox said, signaling for him to lower his voice with his hands.

  “How?” he asked again in a hushed tone.

  EeNox reached into his pocket and pulled out a four-centimeter long insect that looked like a small cicada, which he held out for Rex to see. “With this little guy.”

  Rex leaned forward and stared at the dark brown insect, which lay still in EeNox’s hands before jumping slightly to readjust itself to face him. “What is that?”

  “A KepArr,” EeNox replied.

  “And that means what to me?”

  “Watch and listen,” he said as his right index claw glowed green; he gently placed it to where the KepArr’s head met its thorax. The insect suddenly began rubbing its legs energetically against its abdomen like a cricket, only instead of chirps it began playing back everything they had just said in the past ten minutes in a high-pitch, creaky tone.

  “What the hell?” Rex said with a look of genuine surprise. The strange insect’s underbelly pulsed with a golden glow with every word, giving it the look of a giant firefly.

  “Fantastic, isn’t it?” EeNox said, beaming down at the little creature. Rex nodded, dumfounded. “They are only found on the Black Reef Islands. They’re able to replicate any sound they hear through various pitches and tones they make by rubbing their legs against their stomach, amplifying it using their gold flame.”