Born of Fire: The Dawn of Legend

by Dreagen

  “Think about it! Everyone is probably looking for us right now, meaning KySer and the other CyTorians in KaNar have already spread the word far and wide about what to look for.”

  “And?” she pressed.

  Green flashed across his eyes. “How much are you willing to bet that description didn’t include tails and feathers?”

  “You really think they wouldn’t have included an additional description of what we would look like if we shifted?” ShinGaru asked.

  “Do you think anyone would believe them if they had?”

  “They could have just told people to be on the lookout for five young SaVarians and DyVorians. You know, as in two groups?”

  EeNox, sensing her condescension, snorted loudly. “Yes, but I doubt they would’ve even assumed we would be able to do it again.”

  “I don’t know,” ShinGaru professed worriedly. “It seems like a risk. If I were in their position, I wouldn’t have left anything to chance, just told people to be on the lookout for anyone who fit our descriptions—SaVarian or other.”

  “Well, damn it all, then,” EeNox said, flustered, throwing back his head.

  Rex, having not taken his eyes off DonGahl, turned and said, “Listen, I don’t know about you, but I’m starving and there aren’t any rivers or streams to catch fish around here that I can see. Also, we can’t waste time hunting. We need to keep moving, so I think grabbing something to eat here really quick and then moving on might be the best chance we get to fill our stomachs, fast and easy.”

  “Just like a boy to think with his stomach,” LyCora complained.

  “Hey, you’re free to stay here while we get something to eat,” EeNox shot back.

  “I could use something to eat,” AnaSaya said, scratching at her belly.

  ShinGaru sighed. “Yes…me too.”

  “Fine,” LyCora conceded. “But, unfortunately, I would not recommend ShinGaru going.”

  “I was thinking that myself,” he said despairingly. “Oh, well, it’s only natural given my appearance. Can’t risk word getting out that I was here, or it could lead to all of us being discovered.”

  “Thank you for being understanding, ShinGaru,” EeNox said in earnest.

  “I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” he laughed.

  Turning back to Rex, EeNox asked, “How do you want to approach this? Straight forward or keep our heads down?”

  “I say we just try to be as unassuming as we can,” he answered. “You know, act friendly, with big smiles.”

  “Can we even smile like this?”

  “I’ve seen VayRonx kind of do it, I think. I mean, it’s subtle, but his mouth kind of curled into one…kind of.”

  Rex stopped to think for a moment. True DyVorians had evolved greater flexibility in the mouth, allowing them the ability to communicate with the spoken word and also to produce facial expressions, albeit less-defined than that of SaVarians. “Let me try.” He attempted to curl back his lips but only succeeded in turning them up. In an effort to compensate, he tried to push his teeth out, unsure if such a thing was even feasible. Studying him closely, EeNox mimicked his technique, producing the same results. The others leaned back uncomfortably at the sight of two clenched maws, with lips curled up so high that they were seemingly nonexistent, revealing bright pink gums and savage-looking teeth.

  “Come on,” EeNox said to the others. “You try!”

  “Yeah, just like this,” Rex added.

  “Uhh, yeah,” LyCora replied awkwardly. “I think I’ll pass on that, and to be honest, I think you both should, too.”

  AnaSaya and ShinGaru snickered behind her, and the boys’ faces returned to normal.

  “So who’s going?” AnaSaya asked.

  “I say just two of us go in first to check things out,” replied EeNox. “Then you and LyCora can come when we return. Sorry, ShinGaru.”

  ShinGaru waved his hand dismissively. “No offense taken.”

  “Ready?” EeNox asked Rex.

  “Let’s do it.”

  “Try not to mess this up,” LyCora said.

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” EeNox replied.

  “That goes double for you!” EeNox scowled, causing her to relent somewhat. “Seriously though, be careful.”

  Softening his glare, EeNox nodded, and the two of them ventured into DonGahl, while the others watched from behind a fallen tree just outside of town.

  “I really hope they can pull this off,” LyCora said uncertainly.

  Up ahead, Rex leaned over to EeNox and said, “I really hope we know what we’re doing.”

  “Relax,” he replied. “We’ve got this.”

  Everyone around them at first seemed to take no notice as they went about their usual business without even so much as a glance. However, as they strode deeper into the heart of the outpost, passing a sturdy PoVora that was an identical match for a styracosaur that was drinking from a small spring, they began to notice heads turning in their general direction. Too afraid to make direct eye contact, they both continued on with both eyes forward.

  “They’re looking at us,” Rex said in a harsh whisper.

  “I know,” EeNox replied nervously.

  “I knew this was a bad idea!”

  “What do you mean? This was your idea!”

  “Doesn’t mean I can’t change my mind about it!”

  “It does when we’re in the middle of doing it!”

  Back on the outskirts, the others were watching them uneasily. “Something’s wrong,” LyCora said, craning her neck higher to see better.

  “Don’t lose faith in them just yet,” ShinGaru said reassuringly. “Nothing’s gone wrong so far.”

  They continued to watch the two boys proceed through the settlement as more people began to take notice.

  “Damn it, why do they keep staring at us like that?” Rex asked, the anxiety now clearly starting to get to him.

  “It’s not us,” replied EeNox. “It’s you.”

  “Me? What do you mean me?”

  “Just look at you. No one around here has ever seen a DyVorian like you before. No one still alive, anyway.”

  “Damn it, I should have thought of that!” Rex braved a glance off to his left and saw a tall man with long black fur and a SoVora, standing next to him cocking his head to his side while whispering something to the man. Rex focused his hearing in on them and heard part of what they were saying, …not from around here…never seen one like…those eyes… “They’re on to us, EeNox. We should turn back now.”

  “Are you crazy? We can’t turn back now or they’ll really know something’s wrong.”

  “Something is wrong!”

  “Just follow my lead.” EeNox’s lips suddenly disappeared upward, leaving behind the same horrifyingly bad attempt at a smile as before.

  “What are you doing?” Rex asked, taken aback by how truly dreadful his friend looked when he glanced over at him.

  “Smiling, remember?”

  “Shit, is that what we really looked like? No wonder AnaSaya and ShinGaru couldn’t keep it together. Actually, I’m amazed they didn’t just run away.”

  “Oh, come on, it can’t be that bad.”

  “Ha!”

  “Just shut up and do it already!”

  Rex snorted angrily before sighing and pulling his lips up and thrusting his teeth down into the same toothy grimace as EeNox.

  “There,” said EeNox. “Now we look friendly.”

  “If you say so.”

  The two of them proceeded on while LyCora and the others watched in dread at the looks of confusion and absolute horror on the faces of everyone in the streets.

  “Why are they all looking at them that way?” AnaSaya asked.

  “Please, tell me they didn’t…” LyCora said solemnly. With what could have been called stage-worthy timing, Rex turned his head to the side, revealing the atrocity on his face. “Oh, of course they did! Why would I have expected anything else?” A rush of flame rose off her.

/>   “I suppose we should have remembered that DyVorians can’t actually smile the way SaVarians do,” ShinGaru said with a chuckle.

  “Yes, ShinGaru,” LyCora replied, holding her indignation at bay. “I suppose we should have.”

  The two boys were now glancing around, trying to discern where to go next, when they caught a whiff of something that smelled positively delicious off to the right. Both turning almost in unison, they saw a larger hut that looked big enough to hold some of the larger DyVorians in the outpost.

  “Smells like a good place to start,” declared Rex.

  They strode over, trying not to make their actions look too deliberate, and went inside.

  “Well, there they go,” said ShinGaru.

  “Come on, you two,” LyCora said, not taking her eyes off the mound they disappeared into. “Please pull this off.”

  Immediately upon stepping inside, Rex and EeNox were greeted by the sweet aroma of baked bread and broiled meat. The mound itself was a good forty meters long and some twenty-five or thirty meters wide. It was filled with travelers who were heavily engrossed in various acts of trade, but all took a moment to look up at the two newcomers. Feeling the sense of uneasiness growing, the two teenagers’ eyes darted from every corner of the room until falling upon what looked like a large counter in the back. Standing behind it was another SoVora tending to shelves filled with various goods.

  “Shall we?” Rex asked, motioning in that direction.

  “Lead the way,” EeNox replied.

  Rex walked slowly towards the counter with EeNox close at his side, all the while eyeing the other occupants cautiously. Upon reaching the counter, he noticed that the DyVorian behind it seemed to be doing some sort of inventory on the contents of the shelves, counting and muttering to himself as he went along the length of them. So engrossed was he in what he was doing that he did not notice the two of them approaching until he suddenly looked up and jumped, startled.

  “Can I help you two?” he asked, his feathers ruffled.

  The boys exchanged quick glances before EeNox spoke up. “Uhh…yes. Um, we were looking to stock up on supplies for a long trip.”

  “I see,” the merchant replied. “And what kind of supplies were you looking to procure for your journey?”

  They looked at each other again, with Rex motioning for EeNox to keep talking, causing the merchant to give them a curious look. “Well,” EeNox went on. “You know…the basics for this sort of thing.”

  “The basics? Could you perhaps be a bit more specific?”

  Rex nudged EeNox.

  “Let me handle this,” EeNox grumbled back.

  Meanwhile, the merchant was beginning to look suspiciously at the two DyVorians, and motioned over two others: A CeraVora that was built considerably heavier than the one they had previously encountered, and a VeVora, a creature resembling a torvosaurus. Both boys glanced back to see the two of them standing directly behind them, eyeing them suspiciously.

  “Is there a problem?” asked Rex, speaking aloud for the first time to the merchant after taking a longer look at the two larger DyVorians behind them.

  “No trouble,” he replied. “It’s just that, well, we’ve heard from a CyTorian two days ago that some children were on the run through wild country and may be passing through this general area. And, well, unless you two are here with your fellow older tribesmen or a convoy, you seem a bit young to be wandering so close to the edge of wild lands on your own.”

  “We’re not on our own,” said EeNox quickly. “We’re with a convoy.”

  “Oh? Did you just come into town?”

  “No, we’re a few kilometers north.”

  “Why not just pass through?”

  “Because we weren’t planning on it,” Rex said.

  “That’s right,” EeNox enthusiastically agreed. “We were going to just keep going when a wheel on one of our wagons broke. We stopped to repair it and realized that we weren’t too far from here, so our parents sent us to pick up a few extra provisions for the trip.”

  “They sent you alone?”

  “We’re more than capable of handling ourselves,” Rex said, standing as straight up as his horizontal posture would allow.

  “That, and we travel a lot, so we have quite a bit of experience doing this sort of thing.”

  “Is that so?” said the merchant. “Well, then, why is it that I’ve never seen either of you in here before?”

  “Are we to believe you’ve met everyone else in the Northern Continent?” EeNox asked in what he hoped passed as a serious tone.

  The merchant looked at both boys before relaxing. “Fair enough. So what are you in the market for today?”

  “Like we said, the basics.”

  “Now listen here, you two,” he said, his frustration now clearly mounting. “I have no time for adolescent games. I run a serious business here and only deal with those who are serious about trading! You did bring something with which to trade, right?”

  “Of course we did,” EeNox replied, trying to sound offended. “We brought plenty of things to trade with…didn’t we, Rex?”

  “Huh, what?” Rex stammered. “I mean yeah, yes…we did! Tell him what they are, EeNox?”

  EeNox gave him a look of panic, which was only received and countered by one from Rex that said, Don’t look at me. I thought you had this part figured out.

  The shopkeeper was about to say something else when he and the others were startled by a loud scolding voice from the entrance. “How dare you two leave me behind like that!” said LyCora as she stormed towards them.

  “Uh…we’re sorry?” Rex replied, hoping it was the right response for whatever ruse she was pulling.

  EeNox, however, not realizing what she was up to, almost blew their cover by stating, “What do you mean? You were supposed to hang back with the others,” but quickly caught on and quieted down when she flashed him a stern look.

  “How do you expect to trade for anything without actually having the item we brought to trade with, you fools?” she asked angrily. “Were you that anxious to get away?”

  “Well, we were just tired of being with the wagon for so long,” explained Rex quickly in effort to fill her in on the story they had already concocted.

  “That’s why when your father asked for someone to go get a few extra things for the road while they fixed the wheel, well…we just got a little too excited, I guess,” EeNox explained. “Sorry,” he added with a forced laugh.

  “Well, it’s a good thing, indeed, that I came after you two. Otherwise you would have had to walk all the way back to get these.” She pushed past the two of them and placed a small brown pouch on the counter in front of the keeper. “I think these should cover everything we need.”

  Giving her a quizzical look, the keeper untied the pouch using the claw on his left middle finger and dumped out its contents on the counter, revealing seven fire stones. “Well, now,” he said with a look of surprise. “I don’t see too many of these in these parts. How did you come about them, if I might ask?”

  “Our particular convoy does a lot of trading in the southeast, mostly in and around HafNar, where some of the larger fire stone mines are located.”

  “I see,” he said, picking up one of the stones and admiring the dim glow from within. “Well, I must agree that this should indeed be enough for whatever it is you require from me, which if I’m not mistaken, your two friends were just in the process of telling me what that was.”

  “Oh, it’s not much,” she said in a cheerful tone that was new to the boy’s ears. “I assure you.”

  “Ask away.”

  “Well, let’s see, we’ll need five loaves of stone bread, about a hundred kilos of dried fish, ten roasted tree-tusk lizards, sixteen clay roots, and five carrying pouches, please.”

  Rex and EeNox were stunned at her unprecedented sunny and chipper demeanor. As far as they had seen, LyCora had always been moody, condescending, and overly pessimistic, tempering only slightly around
her mother. Here she was the complete opposite, acting more like DiNiya than herself.

  “Well, that’s not nearly as much as I expected, I must say,” the merchant said. “I thought you would have been acquiring five times that much for an entire convoy, even a small one.”

  “Oh, it’s not for the whole convoy,” she replied. “Just for our wagon in particular.”

  “Is that right?”

  “You see, we have two pregnant SaVarians riding with us, and well, you know how much they can put away when they are far enough along,” she laughed.

  “Indeed,” he replied, laughing along with her. “Well, then I’ll not keep you any further. I’ll just gather your items so you can get back to your people as soon as possible. Please, feel free to have a seat anywhere in the meantime.”

  “Thank you very much,” she said graciously while bowing her head.

  The merchant turned and began the task of gathering the items they requested, while LyCora led Rex and EeNox to the far right corner.

  “Wow, were we happy to see you come when you did,” Rex exclaimed.

  “I should think so,” she replied angrily. “What were you two thinking of coming in here with nothing to trade? Did you expect him to just give you what you wanted because of those horrid sneers you were trying to pass off as smiles?”

  “Hey, that was his idea this time!” Rex said accusingly, motioning to EeNox with his head.

  “Well, I didn’t hear you coming up with anything better,” EeNox defended. “In any case, where did you get those fire stones, LyCora?”

  “I’ve had them on me ever since we left KaNar.”

  “But everything we had on us burned up when we shifted the other day in the plains,” Rex said.

  “Not everything,” she said, giving him a telling glance.

  “Of course,” EeNox said as he suddenly realized. “Fire stones, being what they are, wouldn’t have burned up like our clothes.”

  “But where were you keeping them this whole time?” asked Rex, eyeing her. “That pouch would have burned up with everything else.”

  “Clutched in hand,” she replied simply. “The pouch I…well, let’s just say one of the traders outside unknowingly made a tiny contribution to our valiant cause.”