Born of Fire: The Dawn of Legend (11 page)

Rex in turn looked at DiNiya, who seemed to be hoping for an explanation. “I don’t know why I was covered in seawater,” he replied, slightly irritated but managing to keep it under control this time. “I can’t remember anything before waking up in that field.”

“Nothing?”

“No. Well, I mean yes. Things like where I came from—my town and basic things like that—but nothing really about what brought me here. But it does feel like there is something in the back of my mind…trying to come to the front…but every time I try to reach out it disappears.” He sighed before looking back at her. “Maybe I’m just going crazy.”

DiNiya looked at him and smiled before giving him a playful shove. “No crazier than the rest of us.”

Looking into his eyes, DiNiya saw a sea of churning flame, which seemed to hypnotize and stir something deep within her. So visceral and vivid was this sensation that it felt as if they were waking from a long sleep, one that had been imprisoning and shackling them. Their flames resonated together as they both felt something so new and exciting and yet very familiar. Together they flew through this seemingly endless expanse within each other, moving faster and faster until it was as if they were without form, becoming pure fire.

High above they rose and plunged into the burning red sky where they were at once one with a fire so pure and powerful, something bigger, grander, and more beautiful than anything they had ever felt. They both could feel their flames calling to each other. Their minds felt as if they were one, with the two of them able to sense what the other was feeling. Rex could sense joy in her heart, something that was absent within his, but also something he was familiar with—a great pain born of sorrow keeping her from experiencing the levity she seemed to long for.

Meanwhile, DiNiya could sense the bitterness that lurked within his very being. It was so much like hers, but at the opposite end of the emotional spectrum. Where Rex sensed light in her, she sensed darkness in him. Also, where she sensed rage, he sensed fear. Their bodies returned, taking shape, growing stronger, and suddenly they looked at, or rather felt each other, and for the span of time it took to blink, saw themselves as beings so powerful and primal that it snapped them out of their shared vision and brought them back to reality.

“Whoa,” said Rex as he blinked.

“Yeah,” DiNiya replied, breathing heavily.

“Is that a normal thing for you people?”

“It’s called communing,” she replied. “It’s what happens when two flames link together.”

Rex looked down, still taken aback by what they had just experienced. “I could feel what it was like to be you,” he said in a subdued tone.

“I know,” she replied softly.

“You’re afraid.”

“Yes,” she said, her voice shaking slightly.

Rex raised his head and looked deep into her eyes, but this time with a penetrative stare. “So if I’m one of you, why are you so afraid of me?”

“Rex…I’m sorry,” she said as tears ran down her face. Rising quickly, she pushed through the door and ran out of the room.

Rex stared at the open door for a time, stuck in a daze. What had happened between them? Try as he might he could not shake the feeling. He could still feel her in his head. He wanted to go after her and ask what this meant, but that would require him opening up more to her, something he was not too keen on doing with anyone. Emotional attachments with other people had always been an elusive concept. He had always glided through life like a shadow in a sea of light, completely surrounded by it yet untouched by it at the same time. People moved past him like faceless outlines of individuals that were out of phase. Or had it been he who was out of phase? In light of this new self-discovery of his own origin, he could not help but wonder. Regardless, it was because of this emotional detachment that he had always been a loner. The only other person he had ever felt any kind of connection to was…he grabbed his head as a searing pain stabbed through it. “Damn it,” he said through gritted teeth. He knew his mind was trying to keep him from remembering something, but what?
Rex
, came EliCia’s voice.
Rex, do not push yourself. The memories you seek will return in time
.

“No,” he growled as he shook his head. “I want this pain to end now! Why can’t I remember?” The sound of furious roaring began to rise in his head until it sounded as if it filled the room, deafening and growing louder.

You are not yet ready to remember, Rex
, she urged.
Pushing it will only cause you more pain
.
When you are ready, the memories with come to you
.

“What do you mean when I’m ready?” Rex exclaimed. “What the hell is happening to me?”

Rex, please, you must stop!

The same familiar crimson flames began to rise from his eyes as he bared his teeth in anger. “All of you,” he spoke in an unnaturally deep voice. “Get out of my head!” His voice turned into a fearsome growl, which instantly shocked him back to sanity. He looked around the room and called out, “Hello?” but there was no response now. Slumping back down, he asked, “What is wrong with me?” He looked back to the open door and sighed before standing up and walking out.

DiNiya was sitting atop the ridge overlooking the inner forest where she and Rex had fallen asleep the night before, gazing out at the pristine vista spread out before her. The sun was at its highest point in the sky, bathing everything in its warm glow.

“Found you,” came a familiar voice from behind. Looking back, she saw Rex standing there. She rose to her feet and met his gaze, and they looked at each other in silence for a time. Rex noticed that she had the same look of sadness that she had the previous night.

“Did you climb again?” she asked in a somber tone, breaking the silence.

“No,” Rex replied, shaking his head. “Took the stairs.”

She let out a small laugh, which seemed to dissolve all tension between the two of them. “I wanted—”

“Listen, I’m—”

They both laughed again. “You go first,” Rex said.

“No, please,” she replied. “You go, I insist.”

“Ladies first,” he said definitively, crossing his arms.

She sighed and smiled. “Very well,” she said, taking a deep breath. “Yes, Rex…I am afraid of you, but not in the way you think.”

“Go on.”

“When I’m near you I feel different. I could feel it the day VayRonx brought you here.”

“Different how”

“I can’t say.”

“How am I supposed to trust you if you won’t be honest with me?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, it’s just that, well, in truth, I just don’t know.” Rex cocked his head, looking at her quizzically.

“You’ve probably noticed that besides me, there are no others with eyes like yours.”

“You mean red ones?”

“Yes, however, even you share one thing in common with everyone else. One thing that I no longer do.”

“What?”

“You and everyone else can ignite their flame…but I can’t.”

“Your eyes,” he said, looking into them. “They look the way mine did before I found myself here. For a long time I thought they made me strange.”

“And now?”

“Now I realize they made me a freak because there was something missing to them.”

“An active flame.”

“What am I? Why am I so different even here? And why are we the same, but not?”

DiNiya regarded him for a long while, silently observing the look of desperation that was slowly creeping across his face. Could she tell him, she wondered. Should she? She gave the matter a great deal of thought, wrestling with it back and forth in her mind, before eventually looking up and smiling. “Rex there are so many things for you to learn about this world, your world, the least of which involves me.”

Rex’s shoulders slumped as he gave what could have almost been a look of defeat before accepting her choice to evade rather than face him head on.

“All right,” he said, walking past her and looking over the edge to gaze out at the pristine expanse. Herds of dinosaurs could be seen below. “This place,” he said. “It’s like a dream.”

DiNiya looked at him curiously and asked, “Earth isn’t like this?”

“No,” he replied with a laugh. “No, it’s not. Looking at this place makes me realize that the majesty died in that world a long time ago.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” she said, turning back to look at the scenery.

“How would you know?” he asked callously. “Ever been there?”

“No,” she replied simply. “It’s just that power, real power, is something that lives deep within, and only comes out when it is truly needed. That’s what happened with EeNara; it was threatened with oblivion, and so it unleashed its hidden power.”

“Which was?”

“Us,” she replied, turning to meet his eyes.

“Who would ever want to harm this place?”

“I suppose that is something that will have to be explained. Still, I think that story is better suited to be told by the one who tells it best.”

“Not very forthcoming today, are you?”

“Are you so different?” she countered, smiling coyly.

Rex looked deep into her dark red eyes and found the same hypnotic sensation gliding over him, like he was slipping into a warm bath. DiNiya also felt herself lowering her guard around this strange young man from another world. She was drawn to him, which scared her, but at the same time wondered if it was really him she was afraid of or rather what it meant for her to feel that she could be so open with him when they had only just met. Finally, Rex smiled and shook his head. “Well, this got deep.”

DiNiya laughed heartily. “Yes, well…sorry about that.”

“The only thing you should be sorry for is making that place sound important,” Rex said irritably, though not at her. “My world—what a joke. You don’t know how lucky you are to live alongside them,” he said, admiring the dinosaurs. “I’ve always felt connected to them, like I knew they were special in some way, but everyone made fun of me for it. They would call me all sorts of names, but the one that stung the most was ‘crazy.’ How could I be crazy when I knew what I knew…felt what I felt.”

“Whom are you referring to when you say they?”

“The dinosaurs.”

“The what?”

“You know, VayRonx and all of them down there,” he said, pointing to several of them below.

“Oh, I see,” she said, suddenly understanding. “You’re talking about the DyVorians.”

“Is that what they’re called here?” he asked curiously.

“It’s the only name I’ve ever known for them.”

“Makes sense, I suppose. This is another world, after all. Anyway, dino…er…um DyVorians are special. I could never say why, but I always just knew.”

“Are there no DyVorians on Earth?”

Rex looked at her, then up to the sky. “The DyVorians of my world have been gone for a very long time. Only some of their descendants remain. Echoes of the past.”

She placed a hand on his arm and said, “Nothing is truly gone forever, Rex. Like everything in nature, a flame does not die; it just turns from one form to another. I believe the DyVorians of the world you came from were always there with you.”

“None of that matters anymore,” Rex said as he walked up to the edge and spread his arms wide. “That world is far behind me now. I want to know all about this one; tell me everything!”

DiNiya smiled and stepped beside him on the edge. “Well, to the west is the city of Bloodstone. That’s the last settlement before you reach the western coast.”

“Why is it called Bloodstone?”

“Because of an uncommon mineral that makes the land itself a deep red, like blood. The city is built right out of it.”

“Ahh.”

“To the north we have the snowy mountains of ClyVen, home of the most reclusive tribes in all of EeNara.”

Rex’s mind was going wild at the sound of DyVorian cities and wondrous, far-off places filled with untold marvels.

“Let’s see,” she continued. “To the east we have Flamewater Bay. Oh, it’s so beautiful there. Imagine a seaside city whose entire bay is inhabited by the InaStar, the only sea tribe those of the land have continuous contact with. My father takes my brother and me there once every year. Their alpha is supposed to be an enormous sea reptile, though few have ever seen him. I don’t even know what species he is, only that he dwells further offshore in the deeper parts of the bay.”

“Why do they call it Firewater Bay?” asked Rex.

“Because with all the InaStar swimming in such shallow waters, the bay itself is entirely lit up with flame. It’s a beautiful sight.”

“Sure sounds like it,” Rex added, gazing out. “Wish I could see it someday.”

“You’re here with us now,” she said, stepping close to him. “Who says you won’t?”

Rex smiled. “What about in the south?” he asked, still curious to know more.

“South? There are a lot of small villages going south, but the Northern Capital is the biggest city on the entire continent and is located down on the coast.”

“The Northern Continent,” Rex said, sounding almost disappointed. “That’s the best name they could think of?”

“I can see why you might think that, but there’s a reason for its simplicity.”

“Which is?”

“While there are many settlements through EeNara, there are four major capitals on the four major continents. South, West, East, and of course, North, each one named after their respective continent’s geographical location. Each one of them serves as the center of culture, art, and most importantly, science for that region of the world.”

“Does it work?” Rex asked, sounding skeptical.

“Does what work?”

“The concept behind these capital cities. I mean, we had similar setups on Earth, but no one ever seemed to get along. From what I could see, all they ever did was get together in a big room and argue over just about everything. When they weren’t doing that, they were off killing each other. So I was just wondering if this great idea was actually more than just that.”

“Aside for the age-old dance of predator and prey that continues to take place in the wild, no one is killing anyone else for any other reason that I know of. Do people really find it that difficult to get along on Earth?”