Born of Fire: The Dawn of Legend (103 page)

“We did it,” ShinGaru said with a sigh of relief.

“Thanks to you,” AnaSaya replied, turning to him and leaning her head against his.

“To be honest, I wasn’t sure that would even work,” he said with a laugh.

“Well, I’m glad that you didn’t tell me that before we jumped out of a fifty-story tower.” The two laughed, more out of nervous relief of still being alive than anything else. Then suddenly the mound of molten rock began to move. The two watched in horror as VoRon rose up like a great beast made of magma. His mouth parted, releasing an angry cry that sent ripples of terror through them. “H…how?” she stammered.

VoRon rose up on his hind legs, clenched his fists, and began heating his flame. ShinGaru and AnaSaya watched as the rising temperature from within his body began heating the molten rock all over him to such a high degree that it ran off him almost like water. The two reeled back at the sight of the DraGon whose armor and skin was almost burned entirely off and much of his flesh exposed. His wings were fused to his back as well as other parts of his body.

“D…De…Death…to you…and…all you…hold dear!” he managed to stammer before letting out a sickeningly ragged growl.

“Run!” ShinGaru yelled. Not hesitating for a moment, AnaSaya turned and took off alongside him. They pushed their legs as hard as they could, despite still reeling from the fall. However, they were quickly given the motivation they needed when they felt the rapid thunderous footfalls of something large approaching quickly from behind. Braving a quick look behind them, they were frightened to see the undead-looking hulk of a DraGon bounding after them on all fours, pieces of melted rock and flesh falling off him as he powered forward.

“So what’s the plan now?” AnaSaya cried as she tried to push her legs harder and faster.

“Honestly, I didn’t think I would need one at this point!” ShinGaru replied, speeding up to keep pace with her. The two skidded as they rounded a corner just as VoRon did the same behind them, slamming into a large stone relief and bringing it crumbling down. The two continued to run, not knowing where they were going or how long they could outrun their pursuer. VoRon had recovered quickly and was already back in fast pursuit, hot on their heels and gaining ground. The two of them could now feel his murderously hot breath on their backs and knew that this chase would soon be at an end, one way or another.

Rex appeared just up ahead from around a corner, and before they had a chance to even react, he had raced passed them, jumped into the air, and slammed the top of his head forcefully into VoRon’s lower jaw. The DraGon doubled over, landing hard on his back with a thunderous impact.

Rex stood for a moment, breathing heavily before turning back to the pair who looked more surprised than anything to see him. “You two all right?” he asked, walking up to them.

ShinGaru nodded. “Yes, but we probably wouldn’t have been had you not shown up just now.”

“Well, thank yourselves for that. I wouldn’t have even known any of you were over here if it wasn’t for that tower in the middle of the city suddenly bursting into flame and melting down. I figured at least one of you had to be involved. By the way, which one of you did that?”

“You just said hello to him,” ShinGaru said, bemused. “In any case, thank you, Rex. I do believe you saved our lives.” Rex gave them a dismissive shake of his head.

“How very…presumptuous…of you,” came VoRon’s ragged voice.

The three of them looked back to see him rising to his feet, breathlessly. “How is he even alive?” Rex asked, looking disgusted by the sight of the horribly mutilated creature that had once been a proud and mighty knight.

“Stubborn, I suppose,” ShinGaru said, taking a tentative step backwards.

“Sounds like someone else I know,” said LyCora, who appeared from around the same corner along with EeNox and four other DyVorians.

“We were getting worried about you two,” AnaSaya said, relieved to see the two of them unharmed.

“And with some new friends,” ShinGaru added.

“My name is VeroSy,” said the dome-headed PathoZarvora, and he quickly introduced the AnkLovora, TyVoranx, and TarKoranx. “This is SarNo, KarVera, and RomaNar,” who all bowed their heads in turn. “And you three must be AnaSaya, ShinGaru, and Rex.”

“I see our reputation precedes us,” Rex said.

“That’s putting it lightly,” said RomaNar in a smooth female voice. “I imagine most of the hemisphere has heard of you five and the girl that was taken from your village by the DraGons, which was a startling revelation in and of itself.”

“Believe me, I know exactly what you mean.”

“Um, excuse me,” ShinGaru said, clearing his throat, “but aren’t we forgetting something?” The others turned and followed his gaze, startled by the reminder that they were in the presence of the DraGon, who stood transfixed, almost as if he was waiting patiently for them to remember he was there.

“Oh, yeah,” Rex said, turning back round to face his enemy.

“Allow us,” said KarVera as he and the others raced forward, and before any of them could give warning, began mercilessly beating, goring, and tearing into VoRon.

Rex and the others watched as he tried to ignite his flame but was stopped each time by a hard blow to the base of the skull until he could seemingly no longer manage it. His immense bulk crumpled to the ground as the four warriors finished beating him into submission.

“This is our home, DraGon,” declared SarNo, “how dare you slaughter our families?”

“You must have forgotten how this all ended for you in the past,” VeroSy added.

“Don’t worry, heathen,” VoRon replied in a voice that was now barely audible. “I remember all too well.”

VeroSy regarded him for a moment before his attention was pulled away by the sound of a bellowing roar and a shockwave that told everyone that a powerful new combatant had entered the battlefield.

“Did you all recognize that flame?” EeNox asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Rex replied.

VayRonx roared up to the legion of DraGons that hovered above him. “Come forth and face me head on, you cowards! I promise it will be quick but painless…well…I make no promises I cannot keep.”

Standing not far from him were the others, all of which kept a close eye on the sky as DraGons took turns at mock charges.

“Not exactly subtle, are they?” NyRo said, watching one of the smaller green DraGons pass overhead and growling menacingly at them.

“Perhaps not, but the irony of the situation is that we wouldn’t have sensed their presence here in time had they not made such a big show of everything,” replied VyKia. “Still, I wish we could have arrived sooner to prevent more of the bloodshed.”

“Indeed,” her brother replied angrily, not taking his eyes off the same green DraGon who once again passed overhead, this time daring to come lower.

Aiming carefully, NyRo fired a blast from his mouth, which struck the knight square in the head and sent him crashing down. Not wasting a second, he raced forward, grabbed the DraGon by the neck, and using all his might, sunk his two massive canines through his jugular.

Another green DraGon raced down to avenge his fallen comrade only to be struck in midair on the side of the head by TarFor, who once on the ground wrapped his arms around the base of the DraGon’s head, and using all his strength, drove his fist into her temple. Immediately the lights in her eyes went out as she fell to the world below. “Ha,” he cried out, turning back up to the sky and waving his fist defiantly. “Who wants to be next?”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was enjoying this,” VoRenna said.

“Well, I do, and believe me when I say he is,” VyKia replied.

The DraGons, now furious by the loss of two of their own, swooped low for an attack but pulled up once again when they saw dozens of the city’s citizens approaching, all of them looking furious beyond measure.

VorTak, who had only recently arrived on the scene and who had been hovering further up, cursed under his breath. “Damn it! This is getting out of hand! We weren’t supposed to even be here by now. Damn you, LemaRes! You just couldn’t let it go!” Someone calling out his name suddenly interrupted his thoughts. Looking over to his right, he saw one of the other knights approaching.

“Templar VorTak, sir, I just received word that Templar VoRon has been brought down by a small band of DyVorians near the center of the city!”

“What?” VorTak replied, startled by the notion that one of their strongest had been defeated in battle. “Is he alive?”

“We don’t know, but I heard from several eyewitnesses that he was severely wounded at the time he was last seen. Sir…they said it didn’t look good.”

“Damn it,” he hissed. “How the hell did this all go so wrong?” He considered running for a moment but then decided against it, thinking of what DayKar might do to him upon hearing that he fled the battle leaving his comrades behind. Looking back at the other DraGon, he ordered, “Take me to where he was last seen, now!”

“Yes, sir!” the other DraGon replied, and led him towards the center of the city where they saw the molten, still-glowing remains of what had once been Bloodstone’s signal tower.

“Damn it, you old fool,” VorTak grumbled. “I swear if you’ve gotten yourself killed…” They proceeded west, following signs of further destruction, when they came upon an unsettling sight. There lying motionless in a narrow street was the horribly mutilated body of VoRon, and standing in front of it was a group of DyVorians.

“Damn them,” the other DraGon shouted as he prepared to swoop down.

“Wait,” VorTak said, halting him. “We can’t go down there.”

“But, sir, look what they did to VoRon!”

“You don’t think I can see for myself, you little shit?” VorTak snapped, causing the young DraGon to stop and give a look of apologetic silence. “If you’d bothered to take a closer look, you would have seen that one of the DyVorians down there is the TyRanx we’re after!”

The other knight looked down again and focused his gaze, then as if suddenly taken aback, reared his long neck. “By the Nova Queen herself!” he gasped. “You’re right! It
is
him! I could have ruined everything by killing him and…”

“Oh, shut up, you idiot!”

“Sir?”

“If you really think you can kill that monster down there, then go right ahead and try. The loss of one more mindless grunt should prove inconsequential to our plan.”

“Is he really that strong?”

VorTak slowly turned his head and looked at the shaken youth for a moment as if considering his answer. At last he smiled. “You were there ten thousand years ago, so you tell me.”

Rex knew that they would most likely need to abandon their plan of going it alone, for the DraGons had shown their true hand by divulging that this was all an effort to lure him to where they needed him. The only question was whether VayRonx would agree to take them the rest of the way or bring their quest to an end.

“Wow, he sounds angry,” EeNox commented as the bellowing roars of the alpha TarBoranx echoed throughout the city.

“I for one am glad to hear it,” LyCora said. “We need all the help we can get!”

“Well, then, shall we go say hello?” Rex suggested.

“Sure thing,” EeNox replied gingerly. “But uhh…well, after you, of course.”

Rex snorted and gave him a disapproving look, when suddenly there was a hard gust of wind followed by a ground-shaking impact. Turning quickly, he was surprised to see LemaRes kneeling over the almost lifeless form of VoRon.

“No…What have they done to you?” she whispered as tears streamed down her face.

The old DraGon laboriously tilted his head to look at her. “Do not waste your tears on an old flame like me, my dear. Save them for losses still to come.”

“Shhh,” she whispered while gently stroking the top of his head. “I will see to it that you are restored to your former glory. I’ll see that we all are. Come now.” She gently hoisted him over her shoulder, feeling the great girth of the immense elder DraGon.

“Wait,” called out Rex, “where the hell do you think you’re going?” LemaRes fixed him with a hateful glare.

“He’s right,” said VeroSy, stepping next to him. “You’re a fool if you think we’re going to just let you leave after what you’ve done here!”

“Listen to me very carefully, TyRanx,” LemaRes said in a vicious tone. “Before this day is over, you and your little band of savages will be dead, the war over, and this world ours, all because of you and that other filthy red flame.”

“DiNiya!” Rex roared. “What have you done to her?”

With a powerful push, LemaRes lifted off the ground, shouldering VoRon. “Come and find out, Doom Bringer!” she called back down tauntingly as she rose higher into the sky and flew off to the west.

“Damn it!” Rex exclaimed.

“Rex,” AnaSaya pleaded.

“I swear I’ll fucking kill her when I get to that damned tower, then bring the whole thing down!”

“Rex, please!” LyCora now insisted, managing to grab his attention. “I understand how you feel and you’re more than justified, but if we want to stand any chance of even making it there, let alone rescuing DiNiya, we need to find the others.”

Rex bared his teeth and stomped his feet, creating two deep impressions in the ground beneath him. He wanted to roar, smash, and crush. So visceral was this craving for destruction that he could feel a literal pull, as if not doing so was putting his body through terrible strain. At last he managed to forcefully push the violent urges back down deep from whence they came, and look the others in the eye. “Let’s go.” He turned and made his way to where they had heard VayRonx.

The others glanced at each other nervously before following. Getting back to the outskirts of town proved to be comparatively more difficult than it was going into its heart. Whereas before the inhabitants were fleeing the various kill zones, they had now managed to group and organize, thus creating a unified front that had now turned on the DraGons and were making their siege of the city increasingly difficult. All around, the sight of DyVorians and SaVarians battling DraGons could be seen and heard, a scene that was disturbingly familiar. They continued forward, jumping over fallen debris and dodging fireballs that rocketed through the air and exploded around them. They had just reached the outer edges of Bloodstone when LyCora cried out, “Over there!” The others looked up ahead and saw VoRenna and NyRo with BaRone, TarFor, and VyKia at their feet, fighting in the midst of a thick cloud of dust.