Born of Fire: The Dawn of Legend Read online

  He finished his lunch and returned to class with the other students when the bell rang. The rest of the day played out as usual: more lessons that could not be any less interesting, and silent wishes that Allison would turn and say hello. Actually, any indication that she knew he existed would have been enough. At last, the end bell rang. Rex, in a daze, was getting his things from his locker when someone pushed him hard against it from behind. Spinning around quickly, he found himself facing seven boys who were standing with less-than-kind looks on their faces. The one in the middle was only a few centimeters shorter than Rex, but of a considerably smaller build with short, dirty blond hair. The others seemed to blend into the background. All people, unless they made some sort of real first impression, all looked the same to him.

  “Hey, crybaby!” said the boy.

  “I wouldn’t,” Rex replied, giving him a warning look.

  “Why?” replied Dustin. “You gonna go and cry to your teacher again?”

  “I’m not a fan of repeating myself, so I figured I would just hit you really hard this time, since diplomacy obviously failed.”

  “Then why did Goran yell at us all morning in his office?” the boy said as he pushed Rex again.

  “Because your smile isn’t as dazzling as mine,” Rex replied, turning and flashing a toothy grin.

  “More like because you went and cried to that French asshole that keeps you on the end of his leash,” Dustin said angrily, pulling out a switchblade and thrusting it at Rex, who moved without hesitation to intercept it, grabbing the blade in his left hand.

  Everyone gasped then held their breath as a trickle of blood ran down Rex’s hand and arm. With a sigh, he closed his locker, then grabbed Dustin by the throat and effortlessly applied the necessary amount of pressure to close his airway. “Now I know you’re only human, so there’re about two million years of stupidity bred into you, responsible for the vast level of disconnect between what you should and should not have done here, so you’re probably searching the barren wasteland in that head of yours for why this all got away from you. Hmm?” The boy gasped for breath and did his best to nod. “Well, don’t worry. I won’t take it personally.” With that, Rex lifted him off the ground, and with an impressive display of raw physical power, drove Dustin’s entire head through a locker door. Everyone gasped in horror as his body hung limp with his head still inside the door. Rex just shook his head, then turned back where he was immediately confronted by startled faces that frantically backed up. “I’m getting tired of dealing with you people day after day. How about everyone here who thinks I’m a freak, asshole, son of a bitch, motherfucker, or just unpleasant all have your go at me now so I don’t have to do this again on Monday.” No one moved, not a single person. They all exchanged nervous glances while murmuring to one another. “No? What a momentous moment, a mob of irrational people making a rational decision. Will wonders never cease?”

  There was suddenly a commotion further up ahead as Rex heard a familiar voice. “Clear the way,” Goran yelled as he quickly made his way through the crowd.

  Rex looked in his direction and was filled with a surge of anger. He knew that man would never leave him alone now. Had he been wrong in defending his honor and that of his father? No, he thought. Dustin sought him out and drew on him. Whatever happened to him now was his own fault, not that Rex ever made it a habit to feel pity or remorse for those who found themselves on the wrong end of his wrathful nature. Rex looked down at the boy, who was still unconscious and bleeding from the head. Everything in him said to unleash the full extent of his rage on everyone in sight. Fight, was what his instincts kept insisting. His blood was pumping through his veins hard and fast, and everything in him was telling him to continue his savage assault, when suddenly he heard a voice. This one was soft and gentle but had a sense of desperation to it. Please, Rex, stop this…Rex looked around with feral eyes. They’re not worth it, came the voice again. This time he could make out that it belonged to a woman, but who? Please, just walk away.

  The faint glow in his eyes faded as he looked around, confused. His instincts were still telling him to fight, but reason won out and he quickly walked out the front entrance of the school before taking off into a sprint around the gym, through the parking lot, and stopping behind the school. He breathed heavily as his mind caught up with him and what had just happened. It was not the first time he had heard strange voices in his head. As far back as he could remember, he had been plagued by them and by vivid dreams that would wake him in the night. He could never make sense of them, nor did he ever tell his father or anyone about them. “Now I’ve done it. How am I going to explain this to Dad? He’s not going to be happy about this…Damn it!”

  “Get in the car,” came an angry voice from around the corner. Rex was momentarily distracted from his problems and peered around to see Allison standing next to her father’s car, which she seemed reluctant to get in. “If you don’t get in this car right now, I’m going to make you regret it when we get home!”

  Allison quickly climbed in and shut the door. The car sped off and passed Rex where he was standing. Time seemed to slow down as their eyes met, for he could clearly see tears in the beautiful blonde’s eyes as she looked out at him when they passed. Rex felt a pull in his chest. Something was telling him to go after her. He looked around frantically. What should I do?He’s the one. The one who’s been hurting her. But why do I care? Why should I get involved? Other people’s problems are their own…right? Rex was plagued by indecision. He could not just stand by and do nothing, but he wondered what he could even do to help. He knew how he could deal with her father, but he wondered if that would truly help matters or just make them worse. He wondered if things might be different if he had help. He looked around and realized that, like always, he was standing alone.

  Rex threw his black hood over his head and ran after Allison, but the car was already around the corner and out of sight. He knew where she lived, but it was across town, which meant going on foot was out of the question. He rounded the street corner and saw a stop for one of the city buses. He ran up to it and asked a short fat man when the next bus was coming. The plump man gazed down at his watch, then replied, “In about thirteen minutes.”

  “Thank you,” replied Rex as he leaned against the stop to catch his breath.

  Sixteen minutes later, the bus pulled up. Rex climbed on and sat in the front seat. He was not sure what he was going to do when he got there. What could he do that would not involve a repeat of what had happened at school? Maybe he should go to the police. No, he thought. They would take too long to do anything, and Allison doesn’t deserve another minute of what that bastard is doing to her. Rex marveled at himself for caring so much. Perhaps he was not as devoid of compassion for human beings as he would have liked to believe—a thought that troubled him more than it comforted him, for he saw nothing in humanity that he found worth loving or protecting. Yet here he was, playing the role of knight in shining armor on his way to save the damsel in distress.

  The bus rumbled across town over the course of thirty minutes and finally arrived in what Rex recognized as Allison’s neighborhood. He got off at the next stop and looked around at the semi-unfamiliar street. It was a low-income-housing district full of run-down single-story homes and old battered vehicles.

  “Which way is it?” he asked himself aloud. Suddenly remembering, he took off down the street, which was lit up with dim lights that grew brighter as the sun went down. He moved at a brisk pace but did not run. What am I going to do when I get there? he wondered. Knock on the door and ask,‘Have you been beating Allison? Because if you have, I’m going to make you sorry.’ It sounded ridiculous even to him. Plus, he began to wonder about his own well-being. Allison’s father did not strike him as a rational individual, and something told him that he would not take too kindly to a teenage boy threatening him at his doorstep, especially one who looked like he stepped out of a science fiction or fantasy novel. Rex suddenly felt angry f
or thinking of himself and not her. He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and pressed on. Regardless, he would already be in trouble with his father for what happened at school, and running off to the dodgy end of town to boot, so he figured he might as well go all the way.

  After worrying that he may have passed her house without realizing it, he saw her father’s car in one of the driveways just up ahead on the left. Rex could hear yelling as he approached the house. They were angry shouts from a man, but he could not yet tell what was being said. He ran to the side of the house and crept under the kitchen window. There he could clearly hear what the man was saying, and he slowly peered up to see what was happening inside.

  He could see through the kitchen into the living room beyond. Allison stood defensively in the corner while her father paced back and forth, waving his arms erratically as he shouted obscenities. Rex immediately noticed the bottle in his right hand.

  “Damn it, girl,” her father hollered. “What the hell have you been telling your teacher?”

  “Daddy, I swear I didn’t tell her anything,” he heard Allison reply in a shrill, frantic voice.

  “Liar,” her father yelled and hit her in the face. “Your principal called me at work today and said you told your teacher there were problems at home!”

  “Daddy, I swear,” Allison cried as tears ran down her face. “I didn’t say a word!”

  “Is that what I am to you?” he continued, growing angrier by the word. “A problem? Is that all I am to you, you little bitch?”

  By now, Rex’s blood was boiling again. He could feel the same pull that he felt before driving him to go crashing in there and put a stop to all this. Do it was what the feeling inside was telling him. Punish him for what he has done to her. Rex looked down at his hands and was surprised to see what almost looked like a faint red glow around them. He then looked down at the rest of his body and saw that the glow was, in fact, all around him, growing brighter as his rage increased.

  Don’t goin there, came the soft female voice again. I know you want to help her, but if you go in there, you will only cause her more pain.

  Inside, Allison’s father, Michael, was growing increasingly belligerent as he drank furiously from the bottle. “I work like a dog all goddamn day so I can put food in your mouth and a roof over your head,” he ranted, his words slurred. “And this is how you repay me? Do you want to get rid of me that bad?”

  “No, Daddy,” Allison cried. “I’m so sorry, please…I’m sorry.”

  “You’re sorry?” he said, grabbing Allison by the hair. “Not as sorry as you’re gonna be, you bitch!”

  To Rex’s surprise, Michael pulled his fist back and punched her in the face, sending her sprawling to the floor. At that moment, Rex felt something snap deep within him, and he jumped, grabbed a heavy metal trashcan, and threw it through the kitchen window. Allison and her father whipped their heads around in surprise, just in time to see the metal can come to rest on the kitchen floor and Rex leaping through the shattered window.

  “What the hell?” Michael screamed.

  “Rex?” Allison cried in surprise.

  Rex rose up and stood in the center of the glass-covered kitchen, slowly looking up with a vicious stare. His eyes were now clearly emitting a red glow from under his dark hood, which he pulled back.

  “Rex?” asked Allison. “What are you doing here?”

  “You know this guy?” asked her father furiously.

  “He’s in my class,” she answered, unable to take her eyes off him.

  “Kid, you are so—” He stopped when he noticed Rex’s eyes and the rest of his unusual appearance. “H…how much have I had?” he asked, glancing down at the bottle in his hand.

  “The girl,” Rex replied in his deep, throaty voice. “Leave her alone.”

  “You gotta be kidding me,” the man said, shaking his head in disbelief. “Did you put him up to this?” he asked, turning back to his daughter. “This…freak?”

  Allison shook her head vigorously. “No, Daddy, I swear I didn’t—”

  “She didn’t ask me to do anything,” Rex said. “I came here because—”

  “Because why?” Michael said, taking another swig from the bottle in his hand. “Huh?”

  “Because you’ve been hitting Allison,” Rex growled, feeling an almost overwhelming hatred for the man that stood before him.

  “Oh, yeah?” said Michael as he took a slightly unbalanced step toward him. “So what if I have? You gonna do somethin’ ’bout it? Hmm?” He now brought his face right to Rex’s.

  “She’s your daughter,” said Rex, his true emotion coming through the cool demeanor he was falsely putting forward. “How can you do this to her?”

  Michael looked at him for a moment without saying a word, then slowly walked toward Allison while taking another drink. “Better she learns now than later,” he finally answered, looking down at the bottle in his hand. “You think she’s got it so bad, kid? Life gets a whole hell of a lot worse…Believe me, she’s gonna find out that what’s waiting for her later on down the road is worse than this…than me.”

  “Allison,” Rex suddenly shouted, surprising even himself. “You are better than this! Don’t let him hurt you anymore! Fight back!”

  “SHUT UP!” bellowed Michael. “You wanna be a hero, you freak? Fine, I’ll show you what happens to heroes in this world.”

  With a sudden burst of speed, Michael smashed the bottle down on top of Rex’s head, distracting him momentarily so he could push him backwards over the chair behind him. Michael, clearly not satisfied with just this, began kicking him mercilessly. Rex found himself unable to make any noise. The first kick had landed squarely in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. Searing pain spread through his head, and he could feel blood running through his fur, over his scalp, down his head, and over his left eye. Am I going to die? he thought to himself curiously. Michael suddenly took his boot and drove it into the side of Rex’s head at full force, making everything around him dim. He could barely even feel Allison’s father kicking him anymore. His whole body had gone numb. Slowly his eyes closed, and he was enveloped in darkness. He heard Allison’s cry for her father to stop just before he was completely shrouded in a black sea…Her voice seemed so distant.

  Rex found himself lying in the same black misty void he was trapped in when he dreamed. But why was he here now? “Am I dreaming?” he asked himself.

  Suddenly the space was filled with disembodied whispers. Run…do not be controlled by it…not again, Rex…Please, do not lose yourself.

  The voice was like a knife cutting its way into his mind. “SHUT UP!” he yelled, and the void became silent once more. Then, out of the darkness, no more than five feet away from him, a ball of red flame appeared, floating in midair. Rex looked at it with uncertainty before taking a tentative step towards it. There was something about it that he found almost hypnotic. It was as if it were slowly pulling him closer with gentle unseen hands. Strangely, Rex did not feel like resisting; rather, he found his legs moving on their own as he walked right up to the ball of beautiful crimson fire. As if by instinct, he held up his hands and cupped it within them. The flame danced harmlessly in his hands, and millions of images of vistas exploded through his mind as quickly as a flash of lightning. Before he knew it, the flame had engulfed his entire body, radiating off him in red, fiery waves. He felt a presence that, for reasons he absolutely could not explain, felt so very familiar to him. He looked up to see two enormous red fiery eyes emerge from the darkness. They emitted a pulse of crimson flame, which made everything vanish within its brilliance.

  Moments later, Rex’s eyes opened, burning red. He heard Michael yelling at him, asking if he had had enough yet. The man suddenly stopped when he saw Rex’s eyes and stumbled back. Slowly Rex rose to his feet and cracked his neck and back. Strange, he thought. It doesn’t hurt at all. He looked over to Allison, who was shaking almost violently from fear. Why is she so scared? He looked back to Michael, who was trembl
ing uncontrollably. Rex was filled with an urge to fight, and he lunged at the man with lightning speed and murderous ferocity. Michael had no time to react, and was sent crashing to the floor with Rex pinning his arms down. He looked up in horror to see flaming red eyes and a mouth full of serrated sharp teeth clenched tightly together in a ferocious growl. He struggled to break free of Rex’s grip but found his strength to be unnatural.

  “Stop it,” Allison screamed, causing Rex to lose his focus. The girl’s father took advantage of this and drilled his knee into his assailant’s gut. Rex coughed and bent over, holding his stomach. He looked up just in time to see a huge fist coming straight at his face. He fell to the floor with a hard thud. His vision blurred and his eyes began to water from being hit in the nose. He looked up and saw the blurry image of the large man standing over him, clenched fists at the ready. Rex wiped his eyes and looked into Michael’s. Despite having a rigid, angry face, the man looked sad and defeated. Rex turned his head and for the first time noticed the full extent of what he had done to Allison. The entire left side of her face was dark and swollen. Blood ran down her nose and lip, leaving droplets on the carpet. The sight of this enraged him to a degree he had never felt. He leaped to his feet again without any effort and landed a blow into the man’s side, cracking several ribs. Michael reared back and clenched his teeth in pain.

  “You like picking a fight with someone weaker than you?” Rex asked in a sinister voice, grabbing him by the scruff of his shirt and head butting him. Allison’s father staggered backward until he hit the wall. “What happens when they’re not?” He charged forward and with all his might rammed into Michael, causing the wall behind him to crack. Rex then kneed him in the shin, breaking Michael’s tibia, and with a savage display of strength, threw him across the room. Allison screamed as her father crashed onto the dining room table, completely destroying it. Finish him, came the silent will within. Rex could feel the other voice trying to cut in but the power burning within was suppressing it.