Born of Fire: The Dawn of Legend Read online

  4

  SWEET DREAMS

  Slowly Rex began to awaken, but his eyes remained closed. A gentle breeze caressed his face and brought with it a sweet smell of flowers. Slowly, he opened his eyes, and the blurry image of what could only be described as a mosaic of color came into focus. His eyes were now like calm, steady embers of pure red fire, and he gazed up to a golden orange morning filled with stars and what looked like a celestial landscape. It was like seeing other worlds painted in the heavens, a sky without boundaries. Tall grass swayed in the breeze, obscuring his field of view on all sides but up.

  He sat up groggily and looked around in all directions, taking note that he was in a large field filled with tall yellow and pale green grass. Rising to his feet, he winced as a sharp pain swelled in the back of his head. Rubbing the spot tenderly, he sought out the memories before this moment but found that they were far and few. Aside from knowing who he was and where he came from, nothing else remained—nothing but a slew of faces that left no lasting impression, no emotional attachment. There was nothing that told him what had transpired before his awakening in this strange new place. In fact, he was not even sure how he came to be here in the first place. Another cool breeze made him shiver, and it was then he realized he was completely naked and damp. Looking all around, he saw no large bodies of water, further adding to the mystery. He was surprised to see that his fur was now significantly longer, draping over his shoulders and chest and running down to the center of his back.

  “This is new,” he said, holding up the long silver strands. “I wonder how I got here?” he asked himself as he gazed awestruck at the beautiful, lush environment he found himself in the middle of. Looking down, he noticed the scar on his chest was now completely gone.

  Arise. He jerked his head around sharply at the voice that wafted toward him on the wind. Arise.

  Rex looked around anxiously but saw no one. “H…hello?” he called out. “Is someone there?” The only response was a cool morning breeze rustling through the grass. Not quite sure what else to do, he decided he should try to find out exactly where he was—and hopefully regain his memory in the process. He looked to the east and saw the sun cresting over enormous mountains in the distance. With a deep breath, he headed in their direction, still not truly knowing where he was going.

  Rex walked for about an hour before noticing a tree line up ahead. Beyond it lay a dark forest, which made him think twice about continuing. Realizing, however, that anyplace here could be just as dangerous as the next, he decided to enter. It was then that a loud and powerful roar rang out from the depths of the forest, immediately stirring something within him. Once again, he could feel fire coursing through his veins as fear gripped him, and he went into defensive mode again.

  Forward, shot the strange whisper through his mind; it was gone just as quickly. He looked around again, but just like before, he saw no one. He moved through the dark forest quietly, taking everything in as he slowly swiveled his head. Above him, he heard rustling in the canopy but saw nothing when he looked up. All around him were hints that he was being watched, but he never even so much as caught a glimpse of what was behind the unseen gazes. Then he heard it—the snap of a branch on the ground. Rex did not know why this alarmed him, but instinct told him that he was in danger. He looked behind him to locate the source, but just as with all the other cryptic noises he had been hearing, he saw nothing. Fear grew in the pit of his stomach, as if it was some unseen predator creeping silently from behind in the shadows. There was another sound off to his left. There was no telling what lurked in a place like this. Rex spun around and caught a glimpse of a dark mass moving in the underbrush. He began to breathe heavily. He knew there was something just out of sight, stalking him. A strange scent filled his nose and made his fur stand on end. Knowing he had to act quickly, he decided to take his chances, fleeing in hopes that whatever was out there was in no mood to give chase.

  There was a loud crashing sound behind him, and Rex knew that his gamble had not played in his favor. Risking a glance back, he turned toward his pursuer. His eyes went wide as what could only be described as a two-thousand-pound saber-toothed cat bounded after him. “What the hell?” Rex cried as he picked up speed. The enormous feline was dark brown with tan stripes on its lower body. It had a ridge of fur that rose high off the back of its head and ran down its neck. Where am I? Rex thought to himself. What is this place?

  Without even trying, he felt a surge of energy shoot through his muscles and he tripled his speed. Hoping he had outrun his pursuer, he looked back and was startled to see the big cat explode in a fury of green fire, quickly closing the gap between them. Rex whipped his head back around and accelerated as fast as he could. Just ahead, he saw a fallen tree and ran up its length before jumping to a low-hanging branch, swinging himself up into another tree. This proved to do little to no good, for no sooner had he narrowly escaped the predator that it leaped over the downed tree and onto the one he was on, perching itself right in front of him with its teeth bared. Rex, not hesitating for a moment, dropped from the branch just as the cat swiped at him with a massive paw, narrowly missing his head.

  Dropping fifteen meters, he was surprised to land painlessly on his feet. He did not have time to ponder how that could possibly be, for the predator was already on its way down. Spreading its arms wide, it unhinged its lower jaw, thrusting its two saber teeth forward. As if by reflex, his body ignited in red flame, and before Rex even knew what he was doing, he found himself jumping into the air and driving his fist into the cat’s nose.

  The beast fell to the side and let out an anguished moan as it cupped its nose with its paws. Rex was almost beside himself with shock. Did he really just bring this giant beast to its knees with his bare fists? He looked down at his right hand and saw that the fiery glow around it was intensifying. The saber-tooth shook its head and rose to its feet. Green flame burned from its eyes as it fixed them on him. With yet another flash of fire, it was on him. Rex felt an enormous paw pushing down on his chest. He was gripped by an overwhelming need to defend himself. Grabbing the cat’s wrist with both hands, using every last bit of strength he could muster, he twisted its arm until it snapped so loudly that it echoed through the forest. The saber-tooth howled in pain as Rex pushed it off and jumped to his feet. The urge to fight was now too strong to ignore. Something inside was telling him that it was either him or the beast, that the only way he was going to walk away was if he made sure the other could not. Still, was he a killer, he wondered? In addition, he was also torn by the notion that he was fighting something which, if he was correct, meant he was in a much more astonishing place than he had realized. Regardless, his assailant seemed to be in no mood to give him any alternatives, but could he really win? How could he, after all? He was just a boy. Then again, how had he been able to break the saber-tooth’s wrist only moments ago?

  The saber-tooth bared its teeth once again as it raised its broken wrist almost in defiance. Holding it off the ground, it took several steps towards him before emitting a green glow around the wounded appendage. After several seconds of stillness, the cat suddenly moved its injured wrist and flexed its claws before planting it firmly back on the ground. Rex prepared himself to strike as it leaped over his head, and with frightening speed, spun around and kicked him hard with a back paw. Rex was sent sailing through the air until he slammed into a tree. The beast roared triumphantly before pouncing on him again, this time with its jaws open wide. Rex’s flame, however, instantly ignited before he grabbed hold of the cat and held the two ends of its jaws at bay. It was an impressive sight, a fifteen-year-old boy matching strength with a giant saber-tooth.

  “I think not,” Rex said through clenched teeth just before driving his head into his adversary’s already bleeding nose. There was a sickening thud as blood sprayed everywhere from the cat’s nostrils, showering him. The saber-tooth howled in rage and pain as a crimson pool formed beneath its face. Rex could hear the whisper in his head gr
owing louder and louder, the silent force within him spurring him on. Rex took a step towards the struggling beast. His mind was now flooded with thoughts of killing, a single-minded focus that drove him forward. Those thoughts, however, were soon interrupted by an angry voice. “Do you have any idea how much that hurt?”

  Rex felt all the primal urges fade instantly as they were quickly replaced with shock. “Who said that?”

  “Who do you think?” came the voice again, this time sounding more irritated than hurt.

  “Wait…no…it can’t be,” Rex stammered as the realization that the voice was coming from the saber-tooth dawned on him.

  “Of course it can!” said the cat as he removed his paws from his face and slowly stood up, glaring at him. “I think you broke my nose! What did you expect me to do, shower you with praise?”

  “No, I mean talking, you’re talking,” he replied, now questioning the validity of his sanity.

  “Of course I’m talking! Because of you, I won’t be able to smell anything right for days! What, did you just expect me to stay quiet on the matter?”

  “Uhh…sorry, I guess,” Rex replied, not really knowing what else to say.

  “Sorry?” replied the cat. “You’re sorry? Look at my face!”

  “Can’t you just fix it like you did your wrist?” he asked innocently.

  “Who said anything about my wrist being healed?”

  “I saw you do something with that green fire, then you were able to run on it again.”

  “I merely reset the bone itself,” the cat explained, holding up the wrist in question. “The fracture will take more time to heal. Thanks for that, by the way,” he added sarcastically.

  “Hey, hold on!” replied Rex angrily, clearly frustrated that the cat was treating him like the aggressor. “You’re the one who started chasing me! I was just passing through!”

  “You little liar! You know exactly what you did, so spare me the innocent routine!”

  Rex was now seething with anger, completely forgetting the bizarreness of engaging in a shouting match with what he had reduced to in his mind to an oversized talking house cat. “Listen, I don’t know where I am or how I even got here. I’m not looking for any trouble, so get off my case!”

  The saber-tooth regarded him silently before suddenly leaning down, bringing his face uncomfortably close to his. Rex could feel the hot moist breath of the big feline against his face as the cat continued to peer at him. “Your eyes,” he said at last, his entire demeanor changing, going from aggressive to reserved uncertainty. “They’re…red.”

  Rex was dumbfounded. Here he was in a strange land, being confronted by what looked like a giant bodybuilding cat, and yet he was getting the same response from it as he did everybody he had ever known. It was at this point that his anger quickly subsided into annoyance. After a few more seconds of uneasy looks from the cat, he finally spoke up. “You just noticed?”

  “Had I earlier, we would have had an entirely different first exchange,” the saber-tooth admitted as he sat back on his haunches. “In any case, you’re not from around here, I can gather that much.”

  “And your point is?”

  “My point is that I can’t just let you go now that I’ve found you.”

  “Found me? Why the hell were you even looking for me?”

  “Someone has been killing children from several of the tribes in the area, and your scent matches the one found at the scene of the attacks.”

  “So that’s why you were so hell-bent on sinking your teeth in me, but I have to say, you’ve got the wrong person.”

  “You’ll excuse me if I just don’t take your word for it,” the cat said, giving him a challenging look.

  “Could you at least tell me where I am exactly?”

  “KaNar’s out forest. Did you hit your head or something?”

  “Yes,” replied Rex warily as glanced around. “And now I am in a dream I cannot wake up from.”

  “I can assure you, it’s all real.”

  “You’ll excuse me if I just don’t take your word for it,” Rex replied sarcastically.

  The cat looked as if he was about to say something else, when blood began to stream from his nose again. “Damn it,” he growled as he moved to stop the flow.

  “Hey, you brought that on yourself,” Rex said, looking him in the eye and grinning wickedly. “It’s not my fault you tried to bite off more than you could chew.”

  “Oh, so you think that’s funny, do you? Then perhaps I should do you the courtesy of teaching you some manners before I haul you off to the alpha!”

  “Alpha?” Rex repeated, cocking his head to the left.

  Suddenly an enormous shadow cast itself over them, followed by a deep voice that boomed through the air. “Or he could just come to you, TyRoas?”

  The cat’s eyes went wide with fear as he stepped back frantically from Rex, who turned to see the dark silhouette of a huge creature in front of a patch of light in the canopy. Rex craned his head all the way back as the creature came into view and revealed itself to be a large dark-orange and green dinosaur that looked like a bigger, more-muscled version of his favorite dinosaur of all time. “Tyrannosaurus rex,” he gasped.

  The big dinosaur lowered his head down to Rex and looked him over with a deep glowing green eye. Rex was transfixed, peering deeply into the large round burning emerald sphere. From behind, the cat that the dinosaur had called TyRoas stepped tentatively forward.

  “VayRonx, I was just on my way to see you.”

  “Is that right?” VayRonx replied, glancing up briefly before returning his focus on Rex.

  “It is. It looks like I might have caught the one we’ve been hunting for. The one behind the killings.”

  “Hmm, a curious statement coming from one who only moments ago seemed to be doing more accusing than suspecting.”

  “Well, he must be…that is to say…well, you can smell him! Their scent is practically the same—that of the sea!”

  “Practically yes, exactly no.” VayRonx reared up slightly and brought his massive head over to TyRoas, who looked more determined than ever to state his case. “If you allowed your nose to guide you rather than your hunger for revenge, you would have noticed that their scents, while indeed similar, are in fact quite different. Truthfully, the only comparison that can be made is that they were both near the sea at one point recently. Hardly proof that he is our killer.”

  “I just wanted to be the one to—”

  “You wanted to be a hero so your brother and the rest of us would shower you with praise.” VayRonx shook his head in disappointment. “To act for something so selfish is not becoming of anyone, TyRoas. I know for a fact your brother taught you better than that.”

  The saber tooth stared at him in silence before lowering his head with a sigh. “You’re right,” he conceded at last. “I was acting out for all the wrong reasons, and I let my emotions get the better of me, something that could have resulted in that one over there getting hurt…or worse.”

  “I don’t know if I would go that far,” VayRonx mused. “He was not the one doubled over crying over a bruised nose only moments ago.”

  “That was a lucky shot and you know it!”

  “I only know what I saw,” VayRonx replied, all the while chuckling to himself.

  Rex had been so high off adrenaline that the reality of the situation had not fully set in. Now, however, it slowly crept up on him, and he found himself weak in the knees as he watched his dream unfold right in front of him: seeing a real live dinosaur. It was then that he began to feel the familiar pain in the back of his head return. Almost immediately, he grew lightheaded. Reaching back and touching the sensitive part, he was shocked when he saw blood on his hand. What happened to me? he wondered.

  “Boy,” called VayRonx. “Are you all right?”

  Rex wanted to answer, but suddenly the image of the dinosaur and saber-tooth blurred as he felt consciousness quickly slipping away. The last thing he heard was the s
ound of thunderous footsteps moving towards him.

  Rex found himself falling amidst total darkness, spiraling wildly out of control. He tried to get his bearings but found it to be impossible. He flailed his arms wildly and kicked his legs furiously until suddenly he felt ground underneath them. In fact, he was suddenly just standing, like he had never been falling at all. He looked around at the familiar surroundings. “This place again,” he said to himself, sighing deeply. It was then he sensed he was in fact not alone. “Who’s there? Show yourself!”

  A tall, lean, fair-skinned woman with long straight silver fur that draped itself over a lean naked frame and ran down to her ankles emerged out of the darkness in front of him.

  “Who are you?” he asked, looking her up and down. “And what is this place?”

  “My name is EliCia, and I would have thought the answer to your second question obvious?”

  “Think again.”

  “I’m sorry, Rex, it is not your fault that you are unable to remember. I should not forget that. Please do not take my pushing you the wrong way. It is just that it is important you set forth on the path to reclaim your memories.”