Born of Fire: The Dawn of Legend Read Online Free Page B

He loved his father and appreciated everything he was trying to do for him, but even he could not truly understand what Rex was feeling on the inside.
No one can
.
    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