Born Of Fire

Chapter 1

Note: The theme songs for this portion of the story is The Wolf by Fever Ray and Fire Inside by NerdParade.

They said the earth would fall. Pollution. Aliens. Earthquakes. Volcanic Eruptions. Global Warming. The sun. In a matter of three months, major cities crumbled and burned. Washington Dc. New York. Chicago. In six, worldwide population was reduced to a quarter. Animals hid in the woods. To see one was rare. To eat one... well, you were beyond lucky. Those that were wild are scrawny, bones showing through their skin. All of their food was burned in the flames.

I've heard the talk of the few survivors I have encountered. They say we are being punished for all of our sins and that God is testing us. Others think the government did this. But why would they be recruiting people to fight against this? So many have died. Given up hope.

I felt the heat of the flames in the city. They were fortified. Said that it was safe. They're all dead now. Their bodies bathed in flames. The whole city bathed in flames and crumbled concrete. We had no idea they even existed. Only as children did we imagine them. They struck without mercy. First it was mangled bodies found in the mountains and forests. They grew bolder with each kill. Then, suddenly we had peace. No reported disappearances or death. This 'peace' lasted for a week. I was in my car, a nice 2000 Chevy Blazer. I didn't particularly like the color red it had painted on but it was mine, I didn't care. I had been listening to the radio, strumming lightly on my black steering wheel when I noticed all of the cars stopped moving. People got out and stood on their cars, anxiously looking forward.

"Do you know what's going on?" a caramel colored man asked me.

"No idea." I said. My German Sheppard, Ace, started whining and trembling, trying to climb onto my lap, a nasty habit I still had not been able to break. Then it started.

The already grey sky darkened. Dark, large shadows could be glimpsed amongst the ever darkening clouds. And then... Flames rained down, singeing the people standing on their cars, igniting them in seconds. Then the screams started. Screams of terror. People scrambled from their cars and ran into the nearest building. The shadow swooped down, the wind buffeting women's hair, making it swirl and flail around them. I quickly grabbed Aces leash and hooked it to his collar. We both jumped out of the car, making a run for it to the building to my left, when a wave of fire rained down and held onto the asphalt. Not wanting to leap over and possibly hurt my dog in the process, I ran forward. Ace stayed by my side, tail tucked between his legs the whole time.

I ran into a small brick alleyway, mostly covered by overlapping buildings. One rusted metal door stood slightly ajar. I opened it slowly, the hinges creaking with each slow movement. Bare concrete and news papered windows made the small abandoned place dark and dreary. There was an old wooden staircase leading up to a loft. Grabbing what looked like to be tire iron, I hefted it into the hair, holding it like a baseball bat. As I climbed the stairs, the wind closed the metal door with a loud BANG, making me and my dog jump. I finally got to the peeling painted white door, with the small rectangular four squared window. I grasped to bonze doorknob and turned, hoping it wasn't locked. It pushed open without a sound. Inside, a large wooden desk sat into a corner. I pushed it around so the solid side was facing the door, in case someone tried to get in. I quickly locked the door, and crawled under the desk, Ace staying close to my side. I laid down, a calm washing over me. Of all things I could do in this situation, cry, stare into space, shake uncontrollably, I did the most audacious thing one could do in my situation. I slept.

I awoke to the strangest thing. Silence. Nothing. A soundless void. I looked for Ace, he had been sitting by the hole in the desk, intently watching the door, ears swiveling for the slightest of sounds. When he heard me get up, he ran over to me, rubbing himself on me, licking my face.

"Let's get out of here Ace." I said. I grabbed his leash, and opened the door. I poked my head out, and didn't see anything. Or hear anything. So I went down the stairs and opened the metal door. Nothing.

Huh, weird. I walked into the alleyway, and already I could tell it was bad. One of the large buildings had fallen over, crushing another, rubble and building parts strewn onto the streets.

"Hello?" I shouted. "Is someone there?" Only my echo responded. On the building that had fallen over was huge gouge marks. No wait, claw marks. A few cars had been flipped to the side, others shoved into the now vacant buildings. I walked to the edge of one, my shoes making the glass crunch. Then, I looked down. Blood. Everywhere. There wasn't a part of the floor not covered in it. I reeled back, the stench of death filling my nostrils. A fleeting moment of despair overflowed me. I turned back around to the road, seeing my blazer. I walked to it, Ace by my side. He sniffed the tires and door, as I checked out the busted back window. At least it went mostly unharmed. My keys were still inside thankfully. As soon as I opened the door, Ace hopped inside, in his usual spot in the passenger seat. I climbed in and shut the door. I put my hand on the ignition. Please, please work. I started with a nice smooth roar. P!nk played from the stereo, one of my mother's favorite singers, and I had recently bought one of her latest CDs. I started driving forward slowly, afraid of the thing that did this. Eventually my mind said it was safe and I took off. Stoplights were still standing, but I ignored them, needing to get out of the city.

I kept driving, now being miles away from the nearest city. A comforting pine scented breeze flowed from the open windows Ace had his head sticking out of. Tall pines soon stood around me, and I spotted a glowing mini mart sign. I turned the blazer off, looking around to see if the gas station pumps still worked. I popped open my gas tank and started to fill it up. When it reached full, the small window said 'Please pay inside.' I opened the door, Ace jumping out of the car. He followed me inside, as I opened the door, the typical DING DONG sounded. No one was here. The place looked like it hadn't been touched. I grabbed everything I could. Gum, food, drinks, tarps and ductape. I piled it inside the back of the blazer through the open window. I quickly covered it up, and secured it with ductape. Ace, was sniffing around the side to the back, whining and looking back at me. I walked over and he seemed comforted, as he started wagging his tail. We both walked forward, but what we were about to see would shock us both to the core and change our lives forever. Four large eggs stood together, clumped into a pile. One, a red and Orange veined one was closest to me, on its right, a dark blue and lighter blue veined one. On the left, a dark green with light green veins. And lastly, a dark purple with light colored veined one. Amazed, I inched forward. The red one started to move. A cracking appeared on the shell, all of them were hatching. The eggs split into two, and out came a scaly winged creature. A creature I only heard about in fables and legends. Dragons.

Authors note:

I am accepting submissions for covers for this book. Please submit to me via email at NikkiKStory1818 at gmail.com or message me on here. The one i choose will be the permanent cover for Born Of Fire!