The Rising Sun: Episode 5 Read online

“A ship, but in no way an ordinary ship.” said Dantox. “This, Ion, is the fastest and greatest ship ever made.”

  “The planet where the priest resides is known as Velrox,” Mantra informed Ion. “And it is in the farthest reaches of the outer spectrum. But in this ship, the journey will take just over an hour, I estimate.”

  “Why can’t Nalzes come here, instead of us taking the crystal all the way there?” asked Ion. “That way, wouldn’t it save us all a lot of trouble and risk?”

  “We would love for that just as much as you do,” said Dantox. “But Nalzes has gone into a hermit lifestyle, severing all ties with the entire world. Though we know the planet he lives in and the approximate region in it, we cannot contact him.”

  “What did he do that for?” asked Ion.

  “Nalzes is just as old as I am, Ion.” explained Mantra. “He fought alongside us through the war. And he endured all that it came with. But after the war was over, with the fall of the empire and the grave period that came after it, he decided to leave the world, losing interest in it. He has lived as a renunciate for almost eight millennia now. However, I kept a faint contact with him over the time. And I know he will definitely help us if need arises. I have been aware of the planet he lives in,” A faint frown entered his expression. “… although I don’t know his location in the planet, right now.”

  “Then how the heck am I gonna find him?” asked Ion, dazed. “I can’t search the entire planet to find this hermit, we don’t have that much time!”

  “You don’t have to find him.” said Mantra. “He’ll find you.”

  Ion was starting to feel slightly perplexed. “What do you mean?”

  “He has the same sensing powers that I have, and more.” Mantra said with a smile. “And his hermit style lifestyle has led to a further deepening of his mystical sight: he is well attuned to the aura surrounding his planet, and the spectrum as well. As I have been sensing chaos rising over the past few days, so has he.

  “By now, he would be well aware of everything that’s going on. He would be well aware of the rising force of Mezmeron, and the struggle we’re now undergoing. He has been kept well aware of everything transpiring within our brotherhood over the past few days, and he would most certainly be alerted to our precarious position now.” He nodded. “When you reach the planet, wherever he is, he would have been alerted to your arrival through the shifting energy fields. And he would know what you’re carrying with you.” He pulled out the crystal and held it before Ion. “He’ll sense the dark force that you land with, and know why you’ve gone there. When you reach the planet, wait patiently for him to reach you from wherever he is.”

  “Wait patiently?” Ion repeated, feeling his eyebrows rise. “How long would I have to wait? And how will I know if he’s aware that I’ve arrived?”

  “Patience, young one.” said Mantra.

  “He will sense your arrival, through that of the crystal as well.” said Dantox. “When the crystal enters his planet, he would be alerted of it through the shift in the aura around him, and he would reach you as fast as he can, for he well knows that the gravest threat to the world is the crystal. And he will want to stomp that threat out as fast as possible.”

  “Ok. So I just get there, wait for this hermit to find me, and then have him destroy the crystal?”

  Mantra shook his head. “Let’s not forget the second part of this entire operation: a mystical tablet. Nalzes can’t destroy the crystal with performing the necessary spell for it, with a mystical tablet. A tablet is needed before he can undo the crystal’s power.”

  “And where do we find one?” inquired Ion.

  “I know the location of one close to that planet.” said Mantra. “Very close, in fact. It is in the planet Garnor, in the star system 385, just one star system away from the planet where you’ll find the priest.”

  “How do you know?”

  Mantra let a moment pass in silence, seeming to consider something, and then said, “Because this tablet is a rather special one. And I knew it might be handy sometime in the future. And so I kept my eye on it. Now, listen closely…”

  He told Ion where to land when having reached the planet, Velrox. It was at the outskirts of a scarcely inhabited village the planet had. Once he landed there, Nalzes would reach him there, having sensed the presence of one of the Nyon. Ion was then to take the priest to the planet Garnor in the nearing star system. Mantra gave him the specific directions to the place where the tablet was found.

  “Now, we’re running out of time.” Dantox pressed, as Mantra finished giving Ion the directions. “And so are you,” He added, looking at Ion.

  Ion nodded to him, and turned to Mantra. “Keep my master’s token safe.”

  Mantra looked at the Grael conch held in his hand, and then gave Ion a soothing smile. “I’ll have to … for the hopes of the entire realm rest upon it as well.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Ion.

  “The conch is the instrument of controlling the watchmen.” answered Dantox. “The entire army of them is under the command of the one holding the conch … provided the one wielding it is an initiated member of the Nyon, of course.”

  “The watchmen can be summoned by sounding the conch.” Mantra said, holding the conch up. “If we need the army to re gather to where we are at a particular instant, we just need to sound the conch.” He pocketed the conch, shaking his head. “But apart from all that, my reason for keeping it safe … is because what it is to you.”

  Dantox stepped forward and clapped Ion on the sides of his shoulders. “Good luck, Ion.”

  “You too.” said Ion. He hesitated for a moment, then burst out, “How’re you going to do this? Nine planets, and they could be any of them!” He could hear the note of trepidation in his own voice.

  But Mantra gave him a comforting smile. “Don’t worry about us. We can manage this better than you would presume. And I have a few tricks up my own sleeve in case you haven’t noticed off late.”

  I noticed. thought Ion.

  Mantra pressed the crystal he had been holding into ion’s hand. “Guard it with your life…”

  “I will.” promised Ion.

  Mantra and Dantox turned and walked upto where Nano had been silently standing, feet away from Ion.

  “Well, let’s head out.” Mantra told Nano, who nodded in response.

  The watchmen walked towards them, so that the large mass of fiery soldiers spread across the land pressed closer into a smaller group.

  Standing feet away from them, Ion watched quietly.

  The space surrounding the entire group seemed to ripple and shimmer, giving the strange impression that they were standing inside of a halo made of a watery surface. The liquid appearance of the halo wrapping them slowly thickened, and before Ion knew it, the entire army of watchmen, who stood spread over the desert lands, were standing inside of a giant bubble like wrapping. It was a giant, spherical halo that seemed to emit a faint orange glow from its surface. The entire army, along with Mantra and Dantox, could be seen standing inside, their forms wavering slightly inside of the glowing orange surface.

  Then, without warning, the giant orange sphere took off from the ground with the meekest impact left around it, shooting into the skies like a bullet. Ion watched, awed, as the giant spherical cage shrunk against the black sky rapidly, turning into a minute orange speck, and then vanishing fully.

  Ion turned and faced Flamebird. As if reading his mind, a rectangular strip peeled itself off the bottom of the majestic bird, landing over the ground right before him in a ramp.

  Steeling himself, Ion mounted the ramp, boarding the ship.

  The hull of the ship was crafted with a tinge of elegance. But its build carried the same, fierce sense of purpose that its mechanical eyes had burned with. About as large as a living room, it had its seating spread over one side of the wall, opposite to which, on the other side, stood a table with holo screens floating over it. Each of them displayed the ship’s surrounding from a different angle.

  A large circular pedestal, raised a feet off the floor, lay at the centre. A cylindrical, bubble like wrapping. The atmosphere in the hull pervaded with a strange glow of warmth and purpose. And it stretched to reach Ion too as he stood there. For a few mesmerised seconds, he enjoyed the aura that was left to resonate in the ancient ship. Its energy seeping into his bones as he stood within it.

  A few seconds later, as the daze faded and Ion braced himself for what had to be done, he realised something very strange.

  Wait a second. He froze, his eyes carrying about the large hull. And then -

  “There’re no controls!” He looked around, his eyes flying over the entire hull, and pausing over the holo screens. “How the hell am I supposed to drive this thing?”

  He wasted a few seconds walking about the hull, trying to find some hidden button or a trigger. But as hard as he looked, there was nothing at all. The ship seemed completely devoid of controls.

  He was now beginning to feel a rising frustration, mingled with panic.

  Trotting upto the pedestal on the ground, he slid through the bubble like wrapping, wondering if he would find a button or some trigger on the pedestal. But it was empty. Just a normal raised seat on the middle of the hull.

  Exasperated, he slipped over the pedestal and sat crouched on it.

  Not more than a split second passed…

  And Ion’s eyes flew wide, as the world suddenly twisted around him…

  What’s happening?

  He felt as though something had blasted out the boundaries of his being … leaving him to float out…

  What in the world’s happening?

  Suddenly, Ion felt his mind merge with another … He felt his spirit absorb another. His senses seemed to have expanded, stretching to encase a new body … and a new world.

  Ion was Flamebird. He felt the body of the war machine as sharply, and as clearly as he felt his own. He saw through the magnificent machine’s beady eyes, and he felt the covering of its skin wrap over him. He felt every lever and ever inner intricacy of the machine which were suddenly alive with the fuel of his thoughts flowing through them. The pulse of his energy, his mind and soul streaming through them.

  Ion was Flamebird…

  His body was the magnificent mechanical beast that sat on the expanse of desert soil. And his body was also the fleshly, thin boy that sat inside of the hull. He felt his mind hover over two bodies, one with both of them.

  Realising that he’d been holding his breath, Ion’s fleshly body exhaled, its stiff posture now loosening.

  He was awed at the sheer ingeniousness of the ancient machine’s make. There were no controls, because the ship was driven through a far more efficient, and deadly means: thoughts. The pilot’s thoughts infused through the body of the machine so that he was one with it. And he would drive the machine like it were his body, prompting it with the flick of a thought, as he would his own body.

  Steadying himself in focus, Ion drew in a deep breath. Then, he sent all of his energy funnelled into the ship. Time to roll.

  At the brush of a thought, he sent the ship kicking into action: it took off the ground with a sharp blast of wind. It floated metres above the desert sprawl for a second, before twisting over and then rocketing off into the glinting night sky over him.

  3

  Through the dull sensation stretching over his body, there was a measure of peace … and yet, it was punctuated by a silent cry of agony … as much as he tried to block it out, it sharpened. Piercing through the veil of calm…

  Fighting the mayhem within, Galinor slowly moved.

  His every muscle strained as he flexed them in a slow, painful motion. The turf of greenery he was lying on felt like a mattress to his aching body, lulling him back to sleep. But he knew that the time for rest was far beyond over.

  He shook his head to clear the grogginess and looked about. A few feet to his right, lying in smoking remains, was a hover car. The hover car he had managed to reach this place in.

  As Galinor sat up slowly, pain ripped his spine. The pain of the fall’s impact. But the agony of his mortal shell was nothing, nothing compared to the agony of the memory …

  The horrible memory of the event which had just passed. The unforeseen, deadly event.

  The Nyon were all dead.

  For a second, Galinor couldn’t breathe as the sheer gravity of the situation reached him.

  The plague crystal … What happened to it? Did they get it?

  As the thought crossed, his blood coursed with a new panic.

  The last thing he remembered was the Nyon temple being attacked by the Xeni. A sudden, ruthless attack … And he knew the outcome as well. They were all gone. The Nyon were all gone. Dead.

  His mind raced back to remember how he had managed to get to where he was now.

  Two hours ago

  The Nyon temple, Farnor

  It happened right after Redgarn’s fury broke, somewhere far up, on a floor much higher to Galinor’s.

  The sudden, uncanny rumbling seemed to tear apart the entire temple. Galinor felt himself soar back and crash into one of the walls still standing. The opponent he’d been fighting went sailing out of the structure, into the swirl of debris that swum around the place.

  Everything seemed to be falling apart. The walls. The ceiling. The floor. The sudden whirl of mayhem swallowed everything.

  What’s happening?! It felt to Galinor, who was completely unaware of the real source of this new rage, that hell itself had broken loose…

  He knew, at that point, that there was nothing else left to this battle. It was over. And anyone who remained here, trying to fend off their enemies, would bite the dust with the rest of the temple. It would be pointless to remain here and continue trying to protect the temple … when it was far beyond their area of protection.

  There was only one, reasonable thing left to be done. And it was escaping this madness.

  Fighting the raging wind currents that flooded the place, Galinor crawled his way down the structure. And he reached the vehicle shed. There was only one vehicle left intact, in one piece. A hover car.

  The fight, all this while, had sapped him of almost all his energy. He knew that he was teetering on the edge of an approaching unconsciousness.

 

  Without thinking twice, he climbed into the hover car and set it roaring.

  __________

  Through the swirl of madness, through the debris flying around the temple, like a shining ray piercing darkness, a small hover car came shooting out. Galinor’s driving was slightly hampered by the haze shrouding his mind. But he kept the car steady, letting it streak out of the debris swimming around the temple. He craned his neck back for a look at the wrecked remains of the temple hanging in the middle of the sky. And as the sight met him, shrinking as he flew away from it, Galinor felt a sudden squeezing sensation clutch his heart. And so, order ends. And anarchy begins…

  He fought back the heavy whirling sensation through the space jump to a nearing planet. And there, as he reached the planet’s atmosphere and glided right down its skies, he gave in. As the hover car sank beneath its cloudy terrain, lowering towards the planet’s vast green expanse below, Galinor closed his eyes and slumped to the side of the seat.

  As the car lost control and swung groundward, the weight of Galinor’s body pushed the door he was lying against open. Less than fifty metres from the ground, his semi conscious body toppled from the side of the open car. Despite the soft, green layer of the ground, the impact of his giant, twenty metre fall came as a heavy slam, leaving his body to bounce once. The hover car soared on for another ten metres before crash to the earth with a loud blast, spewing its smithereened parts all over.

  The present

  Fighting back the hopeless feeling, Galinor kept dialing on his z-com. he kept dialling for master after master … But none of them were answering. In all speckless honestly, he didn’t expect any of them to. He knew they were all gone. It was highly unlikely that anyone had survived that cursed battle, which the Xeni had thrown upon them in surprise…

  But his heart clutched the front of his chest as he realised he had been wrong…

  “You’re alive!” he shrieked, staring into the holo screen with a familiar face in it:

  Mantra, the master he had just tried calling, had suddenly picked up. His face stared out of the holo screen, standing in a strange, indiscernible background. Some sort of a hallway. In undoubtedly a lavish looking place.

  “Galinor?” Mantra’s brows contracted, as if wondering if what he was seeing at was real. Then a look of profound relief flooded his wizened features. “Thank the heavens. I see we aren’t as alone as we thought we were.”

  “What’s happening, Mantra?” asked Galinor, hearing the desperacy in his own voice. “Who else is alive? Who else made it?” He paused, trying to spot something familiar amongst the background Mantra was standing in. “And where are you?”