The Rising Sun: Episode 6 Page 6

  “You’ve been the reason for our many triumphs.” said Redgarn, stroking his chin. “You gave us the location of the Nyon temple earlier on, and let us attack it. When the attack failed, you were lucky enough to have stuck to Mantra, to know what he was doing with the plague crystal. Of course, you were unable to contact us initially, with risk of giving yourself away with Mantra by your side. But in time, you managed to find an opening, and you told us where the plague crystal was, and what the Nyon were doing with it. And as the latest victory for our side, you managed to secretly get the Ensys’ horde to join forces with us instead of the Nyon.”

  Dantox drifted into reminiscence for a meek moment.

  “It was rather easy, my lord.” he said finally, turning back to his master with a sly smile. “Too easy, as a matter of fact.”

  Half an hour back

  Having finished their audience with the Ensys, Nano and the watchmen trotted back down the cavern, the way they came. The army marched past with a new energy in their walk.

  “That was easier than we ought to have hoped.” Nano said. “Would you not agree, master Dantox? … Dantox?” He stopped and turned back, only to realise that the watchmen were now marching off down the place alone.

  Dantox wasn’t with them.

  “Where–?”

  One of the watchmen right behind Nano, said, “He is still in the cavern, with the Ensys.”

  The entire batch of watchmen came to a stop behind Nano. Nano gazed down the dark cavern, now enclosed with shadows. With the light from their torches having moved past it.

  “Still in the cavern?” Nano repeated wondrously.

  The other watchman nodded. “He told us to go on, said that there was something he needed to take care of.”

  Nano felt a slight, almost unnoticeable stroke of discord. “That is rather odd.” He mumbled. “What would he be doing with them, when our pact has already been made?”

  The hundred watchmen behind stood silently, watching their leader as he peered down the dark cavern. Where the Nyon master was.

  “Should we go back for him?” asked one of the men.

  Nano thought for a quiet second, before shaking his head and turning back. “No … I believe it would be fine. Let us do as he says, and go on … he will come back.”

  The hundred watchmen resumed striding down the dark cavern, the light from their torches casting a wide orange halo of illumination around them.

  Nano felt a silent unsettlement cast a shadow over the joy of having this task accomplished.

  For what had Dantox stayed behind with the Ensys? Nano guessed that he was hanging back to meet their leader, Rigmrr. But for what reason exactly?…

  A very faint queasiness ruffled his thoughts as he walked on … he sensed something wrong in this situation, something hovering overhead, waiting to land. But exactly what, he couldn’t tell.

  __________

  Meanwhile, far inside of the cave, in a complete silence, the leader of the Ensys was resting with his giant, hideous form seated over the rocky ground.

  Dantox stood feet in front of him, with a neat smile on his face. He was here to ensure that the Ensys came to join the Xeni, instead of the Nyon. He had just finished telling Rigmrr whom he represented, and asked for the tribe of Ensys to change their minds and to join them, the Xeni, instead.

  Rigmrr was gazing down upon Dantox with something brewing within the depths of those dark red beads that made his eyes. Finally, after a long, tense silence that would have taken anyone to jitters, Rigmrr threw his head back and laughed. The sound felt like a set of razors scraping over a barren, rough surface.

  “Before I kill you … pathetic Xeni,” growled Rigmrr, his teeth locked in an iron hard clench. “What … did you think of offering me, to avail our support? – I just ask because I’m curious, that’s all …What could your side, which has demolished mine so violently, possibly think of offering me in return to wipe out your sins and the cruelty you showed us eight millennia back … and to avail our support and loyalty?… ANSWER ME, MAN BEING!”

  “Let me show you.” Dantox raised the small black pouch he had been carrying all along. He opened the pouch and tipped its contents to the ground below. The Eleegron fell to the ground, small pebble like rocks painted in a bright blue colour. They landed over the hard rough surface of the cavern, where they sat still, leaving a shining blue glitter in the dullness of the cavern.

  Rigmrr’s beady red eyes widened, his jaw falling wide. “It can’t be…”

  His awed gaze was frozen over Eleegron for a long second, before rising to meet Dantox’s.

  “And in return,” said Dantox. “in return for the Eleegron which you’ve yearned for so long, we want your loyalty and the allegiance of your race. In this war, against the Nyon.”

  Rigmrr’s red eyes were frozen over Dantox, gazing at him with a mixture of awe and startlement. His gaze then turned thoughtful, his thick brow contracting in a frown.

  “What of the demons that you shall unleash?” asked Rigmrr, his gleaming red eyes filled with anger. “They will not stand for us… They will try and destroy what remains of our race.”

  “The demons will do as we command.” said Dantox sternly. “And if you join our side, you will have nothing to fear from them. Forget the blood of your race that they shed in the war eight millennia back. For that was an unintended outcome. It shall not happen again. The Xeni and the demons will never touch any of you again … If you join us and ally your forces with ours, that is.”

  Rigmrr’s eyes drilled into Dantox, studying him deeply for seconds. And then, his lips twisted in a cold smile.

 

  “Very well… you have It.” he rasped. A new vibrance was founded in his voice as he gazed down upon the Eleegron, which would finally free him of his long dreaded illness. “You have it … Our loyalty … and allegiance.”

  Dantox nodded. “Welcome to your new future.”

  He smiled diabolically as something suddenly occurred to him. He took a step forward towards the Ensys’s leader and bent closer.

  “There are a hundred members of the Xeni’s most despised enemies … your most despised enemies now, marching out of the cave.” His whisper grew chilly with menace. “We wouldn’t want to miss such a good opportunity, when it comes wandering right into our holds, do we? Consider this your first act of loyalty to our cause: kill the watchmen heading out of this cave. All of them.”

  “With … pleasure.” Rigmrr’s thin lips stretched in a slow, devious smile. “The watchmen … will not leave this cavern alive.”

  He turned to one of the Ensys and called out in the tongue they spoke in, a shrill, hiss like noise. And as one, the entire cluster of giant spider like beasts turned and scuttled off out of the cavern … towards the hundred completely unsuspecting watchmen. Who were by now heaving their last few breaths…

  9

  The present

  Two of them sank into silence, so that the gloominess of the cave seemed to have temporarily absorbed everything.

  Dantox let his mind drift over everything at hand now. As Redgarn had said, they were close. There was nothing left to stand in their way. The only drawback was that the watchmen still stood … For they would be the only significant resistance to the Xeni’s conquest now. Redgarn was standing as still as stone by his right, appearing to silently contemplate something.

  Dantox joined him in silence, relishing the uplifting joy of triumph. A long awaited one.

  A pair of footsteps shuffled from across the cave. Dantox spun around to see another of their cloaked men walking towards them from across the large gloomy chamber. Dantox squinted through the darkness to see who it was. And by his side, Redgarn came out of his trance like state and faced the third Xeni walking upto them in the dark chamber. Zardin stopped a few feet from both of them and dug his hand into his pocket. He drew out a small object which Dantox recognised as … the Grael conch.

  “What!” he breathed, feeling his thoughts
jam in shock. “The Grael conch!”

  Zardin smiled. “Yes. I acquired it from your beloved friend Mantra. Just a few minutes back.”

  “But acquiring the conch alone would have been a completely fruitless venture.” Redgarn explained. “The conch can only be used by an initiated member of the brotherhood of Nyon.” A sharp sense of thrill stole the air in the place as he said it. “And what a surprise … we have one.”

  Zardin was smiling, his pale features alive with malice.

  Redgarn gave a cackle of laughter, his voice carrying about in echoes inside the dark cave. “Now, the final obstacle that stands in our way are those wretched creatures, the watchmen … and that obstacle is now to be cast out. Dantox, this will be your final and most important task: you’re initiated in the Nyon, which means that you have the power to use the conch to summon the watchmen. This is what you will now do: using the conch, summon them together … into a trap. And destroy them all.”

  Dantox’s shock faded quickly, and a wide smile broke upon his face. He nodded, looking from Zardin to Redgarn. “The final, and most important of traps that we lure our foes into.”

  10

  Far away, there was a room doused in utter darkness. The cold metallic floor of the dark room had a large black sack placed at its centre. A fidgeting movement ensued from inside of the sack, along with faint muffled sounds.

  Stuffed inside of the sack with their heads left to emerge at the open, Mantra and Ion were chained up in heavy irons and gagged.

  Earlier, Zardin and the batch of Xeni had caught up with them, and taken them both down in spite of the brave fight they put up. But they didn’t kill them. Instead, they had decided to take the two Nyon back alive, to be used as sacrifices when they performed the spell to release the demons. They had stuffed both of them in this sack and left them here, in a room within that black ship that they’d seen earlier. But despite everything, despite the overwhelmingly helpless nature of this scenario, this wasn’t the worst…

  Zardin had taken the Grael conch, after defeating the two of them. Then he had left to deliver it to Redgarn.

  Now, the two of them knew, the Xeni would be using the conch to summon the entire army of watchmen. Into an ambush. It was quite possibly happening right now…

  The watchmen were their most needed force, their one true boon at this intensely grave hour. And if they ended up losing them…

  Everything would be lost. There would be no hope left for them when the demon army was released. None at all.

  This couldn’t be happening…

  A rage of emotions consumed Ion … fear, panic, desperation. But on top of it all, there was the fury. Fury directed at the one person whom he now hated most.

  Vonayz…

  Never before had he felt such raw hatred towards another person his entire life. A wall of iron seemed to have formed between the two of them now…

  Ion wondered if the watchmen were still alive, and if there still was a chance to stop the Xeni from destroying them. But even if there was, the two of them were tied up here, and helpless. There was nothing left at all. The batch of Xeni were outside of this ship now, probably dragging a few more innocent people from the village to use as sacrifices. And soon, they would board the ship and fly them to the Xeni lair, to witness the single most devastating event in history. And then to use them as sacrifices along with it.

  Ion fought back the helplessness smothering him. He tried to keep himself steeled, but his resolve was fumbling … there was nothing left.

  The two of them lay there feeling the seconds pass like aeons. And suddenly, Ion caught a distinct noise slitting through the silence. He tried to crane his neck to see what was going on, but the darkness was absolute, nothing visible through it. It was a strange scraping noise, overlapped by a slight hiss, as though that of a snake.

  What’s that? He felt his pulse climb as the noise drew on, but nothing showed through the darkness. By his side, Mantra shifted as well, picking up the noise. A crisp, metallic cling followed by a muffled thud came. For a second, silence engulfed the room again. And then, a sudden orange flare lit the place, erasing the darkness.

  Vestra and Qyro stood over a large circular hole on the floor. Both of them stood carrying ignited swords, which they had apparently used to carve out the hole on the floor: the hissing noise Ion had heard had been their ignited swords cutting through it.

  Their eyes flew over the room, halting at the centre where Mantra and Ion lay stuffed in the sack. Without a second’s hesitation, they bolted in. In a matter of seconds, they’d cut the two of them free of the sack and the iron shackles.

  “The Xeni…” breathed Ion, as they pulled their gags off their mouths.

  “They’re outside, don’t worry: they don’t know about us.” said Qyro in a hurried tone. “We snuck past them to get in here. They’re still outside.”

  “What happened?” asked Mantra.

  “The meeting with the Skrylis didn’t go so well.” said Vestra, as the two of them rose and steadied themselves. “So we decided to round back here, but you guys weren’t showing up, so we got a little worried.”

  “We made our way in here, to this village,” took over Qyro. “to see what was happening, and we were shocked to see them. The Xeni. The fiends were all outside the ship.”

  “And so, we guessed the worst.” said Vestra, her tone growing grim. “The very worst. We knew they’d probably have kept you in here, and took a chance with it. They might’ve noticed us walk past, but probably let us pass as villagers. Climbed into the ship from the back.”

  “Well they’ll be boarding it anytime now!” impressed Ion, looking around at the three of them. “We’ve gotta get outta here.”

  “So what in the world happened-”

  But before Qyro could reach halfway through his sentence, the four of them snapped around to face the door of the room … where stood a black cloaked Xeni who had just frozen at the door’s entrance while walking past it. His eyes zipped from one person to the other among the four Nyon in the room. And then, as the puzzled daze vaporised from his expression, it grew wild with shock.

  He turned and made to bolt off, apparently to reach the rest of the Xeni with this new development. But before he had even started to run, the four of them had pounced over him from inside of the room.

  The man tried to yell, but Qyro dug his fist into his mouth, muffling him instantly.

  Ion glanced down the corridor of the ship: it was empty. The man had entered the ship alone. Luckily.

  The man kicked and thrashed with all of his might, creating all of the noise he could to draw the attention of the other Xeni outside the ship. Mantra drew himself straight and sent a kick right into the man’s face that knocked him out instantly.

  He heaved the man’s body, and called to the other three:

  “Start the ship. We’re leaving.”

  __________

  As the large black ship’s engine growled, Ion felt his heart flutter: through the large window ahead, they could see the Xeni standing spread outside turn and freeze their attentions to their ship. The cloaked figures stood rigid on the spot for a second, before rushing in towards them, to stop these unknown intruders in their ship.

  “Err, guys,” The forced calm in Vestra’s voice trembled as she gazed out the window, at the Xeni who came surging towards them. “We should be leaving right about … now!”

  Qyro stood behind the desk, operating the ship, while the other three stood behind, watching with widened eyes as the black cloaked figures came dashing in towards them.

  “Go, go!” Mantra hissed, placing a hand on Qyro’s shoulder. “Take the ship off! Now or never!”

  Sweating, Qyro toggled through the holo screens rising over the desk with his hands flying. The pack of Xeni, wielding drawn and ignited sabers, had almost reached them…

  But Qyro hit a final key on the holo digitpad and with a dry shudder, the ship was airborne. They saw the ground drop through th
e window. The cloaked figures clustered around where the ship had been, their hands raised, their furious voices reaching them even up here.

  “Thanks for the lift, guys.” smirked Qyro. He hit a final button on the desk, and the ship twisted about and blasted into space, leaving endless black to fill the window.

  Mantra turned to Ion and Vestra. “Go get the Xeni we’ve knocked out.”

  __________

  Rygar felt his heartrate zoom out of control as the true depth of the situation slowly reached him. After slowly hovering back out of consciousness, he had found himself lying by the wall of their ship’s control room, the ship the Xeni had driven to this planet. But as he processed what he was seeing, he realised that the people in this room weren’t Xeni…