by J Hawk
“Master.” came a voice from ahead of him. A mere whisper as it was, it erased the silence of the room. Zardin slowly led his attention to his surroundings: through his inner vision, he saw one of his men standing before him with his head bowed slightly.
“Master.” the man repeated.
Zardin responded with a mild nod.
The man straightened up and drew back his hood. Eryx was frowning, his face slightly tense as he stood before his master.
“Master, I have bad news.” His voice was hushed, but Zardin felt it blare through him. “The boy … has escaped. I tried to get to him before the Nyon did, but he slipped past. And … the Nyon made contact with him.”
Zardin made no response. His calmed mind flowed on in its unblemished course. Without meeting a ripple of disturbance.
Eryx gathered a deep, steadying breath and spoke in a more confident voice:
“I tried to prevent him from being reached by the brotherhood … and I would have succeeded,” A note of anger roughened his tone. “but the Nyon somehow got there faster than expected.”
He paced up and down the darkness of the cave, while Zardin sat there before him as still as ever, listening. “The plan was brilliant, and it would have definitely worked, if not spoiled by the Nyon’s unpredictable speed. Carcasar, the Zelgron warlord, has been an acquaintance of ours. He had come to ally himself and his Zelgron forces with us recently. And through him, we learnt this: that two years back, Carcasar and Ion had chanced past each other. And in that incident, the boy had almost been brutally killed by Carcasar and his men, if not for an untimely saviour. Carcasar was confident that Ion had learnt to fear him ever since, and he told us this. So I decided to use this, the boy’s weakness in the form of fear, as a means to exploit him to get our means. I knew the Nyon would be dressed in cloaks, hooded, just like the Zelgron always are. So I told him that there were Zelgron sent by Carcasar sent to kill him in revenge for tearing out their master’s eye two years back.”
He turned to face Zardin, and a contented gleam of triumph flashed on his features. “The boy was terrified, and I could see it. He believed me, though reluctantly. I took advantage of his terror in this situation, which was clouding his judgement, and I told him that the Zelgron would be practically unevadable. And that I was the only means to saving him. And I told him, therefore, to meet me nearby if he wanted me to help him escape. He agreed, master … and then, chance and luck intervene to thwart the greatest of plans: before he could reach me, the Nyon already reached him.”
He gave a roar of anger and sent a kick to a nearby rock, the force of the impact laying cracks on the rock and no effect on his foot.
Zardin allowed himself to mull over the situation for a few silent moments, before slowly opening his mouth to respond in his usual clear, striking voice:
“That is very bad news indeed, Eryx.” He slowly drew himself up, took a step forward, and looked Eryx dead in the face. “For you.”
Eryx blanched, his eyes widening. “Master, I-”
“You failed, Eryx,” said Zardin, his fingers twitching in preparation for what came next. “And now, we watch as you pay the price.”
“No, lord, I -”
But the rest of Eryx’s sentence was drowned in a high pitched squeal as he dangled in mid air, held by his throat.
“As long as I live,” said Zardin, clutching Eryx’s throat hard and holding him raised feet from the ground. “Failure to bring results will be punished worse than death.”
Eryx thrashed wildly as he hung in mid air, emitting gurgling sounds. Choked alive, his face slowly turned purple. “Master … I- tried -”
“Tried?” Zardin hissed. “You tried? Oh, you disgust me.”
Zardin threw the body with the hand that held his throat, and it landed ten feet away, rolling across the rough cave floor. Eryx made no attempt to sit back up and lay in a shivering heap on the ground. Zardin slowly walked down to where he lay and sent a kick to a soft spot on his curled up body. Eryx yelped in pain.
“Get up, vermin.” Zardin commanded.
Eryx slowly straightened up, trembling with fear.
“You have forty eight hours, to change my mind.” said Zardin.
Eryx froze, and the terror clouding his face slowly drained. “Yes, master …y - yes, thank you.”
“Find the boy wherever he is.” continued Zardin. “Find him before he reaches the Nyon temple. And kill him. We don’t need the Nyon to gain another ally. The boy must not reach the temple … not in one piece that is.”
Eryx made a low bow, his fingers still trembling. “Yes, master.”
“I don’t know where he is,” Zardin said, frowning. “Or what he’s doing. But if he reaches the Nyon temple within the coming forty eight hours, to join the Brotherhood … that will put you in a rather unfortunate situation. More unfortunate than you would have been in now.”
“Of course not, master!” squealed Eryx, his face still red from the near choking. “I promise, wherever he is, I’ll find him, and snuff the life out of him. He won’t reach the Nyon temple alive.”
“He better not.”
Eryx sank into another deep bow, giving a stream of thanks for not having been killed. “Thank you, master. Thank you … thank you.”
He turned and huddled over down the dark cave, towards the exit at the far end.
“Don’t thank me, you fool.” muttered Zardin, as Eryx vanished from sight. “I’m going to kill you anyway.”
__________
Gathering his things in the rucksack he’d been keeping for months now, Ion heaved the large bag and slung it over his shoulder.
Before making his way to the door, he stalled for a heavy second, turning his head to look out the balcony again. The spot on the balcony outside where Jedius had last been caught his gaze for a few lengthy seconds. He stood staring, unable to bring himself to move. He could feel the tear tracks on his face glisten in the light streaming from between the clouds, fresh and shining.
Time to leave…
He slowly crossed the room, pulled open the door and shut it behind him. Walking the distance of the corridor, he made his way down the staircase, his mind now working with a new fury. There was a fresh urgency in his every step, as he climbed down the stairs. Radioc … I need to now get to Radioc fast. Really fast. But how?…
With the power drive he had found now depleted, he needed to get to the nearest ship hangar of this moon, and find public transport to get him there. He felt a moment of wild panic, as he considered whether this route would be fast enough. First off, where was the nearest ship hangar in this planet? And even if it was closeby for him to reach, how fast would he be able to reach Radioc through its transport? He controlled the panic and fear, knowing that he had only one resource at hand, and that was his mind. He needed to keep himself clear and gathered, if there was a chance for him to reach the planet fast enough.
He reached the lane outside the building. The streets were just as deserted as they had been, and Ion had trouble finding someone to ask directions to. When he finally did, a Brownling he had found strolling down the lane told him that the planet’s only ship hangar was in its only fully inhabited city, which was closeby enough to reach by hover bike. Ion needed to reach the city, and then find someone to lead him to. Thanking the man, Ion reached the place where he had parked the hover bike he had stolen from the Naxim officer.
Though the power drive was depleted and he couldn’t use it for space jumps, he could travel for meagre distances within the planet in a regular speed. He checked the fuel and was overwhelmed with relief to find that, though not fully sufficient, the bike’s fuel would last to take him to the nearing city, where the hangar was. Or close enough to it, anyway. He would then get directional help from one of the inhabitants of the city, to lead him to the hangar by foot.
Here we go, then.
His blood rushing with thrill and urgency, Ion mounted the hover bike. The engine rumbled as he switched it on. H
e gave the throttle a gentle spin, and with a slight jolt the bike took to the air and soared off down the city.
__________
Nyon temple, Farnor
Sitting silently in a room, Mantra surveyed the beautiful scene out of the window as he usually did when his mind was clogged with too much to comprehend.
The six masters who had gone to find Ion had returned just a minute or two back. The five others were now with the rest of the elder council, and Mantra knew that they were holding a meeting to decide as to what now needed to be done.
Feeling overweighed slightly, Mantra closed his eyes. He let himself grow calm through a series of steady deep breaths. And before he knew it, he had managed to find the side of him that upheld a clear composure whatever situation passed. The worries throbbing in his mind dulled slowly. And he let serenity and tranquility robe his thoughts, so that everything shone with a polished clarity … clarity bearing a greater insight into the universe than anything else…
And through the clarity, through the stillness and serenity, Mantra heard a sudden tune play through his mind. A tune of beauty. A tune of harmony.
A tune of power and infinity.
It sung through the recesses of his being, bringing a glow of knowledge. And the knowledge that it brought made a smile liven upon Mantra’s face.
He slowly drew his eyes open, so that the fresh depth in his mind was mirrored in the world around him. His vision bloomed with the sight of the forest outside, rich and untarnished in its eternal beauty. Mantra allowed his gaze to stall over the greenery outside for a few long moments, still treasuring the newfound glow lighting him within.
__________
The ten men stood in postures of focus, all attention pooled at the man in the centre. The air was lit with a sense of purpose. Vitality.
Standing at the centre, Galinor heaved a deep breath before going on.
“This may or may not turn out to end up the way we need it to, but like this or not, we will endure whatever result awaits as in Radioc. Even if it means death.”
The ten other members of the elder council gave a combined sharp nod.
“This is all we have left. My fellow Nyon,” said Galinor, looking about the ten men standing around him slowly. Their features held a mirror of the resolve he felt at this desperate hour. “We are going to the inner spectrum. We are entering the planet Radioc. We are going to the rebel controlled village, to re acquire the object our two disciples failed to. And we will do this whatever the cost.”
He drew in another breath, letting his voice now run softer. “I won’t put false promises here. The chances are that not many of us will make it out of the planet. The Naxim will have their database in Radioc alerted when we enter it. And even if we do enter the village and get hold of what we went there for, we will have to brace ourselves to face the Naxim’s forces anytime after entering it. And they will send their heaviest assault force for their most important mystic targets, which is us, the Nyon. With all of us marked in its hitlist.” His voice sank even lower. “As I said, the chances are that not many of us will make it out … and in all honestly, chances also remain that we don’t make it out at all. And our sacrifice and efforts go down in vain. But we will stand up and make the efforts needed to fulfil our duty. And if we die trying, there will be peace with us in that.”
As one, the ten other masters of the elder council gave another sharp nod.
Mantra, Galinor and the team of six who had gone to make contact with Ion had returned here with the bad news, just a minute or two back. They then knew that the grimmest of grim had come to pass upon them. As Ion had refused to help them, they knew what they now needed. They needed to do it themselves … and brave whatever came in their way. After returning, Galinor called on a meeting of the elder council to relay what had happened to them. For some reason, Mantra was the only member who wasn’t present. He seemed to have sealed himself up in another room of this temple, and they didn’t know what it was keeping him from this meeting right now.
Well, Mantra does have his … eccentricities. admitted Galinor.
Faced with a rather distressing scenario, the elder council made a bold decision. One that they knew they would have to make at the very end. They were heading to the planet Radioc to acquire the object by themselves. The Naxim, which had a tough hold on the planet, would undoubtedly by alerted when its top mystic targets entered its primary zone. And it truly was unlikely that they succeeded in getting the object they had to find in the village and return, but this was all that was left…
“This may be our last day together,” said Dantox, stepping forward from the circle. His golden hair rustled slightly in a gentle breeze wafting from the open window. Looking slowly over the ten others, he said, “I take this opportunity, to say that it’s been an honour serving with you, my brothers…”
“Save the last minute sentiments for a time where they’re needed.” cut in a familiar voice from the doorway behind.
Galinor turned over to find Mantra standing at the door, his calm expression lumined in a smile.
“We’re heading into the most dangerous planet in the Naxim’s radar, with all of us on its priority list.” said Galinor, turning to fully face him. “What’re the odds all of us will come back?”
Mantra shook his head, giving a soft laugh. “We won’t be going at all. Because right now, Ion has decided to change his mind. He’s making his way to the planet as we now speak.”
The ten masters made sounds of shock and delight.
Galinor continued to stare at Mantra for a moment after he heard this, before relief rushed through him. “If that’s really true…”
“Yes,” said Mantra, nodding. “there is a pretty good chance after all, fellow masters, that we may have the object securely acquired after all. The boy will enter the planet without setting off the Naxim’s alarms, as he isn’t marked by them. And they don’t have his mystical aura traced in their energy detectors. I’d like to hold my faith up in him, that he will fetch us the object victoriously … and my faith usually manages to align itself with reality.”
__________
Ion walked down the semi urban lane flanked by old, cracked structures. He found civilians strolling down the street, most of them cloaked.
The hover bike had carried him to the very outskirts of this city, the one where the ship hangar of this planet was, before its fuel ran out as Ion had rightly predicted. But Ion had wasted no time at all and had hurriedly scrambled down the maze of structures, making his way to the hangar by foot.
The sense of urgency was slowly mounting within him: he had left almost an hour ago. He had reached here just over half an hour ago. And for half an hour, he had been looking for a way to get to the hangar. For half an hour, he had wandered helplessly and stupidly. And finally, he had found a kind old man who had agreed to lead him to the hangar, which it seemed, was closer than he had thought. Ion felt a growing anxiety in his stride. He needed to get to the village quickly. Time seemed flow by faster by the second … and time was what he didn’t have.
“Thanks again by the way,” he said, looking at the elderly man who was leading him to the hangar. The man gave a nod, his waist length white hair flapping.
As Ion looked down the lane sweeping the city ahead, his thoughts slowly drifted back to the event that had changed his life, an hour ago. And an upsurge of emotion, mixed with gratitude, arose within him.
His final meeting with his master would stay branded in his memory.
“You are searching for revenge … But you will never find it. You can’t. And you yourself know that … you are not searching for the one in the poster, you’re hiding from him. Hiding from reality … trying to outrun it. But you can’t.”
Ion painfully accepted it. He was right.
All this while, for two years, he had been trying to outrun the past. But he knew he couldn’t.
“I am a part of you, Ion.” The voice from his dreams echoed within h
im.
Jedius’s words had now opened his eyes. Ion now admitted what he had always known: he had to face those things that he couldn’t alter or change. And the past was one of those things.
He was now willing to accept that there was no escape from the pain. He had to face it, and bear it. And go on to do what needed to be done. Ion knew it wasn’t going to be easy. He knew the courage that was needed for this … but it was Jedius’s courage that he borrowed. His master’s memory would light the way ahead in this meandering road. The large fang like object he had left with Ion lay tucked inside his pocket.
But as of now, the real steel being driven through him came from someone else. The true source of the resolve he now felt … was her.
Vestra…
Ion remembered the pained look on Mantra’s face, when he had asked him what had become of her … He now knew why. Vestra was one of the two students they had sent for this mission, who hadn’t come back. And Mantra had decided to hide this from Ion, to save him from that pain.
