by J Hawk
Vonayz slashed across Ion’s sword in an effortless swing, and then, before half the second had died, hurled his leg forth in a wild kick. Ion felt a hard, ramming sensation in his chest as Vonayz’s foot landed there, and then he was airborne. He felt himself soar backwards, the fire’s groggy black fumes shifting about him. And a heavy thud sounded as he hit the floor, his sword flying out of his hand.
Before he picked himself up, he felt a heavy foot stamp his chest, pressing him to the ground. Vonayz stood over him, his face torched like the burning house they were now in. A maniacal glow shone in his eyes.
“Time to die.” he whispered, holding the sword high. His mouth opened in a war cry as he dove his sword down at Ion…
And then, with a swoosh of wind and a loud crash! It was all over…
Ion opened his eyes.
Vonayz lay on the floor next to him with a large, burning portion of the roof having landed over him. He stirred feebly, his sword beside Ion. Ion slowly picked himself up, reaching for his own sword. He felt a roar of inner fury as he locked eyes with the fallen mystic on the floor of this burning house.
He bent down over Vonayz and whispered, “You wrecked my life. I wrecked yours.” He stood back up, dusting ash from his shoulder. “Consider us even.”
And then, dousing his blade, Ion slid it back into its sheath, turned and walked off as the rest of the blazing structure came tumbling down around him…
The present
This was no ordinary enemy, which Ion had made. A part of him was almost grateful that the two of them would never meet again. For if they ever did, Ion’s luck might have run out.
Shaking himself out of his daydream, he brought his attention back. Night had landed, and the village was now in utter silence. He barely found people walking about by the lanes. The shops by the side of the street were all closing down, and people were sealing themselves inside their houses.
As he slowly fell back to focus, a new worry clotted at the back of his mind. And as it did, the joy of victory died away, replaced by a quiet sense of foreboding.
The words rang at the back of his mind:
“This planet is on the Naxim’s highest priority list. The Naxim’s lookout and alertness in this planet’s sharper than in most others. They’ve got a tight hold here, and anti mystic security is way too high. If a mystic tries wandering to Sacrogon, he’d be risking every hair on his body.”
Earlier on, when the Iveling in the cruiser had told him this, he had been slightly shaken: he hadn’t been aware of the fact that the planet he was entering now was so dangerous for mystics. But he reasoned with himself that this was the final stage of a long struggle, one which would finally end when he had Grando killed. And now that he was here at the end, it would be foolish to back out. And so, pushing his fear away, he had decided to go on and enter Sacrogon to do what he had come here for. Despite the heavy risk involved. But with the task now over, the earlier fear came gushing back to occupy his headspace…
He was now in one of the most dangerous planets for a mystic to be in.
It’s all right. He reasoned with himself. This is a village. I’ve only gotta be afraid of a place where there’s a Naxim base. There’s no way there’s one anywhere around here for miles around. Everything’s fine. All I need is to get out of here as quickly as possible, and make sure no one knows I’m a mystic.
Though there was truth in this argument, Ion knew that his fear was well asserted: getting out of the planet was the hard part. He had used public transport to arrive. And he would use public transport to leave. He only hoped that there was a ship station closeby for him to catch the next ship out of the planet: The station he had arrived here in was literally on the other side of the planet, and it had taken him an arduous task to cross the planet from that station to get here. He now needed one that was closer and easier to reach.
He wandered down the dark lane for a few minutes, before coming to a stop by the house of the village headman. Which he identified through a large banner propped by the side of the house. The village had come to an end here, and a vast barren terrain ran forth beyond the Headman’s humble two storey house. Sitting in front of the door in a rocking chair was a man playing a small hand sized guitar. He was cloaked, with the large lopsided brown hat over his head covering the upper half of his face. A large silver bag pack rested by the side of his rocking chair.
“I’m looking for the village headman.” Ion said, stopping by the man’s side.
The man lay the guitar on the ground beside the silver bagpack and looked up. He was en Elfling, with prominent slanting eyes and pointed ears which were half covered by the large brown hat he wore.
“You’re talking to him.” said the Elfling, adjusting a small, silver badge on his breast that said, ‘NOVIO – VILLAGE HEADMAN’
Novio drew himself up from his rocking chair which creaked slightly, and held his hand out towards Ion. “Name’s Novio. How can I help you, son?”
“I need directions to the nearest ship station there is.” replied Ion.
Novio continued adjusting his badge for a second or two, as though affronted that Ion hadn’t noticed it. Then, looking back at Ion, he muttered, “Ship station … hmm. We folks here don’t travel a lot, so … there isn’t one.”
Ion lifted an eyebrow, slightly thrown by this piece of information. “I arrived to this planet at a station that’s literally at the other side of the planet. Are you telling me that am the only ship station this planet has?”
The Elfling surveyed Ion for a moment, looking deep in thought.
“I think it is.”
Ion blinked, feeling slightly edgy now. He knew that leaving this planet wasn’t going to be easy if this was so…
“Well, is there a fast way I can get to the other side of this planet?” he asked, hoping that there was a quicker route to reach the ship station that he had arrived in.
Novio looked away, frowning as he thought. Then he said, “There’s a place nearby where you’d get public transport. A hover bus arrives every fifteen minutes or so. That should help you reach the planet’s station.”
“Right. So how do I get there?”
“It’s about twenty miles northeast,” Novio jerked his head towards the desert lands sprawling beyond. “Out there.”
Ion gaped at Novio. “Twenty miles?” He looked towards the barren lands stretching out beyond. “Out there?”
He turned back to Novio, staring at him with disbelief. “But you said it was nearby!”
Novio shrugged. “It is for us.”
Ion continued to gape at the Elfling. “How am I supposed to venture out there?” He gestured towards the desert. “Without getting lost, that is?”
Novio stroked his chin, frowning. After a thoughtful second, he bent down by the chair’s side, unzipped his backpack and rummaged through the items within it. After digging through what appeared to be a clutter of junk for a whole minute or so, he slowly straightened up, holding a small circular object. He tossed it to Ion, who caught it with both hands. It was a small compass.
“Just follow northeast, kid.” He told Ion. “You should reach the place in a few hours.”
A few hours! Ion felt his insides scream. His gaze leaped towards the horizon, past the vast desert sprawl. He cursed his ill luck, feeling frustration sap his energy. But he fought down his anger, knowing that things could’ve been a lot worse: As of now, he had an escape route, a means to leaving the planet unhindered, without alerting the authorities … and that was something to be grateful for. And his fears of being discovered and caught bore no reasoned basis. There was nothing to be afraid of, he reasoned. Not when nobody even knew that he was a mystic … yet.
“Thanks.” He told Novio, who nodded and then sank back to his rocking chair, dropping the silver backpack by his side again.
Ion set off, glancing at the compass before stuffing it into his pocket.
He felt the night’s chill wrap
around him like a frosty blanket, its freezing effect sinking right into his bones. Clutching his sides as he half shivered, Ion trotted forth down the unleveled land.
He felt the same pang of resentment at the twisted fate that had found him … that had found this world he lived in. The conversation from his cruiser journey echoed within him:
“Do you really think that all of them deserve to be condemned?…Come on, surely there’ve gotta be innocent ones among them. And surely they don’t deserve the prosecution they face here, right?”
“Whether or not that’s true, I really don’t care. But I’m definitely glad they’ve been chased out of our world. We can’t risk being enslaved by a tyrant like Redgarn ever again, can we? … It’d be hard to find innocent mystics and if we do find them, it’s too bad they’re a part of such a lethal class of men.”
The Iveling Ion had spoke to on the cruiser was just a class of people who held this twisted belief … and this class of men had literally consumed the entire spectrum…
The ignorance that had founded the spectrum’s hatred for mystics was ignited by fear … The spectrum held a deep seated fear of mystics for their unnatural powers and the superiority it gave them over other men. But this fear was aggravated greatly by the fact that mystics had been responsible for the darkest age in the history of the world…
Long ago, a group of twisted, satanic mystics had misused their powers to rise to dominance over the entire spectrum. They had oppressed and enslaved all of mankind under their tyrannical, chaotic rule. A rule that had left its blotch on the pages of time. It was an age of evil that the world had never forgotten.
This dark period had carved a deep rooted fear and hatred for mystics among the peoples of the spectrum. When their rule fell and the spectrum was free again, the people had grown to hate and dread mystics. And so, driven to ensure that such a thing never came to pass again, the spectrum’s states had together taken an extreme step … they had decided to condemn and hunt down all mystics. They wanted to keep themselves free from even the slightest threat that could come in the form of a mystic. Abandoning humanity and reason, they had banished and chased out all mystics, rooting them all out of the many states of the spectrum. The Naxim, an anti terrorist organisation with its focus on curbing mystical terrorism, had been established. And the entire world had entered a deeply anti mystic age, which spawned until today…
Ion caught himself and shook off the negative thoughts, bringing his mind back to focus. That was what made all the difference in the world. In their world … the world of the mystic. Mind made all the difference, and if used correctly, with the right discipline … it would unleash miracles.
“Guide your focus away from negativity always, Ion.”
The words of the great man resonated within Ion, making nostalgic reverence well within him. The words of the man who had changed Ion’s life … his great mentor.
“Keep your focus on the store of infinite positivity lying within.” Jedius had once told him. “Keep your mind’s eye on the trove of unbound wonders inside of you… and you shall bring about wonders outside of you as well.”
Ion drew in a deep breath as the memory of that voice shook him from within. Sighing inwardly, He descended a giant crated like depression on the ground. He pulled his compass out as he did every few minutes, to check if he was still on the right route.
I must have crossed at least four miles. He calculated roughly. Another sixteen miles to go.
Pocketing the compass, he climbed over the other edge of the crater and walked on idly.
__________
Varn stretched within the car, feeling boredom gnaw at him. As a taximan, it was hard to keep himself busy. Fares were getting harder to find these days, and his hover car, a compact four seater vehicle, was beginning to go low on activity.
Varn traveled about from place to place, looking for people who might need transport services, including interplanetary transport. For almost an hour now, he had stayed rooted to this gloomy place he’d arrived to, where there was almost nothing lively going on. Keeping his hopes up, Varn had decided to cling to this place, waiting for a fare who might pass by.
He was parked by the side of a small hut. Since nightfall, he hadn’t seen a soul crossing the place about him.
A low bang drew his attention, making him bolt upright. A figure stood outside his cab, gesturing to him to open the door.
A fare! He thought, slightly stunned. It’s about bloody time.
He opened the door, and the man’s features came to clarity from the light within the car. He was an Elfling, wearing a large brown hat over his head. A badge lay pinned to his cloak’s breast which read, ‘NOVIO –VILLAGE HEADMAN’
“I just came into direct contact with a mystic!” Novio burst out. “A boy with messy red hair. He came to me asking for directions. I need to get to the nearest Naxim base to report this now!”
Varn stared at him for a few seconds, feeling a rising disillusionment.
“What?” he whispered, pulling himself straight.
Without waiting, Novio slid into the vehicle by his side, carrying a silver backpack by his side.
“Listen,” he said slowly, with the air of one mustering a great patience in the face of a heated situation. “I just came across a mystic. A superhuman, lethal creature walking around in our land. I need you to get me to the nearest Naxim base, so I can report this and make sure that this mystic is brought down immediately. So fly!”
__________
Officer Gowden heard what was being told to him, but the tossing effect of the words reached him a second late.
“A – a mystic?”
Novio was carrying a silver backpack, which he unzipped. After furiously digging through a heavy clutter of items in the bag, he slowly brought out a small, gleaming disc like device.
Gowden, an officer for the Naxim, recognised the device instantly.
“This is the mystical energy detector that Naxim bases here had recently gotten delivery of.” Novio explained, wagging the disc shaped device. “I’d gotten one from another Naxim base just yesterday. I had the mystical energy detector in this backpack,” He gestured to the silver backpack with the clutter of items within it. “which I luckily had by the side of my rocking chair when this mystic happened to pass me. Around then, I’d heard whispers of something in a nearby terrorist base, involving a mystic. And so, I stayed out late, keeping an eye for something fishy. My caution payed off: just later, a young man passed me, asking for directions to leave the planet. He was in a hurry. I knew something was up. And so, in the middle of the conversation, I got the chance to look into the backpack. And when I did, I saw that the mystical energy detector inside the bag was giving positive readings… The boy was a mystic.”
As the shock of the revelation cleared slowly, Gowden felt a supreme sense of focus. It was now time for action.
“Good, thanks for bringing this to us, sir.” He told Novio, frowning. He could feel the gravity in his own tone. “You’ve given us vital information. And now, we’ve got a burning task at hand. We’ll have to find and bring down this mystic. Immediately.” He paused, and felt his frown deepen. “But locating the boy, wherever he is now, is going to be the hard part.”
“It wouldn’t.” said Novio, his lip twisting in what could have been a sly smile. “I’ve made your task a little too easy: Right now, the boy’s carrying a tracking device which he believes to be a compass.” He paused for a complacent chuckle. “He actually believed me when I told him it was, and took it along with him! He should be carrying the tracking device with him now.” Reaching into the silver bag again, Novio pulled out a small metallic device smaller than a z-com and passed it to Gowden. “That is the monitor to his tracking device. It’ll show you exactly where he is. And where he goes.”
Gowden pressed the only button on the small device, and a small holographic screen filled the air right atop the device. It was a map, with a pinpoint focus on a small moving do
t. The mystic. He was blissfully unaware of the fact that the ‘compass’ he was carrying with him now was actually a tracking device… and that his movements were now completely monitored. With every step he took.
His mouth slightly ajar, Gowden locked eyes with Novio, who was still smiling.
“You’ve just done this world a great service, sir.” said Gowden, feeling a rush of adrenaline. “Your quick thinking has just helped us identify a dangerous, potent threat … and to stomp it out instantly.”
Novio gave a nod. “No problem … So what’s the plan, captain?”
“There isn’t one.” said Gowden, smiling. “This is done.” He turned and strode towards the door of his office, crunching his knuckles. “Now that we have his location, I’ll take a large squadron, and get to wherever he is in less than a couple minutes … And we’ll bring him back – dead or alive.” He gave a loose chuckle. “Not that it matters, really.”
__________
Ion had decided to cut himself time by making a speedy bolt across the land. With his mystic powers, he knew he could reach uncanny speeds in a steady pace, without growing tired.
