The Rising Sun: Episode 6 (5 page)

The creature held him in a steady gaze, and
then beckoned over to the rest of the Ensys, who no longer looked
as intimidating. They were staring at the watchmen with a kind of
silent reverence etched over their brutish features. One that
lessened their savage display.

“This day … shall mark something for both of
us,” Rigmrr growled. “So return to your Nyon … and inform them of
your new alliance.
Us
. When the war breaks … we will stand
by you, against the Xeni and their demonic forces which once
harassed us.”

Nano never thought it would have been this
easy. Feeling a glow of triumph brighten his world, he nodded.

His eyes scanned the dark patches spread over
the pitiful creature. “Is there a cure for this illness of
yours?”

The Ensys appeared thoughtful for a paused
moment, while the rest of the creatures looked about at each other,
murmuring in their unreadable, sharp tongues.

“There is…” the Ensys said finally. “But it
is exceptionally rare … It is a type of rock substance known as
Eleegron … which is found at the farthest corner of the spectrum …
where none dare tread.”

Surprised, Nano shook his head. “Eleegron.
We’ve heard of this rock substance before. And it is easier to
reach than you might imagine.”

There was a slightly sharp silence.

Rigmrr was gazing at Nano with a incredulous
look, his jaw half open. “Can you … procure it for me?”

Nano let his thoughts run over what he knew
of Eleegron, and its whereabouts. It was not unfamiliar for him.
But at the same time, he wasn’t sure exactly how easy it was to
find and procure. It could be done, surely. But how easily, and in
how much time … and whether Rigmrr would survive long enough for
them to find and bring it to him, Nano had no idea.

“I have a faint idea of where it is found,”
he answered. “The substance is not unknown to me. However, exactly
how soon and how easily, I do not know. But rest assured -” he
added, as the anticipation on the Ensys’s faces fell quickly. “It
can definitely be found and procured … you have my word on that. It
is not completely out of reach.”

Rigmrr was gazing at Nano in a mild new
light, with something relaxing in the lines of his temple. “If you
manage to do so … if you manage to procure Eleegron, and have it
brought to me … then we would all be eternally indebted to you. And
we would support your side … with only the utmost of fervour.” He
nodded, the first true smile blooming upon his face.

“Then we will try even harder,” said Nano.
“to have this substance found for you.”

Having finished their audience, the batch of
watchmen marched back down the cavern. There was a new energy in
their stride, and a hum of victory played within their minds.

The ship was put in autopilot, set to make a
brief halt in Jacova before moving on to Quolnos. The four Nyon
stood about the large hull, their eyes fixed on the black spaces
filling the four screens ahead.

Jacova was known to be reasonably close to
where they were, and they would be reaching it anytime now.

Ion looked across the hull to see Mantra
standing as calmly as ever, his serene gaze perched on the screen
opposite to them. Qyro was standing beside him, his right leg
shifting as it drew patterns over the floor in its boredom. Vestra
was standing across the hull, her hands folded.

And something happened, which the three
youngsters in the hull sensed immediately.

Mantra’s posture picked a sudden rigidness.
His eyes shut and his breathing seemed to stall for a prolonged
group of seconds.

The three others knew what was happening.

He was sensing something…

Then, after a trail of seconds, he slowly
opened his eyes, resuming his unwavered stare into the black
screens ahead. But something new seemed to have dawned on his
wizened features.

The three others stood on the spot, looking
at him quietly through the pinched silence.

Finally, Vestra slowly stepped forward,
placing a gentle arm on his shoulder. “Master … what is it?”

He continued to gaze into the screens
ahead.

“There was a … shift in the energy field,
which I sensed. And with it … I sensed a new development.” His eyes
grew very slightly wide. “An important development.”

The three others swapped serious glances.

“What is it?” Qyro asked him.

Mantra hadn’t moved his eyes from ahead of
him. “The batch of watchmen sent for the Ensys…”

Ion could feel his attention sharpen as he
waited…

“What happened to them?” he asked softly. A
flicker of hope kindled within him. Was it, by the remotest chance,
possible that they had actually succeeded? Could fortune have
graced them with this victory after all? If so, then perhaps things
weren’t all that bad as they seemed … they stood the meekest chance
now, if they had won over the alliance of the Ensys.

“What happened to them, master?” Qyro
repeated, frowning intensely.

“Have they done it?” Ion said, feeling the
spark in his tone. “Have they won the Ensys to our side?”

Mantra was calmly looking into the abyss of
black over the screens ahead, coated with a spread of a million
glinting stars. He seemed to be floating off elsewhere, leaving his
physical body behind him.

With the three of them watching him, he
slowly drew in a deep, long, and then turned to bring his eyes upon
them.

“No … they never even made it out of the
cave.”

Vestra gave a feeble gasp, her hands flying
to her mouth. Ion and Qyro looked at each other, both their faces
mirrors of the same horror and revulsion.

“They’re … dead?” asked Vestra.

“You mean the Ensys … the Ensys killed them?”
asked Qyro.

“Yes.” came Mantra’s calm reply. “But there’s
more … the Ensys have joined the Xeni.”

His words left a daze to fill the room.

“Joined the
Xeni
?” all three of them
said at once, equally puzzled at this new twist.

Mantra’s gaze grew far off. “Whatever
happened in that cave,” He shook his head, looking troubled. “is
disturbing. Dantox and the watchmen we sent were near victory. They
were very near to winning the Ensys over to our side … But then
something happened … something that I can’t properly sense, but
seems troubling for some reason. Then, the Ensys decided to instead
join the Xeni. And they killed them.”

“Dantox, Nano and the watchmen?” asked
Vestra. “The Ensys killed them all?”

Mantra nodded solemnly, his eyes grim.

As the shock passed, fury broke through Ion,
so that he stood there with clenched fists. Master Dantox. And
Nano. And the other watchmen. That they were all no more triggered
a wave of anger that rushed through him with a visceral force.

“But,
how
?” breathed Qyro, shaking his
head in a gesture of utter disbelief. “How could it be that the
Ensys joined the
Xeni
?”

Vestra nodded along with him, frowning in
equal puzzlement. “They hate Redgarn and the Xeni, don’t they? For
what they did to their race eight millennia back.”

“Yes,” said Mantra, frowning. “I thought they
did too.”

“Then why in the world would they wanna
join
them?” asked Ion, unable to add what had just
happened.

Mantra stroked his chin calmly, appearing to
be deep in thought. He shook his head slowly, unable to come to a
conclusion himself to this bizarre new twist.

“There’s nothing more you can tell, master?”
asked Qyro.

“I wish I could, just as much as the three of
you.” Mantra walked forward across the room, with the three of
their eyes following him. “But I sensed a sudden shifting in the
energy patters around the hundred or so watchmen. At first, triumph
… and then, defeat and dissolution. They were victorious with the
relation they had gone there to forge … before something happened
that twisted the table completely.” His scowl deepened. “I don’t
know what it is. But whatever had happened in the middle, to make
the Ensys change their mind, it is greatly troubling. Whatever it
is, it disturbs me more than the fate of Dantox, Nano and the
watchmen.”

The three of them switched deeply unsettled
looks.

Ion wondered what possibly could have
happened, which had made Dantox and the watchmen’s victory suddenly
turn to defeat and leave them all dead. And how could the Ensys
have been made to join the Xeni, whom they bore a deep rooted
hatred for?

A heaviness pressed down upon them all, a
silence that welled with the same grief.

“And what about Nano and the watchmen?”
Vestra asked suddenly. “The watchmen don’t
die
, do
they?”

“No, but they would have returned to the
conch,” said Mantra. “to return a millennia later.”

“A millennia?” laughed Ion, though he found
nothing humorous in what he was hearing.

“But we don’t have a millennia!” protested
Qyro. “We needed them now, more than ever. We needed them for the
war, when the demon forces were to be released.”

“We still have the rest of the army,” said
Mantra, the grave tone in his voice lessening. “And we’re fortunate
enough that we do. The loss of Nano, Dantox and the hundred others
among the watchmen is definitely a heavy one. But our position is
not as weak as it could have been. As long as the rest of the army
stands, we still have hope. And with the help of the rest of the
army, we can forge a wide range of alliances among the non man
beings. And that would be the route we now have for building our
army. To fend off Redgarn’s. And as long as we take hold of this
one chance, to protect what we stand for,” He shook his head
firmly. “all is not lost. For now, we need to greatly sharpen our
minds in the task that we have with us now: your task is to get the
support of the Skrylis, while mine is to find my former
student.

“Don’t waste yourselves mourning for what has
been lost. Instead, devote yourselves to avenging them through
ending this battle as fast as it had started. For too much life has
been lost now, and we can tarry no longer.”

He looked around at all of them with a look
of focus sharpening his calm demeanour. “Our tasks now, are of
utmost importance. Because the Ensys were counted as our greatest
alliance. We’ve lost them now. We need to bank upon whatever’s left
now, to gather our army. And that’s why our present tasks now fall
to a far, far heavier importance.”

The energy that his words flowed with reached
across the three of them, leaving the gloomy atmosphere to drain
quickly. Leaving a sense of purpose to replace the heaviness in the
air. Ion’s grief transformed into resolve.

They could feel the ship’s speed plummet
rapidly, leaving its spaceripping speed. And over the screen
directly ahead, a large planet suddenly zoomed to life. It was a
planet with a strange, maroon coloured surface.

“We’re here at Jacova,” said Mantra, and he
turned to them. “I’ll get off here, while you go on to go on to
contact the Skrylis in Quolnos. When you’re done, come back here,
and I’ll be waiting. If all goes well, I’ll be waiting with a much
needed new alliance added to ours. With the loss of the Ensys, and
the hundred watchmen, a
very
much needed alliance.”

“Let’s hope you do,” said Qyro.

Mantra turned to Ion. “Oh, and I’ll need you
to accompany me in this.”

“Me?”

“Yes,” said Mantra. “Qyro and Vestra will be
able to handle the Skrylis by themselves.”

Ion lifted an eyebrow. “All right, then.”

“Good.” Mantra turned to the other two, and
gave a stern nod. “Well, good luck to the two of you. Because I
think if there was a time when we could use the aid of luck … it
would be now.”

“We’ve already told you this before,” said
Qyro.

“We don’t need luck.” finished Vestra, her
eyes sparked with fervour.

__________

Reaching the large maroon planet, the ship
had zoomed in to the edge of a very feeble inhabitance. It was
something of a village. Huts erected with bricks and straw roofs
were seen on the rocky, sloping terrain. They were all spread over
an enormous area, making the place look lesser like a true village
and more like a random group of huts. Some of the huts were larger,
some of them smaller. The inhabitants could be seen outside of a
few of them, shooting curious glances at Mantra and Ion as they
swiftly strode past.

Through the haze at the distance, mountains
could be seen rising into the horizon, an extension of the land
that they were now crossing.

Some of the huts had hover cars or bikes
stationed beside them. Very few had full sized ships perched amidst
the wide terrain. Most of them were of a greatly old craft, with a
tarnished look, as though their owners hadn’t used or driven them
in ages.