The Rising Sun: Episode 5 (15 page)

Ion was facing hell itself.

All sensations had ceased, except for the
mindless, throbbing pain all over. Ion couldn’t move. Couldn’t
twitch a nerve. He could blink without leaving his eyes
streaming…

Nothing at all mattered except for the fact
that he was lying in a lifeless region with half the bones in his
body broken. And no one to even cling his hopes to … he never would
have imagined that this would be his way of exiting … no one would
have imagined.

He felt himself drift … floating between
consciousness and unconsciousness. It sharpened the pain cracking
open his body ten fold. And Ion yearned for it to stop. The world
seemed to flicker on and off, and lights popped up over the back of
his closed eyelids.

And suddenly, the swishing of cloaks shrouded
what remained to be relayed of his vision. He thought he was
surrounded by someone … or some people. And before he knew it, as
his consciousness slipped, he was being hoisted upwards painfully.
And he was then gliding … flying … or was he dreaming? The
sensation of leaving the ground and gathering speed…

And before he knew it, he was on a soft,
mattress like surface. And the world seemed had fallen to a
blissful tranquility. And it almost felt like the pain had uncoiled
from his limbs … the agony had melted away, sparing him. Silence,
peaceful and serene, enveloped all. And he felt as though all
dreams had come true in the silence. But where was he? Was he even
alive?

And a voice slit the silence from above
him.

“Son, can you hear me?”

Ion’s eyelids fluttered open. But he
immediately closed them to shield from a blast of light from in
front. But in that split second he had opened them, he had seen a
figure, a man in a black cloak, standing in front of him.

His eyes still closed, he groaned, “Where am
I?”

“It doesn’t matter where you are.” came the
voice of the man in front. “What matters is that you’re alive. And
your body is intact again.”

A jolt passed Ion as he heard it. As if on
cue, the sensation of his bodily control returned full and new to
him. He realised that his limbs were moving perfectly. Completely
tended. He opened his eyes again: this time the bright sunlight
streaming in through the window opposite to him was bearable.

He was lying on a straw cot, in the middle of
a small hut. He sat straight and looked at the man in front of him.
He was a tall, thin man dressed in a black cloak. His smile
radiated warmth as he gazed down on Ion. His sharp Elfling eyes
were of a rich green colour, and his long black hair fell over his
shoulder behind him.

“My name is Jedius,” the man said. “You’re
lucky to be healed from that nasty fall you’ve had.”

Groaning feebly in pain, Ion stood from the
straw cot he’d been lying on, looking outside of the window
opposite to him.

“Where are we?”

“Vanodar.” replied Jedius. “It’s a rainforest
planet. Don’t worry you’re perfectly safe here. Even from the
Naxim.”

Something in what Ion heard registered a
second late. Then he looked at Jedius and asked, “You know I’m a
mystic?”

Jedius turned and walked over to the side of
the hut, bending down to pick up one of two sheathed, long swords
that had been lying there. He tossed it to Ion, who caught it and
recognised it as his own sword.

Oh. He’s seen my sword…

But little did he know that there was a
deeper, hidden reason for Jedius’s known he was a mystic. A hidden
reason for why the two of them were now in this hut … with their
paths intertwined. And this reason was the Nyon. One he would come
to discover in two years.

“So you’re one too?”

Jedius nodded. Ion’s partially healed bones
throbbed uneasily as he stood there. With a stifled groan, he sank
back to the bed.

“I’ve done all I can to treat you.” said
Jedius. “I’ve mended your bones as best as I can. But you’re still
to be fully healed, and a few days’ rest here would do you good.
You can stay here with me.”

Ion looked at him quietly, before nodding.
“Thank you … for everything.”

Jedius’s smile faded, replaced by a look of
grim seriousness.

“When I found you, I thought it was a rather
strange situation for a person to end up in.” A weighty pause fell
between his words. “If I may ask … how did it happen?”

Ion unconsciously stiffened. The horror of
the past few hours suddenly rushed back to him, everything he had
done. Everything he needed to have undone…

A helpless, suffocating feeling wormed its
way through his stomach. He couldn’t trust anyone with the truth of
what had happened. But as he looked at Jedius slowly, he found the
Elfling gazing at him with a softened look in his green eyes. A
measure of peace found his turmoiled mind.

He had just saved Ion’s life…

A strange, invisible connection seemed to
form between the two of them…

Jedius walked up beside Ion’s cot, placing a
gentle hand on his shoulder. Something in his eyes seemed to have
grasped the pain within Ion.

He smiled warmly, and said, “I’m a
wellwisher, son. By now that much should be evident to you.”

Without questioning himself, Ion drew out the
folded parchment in his pocket. Unrolled it. And handed it to
Jedius.

Jedius studied the picture in the poster, the
absurdly drawn face. For a long moment of silence his eyes scanned
the poster, and then moved over to Ion. “What does this have to do
with you?”

Ion took a deep breath.

And then he told the man everything.

Jedius was quiet for a long time. His
expression was inscrutable, and the silence between them, after Ion
had told him the whole story, was rigid and unpleasant. Ion longed
to know what the other was thinking, as he gazed out the window
opposite to his cot.

Slowly turning to him, the Elfling said, “And
you decided to … end your life?”

Ion nodded slowly, without taking his eyes
off the opposite window.

“I normally wouldn’t bother questioning
another’s choices,” said Jedius. “And the reasons motivating them.
But for this one occasion, allow me to make an exception … a well
needed one.” He turned and looked at Ion. “Would ending your life
have been the solution you wanted, Ion?”

“What do you mean?”

Jedius was quiet for a long moment again, a
deep silence filling the hut as he gazed at Ion.

“You wanted to amend the dark deeds of your
past…”

“Of course I did.” said Ion.

“And you thought ending your life would do
that?” Jedius gave a warm chuckle. “We all brave struggles in life,
young one … and all struggles come with a solution. Yours does to.
And you know it. The solution to what you’re going through. Can you
tell me what the right thing would have been, for you to do, after
all you’ve done till now?”

Ion gave the question a moment’s thought,
then felt his eyes widen. “Turn myself in?” It was hardly a bad
option. If anything, it was rather easy for him to contemplate.

But Jedius shook his head.

“If you did that, the punishment you would
have faced would have been the same: death.” He chuckled again.
“Again, that would have been nothing short of having yourself
disposed of, and reaching a convenient end to your woes. No.”

Ion stared. “I don’t see any other solution …
I’ve never felt worse pain having to live with myself.”

Jedius smiled. “The solution is to
endure
the pain … and to go on living. To do what must be
done.”

“What must be done?” he asked softly. “What
more can I do, after the terrible life I’ve lived? And how can I
ever redeem myself?”

“Only you can answer that.” replied Jedius.
“But know this, and keep it within you:
life has chosen you
.
All of us have a place in this world, and your is yours alone to
find … no matter how bad a scoundrel you may have been, you are
still a scoundrel placed in this universe for a reason. Our
universe is one of tolerance and forgivance. And no matter how dark
a position we may be, it shows us our path, like the stars do in
the night time sky. Our place is in following its light.”

Ion looked out the window again, inwardly
broiling with guilt and sorrow. If he was honest with himself, he
knew that forgetting the past and living with himself was the one
thing he couldn’t do … But a small voice inside of him told him
that as heavily stained as his past was, he still had a future. And
the voice reminded him of the mission his parents had left with him
… the mission of nobility and goodness that they believed their
twin sons were destined for.

He had failed them…

But his failure was not permanent. He was
still here. And he had another chance … He had an awaiting future.
However painful moving through it would be, living with the
memories of his deeds, Ion knew it was the right thing to do. He
had failed to live the life he was supposed to have. But now, he
would. The pain of guilt and grief that came along with it would
certainly be the greatest punishment he knew he could face…

But he would face it. For them. For Marion
and Selia…

And for Eol…

A fiery surge of tears rushed to his eyes
again. Straining to keep himself steady, Ion rose and walked to the
window across the hut, his limbs searing painfully. He stood there,
gazing at the beautiful forest spreading beyond for a few quiet
seconds. Slowly, he turned to face Jedius. As he met the warm smile
in the Elfling’s eyes, he found a new calm settling within him.

“But like I said,” Jedius nodded to him. “I
don’t question another’s choices … and I have faith you can make
the right ones.”

The present

Star system 328 was located at the deepest
section of the outer spectrum. It was a solar system consisting of
eleven planets. The seventh planet from the sun in this star
system, Fernox was one of the smallest planets in the entire
spectrum. It was an ice planet, with more than two thirds of its
land area enveloped in snow and ice.

Somewhere within the tiny planet in a
mountainous region where it was still day, a frosty wind cut
through the air. The mountains rose tall and proud over. They were
all buried in a thick layer of snow that coloured them in a dull
white.

Overhead, the sun could be seen through a
dull, orange glow, enshrouded behind cloudy fogs.

And then, suddenly, another orange orb
appeared on the blue sky. It was swallowed in a faint orange glow
that paled compared to the sun’s nearby it.

The entity swelled in size steadily,
enlargening upon sky like a blotch spreading across a canvas. And
then, a giant, flaming halo could be seen darting down from the
heavens, lowering towards the snow capped mountains. As it streaked
closer, it could be identified as a glowing halo that caged
something within it. It slowed as it approached the top of one of
the snowy hills, dropping speed rapidly until it came to a gentle
stall over it.

As it stopped, the glowing cage faded slowly,
melting into thin air. And as the halo disappeared, the group of
people standing inside of it could be seen. Mantra, Dantox, Nano
and a group of five watchmen, all identical in appearance to their
leader, walked forward slowly turning and looking about. Their
gazes, tinged with faint curiosity, carried across the unfamiliar
new terrain they had arrived in.

The unbearable chill in the air here would
have soaked anyone’s flesh in cold: no ordinary man would have been
able to stand in this frigid planet devoid of warm clothing. Or in
mere black cloaks. But Mantra and Dantox could withstand it for the
sole reason that they were mystics. And tapping into their inner
powers, they could supply a meagre warmth to their outer skin -
though only meagre: Dantox hugged himself closely, his teeth
chattering mildly as he stared about with narrowed eyes.

Meanwhile the watchmen, with their outer
shells being formed of something greater than flesh and bone, were
almost invulnerable to it. Nano stepped forward, his beady orange
eyes wandering over the scene from the height they were now in. The
rest of the watchmen stood behind them, as stiff as trees, awaiting
their leader’s word.

“Well, we have successfully made it.” Nano
finally said, looking from Mantra to Dantox, both of whom stood on
either side of him.

Controlling the faint shivers spreading
through his body, Mantra turned and faced him. “Yes, now for the
hard part. Finding the bomb.”

Dantox turned to Mantra, his golden hair made
to whip around by the cold wind.

“Where do we even start?” he asked, a note of
helplessness in his voice.

Mantra drew in a deep breath, struggling to
keep calm: it was hard amidst the urgency building inside. Now that
they had crossed the first obstacle and arrived at the planet, a
doubled pressure came over on the second and final obstacle of
finding the bomb.