The Rising Sun: Episode 6 (2 page)

“He’s all right, right?” Qyro asked Mantra as
he saw him enter the room. Both him and Vestra were looking at
where Ion lay, stirring slightly and groaning.

“He’ll be fine.” Mantra said, watching the
boy. He looked to come around soon. “Ion’s suffered much, and Frost
tortured him by making him drown in the agony of his own suffering.
If I hadn’t arrived in time, we would have been dead. Because
that’s how a demon kills a person … by torturing them not
physically, but mentally. And reliving the dark sides of your own
self will kill you faster than any other method.”

Vestra’s eyes lingered for a moment over
where Ion lay, before she forcefully looked away.

“So you found the second bomb?” asked Qyro,
his gaze shifting between Mantra and Dantox, who stood feet from
him. “You saved the planet, did you?”

“No, we didn’t.” answered Mantra. “The
planet’s destroyed.”

“While the two of you were lying here
unconscious, Zardin had apparently set the bomb off early.” Dantox
revealed.

Qyro and Vestra looked at him in shock.

“And you guys weren’t in the planet when it
went off?” Qyro asked. “Did you decide to abandon it?”

“No we didn’t.” Mantra shook his head. “The
planet was destroyed, but no one in it was killed.”

Qyro and Vestra exchanged a confused
glance.

“We realised that there was very little hope
of finding the bomb in time.” Mantra said. “And with that
realisation came a new avenue.”

“Fernox is a planet with very scarce
population,” explained Dantox. “As most of the planets of the outer
spectrum are. When we got to the planet, we were shocked to have
discovered that there were only about four villages inhabited by
people. A total of less than one million population.”

“So we understood that our job wasn’t finding
the bomb anymore,” said Mantra. “It was just saving the people. And
that was far easier. We just rang an alert to them, that their
planet had been one of the ten chosen, and that the bomb would go
off in another fifteen minutes. And as soon as we did … they all
scurried like rats before a cat. Not all of them had transport. But
those who did have ships or hover cars accommodated the ones that
didn’t.”

“We left along with them,” said Nano. “And
just in time … not a couple minutes later, the planet was no
more.”

“What about the rest of the bombs?” asked
Qyro, his eyes wandering outside the building, where the entire
army of watchmen stood about, awaiting them. “The entire army’s
back here.”

Mantra fixed her with a pained look. “They
won’t go off.”

“The Xeni’s have found everything they
wanted.” Nano spoke in a subdued tone, his fiery outline seeming to
dim very faintly. “And there is nothing more they need to take from
the world.

“What do you mean?” asked Qyro.

“They had two goals up till now, both aimed
at releasing the demon army.” explained Mantra. “The first was
setting the anarchy levels loose to the highest level possible. And
the second, was procuring the crystal. And now, they have had both
these things accomplished. They won’t be needing anything more for
what they’ve worked for.”

Vestra frowned. “But the anarchy level -”

“They had threatened to blow off ten bombs,
to consume the world in anarchy.” said Dantox. “But blowing off
four has been more than enough to achieve that: as of this moment,
the entire spectrum is gripped by an unravelled chaos. Confusion
and panic’s swept through them.”

“And they have got the crystal.” said Nano.
“Their victory has been sealed. The world is now theirs anyway. The
destruction of more planets would hold no more charm for them, now
that those planets are
theirs
anyway. When they release the
demon army soon, the entire spectrum would fall to their
command.”

The air seemed to strain as the effect of his
words slowly sank into it. An emerging, new darkness seemed to
eclipse everything…

“The priest,” said Qyro, suddenly
remembering. “He was -”

“I know,” cut across Mantra. “I heard
everything from Nalzes, the
real
Nalzes. He had been
attacked by Zardin, who had taken his disguise to use it to deceive
us. He just came around some time back, and got the incident across
to me. But by then it was too late. When I arrived here, Valicros
was gone. Zardin took it.”
And now, the very worst has come to
pass.

Vestra and Qyro exchanged a startled
look.

“Valicros?” gasped Qyro, turning to centre of
the large room, where they had found the tablet. “That tablet
was…”

“Yes it was.” said Mantra flatly. “There was
much that I had to hide, and much of history that I needed to twist
for the greater good … and the continued existence of the most
powerful tablet was the foremost among them.”

“What do you mean?” asked Vestra, the shock
unfaded from her voice.

Mantra took in a deep breath, before
explaining:

“Valicros had to be kept off the Xeni’s
reach. After their evil empire fell eight millennia back, they were
not completely gone: they had just gone into hiding, and they would
return one day and that I knew. And when they did, they would look
for the most powerful tablet to release the demon army with. I had
to protect that from happening. And so,” He gazed at the centre of
the room, where the most powerful tablet had been kept hidden for
millennia. “I hid the tablet here, in complete secrecy, far from
the reaches and the ears of the Xeni. But I knew it wasn’t enough:
the Xeni would search for the tablet. And so, over the millennia, I
spread the message that Valicros had been destroyed after Redgarn’s
fall, among all mystics whom I fell to converse with. The deception
would have worked, if Redgarn himself had not unexpectedly
returned.”

“They’ll be releasing the most terrible force
in existence.” said Vestra. “With the most powerful tablet in
existence. Anytime now.”

“And that’s why we need to act.” said Mantra.
“Now more than ever.”

“What are can we do now?” asked Qyro.

“The only thing left.” Mantra replied. “The
release of the demon army is inevitable now. And we are now left
with the impending, crucial task of protecting the world from it,
when it is about to be released.”

“Indeed.” Dantox nodded, his hands folded
before him. “We form a resistance. To fend off the army of Mezmeron
when it is released.”

“We already have one army with us,” Mantra
looked at Nano as he said it. “The watchmen. But it will not nearly
suffice. We’ll need a force that is far, far greater to stand the
slightest chance of opposing the demons.”

“Why?” asked Qyro.

“Because they are about to perform the spell
on Valicros. The spell will be a thousandfold its original power.
And so will the army unleashed through the spell.”

“And the watchmen alone will never be able to
fend them off this time.” said Nano, shaking his head. “We are
going to need a far greater resistance to ally ourselves with.”

“What about the armies of the inner
spectrum?” inquired Vestra. “All the armed forces of all the states
and republics in the spectrum, if coupled together, can definitely
hold them off … right?”

“Vestra, do you honestly think we can march
into the inner spectrum, and tell them to ally themselves with us?”
Mantra asked wryly.

“What then?” asked Qyro.

Mantra had his eyes fixed on him for a silent
second, before speaking with a deep breath.

“The inner spectrum and the realm of man
beings has been well sealed off our sights at this desperate hour:
we’re their greatest dreaded threat. And no matter what we try or
attempt to convince them with, they won’t change their stubborn
stand they’ve taken against us. And the past few horrific hours
have only greatly raised their hatred for us.” He shook his head.
“No, the realm of the man beings is beyond what we can hope for, to
find aid in now. We need to look past them. And there is only one
thing that comes beyond man beings…”

Qyro’s posture had stiffened where he was
sitting. “You don’t mean …
non man beings
?”

“I do.” answered Mantra

“They’re the only allies we can scrape off at
this hour.” Dantox said, looking down upon him. “And this is the
most crucial time for the entire world. We either form our forces
and oppose Mezmeron’s army when it is unleashed … or perish. This
is the only way.”

Qyro had bolted upright, his face now
possessed with a hatred and fury unlike any seen before.

“You guys are half crazy if you think we can
ally ourselves with those brutes!” he roared. “Those things aren’t
worth a bloody -”

“Qyro,” cut across Mantra, his voice as calm
as ever. “You are allowing your emotions to cloud your
judgement.”

“Maybe I am!’ snarled Qyro. “Are we really
going to have to stoop so low?”

“We are not stooping,” said Nano, shaking his
head. “But
rising
. Rising above prejudice. And above
discrimination. They are living things as well, young one. They are
normal creatures the very same way we are.”

“Normal creatures?” Qyro snorted. “I find
that rather hard to believe.”

“Do you?” Mantra lifted an eyebrow. “Just
answer one question, then. If given a choice, would you have them
all - all non man being species - condemned and destroyed?”

Qyro stood there with his arms folded, his
breath storming. His face was as hard as stone, a mixture of deep
hatred and pain engraved upon it.

“Would you, Qyro?” repeated Mantra, even more
softly. “Would you have them all scoured from this world?”

Qyro’s eyes narrowed to slits, and his
response came in an even meaner whisper: “Yes I would.”

Mantra exhaled slowly, shaking his head. “I
did not train my students to think like this.”

Qyro turned to Vestra, who had been silent
all along. But she was looking closely at him.

“What do you think about this?”

Vestra continued to watch him for a second,
before giving a soft sigh. “What’s the difference between us and
the Xeni if we start acting like this, Qyro? They tried vanquishing
the non man beings eight millennia go. And they worked out of the
same hatred that you now carry.”

“We are the Nyon,” said Nano, stepping
forward. “We are the path laid from darkness to light. However, the
war must first be settled from within us, youngling. For above all,
the dark forces
within
are the most dangerous of them…”

Mantra’s tone softened. “Son, I know the
reason you harbour such hatred against them. But hatred is the one
force that turns against us.” He took a few steps forward, standing
before Qyro, a head or two shorter than the Redling. “Tell me …
what would Tralgor have done?”

The two of them stood in a new silence, young
man and elderly master, their gazes locked. And some of the fumes
in Qyro’s angered expression vanished, leaving a new clarity to
show. He stood there rigidly for a long moment, before giving a
deep sigh.

Lowering his gaze to the floor between them,
he softly said, “He would tell me the very same thing you are … to
look past my hatred.”

Mantra slowly nodded. “Then you would expect
nothing less of yourself. Not all non man being species are brutal
and savage as they’re projected to be. Some of them may be greatly
valuable to our side at this grave hour. And they are living things
as well. All living things are one. That one cause that our
brotherhood serves. The cause of humanity.”

Qyro’s resentment and anger slowly drained
from his face: Mantra’s mention of his master seemed to have
returned the touch of warmth to his yellow eyes.

He gave a sigh at last and said, “Ok. We’ll
do it … For Tralgor.”

Mantra nodded at him, looking at him with the
same serene depth in his eyes.

Vestra turned to Mantra with a serious look
now awakening on her face.

“But what forces can we find in the outer
spectrum?” she asked. “I mean, among the non man beings there,
who’d want to come to a side in a war between men?”

“They would,” said Mantra. “because the
previous one that had occurred left its deep imprint not only on
men, but on other, non human forces as well. Redgarn’s rule had
caused great suffering far and wide, even among the non man
beings.”

“And some segments of the creatures who
reside in the outer spectrum were most deeply affected by the
empire’s reign eight millennia back.” said Dantox. “Some of them
would join us not to aid us, but to resist
them
. The Xeni,
and the demons.”

“We can forge many ties among the vast group
of creatures that exist among non man beings,” said Nano. “Of
course, the existence of the watchmen would certainly come as a
handy aid in our conquest.”

“Why’s that?” asked Qyro.

“Because as they are right to do so,”
answered Mantra. “they remember the watchmen, and some of them even
respect the army of watchmen as an army that had stood up to
protect them from the demons’ tyranny.” He nodded at Nano. “Yes,
sending the watchmen as envoys would be the right thing to do. We
can spread the entire army into groups and send them to contact
different segments of non man beings.”