The Rising Sun: Episode 2 by J Hawk Page A

room, and found himself in a hallway
with dusty old portraits against the walls.
     
    As Ion continued to drift into hallway,
pondering his next move, he felt a mild shudder run through the
ground … accompanied by a gentle thud .
     
    Spinning around, Ion hurried out into the
main hall…
     
    And the six cloaked figures stood there,
their outlines slightly blurred in the complete lack of light. They
had parked their hover car outside on the balcony, apparently just
having exited it. The shudder and the thud had been that of
the car landing there.
     
    An icy sensation swooped through Ion’s
insides.
     
    And he now realised that he was right, as was
Eryx: the Zelgron he was now facing weren’t anything at all like
the bunch he had faced three years ago… they were far, far
deadlier. And now, they were claiming what they’d come for.
     
    His hand flew to the handle of his sword
before any of them made another motion. But the creatures stood
there, completely unbothered, as he drew his sword and held it
before them.
     
    So be it, then.
     
    Drawing in a quick breath, Ion ignited his
sword: the familiar bright orange glow consumed the blade. The
sword’s orange light spread across the entire room, sweeping away
the state of darkness it had slumbered in till now … And in the
light of the room, Ion could see that beneath the hoods of the six
cloaked figures, were the faces of completely normal men. Not
Zelgron!
     
    All of them stared at him with exasperated,
irritated looks on their faces. Mixed with a flicker of
amusement.
     
    “You can put that down,” the man in the
centre said, pointing to Ion’s sword. “I have no idea why you’ve
led us across this senseless chase halfway around the city, but it
would be nice of you to stop now. My name is Mantra, and we’d like
to talk to you.”
     
     
     
     

 
     
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    “For whatever reason you were running from
us,” said another of the cloaked figures, an Iveling with maroon
hair. “You can stop now, for heaven’s sake. We’re not with the
authorities trying to arrest you for being a mystic. We’re mystics
too.”
     
    Ion found his bewilderment rising with every
passing second. “You’re mystics?”
     
    He frowned, remembering their uncanny powers
which seemed beyond that Zelgron could have knowably achieved. And
he realised that it made complete sense. In either case, it bad
been a little too bizarre to see Zelgron, half brutes as they were,
driving a hover car.
     
    “Yes,” answered the elderly man called
Mantra, who was standing right ahead of Ion. He was about two heads
shorted than Ion. But a strange power, something transcending the
limits of physical dominance, seemed to resonate from him and his
calm white eyes. He had a trimmed, white moustache and beard, with
the last of his thin white hair on his partially bald head falling
loosely over the back of his shoulders. “But not everyday
mystics.”
     
    He exchanged a look with the maroon haired
Iveling.
     
    “We come from the brotherhood of Nyon.” said
the maroon haired man.
     
    Ion found himself floating out his body, as
he tried to process this. The prize among the surprises of the
day…
     
    “Nyon?” His voice left him as a shrill gasp.
“The brotherhood of Nyon?”
     
    His widened eyes darted from the maroon
haired man to Mantra, the short elderly one in front of him.
     
    “So you’ve heard of us.” concluded the maroon
haired man, nodding. “That makes things a lot easier.”
     
    Ion let his gaze travel across the six
cloaked men, all of whom were either middle aged or elderly. When
he managed to get a firm grip on what he’d just heard, the shock
was quickly overrun by a more powerful emotion: confusion.
     
    “And … did you say you needed me? ” he
asked slowly.
     
    The six of them nodded as one.
     
    Ion stared.
     
    “Exactly what for?” he asked, perplexed.
“What could the ancient brotherhood of Nyon want with me?”
     
    A sad smile crossed