Read The Rising Sun: Episode 1 for Free Online Page A

same savage sense of joy in
watching this as Grando himself did … This was the reason he
enjoyed working with these men.
     
    As the jeering
and laughter slowly faded, every pair of eyes fixed itself upon
Racowl. He was gasping for breath for a long trail of seconds, the
aftermath of the Stinger’s shot.
     
    “I’m warning
you,” said Grando. “The Stinger’s shots are meant to torture … but
usually three is enough to kill.”
     
    Racowl finished
gasping and looked up at Grando, his eyes carrying a plea for
mercy. Something he was never going to find in here.
     
    “I didn’t tell
them anything, I swear!” he squeaked. “I really didn’t! Please,
don’t -”
     
    Grando shot a
second time. As the yellow bolt collided with him, Racowl gave a
second, louder scream, which seemed to linger within the room in
echoes for many nasty seconds.
     
    Grando slowly
walked forward, lowering his head before a gasping, helpless
Racowl.
     
    “Final chance.”
he whispered. “Tell me now: did you leak anything?”
     
    Still gasping,
Racowl met Grando’s eyes and gave a trembling shake of his
head.
     
    Grando bored
into his eyes, surveying them for a long moment, and then smiled.
This had to be the truth. Nobody could be that good an actor, and
nobody could stand two shots of the Stinger and still not
break. Not even Racowl.
     
    He nodded
slowly, his smile growing longer. “Ok. I guess I don’t have a
choice, but to believe you.” He turned and trotted a few feet away,
before slowly facing his men. “So, tell me men, now that that’s
over … how shall we kill him?”
     
    Racowl’s head
bolted up, his jaw falling open. He tried to form words, but only a
pitiful, whimpering noise emitted from his lips.
     
    The men’s
expressions were now shining with anticipation. This was the moment
they’d been waiting for. All of them. Including Grando.
     
    “You didn’t
actually think we were going to let you live, did you?” Grando
laughed cruelly. “I’m sorry, my friend, but you’ve seen too much of
what’s within us. We can’t possibly allow you to go on living.”
     
    Racowl shook
his head, his face filled with horror. “No … please, don’t.”
     
    The men cracked
their knuckles, some of them unsheathing razors and knives from
their belts.
     
    Oh, this is
gonna be fun…
     
    Grando watched
as the six men slowly closed in on Racowl, their eyes burning. But
right then, the hiss of the door sliding open from behind caught
everyone’s attention.
     
    And then came
the sound of a pair of footsteps trotting into the room…
     
    While Grando
waited where he stood, unbothered, the six others turned to gaze at
the entrance … and the looks on their faces slowly slackened from
joy to astonishment.
     
    What’s
this?
     
    Grando slowly
turned to face the entrance, wondering who this mysterious entry
was. And as he did, the shock swallowing the rest of the room
claimed him as well…
     
    The intruder
who came striding into the room calmly, was Grando’s most dreaded
enemy … his foremost fear.
     
    It was nemesis
one.
     
    “ Ion? ”
Grando said in a mystified whisper.
     
    The red haired
boy came striding into the chamber in an elegantly casual pace. As
he approached the end of the room, he spread his hands cheerily.
“Grando, how’ve you been, old friend? It’s been far too long!”
     
    He stopped a
few metres before a thunderstruck Grando, a false grin on his face.
For a small eternity, the two of them stood metres apart, staring
at each other in rigid silence.
     
    The eighteen
year old boy looked just as Grando remembered. Tall and stickly
thin. Dressed in a long black cloak. Long, messy red hair. The tint
of orange on his skin that would often go unnoticed. The same
youthful, vibrant face. And the same burning orange eyes.
     
    “It wasn’t easy
finding you.” Ion declared, his voice just as casual. “Took me
pretty long. You’ve been living completely off the grid for some
time now. Deep