Read The Rising Sun: Episode 4 for Free Online Page B

ventures. And we
couldn’t have come close to dying any less than a dozen times.”
     
    “Sounds like the type of thing you would’ve
loved.” said Ion honestly.
     
    “Of course I did.” admitted Qyro. “And I’ve
gotta hand it, despite all the fear, all the dread and uncertainty
back then, the thrill of it compensated for it all.”
     
    “Thrill?” asked Vestra, with an amused laugh.
“Trying to not to be found and killed by the Naxim every single
day? That should have been wonderfully thrilling.”
     
    “What’s the fun in life without a little
risk?” asked Qyro, shrugging. “As my master used to say. The two of
us used to have a blast throughout. Through all those dangerous
instances that could’ve turned real painful.”
     
    Ion found it evident that Qyro’s blatant love
for adventure and danger was something he had found from his
earlier master.
     
    “Tell us about one of these adventures of
yours.” said Vestra.
     
    Qyro thought for a second, and then looked at
her with a wild grin. “I’ve got one you won’t believe.” He shifted
his gaze from her to Ion. “Try running into a bunch of Ensys.”
     
    “Ensys?” hissed Vestra, the bright look on
her face dying into one of shock.
     
    Ion knew that the Ensys were one of the many
non man being species. And among non man beings, they were among
the more dreaded and feared ones. But as Mantra had said earlier,
they had gone completely off the known portion of the spectrum
after the onslaught of Redgarn’s empire. “But where’d you find
them?”
     
    “We didn’t.” Qyro shook his head.
“ They found us. They move very rarely, but in one of the few
times they did, we crossed them in a planet, Halios, far out into
the outer spectrum. It’s pretty close to where they actually hide.
But when they crossed us, we met their leader, Rigmrr.”
     
    “Rigmrr?” Ion cocked an eyebrow.
     
    But Qyro shuddered, the light in his face now
fading. “Oh, believe me … he was a nasty one. He was the Ensys’
complete, sovereign King. We found out that much. They completely
abide and go by him. He’s like their god. And one mean god that
was. And the fact that he was ailing with an incurable disease
didn’t make him and the monsters in his command any friendlier.” He
shuddered again, and a frown contracted his brow. “Non man beings
are all the same wad of trouble that you don’t actually need to go
looking for.”
     
    Something in his features betrayed a sense of
cold anger at this subject of non man beings. Though Ion found it
rather curious, he knew Qyro couldn’t be blamed for it: apart from
being inhuman in their physical forms, the non man beings were
beastly and slightly dangerous as well, at times. Fear and hatred
of them was shared and common to all people of the spectrum.
     
    Qyro now fixed his attention on the other
duel taking place across the other side of the large balcony.
     
    “After spending an entire life of hiding and
running, I can tell you this,” he said, as he watched the duel.
“This is home.”
     
    He turned to Vestra, who stood gazing past
the forest beyond the balcony. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
     
    Still looking past the forests, Vestra gave a
soft sigh. “I would love to. But I haven’t spent my entire life
running and hiding, unlike you. This was my home all along.”
     
    “Of course not. I forgot.” said Qyro,
bringing his attention back to the other duel across the
balcony.
     
    It was between two younger looking masters,
probably in their thirties. One of them was a species he couldn’t
identify, with a violet skin colour, while the other was an
Iveling. Their motions were considerably slower than the earlier
one, but they were a sight to watch nevertheless as their orange
swords spun wildly, clashing and sparking.
     
    But Ion wasn’t watching it: he turned to
Vestra, frowning, as the implication of what she had just said
fully registered.
     
    “So you … weren’t a mystic when before