The Rising Sun: Episode 2 (17 page)

As the three of them digested this, Mantra
went on in a bolder tone. “But there’s one more advantage to our
side here: the image taken by the satellite caught Qyro and Vestra
entering the planet together. And now, they’re expecting the two of
you to leave together as well. They’ll be keeping a lookout for a
young man and woman of your description travelling as one. And this
gives us another advantage: if the two of you split up, you may
have a better chance. If you two head to separate hangars, you may
slip past their attention because the other member of the pair the
camera caught was found missing. They probably wouldn’t expect to
find one of the target pair alone.”

“All right, then.” Qyro nodded. “Vestra and I
go separately. Got it.”

“Good,” said Mantra. “Now, keep yourself
steady, and follow my lead from here. And the three of you may just
be able to reach here alive.”

Less than an hour later…

Cruiser 3209 took off from the southern space
station of Radioc with two hundred and eighty seven passengers
seated inside of its seventeen halls. Somewhere in hall number 43,
a young man with rich red hair and orange eyes and a Redling with
bronze hair were seated at the corner of the hall. Ion and Qyro
watched from the window by their right as the large vessel soared
through space.

“That was rather surprisingly easy.” said
Ion, feeling the tension vanish now with the two of them having
safely boarded the cruiser and away from that deadly planet.

Qyro nodded. “Half a piece of cake.”

Ion looked down at the heavy furcoat he was
now robed in, and the almost ludicrously long and stuffy trench
coat Qyro had worn only reluctantly. Both of the heavily furred
coats had been ‘borrowed’ from a streetside vendor they had passed
along their way to the hangar.

Things had fared better than they could have
hoped, and Mantra’s plan was the reason for it: he been right to
tell Vestra and Qyro to split up. He thought that a girl travelling
alone would arouse less suspicion, as with two boys. And so, Ion
and Qyro had made their way to the nearest hangar. Mantra had
suggested a heavy disguise, but also one that had thick fur which
would act as a very mild shield to their mystical auras. In case
there were mystical energy detectors in the hangar. Whether or not
it was needed they knew not, but luck gave them a heavy favour:
they slipped right into the hangar, and had breezed right through
to put themselves on the very first cruiser leaving the planet. It
couldn’t have been easier.

While the hangar the two of them came to was
closer, Vestra had to reach a hangar slightly further off. She had
messaged Qyro just a minute or two back, informing them that she
had managed to get into the hangar safely, and would be boarding
the cruiser she was awaiting anytime now.

The items cluttered in his pocket added to
the weight of the furcoat. Scowling, Ion shoved his hand into the
cloak pocket underneath his furcoat and drew a handful of the stuff
lying inside of it.

The crumpled piece of paper that he had been
carrying for months now…

And the strangely shaped, large fang like
object Jedius had given him…

Ion stared at the fang for a moment, before
realising that it deserved a better position than lying buried at
the base of his pocket, forgotten. This meant far more to him … And
he needed it, the last token of his master, to constantly remind
him of something he could never forget.

Just as he needed the poster to remind him of
something he could never forget as well…

“Hold this for a bit, won’t you?” said Ion,
placing the crumpled poster on Qyro’s lap. He tore a long strip of
cloth off his sleeve. Using it, he wove a necklace like string for
the fang, and wore it around his neck. He turned to Qyro, who had
unrolled the poster and was staring at the criminal in it, his face
grave.

“What do you carry this around for?” he
asked, turning to Ion. “That’s the wanted poster of one of the
deadliest assassins and murderers that’s now on the loose. I
wouldn’t keep that for company if I were you.” He handed the poster
back to Ion.

Ion stared at the poster for a second, before
sighing. “Yeah, well I would.”

Qyro’s stare intensified, intrigued. “Why’s
that?”

“
I am a part of you, Ion … You can’t
outrun me.”
Ion looked down at the poster, at the face with the
glowing red eyes and black hair.

“Don’t worry,” he said in a casual tone.
“That’s not really as scary as he really looks. The poster’s made
from a drawn one. It’s not a real capture of him.” He frowned. “And
whoever drew it added the glowing eyes, the pale skin and other
stupid features to overdo the scary effect people have of him.”

Qyro’s eyes roamed over the poster, surveying
it, before slowly rising to meet Ion. He was quiet for a moment,
before saying, “You talk like you know him, this murderer in the
poster.”

Ion felt his eyebrows contract in a faint
frown above his nose. “We’ve met.”

Qyro’s eyes widened slightly. “You’ve
met
him?”

“You could say so, I guess.”

Qyro’s face hosted a mixture of shock and
curiosity, the latter mounting steadily.

“How?”

Ion gave another strained sigh, his gaze
carrying out the window by Qyro’s right. “It’s hard to explain,
pal.”

“Is it?”

“Believe me.” Ion shook his head. “It really
is.”

“Try me.” said Qyro, with a hint of boldness
in his voice. “What’ve you shared with that guy in the poster?”

Ion gave the question a moment’s thought … He
gave the situation a moment’s thought, and then turned around to
face Qyro full in the face, deciding to give the answer.

“Everything.” he said softly, feeling his
lips part in a smile. “The guy in the poster
is me.
”

__________

Vestra felt her anxiety slowly vanish now
that she’d made it into the station successfully. She had made her
booking for the first cruiser to leave the planet, and was now
having to wait for it to arrive. It would be here in a few minutes.
Meanwhile, she was now strolling down one of the corridors, feeling
her fear and tension now replaced by a sluggish boredom. As she
walked down the hall, her eyes automatically zipped to focus over
something pasted at the corner of the large room.

A poster.

And it depicted a murderer on the loose, a
dangerous assassin whom the states of the spectrum were striving to
hunt down … He had glowing eyes and black hair.

Vestra knew who this most wanted criminal
was…

She had just met him less than an hour
back.

But instead of fear, anger or disgust, the
emotion she felt as she stared at the poster … was sympathy.

Sighing softly, Vestra turned and continued
walking.

To be continued …