And his eyes locked onto something that stood
calmly in the middle of his room, apparently in wait of him.
“Hello there,” said Zardin, smiling. “I’ve
been so eager to meet you, my good man.”
For a second, Derigor felt as though two
words had just clashed … real and illusion. And he was now
grappling to separate the two of them … for the evidence suggested
that the
creature
they had seen in the picture earlier, the
one responsible for the attack on the cruiser, was now standing
right ahead of him in his house…
Zardin slowly walked over towards him, his
smile unfaltering.
Raw horror and panic clutched Derigor to the
spot. His brain gone numb, he stared as the man walked over to him
and stroked his chin with his long, black fingernail.
“What do you want?” he breathed, backing away
towards the door.
The man threw his head back and laughed.
“I want the age,” hissed Zardin. “And in
return … I give you a new one.”
Clutching both sides of Derigor’s head,
Zardin rammed his forehead onto the man’s, who staggered and hit
the floor.
Zardin’s gaze settled over the Naxim
official’s unconscious body for a few seconds. Then, he pulled the
man’s body over his shoulder and strode out the door, which shut
itself behind him as he walked through it.
Tragedy upon tragedy…
With his hands behind his back, Mantra stared
out the window of his room. The usual magnificence of the greenery
outside seemed to hold no charm for him all of a sudden.
A few minutes ago, word had reached him that
Vestra and Qyro had failed. But more than the mission’s failure, it
was the fate of their two young members that left Mantra stricken.
A fate which
he
was responsible for. Vestra and Qyro were
gone, because of his presumption. He had failed in his
judgment.
The dead weight of guilt knotted around his
insides, twisting them painfully. he knew that the consequences of
this wrong decision was far more deadly, and more far reaching that
it seemed … the failure of Qyro and Vestra now left them in a
terrible state. Terrible, and precarious.
Mantra focussed on his breath as he walked,
ensuring that his agitation was kept under check.
We cannot lose
control now … not now.
The door of his room slid open, and a pair of
feet scuttled inside from behind. Mantra knew who the entry was
before he’d even turned around to face him.
“There’s something huge that’s just come up.”
panted Galinor. His two short horns went amiss in his maroon hair,
which lay slightly tousled from what looked like a mad sprint.
“What is it?” asked Mantra, raising an
eyebrow. “Just in case you haven’t noticed, we’re facing something
huge by itself now. Vestra and Qyro failed … you have heard of
that, I presume?”
“Forget that, Mantra!” said Galinor, a rush
in his tone. “We’ve just got word of something that’s far bigger,
far, far more important for us to attend to! And we’ve gotta attend
to it
now
!”
Mantra stared.
What could possibly be
that
important?
“What is it?”
Galinor heaved a deep, steadying breath. And
then he told Mantra…
Mantra was not the type of person easily
swayed by circumstances … but this was a circumstance that made a
clear exception.
“It can’t be…” he whispered, feeling stunned
by what he had just heard. What Galinor had just told him.
Galinor gave a sharp nod. “It is … and we
need to attend to it now, Mantra.”
Mantra erased all else from his mind,
gathering himself. Galinor was right … this really was big. Bigger
than anything else that lay before them now. And it needed all
their attention. Right now.
He closed his eyes and took a split second to
gather all the focus he had.
“Well, what’re we waiting for?” he said,
opening his eyes and looking at Galinor. “Let’s go, then.”
The two of them turned and bolted towards the
door, which slid shut by itself as they passed.
The screeching sound of his z-com was the one
thing Ion hated most in the world. Especially if it interrupted him
in his sleep. With a groan of displeasure, Ion sat upright slowly.
He gave himself a second to let the haze of drowsiness clear. Then,
digging his hand into his robe pocket, he produced his z-com that
screeched relentlessly, with an incoming call.
He tapped a spot on the metallic black skin
of the small device to answer the call. It was a video call: A
holographic screen grew out over the space over the z-com, staring
out of which was a man.
“The name’s Eryx,” said the man.
“And you’ve got the wrong number.” cut in
Ion. “There’re only a couple of people who know I exist, and you
ain’t one of them.”
His finger moved over the button to
disconnect the call –
“The Zelgron know you exist, though.” said
Eryx. “Carcasar, their warlord, has known that you exist for quite
long now. And he’s sent his Zelgron after you. They’re heading for
you as we now speak.”
__________
The words took a few thick seconds to
register in Ion’s mind.
“The
Zelgron
?” he spat.
“The Zelgron.” Eryx nodded, smiling. “I trust
you remember the name … Carcasar?”
Ion felt something flip within his
stomach.
“Who are you?” he breathed into the screen.
“And what kind of sick joke are you trying to play here?”
“A joke, huh?” Eryx uttered a rough chuckle.
“Ask yourself if that’s really true, kid.”
He leaned closer to the screen, and lowered
his voice so that it was just louder than a hiss.
“Believe me or not, you’re in trouble, kid.
And what I’m trying to do, is I’m trying to help you. But it’s your
call, whether or not you wanna believe me, and take my help. You
wanna turn a deaf ear to me, be my guest … But when the black
cloaked creatures reach your apartment, you might feel slightly
different.” He must have read the terrified look on Ion’s face for
he added, “That’s right - they’re on their way to that apartment
you’re in
right now.
”
“Who are you?” demanded Ion, ignoring the icy
sensation within him. “And why’re you so keen to share this with me
in the first place?”
Eryx gave Ion a flat stare. “Listen, we don’t
have time for this now. I’ll let you know everything when you get
down here. You need to meet me where I am now, and I can get you
outta this alive. I’m your only way out of this. You’re gonna have
to trust me. And believe me when I tell you that you can’t do this
alone: you can’t outrun them. They aren’t the same type you met
years back.”
“What do you mean?” asked Ion, who could feel
his pulse rising.
Eryx shook his head. “They’re not the brutes
of the sort you met two years ago … Carcasar’s sent his very best.
His most lethal. They’ll be on your tail wherever you go. They’re
as intelligent as man beings themselves … If you don’t trust me,
you’ll see them approaching your building from out the balcony
anytime now.”
Ion turned and sprinted out the balcony with
the z-com held in one hand.
“That’s not what I meant! You’re supposed to
leave
before
you see them arriving, kid!” yelled Eryx,
rolling his eyes on the screen by Ion’s right.
Ion was peering down the lane out his
balcony, his eyes narrowed. He scanned the entire place, trying to
find any black cloaked, hooded creatures sprinting towards his
building from anywhere.
“I don’t see them.” he said finally.
Eryx slapped his forehead. “I suggest you
don’t wait until you do!”
Without taking his eyes off the view of the
ghost city outside, Ion nodded. “All right. You say you can … save
me from this, huh?”
Eryx nodded. “I can.”
“All right,” Ion said, trying to slow his
breath down. “Where do I meet you?”
“Ask for Narcis point.” said Eryx. “Its a few
miles from where you’re at. Get there by foot. Don’t stop anywhere.
And leave before you wanna see them arriving.” he added, as Ion
continued to look out the balcony.
Ion slowly turned and looked at the face in
the screen.
“Fine,” he told Eryx. “I’ll be there.”
Eryx nodded, and the screen faded.
Ion pocketed his z-com, his eyes
automatically jumping out the balcony again.
For almost three or so whole minutes, he
peered down the many streets, trying to see if he could spot any
black cloaked, hooded figure coming down them towards his building.
But he saw nothing.
They aren’t anywhere near yet … it’s not
too late.
he concluded at last, feeling some of the panic drain
within him. Turning around, he strode back into the room of the
apartment.
And standing inside the room were six black
cloaked, hooded figures, standing as still as stone.
The Zelgron were already here.
Time seemed to suddenly go sluggishly slow,
as Ion gaped at the creatures for what felt like a few eternities.
In the darkness of his room, nothing could be seen of the terrible
features etched below their hoods. All of them stared at him in a
thundering silence … and Ion stared back, his blood frozen.
Then, without the press of a conscious
thought, he turned and dashed back into the balcony. Before he knew
what he was doing, he had thrown himself over the balcony edge, and
found himself in a graceful mid air soar…
His body was sucked downwards by the
concrete, earthen floor, which came racing up at a mindless
speed.
Crawling seconds towards an imminent, painful
death, Ion felt everything slow down. His mind went granite in
focus. With clarity like never before. He summoned a steady gush of
his mystical powers to make his body sway to the right as he soared
down, closer to the building nearby. As the edge of a balcony
rushed up, Ion threw his arm out with split second precision: not a
fraction of a second too late, his arm latched around the wall of
the balcony. His fall broken suddenly, his body clashed against the
building’s wall. His arm, latched around the wall, almost snapped
at the sudden break of his fall.
He took a fleeting second to re gather his
breath, his blood racing. Then, climbing onto the balcony of the
building, Ion darted into the room. He paused at the room door for
a fleeting glance back, and as his vision relayed to him, his heart
froze: The Zelgron had reached the balcony in one giant leap from
the nearby building, and were straightening up from the heavy
landing.
Turning back, Ion fuelled every ounce of
energy into his legs as they propelled him through the wrecked
house, out its door and into the long balcony outside in a
senseless sprint. He knew that the Zelgron had speeds that fell
close to even mystics’, but something told him the six he was now
dealing with were not the ordinary type he had faced years ago …
they were far more powerful: as their leap between the two
buildings passed Ion again, panic coursed through him like an
electric surge.
Reaching the end of the balcony, he dived
down the half torn staircase. As he arrived halfway down the
building, he could hear the heavy padding of footsteps above him.
Without looking up to see where his pursuers were in the flight of
stairs, Ion hurled himself to the bottom of the building from the
stairs at the second storey. A heavy thud sounded as he landed on
all fours. Picking himself up hurriedly, he tore down the deserted
night’s lane, which lay veiled with layers of murky white fog.
Desperate, Ion sent his gaze running along both sides of the street
in an attempt to find aid of any sort.
Swerving in path, he dashed towards the side
of the line of buildings, where lay a large parking lot. With a
small group of hover bikes and cars, most of which were visibly
wrecked. Spotting a hover bike that wasn’t, Ion ran over and jumped
over it. This was a trick he had done before: using his mystical
powers, he altered the interior switches keeping the bike locked.
And as the lock broke and the bike revved to life, he shot his gaze
back down the lane. The Zelgron came racing down the lane towards
the field, their horrid faces hidden beneath their hoods.
The bike jumped off the ground with a dry,
lurching sensation, turned and shot off into the air. As Ion rose
higher and higher from the ground, he felt relief like never before
rush through his insides.
It’s over.
he thought, his insides
unclenching.
I’m saved.
But the glance he threw back stripped him of
all relief and joy in that very instant: The Zelgron had managed to
break into one of the hover cars, and were now sailing through the
air right behind him. Ion felt shock and alarm break out within
him.