The Rising Sun: Episode 1 by J Hawk Page B

gathering
speed…
     
    And before he
knew it, he was on a soft, mattress like surface. And the world
seemed had fallen to a blissful tranquility. And it almost felt
like the pain had uncoiled from his limbs … the agony had melted
away, sparing him. Silence, peaceful and serene, enveloped all. And
he felt as though all dreams had come true in the silence. But
where was he? Was he even alive?
     
    And a voice
slit the silence from above him.
     
    “Son, can you
hear me?”
     
    Ion’s eyelids
fluttered open. But he immediately closed them to shield from a
blast of light from in front. But in that split second he had
opened them, he had seen a figure, a man in a black cloak, standing
in front of him.
     
    His eyes still
closed, he groaned, “Where am I?”
     
    “It doesn’t
matter where you are.” came the voice of the man in front. “What
matters is that you’re alive. And your body is intact again.”
     
    A jolt passed
Ion as he heard it. As if on cue, the sensation of his bodily
control returned full and new to him. He realised that his limbs
were moving perfectly. Completely tended. He opened his eyes again:
this time the bright sunlight streaming in through the window
opposite to him was bearable.
     
    He was lying on
a straw cot, in the middle of a small hut. He sat straight and
looked at the man in front of him. He was a tall, thin man dressed
in a black cloak. His sharp Elfling eyes were of a rich green
colour, and his long black hair fell over his shoulder behind
him.
     
    “My name is
Jedius,” the man said. “You’re lucky to be healed from that nasty
fall you’ve had.”
     
    __________
     
     
    The planet they
were in was Vanodar, located somewhere at the beginning of the
outer spectrum. It was a rich rainforest planet, covered in
brimming greenery. The hut Jedius lived in was built somewhere in
the middle of the dense forest.
     
    Awe welled
within Ion as he looked at the figure opposite to his cot, sitting
deep in meditation. They had met almost two days back, but Ion
still couldn’t get over the sheer wonder he felt when he gazed at
the man who had saved his life. Jedius was a mystic, and Ion knew
he was a very, very powerful one at that: he had healed almost all
the broken bones in Ion’s body, bringing it back to a functional
state. But even his advanced healing powers couldn’t bring Ion to a
full recovery. He needed a few days’ rest to be nursed back to
health. And Jedius insisted that he stayed with him until he
was.
     
    After viewing
the man’s simple, hermit like lifestyle for two days, Ion was both
stunned and deeply impressed. His sheathed sword lay by the side of
where he sat opposite on the hut. Like all mystic swords, it was
long, thin. But it had a fine curved blade that was longer than
Ion’s, with a slightly larger hilt.
     
    Ion was sitting
idly on the cot. And next to him, taken from his pocket … was a
poster.
     
    Ion had never
thought that something could invoke such fury in him his entire
life. The lunatic killer stared out of the poster with his glowing
red eyes and his horrible features. A rage of emotions churned
within Ion as his eyes fell on the poster. Anger. Grief. Guilt…
     
    Warding it all
off, Ion turned and looked at the man sitting with his legs folded
opposite to him, as still as stone in meditation. After coming
around two days ago, Ion had told Jedius everything. The man had
saved his life, and he had a right to know. Ion told him how the
criminal in the poster was responsible for what had happened to
him. How he was the reason Ion was now sitting in this hut with a
load of half healed bones. He told him everything about that
killer, and how Ion’s life had changed because of him.
     
    Jedius had
shown Ion nothing but sympathy, and had given him courage to face
the demons of his past, and to destroy them.
     
    Stuffing the
poster back into his pocket, Ion sat back against the wall behind
him, looking out the window. Streaks of boiling red coloured