The Rising Sun: Episode 6 by J Hawk

open.
     
    Mantra stood there with the boy safely held
in one arm, the Xeni lying dead over a smashed toilet. He had
apparently climbed in through the window sitting by the right.
     
    Before Dantox had finished one blink of his
eyelids, Mantra had tossed himself over him, the toddler held
safely in one arm. Dantox hardly registered the air being blown off
his lungs as he slammed onto the wall behind him.
     
    “Judgement day’s here.” Mantra snarled.
     
    As he raised his ignited sword with one arm,
the other holding the infant safely, Dantox flew to his feet and
hurtled down the corridor, arriving at the room at the very
end.
     
    As he ran into the room, he came to an
abrupt, jolting halt:
     
    Ion, Qyro and Vestra stood in the room. The
dead or unconscious bodies of the Xeni littered the floor, steaming
where the Nyon’s swords had sliced them.The windows behind them
were wide open: apparently the three of them had snuck in without
leaving any sound.
     
    His insides clenched, Dantox whipped around
to see Mantra standing right behind him.
     
    “Nowhere to run.” said Mantra, cracking his
knuckles.
     
     
    Pain burst along his spine as he slammed onto
the wall at the back of the room and slid down it. The four Nyon
stood before him, all of their eyes blazing brighter than the
swords in their hands.
     
    “You’ve made some mistakes, old friend.” said
Mantra, bending down before him. “And we’re now here to rectify
them.”
     
    “It wasn’t me!” squealed Dantox, shaking his
head wildly. “Oh, please! You have to understand. They intimidated me !”
     
    “Oh, shut it.” said Mantra, raising a hand,
and Dantox felt as though his voice had been forced back down his
throat.
     
    “What did you do to the family?” Mantra asked
with a half glance at Ion, his white eyes clinging to Dantox the
whole time.
     
    “I set them free.” said Ion. “They’re gone
now.”
     
    Mantra brought his attention back to Dantox,
his gaze now erased of the calm serenity it always held … Now,
there was an inferno churning within his hazy white eyes.
     
    “I’m telling you, I-!”
     
    Mantra raised his hand, and Dantox’s voice
extinguished once more.
     
    “Here’s your chance to live,” he said,
bending closer over Dantox. “Tell us everything.”
     
    “What do you want?” squealed Dantox.
     
    “Where is your lair?” asked Vestra. “Tell us
where the Xeni are hiding … where is the spell going to
happen?”
     
    Dantox fought back the panic and steadied
himself.
     
    “Our lair is in the planet Synistros, the
second level of the outer spectrum.”
     
    “How far would it be from here?” asked
Mantra. “How long will the space jump from here to Synistros
take?”
     
    Dantox gave a second’s thought. “Not more
than a few minutes. Synistros’s in the outer spectrum too, and it
isn’t too far from this one. We couldn’t waste time, so we had the
ambush planned in a planet not too far away.”
     
    “Good,” said Ion, with a quick glance at the
other three. “Cause you’ll be taking us there, to your lair.”
     
    Dantox blinked, his look fazing slightly in
confusion. “Taking you there?” he asked weakly. “To our lair? For
what?”
     
    “Do we have to drill everything into that
thick head of yours?” snapped Qyro, his arms folded. “So that we
stop the Xeni from performing that spell before they start!”
     
    “First,” said Mantra, stepping a little
closer. “Let’s find out how much more time we have. When are the
Xeni beginning the spell?”
     
    Dantox stared at them without answering for a
second.
     
    “When the regime of Mezmeron begins.” he then
said softly. “The darkest hour of the night.”
     
    “Good,” said Ion, nodding. “Now, listen
closely. You’re getting us to your lair, and we are going to put an
end to this madness by stopping their cursed spell before it
begins.”
     
    “You can’t.” Dantox carried his gaze through
all four of them, and gave