The Rising Sun: Episode 3 Read Online Free Page A

truly belong, Ion. join us … and you know you won’t
regret being born a mystic.”
     
    And so, Ion joined them. Vonayz was a year
or two older than him, but he had been well trained. For some
reason, he never delved into where or how he had been so well
trained, or where he had received his great mystic powers from, but
Ion didn’t need to know. As long as he learned them, too. Vonayz
coached Ion, trained him in the disciplines of the mind and the art
of thoughts, and how the powers within them had long slumbered …
and Ion unleashed all the power churning within him. Including the
anger. The hatred. The bitterness. The dark recesses of his soul,
gathered over the past few years came gushing to the surface, and
acting like a propellant for his mind’s abilities … Ion’s powers
grew exponentially, fuelled by the raw force of his anger and
hatred…
     
    His anger drove his mind to a great
sharpness. Made him far stronger. And before they knew it, Ion was
just as strong a mystic as Vonayz himself was. The two of them
enjoyed sparring and duelling with each other in playful means, to
keep their skills sharp. They had grown to become a sort of role
model figure duo for the others of the team. And most of all, they
had become the thickest of friends. Ion could never forget the boy
who had saved him from that hell. And his friendship with Vonayz
grew into a powerful bond over the years…

 
     
3
     
    The present
     
     
    Through the window, the gigantic expanse of
black glinted with specks of starlight. Qyro was gazing out of it
steadily, leaving a prolonged silence to fill the air between him
and Ion … since Ion had finished with the story.
     
    It had been two years.
     
    Two years since Ion had had a good night’s
sleep. Two years since his world had known an ounce of peace.
     
    The anger. The guilt. The grief. They had
all been raging within him for two years now, since the end of his
earlier life. The life of an assassin.
     
    Ion would have given anything at all to have
his past scored out of his memory. But not even his entire past …
just that one memory.
     
    The memory at the end of his life as an
assassin … and the memory that ended his life as an assassin.
     
    Slowly, as if finding it painful to, Qyro
turned and met Ion’s eyes.
     
    “Well,” said Ion, his tone just as casual as
always. “Are you gonna turn me in?”
     
    Qyro’s face was blank for a few long
seconds.
     
    “I doubt I can overpower you.” he said
finally. “But even otherwise, I couldn’t bring myself to it.”
     
    “Why?” asked Ion.
     
    Qyro turned back, frowning in thought. A few
seconds of silence passed as he looked out the window again. When
he turned to Ion, there was something gentle in his expression.
     
    “I don’t think you deserve it … the
punishment that others might shun you with.” He shook his head.
“And you aren’t what you were two years back. That side of you’s
gone. There is definitely no justifying whatever you did in your
past … but the past remains past. Now, your actions are a part of
something greater. Something good.” He dug his hand through the
thick furcoat, and produced the crystal piece that Ion had helped
retrieve. “Now, you’re one of us. The good guys.” He smiled and
added, “And also because you just saved my life.”
     
    Ion folded his arms, staring at the seat in
front. “See the thing is, if I’d turned myself in, it wouldn’t have
been punishment at all.” He took a deep breath. “If I’d turned
myself in and been executed, it wouldn’t have been a punishment. It
would have been relief .”
     
    He turned and looked at the Redling, his
tone now growing rough. “The punishment … is what I face now. And
I’ve been facing it for two years now. And it’s too hard to live
through it. Believe me, I would have welcomed, and preferred death
itself … and I did .”
     
    Ion paused and gave himself a moment to gaze
out the window, at the specks of crystal