Free The Rising Sun: Episode 4 by J Hawk Page B

the masters!” Ion panted, as
he ran alongside the other two.
     
    Their breaths storming, the three of them
arrived at the entrance of the structure. There were masters
sitting around the centre of the large hall. Before the three Nyon
could raise the call and alert them of the attack, Rash-cons
flooded the hall from the entrances spread around its corners … The
Xeni had brought what looked like an army along with them, a
deviously large one.
     
    The robots swept the hall, surging in from
all sides. A rain of Sparkler shots filled the hall as the
Rash-cons opened fire at the masters, who sprang to their feet,
reaching for their swords in realisation of what was going on…
     
    Mayhem erupted like a nuclear blast.
     
    Before they knew it, the masters were spread
over the large hall to face the enemy onslaught, all their swords
drawn and ignited. Ion turned and was shocked to see that Vestra
and Qyro, who had been standing right behind him, were now dragged
off to two different corners, both of them surrounded by Rash-cons.
They had their ignited swords cutting down three of the robots in
one slash, both fierce as the light blazing from their swords.
     
    Ion reached for his own sword, turning back.
But before his head finished spinning around to face what was ahead
of him, a sharp pounding pain hit him by the centre of his chest …
and he was flying back. His half drawn sword slipped and went
flying off his grasp.
     
    As he hit the cold ground, he saw the cloaked
hooded figure who had punched him standing over him … drawing his
sword and igniting it. The Xeni lunged at Ion before he could pick
himself up, forcing him to roll over on the ground to miss the
man’s saber by a deadly inch. The man stumbled forward, having
missed his target. Ion had the fraction of a second: without
raising himself, he curled his fist and sent his knuckles slamming
into the man’s face. The force of the blow heaved the man off his
feet, and he landed feet away from Ion, unconscious.
     
    The battle now mounted in ferocity, with
black cloaked figures locked in saber duels all around.
     
    Now triggered into lightspeed alertness, Ion
picked himself up, snatched his sword back from the floor, and
ignited it. Less than a second later, he was surrounded by a
cluster of seven Rash-cons, their guns spurting jets of light at
him. Ion used his sword to block two of the Sparkler shots, lunging
off the way of another two. He then sent a sideways slash that
ripped through three of the robots’ bodies. The remaining four
continued to pour Sparkler bolts out at him, forcing him to dodge
and duck insanely. One of the shots clipped him by the forearm, and
a seething pain exploded where the shot hit.
     
    He stumbled backwards with a sharp gasp,
while the four Rash-cons continued to rain shots at him. Summoning
every ounce of his will, he ignored the pain of the shot, using one
arm now to spin his sword and block the oncoming jets of light. The
Rash-cons gained dominance, pushing Ion back. He heaved an enormous
breath and flung both arms forth towards the four Rash-cons. A smash exploded into existence and glided towards the robots.
As it hit them, the four Rash-cons crumpled and soared back in a
clutter of broken body parts.
     
    Ion steadied himself with another deep
breath. The pain of the Sparkler shot son his right arm had faded
slightly. As he scanned the hall, he spotted a fallen Nyon master,
surrounded by a Xeni and five other Sparkler wielding Rash-cons …
The Xeni raised his shining blade, moving in for the kill…
     
    Ion turned and sprinted towards them. He
slammed into the Xeni from behind him, and the man tripped over the
fallen master painfully, his sword clattering to the ground. The
five Rash-cons slowly re focussed their aims to the new target, but
before any of them opened fire, Ion let fly two clean slashes of
his sword. The robots, sliced in more than one part of their body,
fell to the ground. Where Ion’s sword had cut them, a