Thassalin had been brooding for a while, licking his wounds, mostly his pride. After a fight with the Dragon God of Time, Thassalin had shrunk down and disappeared into the undergrowth, only to slither back to his little mountain home and hide away, fearing vengeance. It turned out, Thassalin wasn’t as strong as he thought he was, and while he had managed to distract the Whenvern from hurting his comatose savior, the Thantoepheron, the wounds from the battle were taking longer than normal to heal, thanks to who caused them.
Worse, everyone had wanted to ask questions. They wanted to know what Thassalin was. He couldn’t tell them. While the little Decayling had been properly rewritten and had no real memory of the shattering and remaking of existence, Thassalin had felt all of it. Things were better now, in this rebuilt universe, but Thassalin had seen first hand how reality had been bent and twisted. Thassalin’s mind had remained unscathed, but his physical form was now constrained to this universe’s rules, forced into a different shape.
A new history had attempted to be written around Thassalin, but being the monster that he was, Thassalin refused. He didn’t want riches, he didn’t want to be constrained within Thrakian society, to be one of the Whenvern’s servant races. He didn’t want to be white, blue, grey or black either. Thassalin had always been brightly coloured, he had always been different, he refused to bend to the will of this child Time Drake. Thassalin was a Time Drake himself, an old, tired one, from a long dead universe. Kairos was a pitiful fool in comparison, demanding praise for his simple duties and utterly terrified of his own Forward Flow coming to an end. True Time Drakes didn’t fear their Final Moment, because they knew that myriads of other Forward Flows would explode from that last, eternal instance.
So Thassalin tried to break out. He tried to escape the universe as it was being rewritten. He wasn’t successful. And because Thassalin’s failed escape had twisted his body beyond recognition, Thassalin went into hiding.
He spent decades, centuries, millennia even, hiding on an abandon-world, feeding on the megafauna. Over time, he built a home for himself on the top of a small mountain, and he’d slowly regained control of his body. But being trapped in this universe had messed with Thassalin’s Time Drake abilities. He was no longer properly affected by this new universe’s version of the Forward Flow. And, weirdly, although Thassalin couldn’t shapeshift like he used to, and he had lost all his beloved heavy armour plating, Thassalin realized he could manipulate his size. He could shrink to the size of a rodent or become as large as a skyscraper, if he wanted to.
That last thing was what brought Thassalin to the Allbirther’s attention. The Goddess of Life had spotted him as he’d made himself massive, soaring across an ocean and swallowing up schools of fish. Yes, Sini had forgotten about Thassalin, but as soon as she realized who Thassalin was, she welcomed him back with open arms. The Allbirther had been there for Thassalin when he had escaped the death of his old universe, she had offered him sanctuary. And now she was there to offer him sanctuary once more. In exchange for the odd bit of sex and the odd job here and there. She didn’t even mind that Thassalin would accidentally call her by her old name. On top of that, Sini had protected Thassalin from the prying eyes of the Panelix and the Whenvern.
Recently though, Sini had requested that Thassalin assist a group of mortals, who were protecting Arkadin. Arkadin was trapped in some sort of coma and Sini needed someone large to look after her little brother. Thassalin had found this weird because, for so long, the Allbirther had forbidden Thassalin from communicating with the old Death God, who had euthanised Thassalin’s dying, corrupted universe, and saved him from being consumed by the vast darkness. It turned out, Arkadin had also been rewritten the same way Thasslin had, and had no real memory of his past, when he had more freedoms. Of course, Thassalin did as asked, but this had led to his conflict with the Whenvern.
Really, Thassalin was embarrassed more than anything else. He had lost that fight. Yes, Kairos was a pathetic excuse for a Time Drake, permanently bowing down to his Life Goddess partners, but he was still more powerful than Thassalin was.
However, as Thassalin sulked, he heard a knock on his door. The knock though was pointless as Sini blatantly let herself in, smiling as always.
“MY LOVELY YISINI! YOU LOOK PARTICULARLY BEAUTIFUL TODAY!”
Sini’s smile turned into a grin. She looked the same as always, but she appreciated the compliment.
“Hello, darling! How are you feeling?”
“BETTER NOW THAT YOU ARE HERE! WHY ARE YOU HERE, BY THE WAY? IT HAS BEEN A WHILE, AND OUR VISITS HAVE BEEN SPARSE!”
Sini wandered deeper into Thassalin’s cave and ran her hand across his cheek. Thassalin responded by licking Sini.
“Unfortunately, my lovely little dragon, this visit is also going to be rather sparse. I… I have a new job for you.”
Thassalin shifted his weight, then grunted. “WHAT DUTY DO YOU ASK OF ME NOW?”
The Allbirther smiled some more, delicately stroking Thassalin all over. “It’s not a bad job. If anything, it’s the same as the last job I asked you to do. Little Arkay has gone into hiding, and he’s trying to sort himself out. I think he’ll make it this time, but I want someone to keep an eye out.”
The colossal, pink Thraki looked Sini up and down. “BUT THAT MAKES NO SENSE. I AM A LARGE BEING, A THRAKI, LARGER THAN MOST. HOW CAN I KEEP AN EYE ON SOMEONE YOU HAVE ASKED ME NOT TO SPEAK TO?”
“I am well aware you can make yourself very small. That being said, I need someone that is as immortal as we are, but that Arkay isn’t really aware of. Portalia is a busier planet, but there is a Thraki population and plenty of wilderness areas you can hide in if you don’t want to join your pseudo-kin.”
“I… STILL DO NOT UNDERSTAND? HOW CAN I WATCH OVER THE THANTOEPHERON?”
“Firstly, don’t call Arkay that. Secondly-”
“BUT THAT IS WHAT HE IS. HE WHO HAS BROUGHT DEATH. HE WHO HAS CONSUMED WORLDS, WHO HAS TORN THE FABRIC OF REALITY AND WHO HAS THE BLOOD OF ZONTANIANS ON HIS HANDS.”
Sini tutted. “Arkay isn’t really aware of any of that. He’s trying to remember who he was, he’s trying to break free and be his own person again. The last thing he needs right now is to be reminded of the fact that he’s killed multiple universes and multiple Life Goddesses. I just need you to be an early warning system, in case Epani or Kairos get too close. You can sense our presence more quickly than anyone else apart from Arkay can, but Arkay’s distracted right now.”
“CAN I TALK TO HIM?” Thassalin asked. “I WOULD LIKE TO. I CONSIDER HIM A SAVIOUR AND A FRIEND.”
“He doesn’t remember you right now, Thassalin. When Arkay’s a bit more settled, then sure, you can approach him. But right now, my little brother needs shelter while he sorts himself out, and I don’t want to appear like I’m hanging over him.”
“BUT I WOULD… NOT BE DOING THE SAME THING?”
Sini sighed. “A little, but, well, you’re a giant pink Thraki who can turn into a tiny pink Thraki. Better you than me, Arkay’s massive, slimy, serpentine Life Goddess sister, someone who holds one of his two sets of chains, bothering him. I’ll sort out some plane tickets for you, as well as a patch of wilderness for you to build a temporary new home in, and once Arkay’s back on his feet, you can say hi and you can come back here.”
Thassalin grunted, but quickly relented. As far as he was concerned, Arkadin, Arkay, the Thantoepheron, he had saved Thassalin’s life, saved him from endless torture at the hands of a vile Corruption. This was the least Thassalin could do in return.
“VERY WELL, GREAT YISINI! I SHALL DO AS YOU ASK OF ME! I HAVE BUT ONE REQUEST THOUGH.”
“Oh?”
“I WOULD LIKE TO SNUGGLE. IT HAS BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE SNUGGLED.”
Sini went back to grinning. “Yeah, sure, why not. I’ve got some free time anyway, and you ARE very good at cuddles, especially for a weird, old Time Drake…”