“I think they are trying to throw off my branches…”
No one had really said anything for a while. While most of the Decaylings were asleep, both Nyssi and Thassalin had decided to join Ret and Kuta on the beach. The two Rethans had been somewhat camping outside, spending their time eating s’mores, and Nyssi fancied joining them. However, Thassalin’s utterances seemed rather odd.
“What do you mean?” Nyssi asked.
“They’ve delayed our trial. Pushed it back. Moved it forward. Pushed it back again. And a constant reshuffling of what the trial will be. For a moment, I only saw one particular trial, and now I have branches for four.”
Kuta tutted. “I think they are aware that you are a Time Drake, Thassalin. They are messing things up to throw you off.”
“Kyr Elksia is a Time Drake too, did they mess her around?” Ret added. “Her time stuff is different though.”
Thassalin nodded. “You are absolutely right. I did ask Elksia about her trial, she said they did some last-minute swaps. Elksia can’t see as far ahead as I can, but she can see some things insanely quickly and accurately.”
“Is there a difference between your time powers and Elksia’s time powers?” Nyssi was curious now.
“There is a LOT of difference, actually!” Thassalin smiled a bit. “While I can’t describe all our differences, I can explain the basics, if you wish.”
“Would be a nice distraction…” Kuta muttered. “The more they mess us around, the more unsettled I get.”
“Are you scared, Kuta?” Nyssi was curious now.
“Not scared. Concerned…” Kuta paused briefly. “Well, there is a little fear in there as well. I mostly just fear that the bastards will mess with you four.”
Nyssi wasn’t that bothered. “Whatever happens to us four, whatever happens to all eight of us, it happens anyway. We’re in it together. But I’m really not that worried. I’ll only start to worry when Thassalin starts to worry. And he’s a shapeshifting dragon god of time, so he knows best.”
“I appreciate the comment, Nyssi.”
Nyssi grinned. “You’re awesome, Thassalin. You silly pinkie.”
“Well, we all are, but yes. Admittedly, from glancing, I think I might end up in my Thraki form than my current Temthan form though.”
“So you think we will fight something large?” Ret asked. “And is Kyr Elksia like… a faster version of Time Drake?”
Thassalin nodded. “There is a branch where we do fight something big, yes. As for your question about Elksia, you are technically right. With my branches, I peer further into the future, but I am less accurate with my estimations. Now I am not contained inside a universe, my power has increased, but I am seeing a lot more branches. This trial in particular, because they are all undecided, I am heavily relying on less accurate predictions. Elksia though, she sees things with far more accuracy but for a much shorter duration.”
“How short?” Nyssi asked.
“She is only accurate within about five minutes, but Elksia is insanely accurate at times within ten seconds.”
“Huh…” Nyssi trailed off. “This time stuff is cool but weird. I’m actually kinda thankful that we’re not complete mimics the way Arkay and Elkay are, because it means we can’t use the weird powers.”
“Actually, I do wonder that, perhaps if you four worked in tandem, or somehow synchronized your actions, maybe you could mimic other powers.”
“I… do not want to think about that…” Ret admitted. “It would all be far, far too much.”
Nyssi nodded in agreement. “Plus, as individuals, we don’t want to be considered as Synaisthyns the way Arkay is.”
“Why not?” Thassalin asked.
Nyssi peered around, making sure no one was listening. “Well, like, have you seen Elkay? According to Litvir, the Deathven folks tried to seal him inside a glass canister, for basically forever. Just because he’s a Synaisthyn. And they tried to kill Arkay during HIS Decay Lord Trial, to the point that the intended solution for their Trial was that two of them had to die to save the third one.”
Ret glanced at Kuta. “Is that…”
“It is true, unfortunately…” Kuta sighed. “That is the main reason why I have been concerned. I believe Talok and I will be fine, and Thassalin here is powerful enough to save himself. They might imprison you four, and they might flat out kill Phovos because she is a Voidborn.”
“You worry too much, Kuta!” Thassalin smiled. “You have a Time Drake among you.”
“I guess…” Kuta frowned. “But I do not want us to be overly reliant on you. You have said so yourself, the branches are constantly changing, you cannot predict these things with certainty. Not until we are put into the Trial.”
Ret grabbed Kuta’s hand and held it tightly. “You are right, my dear, but worrying will not make much difference.”
“I know, I know. But I feel I need to protect you all.”
“That is normally my job though!” Ret exclaimed. “We have to protect each other though. And we will.”
Thassalin nodded, but suddenly paused, turning around and facing where the main offices were. After a few seconds, something heavy was thrown through one of the glass windows. They all heard some brief arguing, followed by silence and a whispered apology. After that cacophony, Arkay floated outside, fixed the hole in the glass, then poofed away.
“What was that about?” Ret asked.
Kuta, Nyssi and Thassalin didn’t answer at first. Nyssi glanced at Kuta.
“Hm, your twin seems a tad angry. Not as angry as old Retvik is though.”
“I guessed as much, but why are they angry?”
Thassalin sighed. “After all that, it seems like the Deathven folks have pushed our trial back again. Two evs, it seems. On the plus side, I am seeing better branches and can more easily snip bad branches, and we can also do some more training. But on the negative side, I don’t see as many branches overall, and the tips of them are… a little blurry.”
“That sounds bad…” Ret muttered.
“Not the worst, but best not to get too cocky…” Thassalin paused some more. “Nyssi, Ret, can anyone on your little team fly a ship?”
“That’s a weird question!” Nyssi blinked. “Why are you asking?”
“I am getting some… vague branches that we might need someone to fly a ship.”
Ret shrugged. “Tenuk can fly. He had a pilot’s licence when he was mortal. And old creepy Tenuk taught him the basics on the little Thantir Three ship.”
Thassalin went back to smiling, then climbed up to his feet. “Alright, good to know. Got some new branches I need to check through, but I think we’ll be fine. Either way, Ret, Kuta, I am going to give you both some space now. Nyssi, would you like to join me for ice cream?”
Nyssi grinned then got up too. “Hah, yeah, sure! See you armour boys later!”