Arkay floated above the settlement, watching smoke plume into the air and mix into the clouds. One of the suns on this world was setting. The other had already set. The mixture of sunset and smoke had caused a weird, blue and red gradient to form in the sky.
“Oh well.”
The Whenvern was hovering around, keeping Arkay company. They had discovered a group of A’Vatas trying to rip a hole in space-time, in order to free Stasis. They hadn’t succeeded of course. Unfortunately, rather than surrendering like any sane sort of being, they decided to strap themselves to their reality-bending machines and blown themselves up. Normally that wouldn’t have been a problem, but they’d also destroyed a village in the process, killing three hundred mortals. Many of which had recently had kids.
“Don’t!” Arkay growled. “Don’t get me started. Today, for me at least, is supposed to be a day of peace and I just caused the deaths of three hundred innocent beings. There’s a reason why Kinisis deals with the accidental deaths… I don’t like the guilt.”
Kairos watched as the Veth Prime flew down towards the village. He wanted to pull the bodies out of the rubble, look for survivors and protect those who were left. But Death wasn’t letting him. She had specifically told Arkay not to interfere. No miracles. Not while Stasis was in trouble.
“You blame yourself.”
“Of course I do.”
“You do this a lot.”
“It hurts, Kairos. I was mortal nine months ago. The pain of death still lingers in me.”
Kairos fluttered around then landed next to Arkay. The Veth was wandering around the remains of the village. There were no survivors. He couldn’t sense them. At least they would all get to Kinigi swiftly. And at least all the A’Vatas were gone. Dead. Good riddance.
“I am sorry you are in pain, little one.”
Kairos’s sudden apology caught Arkay by surprise.
“It’s… Alright…” Arkay sighed. “Sorry, I’m not very good at this.”
“Not yet. You will be!” Kairos put an arm around Arkay. “This is hard right now. It will be easier soon. When this silly problem blows over. When the Corruptions stop bothering us. When it all settles down and you can do your job normally…” The Whenvern removed his arm then started rummaging around in what looked like a pouch in his stomach. Arkay never realised he had a Banikan-like kangaroo pouch.
“That…”
“Do not judge, Veth. Even Dragon Gods of Time need pockets!”
“I’m not judging…”
Arkay tutted, then wandered off. Admittedly, Kairos hadn’t been too awful. He had been a pain in the backside first, with no idea how to be subtle and accurate. He was an immensely powerful ally though, and quite a few times, Kairls had dealt with Deitic uprisings quickler than Arkay could get to them. And thankfully, after the initial two conversations, the Whenvern had dropped the whole issue of him being Arkay’s relative and all that. He just seemed like a much nicer personification of part od the universe compared to Kinisis and Stasis. Genuinely caring and far less rapey.
“Aha! I find it!”
Even Kairos’s inability to speak in the past tense was rather endearing.
“You found what?” Arkay asked.
“A present. For you.”
“You don’t need to get me presents,” Arkay tutted.
Kairos tutted. “Nonsense. Is Macromera today. I remember, it is a holiday for you and some of my many kids. I already send presents to my beloved Time Drakes who are celebrating right now. You celebrate too.”
Arkay smiled. Really, the first day of Macromera was the day of giving gifts, but he was surprised that Kairos even remembered, let alone got him anything.
Eventually, Kairos pulled something shiny out of his pouch. He handed it to Arkay. It was a two metre long staff, with a diamond spear on the end.
“Wow… Thank you…” Arkay wasn’t really sure what to say. A button on the spear’s handle allowed it to expand and contract.
“No worries!” Kairos grinned. “It is just a little gift. For my little friend.”
“I didn’t get you a gift though…” Arkay sighed.
“The friendship of the Veth Prime is enough for me!” Kairos laughed as he flew off into the sunset. “I hope the rest of your day is happier!”