The Life Oasis was completely empty. Well, almost. Arkay had wandered in, expecting at least a handful of busty deities chatting to each other, but there was no one around at all. The line of hotel rooms along one wall were all open and unoccupied. The poolside bar was blank. Everything seemed… almost abandoned. But at the same time, everything was perfectly maintained.
And, thankfully, self-serving. This pleased Arkay. It meant he didn’t have to speak to anyone. But still, the emptiness of the place was somewhat eerie. This was compounded by the fact that the mall next door, despite being in its off-season, still created some noise.
As Arkay wandered around, he spotted the only other being present. A Time Drake was floating in the pool, staring upwards into the darkness. This was somewhat surprising, because Time Drakes were normally completely unassociated with other types of periuniversal entities.
Something snapped under Arkay’s foot. A small twig from the only plant present, a colossal, pink blossoming tree. Immediately, the Time Drake in the pool turned its attention to the intruding Decayling.
“Oh. Sorry.”
“Oh. Another being.”
Arkay stepped back as the smooth yet scaly dragon flipped over, splashing water across the pool’s edge, then swam to greet Arkay. This being was definitely very dragon-y, with black skin and scales, and golden scutes running down its chest, as well as various gold horns and an arrowhead-shaped tail ornament. Its eyes glowed with a golden sheen, occasionally flickering to yellow or orange.
“Hiya. I’m Sahnnhas, part Time Drake, part Voidborn. What sort of unholy godly combination are you?”
“Hah, almost glad you asked!” Arkay smiled, trying to hide his surprise. “My name is Arkay, I’m a Decay Lord.”
“If you were just a Decay Lord…”
“I know, I’d be out there if I was a pure Decay Lord…” Arkay’s smile faded. “I am… a bit of everything and no one is sure. But let’s just say I’m part Life Goddess…”
Rather than act surprised, Sahnnhas shrugged. “Oh well. Nothing we can’t help. Your buddies dropped you off here? It’s fine though, we get to chill out here. Want to join me in the pool?”
Arkay shrugged and made his way to the water’s edge, dipping his feet in. The water was almost perfectly warm. More like a jacuzzi than a pool.
“I take it you end up here often?” Arkay asked, relaxing a little. He looked Sahnnhas up and down, realising that he was actually a pretty nice dragon. Most dragons were normally rather gruff and aggressive, but Sahnnhas had no such aura about him.
“Oh, definitely. We stop back here on the regular to refill and so we all get a break from each other. Us Time Drakes can be quite territorial at times.”
“Yeah, I can see that…” Arkay muttered. “You are all also dragons for some reason.”
Sahnnhas laughed as he pulled himself out of the pool and sat next to Arkay. “That’s the strangest thing! We are just all, well, dragons. Or draconic in some way. Well, everyone except for me. My… creators had a weird sense of humor. Now though, I just hang around with other dragons, occasionally fixing time-related anomalies. Very curious, right?”
“Yeah…” Arkay lacked any real answer. “Still though, you seem nice.”
“Oh, really?” Sahnnhas’s tone changed a bit. “You are not… put off by my being a Time Drake and a Voidborn?”
“I’m part Life Goddess. Why would I be put off?”
“True…” Sahnnhas fell silent, before perking up again. “Anyway, wanna get something to eat? I know exactly what’s the tastiest around here!”
Arkay shrugged. “Sure. I was getting hungry anyway…”