For the last three hours, Retvik had sat in silence while Galyn had peered through various observation tools, watching the movements of a handful of Voidborn ships. Due to the vast distances within the Space Between Universes, it was possible to work out a ship’s location of origin and its potential destination, by simply measuring the distances in which a ship moved over a certain amount of time. This did however require rather careful study.
In all honesty, Retvik was glad that he didn’t have to do this sort of thing. It looked very boring.
“Can you pass me some paper please?”
Galyn’s sudden words made Retvik jump.
“Oh, yes, of course…” Retvik quickly rummaged through a nearby drawer, then handed Galyn what he requested. “Do we have to… stay so insanely quiet?”
“No…” Galyn grunted. “I apologise, I did somewhat forget you were there. You may talk, if you wish.”
Retvik breathed a sigh of relief, glad he could actually, well, do something. “May I ask you a few questions about yourself? You have asked a lot about me, but I know nothing about you.”
The Decay Lord didn’t respond at first. He was busy watching the ships again. Several whispered curses escaped from between Galyn’s sharpened teeth, as he realised that the Voidborn ships knew they were being watched. All of a sudden, their movements became incredibly erratic, before disappearing completely, cloaked in a shimmering black invisibility field.
“Well, this was a complete failure…” Galyn grunted as he kicked his chair back, tutting loudly. “They worked out what we were doing and scrambled. Aside from general direction, I have nothing…”
“You scared them off at least.” Retvik shrugged, trying to find some sort of positive.
“Normally I would agree, but Voidborns are brazen beings, if they do not want to be tracked, then there is a reason… I guess we will just have to find traces elsewhere…” Galyn grunted some more, then turned back to Retvik. “You had questions you wanted to ask?”
Retvik nodded. “I do. I wish to know more about you. And I assume you wish to know a little about me as well?”
“Hm. I do not think I need to know any more about your chaotic mortal life and the fact that the main reason you are here is because your resident death god had a crush on you. But you may ask me some questions.”
“That was harsh…” Retvik muttered.
“Harsh but true, and not your fault.”
“You say that as if it is a bad thing? Is it a bad thing?” Retvik blinked, surprised by Galyn’s response.
Galyn sighed. “I find it… annoyingly relatable.”
“How… so?”
The Decay Lord closed his eyes, sighing some more. “I was forced into being a deity because another deity loved me. I was the leader of a military outpost on the edge of Titanai territory and a loyal worshipper of Zay, the Goddess of Life and Love.”
“Oh no…” Retvik gasped. “I… I think I know where this is going…”
“Oh, do you?” Galyn seemed offended. “The Time Dragon killed my family so Zay could have her way with me. And when Zay grew bored of me, the Time Dragon turned me into his loyal, mind-controlled death god, to serve by his side!”
Retvik took a deep breath, knowing that he was going to regret his next few words. “That is exactly what I thought had happened. The gods tricked you and made you into their puppet. You should have a chat with Arkay, get your feelings out together.”
“You mock my past?” Galyn sneered.
“No?” Retvik frowned. “It just seems that… most Decay Lords have similar origins.
Galyn’s sneers turned into grunts as he calmed himself down. “I guess you are right… But it is up to us Decay Lords to be better beings than those who have hurt us…”
“Really?” Retvik asked.
“Well…” Galyn smiled, just a little. “Not all of the time… Revenge is occasionally on the agenda as well…”