“Oh, hello, you’re that Lightblade, right? Saw you at that stupid Justar party.”
Phos Astrir, codename Lightblade, one of the leaders of the Thantir, had just exited his ship, flanked by his three personal assistants. But standing before him was a stunning yellow-plated Beh’enu wearing black armour. Phos felt like he knew who this person was, but he couldn’t remember their name.
“Yes, I am Lightblade. The Tattered Navigators requested some assistance with re-homing a Beh’enlu.”
Now certain that he knew who Lightblade was, the Beh’en suddenly changed shape, back into a small, yellow being that Lightblade believed was called a Skyavok. Lightblade had no idea that Arkay, the Guardian of the Thantir, was such a competent shapeshifter.
“Thank the void!” Arkay exclaimed as he span around and started leading Phos and his companions to an area that had clearly been cordoned off. “I was getting concerned. So you know how to look after a baby Beh’en?”
“Admittedly, no. But I am in contact with a Warm, that should be able to look after the poor thing…” Lightblade paused, then glanced around, spotting a ship being worked on by two familiar faces. Short, orange and silver plated beings. But only one of them was a former member of the Phantai. The ship though, that was more worrisome.
“I assume a Warm is a nest or something?” Arkay asked. “You’re in contact with some female Beh’evok? Because all the others I’ve met don’t seem to be.”
Lightblade nodded. “I somewhat need to be in contact with them.”
“How comes?”
Lightblade didn’t answer at first. He inspected the ship quite intensely. He’d seen ships like it before, but a long time ago.
“Um… Well… The Beh’ena of the Deep Warm occasionally inform me of the status of the kids I sired. And I have sired a lot of kids.”
“Why’s that?”
“Good genetics, I assume. That’s all the Beh’ena care about.”
Lightblade found himself drawn to the ship again. He was supposed to be there for the baby, but the ship brought up painful memories.
“Are you alright?” Arkay asked, his eyes briefly glowing purple then blue. “You recognize the ship. Litvir’s telling me you’re kinda stressed by this, and Eksi and Elksia both are hinting that something’s wrong.”
“Something is wrong. The vessel that you are fixing up is from a long, long dead nest. The Golden Warm was where I was born, it’s where a lot of us older Beh’ens come from. Unlike most other Warms, they cycled out their Warm Guards on the regular, and I was one of the first. Pretty sure Shatterblade also served there for a while before he joined our ranks, he most likely grew up there too.”
Arkay had more questions, but decided to just get on with things. Currently, Galyn was looking after the baby, feeding it bottles of sweetened milk, but Kuta and Ret were hanging around as well. Arkay led Lightblade to the makeshift nursery, then knocked on the door.
“Oh, hello Arkay!” Retv beamed as he opened the door. “Oh, hello, very tall Rethan-like being!”
Lightblade eyed Ret briefly, then smiled. “Ah, another Fae. There aren’t many folks with light-based powers around here. What’s your name and codename, kid?”
Ret hesitated. “It feels weird, being called a kid when I am 52 years old. My name is Retvik Rethianos, Ret for short, codename Lightbearer. And my poten-partner here is Kuta Tieridos, codename Spiritdrainer.”
“And you two have been helping Leafblade with the baby? Despite… I assume you are both the same species as Flamebearer and Souldrainer?”
Ret nodded. “Kuta is Litvir’s twin sibling. Either way, Galyn just got the baby to go to sleep.”
Lightblade bowed slightly. “May I come in?”
“Sure, I guess.”
Lightblade did need to duck down to get into the room proper, but he went back to smiling as he spotted Galyn cradling a perfectly healthy Beh’enlu.
“Hello…” Galyn was far more anxious than the Decaylings.
“Hello, Leafblade. Good work. May I takeover?” Lightblade asked.
“Please… Itaviir has been very broken over this.”
“Understandable. The Golden Warm’s destruction was a painful event that still haunts us. We did all we could to protect that place, we lost a lot, and what remains is cold and dead. But it was not your fault, and it certainly wasn’t Shatterblade’s fault.”
“It does hurt though.”
“Of course. Many older members of the Phantai lost their homes and their mothers. But you found one of the many escape ships that the Golden Warm released in its last moments.”
Galyn sighed. “Both the Beh’ena and her other kids were all dead when the ship landed here.”
“Considering how long ago it all was, finding a single Beh’enlu, alive and well, is miraculous. And it brings us one step closer to finding all the other escape ships.”
Realizing that the two Beh’ens needed to discuss a few things, Arkay disappeared through a shadow to go and fetch Vikalos and Itaviir, while Kuta bowed and dragged Ret out of the room and away from the three Phantai Decay Lords standing outside on guard. After a few moments, Itaviir knocked on the door and stepped in. Vikalos followed and closed the door behind him.
“You’re looking both well and very stressed, Shatterblade!” Lightblade allowed himself a smile. “You do also seem to need reminding that what happened at the Golden Warm was not your fault. You left, you did your service as a Warm Guard, and you immediately rushed back to protect the Golden Warm before that Warm froze over, the same way every other former Warm Guard did.”
Itaviir sighed. “I know. I just… I just want to know if you can give this child a chance.”
“I can, yes. The Deep Warm accepts all. The Beh’enlu will grow up to be a fine Decay Lord or Divine Guardian one day. However, Shatterblade, Leafblade, before I take the child and send it to a new home, do you wish to name it?”
Immediately, the two Beh’ens turned to Vikalos, silently suggesting that he should name the child.
“Dears, I don’t even know what gender it is.”
“It is male,” Lightblade replied. “But, Firestorm, it would be an honour for you to name the Beh’enlu, if you so desire.”
Vikalos thought for a moment, then smiled. “Can I call it Ilyn?”
Lightblade smiled back. “That is a good name. May I take little Ilyn? So I can deliver him to his new home and new mother?”
“Yes, of course…”
Vikalos grabbed a bag and filled it with bottles of food, while Galyn and Itaviir wrapped up the child in a very soft blanket. Itaviir immediately seemed to feel better as he took the baby from Galyn’s hands and passed it to Lightblade.
“Thank you,” Itaviir sighed, a weight lifted from his shoulders. “Would we be able to get updates as he grows?”
“Don’t fret, we’ll be keeping in touch!” Lightblade explained. “If you found an escape ship out here, there may be more, and they may end up here. But I am very glad that you managed to save and protect this one. You three, and your little Decayling friends, you all did well. Don’t be sad, be happy that you saved a life. And I thank you for getting in touch with me, so I can deliver it to those who can raise it properly.”
Lightblade bowed, then headed off, taking his assistants with him. The Tattered Navigators headed outside too, and watched on as one of Lightblade’s assistants docked the damaged escape ship to the top of Lightblade’s ship, and the Phantai soldiers all left.
Once the coast was clear and everything settled down, both Itaviir and Galyn breathed large sighs of relief.
“You alright, my dears?” Vikalos eventually asked.
“No, not really, but I feel a bit better…” Itaviir muttered. “I am sorry for… being weird lately.”
“Apology accepted, dear!” Vikalos smiled. “Anyway, with that… mess out of our hands, do you both want to get drunk?”
“Yes, please!” Galyn gasped in exhaustion. “I want to get drunk and then sleep.”
Vikalos put his arms around his two partners. “Well, darling, that is what we should do…”