“When you said you were flying back on a ship, I… I didn’t think… uh…”
For once, Vikalos was at a loss for words. The large, simple ship was parked on the side of Save Point, on the wide, flat area meant for any ship that didn’t fit in the main parking area. Emblazoned on the side of the ship were the words Thantir One. The ship clearly wasn’t right, and, even from here, Vikalos could tell that it had been stripped of all its useful DIY ship sections, but Vikalos was amazed. And Itaviir, Galyn and Saahro were all speechless.
The engines shot down and fell silent. After a few moments, the door on the side of the ship, right next to the cockpit and navigation room, opened up, and a series of steps appeared, so the ship’s crew could get out.
Five beings exited the ship, all of them tired, but in high spirits. They filed out, one at a time, but as soon as they were all on solid ground, they were greeted by both the Thantir leaders and their fellow new Decay Lords.
“Ret!”
“Kuta!
Ignoring any and all formalities, Kuta pretty much threw themselves in Ret’s arms. Ret hugged Kuta as tightly as they could, then wiped small tears from Kuta’s eyes.
“I was so scared that I had lost you!” Kuta almost whimpered.
“It is okay. I am back now. We are together again… Together and exhausted.”
Kuta grabbed Ret’s hand. “Come with me then, I will give you a nice massage so you can sleep.”
The two new Rethan Decay Lords lumbered off, towards Kuta’s room. In the mean time, Arkay patted Kayel and Nyssi on the shoulders, hinting that they should go and relax a bit as well. Thassalin came over and put an arm around Nyssi, taking her down to the lake beach, and Kayel instantly went to the kitchen area to get something to eat. He was swiftly joined by Teekay, Kaytee, Psiksi and Eksi. Tanos though remained next to Arkay for a moment.
“You actually did steal the Thantir One!” Litvir was genuinely impressed. “How did you manage that? And how did you not crash instantly?”
Tanos shrugged. “It honestly wasn’t that hard. I just kinda… shapeshifted into Itaviir and mimicked his hand print, then turned my fingers into lock picks. But the ship… kinda flies itself, I guess? I dunno, I just vaguely recalled flying the Thantir Three and assumed it was the same for the Thantir One.”
Before Tanos could say anything more, he noticed Talok charging towards him. The little Vohra wrapped her arm around Tanos.
“Best friend Tenuk! Come with me and best friend Tahvra and big friend Akah! We have ice cream!”
Tanos glanced at Arkay. Arkay just smiled.
“Go on, go be with your friends, mister Decay Lord. Congratulations.”
Tanos smiled back, then held out his hand so Talok could take him to her other friends. Once the coast was clear, Litvir and Retvik gave Arkay a little hug, but they quickly broke off.
“Is Phovoula alright?” Arkay asked.
“She is fine. Still rather groggy, same way Elkay was when he completed his trial. But Phovos is looking after her!” Litvir smiled. “Retvik said all the right things, it seems.”
Arkay though frowned. “He did, but the exact thing we feared would happen ended up happening.”
“So… how did you get to the Thantir One anyway?” Retvik asked. “You did the same teleport thing you did to save Litvir and I in the past?”
“Yeah, I think so. But my instinctual, uncontrolled teleport waited until I was out of the range of Deathven Sector Alpha, so I didn’t break another promise. I think, at some point, I said something stupid and gave them a one-off “scream and I’ll save you” token or something. Or I made a promise to look after them, I’m not sure.”
“Are we going to have trouble with, uh, our re-acquirement of the Thantir One?” Litvir was brimming with questions too. “I mean, it is technically stolen. Or confiscated. Or something. Also, I want to know what promises you are making lately.”
Arkay tutted. “I’m not making promises now. At least, not until I work out the wording for my major promise about the Thantir overall…” Arkay paused briefly. “Actually, I think I remember the promise I made. It was a while back, just after I taught him how to do long distance shadow jumps. I said to Kayel that, the next time he was in legitimately really bad trouble, I’d rescue him, no matter what. Him about to be grabbed and hurt by Deathven falls under that category.”
“Oh..” Litvir went back to smiling. “Actually, that is a really good way to put a limit on a promise.”
“I know, but, like I said, I’m avoiding the P-word like the plague… Oh, hiya, you three! Didn’t see you standing there!”
Vikalos, Itaviir and Galyn were all oddly silent and stunned, and they’d only just approached Arkay and the ship.
“Wow. They… they really stripped down our ship…” Vikalos muttered.
“Yeah…”
Galyn was at a complete loss of actual words. However, Itaviir turned to Retvik, looking a tad confused.
“We didn’t ask for the Thantir One back, did we?”
“No, I forgot to ask. We were too busy trying to talk Deathven into giving us our Decaylings back.”
“Maybe we should have. But then again, I do still have the keys…” Itaviir thought for a moment. “I will speak to Kengana, perhaps he can help us smooth things over or something. The title deeds for the Thantir One still have mine, Vikalos’ and Galyn’s names on it.”
“Eh, we will work something out!” Litvir mused. “We always do. Worst case scenario, they just take the ship away again, I guess. However, talking about things going away, Retvik, Itaviir, I just realised, you two came back on your own. What happened to Pentaflame?”
Retvik grunted. “He said he had unfinished business in Deathven Sector Alpha, and that he wanted to talk about some things with some people. I suppose, being the leader of a mobile military Decay Lord sect, he does need to iron things out.”
Litvir was happy with that answer. “Well, alright. In the meantime, we need to celebrate the graduation of all our new Decay Lords!”
Arkay grinned in agreement. “You know what we should do? We should head to the mall, get a ton of alcohol and snacks that the food vendors can’t make, then have a right old party.”
“I would join you, but I am still a bit dizzy from the teleport back from Deathven Sector Alpha…” Retvik sighed.
“Ah, no worries. We’ll just take Litvir’s ship then, and he and I can go. Do any of you want anything while we’re gone?”
Vikalos turned to Arkay and also smiled. “Can you get us a few bottles of ice berry vodka?”
“Oh, of course. Let’s write a quick shopping list, then we can head off. And maybe I’ll get a little treat for the new Decay Lords too…”