“Tenuk, Elksi! We heard explosions, is everything-”
Retvik did not have a chance to finish his sentence. Neither did he want to. What was once a fancy, gold-trimmed hall was now utterly stained by blood, brains and shards of skull. In the centre of the room was a large, shimmering sphere, which was slowly dissolving.
“Guys?” Phovos whispered, doing her best to ignore the bloody walls. “Guys are you alright?”
The sphere faded away, revealing Tenuk and Elksi, both of whom were protecting a couple of young, thropic-like children.
“They… they just… exploded…” Tenuk stuttered, keeping his arms wrapped around one of the kids. “Like… a self-destruct… thing… I couldn’t turn them all off in time…”
Retvik and Phovos both approached, weapons holstered. Phovos placed a hand on Tenuk’s cheek, lifting him to his feet. The little creature below them also stood up, shaking and shivering rather violently.
“This isn’t your fault.”
“It’s not my fault. But I wish I’d known in advance…” Tenuk sighed. Thankfully, he wasn’t completely covered in blood and brains, but the sudden shock had really rattled him. The child protected by Tenuk’s hands was speechless and clearly horrified, as was the child Elksi was protecting.
“It’s my fault,” Elksi whispered. “Couldn’t do enough. Not in time. Literal milliseconds too late. I couldn’t slow it down.”
Retvik immediately lifted Elksi back to her feet. “This is not your fault. That sadist cultist is to blame for what just happened. It-”
“These two kids just watched everyone die!” Elksi interrupted. “And now they are orphans! They have nowhere to go! They… they… I… I don’t know what to do.”
Retvik looked down at the children. Despite looking young, they were tall and slender, with silver hair and pale blue eyes. Ears like knives and their pale, almost white skin informed Retvik that they were beings not from this sector.
“This is the one time that I recommend taking them back to the Life Goddesses. They would know better than us.”
“The scariest part is that these two kids were due to have their implant ceremony…” Tenuk sighed, patting one of the kids gently on the head. “Stupid devices, I thought they were mind-controllers. Turns out that they were also suicidal devices. A self-destruct sequence, a last laugh from the… despicable Voidborn…”
“Are there any more kids around here?” Phovos asked. “We should sweep for other survivors.”
“Already did that…” Tenuk growled. “There is no one else. These were the youngest two and the only survivors overall.”
The child under Elksi’s care suddenly started crying, having been too terrified to do so beforehand. The cries turned into horrific screams, followed by the kid under Tenuk’s care joining in with the grief. However, the cries of agony abruptly stopped, as Phovos gently tapped both of them with a sedative via one of her claws. The two kids sniffed and whimpered, before sliding down to the floor and falling asleep.
“Sorry, I didn’t know what else to do…” Phovos explained herself. “We have to get them out of this hell hole.”
The others all nodded in agreement.
“Alright. Phovos, Tenuk, you take the kids back to the ship. Elksi and I will sweep this horror show and see if anything can be saved or salvage. I doubt we will find much, but maybe we can obtain some resources to look after the kids.”
Phovos lifted the two sleeping children and carried them both, one over each shoulder. “Please don’t take too long.”
“We will not be long at all. When you are back on board, if you can prep for takeoff, that would be great.”
Tenuk and Phovos both nodded, then headed off, back in the direction of their ship.
“See you in a bit, guys…”
“See you soon. Let us know if you need any help.”
“Sure…” Tenuk sniffed. “Sure thing…”