Litvir tutted to himself as he got up out of his cosy office chair and made his way out of the main administrative building and down towards the rather empty parking area. Savepoint was quiet right now, it was close to “night time”, so things were winding down for the day, but Litvir had been sent a telepathic message from Eksi, asking him to check out the one ship that had just landed.
The ship was small and metallic, ill-fitting for the person inside it. The lone occupant was large and metallic and seemed to be waiting for Litvir to approach. So that was what Litvir did. He went to what looked like an entrance and knocked on it.
“Hello.”
The door creaked open. A very large, armour-covered being peered through the gap.
“You do not have to hide, you know.”
“Must. Not safe.”
That cold, echoey voice belonged to Kahlos, better known by most as Veilbreaker, and one of the Ventra Gales. Kahlos was a Truthtalker, a being who could only speak in truths. But Kahlos was also a male Truthtalker, the direct descendent of the original Truthtalker, and that meant Kahlos also had powerful telepathy, which meant he would occasionally also force others to speak truths, or at least accidentally reveal them.
“You are at Savepoint, it is somewhat safe here.”
“Not safe out there.”
Litvir sighed some more. “Kahlos, you need help. I want to help you.”
“I know. Am… concerned.”
That was a very long pause. Kahlos was more than concerned. He was trying to lie and was unable to do so.
“What happened?” Litvir decided to be blunt. “You are here for a reason. You normally never leave the Ventra Expanse.”
Kahlos sighed. His Truthtalking ways were working against him. “I… I was attacked.”
The large being stepped back, then opened the door properly. His arm was wrapped up in fabric, but that fabric was utterly soaked in black blood. So much blood that it made Litvir very concerned.
“Why are you hiding that? Come with me, now, and we will fix you up!”
Litvir tugged at Kahlos’s uninjured arm, pulling him out of the ship and taking him towards the nearest free room for patients. As he did so, he telepathically called for Phovos and Arkay, both of whom swiftly appeared. Phovos had also brought Phovoula along, and Phovoula’s presence confused Kahlos.
“Voidborn… But… but pure…” Kahlos muttered as he inspected Phovoula.
“Not in the slightest.”
“Better than most…” Kahlos grunted.
“Alright, what the fuck happened to you?” Phovos butted in as she removed the bandages and inspected the injury.
“Was alone. Was attacked. In own home…” Kahlos slowly admitted.
“By who?” Arkay asked. “Because that looks like a wound made by someone who knows how to attack a, uh, whatever your species is called. They’ve tried to cut underneath your metal armour plating.”
Phovos nodded in agreement. Phovoula took the soaked bandages away then handed Phovos a knife and some fresh bandages. Phovos quickly got to work by using her own blood to heal Kahlos’s wounds, and she wrapped everything back up. Kahlos was genuinely surprised at how fast Phovos had fixed him up.
“Uh… Thank you…”
“No worries!” Phovos tutted. “Now, you gonna tell us what happened?”
Kahlos hesitated some more.
“Friend, we will not insult you or anything!” Litvir tried to be reassuring. “We want to help you.”
“We just helped you!” Arkay added. “But also, clearly something is wrong because you came here on your own and you didn’t go to your Trio buddies.”
Kahlos closed his eyes. He was clearly in a little pain still. But it was more emotional pain than anything else.
“Cannot go to Thyel. Thyel busy with new Warmth. Do not want to go to Zephyr. I fear she will be hurt.”
“I mean, I get that?” Arkay shrugged. “But they’re your friends, they wouldn’t want you to be hurt. And you are clearly in pain as well. And considering how you somewhat skulked here? You’ve been attacked a few times. This attempt was just more successful than usual.”
Kahlos glanced down at his arm, but remained silent.
“My dear, Kahlos, we are allies,” Litvir put on his nice voice. “We are friends. You and your fellow Ventra are welcome here whenever you want. And since we are your friends, we are concerned about you. You have not had problems like this in the past.”
“I have!” Kahlos suddenly grunted. “He wants me dead. Always wanted me dead. Occasionally, he sends someone to try. Normally once every five year-strings. Now I get attacked more. Last 4-ev has been very bad. To catch me off-guard. Wants me dead more now. As he thinks I am a threat to him. Am not a threat. Just want to be me.”
Arkay put a hand on Kahlos’s shoulder. “I get that, mate. We both have had fake family who hates us for no reason. But that’s why we should choose our own families.”
“I did. I chose Thyel and Zephyr. But I cannot allow them to be hurt. And I cannot allow you to be hurt. Because of me.”
“Nope, not having that!” Phovos butted in. “You have your leave-each-other-alone rules in the Ventra Expanse, but you’re in Thantir territories right now! And us Thantir are protectors and guardians! So you’re gonna stay here for a few days, until things have cleared up a bit.”
“You may get hurt though.”
Litvir shook his head. “We are an official sect, backed by Deathven Himself, we are close allies to the Pentathax and we are purifiers. Your asshole of a parental figure is, as I said, an asshole, but he is not stupid. He will not attack us to get at you. And when he becomes aware that we will protect you, he will back down. You may stay here as long as you like, and I can call Thyel and Zephyr as well, if you wish.”
“You… you will do that?” Kahlos asked.
“Of course!” Phovos tutted angrily. “In fact, Phovoula and I are going to take you to the little cabin and you can rest there for a bit while we keep you safe!”
Kahlos didn’t have a chance to argue. The two Raptors pulled Kahlos to his feet, then dragged him off.
After a long silence, Litvir and Arkay glanced at each other.
“You think this has anything to do with the Truthtalker murders old old Elksia mentioned to me?” Arkay eventually asked.
“Perhaps. We ought to keep an eye and an ear out. And perhaps maybe pass this on to Deathven if needed.”
“How comes?”
“We are powerful, yes, but we are small too. The Justar are a large organisation, and I do not want to take any risks.”
“Alright…” Arkay sighed. “I’ll pop Deathven a message or something and we’ll go from there…”