He had received a multitude of warnings over the last two hours, but even if he’d had a year’s warning in advance, there was no way Rethais could have been prepared for the mess he was currently looking at. Like the 300 other free-minded Rethavok, beings who were unable to be directly mind-controlled by the new Rethan High General (and known deity) Kenon, Rethais was standing on the walls of the small town of Thre-Hertany, watching somewhat helplessly as 400 well-armoured and certainly mind-controlled Rethans marched towards the entrance to the town.
All of whom were being led proudly by High General Kenon himself.
How they had arrived here so quickly and what they were doing, no one was sure. Apart from a brief message from the Skyavok, claiming that a ship had pasted at near light speed through their region of space, the High General had clearly been using his godly powers to do otherwise impossible things. Even the armour that these four hundred Rethavok were all wearing seemed somewhat impossible, perfectly black, built with decorative gold plates and antlers to match their leader and yet somehow covering almost their entire bodies, potentially robbing them of their senses of sight and hearing. Yet there they were, marching in unison, stomping over the boggy, rocky plains that surrounded the town.
As they approached the entrance though, the army came to a silent halt. The High General, the Void Lord, stepped forward, waiting to be acknowledged.
A multitude of glances were thrown towards Rethais. He was essentially the leader here. While he had been usurped by the Void Lord, the free-minded Rethavok here still considered him in charge, perhaps hoping that one day, Rethais would become High General once more.
With a long, drawn out sigh, Rethais waved his hand, calling over two of his most trusted friends, and slowly left the town wall, heading towards the city gate. Alongside his brother Retvik and his long-time friend Elkay, the three Rethans each put on whatever armour the could find, grabbed a gun-staff each and met the Void Lord and his army.
At ground level, everything seemed much more eerie. While Rethais was willing to look death in the eye and potentially be killed by this small legion of soldiers, what truly bothered him was how he couldn’t hear any of them. None of them were speaking. They were barely even breathing. There were only three sounds here: that of the wind, that of passing spycrafts that had been watching Rethais’s little town and that of the High General, tutting impatiently.
“You took your time, little one…” the Void Lord sneered. “And to think that you waste my time, especially when I have such a wonderful ultimatum to deliver to you.”
“What do you want, Voidborn?” Rethais shouted upwards, aware that Kenon towered over him and had already soundly defeated him once. “We have removed ourselves from your domain, we remain out of your sight and out of your reach, yet you have come here to provoke us yet again, when all we want to do is live in peace with our thoughts intact.”
“And I shall allow you to continue to do so!” Kenon seemed almost too happy. “In fact, I have bought three hundred and two Rethavok here, that I am willing to… offer to you. In exchange for two of your own.”
The Void Lord leaned down, very clearly not looking at Rethais, but to his side, where Retvik was standing.
“I want two beings. One of them you have here already. Retvik Rethianos, a being of many titles, but most notably… Flamebearer…”
Rethais tutted, trying to draw attention away from Retvik, who was visibly suddenly nervous from being called out by the Void Lord. “What do you want from him?”
“Oh, nothing much. Your brother and his little electric cohort, the Rethan known as Trismit Lenian, they both have… unique talents that I wish to put to good use…” Kenon turned back to Rethais. “My offer is incredibly simple. I free these three hundred and two Rethavok and you give me Retvik Rethianos and Trismit Lenian. I shall then leave you and your six hundred fellow Rethavok to love peacefully here in the district of Hertany as an independent, non-Rethan state, outside of my rule.”
“How can we trust that you will remain true to your word?” Elkay immediately interjected. “After all, we all know that deities cannot be trusted, no vok can be trusted!”
Kenon continued to smile, admiring this rather strange-looking Rethan by Rethais’s side. He then snapped his fingers, summoning a sheet of paper out of thin air. This paper was almost as eloquent and gilded as Kenon himself, with a gold leaf trim and dark, fresh ink.
“We shall have it on paper. Should one of us breach this contract, then, well, the other will have the legal means to sue in an interspecial court of law!” Kenon signed his name at the bottom of the paper, then handed it to Rethais. “You have twenty four hours to make your decision. Failure to do so will lead me to taking these three hundred and two Rethavok away, and using the remaining 98 elite soldiers I have here to burn your fields. Understood?”
“Very well…” Rethais sighed, knowing he couldn’t do much at all about this situation. The three free-minded Rethavok slowly turned around and headed back inside, taking the contract with them.
“Be quick, Rethais!” Kenon taunted them as the town gate snapped shut. “I have forever to wait, but you certainly do not!”