“Is it just me, or is that a very, very large Thraki?”
Psikay had been enjoying his current duties of looking after a sleeping death god, but right now, he was quite concerned. Sure, his team of K-Class soldiers, working alongside a team of Ksithans, a mini-tribe of Banikans and half a Rethan Legion hadn’t done much aside from ward off random tourists, scare away scavenger beasts and occasionally tell a wandering Banikan hunter to piss off, but right now, he and the heavily armoured Banikan guard known as Kt’Ara didn’t really know what to make of the colossal being that was circling above them.
“Very large Thraki. Very ancient Thraki.”
“Do you think it’s a problem?” Psikay asked. “I mean, it’s big and scary. Sure, you’re big and scary, but you’re also normal Banikan-sized and you can’t do fly-by fire bombings.”
Kt’Ara shrugged. She wasn’t really used to dealing with other beings, she normally only worked alongside other Banikans, and the last few days had been pretty new to her.
“We should talk to it. But it is harmless currently.”
“You think?” Psikay exclaimed. “Like, if it decides to fly by and try and set the dead bastard deity on fire, what do we do about that?”
Kt’Ara was about to shrug again, but Psikay’s words caught her off guard. Kt’Ara didn’t know that much about Skyavok, but she was aware that former Phantasma soldiers like Psikay were worshippers of Sotanaht, the God of Death. The fact that Psikay had blatantly called the God of Death a “dead bastard deity” seemed… weird.
“You blaspheme your own dark lord?” Kt’Ara snarled ever so slightly.
“I mean, yeah, a little?” Psikay didn’t fear the Banikan in the slightest. He had always been a powerful shadowjumper and didn’t fear much at all these days. “Our Silent Blade is cold and dead and all that. He’s hardly been present. And, considering the lovely conversations I’ve had with General Kuta, I don’t think Arkay would mind if I called him a bastard. He’d probably laugh, actually.”
Kt’Ara grunted. “It bothers me.”
“Then you should suck it up and not get offended on behalf of other people! Especially not on behalf of comatose death god bastards who get insulted and cursed upon every single day anyway due to the duties they carry out because no one else has the strength and dedication to do so!” Psikay tutted. “Anyway, that Thraki. Friend or foe? Or is it even a Thraki? We ARE on an abandon-world after all.”
The Thraki circled some more. It was large enough to be casting shadows as it flew in the path of the scorching midday sun. Psikay was genuinely concerned by how big it was. Sure, planet Kolasi’s gravity was slightly weaker than most (although it was about the same as the Void Lands where Psikay had grown up) but the Thraki was so large that it shouldn’t have been capable of flight in the first place. There were theories that the Thraki did use some sort of air-based magic, gifted to them from the Whenvern Himself, to be able to fly far better than they had any right to, but still, this Thraki was huge.
Nonsensically large.
“Should we call the Life Serpent?” a voice behind Psikay and Kt’Ara asked. Kt’Ara glanced over her shoulder and snorted at the approaching Ksithan.
“I think Ioz would be unhappy with us. We summon her? For a single Thraki?”
Psikay frowned a little. “You call Arkay Sotanaht, which is a badass name, but you call the Allbirther Ioz?”
Kt’Ara nodded. “Yes. Is that a problem?”
“Sounds a lot like the Shadowtongue word ‘Ios’ which means ‘virus’.”
“That is a coincidence.”
Anthoula tutted. “Whatever. It’s a Thraki. The Thraki serve the Time Dragon. It could be some sort of spy or something. Might be here to hurt us or whatever. I don’t trust it in the slightest.”
“We should just, like, speak to it or something then!” Psikay exclaimed. “It’s a Thraki. They’re just as smart as you and me. They can be reasoned with.”
Anthoula and Kt’Ara glared at Psikay. Psikay tutted, then leaped into a nearby shadow, reappearing at the top of one of the nearby guard towers and making the Rethan standing there jump in surprise. He then proceeded to shout at the Thraki as loud as his little lungs allowed him to.
“HEY! YOU! FLYING LIZARD! CAN WE TALK?”
The Thraki seemed to immediately take notice of Psikay’s call, and it changed direction, beginning to circle the guard tower. Psikay quickly noticed that 1. the Thraki was getting way too close and 2. it was most likely too large to actually land on the tower, so he and the Rethan guard swiftly evacuated. Just in time too, since the Thraki landed on the roof of the guard tower and proceeded to completely crush it beneath the Thraki’s weight.
“By the Light, that was close…” the Rethan soldier muttered as they helped Psikay to his feet. Psikay thanked the Rethan and dismissed them, before approaching what was very clearly not a normal Thraki. It was huge, bright pink with black and purple spots and incredibly smooth, with an obnoxiously long tail.
The Thraki took a moment to sort itself out and climb off the remains of the guard tower, before turning to Psikay, Kt’Ara and Anthoula.
“HELLO!” the Thraki shouted.
“Uh, hi?” Psikay waved awkwardly. “What are you doing here? This is a restricted area. All non-authorized beings are not permitted within 200m of the sleeping death god.”
The Thraki stood up straight. “I AM THASSALIN, THE SINIC THRAKI. MY DARLING YISINI SENT ME HERE TO ASSIST YOU LITTLE ONES IN THE PROTECTION OF MY OLD FRIEND, THE THANTOEPHERON.”
“I think he means the Death Wolf…” Anthoula muttered. “So, you know Sini, the Life Serpent?”
Thassalin nodded. “I DO, YES. I HAVE KNOWN HER FOR MANY, MANY A DECADE. SHE TOOK ME IN WHEN I LOST MY HOME, WHEN THE THANTOEPHERON SAVED ME FROM MY CORRUPTED MOTHER. I OWE MYSELF TO BOTH YISINI AND ARKADIN, AND THUS WISH TO ASSIST YOU IN KEEPING MY FALLEN SAVIOUR SAFE.”
“So, uh, you’re here to help?” Anthoula asked, before pausing, realizing that Thassalin had paused and was looking past them, at the approaching Rethan General.
“DECAYLING SPIRITDRAINER, FRIEND OF THE THANTOEPHERON, YOU ARE ALSO FROM THE OUTSIDE.”
Kuta blinked in confusion. They had never seen this colossal Thraki before, and it had just called Kuta a name that only two other beings were supposed to know. Worse, it had used a word that genuinely scared Kuta.
“I… do not know what you mean by that… Also, Arkay is not the Thantoepheron, he is the Thantophor, the Lord of Decay.”
“TO THEM, YES. NOT TO US. WE HAVE SEEN IT. THE ENDER OF LIFE GODDESSES. THE ENDER OF UNIVERSES.”
Kuta crossed their arms and growled, hiding their discomfort and concern. “Whatever. Are you here to help or not? Because if you are here to cause problems, we will have to use force. Our duty here is to protect Arkay while he sleeps, and we will not allow you to get in our way.”
Thassalin lifted himself up, opening his colossal wings. From tip to tip, his wingspan was about 12m across. While this did intimidate Anthoula somewhat, Psikay, Kuta and Kt’Ara all remained calm.
“I AM HERE TO HELP. I SWEAR. I OWE THE THANTOEPHERON MY LIFE. THE LEAST I CAN DO IS OFFER MY ASSISTANCE WHILE HE SLEEPS.”
Kt’Ara and Psikay both seemed convinced, but they could tell that Kuta was still uncertain. But Kuta ended up relenting, especially since Thassalin seemed to know things he shouldn’t.
“Very well!” Psikay beamed. “You can help out! We’re constantly having to scare off vultures and other scavengers that want to peck at Arkay’s wrists. If you can keep them at bay, that’d be great.”
Thassalin lowered his head, bowing somewhat. “YOUR DEMAND IS MY COMMAND. I SHALL DO AS YOU ASK.”
“Thanks, mate!” Psikay smiled.
The colossal Thraki smiled back, then flapped his massive wings, taking off into the air. He returned to his circling patterns, soaring above the sleeping death god.
Satisfied, Psikay turned to his friends. “See, all we had to do was ask. Speaking of asking, Kuta, why did that giant Thraki call you Spiritdrainer?”
Kuta frowned. “I do not know. No one has ever called me that before. Now, please, excuse me, I need to get back to sleep for my shift later.”
Kt’Ara, Psikay and Anthoula watched as Kuta marched off.
“They just lied…” Kt’Ara growled.
Psikay seemed unbothered. “Yeah, probably. But Kuta is a former special ops assassin, same way I used to be. They’re allowed to have secrets. Anyway, I’m fucking melting, I’m going to go and get a drink. Later, bitches!”
Anthoula growled. She considered whacking Psikay around the head, but he shadowjumped away before she could do anything.
“Why the fuck is that Skyan cunt in charge?”
Kt’Ara shrugged. “The shadow beast is good at what he does. I can see why Ioz chose him to assist our Sotanaht…”
“He’s still a cunt though.”
“Indeed.”