The blade cut deep. Deeper and deeper. Down into flesh and muscle. Deeper still. Into eyes and nostrils. Through softened, diseased bone. And still deeper. Into vital organs. Through a sickened mind.
The rage-fuelled stabs continued, seemingly without end. The owner of the blackened, holy blade had no real idea what was going on. All they knew was that the colossal beast had harmed their child, had harmed their friends and was a threat. And they would not, could not stop until that threat was no more.
There was assistance to be had. The monster was being frozen, buried alive inside liquid diamond, its body turned into unchanging, immutable crystal. But the defensive rage continued, even as the holy blade clattered against solid, crystallised flesh, unable to cut further. It wasn’t until a familiar voice called out, cutting through that protective, vengeful state.
“Dada! Stop! You stopped the big bad dragon! You can stop now!”
Relkir paused and stared at their hands. They were soaked with silver blood, but toxic black glints could be seen. The dagger they were holding, the Phantasma blade they always carried, that had been blessed by the old Oath Keeper, shimmered in an unnatural way. Or was that shimmer coming from the blood? Or Relkir’s skin? They didn’t know. They didn’t have time to know.
Something surged through Relkir’s body. Shiny blue energies that Relkir couldn’t comprehend. The sheer rush of power made Relkir lose balance. They were thrown… somehow. Again, Relkir wasn’t sure how. But they never hit the ground. Not that they could tell, because the power surge had overcome their adrenaline-fuelled Defensive Stance and knocked them out.
“Dada!”
Litvir tried to rush to Relkir’s side, but someone stopped them. The powerful Rethan with wings had caught Relkir and delicately placed them on the ground, despite how much Relkir was shaking and seizing. Elkay checked Relkir over, but was also containing the untamed time energies that were flowing around Relkir. After a few seconds though, Elkay absorbed the dregs and Relkir finally stopped convulsing and fell still.
“Is dada going to be alright?” Litvir stuttered.
“Yes, this Rethan will be fine…” Elkay scanned Relkir some more, then sighed. “They will need to go to a hospital though, as they are… I think you call it Defensive Stance, but they are alive and stable. They also… just killed a Time Drake.”
“Hang on!” another Elkay, the Shadow, interrupted. “Firstly, how the fuck did Relkir do that, and, secondly, did Kairos get killed by his own damn Elkayne Prophecy?”
“Maybe you just happened to mistranslate the word Elkay, and meant Relkir?” Kayel suggested. “I mean, there’s an E, L and K in there.”
“I… mean… that is a possibility… but did Relkir really just do what we couldn’t?”
Rethan Elkay closed his eyes briefly and checked the past time strings. “It was a team effort. We weakened and blinded Kairos enough that a dagger blessed by Arkay, forced into the perfect spot, ended the life of the Whenvern.”
“Alright, I guess… but why is time still working if the stupid dragon is dead?” Kayel asked.
Behind the Elkays, Epani approached, but she was covered in both ruby red and bright sapphire scales, and she was definitely crying, as golden tears dripped from her cosmic eyes.
“Kairos… why… why did you betray us?” Epani whispered. “I… I could have given you a happy life…”
Elkay-En sighed, standing by Epani’s side and putting a hand around her wrist. “He believed Kinisis was better than us. He gave in to her manipulative whispers. But the last of the Old Gods is dead now. You can move on. Build something better.”
“But how? I do not have the power to control the Forward Flow, and I cannot have the… the old-universe Rethan, Kinisis’s last experiment, assisting me…” Epani paused, acknowledging Elkay-En. “And you… Both big brother and little brother… I am sorry. I neglected you.”
Elkay-En shrugged. “You had no idea I existed and this is the first time we have met. I know this is painful for you, especially since you are also keeping the Forward Flow just stable enough to keep the universe alive, but I harbour no ill feelings towards you, and it is a pleasure to meet you. Also, I have a solution to our problems, and it involves our other sister.”
“B-but if Sini returns…” Epani was on the verge of wailing. “We will break our toxic agreement with Epanophovon!”
“That isn’t a problem!” Elkay-En smiled kindly. “Epanophovon is dead and none of his children wish to try and avenge him, because of what killed him, his own contract.”
“What?” Epani blinked. “He… he harmed Sini?”
“No, he harmed a universe Sini created, and Sini and Arkay weakened him enough for a group of Decay Lords to kill him. Which means, if you want, Sini can come back here and be your Time Drake.”
“Where… where is she?”
“Waiting at the top of the universe, waiting for you to invite her in.”
Epani hesitated for a moment, then inspected her surroundings. Her beloved little deities were alive, if a bit battered and scuffed, but the tears started again as she stared at the crystallised corpse of the Whenvern, forever frozen in a pained, eternal silence. But Epani quickly came to her senses, allowing herself to push on. After all, Kairos had just tried to corrupt and kill her.
After a long, exhausted sigh, Epani turned to her deities and her exo-universal allies.
“My darling Dalosisaar, please can you and your fellow Twelve Anew clean up here? Aster, take the… corpse to the Castle, then crush Kairos’s remaining palaces and do a sweep for anything out of place. Aesop, help Elkay fix up the library. Nanik, make sure most normal folks who were here do not remember too many details. Syksis, Valksia, make sure everyone is healed up. Litvir, please take your father home, to a hospital, and the… the other Rethan will assist you… If any of you have questions, speak to Dalosisaar, who I am giving full authority to.”
The Twelve Anew all nodded and started getting to work. Satisfied, Epani wiped the tears from her eyes, then took Elkay-En’s hand.
“Come along now, big brother. We need to speak to our little sister…”