“So, you finally got your name changed…”
Kayel sat up straight to see who was talking to him.
“Teekay? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be-”
Teekay wagged a finger. Unlike most Skyavok, Teekay had rather pale skin and bright orange armour. But like Kayel, he was a former Phantasma. And Kayel’s former captain.
“It’s good to see you, Elkay. I have no idea how you’ve gotten yourself into this mess, but shadowjumping an entire ship? Didn’t know you had that sort of power… Sorry, I should call you by your new name.”
Kayel frowned. “It’s fine. You’ve always known me as Elkay. Same name as your new boss.”
“You say new, I’ve been serving the All-Ksa as head of security for the last seven years. And you’ve, what, been retraining this whole time on Portalia?”
“I had a job. I was quite happy working in that family clinic. Then a bunch of rogue R-Class decided to-”
“Wait, you were there?” Teekay fell silent, then whipped out a small device, and started tapping on it. “You unlucky cunt. I… had no idea.”
“You’ve been busy. Why would you know?”
Teekay tutted. “Talking to you is the first proper break I’ve had all week. We’ve upped security tenfold. Those four attacks on Portalia, all in four days? Well… I should not be telling you this, but since I am… privy to these things… They were all related. We discovered some sort of cult behind it all, called the Kinigian Circle. Which, as far as we can tell, wants to somehow kill our gods. Considering we have a being your friends claim to be the Thantophor in a cell on the very top of the building in critical condition, maybe they are working…”
Kayel didn’t say anything at first.
“I really should not have told you all that.”
“No, probably, not, but it makes a lot of sense…” Kayel fell silent again. “Can I… go and see Arkay? I think he… kinda likes the four of us.”
“His name is Arkay? Why does he have a Skyan name as well as a Skyan body? We’ve been calling him Arkadin for decades!” Teekay sighed to himself, putting his little computer away then fiddling with a small keyring. Kayel quickly recognized it, it was the Skyan symbol for the Thantophor. And he knew that Teekay secretly worshipped the Death God. After all, back when he was a Phantasma, he had worshipped him too.
“Yeah… It’s a long story.”
“Care to tell me?”
Kayel gave Teekay a funny look. “You wouldn’t believe me.”
“You shadowjumped an entire ship and somehow lived. You also apparently survived twenty shots through your side. Did the Thantophor bless you or something?”
“He called it an accident. One the Allbirther wanted to… experiment on, I guess.”
“So what the Rethan, Spast and Temthan all said was true…”
Kayel tutted. “You believe me over them.”
“Of course I believe you. You were my trusted right-hand vok…” Teekay paused. The whole building shook briefly. “I should go. Boss probably needs me.”
Kayel leaped out of bed, catching Teekay by surprise. “I should come too.”
“I was about to say that you’re in no condition to do so, but you… look fine. Alright, you can come with…”
Without wasting any more time, the two Skyans rushed out of the room, and down the corridor to the nearest stairwell. To Kayel’s surprise, rather than taking the stairs, Teekay had opted to shadowjump through a dark corner, and the pair of them immediately found themselves in a dark, grey room, full of K-Class Skyans.
“All-Ksa, I came as quickly as I could!” Teekay announced his presence, ignoring how casually he had just used his Phantasma abilities.
Kayel blinked at first. He’d never met the All-Ksa before, despite sharing the same name. Elkay was a rather tall Skyan with dark grey skin and dark green plating, but unusual ruby red eyes. There were always rumours that the All-Ksa was also a former Phantasma, but no one, not even Teekay, knew the truth.
“Hello, Teekay. Hello, Kayel, I am told your name is?” Elkay smiled kindly. “You did well, saving all those poor Temthans.”
Kayel muttered a small thank you, then turned his attention to the rest of the room. In the centre of it was a large bed, surrounded by standard hospital equipment. A heart monitor beeped to itself, and bandages could be seen wrapped around the being’s body. However, long, silver chains stretched across the room, holding the bed’s occupant in place.
“That seems unnecessary…” Kayel whispered.
“That’s what I said!” Tenuk shouted from the other side of the room, then made his way over and gave Kayel a hug. “How you feeling, mate?”
“I’m fine. A bit tired, but fine. You found Arkay?”
“Your Spast friend found him outside and brought him in. Whatever this being is, it is positively ancient…” the All-Ksa explained. “If it IS the Thantophor, as you claim, then-”
Before the All-Ksa could finish, the room shook again. The K-Class guards immediately pointed their guns at the being in the bed. Somehow, the chains had disappeared, crumbling to dust. The being sat up straight, pulling bandages off itself.
“Ow.”
No one spoke at first. No one really dared to, as they had come to the realization that yes, this WAS the Lord of Decay.
“Uh, Kyr Arkay, are you alright?” Retvik finally asked, approaching the bed.
“Do I look alright?” the Thantophor snapped. This time, the room didn’t shake, but everyone present felt unusually nauseous.
“Not really, ser…” Retvik hesitated, trying to decide what to ask. “Is the Allbirther normally… like that?”
Arkay shook his head, still peeling bandages off himself. To his dismay, he hadn’t already healed, and had regressed into his original form, the form he had from before… The mortals didn’t need to know that.
“She wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Who, the Allbirther?” Tenuk exclaimed. “Because-”
“No. Well, yes, Sini wouldn’t listen either. I’ve not seen Epani so… angry. Not like that… I tried to explain that I think Sini got herself corrupted but Epani just wasn’t having it. Maybe she’s… corrupted as well…”
“What does being corrupted mean?” the All-Ksa stepped forward awkwardly. “Can we get corrupted? Should we be doing… something?”
Arkay shook his head, then examined the All-Ksa. “What’s wrong with the… never mind. Anyway, no, luckily corruption just instantly kills mortal beings, but to deities, it, well, uh, makes you feral and murderous. Then it kills you and turns you and your entire universe into a breeding ground for more corruption…”
“Can you get corrupted?”
“Ohi, epeidi eim fktiakmeno apo kat diaforetiko, to antiphforik aimostatin mesa sta…” Arkay stopped, realizing he’d accidentally switched to a language no one in the room understood. “Uh, technically, no. In fact, I’m designed to be able to kill corruption. Problem is, if the others are working against me, it makes my job almost impossible. So, I hate to ask this, but… I’m going to need some help.”
An awkward silence filled the room.
“I assume you mean us four?” Nyssi whispered.
“Yeah…” the Thantophor grumbled as he climbed out of bed, dusting himself down but realizing he was still bleeding in places. “I know what I need to do, but, well, I can’t really be in two places at once, and no one else here is as incapable of dying as you four are. Means you are perfect for killing corruption.”
“Wait!” Kayel raised his hand awkwardly. “If you want us to kill the corruption, where are you going?”
The Thantophor took a deep breath, sighing loudly. “Someone has to get to the Whenvern before Epani and Sini do, and mortals are incapable of comprehending his higher concepts and manipulations of time. If Kairos gets corrupted, that’s it, universe is over.”