Galyn paced up and down the cargo bay, where his six new Decaylings were lined up, tallest to shortest. Behind him were two of his three trusted Decay Lords, with Seimeni currently busy keeping an eye on the autopilot. Each of the Decaylings had done alright so far, dealing with basic ship duties and working hard on their studies, and Galyn was now of the opinion that they were ready for some basic field work. Nothing complicated, just some mapping and survey work. Before Galyn could send them out though, he needed to check each Decayling, and give them a nice little code name. After all, that was Thantir tradition, and Leafblade was certain that Retvik and Litvir, also known as Flamebearer and Souldrainer, would both agree.
Starting from the shortest, Galyn eyed each individual. Tenuk, in his natural, four-eyed form, was a former Divine Guardian with vague traces of Voidborn in him, and absolutely tiny. To be fair, Galyn was nearly 4m tall, but Tenuk was only just over a meter tall. That being said, Tenuk was also a talented shapeshifter, capable of taking forms many times larger than his own size, and smaller as well. Becoming a deity had only amplified that power, to the point that he could flawlessly mimic the appearance of all sorts of beings, and had the acting and adaptation skills to back it up.
“Formtwister.”
Next up was Eksi. Wearing an unusual combination of orange-yellow and cream armour and grey skin. Eksi was a psionic being the same way Litvir was, except his powers seemed to work in a vastly different way. Rather than directly influencing the mind, Eksi created various auras, overcoming one’s natural senses and constantly emitting a sense of calm. Out of the six Decaylings, Galyn expected the least from Eksi, but Eksi had proven him wrong, he was quite a talented individual.
“Soulsoother.”
Teekay was the same former species as Eksi, but his colours were vastly different, nearly silver-coloured skin with silver and crystal orange armour. On his hip was a dagger that looked ever so slightly too large. A spark of electricity trickled across his body as the young deity stood eagerly to attention. Again, Galyn had been impressed with this one, as Teekay had created his own little niche, a unique ability to manipulate anything electrical, as well as the neat trick of short-ranged teleportation.
“Shocktrooper.”
The next being was the one that stood out the most. All the other beings had some sort of natural armour plating, and Tenuk would shapeshift himself to have armour, but Phovos was… she was organic and fleshy. She looked similar to the local Life Goddesses that used to roam this sector, but with rougher scales and odd patches of fur, particularly a tattered mane around her neck. In fact, Phovos WAS a Life Goddess, but she was adamant that she be trained to become a Decay Lord. Her skills matched up as well, she was a perfect hunter, capable of tracking down almost anything. Phovos was also impossibly fast and, once she’d tasted blood, she was certainly not above murder, should the situation require it.
“Lifetaker.”
Elksia was a funny creature. Galyn had first guessed that she was an off-shoot of the same species his two Decay Lords were, but no, apparently she was single-gendered and of another species entirely. Despite the similar armour plating. Really though, the more horn-like head plate and the beak instead of normal jaws should have given it away. On top of that, Elksia was a fledgling Time Drake, but her powers were chaotic rather than orderly. She may have lacked the ability to peer far into the future, but Elksia could easily detect multiple nearby possibilities and subconsciously manipulate them in order to cleanly win battles.
“Threadwarper.”
The last being was someone Galyn did not understand at all. Relkir definitely was of the same species as Retvik and Litvir, but lacked their height and muscle mass. Still, Relkir was definitely powerful in his own way, mostly how he adapted to situations, filling whatever niche that was currently required. On top of that, Relkir seemed to be nigh unkillable. In testing, not only had Relkir adapted to both extreme colds and extreme heats, but he’d survived some of Galyn’s strongest toxins. Considering that Relkir had just been a normal Divine Guardian the same way Teekay, Tenuk and Phovos all had been, his abilities made very little sense. Still, Relkir had proven himself a force to be reckoned with.
“Unender.”
Satisfied, Galyn headed back to the centre of the room, giving his Decaylings one last look over, before finally talking to them properly.
“Decaylings, you have done well so far. You are all talented, intelligent and, thankfully, mentally stable. We have tested your strengths and capabilities and you all have unique skills that would be immensely valuable to both the Thantir and the Decay Lords in general. But at the same time, we have not put you through any practical work. Well, that is about to change.”
Galyn paused, hearing a tut behind him. Clearly Litvir and Retvik weren’t as certain as he was.
“Before the, uh, catastrophes that hit this sector, the Thantir were mostly an exploratory team. We created a vast amount of navigational data that other Deathven-run groups used to travel more safely through the Peiruniversal Void. Now that I have a larger team, we can return to those duties, and you younglings can both learn and explore, like the adventurers you yearn to be.”
“Ahem.”
Galyn twisted around, his eyes meeting Litvir’s.
“What.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Litvir asked. “The last time we attempted this, the four of us were captured and nearly sold off as slaves. Well, Retvik and I were, I do not wish to reiterate what they planned to do to you and Arkay.”
The Elder Decay Lord grunted. “Things are different now. With Kinisis no longer present, the entire sector has completely emptied out. There is literally no one around here any more, and, well, these maps will not update themselves. This is a unique opportunity to teach these Decaylings in a much safer manner. Plus, I have you two and Seimeni to assist me.”
Litvir bowed slightly. “Fair enough, Galyn. Please, continue.”
Galyn smiled, just a little, before turning back to the Decaylings. “Thank you, Litvir. Luckily, your very first practical assignment will be simple enough. We have located two abandoned Voidborn structures, in which we will place tracking apparatus, which we can then use as a base to map out the local area. You will be split up into teams of three, and you will enter these structures, place down the tracking equipment then get out. Retvik and Litvir will monitor you, and you will all be given trackers, so we can pull you out if there is any trouble.
“In each of your private quarters, there is a written brief, as well as equipment for your mission. Please take two hours to read through the briefings and bring any questions to your Decay Lord superiors. After that, you will have two hours to talk to your team mates and prepare yourselves for your mission. Understood?”
The Decaylings all eyed each other, not really sure what to think, then bowed, one at a time.
“Alright!” Galyn clapped his hands together. “You are all dismissed. Go get yourselves sorted.”
Each of the Decaylings bowed again, before filing out of the room. Once they had all left, Galyn turned to Retvik and Litvir.
“This had better not end up like how it ended up for us…” Retvik let out a low growl.
“Oh no, this time will be different!” Galyn smiled. “They are already much stronger than you two were when you were Decaylings. And they do not have to worry about a mentally unstable mimic either.”
Retvik and Litvir both sighed.
“Very well, Galyn. But still, you can understand our concern.”
“I understand, but, I reiterate, things will be different. We are completely alone out here, there is no one around to bother us. Things are safer now, calmer. Calmer than ever. We will be fine…” Galyn patted Retvik and Litvir on the shoulder. “Come now. We need to sort out your teams…”