“Are you sure you want to leave?”
Pretty much everyone stared at Telin as he asked that question. No one answered it at first though, not until everyone had either rolled their eyes or sighed.
“Yes, Telin, we want to leave…” Retvik grunted. “We have wanted to leave for a while, and now we can finally do so.”
“Has it really been that bad?”
Retvik glanced at Litvir, who simply shrugged.
“The constant Voidborn attacks were annoying, and being attacked by that Krohniak fellow was a little awkward, but it has not been that bad!” Litvir did his best to be polite. “We have managed to get a lot done, thanks to you. We very much appreciate your allowing us to stay with you for all this time.”
“And we appreciate everything you have done for us!” Phos beamed, patting Litvir heavily on the shoulder and nearly knocking him over. “The future for all of us is blindingly bright! And maybe a little strange and scary… Frankly we are still trying to work out what to do now, outside of cleaning up the debris from our stupid war and maybe lending a hand to the Justar…”
“Personally, I am just enjoying the peace and quiet…” Psehon sighed. “It has been a long, long time since I have not had to constantly scan everything for Voidborn manipulations. Either way, it has been a genuine honour having you here, we cannot thank you enough for what you have done for us and the Phantai overall.”
“Of course, of course!” Phos continued to smile. “You Thantir are probably the best sect of Decay Lords we have ever met!”
Telin nodded in agreement. “Even if, no offence, you are all pretty… strange. Not so much you two but… well, I still find it weird that you all so nonchalantly have a Life Goddess with you. The majority of the Phantai would happily throw themselves in front of a moving vehicle for her, but Phovos just… acts like a normal Decay Lord.”
“Well, funny you should say that, because Phovos is among the more desperate of us to leave!” Litvir also smiled, well aware that he was probably annoying the Great Blades. “But yes, thank you for having us around, thank you for helping us with our now-former Decaylings and thank you for the nice things you have given us. Including a whole ship, I guess… I have no idea why you have given that to me.”
“Ship’s haunted…” all three Great Blades replied in unison.
Litvir glanced at Retvik, then turned around, where the Thantir Two was fuelled and ready to go. Their ship only had enough space to carry two smaller, secondary ships, and the Thantir Three and Souldrainer’s Plight, the ship the Phantai had gifted to the Thantir, were both docked on top. Shield Six was also ready to go, and both ships were angled towards the hangar’s exit.
“It is just a ship…” Litvir muttered.
“A ship you gave a tragic story to!” Telin explained. “Phantai tradition dictates that such a ship needs… to be gifted to the person who gave it a twisted past, lest the ship cause more pain in the future.”
Retvik was very tempted to call that tradition stupid, but Litvir telepathically suggested he remain quiet. Instead, Retvik decided to get things moving along. The rest of the Thantir were getting fidgety and wanted to get moving. He glanced over to a small team of Decay Lord, watching as five members of Loopblade embraced their sixth member, bidding them farewell. Kaytee had proven himself invaluable to the Thantir during their stay with the Phantai, and Retvik was glad that the Great Blades had allowed Kaytee to join the Thantir as both a pilot and as an all-round useful person.
“We had better get going. We have a lot of work ahead of us!” Retvik smiled lightly. “Again, thank you for hosting us, and we hope you can all enjoy a bit of peace and quiet with us gone.”
Telin, Phos and Psehon all bowed.
“Thank you, Thantir. For everything. We wish you safe travels and plenty of luck with your new endeavours!” Telin smiled back, holding out his hand. Retvik and Litvir both shook his hand, then bowed themselves. “Hopefully, this will not be the last time we see you!”
Litvir shrugged. “I am sure we will pop by and visit. And once we have sorted ourselves up and hae settled down, maybe you three can pop by for a mead or something. But we really ought to head off now.”
“No worries!” Telin bowed once more. “Good luck, Thantir.”
“Stay safe and proud, Phantai.”
Retvik and Litvir both smiled, then turned to face their fellow Decay Lords, while the Great Blades backed away, giving them some space.
“So, is everyone ready?” Retvik asked as he counted everyone up. He quickly noticed that Kaytee was bouncing up and down excitedly.
“Yep. Everything is fuelled up and ready to go, just waiting for your orders so we can get the fuck out of here!” Tenuk exclaimed.
“And you all know where you are going?”
Everyone nodded. Due to Vikalos and Itaviir returning, plus Kaytee joining the Thantir’s ranks, the Thantir Two was now at nearly max capacity. But in order to make sure that Kal were well protected, Akah, Tahvra, Elkay and Teekay had all offered to join Kal on Shield Six. Well, Kal had insisted that Akah and Tahvra remain with them, but Retvik had asked the Thantir if someone was willing to join Kal as extra protection, and Elkay had swiftly offered, dragging Teekay with him.
“Well, alright!” Retvik smiled, clapping his hands together. “Shall we get going?”
More nods. Everyone quickly climbed aboard their respective ships. Tenuk and Galyn were currently piloting the Thantir Two, while Koh and Tah were piloting Shield Six as always. While, technically, the Thantir Two belonged to the Tattered Navigators, Tenuk’s duties as the main pilot back when he was a Divine Guardian meant he was perfect for maintaining Decay Lord ships too, and he quickly proved himself to be the best pilot among the Thantir overall.
Both ships switched on their engines and slowly made their way out of the hangar of the Shimmering Blade. The Thantir Two moved out first, with Shield Six trailing close behind. Once they were clear of the Phantai’s flagship, they drifted out into the darkness. Before they made their way to their new base, the Thantir needed to do some shopping first, so they were planning a quick trip to the nearby space mall to get some bits and pieces. The younger members of the Thantir were also looking forward to spending their first Deathven-sponsored pay-cheques.
Kaytee couldn’t help but watch in wonder as the Shimmering Blade faded off into the distance. As he stood there, he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder.
“Are you well?” Retvik asked.
Kaytee glanced up at the giant, flaming Rethan. “Oh, uh, dude, you… you have no idea how excited I am. And how weird this feels. I haven’t stepped foot off the Shimmering Blade in like 3 year-strings.”
“Well, I am glad you are happy.”
“Happy? I’m ecstatic! Thank you, thank you so much for letting me join you. I promise I won’t let you down.”
“Who said anything about letting us down? Eksi and Teekay told us how upset and depressed you were, so we arranged to get you out of there.”
Kaytee blinked. “Wait… you wanted me to join you… for my sake?”
Retvik nodded. “Of course.”
“But… why?”
“Because you needed help!” Retvik continued to smile reassuringly. “Kaytee, you are a member of the Thantir now. Us Thantir look after each other.”
Kaytee smiled back. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“No worries, little one. Enjoy your new life.”
Retvik patted Kaytee on the shoulder, then left him to his own devices. Kaytee turned his attention back to the vast darkness of the void, then smiled some more.
“Wow, I’m finally free… This is awesome…”