“Hellooooo! Litvir Kaldynik, one of the leaders of the Thantir speaking, who is this?” Litvir leaned back on his brand new, fancy office chair.
Several hours ago, an old Ventra ship popped by, its owner hit with a spot of Corruption. As always, the Thantir had patched them up, but the owner, an old, wobbly wolf person who made his living by refurbishing, recycling and selling old furniture, was upset that he wouldn’t be able to meet his quotas. At which point Vikalos suddenly decided to buy a ton of furniture from the poor fellow, including new office chairs for Retvik and Litvir and a massive bed that was big7 enough for the furry Hell Lord and his two Beh’en partners.
The old wolf left happier than ever, and the office of the Thantir leaders now looked more befitting. They’d even bought a desk for Arkay, even though he never really used it.
“Oh, hello, is this-”
“OH! Hello, fluffy kitty!” Litvir exclaimed. “Orion! How are you?”
“I thought this number is the general number for the Thantir?”
“It is, yes! But I am not above monitoring phone calls. How are you, your armoured Tenthalite friend and the colossal noodle dragon?”
The voice on the other end sounded very hesitant. “I’m fine. You seem overly chirpy.”
“Why would I not be happy?” Litvir asked. “Things are good! Although I am surprised to hear from you, I thought you went to visit the Justar for some reason, before going off elsewhere!”
“The last time I saw you, you broke through all the anti-psionic security in Deathven Sector Alpha.”
Litvir paused. He’d forgotten about that. “Well… Well, maybe they should not have imprisoned my dear friend Elkay for no reason. Oh! Is that why you are calling?”
Orion flicked his tail from side to side, his way of showing annoyance. He wondered if Litvir was a powerful enough telepath to sense emotions over the phone.
“You seem annoyed.”
Yes, yes he was. Orion hissed slightly, then decided to just get to the point. Litvir wasn’t a bad person, just a strange, confused one. And clearly rather energetic and animated compared to the local uplifted races.
“I… I was going to be lame and just say that we were passing through again, and wanted to see what you all were up to. You’re still with the Phantai, yes?”
“Oh no, not at all. Us Thantir have our own base now. Do you need directions?” Litvir paused again. “You are not infected with Corruption are you? I do not know how quickly we can get someone to you, but we do have a very fast ship for emergencies, plus some very good teleporters and a spare Time Drake…”
“Litvir, none of us are Corrupted, you don’t need to worry about that!” Orion butted in before the strange Psion got too carried away. “I’ll be blunt, the Overlord dragged us out of what we were doing, exploring a newly discovered pentacluster with a mega-universe in it, and told us that he’s concerned that there are more Amalgam Mimics running around, and he wants us to check things out. Because you Thantir don’t automatically hate us the way you, somewhat reasonably, hate Deathven Himself.”
Litvir didn’t respond at first. He thought to himself, wondering if he should be honest, but also trying to figure out how Deathven proper was aware that Arkay was back among the Thantir. They hadn’t really told anyone apart from the old-old-universe Kronospast that used to know Arkay when he was mortal. Sure, the Doom Drums had met Arkay, but they didn’t ask too many questions about him and acknowledged him only as a normal Decay Lord. And none of them had mentioned the new Half-Synaisthyn Decaylings that the Thantir were training up to anyone.
When Litvir couldn’t answer his own question, he decided to ask. Only about Arkay though. People didn’t need to know about the Decaylings. Not yet.
“So, how did you find out that Arkay is back by mine and Retvik’s side?”
“You are way, way smarter than you seem.”
“Well, I AM the brains of my trio. Which is concerning since one of us is billions of years older than the other two. But we have not told anyone about Arkay’s return outside of briefly meeting the Doom Drums of the Pentathax. And they told us they do not have good connections with Deathven.”
Orion’s tail swished even harder, to the point that his annoyance had caught the attention of Eta, who was very tempted to bother him while he was on the phone. He wondered if Litvir had similar problems with Retvik.
“Deathven tends to have… contacts inside much larger and more infamous Decay Lord sects.”
“You mean, he has a mole inside the Pentathax?”
“Uh, yes.”
“And Deathven found out via this mole that Arkay is alive and well and a Decay Lord again?”
“Yes.”
“And he has requested you come and visit us to get visual proof that there are now two Synaisthyns among the Thantir?”
“Yes.”
“Because he is still scared of them?”
“Yes.”
Litvir frowned, but then shrugged to himself. Yes, this was bad news, but at least Orion was being honest with him. And, admittedly, he did somewhat owe Orion. He and his Trio had saved Litvir from being trapped inside a dead ship, drifting endlessly through the void. And what was the worst that could happen? The Travellers were a friendly trio of adventurers, a visit from them was considered a sign of good luck by other Decay Lords.
“So… you want to visit?” Litvir asked.
“We would like to, yes.”
“That should be fine. I would like to see you all again anyway. Also, you saved my stupid tail, I do owe you a mead or two. When will you be visiting?”
Orion blinked, then hissed at Eta, who had yet again come close to see what was going on. “Um… In about an ev? We’re quite a way away.”
“Well, let us know when you reach the Patagenic Pentacluster and we shall give you directions to our base!” Litvir smiled. “It will be nice to see you again. And I can introduce you to our newer members, as well as my little brother.”
“You have a brother?”
“A twin brother, yes!”
“Huh… Well, alright. Thank you for being civil and letting us come and visit. We’ll be in touch shortly!”
“No worries, Orion. Have a save trip!”
“See you soon!”
The call ended, and Litvir found himself smiling. Sure, he was a little concerned about Deathven’s blatant attempts at data gathering, but he liked the Travellers and did want to see them again. But before he could ponder things further, someone wandered into the office, distracting Litvir.
“Heya, babe, you alright?” Arkay queried as he rummaged for some paper to write something down. Litvir couldn’t help but stare briefly, since Arkay was currently shapeshifted into a black and yellow Beh’evok.
“Um, yes… Is that a new look?”
“Temporary, I’m trying a few things out, since Elkay and I are trying to learn how to shapeshift better. You like?”
Litvir nodded. “It is not really *you* you, but you do look good. But, speaking of good, I have some news. I just got off the phone with Orion, one of the Travellers, and they are coming by to visit.”
Arkay looked rather blank. He frowned, then shapeshifted back to normal, since he’d been struggling to hold a pen in his previous form’s massive hands. “Who’s Orion?”
“You know, the fluffy kitty you led to my dead ship when I was stupid and ran away.”
Arkay still looked blank. “I, uh, didn’t see the people on the ship I led to you. I just saw the ship, fired some flares, fired more flares around your stupid ship to show them where to go then got exhausted and fell unconscious… Hang on, you said “fluffy kitty”. Is Orion a cat?”
“Yes.”
“Huh…” Arkay thought for a moment, then grinned. “I have a really stupid idea…”
Litvir caught a glimpse of Arkay’s thoughts, then grinned back. “Well, now, you had better get started. They will be here in about an ev.”
“Alright… Do you need me for anything?”
“No, no. Go and have your fun!” Litvir shooed Arkay off. “Also, when you get a chance, you should… surprise Retvik with that look.”
“Hehe, will do. Later, darling!”
Litvir snickered to himself as Arkay shapeshifted back into a Beh’evok then plodded off. “See you later, dear.”