Kayel could hear screaming. He could smell smoke. He could feel pain. He… could only see blackness.
Blackness wasn’t too uncommon a thing to see. Kayel, like most Skyavok, lived in a place known only as the Void, a dark, gloomy space between spaces, otherwise inaccessible to other races. Their homes were built on a myriad of floating platforms, connected by bridges. Their architecture was pure bone white and shining gold, standing out from the darkness.
Except that Kayel had been indoors. And now he was looking at the sky. Something had happened between Kayel closing his eyes and him opening them again. Something bad. Hence the screams and smoke.
But there was a specific scream that could be heard. One particular repeating phrase. Screaming for everyone to get down and stay down.
Kayel did as he was told, remaining on his back, trying to work out who was shouting. Wasn’t he somevok important? Wasn’t he supposed to have some sort of thing to protect him? Kayel couldn’t quite remember. If anything, he was worried that he was forgetting things. A concussion maybe? Something worse?
There was another scream. Another specific scream. Kayel hadn’t noticed it at first, not above the sounds of his fellow Skyavok, screaming, begging, praying for their lives. The Void God probably wasn’t listening. Their shouts were being covered up by this screech that echoed through the sky.
For some reason though, Kayel decided now would be a good time to sit up. He wasn’t sure what convinced him to do so. Maybe it was the sharp pain in his shoulder, or the ache in his back. Something made him sit up straight. And that was how Kayel saw the carnage around him.
Everything was rubble. Pristine white and gold rubble.
Kayel remembered where he’d been. He had been in a meeting with fellow Ksa. A governmental meeting. So many Skyavok had been there, from staff to secretaries to the elite of the Skyan Classes. All just rubble now. How many were dead? How many were missing? What was going on?
He wanted to get up, fight through the pain and look for survivors. In fact, he was about to. Right up until he saw that flicker of black and gold. Not another Skyavok, but something far more hideous.
In a single, swift movement, the beast had leaped forward, pinning Kayel down, its weight slowly crushing Kayel’s body, its teeth inches away from Kayel’s face. It was soaked in the blood of other Skyavok, but also in a strange, tar-like substance that clearly wasn’t part of its body. It had slaughtered something else before arriving here and starting its slaughter of Skyavok.
This creature was probably about to kill Kayel. And he didn’t even know its name.
The monster growled. Kayel decided to weigh up his options. He could try and wiggle free from this monster, but that would probably cause the monster to lacerate his arms and tear him to pieces. Screaming in terror would probably have the same result. A headbutt, even from Kayel’s armoured head plate, would do nothing against the monster’s own armoured head, except probably piss it off, and lead it to the same scenario as options one and two. He could pretend to be dead, but something told Kayel that this being knew better.
As far as Kayel was concerned, he was probably going to die. He might as well spend his last few moments trying to work out why this creature was so angry. He gently leaned forward, pressing his head against that of the creature’s. If he was lucky, he might form a brief telepathic connection, giving him a window into the mind of his soon to be killer.
Somehow, that worked. Their minds connected, and all Kayel saw for a brief moment was hunger and fury. A hunger for death. A fury for all those who had tried to harm it. But past all that, there was a hunger for affection, for warmth, for love, a fury for all its unfinished duties and undisclosed desires.
Suddenly, Kayel realised what this being was.
The Thantophor, the Bringer of Death Itself, was looming above Kayel.
Arkadin hesitated, then climbed off Kayel’s body, leaving the little Skyavok alive and mostly unharmed. The Thantophor glanced at the horror it had caused, then howled in anguish. With a flap of its massive, bony wings, Arkadin took off, disappearing into the darkness of the Void.
Kayel took a deep breath. Those thoughts and memories, taken from the mind of the Thantophor, still lingered in the back of his head. He too wanted to feel hunger and fury, a hunger for justice, a desire to hurt the Thantophor for what he had done.
But no. Kayel was better than that. Violence was never the answer.
Cries of help interrupted Kayel’s thoughts, snapping him back to reality. Kayel staggered to his feet, then looked around.
With a sigh, Kayel started digging through rubble, looking for survivors. Justice would have to wait. His people needed him.