“I will be blunt, I was under the impression that the Thantir were dead…”
The Deathven-aligned vessel Shimmering Blade Seven Two (Decay Lord Vessel Code ΑΣΗΜΕΝΙΟΣΞΗΦΟΣ-072) rarely left the centre of Phantai territories, what with it being the main hub of the Phantai, but the fact that a Decay Lord sect that was believed to have gone extinct had come to the Phantai looking for shelter had intrigued the Three Great Blades, to the point that they wanted to see what was going on themselves. Three small Deathven vessels, two of which were docked on top of the larger ship, had pulled up and were now parked within the colossal hangar of Shimmering Blade Seven Two, from which nine Decay Lords and eight Decaylings had exited.
The Three Great Blades inspected these beings, but they only genuinely knew one of them. As far as Voidblade, Lightblade and Soulblade were concerned, Leafblade had abandoned the Phantai a long time ago, but they all assumed he had returned to Deathven with the rest of his traitorous Trio. The six tiny Decay Lords, Spiritpurger 1-6, the Phantai had used over the years as purifiers, and were better known by lower members of the Phantai, but the Three Great Blades had only met them in person a few times.
However, the final two Decay Lords, these two were a mystery. And they happened to be the ones in charge. And their group of Decaylings was even stranger. Especially the one that looked like a Voidborn but had completely the wrong scent.
“Well, we are not dead. Mostly.”
Voidblade glanced at the other two members of his Trio. The Three Great Blades had been leading the Phantai for at least a hundred yearstrings now, they had seen a lot of different beings, and they had seen many a different Decay Lord sect. However, something seemed weirdly familiar about these two Decay Lords and Voidblade wasn’t sure why.
“No, you are not dead. I also see you picked up one of our Loopblades…” Soulblade, a completely purple and gold being that was all armour and very little else, did his best to smile. All three of the Great Blades looked alike, with bulky armour plating, overly large claws, sharp blades that stuck out of their forearms, more blades sticking out from their shoulders and backs, a sharp plate running across their long maws, armoured, pincer-like mandibles that guarded their eyes and jaws, too many teeth and a familiar crown of horns. Many of the Phantai looked like this, all of them deities from multiple universes made by a handful of fleeting Life Goddesses. Clearly, some of the Thantir were made by a Life Goddess using similar blueprints, but they were not nearly as heavily armoured.
“Indeed…” Lightblade frowned. He was the same shape and colour as Soulblade, but with white and silver instead of purple and gold. “Who are you, Thantir Leaders?”
Both the leaders bowed slightly. One had dark grey skin and red and gold organic armour plating, with more golden armour on top and shimmering flames running up their arms, legs and tail. The other was similarly shaped but thinner and shorter, with nearly black skin, purple organic plating, gunmetal armour and glowing purple tattoos. It also seemed to be wearing a cape. The larger being spoke first.
“I am Retvik Rethianos, Flamebearer. This is my partner, Litvir Kaldynik, Souldrainer.”
Again, Voidblade glanced at Soulblade and Lightblade, hoping that one of his Trio could tell him why those codenames sounded familiar. However, neither of them had an answer, and Voidblade instead decided to just introduce himself.
“Hello, Flamebearer and Souldrainer. I am Telin Yisir, Voidblade. These are my fellow Trio, Psehon Panton, Soulblade, and Phos Astrir, Lightblade. We are the Three Great Blades, the leaders of the Phantai Decay Lords. What brings you to our territories?”
Souldrainer, the purple, slightly vampiric one, stepped forward and bowed again. “It is a pleasure to meet you all. We seek temporary shelter as the sectors we have just left have proven to be too dangerous and volatile. We simply wish for a safer place to train our Decaylings, and, in exchange for shelter, we offer our services to you, as purifiers and, perhaps, a little extra muscle.”
Soulblade snorted somewhat. “I like you, Souldrainer. An honest Psion. And I like your offer as well. While the Goldblessed Voidborns and the Golden Protector Voidborns have completely vanished in the last three yearstrings, the Crystal Doom has only gotten stronger and more aggressive as they have taken over the now empty territories of their enemy faction cults!”
“Oh. Oops…” Souldrainer muttered. Lightblade immediately picked up on this.
“What do you mean, ‘oops’, little one?”
“We… may or may not have had a small hand in the disappearance of the Goldblessed…” Flamebearer answered in Souldrainer’s place. “We have had several run-ins with some of their kind, ending somewhat positively for us. We also had a run-in with a Voidborn by the name of Ahkron, who we now believe to be deceased.”
All three of the Great Blades fell silent. After a moment of silent, telepathic whispers, Voidblade turned to the former Phantai.
“Leafblade, little abandoner, can you verify what these two are saying?”
Leafblade, who looked similarly to the Great Blades, except green and more lithe, simply nodded. “I had the great displeasure of being stabbed by the ancient Voidborn. Spiritpurger can also verify this, Ahkron attacked them first.”
Voidblade glanced down at the six tiny Decay Lords, all of whom were barely a quarter of the Three Great Blades’ height. “Can you?”
Spiritpurger-1, the red and silver one, nodded, its crystal eyes lighting up. “Indeed, Voidblade. Ahkron nearly killed the lot of us but failed to do so.”
Soulblade also turned to the six mechanical Decay Lords, scanning their thoughts. Spiritpurger didn’t like this and retaliated with some rather painful telepathic static, but they also gave the elder Decay Lord what he was looking for, a handful of relevant memories.
“They are telling the truth…” Soulblade rubbed his eyes. “The Ancient Collector is gone.”
Lightblade let out a rather hearty laugh. “Really? That is amazing news! My Trio, we really must at the very least allow the Thantir to stay, just for a little. We ought to celebrate this victory!”
“We should…” Voidblade hesitated for a moment. “Hm. Flamebearer, Souldrainer, how long do you wish to remain with us for?”
The red and purple Decay Lords glanced at each other. The Great Blades liked the fact that these two had a telepathic link the same way most Trios did, but there was clearly something missing.
“We do not truly know…” Flamebearer admitted. “We would preferably like to stay until our Decaylings can complete their Decay Lord trials, but considering what we have had to fight through as of late, it as been nigh impossible to get them properly assessed.”
“That is not a problem, Flamebearer,” Voidblade smiled a little. “Although we do not deal with Decaylings, we can assist you in their training. For now, we shall supply you with rooms, but we do have to place your Decaylings within our observation cells, as is standard protocol, especially since you seem to have a young Life Goddess with you. Leafblade will be taken to the observation cells as well, as a temporary measure. Spiritpurger, you six, we may have some work for you, which Lightblade will fill you in on. However, Flamebearer, Souldrainer, I would like you both to accompany me. I wish to talk to you in private.”
“Of… of course…” Flamebearer stuttered. Soulblade picked up that Souldrainer was sending telepathic messages to both Spiritpurger and the Decaylings, but the messages were encrypted in a way Soulblade couldn’t understand.
In the mean time, Lightblade had summoned several guards, all almost as tall as the Three Great Blades were.
“Sunblade, Moonblade, Starblade, can you accompany Leafblade and the eight Decaylings to the observation cells? Be nice to the Decaylings, their stay in the cells is temporary until we have assessed them.”
The three Phantai all bowed. Sunblade, a rather bright orange Decay Lord, attached a collar to Leafblade’s neck and led him away. The Decaylings hesitantly followed, with Moonblade and Starblade, both in silver armour, covering the rear. Spiritpurger-2 and Spiritpurger-5 also followed, despite not having been asked to go with them, but the Three Great Blades saw Spiritpurger as completely harmless, and thought little of it.
The rest of Spiritpurger clicked between themselves, before three of them filed past the Great Blades. They had been here before, and knew where the purification chambers were, where they needed to go.
“Do you need us for anything, dear?” Soulblade asked Voidblade.
“No, you two are good. I shall rejoin you both later.”
“Very well…” Soulblade tutted. “Please do not spend too much energy on these Thantir.”
“You worry too much, darling…” Voidblade smiled again, then turned back to Flamebearer and Souldrainer. “You two, please, come with me. I have many, many questions for you both…”