“This is the third time you have called, Shadowclaw…” Retvik grunted as he picked up the phone. “What do you want?”
“We want a status update on Dawnbreaker.”
“He is recovering and spending time with his brother. You are very insistent on getting Dawnbreaker to return to you as soon as possible.”
“We need him back.”
“Why?”
While Litvir had tried to be pleasant and understanding, Retvik was not in the mood to argue. He was glad that his little Skyan friend was alive and well, and it was blatantly clear to all the Thantir that Psiksi wanted to join them.
“Because he is a high ranking soldier and we do not allow them to run away. Dawnbreaker needs to return to his duties.”
“Psiksi is one person. You can replace him easily.”
There was an angry grunt down the line.
“Why are you so insistent on keeping Dawnbreaker to yourselves?” Shadowclaw growled.
“Why are you so insistent on getting Psiksi to go back to you?” Retvik grunted back. “The Alsyr consists of about 200 members. Unless Psiksi was doing something like running the entirety of your ship navigation systems or was literally holding your flag ships together, I am certain you can hire someone to fill the tiny gap Psiksi has made by his decision to stay with us!”
“We cannot.”
“Why not? You could theoretically just hire someone from the Justar to take his place, or perhaps seek out the many individuals who were members of the Ventra and the Metrum and offer them a job! Psiksi is not very old anyway, he has only been with you for just over a year-string.”
“People do not just leave the Alsyr.”
Retvik rolled his eyes. “Bloody Light, you sound just like the damn Great Blades. The only thing stopping Psiksi from leaving is a stupid tradition with no actual laws to back it up.”
“We want him back.”
“You do not have the right to choose for Psiksi…” Retvik took a breath to calm down. “Did Litvir not explain this enough to you a few hours ago? It should be Psiksi’s choice. No one else’s.”
“Dawnbreaker works for us. He signed a contract. Like all Alsyr, he is bound to us.”
“Did Psiksi sign that contract willingly?”
“He signed it. It does not matter what emotional state Dawnbreaker was in. He signed a contract. He cannot break that contract. When his contract is over, then we will consider letting him leave.”
Retvik almost growled. “When does that contract end?”
The rustling of paper could be heard on the other end. “Ten year-strings. Our normal amount. When the contract comes close to its end, we reevaluate the contract and see if they were worth keeping on. Dawnbreaker, as valuable as he is, signed up for ten year-strings. He still has just under nine year-strings left.”
“And do other Alsyr sign these work contracts?”
“When they are Decaylings, yes.”
“You force these ten year-string contracts on everyone?”
“Yes. Being chosen to serve us is an honour.”
Retvik did actually growl this time. “You do the exact same nonsense the Phantai do. It is unethical and unfair, especially on Decaylings who do not know better!”
Before Retvik could say anything else, he noticed that Arkay had entered the office.
“One second, Shadowclaw. I must quickly deal with something.”
“Very well.”
Retvik sighed, then put the call on hold. Arkay immediately noticed something was up.
“Let me guess, that Shadowclaw guy is calling again about Psiksi?” Arkay asked.
“Indeed. I have worked out why they want him back. Apparently all Decaylings that join the Alsyr sign a ten year-string contact to work for them.”
“Ten year-strings? Alright, sure, time passes as it pleases for me, but ten year-strings, assuming that is close to a year in the three universes I’ve been in, for a former mortal, that’s a LONG time.”
Retvik went back to grunting. “Shadowclaw is insisting that Dawnbringer needs to finish his contract to the Alsyr first.”
“Did Psiksi sign that contract willingly?”
“From what Psiksi has told Tenuk and Elksia, I do not think so.”
Arkay sighed, then fell silent for a moment, thinking to himself. After a while, he opened his eyes again.
“What is wrong, Arkay?”
“Can I speak to this Shadowclaw guy?”
“Uh, sure.”
Retvik handed his communicator to Arkay, and he immediately took the call off hold.
“Hello, is this Shadowclaw I am speaking to?”
“I am, yes. Who are you?”
Arkay frowned. “I’m Arkay, AKA Deathbringer, and the oldest member of the Missing. Retvik just informed me that Psiksi was forced to sign a contract when he became a Decayling for you. Is this true?”
“It is standard procedure.”
“So Psiksi was coerced into signing a contract that binds him to forcibly working for you for ten year-strings, with no exit plan or ability to cancel the contract?”
“You… you could say that.”
Arkay took a long, deep breath. “I’m going to be very, very blunt. The universe I just escaped from, I was the god of death and decay, but I was also a god of oaths and promises too. So, because of this, you have made this issue between Psiksi and yourself rather personal, at least in my eyes.”
“I do not follow.”
“Alright, basically, your contract that Psiksi was forced to sign would not be considered legally binding in the majority of places, because he signed it under duress and had no idea what was going on or that Decay Lord sects even existed. He was never able to properly access the contract that you forced on him. In my eyes, that means you’ve committed a deadly sin. And that angers me. So, right now, we have two choices. Maybe three, depending on my mood.”
“What do you mean?”
“Simply put, the first option is that we put all this behind us, you let Psiksi leave, same with anyone else who wants to leave the Alsyr. and you promise to change your contracts to make them more reasonable. After that, we drop everything and go on with our lives.”
“And what is the second option?”
Arkay lowered his voice. “The second option is that I come to your flagship or wherever you are, and I force you to change things, in person. And I will not be kind in any way. My original, somewhat unwanted divinity was based on a broken contract with no exit plan on my end, and it fucked me up. I will make sure that you get fucked up too.”
“What right do you-”
“I’m one of the Missing, Retvik and Litvir are the other two. Our original Hidden Name was given to us because we somewhat disappeared after we became Decay Lords. But these days, we’re called the Missing because we make things disappear. Things like the Crystal Doom, the Goldblessed and a major chunk of the Unending Ancient One. We can do that to you, if you want.”
There was no response at first. Clearly Shadowclaw was concerned or maybe even scared.
“Alright, fine. Dawnbreaker can leave the Alsyr.”
Arkay smiled. “Wonderful! And will you be changing your contracts for everyone else?”
“… Yes…”
“Good. Thank you for your cooperation, I’m gong to go and tell Psiksi the good news. Have a nice day!”
With a grin, Arkay ended the call and passed Retvik’s communicator back to him.
“That was not particularly diplomatic, Arkay.”
“Oh, no, not at all. I just threatened them. Same way every Decayling that joined the Alsyr was threatened and forced to join them. And you know what I’m like with contracts and promises.”
Retvik shrugged. “Fair enough. I should go and speak to Psiksi.”
Arkay grinned some more. “We’ll go together. He deserves some good news…”