It had taken Saahro a little too long to reach Savepoint, the new Thantir base, but he had finally made it, finishing off a long journey by crashing into the landing area. In front of his three old bosses and two new bosses.
Saahro was an odd being. He was draconic, a wyvern-like being with a tiny second set of T-rex-like arms on his chest. But Saahro wasn’t a Time Drake. He was a Decay Lord, designated as a Soarer, capable of flying through the periuniversal void on his own without a ship or anything. Saahro could also change his size, and he’d made himself particularly large in order to conserve energy and glide more concisely on the void winds. But now he was on solid ground, Saahro shrank himself down to a more reasonable size, now standing at about 2.5m tall and 3.5m long.
“Hello, dear!” Vikalos beamed as he approached Saahro and wrapped his big, furry arms around Saahro’s neck. “It has been a long time! You look well!”
Saahro hugged Vikalos back with his little T-rex arms and one of his wings. “You look well too! Happier! Furrier! Mate, you’ve not been trimming your fur.”
Vikalos laughed, then backed off so Itaviir and Galyn could both shake Saahro’s hand.
“I haven’t had the time!”
“And we prefer Vikalos with more fur…” Galyn muttered. “It is good to see you again, Saahro. I hope your trip wasn’t too bad?”
“Ah, it was fine. Got a little lost because I expected there to be a bunch of Voidborns near here, but well…” Saahro trailed off for a second, then smiled. “So, you two went back to Phantai territories and they didn’t kill you on sight?”
Itaviir nodded. “Amazingly, yes. In fact, the Great Blades somehow tolerate us now.”
“But you passed leadership on to…” Saahro paused again, then glanced at Retvik and Litvir. “I’ll be blunt, I get handing things over to Retvik, he’s always been insanely competent. Yoooooooou though…” The Murdragon pointed an accusatory tiny claw at Litvir. “You were a neurotic little monster when the Thantir split up.”
“I, uh, got better…” Litvir muttered. “Also, I apologize for biting you when I was a fresh new Decayling.”
Saahro’s anger turned into a massive smile. He stomped over to Litvir and put an arm on Litvir’s shoulder. “Ah, no worries, mate. We’re cool. Psionic Decaylings having a hard time adjusting is pretty damn common. Glad you made it through though. You’re a good guy.”
Litvir bowed his head slightly. “I appreciate that, thank you.”
Saahro bowed his head too. “You’re welcome. So, you and Retvik, you’re in charge now and you’ve moved the Thantir from navigational duties and Decayling capture into purification duties? What made you want to do that?”
Retvik gestured behind him, towards the work areas, where a couple of members of Kal were taking a quick break.
“Our experiences in navigational duties have, unfortunately, sucked, and Kal needed both protection and help. They said that purification is a dying occupation, we felt it was a noble cause and made the decision to change jobs.”
Litvir nodded in agreement. “It is also much safer.”
“How is it safer?” Saahro asked. “Because you are now dealing with Corruption and Kenic Spores up close.”
“Kal dealt with that, on their own, for goodness knows how long!” Litvir countered. “And they were doing so in that… relic they call a ship. Here at our new base, not only can we protect Kal while they work, but we can also assist them. Retvik has become very good at burning out Corruption without completely incinerating someone, and I have worked out safer ways of removing Life Goddess-based problems that Kal formerly could not deal with.”
“And this place is far easier to defend!” Retvik added. “Itaviir and Galyn both patrol the premesies, and we generally have someone on guard during procedures, normally Akah, Elkay, Elksia or Phovos. On top of that, Kal can do more work since they have more people to work with. Vikalos is learning how to remove Corruption too.”
“Also we have a consistent supply of Life Goddess blood and saliva, and it turns out Amalgam Mimic blood is insanely good for killing nasty things.”
Saahro blinked. “You are harvesting a Life Goddess for-”
“It was Phovos’s idea!” Vikalos immediately interrupted. “Speaking of which, uh, do we have any plans as to what Saahro will do around here?”
The Murdragon thought to himself for a moment, then glanced around. The two members of Kal spotted Saahro and waved to him, before going back to whatever it was they were doing. Saahro admittedly didn’t know which of Kal they were (he only knew Tah was the red one, and the two he had just seen were white and black) but they seemed reasonably happy. Even if they were essentially just robots.
“I suppose I’d also be useful for protection. And helping ships land maybe. I also have fire powers too, so maybe I could learn what Retvik and Vikalos and whichever one of Kal does the plasma stuff does?”
“Sounds like a plan to me!” Retvik smiled. “We appreciate you rejoining us, Saahro. Although it must be weird returning to a sect that is now completely different.”
“Eh, I might not be a Time Drake, despite looking like one, but I understand that the Forward Flow changes everything over time. But, like, you old guys are all… happy about this?” Saahro asked. “Like, you in particular, Galyn, you used to love your secret spy stuff, and now you’re doing guard duty?”
Galyn grunted, not really liking how Saahro was pointing to him specifically. “It turns out that being possessed by a Life Goddess and mind-controlled into attacking your crew isn’t particularly good for one’s spirit. While they, for some reason, have all forgiven me, I have not forgiven myself, and simple protection duties are a chance for me to recover and build back my strength and self-esteem while still being useful.”
“You say that as if guard duty is all you do!” Itaviir nudged Galyn. “You help the littlest ones create sedatives and pain killers if we need it and you have been helping Phovos in her studies. And I personally am happy to be a guard, I could do with a simpler job after year-string after year-string of stress. Plus, despite your little… Kinisis setback, Galyn, between you, Vikalos and myself, we killed at least a hundred Voidborns and assisted the Thantir in finishing the Phantai’s job. We have done a lot of good, and we are taking it easy for a bit as a reward.”
“You’re all happy then?” Saahro asked his three former bosses. The Tattered Navigators all nodded.
“Anyway!” Litvir clapped his hands together and stole the reigns of the conversation. “You have had a long trip! Let us get you something to eat and drink, we shall set you up in your new room and then you can say hello to all our newer members!”
“Well, alright. Can I call you Little Bitey, Litvir?”
“No. Lord Kengana called me that the other day and it was quite annoying and unprofessional…” Litvir tutted, before perking up again. “My name is two syllables long, I do not appreciate nicknames.”
Saahro laughed, then put a wing around Litvir. “Fair enough! Feel free to show me around, I can’t wait to meet the strange new Decaylings you all adopted.”