For once, Epani’s early warning systems weren’t acting up. There was a Voidborn at the top of the universe. But they weren’t trying to break into the universe, they were knocking frantically on the hatch at the top of the universe. As always, Arkay had raced up there to see what was going on.
At first glance, the Voidborn looked somewhat normal. A bulky, black and gold suit of armour. This one had a head that looked like a medieval helmet, with gold antlers sticking out the top. But it also seemed somewhat young, and one of its arms was wrapped up in white cloth. As it sensed Arkay’s presence though, it immediately backed off and started talking.
“Voithesiese imie! Phthorastia anjizisesenon imie! Thene thellisia tona eim Phthorastiamia!”
Arkay looked the Voidborn up and down some more.
“I’m sorry, my, uh, Kenosomilia isn’t very good… Eis enphthoriseseis?”
“Ahon. Akoma. Konteveisenon!”
Arkay’s suspicions were right. The Voidborn was infected with Corruption, and was here, looking for help, before the Corruption claimed it.
“Potese eis para enphthoriseseis?” Arkay asked. He needed to know when the Voidborn was infected, so he could make the proper precautions.
“Ahona polisimiev akronoars.”
“Huh… alright… Einlepto…”
With a sigh, Arkay backed off and climbed back into the universe. Once inside, he summoned a familiar weapon, his Elkayne Blade, then headed outside again. The Voidborn was still there, and, at the sight of Arkay’s dagger, they immediately started to panic.
“I’m not going to kill you!” Arkay exclaimed. “But… sorry, can you understand what I am saying? I’m not very good at speaking the Voidborn language.”
The Voidborn nodded. “Yes. I understand. That blade. What is it?”
“It’s a special dagger that will cut through the infection on your arm. Unfortunately, I don’t know how long you’ve got and I… don’t really know exactly what I’m doing, but I do know that I need to amputate that infected arm of yours, and try and burn the wound shut.”
“You…” The Voidborn hesitated. “You are not a Life Goddess. A Decayling but not. But you offer help.”
“Well, yeah, but…” Arkay paused as well, then tutted. He ran his dagger across his upper arm, coating the blade in his own blood. “Alright, let me help you, and then we can talk, alright? Because we are wasting time. Please, hold out your infected arm. Also, what’s your name?”
The Voidborn hesitated some more, then inched closer to Arkay and did as it was told, holding out its infected arm. In a single, swift action, before the Voidborn could answer Arkay’s question, Arkay somehow managed to cut cleanly through the Voidborn’s metal plating, severing the arm completely. Arkay then pressed his hand against the wounded limb and filled it with plasma, killing off any potential Corruption that may have sneaked in.
“Oh…” the Voidborn stuttered in shock.
“I’m sorry. The faster I did it, the quicker you’d be able to recover.”
“It… it… it is quiet now.”
Arkay blinked. “I don’t follow?”
“The… Phthora… the Corruption, you call it. I cannot hear it any more. Cold chants. But they are gone…”
The Voidborn glanced down at the stub where their arm used to be. Arkay frowned, then licked his fingers and rubbed the saliva across the wound. He knew his saliva wasn’t nearly as effective as the blood of his sisters (Life Goddess blood could theoretically heal anything) but this was better than nothing, and it may have hopefully given the Voidborn some pain relief. His blood on the other hand was highly corrosive and would have made things worse.
“Thank you, strange one.”
“Hah! Strange one? I’ll accept that!” Arkay laughed. “Better than many of the other things I’ve been called.”
“I apologize. And I did not tell you my name. I was distracted by the chants and the amputation. And the… the panic…” The Voidborn sighed. “My name is Lyssandros. Of the Silvered Sanctifiers. But our Cult is being pushed back by the Phthora, ever since something… new turned up here. Normally, I would not have dared threaten a universe with my presence, but my unit was devoured and I was to distant from our main hub to be cleansed, nor did I have a means of self-destruction to ensure a fresh respawn.”
Arkay shrugged. “Well, you’re lucky as fuck that you came here, there’s only like four universes in the Kinigian Wilderness and you ran to the one that has a Synaisthyn capable of swiftly removing Corruption.”
Lyssandros didn’t seem amused. “I admittedly came here hoping to find a Life Goddess or a Voidborn to assist me. I also do not know what a Synaisthyn is.”
“Most folks don’t. My kind are kinda rare and I only know one other guy who’s also a Synaisthyn like me. And he came up with the name as a temporary one because we both hate the name Amalgam Mimic. Also, we don’t have a bound Voidborn protector in this universe.”
“You do not?”
“No, not really. I’m the idiot bound to protect this little place. Not willingly, of course. But I’m… ‘all three types’ as some would put it, so I kinda have a bit of Voidborn in me, I guess.”
“Understandable… I… I should probably leave. I apologize for putting your universe at risk. Us Silvered Sanctifiers are not supposed to touch Aphthoriasanenon Sympanieas… uninfected universes.”
Lyssandros turned to leave, but Arkay put a hand on his shoulder, stopping them from doing so.
“Hey, uh, don’t go back, straight away.”
“Why not?”
Arkay grunted. “I… I don’t know if you’re 100% clean or not. How far away is your, uh, base?”
“I… do not know. My unit was on Pantomakriasa Duties, doing purges along the very edge of Phtharospitesio, the Silvered Sanctifiers’ home Pentacluster, and I had to enter Patagenic to get to safety.”
“Is it a long distance? Because, like… I’m very limited in my Corruption-removal abilities currently, and you’re completely on your own. I don’t really want you to go back into… wherever it is you live, then you get hurt again because no one’s watching your back, then you’re stuck.”
Lyssandros raised the visor on their helmet. They had a pair of glowing silver eyes underneath. “Are you suggesting I abandon my duties?”
“No, no, not at all!” Arkay smiled. “If anything, I’m kinda glad there’s an entire cult of Voidborns doing something actually useful. But it’s not safe on your own, especially with a missing arm. However, that being said, I have friends who can help you. They’re a Decay Lord sect known as the Thantir, and they specialize in purifications. They’ll check you over, fix up your injuries and make sure you’re alright.”
“Hm. You make valid points. Where are the Thantir located?”
Arkay paused, then thought for a moment. “Uh, do you know where the Athata Rift is?”
“Yes. There is a small Cult there, the Athanathean League.”
“Ah…” Arkay hesitated, deciding to not tell this distressed Voidborn that he had… kinda killed the Athanathean League a few years ago. “Well, the Thantir have a base there, called Savepoint. Can’t miss it. Sure, they’re Decay Lords, but they’re friendly, they’ve helped other Voidborns before, and Litvir can probably get you in contact with some friendly Voidborns who will know how to get you back home without getting caught up with nastier entities.”
Lyssandros lowered their visor, then shrugged and snapped their fingers. Behind them, about 100m away, their ship materialized.
“I very much appreciate your kindness, Decayling.”
“Actually, I’m a fully fledged Decay Lord… Or, rather… I used to be…” Arkay frowned briefly, then frowned even more as he heard commotion inside the universe. “You probably ought to get going now. My Life Goddess owners are getting angry that I’m out here, helping a Voidborn, rather than doing my normal slave labour.”
“Very well!” Lyssandros held out their hand. Arkay took it and shook it. “Thank you very much. What is your name, Decay Lord?”
“Oh! You can call me Arkay. Nice to meet you, Lyssandros.”
Lyssandros lowered their head. “A pleasure to meet you too. Thank you very much. Stay safe.”
With a final handshake, Lyssandros headed to their ship. After a few moments of awkward silence, the ship’s engines lit up, and the silver vessel disappeared into the darkness.
Arkay sighed to himself, then headed back inside. As predicted, Epani was floating there, angrily waiting for him.
“What?” Arkay hissed.
“You were talking to another Voidborn.”
“Epani, you need to learn that not all Voidborns are bad!”
“They-”
Arkay snapped his fingers, silencing Epani. “That Voidborn was just lost, their job was killing Corruption, the same piss I do!”
Epani sighed. “Sorry… I’m just on edge. Kairos is being weird and… even more on edge. He was picking up funny things from this Voidborn.”
“Oh. Well, I dealt with it. They’ve left now.”
“Thank you.”
Epani sighed again, then disappeared. Arkay sighed too, then decided to go home. At least he’d done something good today.