“Alright… We are passing through onto the Kiniseon One…” Retvik was doing his best to be optimistic. “Do you wish to let me do the talking?”
Litvir shrugged as the three Decaylings appeared in the cargo bay of this new ship. “Sure. Arkay can keep an eye out and I can keep a mind out.”
“Good…” Retvik’s voice dropped as a large, horned, armoured being, a creature they recognised to be a Banikan, stomped towards them. By its side was a very tiny little creature with two fangs sticking out its jaw. The two beings, both Divine Guardians, both immediately looked slightly off. They weren’t their normal fast, snappy selves. The Banikan in particular seemed oddly docile.
Retvik bowed slightly as the beings approached, making himself appear less hostile, despite the fact that the three Decaylings were armed. “Good day, we received a distress call from your ship, and are here to make sure you are all alright.”
The Banikan smiled, much to Litvir’s dismay. A horrible, toothy grin that was supposedly friendly but really didn’t look so.
“We are well! Come in!”
With more cheery smiles, the Guardians turned around and led the Decaylings out of the bay, leading them up a small staircase. The staircase led to the main corridor, which allowed access to every other room on the ship. Weirdly, most of the doors were wide open, freely allowing the Decaylings to peer inside.
“So, why did you send out a distress signal? Are you all safe and sound? Did anything strange happen?” Retvik asked as the Guardians continued to walk onwards, only stopping as they reached the cockpit. The questions he was asking however were more of a cover up than anything else. The distraction had allowed Arkadin to slip away and start inspecting the rooms.
“Oh, false alarm, I think!” the little tiny Guardian beamed. “You know what it’s like! Clumsy claws!”
“Just a fluke?” Litvir tutted. There was a lie in the Guardian’s statement, but from what Litvir could tell with his telepathic prowess, the Guardian was unaware that they were lying. Simple, pre-established statements.
“Yep! Just a fluke!” the tiny Guardian repeated.
Retvik glanced at Litvir, frowning, then turned back to the Guardians. As they entered the cockpit, Retvik did a quick head count. As far as he was aware, there should have been twelve total, but he could only see eight, including the two who had led them there. More weirdly though, there was no Life Goddess to be seen.
“Which one of you is the leader here?” Retvik asked. “It is Tahnahos, yes?”
The Banikan nodded. “Tahnahos is asleep. He hit his head. Accident with a door.”
“May we speak to him?”
“No. Needs his rest.”
Both Retvik and Litvir stepped back, obviously realising something was wrong.
“Uh, fair enough…” Retvik hesitated. “I have one last question for you before we head off… Who IS your Life Goddess and where is she?”
Immediately, all the Guardians in the room turned to face Retvik and Litvir. The smiles and friendliness on the Guardians’ faces had immediately disappeared. Somewhere in the room, a small transmission could be heard.
“They know too much! Get them!”