“I wasn’t prepared for this…”
Kayel, the All-Ksa of the Skyavok, was shaking, trying to keep himself upright, trying to focus on his words. But as he stood in front of the High General of the Rethavok, Kayel couldn’t make the right words come out. Broken, crippled words squeaked from his maw.
“I was prepared for a lot of things. Pandemics, crop failures, groundquakes, natural disasters… This however… this was something else entirely. We… we have lost… so much…”
He wasn’t alone. He was flanked by his personal guards. Well, four of them. They were the only four Skyans he could spare for personal protection. Everyone else was on red alert, scrambling to contain and make sense of the catastrophe that had struck without warning.
“I-I didn’t want to come here… But the Skyavok need your help. More than ever.”
Kayel waited for a response. He knew what the High General was. A powerful being, far more mighty than most, commanding an army of nearly a billion loyal soldiers. The alliance between the Rethavok and the Skyavok had never been particularly easy. In fact, the very thought of coming to the Rethavok and begging for help was nearly too much to handle.
With a grunt, the High General stepped off his golden throne and made his way down the marble staircase, until he was standing directly in front of Kayel. The whole room was designed to make anyone who entered it feel empowered, but Kayel was a small being and now this massive Rethavok was literally towering over him, nearly double his height. There was a lot of fear emanating from Kayel, with no way to hide it.
“Tell me what happened.”
Kayel sniffed, desperately holding back tears. “The Void Lands which we resided in… most of them were destroyed. We’ve… been reduced to nearly nothing. We are trying to find as many of the missing as possible… but… well… There’s nothing there. It’s all gone. I was lucky, I wasn’t in the Void Lands, I was dealing with diplomatic stuff. Most Skyans weren’t. It all just… vaporized. The skies burnt in a single flash of light, a single scream. From what I can tell, we’ve lost… anywhere from fifty to… ninety percent of our people…”
The High General lowered himself down, so he could look directly at Kayel.
“How many of you are left?”
“Not enough of us. We lost the entirety of our agricultural hubs. All the supply chains are broken. We have some electricity and limited water but that’s about it… We are just trying to get everyvok out of the Void Lands, on steady ground, but we’ve run out of transport fuel and only have one battery factory working…”
Kayel’s eyes were watering up. He rubbed his face, trying to wipe the tears away. He was already at his weakest, he didn’t want to look the part as well. The High General however seemed to notice. A heavy, armoured claw of a hand was gently placed on Kayel’s shoulder, a symbol of kindness and compassion.
“Whatever you need, All-Ksa, we will help you. A great tragedy fell upon all of us. We have promised to help the lesser fortunate as much as we can, and you are no exception.”
“Despite… what has been said and done?”
“That is the past. The Rethavok will help you, Kayel. We will not allow you and your kind to suffer further.”
Kayel couldn’t hold the tears back any longer. With a whimper, he fell to his knees, overcome with grief. “I… I failed my people…”
To Kayel’s surprise though, the High General smiled, lifting Kayel up. Those heavy, clawed hands wrapped themselves around him, embracing Kayel in a swift yet gentle hug, before standing Kayel back on his feet.
“No. You did not fail anyone. We failed you. I failed you. But we are going to rectify this problem, understand? We WILL fix this.”
“Thank you…” Kayel stuttered, somewhat blinded by the High General’s actions. “Thank you so much…”