“Knew they were Voidborns. Bloody darkened bastards.”
“Shush. They came here in peace.”
“They attacked us.”
“You fired first.”
The Vraseer and the Kathar were very different sects. The Vraseer, led by the Blades Renewed, mostly consisted of Vrekari, the local uplifted race, as well as a small collection of draconic beings. They were armoured bird-like beings, similar to old-universe Vrekans, but they lacked Vrekan head spike-plates, had much sharper, eagle-like beaks and had hardly any real feathers at all. They instead had pterosaur-like wings on their backs and two tails with a ripple of skin between them, which they used as sails to help them fly.
The Blades Renewed though had somewhat recently taken over the Vraseer, after the original founders, the Blade Shatterers, had retired from duty after nearly dying in battle. All three of the Blades Renewed, Kalek Crowncrusher, Teptir Hornsnapper and Jalis Maskbreaker, were renowned killers of Voidborns, having fought back the local cults entirely and none of them liked Voidborns at all. Kalek was representing the Vraseer today, and he was accompanied by five guards, all heavily armoured Vrekari who were there for protection only.
The Kathar on the other hand were a small sect of sixteen members, all of whom were of the same race, a race called the Vothrea, beings that looked like shor, skinny Rethavok but with fur instead of rubbery skin. The sixteen Vothrea had been in a ship that had been blasted out of their universe after it was destroyed by Voidborns. They originally joined the Vraseer, offering purification services with their fire and telekinesis powers, but split off due to their pacifist nature, and had been working as their own sect ever since. They were still led by the same three beings, the Shimmering Three, three Vothrea called Vikre, Ksiel and Netku, but only Vikre was attending this meeting – the Kathar were very lacking in numbers to send more people. Vikre was also attending alone, but was unbothered by this, since he was aware that the Vraseer would protect him. They always did.
The location for this meeting was an odd one. The Vraseer refused to let the Voidborns near their territories and the Kathar only allowed patients at their headquarters, but thankfully, the trio of Decay Lords that were organising everything had somehow created a neutral location for everyone to meet up. Out in the middle of nowhere, a large golden disc had been erected, sheltered by some floating asteroids that had been changed to the platform to stop other debris drifting by. However, as Kalek and Vikre had approached in their ships, they quickly noticed that there were some Voidborn ships already present, all clumped together and chained together, parked around a large asteroid on the other side of the platform. They hadn’t opened fire or anything though and the ships seemed deactivated. The Decay Lords all decided to park on the edge of the platform. Mostly because the Vraseer were were somewhat well known for their bad piloting skills.
At least everything was set up already. There were tables and chairs, food and drinks and many sheets of paper waiting for the Decay Lords. The Voidborns weren’t present yet, but according to the organisers, the Voidborns would only appear when the Decay Lords were settled down and were allowed to arrive. That was probably why those ships were all clumped around that asteroid.
There was one final ship present, already parked on the platform. It wasn’t a particularly large ship but it was clearly of Deathven origin. The ship’s name was the Deathly Soulflame, and Vikre was pretty sure that name was on the list of ship names that should be avoided at all costs. This clued him in that they were about to meet a Hidden Named Trio. Something he quickly mentioned to Kalek.
“Wait, what? A HIDDEN Named Trio? Like… like the Travellers or the Taken?”
“Yes. I think these ones may be the Missing. They have apparently been active again. I heard about them saving a hotel from a large Corrupted mass recently.”
Kalek glanced around, looking for these Decay Lords, then turned back to Vikre.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“And they can speak the Voidborn language? Or whatever these monsters speak? They didn’t even respond to standard Voidborn gibberish.”
Vikre rolled his eyes. “You need to calm down on the hatred.”
“They are VOIDBORNS.”
“Not all Voidborns are evil.”
“Yes but-”
Kalek suddenly paused. He’d spotted three beings exiting the Deathly Soulflame. Two of them looked like tall, fur-less versions of Vikre and one of them had flames running up its body. The third one though, Kalek was certain it was a Voidborn. Not a standard-looking Voidborn with a mask, but it did have antlers.
“Is that a fucking Voidborn?” Kalek hissed, backing off slightly.
“Perhaps. I am not certain.”
“What is it doing here?”
“It is probably how the Missing managed to communicate with the external Voidborn group,” Vikre explained, not feeling threatened the same way Kalek was. It wasn’t that large a Voidborn, but it was still larger than both Decay Lords. “After all, we could not communicate with them. But the Missing have managed to bring everyone to the table in a peaceful manner, so I think we ought to be quiet. Or at least see what they want.”
Vikre started making his way over. Kalek hesitated, called for his guards, then slowly followed. However, he brought them over quickly, whispering to them before doing so.
“Is there something wrong, boss?”
“Yes. A lot wrong. I want one of you to keep an eye on Vikre. But I also want one of you to keep an eye on that Voidborn. I don’t trust it. At all.”
The guards all nodded. Satisfied, Kalek caught up with Vikre.
“So, what do you think these Voidborns want?”
“Peace, hopefully. I do not know what else they might want.”
“Well, if they want war, I’ll happily give it to them!” Kalek hissed.
Vikre just shrugged. “I doubt it. I do not think we will have bloodshed. We will be fine, as long as we remain calm. Anyway, let us greet this Hidden Named Trio. Interesting times await us.”