Gold and silver explosions erupted from the wreckage as the cosmic dragon deity incinerated the remains, breathing flames that reached millions of kelvin. What had once been a vast, intricately decorated ship was nothing more than dust and debris. All destroyed, courtesy of Kairos, the Draconic Lord of Time, Life and Decay.
Only one thing had survived this destruction, the owner of the vessel, the Voidborn known as Ahkron. Ahkron could not comprehend how this had happened. Kairos was supposed to have been imprisoned! He had him trapped within a Void Box, closed off from his universe, unable to act. Yet here this deity was, hovering above him and more powerful than ever.
Fear and instinct began to well in Ahkron’s mind. It was fight or flight, and the Voidborn was unwilling to let this deity put him down. Gathering the debris with his god-like powers, Ahkron shaped it all into spears and staffs, sending them flying at the Dragon God. Kairos though simply waved one of his massive, clawed hands, vaporizing the makeshift weapons.
“HOW DARE YOU FIGHT BACK!” Ahkron roared. “You, your universe, you should all be preserved! Instead, I shall now DESTROY you!”
Summoning four elegant, golden swords, Ahkron threw himself at the floating divine. But he never made contact. With each slash and swipe, the Voidborn’s attacks were perfectly deflected or dodged. With every failed attack, Kairos simply smiled.
“And you called us pathetic…”
“I AM NOT PATHETIC!” Ahkron charged forward once more, but yet again, his attacks all failed. He drew back, firing anti-time lasers at the god. Nothing. He fired beams of frozen matter, with temperatures close to absolute zero, at the divine dragon. Nothing. He tried stabbing, slicing, charging, cutting, everything in Ahkron’s fighting ability, only to have it all snubbed by Kairos.
The Whenvern, the All-Dragon, smiled. Golden, needle-like teeth jutted from his jaws. His eyes glowed gold and purple. Ahkron had just realised that this deity was channelling three fundamentals. It was nearly all-powerful. Ahkron also realised that this fight may have been unwinnable.
Ahkron’s instinct to fight was slowly being replaced by the instinct to flee. He glanced around, as if looking for an exit, trying to figure out his next step. He had no time to do so though as those heavy, scaly claws suddenly grabbed onto Ahkron’s body, squeezing him tightly.
“I take it you do not want to die!” Kairos snarled as he gripped the Voidborn, clenching his fingers, forcing Ahkron to grunt in pain. “Would you like to make a deal?”
“W-what s-sort of d-deal?” Ahkron hissed.
“One where you give me back my siblings, leave this universe alone forever and cease your pathetic actions. In exchange for your continued existence.”
“But… decaylings… they…” Ahkron began to wheeze as the dragon’s claws crushed him further.
“You should be focusing on killing corruptions, not bothering perfectly functional universes.”
Ahkron gasped, finally admitting that he had no choice but to comply. “The c-cube… your p-pathetic d-decayling is in there…”
Kairos snatched the cube that had been hanging from Ahkron’s neck and peered inside. The Voidborn wasn’t lying.
“You’ll remove the device from him as well.”
Ahkron immediately complied. In the darkness inside the cube, something rattled then exploded. “D-done… B-but he is already dead. You c-cannot save him…”
The Dragon God sneered, then squeezed his claws one last time. The sound of crushed armour rippled through the cold void and was swiftly followed by the pained cries of Ahkron. In a single, decisive action, Kairos twisted round and threw the Voidborn out into the empty depths from which he came.
Kairos then immediately turned his attention back to the little cube. He gently opened it up and poured its contents, a worryingly limp body, into his outstretched hand. He watched it cautiously, waiting for it to move.
“I know you want to sleep, but I need you to wake up, Arkay…”
After four seconds, Kairos gently nudged the body, then tapped gently on its chest.
Suddenly, Arkadin snapped back to consciousness. As he slowly tried to work out where he was, the large, gaping wound just below his chest began to heal, his body swiftly repairing itself. Kairos carefully carried Arkadin back into the universe proper, dropping him off on the same floating rock that their sisters Yisini and Epani were waiting at.
“I’m… not dead…” Arkadin muttered, confused but gradually figuring out what happened.
“Nope. You’re alive!” Kairos smiled.
“And you’re all… big…”
Kairos glanced at himself. “Oh yeah. I need to give you all your stuff back.”
With a wave of Kairos’s clawed hand, the Dragon God began to change, shrinking back to his normal form. At the same time, Yisini and Arkadin both regained their godly powers. The purple glow returned to Yisini’s scales while Arkadin’s golden plating began to regrow.
“All better!” Epani beamed as she flapped around happily, circling around the floating rock. “Everything worked and it’s all good! Arkadin didn’t die either!”
“Yeah…” Arkadin muttered, picking himself up. “It’s all good…”
The three other deities all looked at Arkadin.
“Is something wrong, brother?”
The Thantophor waved his hand dismissively. “Oh no… I just need some time alone…”