“Oh thank the gods, there is actually a ship here!”
Tenuk, Kayel and Retvik all stared at Nyssi as they finally reached the top of the staircase.
“What?”
“I think we all know only one god is responsible for that ship being here…” Retvik tutted.
“I never thought I’d be thanking the Thantophor!” Nyssi was doing her best to be optimistic. “Funny how the Life Goddess is trying to kill more than the Death God or Goddess or whatever gender you Skyans and Rethans are, after all the Thantophor is just like you two!… I’m doing that thing again, aren’t I?”
“It’s fine, Nyssi!” Tenuk patted Nyssi on the back. “You can’t help yourself. This gas is fucking us all in different ways. Is it me or is there not much air out here?”
Retvik took a deep breath, then wished he hadn’t. He’d inhaled a mixture of noxious, Life-Goddess-made gases and not enough of the oxygen and nitrogen he normally breathed. He didn’t have much time to think about it though as the Temthans they had just saved pushed past him and rushed towards the back of the ship, where a bay door was open. At the other end of the ship, a couple of Vrekans were arguing. These sleek, slippery creatures were uncommon outside of their watery worlds. Tenuk saw this as an opportunity to test his shape-shifting powers and see what they were arguing about.
“I can’t fly this!”
“No one can!”
“Ahem. I can!” Tenuk beamed, only to realize that he had only partially changed. Sure, he had made himself look like a Vrekan, but he was completely the wrong colours, his old red and silver had reappeared.
The two Vrekans stared at Tenuk, then shoved a pair of keys into his hands and rushed onto the ship, just as the ground started rumbling again.
“Whatever, we need to get out of here!”
Tenuk shrugged, then fiddled around with the keys. They weren’t really keys, more a couple of thin pieces of straight metal, three in total.
“Can you fly this ship?” Retvik asked as he and his other friends all approached. The rescued Temthans had sealed themselves in the back, while the handful of non-Temthans they had saved were all sitting in the middle. The cockpit contained six seats, all of which were empty.
“I’ve flown ships before. Got my pilot license at least. This can’t be too hard!” Tenuk continued to smile, as he pushed everyone on board, before closing the door and sitting in the pilot’s chair. He immediately shoved each of the three metal strips into their respective holes, then twisted them one at a time. The ship’s engines sparked into life and started purring.
Just in time too, as the ground around the ship began to crack. Tenuk ignored the shrieks coming from the back of the ship and quickly started flicking switches. The ship began to rise into the air, off the ground and away from the torture labs.
As they began to gain some distance though, a horrible hiss rumbled through the air.
“Uh, Tenuk, does this ship have weapons?” Retvik had a rather worrisome wobble in his voice.
“Uh, no, don’t think so…” Tenuk flicked a switch, which opened up a small screen, revealing the rear of the ship. The Allbirther had clawed her way out of her labs and was trying to grab hold of the ship. So far, they were just out of reach, but that was quickly about to change.
Below, the Allbirther’s words had devolved into feral screams. She had freed herself from what remained of her labs, but she wanted her prisoners back. The only thing stopping her was the Thantophor, who had grabbed hold of her tail and was refusing to let go. That was until Siini whipped her tail forwards then backwards, sending the Thantphor flying through the lab ruins, destroying them completely. A harsh heat bathed both Sini and her target, the tiny ship trying to fly away. And now there was nothing to stop her from reclaiming what she believed to be hers.
“I think we are in trouble…” Nyssi whimpered, glancing out of the window. “Is there anywhere nearby we can fly to? Surely she’ll… back off if we go somewhere populated?”
Tenuk frowned. “We’re in the middle of absolutely nowhere, the only thing around is that gas giant and there’s no life around here. Probably why she picked this place in the first place.”
The warm light from the exploding labs had disappeared, revealing nothing but rubble. Even the moon the labs had been built on was no more. Sini checked behind her, to make sure that Arkay was no longer around, then resumed her attempt to capture the ship. She seemed slow at first, flicking away debris. But as she cleared the space around her, her tendrils drew closer.
“Okay, I need some suggestions or some ideas or something!” Tenuk shouted, forcing the ship to accelerate as much as he could. “Doesn’t look like the Thantophor can help us any more!”
Kayel peered out of the cockpit window, then pointed to the dark shadow underneath the gas giant.
“Can you steer us into that shadow?”
“Into the planet?”
“No, directly into the shadow.”
“Why?” Tenuk asked. “You have a plan?”
“A very stupid one, yes…” Kayel hesitated. “I can… try and shadowjump the ship.”
“Shadowjumping… shadowjumping things like ships is real?” Retvik interrupted. “I thought that was just a myth?”
“What IS shadowjumping?” Tenuk blinked.
“It’s a… a thing Phantasmas can do. Literally using shadows as portals to other places. The most I’ve transported in the past is a small hovercraft and that nearly killed me. But, honestly, if death itself has truly forgotten us four, then fuck it, I’ll try.”
“Kayel, we ca-”
Kayel pushed Nyssi away as she tried to approach. “Please don’t try and talk me out of this. I’m K-Class. I’m supposed to protect people. And this is assuming the Allbirther can’t just follow us through anyway…”
“Do you… know where we’ll turn up on the other side?” Tenuk lowered his voice. “So I can, uh, slow the ship down so we don’t crash into anything.”
“Should end up in the old K-Class training facilities in the Voidlands. Won’t be anyone there.”
“Alright…” Tenuk changed course, heading towards the gas giant. “Ready when you are.”
The screeching from the Life Goddess was getting louder, but Kayel did his best to ignore it as he pressed his hands against the glass of the cockpit. He began to concentrate, focusing on the shadow of the gas giant ahead of them. As he did so, Kayel closed his eyes, which began to glow with otherworldly energies. The colour of his armour plating drained away, the yellow being replaced with a hideous, unnatural black. This shadow grew across Kayel’s body and started enveloping first the cockpit, then the rest of the ship. Only a small patch remained untouched, allowing Kayel and Tenuk to see out of the windows.
“Hold on, guys!” Tenuk unwillingly shouted as the gas giant’s shadow loomed into view, overtaking all the visuals ahead of them. Instinctively, everyone braced for impact, only for nothing to happen, with everything being encased in darkness. At least for a moment.
Suddenly, land loomed into view. A city. Tenuk shut off the engines, then steered the ship towards the closest and emptiest patch of land, a large, green park full of trees. Balloon-like capsules burst out from the front of the ship, slowing it down enough that the ship did not instantly disintegrate on impact.
Back in the depths of space, Sini howled menacingly. As her tantrum reached its peak though, it was abruptly silenced, as a small moon collided with her head, shattering into another ring around the gas giant. Finally, the Allbirther fell quiet, consciousness slipping away.
“Sini, what is wrong with you?” Arkay muttered to himself, checking over his fellow deity’s body. Despite the battle, she seemed unharmed, aside from a small cut on her index finger. Arkay couldn’t quite say the same about himself, but he would heal.
Suddenly, a new shadow loomed over Arkay and his unconscious sister. One nearly as large as the gas giant itself.
“Oh… hello Epani… I can explain…” Arkay stuttered, realizing what he had just done.