Skyavok folklore was mostly rather bland, what with the Skyavok having had to rebuild from scratch on multiple occasions, dragging themselves away from the cliffs of extinction. Most of their ancient history was lost to time, and what little they had was mostly oral and rarely written down. Just keeping themselves alive had been difficult, mainly because they took the vague shape of the God of Decay, and many other races believed them to be harbingers of doom and destruction, seeking to eradicate the otherwise harmless species before they got too powerful.
After their most recent brush against extinction, some 2500 years ago, the Skyavok decided to change themselves, to start hoarding data and information, to build massive archives, to try and preserve the new history they wanted to make. In doing so, other races stopped seeing the Skyavok as nothing more than shadowy pests, and they slowly began to trust them. Over time, the Skyavok were no longer considered monsters, but they had an actual use, and the other members of the Twelve slowly began to accept them.
However, there was one Skyavok legend that seemed to survive all their struggles. That was the Legend of the Shadow, a pure black Skyavok with glowing red eyes, that would appear at times of need. Most Skyavok believed that the Shadow was just the Thantophor in disguise. After all, the Silent Blade had assisted the Skyavok many times, both as a god and in person, catching them before they fell too far. But there were a handful of times where the Thantophor and the Shadow had been seen as separate entities. These were old stories, with little to back them up, but the Thantophor, in the few times he had spoken with the Skyavok directly, had never directly claimed to be the Shadow.
Whoever the Shadow was, no one knew. Those who didn’t accept the Thantophor Is Shadow theory believed the Shadow to be an utterly ancient Skyavok that the Thantophor had blessed. Others though believed the Shadow to be many different beings over the course of history, This theory made more sense, and was the one pushed by the Phantasma Cult, who considered the Shadow to be their spiritual leader, and the connection between the Skyavok and their matron deity. The Shadow though hadn’t been seen in a long, long time. After all, the Skyavok lived in harmony with the rest of the Twelve. They hadn’t been in danger for a while.
Ayvee-En had always rejected the worship of the Thantophor. He rejected anything to do with shadows, and had helped set up laws that had destroyed most of the Phantasma Cult. He and many of the older N-Class believed that the Skyavok should have never rejected the Panelix, even after the Lady of Light rejected them. They could have regained their place within the Panelix’s grasp, but the Skyavok as a race had eventually accepted the Thantophor as their protector, and this had held them back. And in Ayvee-En’s eyes, killing shadowjumpers and Phantasma cultists was a way of proving his loyalty to the Lady of Light. That was why Ayvee-En had been blessed with his strange telepathic powers, right?
Right now though, as Ayvee-En eyed the being standing before him, he was no longer so sure. Had the Shadow really appeared, just to protect two former cultists? Two little scumbags that Ayvee-En had tricked into trying to assassinate him, so he could manipulate the masses and shut down the Phantasma Cult?
With a snarl, Ayvee-En fired a psychic dart at the all-black Skyavok. Normally, such a dart would instantly knock out whoever it hit. This dart did nothing. Ayvee-En pointed his gun at the dark Skyavok.
“Whoever you are, this does not concern you. Leave now. Or I will open fire.”
“Of course this concerns me!” The Shadow seemed to smile. Their voice sounded familiar, but had an echoing undertone. “You are harming my children. You are breaking bonds. You have twisted and broken contracts.”
Ayvee-En sneered. “Elkay Athanasion, is that you, dear? You do realize I am going to tell the whole universe that you are tied up in the Phantasma Cult.”
The Shadow laughed. “You assume you will leave the Great Arenas in one piece.”
“You threaten me, Elkay?”
“I do, yes. And do not call me Elkay. I am the Shadow, the Servant of the Silent Blade.”
Ayvee-En emptied his entire clip in the Shadow’s direction. Not a single bullet connected. Not even the handful of bullets that had bounced off near the little black cat.
“Alright, what the fuck are you?” Ayvee-En stepped back, feeling genuinely concerned. He reloaded his gun, then threw some more psychic darts in the Shadow’s direction. Again, nothing happened.
“I just told you. I am the Shadow. I protect my children. But I also protect promises and oaths. Those two promised to keep their deal to you. You forced them to break it. This nullifies your deal, and you have no right to harm them. In the eyes of the Silent Blade, this also reverses your deal.”
“Lies!” Ayvee-En hissed. He raised his hand and pointed it at the Shadow, catching glimpses of their thoughts. His suspicions were correct, the being standing before him WAS the All-Ksa. But he didn’t seem to be completely there, and Ayvee-En couldn’t get a telepathic grip on them. “They know what they did. They know they are monsters, that they deserve to die.”
“Does the same not apply to you, child?”
Ayvee-En blinked. “What do you mean?”
“You are a child, born with powers you do not understand. Unnatural ones…” The Shadow glanced downwards, at the black cat, which hissed briefly, before meowing and trotting off, leaving the room. “The Thantophor would want you dead. I am… less murderous. I care for all my children, including sinners who are willing to repent. You are one of my children, the same way little Teekay and little Kayel are. I will allow you to continue breathing, if you repent and leave this room, abandoning your plans and follow the Silent Blade’s guiding darkness once more.”
“And what if I refuse?”
A dark, shadowy blade erupted from the floor, piercing Ayvee-En’s hand. The injury was identical to the one he had caused to the unconscious Phantasma behind him.
“I can be quite persuasive.”
Taking a deep breath, Ayvee-En relented. He wasn’t stupid. He was facing some sort of monster, one that could easily kill him. He could just lie right now, lay low for a bit and return to his old ways once things had settled down. Ayvee-En threw his weapons down.
“Very well. I am not a fool. I know better than to defy the gods. May I leave?”
The Shadow smiled again. He summoned another dark blade, stabbing through Ayvee-En’s other hand. This time though, the blade didn’t cause a puncture wound. Instead, it immediately healed up and left an odd, v-shaped scar. He then stepped aside, allowing Ayvee-En to pass. Knowing not to count his gifts, Ayvee-En immediately left.
Waiting for him outside, at the top of the stairs, were two of his utterly loyal R-Class guards.
“What happened, boss?” one of the guards asked, as the three of them walked off.
“I didn’t kill them. I’ll have to kill them later. Killing Teekay Askotin should be easy, but Kayel Theanon will be troublesome. Didn’t think that little Kayel bitch actually had ties to the Thantophor, so I’m going to have to murder him in some other way.”
“Oh…” the guard muttered, stuttering somewhat. “Uh, why did you want to kill them again?”
Ayvee-En glared at the guard. “I told you, Essar, those bitches are two of the Phantasma assassins we tricked into trying to kill me, so we could shut down the Phantasma Cult.”
“Oh… yeah… sorry, boss, I forgot… Anyway, we’ve been waiting here a while, do you mind if I go to the bathroom?”
“Fiiiine…”
Essar bowed, then headed into the bathroom as she had stated. The bathroom was down a steep set of stairs, for some reason. Ayvee-En and his other guard, Jayar, remained at the top. Essar disappeared around a corner, and, about two minutes later, a Spast appeared, climbing up the stairs, tutting to themselves. Ayvee-En paid little attention to them, after all he considered Spasts to be almost as worthless as Phantasma Skyans.
Once the Spast had left, Ayvee-En tutted loudly and impatiently. “Fucking lazy-ass cunt species.”
“Yeah, fuck Spasts. No one likes them. Do you want me to go and kill that bastard?”
“No, Jayar. Not worth the effort.”
“Hmmmph. Huh. Essar is taking a while…” Jayar muttered. “Should I go grab her?”
Ayvee-En growled. “Go. Get on with it.”
Jayar disappeared down the stairs, the same way Essar had. Another minute passed, and nothing happened. As Ayvee-En snarled and decided to head down to see what was going on though, a familiar black cat darted up the stairs and ran between his legs. The cat meowed at him as Ayvee-En tumbled back down the jagged staircase, breaking quite a few bones. Eventually, he landed at the bottom of the stairs, where he spotted Jayar.
“Jayar! Get up and…”
Ayvee-En blinked. Jayar was dead, his body leaned up against the wall, a dagger sticking out of their side. Not just any dagger. Ayvee-En’s personal dagger. The one that was supposed to have been in the sheathe on Ayvee-En’s leg. Essar was nowhere to be seen, and, all of a sudden, standing at the top of the stairs above him were the Spast and a handful of Ksithan guards, one of whom seemed to have a camera on them.
Another blink. Ayvee-En couldn’t believe what was happening. As far as the rest of the universe was concerned, Ayvee-En’s guard was dead, and he was the only suspect.
The black cat returned, standing on Jayar’s corpse.
“My Shadow may be forgiving, but I certainly am not…” the Thantophor hissed as he faded away. “I will make the rest of your short existence miserable. As you deserve…”