Sneaking Out

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Tahnahos swallowed nervously as the weight of his backpack shifted, carefully tucked to one side as to not interfere with his two pairs of wings.

“Uh… nowhere…”

Both Tahnahos and Kinisis knew he was lying. In all honesty, Tahnahos hadn’t expected to have been caught out so quickly.

“No, seriously, tell me where you are going. Because if you are going to enter Epani’s universe, you’re going to get us all in trouble.”

“I wasn’t… I was…” Tahnahos stuttered. “I was… going to see… if I could find a way to find Kairos’s Time Drake assistant.”

“Why?”

“Because, uh…”

Kinisis suddenly interrupted, crossing her arms somewhat angrily. “Wait, who IS Kairos’s little assistant? It’s not that little weird half-draconic slag, is it?”

“That’s mean…” Tahanahos muttered. “Elksia is no more of a whore than I am. If anything, I was always the whore-iest of the four of us.”

Upon hearing the name “Elksia”, Kinisis immediately worked out what Tahnahos was planning. “So you were planning to sneak off and have fun with your little buddies and my son?”

“I’m worried about them. Retvik and Arkay are Decaylings, they’re the ones who are going to be put on the front line to look after ungrateful Life Goddesses. Elksia went with them, since their numbers are so few.”

“Hm…” The Allmaker fell silent, clearly thinking and very suddenly losing herself in her own thoughts. Tahnahos remained where he was, awkwardly hovering in place as he flapped his little wings. When Kinisis finally spoke again, Tahnahos couldn’t help but jump in surprise. “So…”

“So?”

“So you want to help your buddies.”

“Yes.”

“And you want to spend time with Arkay.”

“Yes…” Tahnahos hesitated. “Where are you going with this line of conversation?”

Kinisis simply smiled. “Well, since you want to do these things, I think it’s a worthwhile opportunity to get you to multitask a little.”

Realising what Kinisis was about to ask of him, Tahnahos took a long, deep breath. “What do you want me to spy on and report back on this time?”

The Allmaker smiled some more, pleased that Tahnahos was catching on. “Oh, not much. I want updates on what Arkay and your buddies are doing. But while you’re out there, I also want you to gather data on what is going on with the… Voidborn situation. See if there’s any patterns. Find out what and where is safe. And report back immediately when you are given the all-clear, so we can leave Kairos’s palace.”

“I… I don’t know if I can reliably do that…” Tahnahos sighed. “They’re Decaylings, they won’t get much information at all.”

“Some information is better than no information, dear…” Kinisis shrugged. “But let me put it another way. I was originally going to be very angry at you for sneaking out. But this benefits basically everyone. Even if you just get me information on how well Arkadin is doing, then we’re good. And I’m happy to let you spend as much time with Arkadin and his other buddies as you need, as long as you pass any useful information back to me.”

“I… I guess…” Tahanhos gave in. He didn’t really like being a spy, but it was better than being stuck here with Kinisis. “There is one thing though.”

“Hm?” Kinisis smiled coyly.

“I… I might need a ride… I don’t think I have the strength to just… fly to where Arkay and Retvik and Elksia are…”

Kinisis smiled some more, then took Tahnahos by the hand, leading him back inside. “Don’t worry, kiddo. I’ve got just the vehicle for you…”