Kayel sat by the river’s edge, minding his own business. Behind him was a small camp site, a temporary place of rest. There was no point trekking back to civilization if he was due to meet up with more Thraki any time soon. All they’d done recently was mess Kayel around, not giving him answers, demanding he both stay and leave, talking in riddles and all-round being annoying and he was tired of it. At least the flowing river was calming him down.
A heavy gush of wind could be heard in the distance. The sound of a Thraki hovering then taking off again. Whoever it was, they were looking for Kayel. With a flick of his and a few muttered words, he fired a small, magical flare into the sky, hoping to catch their attention.
The Thraki clearly must have seen it, as the flapping of wings became louder and louder. A shadow loomed over Kayel as they landed on the other side of the small stream.
“Kayel.”
“Vokulunax.”
Heavy armoured in gold plates, the purple Thraki lowered its head. Kayel bowed, showing respect. There was no need to annoy them.
“I must apologise to you, Unlahney. We have mistreated you.”
Kayel shrugged. He was only vaguely annoyed now that he’d had time to cool off. Really, he was used to all these years of mistreatment.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s fine. Why are you here?”
Vokulunax stretched out his wings. The trees around him didn’t seem so large now, as his clawed wing tips brushed against the canopy. He seemed to be stalling. This annoyed Kayel more than it should have.
“Vokulunax?”
“It is hard to explain. I suppose we should start with the good news, yes?”
Kayel nodded. “That would be nice.”
“Very well. The good news is that the Thraki have considered your words. We will allow you to bring your friends here, to become Thanatian citizens welcome within Thrakian territories. We will allow you to teach only basic magics to them, enough to heal their ills and that is all.”
Kayel was about to cheer, but Vokulunax stopped him.
“There is another downside though. While we allow you to teach them, we cannot allow them to teach others. If one of your fellow L-Class Ksa attempts to teach another being of any race, then all of you will be exiled. Including yourself.”
Kayel hesitated. “That… That is fair… Wouldn’t want your, uh, enemies… Okay, I get it. But you mentioned bad news?”
It was Vokulunax’s turn to hesitate. Again, he stretched his massive wings, before swinging his tail around a little, nearly knocking down several trees behind him.
“You… wished to know why you are considered worthy of learning magic. Why you even have the ability to access high level magia in the first place.”
“I did. After all, it seems weird that one Rethan out of billions is capable of all the powerful things I can do,” Kayel smiled. “Can’t be a simple matter of coincidence, right?”
The purple Thraki lowered his head, edging closer to Kayel until he was within whispering distance. “I warn you, Undead One, you will not like this knowledge that I am about to share with you. It has a high chance of haunting you, of making you doubt your own existence…”
Kayel tutted. “Really? You’re talking about someone who has been threatened, beaten, attacked, torn, raped, tortured and more. Why do you think that whatever it is you have to say will ruin me?”
Vokulunax backed away. “None of us wish to harm you. This knowledge could do that. It was damaging to us to discover this knowledge in the first place. When we first found you, when we realised what you are…”
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Kayel growled. “You going to tell me I’m not a Rethan? Or that I’m adopted? Maybe I’m actually a cyborg or something? Are you going to say that my mother was a hamster and my father smelled of elderberries?”
The Thraki blinked. “No. Far worse than that.”
“Just fucking tell me already.”
Vokulunax took a deep breath. Then another, then another. Kayel coughed, stopping him from hesitating further.
“Unlahney… You… You are basically a multi-dimensional baby maker…”
Kayel blinked. “Say what?”
“You were put into this universe mainly to mother children for higher-level beings.”
Either Kayel was confused as heck or Vokulunax wasn’t explaining properly. “Pardon?”
“You just exist so that beings like the Dragon God of Time can use you to have children.”
“Oh…”
Kayel fell silent, not really sure what to say. He eventually muttered a thank you. Noticing that perhaps the Rethan needed some time alone, Vokolunax bowed his head, thanked Kayel for his time then took off, leaving Kayel to his thoughts.
Time passed, and Kayel eventually realised that he’d been staring at the ground for a good hour or so. What Vokulunax had said finally settled inside his mind. With a grunt, Kayel decided to start putting his camping stuff away. He had plenty of time to think this over.
But no matter what, one small thought lingered in his mind.
“Guess it all makes a little more sense now…” Kayel sighed. “Still, I wonder who Elkay’s father was..?”