“So, what do you think?”
Elkay stared at the opened package in front of him, inspecting everything that was in it. Its contents was amazing. Shoulder plating with a gold leaf trim. Chest plates with intricate gold spirals on them. Shin pads with silk and fur linings. Belts made of pure stagones leather. A sword with, wait for it, precious gems embedded in the handle and a blade made of silver and tungsten with a diamond edge.
If he were to give it all an estimated value, Elkay would have said that this set of armour was worth at least a couple of million evra. Probably more. He could have sold it right now and not have to work for the next twenty years.
Except he couldn’t.
“Elkay?”
Arksi’s voice snapped him back to reality. Elkay turned around to face his Ksa.
“I… I don’t know.”
“What IS all of it though?” Teekay asked a sensible question. “That is some expensive shit. No wonder they had it delivered by the Raptor’s personal Thraki bitch.”
Elkay picked up the note that came with it all. Unlike everything else, it was written on plain paper. No fancy ribbons or stamps or anything like that. Just crudely scribbled words. Like a child had written it. Thanatians were notorious for having awful handwriting.
“Read it!” Veekay grinned.
“I am!” Elkay snapped. “Dear Elkay-En Photeianos. Or should I say, Elkay Theanon… How the fuck does she know?”
“Who?”
“The Raptor!” Elkay exclaimed.
“Well, you’ve met her before…” Enkay suggested. “Thanatians have a really good sense of smell and they never forget a scent.”
“She hasn’t been in contact with Elkay though!” Teekay interrupted.
“Doesn’t matter. She could probably smell Elkay’s scent on Arkay, when we sent him to discuss getting us into the DBS…” Enkay finished. “She’s not dumb.”
Elkay grunted. “Let me read the rest… Hm… “I would like to offer you the chance to fight in the Dessaron Battle Arena, as one of my Prime Star Fighters. As a Prime Star Fighter, you will participate in 1v1 matches against various challengers for any race, acting as a House Fighter, representing the Dessaron Battle Arena itself…” I don’t get it…”
“Ooh!” Veekay blurted out. “She basically wants you to be a house robot like on Cassids Robot Wars!”
Elkay rolled his eyes. “You know I don’t watch that Cassid crap. Explain.”
Veekay hesitated. “Well… Uh… Like, the public brings in their own robots to fight each other, but the Cassid Robot Wars crew also have their own super strong robots that are owned by them and they use them in special events and stuff.”
“Basically you don’t fight for any one team, you fight for the Dessaron Battle Arena!” Teekay clarified. “That’s… actually quite an honour. Not even Arkay fought for the DBS itself, the Dessaron are a Rethan-sponsored team.”
“Does it mention pay?” Geekay asked. “Because we’re going to need money soon.”
Elkay scanned the rest of the letter. There was mention of a salary, but no actual numbers. He wondered if that was because the salary wasn’t very good and Elkay would be paid by other means. Not only was there a salary, but a house and training facilities as well. Pretty much everything would be covered.
“It does… But I don’t know. This could be a trap. It could be bad. It all sounds too good to be true.”
“Maybe we need to look at this from Phovos’s angle?” Veekay suggested. “She knows there’s an exiled Rethan general wandering around trying to stay hidden. Either she’s doing this from the good of her heart, which I doubt because she’s a Thanatian…”
“That’s unfair,” Enkay interrupted with a smile. “Thanatians aren’t plotting, scheming monsters. That’s Cassids that you’re thinking of.”
Veekay smiled back. “True. But she still wants to gain from you.”
Elkay sighed. He couldn’t just ignore this. The Raptor had put a lot of effort into trying to convince him to accept her offer.
“I’ll get Arkay to arrange a meeting with her. The two of us. Alone. Maybe it is too good to be true, but the Raptor doesn’t seem like that sort of being.”
“What about the armour?” Veekay asked.
Elkay smiled as he picked up the sword. “Oh this? I’m going to keep it. Definitely.”