Tale – Untimely Meeting

“Woah, look at those Veth…” Verlais accidentally said a bit too loudly as the four Kronaron entered the large, black and gold building.

“We are surrounded by beautiful architecture, underneath the newborn stars of the last nebula of the universe, and your first thought is a bunch of Veth?” Kindyna hissed. “Shame on you.”

Verlais smiled. “I have seen plenty of nebulae in my life, dear. I haven’t seen higher level Veth like those four. You can tell because of the wings, they mean business. They probably get to play with Thanati herself.”

Ct’Era seemed amused by Verlais’s optimism. “You like Veth too?”

“Yep. I spent some of our downtime studying them. Makes sense when you’re destined to see the end of time. Deitics and Veth are the only things alive.”

“Oh. I thought you just wanted to be one like me…” Ct’Era sighed. She then picked herself up and hopped towards the Veth to introduce herself.

“What is that creature?” a voice muttered from behind them.

“Don’t be rude!” another voice, higher pitched,male with a slight feminine twang, hissed. “That, Tenvik, is a Banikan. One of the most dangerous mortal races to exist!”

Kindyna and Arksi spun around to see who was talking. They instantly recognised Lua, one of Stasis’s favourite minions.

“I don’t think she heard you,” Arksi reassured them. “Her name’s Ct’Era. I’m Arksi, that’s Kindyna and Verlais is… Where’s Verlais?”

“He’s looking at those Veth.”

“Thanks, Kindyna,” Arksi smiled, pointing towards where Verlais was. “I assume you are Stasis’s team?”

“Indeed,” Lua grunted. “My, uh, allies here will hopefully defeat you in battle so Stasis may win back the heart of Kinisis.”

“Or at least feel the boobs of Death,” Tenvik smirked. “Caucyst and Lenia are over there, Lenia needs… handlers. And we brought a research team for some reason.”

Lua seemed already fed up with the situation at hand. “We get to see Veth outside of Kinigi for an extended amount of time. It is also… an ideal way to get a lot of Deitics killed…”

“Pardon?” Kindyna and Arksi both exclaimed. Tenvik too seemed somewhat confused.

“Oh, nothing,” Lua casually changed the conversation. “Just a poor joke. You though, Arksi, yes? You are not a Vohra. You, Kindyna, are not a Temthan. I have no clue what race your friend Verlais is. Perhaps you could clue me in?”

Arksi opened his mouth to speak, but Kindyna covered his mouth and spoke over him. “I guess you will find out later!” She smiled awkwardly as she dragged Arksi over to where the Veth and the rest of their team were.

“Element of surprise, Arksi!” Kindyna finally growled.

“My bad. What are you two doing?” Arksi asked, seeing that one of the Veth had an arm over Ct’Era’s shoulder. The Veth simply smiled.

“We are talking,” the Banikan bluntly replied. “This is Iatre. The purple one is Vel. The green on is called Ignis. That one is your brother.”

Arksi turned to face the blue and black Veth, then turned back to Ct’Era. “Which one?”

Ct’Era shrugged. “How many siblings did you have again?”

“Six.”

“Oh.”

The Veth rolled its eyes. “I am Arkay.”

“Really?” Kindyna butted in. “I thought you were black and gold or yellow or something.”

The Veth sneered. “Death enjoys messing with my colours. It is… interesting to see you. Now, please excuse us…” His voice then trailed off into a low murmur. The other Veth picked up on it and headed off into the building. Arkay waved to the Kronaron then followed.

“That was pleasant!” Ct’Era clapped with amusement. “We should prepare ourselves!”

“Yeah… Good idea…” Arksi muttered, suddenly feeling rather uncertain.