“AAAAAHHHHHHHHIIIEEEEEEEE!”
The Kronospast’s screams echoed across the small, rocky world, covered in long, winding rivers.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
There wasn’t anything particularly scary going on. In fact, the landscape was rather pretty. Sure, most of the grass was brown and dead and none of the trees had leaves on them, but the rivers were all very pretty, and at the top of the small hill ahead of him, there was a very pretty little house. But the Kronospast was still screaming.
“AAAAAHHHHHH-”
“You done yet, Kohra?” The source of the Kronospast’s fears was talking to him. It wasn’t a particularly scary being. It was taller than Kohra, with jet black skin and yellow armour and piercing golden eyes that seemed to stare right into his very scared soul. Jet black fangs stuck out of its dinosaur-like snout, and a long, black tail curled around its legs. It wasn’t much taller than Kohra, maybe just a foot or so. Kohra was tall for a Kronospast, standing at just under five feet. His own white body and bright blue eyes were almost the exact opposite of the monster standing in front of him.
It was the sort of hideous being that Kohra had only seen in text books, of religious temples being burned to the ground. Even acknowledgement of the existence of the Thantophor was grounds for punishment in Kronospast territories, but there it was, the Lord of Death, standing right in front of Kohra.
“Aaahhh… no… give me a second…” Kohra took a deep breath, then let out one last scream. “WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON WHY HAS MY GOD BETRAYED ME LIKE THIS?”
The Thantophor shrugged. “Because Kairos is a dick. You want something to drink?” As it spoke, it spun around and started walking towards the little house, carrying a long staff on its shoulders.
Kohra inspected his surroundings, not wanting to follow. This being was basically evil incarnate, as far as Kohra knew. All his life he had been taught to fear and hate the Thantophor, and now it was offering him a drink. What was going on? Did the Blessed Whenvern lose him? Had he been kidnapped by heathens? Had something happened? Where was he? Was this the afterlife? Was Kohra dead?
“You’re not dead!” the Thantophor shouted over his shoulder. “You coming or not?”
“I’m not dead?” Kohra hesitated. He took several steps forward, then decided to follow. Maybe it was best just to do what the Lord of Death wanted him to do.
“Nope.”
The Thantophor arrived at the little house. All the glass doors were open, and he happily stepped inside, into a large, bright room. In front of him was a dining table with space for six seats. To his left was a rather nice kitchen with a large oven and a fridge, as well a second, smaller kitchen off to the side. Behind all that were two sofas, one red, one black, a coffee table and a large television screen.
“This is…”
“Not what you expected?”
“No…” Kohra wandered around, then decided to sit down on the red sofa, not wanting to make a noise pulling a chair out.
“Fair enough. Never is. What do you want to drink?” the Thantophor asked again.
Kohra gulped. “Uh… Water please…” He didn’t want water, but he was scared and didn’t want to make a fuss, so that’s what he asked for.
“You sure? You’re in the home of Death Himself and you ask for water?”
The Thantophor had a good point. “I’ll have a cup of tea, please, my Lord.” Maybe that was how Death got them all. Just tempting them with basic things, maybe? Kohra breathed deeply, trying to calm himself down. About five seconds later (or was it thirty seconds? An hour?), a metal tray with a porcelain tea cup, a small, metal kettle, two teabags, a pot of sugar and a miniature jug of milk appeared in front of Kohra. The Thantophor sat opposite him with some sort of canned drink that smelled vaguely of fake strawberries.
“Thank you…” Kohra muttered. “Uh… so I’m not dead?”
“Nope. As far as I’m aware, Kairos teleported you into Yisini’s place for her to imprison you, but she doesn’t do that any more, so she asked me to get rid of you.”
“Get rid of me?” Kohra was beginning to panic again. He’d only just managed to calm down as well. “What does that even mean?”
The Thantophor shrugged. “She said I could do what I want with you. So I’ve invited you over for tea, since I don’t get many visitors these days. For some reason, she’d frozen you in an ice cube so I had to wait until you defrosted…”
“Defrosted? Oh Lord of Death, I do not understand…”
“Call me Arkadin. Arky for short.” Arkadin took a large gulp of his drink, smashed the can on the table then got up to get another one. “I don’t get it either, mate. Why would the Dragon God of Time exile the son of his favourite Kronospast ruler, and erase a large chunk of the poor thing’s memory? Whatever you did, either your father or the Whenvern want you dead. Or gone.”
Arkadin’s can snapped open. Whatever he was drinking, it was fizzy. Kohra looked down at the spread in front of him and poured himself some tea. He left the teabags in for thirty seconds, then added some milk and two spoons of sugar.
“Huh. Just like your brothers!” Arkadin smiled. “You are one of Avra’s kids, aren’t you? I’m not very good when it comes to Kronospasts but you totally look a bit like them. Funny how all three of you ended up the way you have.”
Kohra awkwardly took a sip of his drink, then put the cup back down. “I’ll be honest with you, Lord Arkadin. I’m rather scared right now. I have no idea where I am, or where my dad is, or anything like that. You said my god, the Dragon God of Time, sent me here. None of this makes any sense to me and frankly, I just want to go home.”
“Yeah but if I send you home, you might end up back here but dead rather than alive. And honestly that’d suck big time, because I kinda like you.”
Kohra blinked. “You like me?”
“I like everyone!” Arkadin smiled. “Sadly, being the god of death and stuff, people tend to hate me before they get to know me.”
“It’s understandable why though.”
“Yeah…” Arkadin sighed. “Still, I can’t keep you here forever, but I can’t send you home either. And I don’t want to just dump you in the middle of nowhere… I think I’m going to have to give you a fresh start. A big lump of cash, some water and a packed lunch to get you started.”
Arkadin stood up and wandered over to a small chest of drawers. He opened the top draw and pulled out an envelope and what looked like a gold key on a chain. The Thantophor smiled as he handed both to Kohra.
“Should be enough to at the very least afford a posh hotel for a few months while you get back on your feet. Go start a new life, free from your dumb dragon god.”
Kohra hesitated then opened the envelope. Inside was about fifty thousand Evra, the currency used in one of the smaller groups of species the Kronospasts traded with. Certainly quite a large amount of money.
“The only condition is that you come and visit me every week or so. Doesn’t have to be the same day every time. I just want the company. Oh and you’re not allowed to tell anyone that you’re Kohra tou Avran, son of the ruler of the Kronospasts. Because that will almost certainly get you killed.”
“Wow…” Kohra had no idea what to say. “Thank you… I’ll do as you say. I’ll come every week. If not more! I assume…”
“Just stick the key in any lock, twist it anti-clockwise and open the door. Make sure you close the door afterwards though. Last time someone left the door open, I ended up with twenty baby Banikans in here…” Arkadin smiled a bit, then tipped his head to one side. “I’ll see you round, alright?”
Before Kohra could say anything, the world around him faded to black. When he opened his eyes, the Lord of Death was gone. As was that pretty little house. Instead, he found himself in an unfamiliar city, standing underneath a massive sign.
“Palaestra – City of the Four… I remember this place!” Kohra beamed as he read the sign. “What a great place to start a new life…”