It had taken way too long, but the Thantir Two had finally arrived to tow Shield Six to the only place in the sector that was open. They would have gone to the closer Pleasure Mall, but after a handful of baby universes all suddenly disappeared, as well as a few larger ones being destroyed, it seemed like the already pretty empty sector was now even emptier. At least this tiny pit stop was run by Decay Lords, so there was a little safety to be had, especially as Kal needed to get to work on repairing their ship.
At least Galyn and his crew had been incredibly helpful. Back when the Thantir were a much larger organization, Kal only ever did purification duties for them, and normally only interacted with former leader Vikalos. Galyn was scarier and more stern, but he was appreciative of Kal’s work. Even if he never helped them get the materials they needed to build separate bodies. These days though, Kal was now six separate individuals and they’d been working harder than ever. Galyn’s invitation to have them be official members of the Thantir felt a little late, all things considered.
Still, Galyn had immediately given them the help they needed. Already, a lot of the large holes in the side of Shield Six had been patched up, with Decay Lord Retvik and a similarly-sized Decayling both having helped Pah weld sheets of metal over the massive gashes. What was also nice was that, unlike most other Periuniversal entities that Kal ran into, these younger ones actually recognized Kal as six individuals, and didn’t make a single joke about how they were all so small.
There’d been more good news as well. Akah and Tahvra, the Decaylings that Kal now had to train, had reunited with some of their fellow former Divine Guardians. If the six Cleansers could have smiled, they would have, the reunion was awfully sweet. Out of Galyn’s crew though, aside from Galyn himself, the only being Kal knew though was Retvik, and they hadn’t seen him since he was a Decayling himself. Technically, it was their first time meeting everyone else, even if they’d had conversations with the other Decay Lords.
Things were looking up at least. And thanks to the extra hands, Tah had managed to fix the electrical systems in record time. He’d also managed to get the materials he needed to make himself a new left arm, but he lacked any red paint, so his freshly replaced limb was annoyingly plain and silver.
“Thanks for the help, you two!” Tah’s eyes lit up as he put down his analytic tool and glanced at the Decaylings that had helped him. “Saved me at least a couple of hours.”
The slightly taller being, with grey skin and crystalline orange armour plating, just seemed to shrug. “Eh, just doing what we’re told.”
“Well, I appreciate it…” Tah paused. These beings looked familiar. Especially the cream and yellow one. They looked like a deity that the Cleansers had treated for corruption lately. One that the Thantir had given them the details for, and that Kal had had previous dealings with. At the same time, they looked like smaller versions of the two Decay Lords Galyn kept an eye on. “If you don’t mind me asking, what species are you, Eksi and Teekay?”
“We’re Skyavok!” Eksi, the yellow and cream-armoured individual, beamed. “Why?”
“Are you the same species as Retvik, Litvir and Arkay? You look like, and I apologise for this, baby versions of them. I’m not very good at species identification though, I must admit.”
Teekay and Eksi both looked at each other. They both seemed a little confused.
“Retvik, Litvir and Relkir are Rethavok, a different species,” Teekay explained. “I don’t know what species Arkay was but he took the form of a Skyan and spent a lot of time with us. Didn’t like it when we worshipped him but he was nice enough… Did you know him?”
Tah nodded. “We fixed him up when he was a Decayling, saw him again recently. Just thought you might have been related somehow since you look the same way he does.”
“You saw him recently?” Teekay blinked, still confused.
“Yes. We see a lot of beings, mostly because of our work. Corruption and Voidborn purification is a dying job, most people seem to just opt to kill infected deities these days.” Tah didn’t go any further, he didn’t know what these Decaylings were privy to, and he was aware that Galyn didn’t know about their recent visit to a small, nearby universe. Tah didn’t get a chance to go any further though as he got a message from Leh and Koh, requesting his presence.
“You’re needed elsewhere?” Eksi asked.
“You’re a telepath too.”
“We both are!” Eksi smiled. “Your telepathic messages are weirdly electric and not that secure.”
Tah clicked in vague annoyance. “We only use it for brief messages anyway. That being said, you two take a break, I’ll call you if I need you. Thanks for the help.”
Teekay and Eksi both bowed slightly, and Tah made his way outside and onto the dock of the pit stop outside, where the rest of Kal were waiting for him. To his surprise though, there were three other beings present. One was Galyn, the other was Litvir, the weirdly vampiric Decay Lord that Galyn had also helped raise. The third being though was a Voidborn, the same size as Galyn. Tah noticed that Galyn’s claw was tightly wrapped around the Voidborn’s neck and a purple swirl of energy floated above it.
“That’s not the same one that attacked us!” Tah exclaimed as he approached.
“Yeah, we already established that!” Nuh grunted. “He wanted to speak to all of us.”
The Voidborn sighed loudly. It didn’t seem upset about being held by Galyn, but it also didn’t seem happy either. Its emotions spiked though as it spotted Retvik and the Life Goddess Seimeni approaching them.
“What are you doing here, Theocydes?” Retvik snarled, summoning a long, flaming weapon and pointing it at the Voidborn. “You were supposed to remain on the very edges of these sectors, away from everyone else!”
Theocydes, the Voidborn, let out another sigh. “I come here as a warning. A new Voidborn Lord has been tearing through this sector. The same Unhomed that tore through your ship. It has already killed me twice, and my return to this area will most likely result in a third respawn. The being’s name is Ahkron, they are an ancient, ancient entity that turns deity-run universes into trinkets, murders all other Voidborn in its path and has a particular hatred for death gods and Time Drakes. As far as I can tell, Ahkron wants complete control of these sectors, particularly the one left by Life Goddess Kinisis and her antics, a sector that was not present when Ahkron last passed through here.”
“He is just… destroying universes?” Gah stuttered. Several of the other Cleansers muttered similar words. Litvir and Seimeni both also looked very concerned.
“Not destroying. Well, yes, destroying them. From what I have heard, he called it ‘preserving’. Up until now, us Goldblessed Voidborn had only heard stories about Ahkron, but, seeing him first hand, you little Decay Lords are lucky to be alive.”
“We have dealt with errant Voidborn entities before!” Galyn snapped, tightening his grip. “We will deal with this one. The same way we dealt with you.”
Theocydes closed his eyes, letting out a tut. “Decay Lord Galyn, I say this with the greatest respect, but the only reason you dealt with me is because you had a horrible hybrid with you. One who I sense is no longer present. Sure, your little Decaylings are more powerful now, and I do admire Litvir’s mental trickery, but Ahkron is not a normal Voidborn in any way. Though he did seem to disappear approximately 39,800 hours prior, his reappearance is not a good one. An ancient Voidborn desiring revenge is not a good one.”
“So what do you want us to do?” Seimeni asked, her voice much more soothing than that of the Decay Lords. “Us Thantir can only do so much. Can’t even fight it, according to you. So what should we do?”
“Warn as many beings as possible, then get out of this collection of five sectors. For at least 800 hours. You can do little to protect the universes around here, but at the very least, other beings of the Periuniversal Void will heed your warnings. Most do not listen to Voidborn such as myself. Understandably so.”
Galyn hesitated, then released his grip on the Voidborn. “We shall… do that right away. Koh, are your comms repaired?”
“Mostly, yes.”
“Good. Start sending out messages on every frequency and go through all your recent work contacts and message them too. Then send me a copy of all those contacts so we can do the same. We will make our way to local Life Oases and warn them in person, and when Shield Six is repaired, you six must do the same.” Galyn turned back to Theocydes. “You though, you may be a Voidborn, but you can communicate with deity-run universes if you visit them in person. I want you to do that, to try and protect as many beings as possible. Understood?”
Theocydes nodded. “I can do that, yes. I appreciate you taking the time to listen.”
With a snarl, Galyn clapped his hands together and dismissed his Decay Lords. Seimeni and Galyn returned to the Thantir Two, while Retvik accompanied Kal to help them with their ship repairs. However, Litvir remained where he was for a moment.
“You are different now. That stench of evil you used to carry is gone now.”
“You could say that, yes.”
“We humbled you.”
“You did.”
Litvir seemed to smile. “I know what that is like. You are a monster, just like how I used to be. Could have just fled the sector, but you tracked us down just to warn us.” The psionic Decay Lord held out his hand. “We could be allies. If you are willing.”
“You are being rather…” Theocydes couldn’t think of the right word. “… weird.”
“Maybe. But in the grand scheme of things, you just wanted to kill Arkay like everyone else did. In my time out here, I have encountered far worse things. Plus, we have Time Drake and Life Goddess allies, a Voidborn ally could be useful as well.”
Theocydes eyed Litvir’s hand, then shook it. “You have me convinced, Litvir. I shall do as your boss has asked of me, then perhaps we can talk further.”
Litvir lowered his head slightly. “I would like that. Good luck on your travels, Voidborn.”
“You too, Decay Lord.”