Theocydes mused to himself as he increased the speed of his ship while he travelled through the rough patch between the Ventra Expanse and the Kinigian Wilderness. Normally, he’d stop by the denser parts of the Athata Rift, but that was better used for west to east travel, not south to north. Theocydes was heading to the far western strip of the Kinigian Wilderness, bordering on the Pentacluster the local Voidborns just called Deathspore. Really, considering what the Patagenic Pentacluster overall was next to, and that most of the powers in the area had left, it was a small miracle that Patagenic hadn’t been completely overrun by the monster hordes of Corruption that lived next door.
As to why Theocydes was heading out to the Kinigian Wilderness? Well, while there were no active Life Goddesses, Time Drakes or Decay Lord sects in Deathspore, there WAS a Voidborn cult that worked there, the Silvered Sanctifiers, and they were trying to at least disrupt the hungering swarms enough that they didn’t spread too far. Somehow, the Silvered Sanctifiers had heard of the Corruption Purges that he, Kesistatir and Vekeus, Theocydes’s closest allies, did across the Ventra Expanse, and they were looking to recruit them.
Voidborn traditions state that, whether you accept a recruitment request or not, you have to meet in person. Vekeus was absolutely terrified of being dragged into a new cult and Kesistatir didn’t want it publicly known that he was a Stolen Prince, so Theocydes was going, on his own, to tell the Silvered Sanctifiers that none of them wished to join the cult, and that they were happy being Adogtic.
Still, that did mean going very close to Deathspore. And Theocydes didn’t like that. Sure, he had told Vekeus and Kesistatir where he was going, they were both waiting for him at the edge of the Ventra Expanse, and he had direct access to a purifier sect if things went really bad, but it was unease that Theocydes didn’t need. Plus, the western side of the Kinigian Wilderness was bumpy. There were only three things of note on the western side: a simple Decay Lord-run shopping mall, and two universes, one of which was far further north than Theocydes planned to travel. The Silvered Sanctifiers had requested to meet just north of the Syklasan Universe, an utterly ancient universe run by one of the Holy Mothers from the former Golden Paradise, one who had wisely gotten out before the Voidborn cults there got violent.
Theocydes’s trail of thought was suddenly shattered by, well, the shattering of the main glass viewing pain of his small Voidborn ship. This was rather surprising because most ships in the Periuniversal Void were designed to deflect anything they hit, mostly small rocks and bits of debris from dead universes. Whatever had smashed through had to have been travelling very fast.
Theocydes quickly rushed into the cockpit to assess the damage, and was even more surprised to see that he had hit a living being. It was clearly a Time Drake, but quite a small one, not much larger than Theocydes himself. Time Drakes often flew through the Space Between Universes manually, they rarely used ships, but this one was odd because it was more purple in colour than the standard white, silver or blue.
With a sigh, Theocydes helped the Time Drake to their feet, then sat them down in a spare chair.
“Are you alright?”
“Ow… that fucking hurt…” the Time Drake rubbed their head. “Been flying this entire time and haven’t hit a single thing and suddenly I… I…”
While the Time Drake looked androgynous (most of them did), the pitch of their voice suggested it was female. Again, not too surprising. Unlike Life Goddesses, which were 99% female, and Voidborns, which were 99.9% male-leaning, Time Drakes were much more balanced. And less aggressive. They were normally better flyers as well, but this Time Drake wasn’t very big, its body was skinny and most of its otherwise rather upright body was made up of large wings and a very long tail.
“Do you need something? Like, an ice pack or something?” Theocydes asked. “You don’t seem too bruised or beaten up, but you did hit my main window at high speeds.”
The Time Drake blinked, then stared at Theocydes. “Do I know you?”
“Perhaps? I don’t know you though. Most Time Drakes tend to avoid this side of the Patagenic Pentacluster. You must be a very young Time Drake, most can see forward enough to avoid crashing into things.”
“You… you could say that… You do look kinda familiar though… I also think I’ve genuinely hurt myself… My head is spinning… I… I gotta make a delivery though, before I can get on with my job…” The Time Drake shook her head. “Pretty sure I’ve seen you before.”
Theocydes shrugged. “I was briefly the main Voidborn within the Kinigian Wilderness. But I left for the Ventra Expanse a while ago.”
“I don’t know this place very well… Do you know where the Athata Rift is?”
“I do, yes, are you looking for someone or something?”
The Time Drake nodded, then opened up a hammer space, a very pink, swirly one. She rummaged through it, then pulled out eight small, opaque crystals and a very large, heavy bag.
“Do you know… Fuck… I can’t remember the name of their group… They’re a bunch of… guys… One of them is a telepathic bastard named Litvir. Dark skin, purple plating, stupid fangs, a right cunt.”
“I know Decay Lord Litvir, yes. He and Retvik run the Thantir Decay Lord sect, their base is in the Athata Rift.”
The Time Drake took a long, drawn out breath. “I don’t have much time. I’m pretty sure I know you from somewhere, or maybe… maybe we met back in the old universe… I swear, I’m completely fucking losing my mind…”
“Well, I do have a brief meeting with some other Voidborns, but if you don’t mind waiting around for 20 hours, I can take you to the Thantir afterwards?”
“I don’t have time. I… I know that sounds stupid because I’m some sort of Time Drake, but I’m a fucking useless Time Drake. A pretty shit deity in general…” The Time Drake thrust the crystals and the bag into Theocydes’s hands. “You know the Thantir. You know Litvir and Retvik. Can you deliver these to them? The crystals need to be placed on the ground and soaked in water and they’ll open up. The bag contains their belongings. Didn’t want to leave them without their clothes and stuff… I’d do it myself, but I’m running out of time, and I can’t do two things at once.”
Theocydes inspected the Time Drake some more. She seemed exhausted. “Very well. I do need to conclude this meeting with the Silvered Sanctifiers, but as soon as I am done there, I will head to Savepoint and hand over these objects. Do you want to stay here and rest for a bit? You seem very stressed, and I think I may have some edible food or water somewhere on board.”
The Time Drake hesitated, then staggered back to her feet. “No. Not yet. I can’t stop. I don’t think I’m going to make it. But I have to try. And every second counts. I broke my promise. I need to rectify it. I need to try at least, even if it kills me.”
“I… I see…” Theocydes frowned. “Do you have a name, at least? The Thantir will ask who you are.”
“No… I don’t have a name any more. I’m unbound. Left my spirit behind when I was forced out. I won’t have a name until I try and fix my promise, or die trying. I was always a weak little coward and he protected me. He’s probably already long gone, but the least I can do is try and avenge him.”
“Avenge who?”
“My little brother.”
The Time Drake made her way towards the shattered window and gazed out into the darkness, then opened up her wings, ready to fly off.
“Well…” Theocydes sighed. “I wish you luck, Time Drake.”
“Thanks, Voidborn.”
The Time Drake hesitated once more, wiped a tear from her eyes, then flew off, disappearing into the darkness.
After a few moments of silence, Theocydes tutted to himself, then placed the objects the Time Drake had given him on the seat next to him and tapped a few buttons on the console ahead of him. The shattered glass was quickly replaced with a new crystal pane, and before long, everything was already fixed up.
“I guess I’d better pick up the pace myself then…” Theocydes grunted as he sat down and got back to what he was doing. “Let’s hope these Silvered Sanctifiers don’t take up too much of my time…”