“Anoixeseste!”
The Shimmering Ruiners didn’t know what they were looking at. A rather large being, larger than the 4m tall golden, hollow and antlered suits of armour, was bashing on the main entrance to their base. Normally, the guards would have shot at the being, but it was clearly a Voidborn. An odd-looking Voidborn with a tail and an odd yellow glow to its eyes, but a Voidborn nonetheless. Its other features – four arms, antlers, mostly hollow armour, were all standard.
“Anoixeseste! Sas parakaleso!”
More worryingly, the Voidborn was injured. It had burn marks all up one arm and another, several fingers on the hand had been cut off, leaving only two and a thumb. The Voidborn seemed to have wings at some point, but one had been ripped off completely, and the other was tattered and broken, never capable of flight. As far as the Shimmering Ruiners could tell, this Voidborn was ancient. Billions of years old, perhaps. Far older than the admittedly rather young cult, which had made a living from destroying all in its path to appease larger, older cults.
One guard decided to approach this huge Voidborn by peering from one of the towers. The Shimmering Ruiners hated normal beings, but they were still allies to other Voidborns. This Voidborn was not a local, nor was it from any of the nearby cults, but it did seem to need help.
“Ti eginiese?”
“Phthora! Kamposia phthora! Den eimaste enphthorasiasmenos omos einai adination na empolemomai ton phthora omonios mu! Xrieasomaste ton voitheion eson, xreiasomaste na esas lalono ti giniete.”
The guard inspected this foreign Voidborn some more, then stepped back and turned to its fellow guards. They had all heard what the foreign Voidborn had said. One word they feared: Corruption. And not just a little Corruption. Lots of it. The stranger had come to them asking for help, but also asking them to assist it, seemingly in fighting back.
The stranger seemed impatient. It knocked on the entrance again. Really, it was a bit too large to fit inside. The Shining Prince, the leader of the Shimmering Ruiners, was 5m tall. This Voidborn was at least 7m tall. Broad too. And long. That tail was very, very long. It was scary as well. And potentially a threat to the Shining Prince and his minions. That being said, if it was a threat, it would have attacked already. Voidborns were above ruses. They were powerful, prideful beings. They didn’t need to lie and cheat to gain the upper hand. They got what they wanted with sheer force.
One of the guards decided to speak to their higher ups. And those higher ups passed that message to the Shining Prince Himself.
While the guards waited for instructions on what to do, they peered back outside, inspecting the stranger some more. They were still knocking. They wanted in. They seemed angry but also concerned.
“THA AGNOIEISASTE TON EPIKINDINO AVTO? THELESTE NA EISASTE ENPHTHORASIASMENOI?”
Eventually, the guards got an answer. They wanted to leave the stranger outside but their superiors had decided otherwise, and had sent one of the Young Princes down to meet the unknown Voidborn. One of them hit a switch and the vast gold gate slowly opened up. The stranger outside seemed somewhat surprised as well.
The Young Prince inspected the stranger. The stranger remained quiet as they did so.
“Eiste enphthorasiasmenos?” the Young Prince asked.
“Den eimaste enphthorasiasmenos. Idi sas to lalousa.”
“Omos yparxei phthora konta emas?”
The stranger nodded solemnly. This bothered the Young Prince. There was Corruption nearby. The Shimmering Ruiners had tried to keep the area clear of Corruption (and all other kinds of periuniversal life) so more of it on their doorstep was bad.
With a sigh, the Young Prince requested that the stranger follow them. The stranger did as they were told, letting the Young Prince take them through a series of paths and tunnels, some of which sprayed the stranger with anti-Corruption chemicals, just in case.
Eventually, both prince and stranger made it to a grand hall. While the Shining Prince Himself refused to meet the stranger in person, several Middle Princes did. Surrounding them were a lot of smaller guards, but the stranger towered above all of them. It inspected each Voidborn in turn, before stepping forward and bowing slightly.
The Middle Princes all inspected the stranger back. One of them seemed rather unnerved, but the others were all surprised that the stranger was not outwardly aggressive.
“Den tha agnoieisaste ton epikindino?” the stranger asked. “Tha me voitheisate?”
There was no answer at first. The stranger knew that the higher Voidborns were all communicating telepathically with each other. The stranger could hear their thoughts, their fears and concerns. They didn’t know what they feared more: the stranger or the danger it wanted to show them. But the Shimmering Ruiners couldn’t hear the stranger’s thoughts. It was an old Voidborn, its mind was stronger and better protected.
After a while, the Voidborns all turned to the stranger and nodded. They were willing to help. But they needed the stranger to explain everything. So that was what the stranger did.
The stranger told their story. Of a Corruption attacking a universe and exiling its Voidborn protector in exchange for the universe’s safety. How the Voidborn and a fellow exiled deity had fought back the Corruption and destroyed a sentient source of it. And how Corruption from elsewhere now wanted revenge. That Corruption was now heading to this sector, and the main base of the Shimmering Ruiners was directly in its path. Worse, that threat was now mere hours away.
The Voidborns began to worry. But the stranger had a plan. The plan meant removing security from the Shimmering Ruiners’ prisoner holding areas, their slave cells and their respawn centre, but if they formed a wall facing out to where the Corruption was coming from, they could fight it off.
So the Shimmering Ruiners all did as the stranger suggested. The stranger was pleased, happy that someone had listened to them for once. While the majority of the Middle Princes did as the stranger had ordered, the oldest of the Middle Princes decided to take the stranger to meet the Shining Prince Himself, to warn him of the danger, to get him to safety.
As they reached the entrance to the Shining Prince’s quarters though, as that colossal gate opened up, something exploded.
“Burn them all…” the stranger smiled as an army of Decay Lords appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.