Litvir grunted as a small cloud of steam whizzed past his head while he was working. For the last twenty minutes, he had been trying to work out how to sedate the beings that were trying to kill them, with little success. Meanwhile, for those entire twenty minutes, Retvik had been holding off the massive wall of ice that was encroaching on them, retaliating with his own massive wall of fire. The battle had been rather symbolic so far, with neither Retvik not Akah, the cold Divine Guardian on the other side of the ice wall, giving an inch. Retvik however knew that this game couldn’t last forever.
“Careful, Retvik.”
“Sorry. Can you pick up the pace, please?”
“Are you struggling?”
Retvik tutted. “No, not at all. I could do this for a good four or five more hours. My worry is that this corridor will not be able to contain the super-heated steam between the Guardian’s ice wall and my own flames. And I am doing my best not to actually hurt anyone here.”
Litvir frowned, then continued working. “I am doing my best. The big ones are out cold, but the little Vohra is keeping me from putting the others to sleep. Has- oh…”
“Hello, there.”
“General Elkay?”
Standing in front of Litvir was another Rethan, one Litvir immediately recognised. The last time Litvir had seen Elkay, he was the leader of their entire race. Now, Elkay looked… somehow both stronger and weaker. Physically more powerful, yet not quite there. The same could be said for the Skyavok standing by Elkay’s side.
“Stand down and we will make your death swift.”
“I am surprised your boss just wants us dead, rather than trying to convert us into more servants…” Litvir frowned, very gently stepping backwards, lowering himself down to the ground in a somewhat submissive manner. As predicted, Elkay stepped towards him, weapon drawn.
Suddenly, a blast of flame shot over Litvir’s head, hitting the Rethan Guardian square in the chest, sending him flying backwards. Litvir took this as an opportunity to shoot a psychic dart at the Skyan, which instantly knocked them out, leaving them a crumpled heap on the floor. To Litvir’s surprise, this angered Elkay far more than he expected.
“Uh, Retvik, I think you need to deal with your brother.”
“Can you repeat what you just did to that Skyan and do it to the Lanex on the other side of this wall?” Retvik grunted.
“Uh, no, but I can try…”
Retvik sighed. “Fine. I shall work it out…”
With a deep breath and a heavy grunt, Retvik forced his wall of fire backwards, pushing through not just the trapped steam but the ice wall as well. Whatever was behind it was now very likely on fire and almost certainly knocked out, but Retvik had no choice.
“Elkay, Relkir, whatever you are calling yourself now, stand down. You are not in control of yourself.”
“You came on board and attac-”
“THAT IS A LIE!” Litvir butted in. “You let us in! We just wanted to do a wellness check on you, since you sent out a distress signal! Your Life Goddess made you all attack us! We are simply defending ourselves! Also, who in the name of the Light decided to rename you Relkir?”
Relkir paused, staring blankly at the two Decaylings in front of him. “S-s-she called me Relkir.”
“Who?” Litvir urged Relkir to continue. “Who gave you your name? Who made you a divine?”
“She did.”
“What is her name?”
With a sigh, Relkir relinquished his weapon and stood down, backing away from the Decaylings. After a moment, he sat down on the floor, next to his unconscious comrade. “Kinisis made me into her servant. Viia made me into her slave.”
Litvir glanced at Retvik, who then glanced at the chaos he had caused behind him. With a frown, Litvir silently suggested that Retvik go and clean up the mess he’d made, while Litvir kept an eye on Relkir.
“So, Relkir… Do you know if Kinisis is alive?”
“She is alive. Inside her vault.”
“Do you know where the vault is?” Litvir asked.
“Of course!” Relkir nodded. “It is almost directly below u-”
An explosion rocked the entire ship, cracking the ground beneath them. Out of the smoke and ashes, a very angry Life Goddess appeared, screeching like the banshee she was, smashing her claws into the walls, desperately trying to tear apart a very small, darting object.
“DIE, YOU LITTLE FAKE BITCH DECAYLING SCUM!”
“Guys, a little help, please?” Arkadin gasped as he appeared by Retvik’s side, panting for breath. “This asshole really wants me and Kinisis dead…”