“You had them killed?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Why?”
Eskay could not understand why this Vrekan king couldn’t understand his actions.
“They attempted to harm our leader. I assume Archocide, or in your case, Regicide, is an act punishable by death?”
King Ver shrugged. He wasn’t even sure why he was there. For solidarity, one of his advisors had said. The Skyavok were their allies, they said, they needed to be on top of these situations. But this situation in particular had made no sense.
“We… kinda have trials first.”
“Even when you are, to put it politely, out for the count?”
This Skyavok was weird. They were some sort of extremely powerful guardian. Akin to a member of Ver’s own Myst, the elite protective forces of Vrekan Loyalty. But he spoke in a similar manner and tone to Ver’s friend the High General of the Rethavok. Maybe he was a Rethavok. He didn’t dare ask him though.
“Well…” Ver had no answer for the soldier’s question either. “I don’t know.”
“At the moment, the Skyavok are unsure as well. We have had multiple attacks like this. The Thantophoric attack not long ago, the Temthan assassination attempt before that, and now these Yisic beings using biological attacks against us. In multiple locations.”
“Do you need an army to protect you?” Ver suddenly asked. “Like, extra vok, weapons, anything like that?”
Eskay shook his head. “The K-Class Military is handling this situation. More hands may cause more issues.”
“Yeah but…” Ver paused. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but you lot are under attack a lot.”
At first, the Skyavok didn’t answer. But after some thought and a small smile, Eskay simply shrugged. “As is the way when you live in what is essentially a pocket dimension. No one, not even us, truly knows what else lives within the Void where we reside. We have theories. That the Lord of Is Not lives with us, that the Thantophor lurks within the same shadows that protect us, but we are a hardy race and none of that bothers us.”
“Yeah but…” Again, Ver paused. But only because he realised that was the second sentence in a row that he had started with that phrase. “This doesn’t make any sense though. The Yisic creatures… that’s what we’re calling them now… The Yisics seem to act way more peacefully to everyone else.”
Eskay blinked. “They have…”
“They’ve approached loads of races. My… sources suggest it’s part of a Temthan religious force but they’re… going to the Temthans as well.”
“They are trying to convert Temthans?”
“Something like that.”
Ver glanced around, wondering if he had made a mistake. Surely he was fine. The Skyavok had suffered the worst attacks. They needed this information.
“More than just converting though. I mean, the gassing… they’ve done it in other places too. I heard they tried places in Portalia and neutral regions as well. It’s as if they don’t care unless you get aggressive back. And the effects of these toxins are…”
“Detrimental.”
“Actually, I was trying to find a way to politely say that the… toxin makes its, uh, victims really horny…” Ver stifled a hint of amusement that was rising up his throat. “But… I don’t know. Whatever you guys need, we can give you, alright?”
The Skyavok bowed. “I appreciate that, King Ver. The Skyavok also offer the same to the rest of the Union. If you need assistance, then we shall give assistance.”
One of Ver’s guards signalled to him, informing him they had to move on to their next duty.
“Fingers crossed this doesn’t get any more deadly…” Ver smiled awkwardly as he shook Eskay’s hand. “Don’t want anything weird to happen now.”
“Nothing will happen, King Ver…” Eskay reassured the Vrekan ruler. “We will sort things out.”