Wanderer Ch 17: The Coming Of War, The Descending Mass!

(Thalassa)

I hovered above the planet, staring down with my golden eyes, scanning every inch of its surface. My patience was wearing thin, and I could feel the frustration building inside me. This search was taking far too long. My fists clenched at my sides as I scoured the terrain below, looking for any sign of the one I sought.

"Dammit!" I screamed, my voice booming across the vacuum of space. I exhaled sharply, and with it, a surge of power left my lips, striking the planet below. Instantly, a large section of the crust shattered, continents crumbling as the atmosphere burst apart. Chunks of rock, magma, and debris flew outward, creating a glowing scar across the planet's surface.

I gritted my teeth in frustration and turned to face my sister, Eclipsa, who stood watching me with that infuriating calm.

"This is going to take forever!" I yelled, my chest heaving with frustration. As I threw my hands up, the swell of my breasts brushed against the planet's edge, lightly tapping it. But even the smallest gesture had massive consequences. I watched as pieces of the planet cracked, sections of the surface splintering and drifting into the void of space. Rivers of molten lava began pouring from the new cracks, lighting up the surface like a broken, bleeding wound.

"Oops..." I muttered, watching as the planet hemorrhaged. A wave of guilt shot through me as I realized the extent of the damage. "I hope the person I'm looking for wasn't on that piece," I said under my breath, casting a glance at the fragments floating aimlessly into the blackness.

Eclipsa smirked, her expression calm and measured as always, as if nothing in the galaxy could rattle her.

"Thalassa," she said softly, her voice like a soothing melody, "you need to calm down. If you let your anger get the best of you, there won't be anything left of this planet to search." She tilted her head slightly, her long, dark hair flowing gently in the weightlessness of space. "And then this whole trip will have been a waste of time."

I clenched my fists, wanting to argue but knowing she was right. Still, the irritation gnawed at me. I hated being told to relax when everything inside me screamed for action, for something to break or destroy.

"Maybe destroying them will help you feel better," Eclipsa said with a sly grin, her finger pointing to something behind me.

I blinked, narrowing my eyes at her, then slowly turned my head. Behind me, drifting in the vastness of space, were tiny specks—barely noticeable at first, but then I saw them. Little flecks of life. They must have been ships, or perhaps colonies, floating aimlessly amidst the debris of the planet I had shattered.

***

The Krugars stood frozen, gazing up at the heavens where the clouds parted to reveal something impossible. Above them loomed a pair of titanic figures, far beyond comprehension, their forms stretching into the very atmosphere itself. And then there was the eye— massive, golden, and burning with an intensity that pierced the sky, locking its gaze on the planet below.

It was like the eye of a god.

As random Krugars glanced upward, their bodies were suddenly surrounded by pillars of golden light. The light, radiant and overwhelming, engulfed them. For a moment, they stood motionless, bathed in this strange glow

—until their bodies convulsed violently. Foaming at the mouth, their eyes rolled back into their heads, and one by one, they collapsed, the light extinguished as quickly as it appeared.

Horror swept through the cities, whispers of confusion growing into shrieks of panic. Yet there was no time to process what was happening.

Without warning, the sky split with the deafening roar of thunder, but this was no natural storm. A shockwave of pure, unbridled wind ripped across the bronze cities, tearing apart buildings and uprooting the ground. The force of it was so intense, so sudden, that the very earth buckled under its weight. Streets split open, great fissures zigzagged through the ground, and entire blocks of the city were ripped away like fragile paper.

The wind carried with it the cries of the doomed, their voices swallowed by the hurricane of destruction. Those standing closest to the blast were torn limb from limb, their bodies shredded by the gale. Homes, towers, and bridges were lifted into the air, spun, and then dashed against the crumbling earth below.

It was as though the planet itself was rebelling, creating tsunamis of earth and debris that washed over the surviving parts of the city. Entire bronze structures vanished beneath the waves of dirt and rock, swallowed whole. The screams-so many screams-echoed across the devastation, but they, too, began to fade as the cities were buried or washed away in the chaos.

No one knew that this cataclysm was caused by the shout of the titan above. The sheer force of her voice had sent shockwaves through the air, turning what had once been sprawling bronze metropolises into shattered ruins in mere moments.

And then, just as quickly as the destruction had begun, silence fell.

In the heart of the city of Jhaalon, the people stood dazed, the survivors stumbling through the wreckage, barely able to process the devastation around them. For a fleeting moment, it seemed that the worst had passed.

But then, the shadow fell.

At first, it was subtle—a dimming of the sunlight. But soon, the entire city of Jhaalon was bathed in darkness. People looked up, their hearts sinking, as they saw it: a vast white fabric pushing its way through the clouds, descending from the heavens. The air began to rumble, a low vibration that rattled the very bones of the city.

It was impossible to comprehend at first, but the closer it came, the more detail they could make out—the texture of the fabric, the seams that stretched across its massive surface.

The moment the fabric made contact with the ground, the earth screamed. The entire planet shook violently, as if trying to reject the incomprehensible weight of the thing pressing down on it. Buildings crumbled into dust. Streets split apart, and the very ground beneath them shattered like glass. The impact was so powerful that dozens of massive chunks of the planet were blasted into space, boulders the size of mountains hurtling into the void. People still clung to these chunks of land, their terrified faces staring back at the planet as they were pulled into the cold emptiness, only to be suffocated by the vacuum of space.

In an instant, the city of Jhaalon was no more. The place where it had once stood was now nothing but dust and rubble beneath the fabric that had crushed it into oblivion.

***

(Jack)

The ground shook again, and Jack nearly lost his balance for what felt like the hundredth time. He grabbed onto Ko Jaro's arm as they stumbled forward, barely managing to avoid the chaos around them. The entire city was falling apart. Buildings cracked like eggshells, people ran in all directions, screaming, panicking—rightfully so, given the earthquakes and the fact that the entire planet seemed to be coming undone.

"We're finally here," Ko Jaro announced, his voice steady despite the madness surrounding us.

I looked up, still slightly winded from the sprint through the city. "Isn't this...?"

Ko Jaro turned toward me with a small smile, the kind of smile that makes you wonder if the person has lost their mind. "The royal palace."

And there it was: a massive bronze castle, gleaming under the dull, flickering light of the planet's atmosphere. The walls were tall, imposing, and shimmering with that signature Krugar metallic sheen. It was a little hard to appreciate its architectural beauty, though, what with the ground shaking like a bad rollercoaster and the screams of thousands in my ears. But still, I had to admit—it was a pretty cool castle.

"Great," I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. "We've reached the palace. What now? Tea with the king?"

Ko Jaro didn't answer, already heading toward the massive gates. I trailed after him, feeling like I'd been tossed into the middle of a movie I hadn't watched the beginning of. And frankly, I wasn't sure I wanted to stick around for the end. But here I was, the sole human in a planet-wide disaster, following my Krugar guide straight into the royal palace like I belonged here. I mean, I'd seen my ship go through some crazy things, but nothing prepared me for planetary chaos and an audience with royalty.

As we entered the great hall, the tremors slowed, and I blinked at the sight of the Krugar king. He stood on an elevated platform, looking down at his gathered soldiers. His name was King Zarlek—a big guy, as most Krugars were, with armor that looked like it weighed more than my entire body. His blue eyes were sharp, and his expression was fierce. If this guy told me to jump off a cliff, I'd probably do it just based on how intimidating he looked.

He raised his hand, and silence fell over the soldiers. Even the air seemed to still.

"Krugars!" Zarlek's voice boomed across the chamber, reverberating off the bronze walls. "Our planet is under siege! Forces we've never imagined have come to destroy what we have built over centuries! But we will not cower in the face of destruction. We will not bow to fear!"

The soldiers around us stood straighter, their eyes fixed on their king, hanging on every word.

"We are the children of bronze, forged in the fires of adversity!" Zarlek continued, his voice rising with every sentence. "Our enemies may be larger than anything we've ever seen, but it is not size that determines the victor—it is will. Our will to fight, to protect our homes, our families, our people—that is what will carry us through this!"

I glanced at Ko Jaro, who was nodding along, fists clenched in determination. He looked like he was ready to punch a planet if Zarlek asked him to.

"We will show them," Zarlek growled, "that the Krugar spirit is unbreakable. That no matter what comes from the skies, we will meet them with fire and fury!" He raised his sword high above his head. "Prepare yourselves for war! We fight for the honor of our ancestors, and we fight for the future of our people!"

A deafening roar erupted from the soldiers. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I couldn't help it; even I was feeling pumped up. And I wasn't even a Krugar! Who knew motivational speeches from giant space warriors could be so effective?

But just as the roar began to die down, another figure stepped forward—a Krugar with a slightly haunted look in his blue eyes. I recognized him as Exe Borlag, a high-ranking officer, though he looked more like someone carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"This is my fault," Borlag said, his voice low but filled with regret. "It was I who brought what the Wanderer sought to our planet. I... I didn't know the destruction it would bring. But it doesn't change the fact that I led them here."

The entire room fell into an uneasy silence. Borlag's guilt hung heavy in the air as he turned and locked eyes with me. Yeah, that's right, buddy. Just stare at the one human in the room. Like I somehow had any clue how to solve a planetary crisis.

King Zarlek stepped forward, his face hard but not unkind. "Perhaps it is true, Borlag," he said calmly, "but we cannot change the past. What is done, is done. Now is not the time for guilt. Now is the time for war."

Borlag lowered his head but nodded. I couldn't help but feel for the guy. I mean, sure, maybe he screwed up, but we were standing on a planet that was literally crumbling around us. Blame could wait. Hopefully until after we survived whatever cosmic mess this was.

Zarlek turned back to his soldiers, his voice ringing out once more. "Now go! Ready yourselves for battle. And remember—Krugars never fall. We fight!"

As the soldiers rushed out to prepare for the impending war, I glanced at Ko Jaro and then back at the king. "So... we're just gonna ignore the whole 'cosmic entity about to squish us all like bugs' thing?"

Ko Jaro chuckled, shaking his head. "That's just the way of things here, Jack. We fight. We don't dwell."

I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "Right. Of course. Fight first, panic later. Got it."

The ground shook again, but this time, I barely flinched. Maybe this whole Krugar warrior spirit thing was rubbing off on me after all.