The Legend of the Constellar King-Chapter 2: INCOMING

*Hoooooonk!!!!

In the Thallerion’s border, there was shadowy presence writhed between the towering mountains, rushing through the valley cloaked by a thrifty fog.

The piercing blare of a Thallerion soldier’s trumpet tore through the mist, its defiant echo reverberating through the very heart of the mountains. Then, a rhythmic thud approached—not one, but a legion!

"Was it a crawling reptilian, moving in a

grim unison?" King Cerceux asked. Xerxez’ father stood on the upper floor in the Thallerion palace. His eye in the telescope still puzzled by the presence of unknown things moving in the distance.

"We weren’t so sure, the gatekeeper confused too." The reporter said, his voice laced with dread.

’Aye, I , the Queen of Thallerion, Queen Xurien Wrez, I heard the incoming sounds, rumbling between the two mountains, yet my son Prince Xerxez still not at home, I’m worried, those crawling things hiding beneath the shadow of haze, might be an infested soul by unknown Entity.’

Many thoughts, included the king of Thallerion, it was a reptilian mountain-beast, but in the blurry, foggy valley, there was a murmuring, mammalian growl. Confirmed otherwise. Then, from the swirling mists of the colossal flock, bearded legs stood, clumsy, chubby-bellied beast. Its sharp claws poke at the mountain’s foot—a fatted beast, covered in soft fur and feathers, unequivocally quadrupedal! It blinked, and like tear drops that vanishing into verdant fogs , the grotesque, visceral beast dissolved, its bestial shadow shrunken and consumed by pollen-flakes. Then, BOOM! The clang of metallic, rhythmic planks and blades resounded, shattering the eerie silence.

"BEHOLD! All of you, Citizens of Thallerion!"

’What? Where does the mammalian growl goes? It disappeared? I thought it was a beast? This arrogant people standing in the border line, look, they are too fat, the clumsy chubby bellied-warriors, what are they doing here?’

The Moonatorians had arrived, valorous, clad in moonlit-feathery armor. They glinted toward the hazy valley like a crescent moon ascending in the dusky, icy mountains, like ominous stormy flakes revealing cantankerous, yet bladed, men. It was human, after all, not beastly!

’Me, and King Cerceux, arrive in the border line to greet this unexpected visitor. I heard the name Moonatoria before, I know this people, but the legend said, they have power from entity, but I am uncertain about that. What kind of entity they are hiding from us? But, I am certain, they’re presence was unwelcome in my eyes.’

"Prepare yourselves, oh Citizens of Thallerion, you, an innocent and forgotten country, perhaps the lowest nation with no Constellar-protector! Without Orion’s help, winning is impossible!" The Moonatorian’s vanguard said shouting from a far.

’How dare you? Such a bully vanguard, his biting tongue striking like a viper! Hmp, he really think we are scared of their presence? He think, Thallerion— are the lowest nation?’

Now, behold a phalanx of masculine, lion-hearted men with corn-silk hair curled like an apron on their chests. Their brute waists, ornamented with swords and pistols, stood upheld at the Thallerion border.

"STOP!" A loud, yet dignified, shout from a Thallerion gate-keeper soldier echoed through the Moonatoria Vanguard’s ears. A low murmur rippled through their ranks.

"Moonatorians, our land Thallerion is not accepting souls infested by an unknown entity!" The Queen, her crescent robes flowing, bestowed an unwelcome greeting upon the visitors. The Moonatoria nation, its familiar furrowed brow turned toward Thallerion’s defiant head.

"Well, well... Exactly what we’ve come here for." A vanguard of Moonatorians stood, clutching his bearded jaw. "Hmm, what makes you so proud to carry that name, Orion? Your people and yourself are just human! If we are going to destroy the very heart of your kingdom—will the Orion entity come and rescue you?"

’My husband Cerceux clutching his silvery rounded-bullet gun, as the vanguard stood forward arrogantly. While I saw the king of Moonatoria seat comfortably on his golden chariot, but look, his slaves lifted it, how oppressor!’

"You, bearded vanguard! Step back or I won’t hesitate to fire a gun!" the King of Thallerion declared, poised, holding his holstered pistol. The vanguard meticulously plucked dirt from his nails with a hint of a grimace, then spat, and stood arrogantly, counting the lives of every Thallerion soldiers.

Then, the King of Moonatoria coughed sarcastically. "Ye forsaken folk, and chieftains of craven blood! If ye desire to preserve thy lives—" A unison clang of Thallerion’s shields resonated from its umbilical formation, clanking loudly! Forming a solid defensive wall with spears protruding! "—Surrender."

"We don’t need your filthy entity!" the Queen rebuked, her voice sharp. "Surrender?!"

’Have he lost his mind? We, Thallerion, perhaps the other nation thought the same thinking, as we don’t have Orion’s help, but, Surrender?—is not our vocabulary. Hmp, we won’t surrender!’

"Ah-a-a-ah! Don’t ever speak such a blasphemous word!" The vanguard roared, reacting with furious indignation.

"Huh, I’m sorry to tell you, we don’t know your unknown Entity!" the King of Thallerion clarified, his voice unwavering. "And we are not afraid, even if no one is taking care of us. For we are Thallerion, we won’t be afraid of anything!"

"Haha, really?" The Moonatorians chuckled insanely, their laughter chilling.

"If ’tis so, then shall we not in earnest fray declare the veritable well of our spirit and flesh? Assail!" The King of Moonatoria spoke in his archaic, comfortable accent and declared war. The vanguard and the frontier soldiers ran towards the Thallerion soldiers’ formation.

Riot begins!

Moonatorians stepped into Thallerion like kicking an anthill, unleashing a maelstrom of violence. The swoosh of swords began, and the burst of a gun shattered the air. If Moonatorians thought Thallerion would be threatened, they were gravely mistaken. Thallerion was not like us! When threatened by oppression, we simply avoided trouble—or remained silent even if it hurt. Phew!

--- ’I never expected this to come , at this very morning, the Moonatorian’s soldiers run in our defensive barriers, reckless moved, untrained somewhat, unskilled soldiers? Yet, they are strong mob that clang against our metallic shields. Hmp, King Hedromus really think, our soldiers are weak, but don’t ever try to blink, whoever spat on our unyielding heart would find arrows diving like a peregrine spotting prey! Flick! As long as death had mercy, our soldier’s knees would not tremble.’ ---

BANG! A continuous shot of guns tore through the air!

’Our Thallerion’s unyielding principle echoed by our ancestors before: "If you take blood from our lives, we will also take blood in return."

’Surely, no one in the world wants to remain in a dismal past, but here in Thallerion, a bitter truth was already etched in our palms. For we have no protector was coming for us, like an orphaned land for abandoned people. Invaders would simply come and snatch our lives, so many lives,

’This land was full, yet an empty promise of Orion! Perhaps, it was time for Thallerion to accept the reality that human life exists—depends on the ugly lines of hands, not by the moves of the Orion entity’s plan or other Constellar’s presence.’

’Believe it or not, every life born in Thallerion was merely a pawn in the game of war. This was the inescapable reality borne through the next generations in Thallerion. Whether Thallerion would avoid conflict or not, our time would explode uncontrollably because everyone thought Thallerion was a formidable foe, because they believed we are the Orion entity’s chosen people—known as the great Hunter, but that Constellar entity had forgotten its responsibility upon us! Abandoning us like a worn-out tattered vessel!’

Although, Thallerion proved that their hearts beat like the Orion-entity who would never be shaken and raged in the midst of the battlefield like a berserker strikes, hurrying bites like straight darts!

’If the Thallerion were condemned by fate to testify before them— I would tell them: Our ancestors are born to kill beasts and demons, but you Moonatorian, whatever you are? Even if the blade of our weapons turned into rotten, we will not surrender!’

The tears of the Thallerion would not flow like hardened butter and as hard as komodo-dragon’s skin; they were merely numbed by the many wars they had faced. A carved oath on a stone was proof of their unbroken promise before and then—to escape nothing from the enemy’s challenge.

’We are willing to sacrifice our lives, even a driving force might hinder until death; even if countless beasts might stride across the Thallerion’s wall, the sword would stand still. Even the Moonatorian soldiers might scuffle Thallerion’s freedom and continue, we will not cower!’

Moonatoria and Thallerion were like two stones engraved by war, with a blazing bond never to be broken. Both embraced the fangs of war! This inescapable bite of the battle they faced now was bloody, like a woman giving birth and suffering.

’Moonatoria, how long will you understand, violence brings nothing good to mortal beings? Other nations gambled their lives in death’s game; whenever the roulette of war spun, everyone shouted with intense anger—was vengeance the true companion? Yet, here you are, gnashing in wrath against us.’

*Clang!

’With every clang of war, so many soldiers were slain. It ached my heart when this unbearable truth blew a venomous omen: we are haunted by so many ferocious nations! But even so, we will not stop! Even hatred begot more hatred!’

Even if were wiped out as numerous as sand or stars, the blazing war would not become dew. Their eyes gazed at the sun, a mere illusion of the hope that the Thallerion soldiers continued to fight for, towards the abyss prepared by Moonatoria. No inscription could reveal that the war between the two nations’ clashing shields would end, but as long as we saw no one losing between them, their conflict would continue.

’May the day never come when a glass is overturned! Folded like a tectonic fault collides! It had been thousands of years since beasts, entities, and miracles had emerged through the mortal world; people became dependable to their protector. But for the Thallerion—the abandoned one, seemed to merely circle in the desert’s whirlwind; there seemed to be no longer any glimmer to clarify our future. A place without hope forever!’

"How long shall thou realize that thou art no match for me and Moonatoria?!" King Hedromus, the King of Moonatoria, just watched the battle like a referee together with his special warriors, with enormous muscular shapes. The King of Moonatoria just scratched his head at the Thallerion’s resilience.

’King Hedromus, the master of archaic accent, now move forward, and gaze upon us, his belly, his golden chariot lifted by his groaning slaves, and his warriors stood behind him, underestimated the very essence of our defenses. All their eyes, ignoring the Moonatorian front pawns —the rioters—to create unexpected chaos here in Thallerion. Why they are not fighting? Is King Hedromus come here to watch his pawn to be killed? Outnumbered, yet they still smiling? What are they planning?’

"Haha, what? Just stop talking with an archaic accent, but watch your front soldiers... almost outnumbered, look.... My soldiers are still alive!" The King of Thallerion scoffed.

"These are but scum of the soldiery, devoid of Moonatoria’s true nature!"

"What do you mean?" Thallerion King flustered.

"Hahaha!!"

Then, during the raging war, Moonatorian warriors dropped their weapons on the battlefield, but it was not defined as their defeat; instead—it was a parody! A play!

"Growl! And, grow grotesquely!!!"

’The warriors’ skin began to darken, coated with earthly beard; every Moonatorian warrior’s bone swelled, and their muscle shifted into an enormous bestial form, a beast with fangs, claws, and quadrupedal stretched. A true colossal form of Ursa entity in Moonatorian warriors’ bodies.

This was no longer a glimpse of disguise in the shadow, but behold, this was the true color of the Moonatorian bloodline, a shape-shifter, a mere-bear. Their hands were like wrecking balls that screeched and punched; the walls shattered like blocks into sand. Our Thallerion’s shields were just brittle glass scattered on the ground.’

"The Ursa beasts!!!" Thallerion was shocked. The grizzly bears growled in front of them.

"You are a bear?" The king of Thallerion shocked upon seeing the sudden transformation of Moonatoria.

"Ye ken us now!" Even King Hedromus transformed into an enormous bear; his voice became deeper and growling. Thallerion was shocked by the sudden transformation. A black grizzly bear stood up two meters high from the head of a human.

’My husband, Cerceux, king of Thallerion, I know he was afraid, as he stood in front , leading his men, but I can see how his face become pale like a bloodless man froze in front of the beastly bear. A colossal tank-bear roar at him! But— my husband’s his hand, I know what his mind planning...Don’t do it.’

*BANG!

The King of Thallerion triggered his holstered pistol, and Hedromus’ head was hit. There was blood after the bullet exploded on the forehead. But his closed mouth with large fangs just smirked with the bullet.

"Ow oh! He is impenetrable! Whoa, Bullet didn’t kill him? But what about a sword?" Xerxez appeared from that very moment, shocked and amazed.

’Well, it was useless. My son finally came, I was so worried, but look at him he was unfazed by the appearance of the beastly being. I know what his holding, those are the most delicious food I ever tasted. He then run towards his father— oh no!

"Release the cannons!" ordered by the King. "Close the palace gate!"

"Xerxez, no! Don’t go there?" The queen shouted, her lips trembled.

"Father, what’s happening?" Xerxez, the son of a king, came with a pouch full of eggs, trembling in fear. "Why are those beasts attacking our gate?"

"You reckless!! What are you doing here? Go to your room and hide! Get the boy here!" The King of Thallerion commanded the queen. The queen ran disparately grabbed the boy’s hand.

’My husband Cerceux, push us insistently. His hands were cold, and Xerxez stubborn act forcefully loosen my grip on his hand. My son didn’t understand how dangerous those Moonatorians are, he thought it was just a wild bear that lost track here in the Thallerion.’

"No! I want to help you fight monsters, father," Xerxez said, forcing himself to stay with his father. But, someone interrupted, sweat dripping on his cheek and staining his armor with blood.

"Your majesty, the gate was opened and our cannons were destroyed! The Beasts are now breaching in," the chief captain rushed, reporting with a desperate gasp.

’My husband stunned speechless, his brain was petrified like stone can think instantly, but his eyes with grease of tears, still trying to seek solution, like our Thallerion’s men stood firm, clutching sword and spear, thrusting the maw of the bears, though it was nothing but a mere twigs, like gun’s bullet but feeble against the Moonatorian’s skins?’

Though Thallerion was already exhausted, ceaselessly fighting against Moonatorian soldiers and bear warrior beasts, Thallerion would not surrender. Even if raging meteors rained down, their hearts, as dry as blood stuck to a weapon, would not be swayed.

’Who would be able to defeat the ambitious Moonatoria’s Bear-warriors? This seemed to be the time when the sun no longer rose in the east, but even if we offered tears; the claws of war would not pity us.

If we desired peace, so did the people of Thallerion, because they also had heart-drumbeats each day unfolded. Their hearts shaken in fear for the future of their children, upholding inevitable Perils! As my son, Xerxez, his future is indeed uncertain too, I wish this battle will not end, in a bitter fate.’

But as long as the strident bite of those warrior mere-bears, whispering like a striking viper, and their venomous attacks would never fail. Our future is dim like a dusk hurrying to fold the day light.’

"Your majesty, what are we supposed to do now?"

There seemed to be no chance for Thallerion. Moonatorian warriors, like a worm continuously gnawing the mantle of the great Thallerion, were crushing the walls. The impenetrable gate, like a shield of Orion, was dislocated like a bone after the Bears bumped into it.

’My son, Xerxez, the prince of Thallerion. He is only a 12-year-old boy, nestled in our lovely embrace. He still young to be aware of the harsh reality of this world. Power, Magic, Force, and authorities were merely a folklore of his grandpa back then, but now, look at him, he is shocked and still wondering this unfounded truths in his innocent, naive, and reckless act.’

This world was full of intimidating creatures, entities that surrounded human lives. I don’t think we can endure this reality? How can we survive if no one taking care for us?’