Almost enough, the darkness gave way to a foul-smelling mood. One not even the Tharok in their sticky, damp darkness would dare disturb.

His royal bigness, Growly, stomped through his lands, little by little, being pleased evilly by the destruction waylaid. It was everywhere, just as he liked it. 

Brooding out his growls of pleasure, each and every minion of the Evventus pulled back in reverence as he passed. Large and small, they left him to observe the area of the attack to feast on the carnage.

It was lovely to him: the ground, skies, and built areas screamed agony with all the life-blood spilt everywhere. The skies offered special screams because the blood of created mortals had been vaporized in the explosion in the air. They hung like splatters of horror.

"Starmade explosion" was what the entire planet mourned and call their handiwork.

His lips curled in delight. Some of their best work, enticing a star to aim flares at the planet just so the area of greedily-exposed core could react and blow, vaporizing all the itsy-bitty created matter. Those sentient and non. 

It would take timeline decades for healing he'd personally make sure never appeared. 

Carnyl, as they called their little planet, was beyond hope, beyond purpose, and beyond turning to their Creator. It was fantastic ongoing annihilation. 

"Leader Threk-Mot-Tuse Growly?" A wretch-filled scratchy voice was at his elbow, still a distance away.

He let out a ferocious growl and turned on the figure, so much smaller than himself, demanding respect with his claws splayed out.

The small creature hit the ground with its entire body. "H-High-Lead-er-er, S-Sir..."

Justified in rank, he growled, "Speak. If you dare."

The creature kept it's face down low only a fraction over the ground. "S-Sir, t-there may have b-been some unfor-r-reseen ah-activity, Sir."

"Explain."

The weaker destroyer twisted its head uncomfortably against the ground, showing its distress. "It'sss not ours."

Anger filled him. Red and bright. 

Always they meddled...

He roared.

Waking up was a uncomfortable experience. First came awareness of movement. Then a pained head protesting violently. And when he opened his eyes, saw blurry ground moving and realized he was slung over a shoulder and held there, his own arms dangling down.

Tyler groaned. No need to hide that he was asleep to his captor. Maybe they'd stop and put him down?

"Ah. Easy there, fellow." The one carrying him said. Deep rich tenor in quiet volume. "Stay still yea a bit longer, and we shall be to a safe area to rest."

 Tyler felt a little too out-of-it to protest verbally. But he was able to ask a breathy, "Who'rrr you?"

"My name is Hope." The man said. "I am a Rhema in Ăn Idir. Myself and my Assigned found you and your, ah, team."

Team? Tyler wasn't sure what had happened to him to put him in a position to be carried over a shoulder, but he certainly didn't recall a team. He tried to look around. That's when he found someone else in the same position. Dangling over the man's other shoulder.

That's when he realized how undeniably huge this person was who carried him. It did seem pretty far to the green ground...

Wait. Green?

Plants?!

"We're'n't on Carnyl?" He squeaked without meaning to. 

"Mm. Your home, I suppose? No, I daresay you're in another place entirely." The exceptionally large Hope said. 

Finding enough arm strength to push against the man's huge back, he raised his aching head to try to let some blood move around... and found just how surrounded by plants they were. 

Forests?

He'd seen this stuff in archives. Long, long ago. He breathed out in awe. 

The man, feeling his movement, moved his arm to brace Tyler's legs to his chest. "Is everything good there, friend?" He asked, "Are you needing down?"

Another voice, this one much deeper, said, "We should not stop here. I recommend continuing on."

"Peace, Alle." The man carrying him said, now pitching his voice louder, which made it go up in enough to make him sound teenagerish. "There is nothing that will harm us nearby."

The other voice seemed to sigh. "You are certain, I assume?" 

"Yes. Give us a moment." 

The huge man stopped walking. Then he was lowering Tyler towards the ground. 

Tyler appreciated that the man kept a massive hand on him, because everything spun and hurt and felt overwhelming.

"Are you alright?" The big man asked. 

Tyler looked up into his face— Hope— and realized he might be dead. Actually. Properly. Completely. Dead. 

The giant before him was as tall as his dad on a ladder. And not the small ladder kind. This man, Hope, had waist-length blond hair, and kind eyes that slightly glowed blue, an odd etherealness to them. 

"I'm dead." He whispered.

"Actually not." Hope said with a smile. "You and your companions are not Wăitŏrs. Of that much we are sure."

Tyler's head hurt more. What was a Wăitŏr? Wăitŏrs? "Huh?"

The other voice spoke again from behind Tyler, "We do not have time for this. We must—"

"Hold." Hope's eyes looked at the person behind him. Tyler tried to turn and look but everything spun and wobbled him still. "Friend Sam, we will have ample time to sit and discuss all these things when we have achieved safety. Are you able to continue? You're too weak to walk on your own."

Of that, he concurred. 

But what that left... "Ugh." He let the grunt slip. His ribs kinda hurt from how he'd been carried.

"Ah. I see." Hope straightened. "Alle."

A similarly-sized man, came up next to Hope. He had silvery-white hair and was just as ethereal-seeming. He also carried a person over his shoulder as if they were a sack of metal casings for the furnace. The man carefully took the terran bundle from Hope's shoulder and placed them so that he carried one on each of his shoulders. His slightly-glowing silver-white eyes spared Tyler a glance, then he was moving away.

Tyler stared at how easily he moved, as if the two full-sized men weighed nothing.

Hope shifted around, and next thing he knew, he'd been hefted easily by his wrists onto the giant's back... Which felt much nicer than being slung over a shoulder. Hope even cushioned him in place by winding his arms under the bends of his knees. 

The big man asked, "Better?"

Tyler nodded, trying to get his arms around the man's neck so he wouldn't slip down. "Thank you," he breathed as he settled finally. The movement had not only made things lightheadedish, but also reminded his head to hurt bitterly. 

"Then we continue." Hope said.

With that, the two large men continued to wherever they took them.

Tyler wanted to know to where they headed, but not as much as he wanted the headache to stop. And he wanted to stop and rest just as much as he cared for the throbbing head to cease. 

He settled on enduring silently.

If they killed him, at this point, they'd be doing him a favor.