The barrier screamed.
Not sound—resonance. The Bloomscript-charged wall Joran had built around Stonecross's eastern approach vibrated at frequencies that made teeth ache and eyes water. Golden light pulsed erratically, stuttering like a dying heartbeat.
Joran stood fifty meters back, crystal analyzer in trembling hands, watching numbers he'd hoped never to see.
Resonance Stability: 34%
Estimated Failure: 6 hours
Thea appeared beside him, soot-streaked and exhausted. "The Silent Bloom is adapting. It's not just spreading—it's learning to corrode our frequency."
Joran looked at the gray zone beyond the barrier. What had been grass and soil three days ago was now lifeless crystal—frozen imitation of earth, pulsing with silver-gray light that swallowed all warmth.
And it was moving.
Not slowly anymore. Visibly. Like watching tide come in, except the tide was death itself.
A sound like glass under pressure. A hairline fracture appeared in the barrier's center, running vertically floor to ceiling.
"Reinforce it!" Joran shouted.
Twenty engineers surged forward, Bloomscript tools blazing. They poured energy into the crack, trying to seal it.
The crack widened.
On the other side, something moved in the gray zone. Shapes. Humanoid but wrong—jerky movements, no breath, no life. Just imitation.
Proto-Harmonics.
Thea's voice was tight. "They're using the Bloom to mask their approach. We can't sense them until they're right on top of us."
The barrier shattered.
Not explosion—dissolution. Golden light died in sections, each segment collapsing into gray dust that the wind carried into Stonecross proper.
"Fall back!" Joran's voice cracked. "Secondary positions! Now!"
The streets behind them were chaos—organized chaos, but chaos nonetheless.
Three thousand civilians streaming west toward Bloomring Hold. Elderly on carts, children carried by parents, beasts laden with possessions. Beast Speakers guided freed Servitors carrying the injured.
One woman stumbled, dropped a bundle of belongings. A young Beast Speaker—Kira, from Brenn's training—knelt beside her without command, helped gather scattered items.
"Leave it," the woman sobbed. "Just leave it—"
"We don't leave anyone behind," Kira said firmly. "Not people. Not memories."
She handed the bundle back, guided the woman toward the evacuation column.
Joran saw it, felt something twist in his chest. That's what we're fighting for. That kindness in crisis.
Fifty proto-harmonics poured through the broken barrier gap.
They moved in perfect synchronization—twenty paces forward, stop, scan, twenty paces, stop. No wasted motion. No fear. No life.
Bloomring defenders opened fire. Arrows struck, swords cut, but the proto-harmonics barely slowed. No blood. No screams. Just metallic clangs and the sound of Soulsteel-reinforced bones breaking under blades.
One proto-harmonic fell, skull split. It crawled forward anyway, dragging its broken body, still trying to reach the defenders.
Thea whispered, "They don't know they're dead. They're just... following the last order."
Joran pulled an explosive resonance charge from his pack—dangerous, unstable, something he'd hoped never to use.
"Get everyone back two hundred meters! Now!"
Defenders retreated. Joran planted the charge at the barrier ruins, keyed the activation sequence.
"Thea! Cover!"
They dove behind rubble.
DETONATION.
Not fire—pure resonance release. A wave of golden light screamed across the battlefield, shattering every proto-harmonic in range. Their Soulsteel frames cracked, gray resonance bled out, bodies collapsed into component parts.
Silence followed.
Then: the gray zone surged forward, swallowing the ground where the charge had detonated. Faster now. Angrier.
Thea's voice was hollow. "We bought three hours. Maybe."
Joran looked at Stonecross—half evacuated, half still trapped. "Then we buy three more after that. And three more after that. Until Draven returns or there's nothing left to buy time with."
At Bloomring Hold, Brenn stared at the map table, markers shifting as scouts reported in via Bloomscript relay.
Eastern Front: 80 Dominion vanguard scouts engaged (holding, casualties mounting)
Stonecross: 50% evacuated, Silent Bloom accelerating
Northern Ridge: Varyn wounded, recovering
Western Approach: League reinforcements delayed (3 days minimum)
Ashen Hollow: Garrison holding, no contact with Draven's expedition
Forces Available:
8,000 combat-ready troops at Bloomring Hold
5,000 at Stonecross (evacuating)
2,000 scattered across border forts
12,000 beasts (bonded, but stressed from constant alerts)
Losses (Past 3 Days):
47 dead
183 wounded
12 beasts killed
Morale: Strained but holding
Lysara stood across the table, jaw tight. "We need to make a choice. Abandon Stonecross now, consolidate at Bloomring Hold, or split forces and risk both positions."
Regional commander Governor Thrain spoke up. "If we abandon Stonecross, we lose the eastern shield. The Dominion marches straight to our heartland."
"If we hold Stonecross and it falls with our forces inside," Lysara countered, "we lose half our army."
Brenn's hands were flat on the table, fingers spread. "We hold. Three more days. Draven said three days."
"And if he's delayed?" Thrain demanded. "If he's dead?"
The room went silent.
Brenn looked up, met every eye. "Then we hold anyway. Because that's what we do. We don't break just because it's hard. That's the difference between us and the Dominion."
Lysara studied him for a long moment, then nodded. "Agreed. We hold Stonecross until civilian evacuation is complete. Then we collapse the eastern garrison back to Bloomring Hold in organized retreat, not rout."
"How long?" Brenn asked.
"Twelve hours for full civilian extraction. Six more for military withdrawal. Call it twenty hours total."
Thrain exhaled. "Twenty hours with the Bloom accelerating and proto-harmonics massing. You're asking the eastern garrison to die."
"I'm asking them to be heroes," Brenn said quietly. "There's a difference."
He composed a message through the Bloomscript network:
To all eastern positions: Civilian evacuation priority one. Hold Stonecross twenty hours. After that, organized withdrawal to Bloomring Hold. You are not dying. You are buying innocent people time to live. That's what the Covenant stands for. Hold the line. — Lord Marshal Brenn
Across the network, 5,000 soldiers felt the message arrive—not words in ears, but knowing in hearts.
In Stonecross, Joran read it, laughed once—bitter but determined. "Twenty hours. Let's see if we're worth it."
Notes:
Silent Bloom Status: Breaking barriers, adapting to counter Bloomscript frequency; spreading 50m/hour at edges.
Proto-Harmonics: 50+ units through breach; perfect synchronization; no fear response; continue fighting after fatal wounds.
Civilian Evacuation: 3,000 displaced; Beast Speakers coordinating; acts of kindness in crisis.
Command Decision: Hold Stonecross 20 hours for evacuation; organized withdrawal planned.
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