Ashen Fields, Dawn
The Vendar militiaman raised his shield as the sky darkened with arrows. Ten thousand shafts from Dominion archers, fired with disciplined precision.
"SHIELDS!" his sergeant roared.
He crouched behind the earthen wall. Arrows hammered down around them. Most struck fortifications. Some found gaps.
Beside him, a soldier screamed—arrow through shoulder. Medics dragged him back.
Fifty wounded in first volley. Five dead from unlucky hits through helmet gaps or between armor plates.
"RETURN FIRE!"
Coalition archers on southern hills—eight thousand strong with elevation advantage—loosed their own volley.
He watched arrows arc across the sky, descending on Dominion heavy infantry. Their shields came up, armor thick. Most arrows deflected.
Eighty Dominion wounded. Ten dead from arrows finding weak points.
First blood drawn. Battle truly beginning now.
***
Frontline Impact
The gap between armies closed. Two kilometers became one. Then five hundred meters.
Infantry lines met with thunderous crash. Three kilometers of frontline, thousands colliding simultaneously.
The Vendar militiaman thrust his spear forward. Dominion soldier blocked with Soulsteel-reinforced shield.
Then his squadmate swung a Forged Bloom sword. Blade cut through Soulsteel armor like leather. Dominion soldier went down, shocked expression frozen on face.
"Their blades cut our armor like nothing! What is that?!"
"Fall back! FALL BACK!"
Coalition pushed forward. Fifty meters gained in first fifteen minutes. Dominion reeling from weapon surprise they had not expected.
***
Then something strange happened on the north flank.
The militiaman felt suddenly heavier. Like invisible weight pressed down on him. Three seconds of struggling to stand upright.
Around him, soldiers on both sides stumbled. Dominion and Coalition alike affected.
"What was that?"
"Ground unstable here. Footing is bad. Move left"
They shifted position. Weight returned to normal. Attributed to terrain, to soft earth, to anything that made sense.
Nobody recognized it as reality itself fluctuating.
***
Command Post
Brenn watched the battle unfold from his elevated platform. Thirty minutes in. Frontline stalemate forming despite initial advantage.
Velnar's mental voice reached all Beast Speakers simultaneously: *Wave One deploying. Fifty constructs. Wolves and bears. Disrupt their formations*
Thirty wooden wolves materialized from earth and roots behind Coalition lines. Twenty wooden bears followed.
Stunning visual even for those who knew it was coming. Living wood taking animal shapes, emerging from ground itself.
Wolves hit Dominion flanks with coordinated pack tactics. Tripping soldiers, creating chaos, disrupting formations without focusing on kills.
Bears crashed through center like physical tanks. Shoving through shield walls, opening gaps that Coalition infantry exploited immediately.
One hundred meters gained in fifteen minutes.
***
Dominion attempted fire arrows against constructs. Minimal effect—wet wood, living tissue, fire-resistant by nature.
Beast handlers deployed fifty controlled Servitor beasts to counter. Fifty versus fifty created stalemate on beast front.
General Thrace's voice carried across Dominion lines. "Bring siege weapons forward! Target those wooden beasts!"
***
Then one construct—a bear in center formation—flickered. Became translucent for two seconds, then solid again.
Velnar felt it through his connection: *Reality is unstable near that location. Constructs are being affected. What is this?*
Beast Speakers nearby noticed. "Did that bear just phase through reality?"
"Must be magic interference from the enemy. Stay alert"
Nobody investigated further. Battle demanded attention.
***
Cavalry Engagement
Northern Clans cavalry captain saw the Dominion charge coming. Five thousand horses, attempting to envelop Coalition right flank.
"Form up! Meet them head on!"
Three thousand Coalition cavalry—Northern Clans plus Covenant forces—charged to intercept. Outnumbered but prepared.
Dominion horses hit the caltrop field. Sharp metal spikes hidden in grass. Horses stumbled, screamed, formation broke.
Then Velnar's twenty serpent constructs erupted from underground. Dirt exploding upward, wooden serpents thrashing beneath cavalry.
Horses panicked completely. Riders thrown, trampled, scattered.
One thousand Dominion cavalry casualties in brutal minutes. Dead horses, wounded riders, shattered formation.
Northern Clans pressed advantage, pursuing into exposed Dominion infantry flanks. Five hundred meters gained.
Warchief Kerra's voice boomed. "Their cavalry is broken! Press the advantage!"
***
Dominion cavalry fell back one kilometer to regroup. Would not be threat again for at least two hours.
General Thrace adjusted strategy. "Cavalry ineffective. They anticipated our charge. Switch focus to siege warfare"
***
Medical Tents, One Kilometer Rear
Dr. Solena moved between patients rapidly. Two hours into battle. Wounded streaming in constantly.
Red tags—one hundred fifty so far. Life-threatening wounds needing immediate surgery.
Yellow tags—four hundred. Stable enough to wait hours but still serious.
Green tags—six hundred. Walking wounded, bandage and return to duty.
Black tags—twenty. Too severe to save with available resources. Comfort care only, make them peaceful.
One thousand healers working without stop. Six hundred human surgeons and physicians. Four hundred Beast Speaker resonance healers.
Beast Speakers worked faster—ten minutes per patient using Life's Law resonance. But draining. Exhausted after five or six patients, needed rest.
Human surgeons slower—thirty minutes per critical case. But sustainable for longer periods.
***
Young soldier on her table. Nineteen years old, gut wound from spear thrust. Red tag.
"Stay with me. You are going home. I promise you that"
Surgery took twenty minutes. Careful work, stopping bleeding, closing wounds, preventing infection.
Stabilized. Would live.
Soldier's eyes opened weakly. "Did we win?"
"Battle is still happening. But you won your fight. You survived"
***
Then one patient's wound began glowing faintly purple when Beast Speaker channeled healing energy into it.
The healer pulled back, startled. "What is this? Wound is not responding normally. There is foreign resonance here"
Wound eventually stabilized but took three times longer than usual.
"I have never seen anything like this before. Monitor this patient very closely"
Report filed. Unexplained. Concerning. No time to investigate during active battle.
***
Command Post, Four Hours In
Draven stood beside Brenn, reviewing tactical situation. Midday sun overhead. Battle four hours old.
Brenn summarized casualty reports. "Our losses: one thousand two hundred wounded, eighty dead. Their losses: two thousand wounded, one hundred fifty dead. We are winning the attrition war, but too slowly. Much too slowly"
Lysara added assessment. "Velnar's constructs are effective. Wave One withdrew, Wave Two is deploying now. But Dominion is adapting—siege weapons targeting constructs specifically, reducing their effectiveness"
Joran's voice crackled through Bloomscript crystal. "Forged Bloom weapons working perfectly. Their armor advantage is completely gone. But they are fielding more beasts now—over one hundred Servitors and Nobles deployed currently"
Draven frowned. "They are holding back forces. General Thrace is competent—he knows we have near numerical parity. He is waiting for something. For Malvorn"
Through bond, Zor's voice carried concern: *Bearer. I sense wrongness. Not from the enemy. From the battlefield itself. Reality feels thin here. Storm clouds are forming, but not in natural patterns*
"I feel it too. The Codex keeps pulsing—warning me about something. Stay alert. Something is building here"
***
Decision made: continue attrition warfare. Winning slowly better than risking bold move that could backfire. Rotate troops regularly—fresh units forward, exhausted back. Sustainable pace.
Prepare for Malvorn deployment. Severance teams positioned and ready to advance when needed.
***
Then the sky above battlefield began darkening.
Not clouds. Purple-black haze spreading across one-kilometer radius.
Temperature dropped fifteen degrees suddenly. Soldiers on both sides started shivering.
Lasted five minutes. Slowly faded.
Panic rippled through both armies. "What is that?!"
"Magic attack?"
"Some kind of curse?"
Commanders on both sides tried attributing to enemy magic. But neither side claimed responsibility. Neither side knew what it was.
Draven gripped the Codex against his chest. "This is not enemy magic. What is it?"
Codex pulsed. No words. Just feeling transmitted directly to him.
*Danger. Reality unstable. Be careful*
***
Notes:
Terminology Clarification: Beast hierarchy is Wildling (rarely in armies) → Servitor (single gift) → Noble (3-5 gifts) → Elite (above Noble, below King) → King → Lord → Overlord. Elite-tier beasts have advanced capabilities beyond Noble but not yet King-level authority.
First Contact: Frontlines clash at dawn, arrows exchanged with minimal casualties due to fortifications and armor, Forged Bloom weapons surprise Dominion by cutting through Soulsteel armor effectively, Coalition gains fifty meters initially.
Velnar's Wave One: Fifty constructs deploy (thirty wolves for flanking, twenty bears for breakthrough), disrupts Dominion formations effectively, Coalition gains one hundred meters total, one construct phases briefly due to anomaly dismissed as magic interference.
Cavalry Engagement: Northern Clans cavalry plus serpent constructs blunt Dominion cavalry charge, caltrops and underground eruptions effective, one thousand Dominion cavalry casualties, charge broken for two hours minimum.
Medical Triage: One thousand two hundred Coalition wounded in first four hours, triage system functional with red/yellow/green/black tags, Beast Speaker resonance healing faster but draining after five patients, one patient's wound glows purple and resists healing by factor of three.
Four-Hour Stalemate: Coalition winning attrition slowly (one thousand two hundred wounded, eighty dead versus two thousand wounded, one hundred fifty dead Dominion), Velnar effective but Dominion adapting with siege weapons, both commanders holding reserves.
Anomaly Escalation: Multiple manifestations—gravity fluctuation on north flank attributed to terrain instability, construct phasing dismissed as enemy magic interference, wound resistance puzzling healers, sky darkening purple-black for five minutes with fifteen-degree temperature drop causes panic on both sides, Codex warns Draven directly of reality instability, neither side understands what is happening.
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