The Primal Bastion slept fitfully beneath a moonless sky, the Veil's lattice casting an emerald-tinged glow over the exhausted villagers. Even Elder Ming's vigilant golems moved sluggishly, their vine-woven limbs drooping after days of relentless patrols. In the relic chamber, Xia dozed beside the Primal Core's pulsing light, her healing qi a faint shimmer around her hands. Li Tian, however, paced the watchtower, his corrupted arm twitching with every gust of wind that rattled the Veil.
*Too quiet.*
The thought gnawed at him. The Accord's scouts had vanished two days prior, their absence more unnerving than their presence. Below, the village lay vulnerable—children curled in makeshift barracks, farmers-turned-soldiers snoring atop their spears, Elder Ming's starroot elixirs dulling their pain.
Then the Veil screamed.
A thunderous detonation rocked the northwest node, its obsidian lattice fracturing as Stormpeak lightning cannons unleashed their payload. The night erupted in chaos.
---
**The Stormpeak Vanguard**
Lady Nyra's airships descended like vengeful gods, their hulls crackling with stored lightning. Cannon barrels glowed white-hot before discharging searing bolts into the Veil. The lattice held—barely—but each strike sent villagers sprawling, their ears bleeding from the concussive roar.
"To the nodes!" Li Tian bellowed, primal energy amplifying his voice. "Renshu, secure the eastern flank! Yan Mei, the assassins are yours!"
But the Nightblades were already among them. Shadows coalesced into knife-wielding phantoms, slitting throats and severing tendon before vanishing. Yan Mei's daggers found only air until a child's scream guided her—a blade pressed to Little Fen's throat.
"Drop your weapons," the assassin hissed, "or she—"
Yan Mei's dagger embedded in his eye socket before he finished. "Run," she ordered Fen, yanking her blade free. "To the relic chamber!"
---
**The Traitor's Gambit**
Kael, the Stormpeak defector, crouched in the Veil's shadow, his traitorous hands etching ruinous runes into the central node. General Krell's voice crackled from his communication orb: "Bring it down, and the marshes are yours."
A vine snapped his wrist.
"Mine first," Elder Ming rasped, flute raised. The marsh surged at his command, roots spearing through Kael's torso. But the damage was done—the central node's light flickered, its pulse erratic.
Li Tian materialized, his corrupted arm seizing Kael's skull. "How many more?"
Kael grinned through bloodied teeth. "Enough."
Primal energy reduced him to ash.
---
**The Accord's Fangs**
The Flame Emperor's legions breached the northwest gap, their magma blades melting through blackstone and bone. Fire demons, unchained and ravenous, bounded ahead, igniting barracks and storehouses. Amid the carnage, Li Tian carved a path of black flame, his corrupted veins bulging as he drained demons to fuel the Core.
"Fall back to the inner sanctum!" Xia's healing qi wove a barrier around fleeing villagers, her voice fraying. "Ming! The nodes!"
The elder's golems clashed with Stormpeak elites, their thorny fists shattering lightning rods. But Lady Nyra herself descended, her staff channeling a storm's fury.
"You've made a lovely garden, old man," she sneered, obliterating a golem with a plasma strike. "Let's see it burn."
---
**Li Tian's Desperation**
The Veil's fractures spread. Li Tian leapt onto the central node, his hands fusing with the lattice. "Ming! Now!"
The elder played his flute, starroot vines surging into the Veil's wounds. The Primal Core blazed, its energy merging with the marsh's essence to seal the breaches—but the corruption in Li Tian roared. Black veins engulfed his neck, his left eye a vortex of nothingness.
"Enough!" Xia tackled him from the node, her healing qi clashing with the corruption. "You'll die!"
He shoved her aside. "Then I die!"
The Core's light erupted, blinding friend and foe alike. When it faded, the Veil stood whole—but Li Tian collapsed, his body a latticework of cracks.
---
**The Tide Turns**
The Accord hesitated, stunned by the Veil's resurgence. In that heartbeat, the Bastion struck back.
- **Renshu's** hammer crumpled a siege construct's core, its explosion scattering Flame Emperor ranks.
- **Yan Mei** led a pack of children-turned-saboteurs, their poison thorns felling Nightblade assassins.
- **Elder Ming's** golems dragged Stormpeak airships into the marsh, their crews consumed by carnivorous blooms.
Lady Nyra retreated, her flagship scorched. "This isn't over, Primal Bastion!"
But the victory was pyrrhic.
---
**The Cost**
Dawn revealed the toll: the northern barracks smoldered, the granary was ash, and the training grounds ran red. Xia knelt beside Li Tian, her qi barely stabilizing his shattered body. The corruption had retreated, but his breaths were shallow, his skin translucent.
Ming examined the Core. "It's dormant. Whatever he did… it burned him out."
Yan Mei wiped her daggers on a dead assassin's cloak. "Will he live?"
The elder's silence answered.
---