Chapter 165: The Silent Autumn
The Silent Autumn did not arrive with a bang, but with a hush that deepened by the hour. It was first noticed by the children, who complained the sea sounded "flat." Then the gulls fell silent, wheeling in eerie, soundless patterns. Finally, the wind itself seemed to lose its voice, moving the grass and trees in a pantomime of rustling.
Krath's army crested the eastern bluffs at dawn on a day stained the color of tarnished silver. They did not march with drums or shouts. They advanced in a disciplined, quiet tide, their black, Nullifier-lens armor drinking the weak morning light. At their center, on a massive, treaded platform, was the prototype the Devourer its void-black crystal heart pulsating with a slow, hungry rhythm. Flanking it were the thirty field units, like obsidian beetles, their smaller lenses already humming with preparatory energy.
