CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 54 — “THE SLOW GOODBYE”

The whistles began at dawn.

Not the shrill alarm whistles used for breaches. These were lower, longer—mourning sounds that carried through the frost-heavy corridors of Grim Hollow like the sighs of a wounded beast.

The outpost was being emptied.

And the fortress that once thrummed with life and endless marching boots now sounded like a graveyard exhaling.

Workers gathered in the central yard with packs slung over narrow shoulders. The fledglings—teen recruits barely three months into their training—clustered under the supervision of older handlers, their wide eyes darting across the familiar stone walls as though trying to memorize every crack before they were taken away.

Fires burned in metal drums to fight the creeping cold. The sky above Grim Hollow hung thick and gray, a lid of winter clouds sealing the world shut.

The evacuation had begun.

And the outpost felt wrong without the usual background hum of machinery and shouted orders. Too quiet. Too empty. Too final.

Bright tightened the straps of his buckle in his uniform as he stood on the elevated walkway overlooking the courtyard. Beside him, the rest of his squad watched in silence.

He planned to introduce his squad to his peers. With most of them on the verge of becoming Initiates, he figured it would benefit both sides to get acquainted.

The road to Outpost Vester promised far less than nightsky and rainbows. A convoy that large would flare like a signal fire in the dark, drawing Crawlers with the promise of a sprawling buffet laid out just for them.

Though they were trained soldiers, their expertise lay in dueling a single Crawler—or coordinating as a small team against one—not waging a full-scale battle.

It was a miracle the road to Vester was considered "secure" at all—secure only when measured against the nightmare-fests that passed for roads near other outposts.

Bessia leaned forward against the railing, her braids whipping in the wind. Even under grime and dust, the natural gold of her hair still managed to shine through, catching the eye whether she wanted it to or not.

There wasn’t a single blemish on her face—her soul talent saw to that. It gave her an almost unreal quality, as though she didn’t quite belong to the brutal world around them. She looked less like a soldier in the mud and more like a flawless detail painted into a harsher canvas.

She exhaled slowly. "It’s really happening. They’re actually pulling everyone out. Well not everyone."she gestured.

Bright wasn’t too worried about being left behind to hold the outpost. A cold confidence had settled in him ever since he’d driven his blade through Larkin’s neck. Dangerous thinking, sure—but it clung to him now, stubborn as a scent you couldn’t wash off.

He wouldn’t be alone, either. Silas the nuisance; freshly risen to Initiate; had also been assigned to hold the line.

From what he could gather, Adam and Duncan in particular had little fondness for the assassin’s presence.

Only Bessia treated him with anything resembling ease; the Shroud incident had stitched a quiet understanding between them. Perhaps she read him in a way the others couldn’t.

The skeleton crew of Initiates and elites was small—too small to defend Grim Hollow if another attack came. But orders were orders. And out of everyone in their group, only Silas and Bright were strong enough to remain.

Adam kicked a stray pebble. It clattered, echoing far too loudly in the emptied yard. "High Command doesn’t care about this place. They never did. If the Covenant wanted Grim Hollow dead, all they had to do was wait for the pencil pushers to choke it themselves."

Duncan nodded grimly. "Captain Atheon looked like he aged ten years overnight. He’s holding the place together with willpower alone."

Bright’s eyes narrowed. "Atheon isn’t the problem—he won’t crack. The outpost will. No manpower, no support, no amenities. I’ll be stuck here for days in a half-dead fort.

And what—are we supposed to take turns sleeping with no one to keep watch?"

Rolf crossed his arms, jaw tightening.

"Grim Hollow isn’t dying because it’s weak though," he said quietly. "It’s just not worth it to the brass."

Lara’s fingers stopped cold.

"They infiltrated us. Took our people, our food, our sense of safety. And now we’re supposed to retreat? It feels like spitting on the ones who died. I lost friends. I don’t have it in me to back down."

But you will," Bright said. "High Command demands it. We’re the ones staying behind. We won’t be fighting humans—we’ll be holding off Crawlers, buying you enough time to evacuate. Hear my words now and know that they are true. The crawlers do not care for your grief, they do not see the tears streaked across your face, but they may give you the grace of realizing that you taste a bit differently as they lick the salt from your tears while savoring the sweet tang of your blood."

Duncan chuckled under his breath. "Damn, Bright. Didn’t know you could deliver a speech."

It wasn’t bitterness.

It was fact.

A horn sounded.

The workers began lining up.

Fledglings shuffled forward, huddled in small groups, clutching blankets and bags. Some of them hadn’t even stayed at the outpost for more than a month, completely green. Many of them were crying silently, wiping their eyes so older recruits wouldn’t see.

Grim Hollow had been their home away from home.

And now they were being told to abandon it.

The official orders called it "strategic relocation."

Everyone in the outpost called it what it truly was:

The slow goodbye.

Bright’s stomach twisted as he spotted familiar faces among the evacuees. Men and women he had passed daily in the dining hall. Engineers who had repaired the training yard generators. Cooks who had served him steaming bowls of grain stew. Civilians who had lived in the outer chambers since before he was born.

All of them were leaving Grim Hollow behind.

All of them, except—

"You guys"

Sergeant Tyven’s voice pulled Bright from his thoughts.

"It’s time."

A silence settled between them, heavy and cold as the wind.

Bessia was the first to walk forward. She punched Bright lightly in the shoulder.

"Don’t die," she said. "For a guy with an ability to sense danger you always find yourself in the worst possible parts of it. I’m not dragging your body out of the snow."

Bright managed a smile. "I’ll be here when you come back."

"Better be." She stepped closer. "Try to reason with Silas or get with Jorik, heard he also became an initiate recently. Try to watch each other’s back."

Adam approached next. He clasped Bright’s forearm, soldier to soldier.

"You being an Initiate doesn’t change that you’re still a long way from real power, don’t look at me like that, I can read you like an open book." he said. "So don’t take stupid risks. You’ve got Hailen half-dead, hoisted into one of those med carts, your squad split up, and the outpost bleeding. There’s no glory in dying in false bravado."

Bright squeezed back. "Sure boss."

Duncan shuffled forward . He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

" Be careful, alright? This isn’t... this isn’t just an evacuation. Everyone feels it."

Bright nodded. He especially didn’t expect sympathy.

He swallowed. "Thanks, Duncan."

Duncan shrugged, embarrassed. "Just don’t turn into some monster like you did with Larkin, your squad said you were fighting like you were in some kind of flow state, alright? We need you staying human."

Bright didn’t promise.

Because he wasn’t sure he could.

He talked a bit with his squad members before he had to let them go.

The horn blew again—short and sharp.

The evacuation march was beginning.

Adam slid his pack onto his shoulders. Duncan secured his cloak.

Silas stepped forward, expression serious. in an alley, mouthing the words, "Be safe."

Bessia, walking toward the meeting spot, froze for a moment to glance back. Then she turned back, a smile now lighting her face.

The three turned away, blending into the line of evacuees moving toward the southern gate.

Bright watched them go.

Silas did too.

The gates began to open with a grinding scream of metal and ancient hinges. Wind rushed in, carrying the scent of pine, cold earth, and distant mountains.

The departing crowd began marching—slow, steady, organized, but heavy with sorrow.

And then—

They were gone into the mist.

Bright exhaled shakily once they vanished from sight.

The wind howled through the courtyard, fluttering abandoned flags and tugging at their cloaks.

Grim Hollow suddenly felt too big.

Too empty.

Too vulnerable.

Bright looked down at his gloved hand—the same hand that had pulled the bloody crystals from Larkin’s corpse. Reminiscing what Adam said about overconfidence and how it was a fast track to an inevitable , inexhaustible sleep.

He began walking back toward the command building.

Behind him, the southern gate creaked shut, sealing with a deep metallic thud that echoed through the emptying outpost like a final heartbeat.

The slow goodbye was complete.

And now, only the fighters remained.

Preparing.

Listening to the silence where hundreds of voices once lived.