Natrina's armies march on the fields, small but brave as the sun as it rises from a sea of fire and dangles tantalizingly in the air, filled with blood. We make our stand on one of the tallest hills in the fields, legendary mound, left silent by the fact that nothing has ever or will ever grow here. The runes welcome our presence, though they pray for its ephemerality, and we drink in the land's deep magics.

While we build, the Auspicia holds the south, death omen in the skies (as she comes to be known, and it's true, is it ever true), and no one learns of the army to the north, waiting to hold the vagabonds in their jaws. Another force scares them down from Tempasse, and we get new recruits portalled in every day-- Illuet avoids her family, of course, those of them that come, but we recognize many of the faces, and I have to avoid everyone. Natrina doesn't step in for me. I just look those I've deceived straight in the face.

The Canira I took the tapestry from finds me one day near our makeshift armory. He watches me with the resolute coldness of death. "So it's you," he says. "Somehow, you blinked out of existence in my mind, when you left. I reckoned I would never have to see you or hear from you again, yet here you are, alive as when I left you, and still with that Felid's look to your eyes."

"Oh, I'm actually Moonwalker-Canira," I say, then clarify, "Forhaga."

Cassiver stirs again, perhaps in revulsion at my heritage. Likely in revulsion at my heritage. He's allowed to feel however he wants about my heritage. I couldn't care less about what he thinks or how he feels. He has not spoken, but I can tell that this is not for lack of things to say. Instead, there's a pensive energy that lies between us. There's one Sentient privy to my thoughts and my thoughts are uglier than ever, though this time, there is at least a nobility to my intent. I don't want to die. Burn out the heart. I don't want to die. Burn out the heart.

I twitch once, delicately. It's likely this is doing little to win over my companion.

"Do you still have my tapestry?" he asks.

I shake my head. "A friend does. We can give it back."

"I don't want it back," he says. "There's nowhere to hang it. Our village burned in the aftermath of you leaving... not because of you, but we were sheltering a lot of your ilk. You might have the last part of my home."

"Reckon that happened with a lot of the places we conned. We're carrying ghosts."

"I wouldn't ask for that kind of burden," he says. "Not on my life." With a swish of his tail, he turns to leave. "I'm glad to see you're at least doing on good thing for Opphemria. May the battle fare you well. After all you've been through, this would be an awfully poor way to die."

No. It would be the best possible way to die. "I'm sorry," I tell him. "But I'm glad to see you again."

He looks back, disdainfully. "You don't usually see your victims twice."

"No."

"Well, the mobs are not faceless," he says. "I learned that back in my village, the day after Suvi came. I recognized every face as it went up in flames."

Illuet meets me back at the tent. Ours is the big, fancy one next to Natrina's, at the very center. Outside are plants, which should definitely not be in the plains, but they fortify our magical defenses. Close around us are pups and expecting mothers, which sounds like the worst kind of Sentients to have in an armory, but even over the hammer falls, it's idyllic. We're up on a hill from which you can see nothing but tents, though our enemies would see a small force (thanks, Natrina, for being terrifyingly powerful) on a small hill. Said pups are tumbling around with sticks and playing war games, as if they were home. There are at least seven species represented there, too. It's a better future than the future itself actually will be. "Nothing?" I ask.

"We have one more day," she says, gesturing me inside. We've got flowers across the ceiling, for scent, and the blankets from the castle, so it's nicer than inn rooms, despite being a temporary structure. "And you spent yours?"

I look out towards the setting sun. "I guess staring into the fires at the armory. I'm trying to develop some kind of resolve."

Illuet nudges the Sorrows, which are safely in their bag. "I'm scared for you," she admits. "He hasn't spoken?"

"I think he knows," I say. "Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"Don't try to psyche me out!"

"It's tomorrow, that's all."

"What's tomorrow?" A familiar dusty shape brushes open the curtains, the fabric streaming off either side of his long neck like water. Two bright green eyes glint with completely feigned nonchalance, which falls as soon as we're on him, like pack hunters. Altair falls over and our whole family's a tangle of limbs again, as if we could forget the reason why we separated in the first place. "Oh, stars. Stars. It's so nice to see you both."

"Of course it is," Illuet says.

"Why'd you come back?" I ask. I peek around him to see my whole family, from Aunna Engreaves to the pups, standing in the middle of the camp. Aunna Engreaves is speaking to one of the most decorated Defenders. Adiza catches my eyes and leers at me. No matter how she feels, for once in my life, I'm glad to see her. It might be the last time. "They're all here? What about the Homestead?"

"I know a lot of villagers were prepared to fight to the death for their houses, but home isn't a place. Home is us. Whatever happens after this, we'll figure it out, but... in all honesty, we're safer in the middle of a battleground than anywhere else. I know Natrina and the Auspicia's energy will be going into moving Sentients around, so they won't be doing much of the actual fighting, but we still have two demigods on our sides. What more do you want than that, Verhamera's personal blessing?" Altair shakes his head. "Plus, I mentioned you'd probably be there, because it's where the most trouble is. What are you doing here, anyways? You're not out stealing the sheets off of Sentients' backs or something?"

"We're--" I pause. Altair is well meaning, but I don't want to talk to him about it either. "We're going to fight."

"Our specialty is collateral damage and running away. What made you think you could go join the Defenders?"

My jaw goes stiff. "I plan to cause a lot of collateral damage tomorrow, then."

Altair says, "Illuet?"

"Oh, Natrina won't let me do anything. She's insistent that I'm too precious, so I'll be here, doing medical work. I can save a few lives, even if I can't take them."

"I like that," Altair says. "You do your best then, too, alright? We're fighting for everyone here."

No we aren't. There are dozens more bandit gangs out on the horizon. We are helping to hasten their magical decline, which in turn, will lead to a world, that while decimated, will run itself low on the Dog Days. They will forever christen it as a turning point in the war, some kind of holy battle, but really, it's just the Defenders doing their job while a few locals pitch in, on threat of their own lives. It's hard to see any kind of grand narrative about it, yet Altair's tail is swinging. I can only imagine the kind of conviction currently seizing everyone else right now.

"Come outside for a second and speak with your family, won't you, Hawk?" asks Altair. "Illuet, I know they'd love to see you too."

Illuet and I look to each other. "You'll like them," I promise. "No need to be shy about it."

I step out into the light. The sun has practically set by now, taking everyone's auras with it, save for Illuet, but there's still an ominous ghost of a presence over the hill, a kind of age-old resolution that ties us all together. Battles have been fought since the beginning of time, and will continue until the end of it. As long as there is an other to fight, a reason to draw blood, there will be moments like this, where good families, bad Sentients, perhaps just a mob of faces, will wait to tear each other to pieces indiscriminately.

Adiza and Mahigan stand side by side. They're still the bravest Sentients I've ever known. Harrier takes her rightful place by Aunna Engreaves's side. The pups are elsewhere, but that's fine. This is a conversation for adults. From now on, I plan on acting like one.

"Altair told us everything," Aunna Engreaves warns.
"I'm not asking for your forgiveness. I just wanted to see you," I say. "You don't need to waste pity on your mongrel son, you know, he--"

Adiza presses her muzzle to mine. Mahigan moves in, too, and I can feel both of their heat on my fur. I lift my muzzle. This is where I came from. If tomorrow goes well, it will be the last place I ever come, and I'm glad that they were my last family.

"I'll do my best," I promise them.

"You don't have to," Adiza says. "It's okay. You can stay here, and when things are over..."

"Adiza. It's still Hawk. He's not settling anywhere," Mahigan warns her, playfully.

"I'll come home," I say.

"For a while?" she asks.

"I don't know."
"Do you ever?" asks Harrier.

Silence hangs heavy on the air.

"We should get to sleep," Illuet says. "Guard wakes up early. With the dawn."

"Ah," I say. "That'd be me. Healers need to be up early, too, so..."

Illuet nods. "It was nice to meet you all," she says, "Goodbye."

"I like her," my mother says.

That finally breaks the stiff silence, if only for moments. Slowly, we murmur 'good luck' to each other, and Altair breaks away to sleep with me for the last night. Soon, it's just him, Illuet, and I under the stars. She and Altair curl against my sides, as if we could keep each other there, forever, and never worry about hurting each other or being hurt again. It's a nice sentiment, but we all know that we've dug ourselves into a hole that there's one way out of.

---

I wake up and the air is red. Illuet is gone with the seeds, and Altair is still sleeping. I offer him a swift kick to the side. "Altair!" I bark.

"What?" he asks, scrambling upwards.

"We need to find Illuet," I tell him. "Now."
"Does it matter?" Altair asks. "We should be at the armory, suiting up. We're probably already late, although I'm sure they'd be glad to have reinforcements-- you don't think Natrina did this on purpose, do you? Stars, we try to do a good thing one time--"

I dash out of the den, looking both ways, and he follows after. I pass the armory, which is on our right, and the yelling of what I guess is likely some general or another (oooh, fancy) rings in my deaf ears. It's only when I'm almost to the medic tent when Altair slams on my tail, causing me to yelp just before I silence myself. Sentients in the area are looking at us, including a few Defenders who look pissed.

"Are you civilians or are you fighting today?" asks a Canis guard, whose horns through her helmet are of impressive girth. "We need runners, and Fauna would be optimal. They realize they've been herded. The Auspicia's on them, now, but we have our most fleet groups rounding them in. If you consent, we can portal you out."

"If that's where you need us, we could--" Altair begins.

"No." I walk faster. "We have our stations already and we have to head to the medic's den now to ferry supplies down."

"They have Canii on that. Magically gifted Canii," states the guard. "What do you think you're doing?"

Altair stops. "We're special guards assigned to Illuet, and that's part of her job. It's a little unorthodox, but it's why we've been up at the tent at the top of the hill, next to Natrina. You'll get our scent on it. You'll get our word from Natrina. You can go up against that if you wish, but we're in wartime, and you've got your station, we have ours."

"Opphemria is trusting you, sires. Stay to your word," she growls, and lets us be.

I pick up my pace again towards the medic's den. Altair follows behind. "You'd better have a really good explanation for this," he says. "I hate how the second I'm around you, I'm compulsively lying again. It's like your very presence hexes everyone around you."

"Illuet can cut heartlines," I say. "We use that energy to trigger a chain reaction that would cut the energy out of every soul-infused bone in the area, and hopefully, use that energy to trigger a successive set of reactions across all Opphemria, and by extension, Omnia. It's a great bad solution, but we're essentially going to change the very laws the universe works on-- you know, normal con stuff."

"Sometimes I really wonder if you know what your job is," Altair says. "I'm guessing you're fueling that with the Sorrows. But... whose heartline.... oh. Hawk. Hawk, you can't possibly--"

I stop in front of the medic's den. "Would you wish that on anyone else?"

"If you die, Hawk, that's it. No afterlife. No coming back. I'll never see you again, in this or any lifetime, and that's assuming you don't die on the spot."

I step in. "Is Illuet here?"

"She checked in earlier and left, almost immediately, to speak with Natrina," says one of the medics.

"Good. We were in here, and now we're going to find her," I tell them. "In case anyone asks. We'll see you later."

Altair is still rambling when I exit. "Seriously, are you even aware of the enormity of--"

"Are you going to ask me not to do it?" I ask him.

"No," he admits. "Because I can't. You won't listen to me if I do, and everyone we love might die if you don't."

I nod. "Then I'm going to need you to help me out."

"What do you need me to do?" Altair asks.

"Start talking and keep talking. If I try to run, knock me out. If I start having second thoughts, talk me out of them. Convince me this is the best idea in the entire world," I tell him.

"Is Cassiver still railing on you?" he asks.

"Maybe. I might just be a coward. No matter what, what's important is that you get me up that hill to Illuet. Okay?"

Altair hesitates, taking a deep breath, and then, finally, he says, "I trust you, Hawk."

"Terrible idea."

"Should I contest that?" he asks.

"You don't have to. Let's go." The two of us begin trekking up the hill together. It seems to get steeper the longer we walk, and I'm not sure if it's magical or not, but it is pissing me off. I feel my veins fill with ice knowing that I am willingly walking towards, not away from, slaughter, and yet I'm not turning around. My eyes dart around for an escape route, but Altair has all the bags safely on his back. I could kick him in the leg and make off with the trinkets bag, or possibly the weapons bag (I know we have some stun wands, if I broke them, the electric element would probably combust, because everything in Omnia combusts if you break it). "Altair? Can you please start talking?" I ask.

"Oh!" His ears fly up. That. I'm going to miss that so much. "Alright. So, we're walking up the hill to talk to Illuet, but you know, it'll just be...a conversation. Right? It could be the last one, but that's a good note to end on. Your friends and family will be well cared-for. There's a world that's a little brighter waiting on the other side, and..." He knows he's not helping enough. "One paw in front of the other. Think about Mahigan and Adiza. Think about Okari. Think about Vade, out there somewhere, and maybe if we do this before the front lines get to our front lines we can save his life, and I'll beg for mercy for him. Think about everyone we've ever conned, and we're just... we're just paying them back. They'll never know, but we'll know. It'll be our big inside joke with the world. Think about Omnia, Hawk. Think about the leaves, the sun, the way the forest sounds... we're protecting that, too. Everything. Think about changing something. No one else gets the opportunity to do that. Think about breaking cycles."

There's a willow curled around Natrina's tent. Illuet is beneath it, holding the Sorrows, practically seething with light. I'm leaning all the way on Altair, like I've broken a leg, and when Illuet sees us, she says, "I was kind of hoping you wouldn't come?"

"We know," I say. "Up the hill?"

We keep walking upwards, to what must've been the rift. In the heat of battle, it's practically deserted, save for a few stray ups and some aerial sentries. The spacial magic around us has cleared most of the skies, too, so that below us space is rippling like fields do when hot wind blows across them. This is the first place Sentients ever set paw on this planet.

"We're surrounded on all sides," Illuet breathes, looking down at clashing armies. There's so many of us down there. 'We're' the cons, and 'we're' the village Sentients, and who knows, between lives, maybe you get to be all of those things, too. "I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I can do this to you."

The Sorrows fall out of their bag. I've loosened it with magic, and now I'm holding them in the air. The rush feels like another body, pressed firmly against mine. In reality, it's more like touching a river. "I'm the one who should be the one saying that to you."

Altair stomps his foot. "They're engaging, alright. We doing this or not?"

"Shouldn't be," Illuet says.

"This is going to end badly," Altair says.

"You get your future sight back?" I ask.

"Maybe just my common sense," he says.

"Great," I say. "I definitely missed that."

Tides of blood are upon us.

Desperately, Cassiver pleads from my mouth, "Rule one."

Though space is distorted up here, I sense him trying to portal. Altair grabs me by the scruff, though his teeth are hardly large enough to hold me at all, and Illuet's vicegrip tightens around me. She eats the Sorrows, and at the same time, I feel her holding more than my body. My tail cuts out in a spray of blood as Cassiver's attempted portal closes on itself, and my heart comes clean of my body in a familiar shape-- I am a bird.

A thousand memories flash through my mind as Cassiver comes clean of me, then I come clean of me, and then I'm with Illuet, our hearts beating as one, and then I'm nothing and nowhere. She speaks in five voices, but there are no words, and her mouth goes to the lyta, which spews light out of all its pipes. In one note, Illuet's magic echoes over the battlefield, and birds rise into the air in thousands of shapes, filling the entire sky with white light. Sentients rise out of every tooth, every femur, and every skull, all their bodies rising with my heart. I feel a tide of magic unlike anything I've ever felt before, not of one Sentient, but all of Omnia's dead.

I sense friends, enemies, victims, and then it's just sensation itself. All the birds rise into the sun on wings of light, and when they are no longer visible from within the sun's direct beams, a deep shadow settles onto the land. My eyes struggle to adapt to the dimness, but the sun is still up there, and aside from my tail, which my body has just realized I've lost, we're all still here.

Illuet's horns are burned down to nubs, smoking, and the lyta falls from her mouth. She collapses against Altair and I, and I feel myself growing dizzy from bloodloss. "Can you feel anything?" I ask her.

"All of it," she says. "But not for long. I don't know what's after that."

"Nothing, for me," I tell her. "For you?"

The Auspicia raises Andulas's severed head over the battlefield, so that it just eclipses the sun. Below, chaos breaks loose on the land. There's still that chaotic flash of magic engagements going down there, but I can't tell them apart. It's all a blur. Still, Altair's horn crackles back to life, and Sentients are beginning to converge on our location. Despite the heat of the day, it would appear that there are no auras around them.

"Did we just... con a prophecy?" asks Illuet.

"We solved it. We didn't con anything. That was how the prophecy was supposed to play out," Altair insists. "Oh stars I'm just glad you two are alive. Please never do anything like that ever again."

"You'd better believe we conned a prophecy," I announce to them both, delirious, "because I'm the greatest damn con in all of Opphemria."