I see Iris and Torch for what might be the last time at dawn. The sky is pastels all the way across, with clouds the color of my fur dangling throughout, tinged with silvers. Torch trembles a bit when a summer wind passes over, unseasonably cold, and a set of translucent eyelids flicks over and back across Iris's eyes. She looks more alien today than before, and Torch, thick-furred and blazing by her side, is a beast of myth. They could not be any more different, but I can't picture them anywhere else but here, standing next to each other at the end of the world.

"You two are so brave," I tap Torch on the nose, then Iris, and their thrill and fear fills me, like a bonfire lit in my lungs. "Please don't do anything stupid."

"Such as going back to a hive of dangerous half-sentient shapeshifters who are intent on the destruction of our entire species, who intended to use me for the very purpose and will no doubt be miffed at my betrayal." Iris turns to Torch. "You wouldn't happen to have something to the effect planned, would you?"

"Sarcasm." I say. "From you. I never thought I'd see the day."

"You don't know everything about me, Avery." Iris says, eyes gleaming with mirth.

"You don't know what I don't know," I reply.

Iris squints.

"I think you lost her." Torch says. The crowds are beginning to disperse, and I notice that there's a good number of Defenders surrounding us who remain stationary, watching Torch and Iris. My heart pangs knowing that they're going to be surrounded until they get into the Factory, as if they'd really try something again. As if they'd go back on everything and run for it, after all they've been through... and I remember Iris's words to me in that tower, and I'm not sure if I can blame them.

"Do you think you're ready?" I press.

"They'll be expecting us." Iris rolls her tongue over her teeth. Torch watches his paws like they'll leap up of their own accord and try to slit his own throat. "I am certain of this."

"Right." I sigh. My heart aches in my chest. The element of surprise has made little difference in our simulations, as we're firing blind into the Factory no matter what we do. "What do you do now?"

"I'll take it from here." Natrina nudges me aside with a mother's gentle firmness. Her tired eyes reveal untold ages of war, hardship hardening her spirit, and despite her weariness she moves with resolve. It is hard to imagine Natrina at war, not because it's hard to imagine her fighting, but rather because it is hard to imagine her being forced to retreat by anyone. The history books I've read describe losses (the failed siege of Cyrsa in the time of Agatou, several interstellar battles in the outer dragon colonies) but what stands in front of me is perhaps more powerful than an undefeated foe- it is someone who can no longer afford to lose.

I lower my head, lapsing into a bow.

"Get up." Natrina shakes her head. "You'll never learn, will you? Today, we are all equals on the field of battle." She looks across the way, dark eyes gleaming. "What a miracle, to see everyone gathered here. After all I've seen, this unity seems as much as a victory as anything that is to come. I'm looking out at our future."

"We can think about the future after the battle," I suggest.

"If I wasn't moving in good faith, I wouldn't move." Natrina responds. "You have a long road in front of you, Avery. Where that road takes you is entirely on the back of your own agency."

"Thanks," I say, beneath my breath. "Any tips?"

I hadn't expected a response, but Natrina nods. "Watch out for the Auspicia."

My fur rises. I lower my head even further, like I'm trying to touch the earth, and when I look up, they're already leaving. I can hardly believe that we were ever close at all, that I managed to touch part of a myth, and now my life is tinged around the edges with fantasy. I have become part of the stories I once read.

This dawns on me as the three of them fold into the sea of colorful beings, cutting the crowd like a shark cuts water. Meanwhile, I search the masses for my other friends. There are others I need to say goodbye to, but in an army like this, it might as well be impossible.

I hadn't even expected to get in a glimpse of Marie, but Sweep, on the other paw, runs into me. I'm trying to fly up to get a good look around, although my aching wings and sagging fur remind me at once of why I stay grounded most of the time. However, when I look down I see an army unlike anything I've ever seen amassed at the gates, armadas that go on across the fields and far as I can see, rolling in from portals and rolling out through them. From the largest dragons and Ursus to the petite Lapines, the fields are crowded with every species I've ever known, although Canira and Canii, with the sparer Felis, make up the bulk of our army. Some of the citydwelling Canira and Canii are even fitted with magical weapons, carried on their backs, and even fewer have contraptions alongside them.

The air is no less crowded. It is full of Canira, dragons, and avian beasts of every variety from across our small world, but most are flying at separate levels, so that traffic isn't as claustrophobic. From a low level, I can look down and see almost everyone, that is, until Sweep slams me out of the sky like a comet.

When we fall to the ground in a blur of wings and fur, nearly escaping injury and impact with our fellow Sentients, Sweep stands over me with her ears perked. "Avery!"

"Sweep." I respond.

"Sorry."

"No need. Are you alright?" I ask.

Sweep chirps, "Like I'm the one who'd sustain the pain if we tussled it out." She smirks. "Hey. Aves. They're taking down the Sky Guards. Never thought I'd see the day."

"You're not going to see anything." I prod her. "Through all that commotion?"

"True, true. So. News... Marie and I are going to the same portal. The Opphemrian one. I have no clue how this happened. I'm glad it did, I just... well. Can't make any plans before the battle's played out. That's asking for trouble."

"That's what I've been saying." I shuffle my paws.

"Eh, if Marie's half as good at fighting as she is running her mouth, we should be fine." She smirks, eyes alight, and I follow, trying to smile through the nerves.

"Aves?"

"Yes."

"Thanks for everything you've done. You're going to do incredible, okay?" She buries her face in my neck, and I don't realize that she's breaking down until I hear the first choked sob. I rest my head against her neck, breathing in her rugged scent. My heart still flutters, like a leaf blown up from the ground.

"I had the biggest crush on you," I admit.

"Aw, don't tell me that right before this." Sweep steps back, eyes teeming with water. "I- I need to-"

I nod, swallowing my own feelings. "I know."

Sweep opens her wings. "Love ya."

"I know."

She disappears into the sky, missing several of her fellow Sentients by the tip of her wings. Only Sweep could do corkscrews in a sky this crowded, and most of the experienced castle staff know enough to get out of her way.

When she is out of sight, another body in the shapeless masses, I turn back to the castle. The 'main' entrance is situated in a repurposed drawbridge, a wooden plank with trees on either side, which rest in the filled-in moat of many ages past. Like the rest of the castle, it has evolved with this world. I feel stronger walking the planks, the clamor of my paws muted by the rush of traffic in both directions.

The innards of the castle are no less busy, and Sentients of all sizes from all three continents are all bickering and racing the hallways. 'No running indoors' is a rule that's all but been forgotten here, and I notice a few collisions as I weave through the chaos to HQ. Am I late?

I look around for a chronometer, but I can't even see the walls from here. Most of the chronometers are engraved into decorations, anyhow, so they wouldn't be high enough for me to see. If I had to intuit it, I'd say I'm probably not late... yet. I pace towards my hallway, the long one that leads to the steps, and the crowds begin to clear. A few Canii nod as I pass, all bearing weapons with mouth grips.

I step up the stairs, taking them three at a time, and race down the final hallway to that last set of doors. The room within has five long tables pushed together, with a map of Dreamland atop it similar to the one we were working with earlier. The table conglomerate almost fills the room, and there are only a few seats left. Canira and a few smaller Sentients work the edges of the room, tampering with various magical artifacts for defense, but all the strategists I know are at the center table. I sit next to Plumeria, who is shivering.

"I'm not too late?" I ask.

"Cutting it close." whispers Ascella, on my left.

"The portals are opening." Plumeria announces. "Verhamera save us all, the portals are opening."

The table is swamped with silence.

"May the stars guide us, Verhamera's grace find us, and the Terreskians' will lead us into an area of new brightness," I whisper. The map lays dormant before me, my heart palpitating, and then the first dark slash appears across the heart of Opphemria, a few hundred miles from us.

Though nothing in the physical world moves, we all feel the change deep in ourselves, a ringing in our bones and a rush in our blood. The world, closed for so long, opens and breathes in the air of foreign universes, all eight portals flaring in fractal patterns as they emerge into full circles.

The endtimes begin: I go electric.