I could feel the tension around the house since I woke up this morning, air thick like an unseen fog clinging to every surface as footsteps echoed through corridors. They have already started preparing for their plan since they have brought it forward, hushed voices threading like fine wires into morning's brittle light.

And they have been busy, I could see that my own task right now is to train and get ready for the mating ceremony, obligations narrowing like a lane marked in stone. Right ...