The Shadow Collective waited for our answer, its amalgamated form pulsing with patient malice. Behind it, I could sense the dimensional barriers weakening as more realms fell to coordinated darkness.

"How long do we have?" Prince Kael asked, his tactical mind already calculating impossible odds.

"Minutes. Maybe less." I felt each realm's death like a personal wound. "They are not bluffing. The destruction is real."

"Then we fight," Prince Darius said immediately. "We leave this realm to ...