Adrian woke from a nightmare that felt more like a premonition.
The entity was stirring again—not fully waking, but restless in its forced slumber. In his dream, he'd seen it testing reality's barriers, searching for weak points, preparing for its eventual return.
"We have maybe two years," Adrian told the emergency Congress meeting. "The entity is adapting to Cain's life force faster than expected. When it wakes, it'll be even stronger than before."
"Two years to prepare for something that nearly destroyed us last time," Elena said grimly. "We need to strengthen every defense, train every fighter, coordinate every species."
The work began immediately. Adrian found himself coordinating massive training operations, defensive barrier construction, and coalition unity efforts. It was exhausting, constant, critical.
Li Wei stepped up to help, his Cain memories providing insight into the entity's nature. "It learns from every encounter," Li Wei explained during a strategy session. "Last time, we surprised it with coordinated attacks. This time, it'll expect that. We need new strategies."
"Like what?" Wei asked.
"Like using its hunger against it. Creating false targets—concentrated life force that draws it in, then explodes when it tries to feed."
"Life force bombs?" Marcus looked intrigued. "That could work."
They spent weeks developing the strategy, testing prototypes, preparing for war that was coming whether they wanted it or not.