This would turn out to be Erica’s last page, and the fact that it was mislabeled as “Chapter 7” (as well as some continuity issues with Byron’s five o’ clock shadow over the last couple of pages, which we later corrected) were, in retrospect, signs that the end was near. Our buffer was toast, and Erica was getting those pages to us later and later, which meant Phil had less and less time to letter them.

I like how Erica echoes Bandit’s “mmmph, don’t laugh, don’t laugh” face from the previous chapter, though. Getting set on fire is starting to look like Byron’s go-to move.

This was probably our worst chapter title. I don’t think the pun works on any level. How are the Savage Races fighting time? And while Gravedust, Byron, and Syr’Nj may believe they’re in a race against time to end the war, they will soon find out that they’re altogether too late. Spoiler avoidance is not a good enough reason to mislabel your work.