The Greatest Sin

Helenna fell to her knees, her mouth agape. What had she done?

Kassandora took a breath. The air was filled with magic here. She had been in a scorching desert for the past millennia and a cooling monsoon had finally come. She took another breath as the sensations ran through her throat, her arms, her chest, to her feet and fingers. Even the strands of her hair felt as if they were alive.

A thousand years had passed and she had got her goal. Freedom. A thousand years of smiles and jokes, a thousand years of conniving thoughts, a thousand years without a single misstep. Where every move had been planned out and theorized in her mind as she waited in this cramped cell. Kassandora tore the grey prison clothes off herself and reached forwards with the hand that had just sent her greatsword, Joyeuse, into the crowd of men.

A black gauntlet formed around her fingers, it travelled to her wrists, spikes embedded into it, then down her arm. A cold chest-plate touched her skin. A black helmet covered her head. Kassandora tied her hair back with a sliver of torn cloth as she tightened the straps around her armour. The feeling was simply euphoric but something was off. It was her armour, but it felt heavy. A millennia of being all but naked, and now…

The dust at the end of the corridor cleared and kneeling Helenna whispered something in shock. Bodies were laying there, strewn as Joyeuse had torn through them. The sword had pierced a man’s chest and pinned him into the wall. Kassandora reached her arm forward, the blade disappeared, the body fell to the ground leaving a red trail on the wall. Joyeuse reappeared in her hand and Kassandora grunted with the weight. She had indeed grown weaker.

Of War put her hand on Of Love’s shoulder. “Stand.” Kassandora said. Helenna’s hair had grown pale as she shook her head. “What did you think was going to happen?” Kassandora grabbed the scruff of the woman’s dress and hoisted her into the air. “Stand Helenna. Stand.”

Helenna gurgled some words and let her arms fall as Kassandora dropped her. The woman was a whole-half head shorter than without armour, in it, Kassandora towered over her. “Did you think this would be bloodless? Are you a child?”

“I didn’t… Did you see… Iniri has… Kavaa’s Clerics…” Kassandora rolled her eyes. These three were far easier to handle than Maisara and Fortia, that had played a large role in her decision to support them but maybe Allasaria had been correct. Maybe they were insects. Kassandora turned and looked at Helenna. The Goddess had retreated back into herself, arms wrapped around her chest as if she needed a hug.

What to do with Helenna? What to do with the Goddess of Love? Blades turned in Kassandora’s mind and castle gates fell. Very easy. Helenna had been given tough love for the past millennia, she needed someone to support her. The Goddess of Love was the Goddess of Relationships and everything that came with them. Kassandora gave Helenna a hug. “It will be alright.” Helenna sniffled.

“Will it?” She asked.

“You have me, of course it will.” Kassandora said and dropped the hug. She grabbed Helenna’s arms tightly. “But you can’t be like this.” Kassandora wished she could slap the stupidity out of Helenna, but she kept her eyes soft, she even threw in a little smile. Sometimes a smile was the deadliest weapon in her arsenal. Helenna brushed her tears away and shook her head in a frantic nod. “Good, now follow.”

Elassa hovered above the childish brawl below them. Zerus was obviously holding back, Iniri was flailing rapidly. Kavaa had secured the courtyard with her Seekers. Sceo was simply hurling winds about. Alkom’s great sun was a small of fire. This was a fight among Gods? Elassa raised her hands down at Iniri’s oak.

The world gave birth to nature, and nature conquered the world. Then nature gave birth to magic. It was simply the cycle of these things. “MAGICIANS!”

Iniri looked up when she heard Elassa’s shout. The massive oak that cast a shadow over Olympiada stopped flailing. Alkom’s sun calmed down and stopped incinerating her leaves, Zerus’ lightning faltered and the wind died down. Elassa hovered in the air, high above them, two dozen mages around her. And then, Elassa, Goddess of Magic, shouted again. “FIRE!”

Pure energy poured from Elassa’s hands in a beam. Fire burst from her magicians, lightning cackled and danced, blades of ice materialized in the air, winds howled and the air condensed into daggers of water. Elassa’s beam crashed down upon them like a sword. A huge branch, its thickness twice the height of a man, creaked, tore and fell to the ground. It cascaded down, losing leaves and then dropped onto one of the bronze tiled roofs of a nearby palace. A cloud of pale marble dust submerged the Clerics in the courtyard as magic fell upon them.

From within the branches, a scream came. “ELASSA!” Iniri launched herself out of the tree like a bullet. Branches curled around her feet and creaked as she poured her power into them. “YOU WITCH!” Leaves swirled around her, made a shield against the blasts of magic pouring in. They were peeled away, layer by layer by the magicians, with ice and fire and blades of wind and bombs of air. They regrew with all of nature’s wrath.

“Better a witch than a traitor.” Elassa replied as she wiped her hands on her dress and readjusted her posture. Both arms were raised at Iniri as storm clouds roared overhead once again.

“Allasaria’s DOG! NOTHING MORE! NOTHING LESS!” Iniri screamed out again. “FORTIA WAS RIGHT ABOUT YOU!”

“About me?” Elassa’s voice wasn’t even a shout but it reached the ears of everyone, from the Seekers on the ground to the Divines in the air. “About me sweet Iniri? Goddess of Food & Bounty? What did she say about you?” Iniri did not let respond. She raised her arm, the great oak twisted and the branch holding Iniri in the air split into two, then four, eight, sixteen, a hundred different tendrils that launched themselves at Elassa.

Alkom stepped in between them and the Goddess of Magic. He lifted the sun in his hands above his head and then hurled it downwards. The wood flashed alight, incinerated a moment later and another roar of wind blew the ashes away. Iniri jumped backwards and fell to the ground, a single half-second later and Elassa’s beam would have taken her along with the nest she stood on. Of Magic taunted again. “Remind me Iniri, a Goddess of Food & Bounty replaced by fertilizer. What was it again? By actual shit?”

Iniri slammed into a roof as blasts of lighting caught her. She let out a half-scream, half groan as leaves flourished to cushion her fall. Bronze roof tiles cut into her as branches encased her. “Iniri! Iniri! Iniri! LET ME IN!” Kavaa’s voice called out. Iniri could barely lift a hand, branches slowly groaned and twisted as Inri saw Kavaa’s blade cut through the wood. Of Health laid her hands on Iniri and Iniri started to scream.

Her body started to move faster, her heartbeat quickened, her bones reformed, blood spurted out of the cut in her stomach as fresh blood pushed it out. Her muscles stitched themselves together, each strand on fire as if a thousand needle were retying into one again. Her vision went black, a slap woke her back up. “Stand Iniri.” Kavaa lifted pulled Iniri up and forced her out of the ruin.

The Clerics were there, their armour beaten but their skins untouched. Some had holes in their plating where they had been stabbed, the flesh underneath looked untouched. They formed a shield wall around the two Goddesses as Elassa, Zerus, Sceo and Alkom slowly descended to them. In silver and golden armours, Zerus with lightning crawling out of his eyes, Alkom with his sun floating behind him, Sceo next to her husband, her hair twirling as if in a breeze and not the storm that engulfed Olympiada. “Iniri, Kavaa.” Elassa said, she was still, untouched entirely by the elements. “This has been fun. Allasaria will be unhappy she missed it.”

“Don’t look down on me!” Iniri shouted, but the strength in her voice was gone. She fell to her knees as the oak sprouting from the ground once again started to twist.

“Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can defeat us.” Elassa said. “It is four against one.” She did not even look at Kavaa as she said that.

“I am the Goddess of Nature.” Iniri croaked. The oak moved, its roots shooting out of the ground, its branches crashing down again. A flurry of razor-sharp leaves spewed from it towards the four in the air. Alkom and Sceo took the leaves, half were blown away by hurricane winds, the other half incinerated. Elassa took the oak itself. She raised her hands again, a staff materialized in her hands and she swung it like a scythe. A blast of blue magic took off the rooftops and split the tree at the base. It stopped moving and slowly started to fall, Of Magic turned back to the two Goddesses on the ground.

“You are a Goddess abandoned. We gave you a title because we felt sorry for you Iniri.”

“No…” Iniri’s exhaustion finally started to catch up with her.

“Of Nature is no longer needed in this world, Of Food & Bounty.” Elassa laughed. “It was more humane to leave you as a Goddess of Agriculture than forget you.”

“No…” Iniri collapsed onto her hands and knees. Kavaa took a step forwards, sword and shield drawn.

“Don’t humiliate yourself Kavaa. You are nothing.” Elassa said. “Signal for your men to retreat, or I will kill every single one of you.”

“I will not stand for this.” Kavaa said. “If you want to kill her, you will kill me.”

“I will kill neither of you, Allasaria will not allow it.” Elassa bit back. “She will decide your fate, I will merely hold you for her.”

“Then you will have to defeat me.” Elassa looked to Zerus. The old God shook his head, his beard rolling from side to side as he floated further down, just out of reach of the Cleric’s spears.

“Kavaa, I am sorry for what I will do but you have broken a thousand-year peace.”

Kavaa spat on the ground and stamped the spot with her boot. “I SPIT ON YOUR PEACE!” Zerus nodded sadly, raised his hands as thunder and lightning crashed overheard. Sparks of electricity burst from his eyes again. Kavaa pulled every strain of hidden power she had in a bid to withstand the magic. She raised her shield and met Zerus’ gaze. Elassa merely crossed her arms and shook her head.

“Get on wit-“ Elassa never finished her words. A sword sprouted from her chest, a black blade, a massive edge of steel. A blade with a name: Joyeuse. Zerus raised his arms as Iniri looked back up, beasts of lightning danced along his fingers as Iniri’s hairs stood up. Lightning was coming… A force Iniri had never matched with.

And then the lightning never came. For all the thunder in the clouds overhead, it was Zerus who fell. A figure in spiked black armour, tall enough to match him slammed into his back. A fist hit spine, the God shouted in pain. The figure twisted, kicked off Zerus in mid air and towards Kavaa as Sceo rushed to catch her husband.

Kassandora landed before Kavaa and Iniri. The great sword disappeared from Elassa’s chest and re-appeared in her hand. It slammed into the ground, cracking marble tiles under its sheer weight.

And silence descended on the Pantheon again.