The Greatest Sin

Olephia continued to hum as she floated through the air. Eventually, she reached the edge of the massive ice sheet. There was a dark ocean ahead of her. It had been calm from the distance but started to rage as she got closer. The ice and snow started to steam as she got closer to the ground. She could not land here. She slowly lifted into the air and set out onto the ocean.

The gentle hum of Chaos made its way north.

“It’s that way, isn’t it?” Kassandora pointed to the two figures she made out on that red cliff. It was more of a stone dropped from the sky than a natural mountain. Sara looked at where Kassandora was pointing and nodded. “And are you to be at this meeting?” Kassandora asked.

“I’d prefer to.” Kassandora thought for a moment. If that was one of her Generals, his opinion of her would not change if she made him wait a week up there. Frankly, he’d probably prefer it. This girl proclaimed herself as some Duchess, it may do well to be in her good favours. Kassandora took a deep breath. Alone, she could cover the distance in fifteen minutes, with the woman, it would be a few hours to hike.

Kassandora could carry her she supposed. Looked at the nervous girl again. This was a modern Duchess? She seemed more like the sort of woman her soldiers would sneak into camp to share a good night with. Sara looked away and let out some stress with a nervous giggle. Kassandora sighed, simply from looking at her, she would not manage to hold on even if Kass did allow Sara to ride on her back, but then if she carried her, she could hold it over Sara’s head for a while at least. “Come.” She leaned down and flung the girl over her shoulder. “Don’t scream, you’re not wearing a skirt, there’s nothing to see.”

Kassandora leapt across a field in one step.

The journey took fifteen minutes, the Sun above had barely even moved. Kassandora made the figures out after the distance had been half closed. Iliyal and Ilwin. She recognised the former faster, that man would never leave her memory, Ilwin she remembered from the encounter when she was still captured in Olympiada. Kassandora landed on the ground and squeezed Sara. “How are you feeling?”

“S-Sick.” Sara barely mumbled the words out.

“Hold it for one last jump.” Kassandora crouched, she poured some power into Sara to strengthen her body, and then cracked the ground when she jumped. In a few seconds, she scaled the cliff and landed before Iliyal and Ilwin with a flourish. In these simple clothes, she wasn’t dressed for a reunion, but then they weren’t either. Ilwin wore a pale shirt, shorts, boots. On his belt, on one side he had a sword, on the other he had a flare gun. Iliyal dressed the same, with the only addition being his cape. The older elf’s face quivered as he tried to hold himself together.

“Warmaster, I report for duty!” He shouted as Kassandora crouched to roll Sara off her shoulder. The woman crawled onto her knees and began to throw up. Kassandora dismissed the two elves with a salute of her own, knowing Iliyal, he would hold it until he died of heatstroke.

“I see we’re doing good.” Kassandora said.

“Excellent, never been better!” Iliyal answered. Kassandora took a step away from Sara before the woman’s vomit reached her sandals and wiped her hands to get the red dust of them.

“It’s good that you did not come close, Kavaa is in her camp.”

“I thought so.” Iliyal said, he could not take his eyes off her. Kassandora took another step to the side. Iliyal had always been an odd one. He was a strategic genius, unparalleled in tactics too, but he grew fanatical over the Great War. That was no surprise of course, all her Generals grew to respect and trust her judgements, but Iliyal would be first to march off a cliff if Kassandora said so. Still, he hadn’t lost his sharpness if he accounted for Kavaa being in the base.

“As you can see, I have escaped from Olympiada.” Kassandora said. She took another step to the side, Iliyal was focused on her like a hawk on a mouse.

“You were on the news.” Iliyal said. Ilwin seemed to notice his grandfather’s behaviour and grabbed his shoulder.

“Should we sit?” He asked. “They could be watching us.”

“They’re working with me now.” Kassandora said as she turned to the camps. “The large one is the Clerics. The one next to it are men who have decided to join me. That one over there.” She pointed. “That’s Kirinyaans.” She clapped her hands together and turned back to the elves. “As you can see, I’ve been busy, it’s good to see you, if you spend a night here, I’ll haggle with Kavaa to forget your grievances against her.” The two men looked at each for a moment as Sara finished throwing up.

“Why do I always get these jobs?” She moaned, tried to stand up, then rolled onto the ground next to the puddle.

“Don’t complain, it’s unbecoming of nobility.” Kassandora replied. Better to focus on her than Iliyal. Elves sired children rarely but only a grandchild after a thousand years? She didn’t exactly know what to say.

“I’m not even real nobility.” Sara moaned, her eyes closed. “There’s no lands or palaces, it’s just a title Arascus has given me.” Kassandora, for once, could not contain her emotion. She felt her jaw drop, she blinked and stared at the woman on the ground. Did she just hear that? Did the woman say that name? There was no… But she wasn’t lying, one would have to be superhuman to lie in a state like that.

“Excuse me?” She looked at the two elves. Ilwin scratched the back of his of his as Iliyal stood at attention. “Did I just hear that?”

“Yes Goddess!” Iliyal answered promptly. “God Arascus did indeed bestow the title of Duchess upon Sara Daganhoff.” There was some bile in his tone when he said her name.

“Oh.” Kassandora replied. “So he’s out?”

“I got him out.” Sara moaned. “There was a drill. You know what a drill is right?”

“I do.” Kassandora replied. She only knew from a few days ago, when she found out after reading about Kirinyaan mining operations that had to be abandoned because of the Jungle’s expansion.

“That was another bad job.” The woman rolled over in the dirt, away from the puddle her stomach had made and lay flat on the ground, facing the sky, arms spread. “You’ve broken every bone in my body.”

“I’ve torn some muscles.” Kassandora said and shook her head. Arascus was out? Arascus was out! That meant? That meant everything! She dropped to sit on the ground. Ilwin followed along and she had to wave Iliyal down for the elf to sit. “So? He’s out? How? Where? Is he coming here?”

“We’re stationed in central Karaina. Eastern Epa.” Iliyal said promptly. He reported on it as he did back in the day, short sentences packed to the brim with information as if he was afraid to waste even a single word, he talked of Fer and Atis. Of Neneria and both Operations: SkyStealer and Misfortune. Kassandora hung onto all of them. “He has lost some power, we work under the impression that the Pantheon does not know. It would be a mistake to reveal his presence now.” Iliyal finished. Kassandora sat there for a while.

“Leona is dead?”

“Leona is indeed dead.” Iliyal replied. Kassandora burst out in laughter. So it was done. These men had accomplished in less than year what they could not in a century back then. She wanted to cry. The march of technology had continued until the Gods were worthless! Atis felled by bullets? What was that? She knew about it from Ilwin, but to hear Iliyal say it himself was a different matter entirely. And Leona now? Because of a plane crash to Artica! What was that? It was comedy!

She settled down eventually as her mind got to work. The knowledge these people had access to technology on such a scale was another matter entirely. If they could build planes. She turned to the jungle. “My idea originally was to indebt this nation to me and work from there. Kavaa and her men serve as good defences, Iniri would be able to fix the seasonal famines they have, Helenna would have managed public relations, a new Malam so to say.” Malam was the Goddess of Hatred, another of her Arascus’ Daughter Goddesses, she had an exceptionally sweet way with words. Iliyal nodded, but his face soured.

“Kirinyaa does not have the industry of Epa.” He said.

“Pantheon Peace is actively enforced in Epa though. This country could be modernized based off the fact it would become the world’s factory of arms.” She tapped her head. “Muskets and the like, although you’ve beaten me to it.” Iliyal thought for a moment and then nodded.

“A greater union of Arika could be hoped for too.”

“That’s all for the future now. Arascus is back.” Kassandora said the words with pure bliss. She looked at the blue sky, then at Ilwin. “You knew, didn’t you?”

“Knew what?”

“About Arascus, when we met in the prison.” The elf replied with a slow nod.

“I did.” He said eventually.

“Good job on holding back. You really are Iliyal’s descendant.” Ilwin’s cheeks when red and Iliyal roared with gleeful laughter.

“Hear that Ilwin! Praise from the Goddess herself!” Kassandora rolled her eyes.

“It is good that you informed me. We can make Kirinyaa into a new base of operations.”

“Arascus is focused on Epa at the moment.” Kassandora nodded. She and Arascus thought in different ways. She usually took the easy part of merely capturing land, Arascus knew how to hold it when the war finished. If he said Epa, then Epa it was. There was no point to argue and besides, any leadership was better than everyone clamouring for control. She saw what that did to the White Pantheon. “Do you want me to return?”

“No.” Iliyal said. “We wanted to contact you to let you know you have allies. Fer and Neneria can be transported to Kirinyaa at a day’s notice, anytime. Fer’s beastmen can also be brought, although that will take longer. Our airfleet can only transport about a hundred bodies at a time.”

“Understood.” Kassandora said. “So I will continue with my original plan.” She looked out to the Jungle in the horizon, a mass of green. “But there is one thing I would like assistance with.”

“And that is?”

“This country is under threat from that Jungle, it grows and grows.” She gave her own explanation. There was no reason to hold things back. If she could not trust these people, then who could she trust? The elves listened closely, Sara struggled on the ground and tried to sit up. Every now and then, she let out a cry of pain as she tried to move her arms. Kassandora finished up. “All in all, mortals cannot get close, we’ll need something that can cut it at range. Four sorcerers won’t be-“ A cry interrupted her.

Helenna’s voice. “KASSANDORA! KAVAA! KASSANDORA! KAVAA!”

“Wait here.”

 

Two minutes earlier

Helenna followed Iniri as they made their way to the jungle. It was a green cliff, that was the best way Helenna could describe it. The red dirt suddenly gave way to a wall of impenetrable brush and tree and leaf and vine that block all vision, worse was the feeling that jungle gave off. “Couldn’t you have taken Kass?” Helenna asked. Every step the Goddess of Nature took was a step slower than the last.

“I didn’t want to ask of her again.” Iniri replied quietly.

“She’d have gone with you.” Helenna said.

“I know she would, that’s why I didn’t want to ask, she’s done enough for us already.”

“She destroyed the Pantheon.”

“We destroyed the Pantheon.” Iniri said and came to a halt. Helenna merely rolled her eyes. There wasn’t much she could say against that.

“So what are you here for anyway?”

“She asked me to investigate the Jungle, but to keep a distance.” Iniri said slowly.

“I see we’re still being treated like children.”

“We’re not. She’d come with us if we we’re being treated like children.” Iniri took a tentative step forwards. She raised her hands towards that great mass of green. The grass red ground around Iniri’s feet started to sprout with grass and flowers, and then Iniri stopped. “That is not my demesne.”

“Excuse me?”

“That Jungle is not my demesne.” Iniri said. She took another step forwards. “But I can hear it.” Helenna noticed it immediately. There was something wrong with her voice. “Iniri? Iniri. INIRI!” She grabbed Iniri’s shoulder and pulled her back. “Iniri? What’s gotten into you?”

Iniri shook her head and blinked. Her emerald eyes stared at Kavaa in fear as the jungle rustled. “Save me.” She whispered and pushed Helenna away.

“INIRI!” Helenna screamed as Iniri took a step backwards. The jungle opened, vines tore out of that green wall. They moved faster than Zerus’ lightning, cracking through the air like whips. One caught Iniri’s stomach. Another her arm. Her leg.

And then Iniri was gone. Helenna scrambled to her feet and could not move. Terror ran down her body. Iniri was gone. Helenna felt wetness on her cheeks, tears. That woke her up. She turned and fled. “KASSANDORA! KAVAA! KASSANDORA! KAVAA!”