The fresh morning air washed through the tents of the encampment. Here in the wide open fields of northern Voorhaul a small army of three-hundred men and women had been gathered under the banner of the lord Quarely Mettlelin. Their tents were huddled together around the various campfires which had long since gone out. Above the blue sky radiated with dim light as the transition between winter and spring meant the sun rose earlier with each passing day.

Waking from slumber in the central tent was the thirty-five year old man Geffeld Turnhatch. The rough man had black hair and piercing blue eyes with stature that let him look down on all those around him. Yes he was a well decorated veteran in his lord's army and proud of his martial prowess. A man who was dreading this day more than any other in his life.

It was Geffeld who had been sent those years ago to the remote village of Doovlin to stamp out a goddess cult that had formed there. He and his men met with the young goddess Jenna and were sent fleeing for their lives in a manner ill befitting a man of the military. How terrible it was for his ego that this goddess had not only turned out to be real but also became the goddess of the entire kingdom. Though bound by his oath of service he must obey her as he did his lord.

Indeed it was his lord Quarely who had sent him out here with this force in order meet up with the goddess herself. They were set to travel to the town of Lindenburg which sat on the very boarder between the two kingdoms of Celeduun and Pheoa. With a population of around four-hundred it was self sustaining and was a haven for criminals from both kingdoms to seek refuge. It was a town that always tried to stay neutral in all conflicts and both Goddess Jenna and Lord Quarely felt it was time for that to come to an end.

Geffeld was so not looking forward to seeing Goddess Jenna again. Not that he hated her or any such thing. No he just found her presence to be overwhelming and her playful nature disturbing. Whenever they met she teased him by bringing up how they first met. Thankfully however they had not met many times.

Geffeld finished dressing himself and donning his armor with the assistance of one of the squires. Then afterwards he had a quick meal and went about getting prepared for the goddess's arrival. This involved going around the camp and ensuring everyone else was roused and ready for the battle ahead, in whatever form it would take with a goddess on their side.

Eventually through the magic of a well disciplined force the entire army was assembled in front of the camp in neat formations with their captain at the head. There were banners flying for both the kingdom of Celeduun itself as well as the crest of the lord's house. It was an army almost equal to the population of the town they were attacking and with the addition of a goddess seemed like cruel overkill for an attack. Regardless of anyone's personal views on the matter however they stood ready for the goddess to come.

In order to alert Goddess Jenna they were ready they prayed to her to let her know, as she had many of her worshipers do in order to send her a message. It was a strange way for a goddess to behave perhaps though it was a handy form of instant communication.

All in an instant there was a shift in the crisp morning air as a large golden portal appeared before the assembled troops. It towered into the sky, taller than any castle's walls, and made the humans feel utterly insignificant. The golden symbols swirled around as a brilliant flash of light signaled their goddess's appearance. Everyone took a knee and bowed their heads in fear or awe.

How great was their surprise when Jenna stepped out of the portal near the bottom at her human size no larger than a child. She was wearing a brilliantly shining golden dress that went just below her knees with her signature green vest expanded into a small coat. Floating on either side of her was a book tethered to their owner by those vivid blue ribbons. Her expression was one that combined excitement with annoyance in a strange fashion.

Jenna immediately walked up to Geffeld and put her hands on her hips.

“Hello Geffeld!” She said with a playful grin. “I see you've gone used to me enough not to react like that first time! Very good very good.”

Still with his head lowered Geffeld replied.

“Yes my goddess. Thank you.”

There was naught else he could say in reply. This was a goddess after all and if she chose to torment him in this way she had the right.

As if sensing the human's thoughts Jenna let out a sigh and shook her head.

“Ok ok... Sorry to tease you again like that little guy. Why don't ya'll stand up? You can look at me.”

With their goddess's permission the men and women in the front column arose with the rest of the force doing so in a wave. The sound of their clanking armor or weapons rattled through the air. So many people's feet stomping the ground so close together also created quite the rumble which could be both heard and felt.

Geffeld was the last one to stand as he had to recover from his embarrassment first. Once he was up he saluted as he looked down at the goddess nearly one third his height.

“Goddess Jenna! Thank you for allowing us to join you on this momentous crusade!”

Jenna shrugged and sighed.

“It's not really a crusade. I thought I told you, though I suppose I only told Quarely.”

She then cast a spell which caused some sort of magic orb to appear in front of her mouth. This magic amplified her voice so that everyone present could hear her clearly. It was even aimed upwards as to not blow out the eardrums of those standing directly in front of her.

“Alright everyone listen up. We're going to the town Lindenburg to the north of us a few miles. Its right on the boarder with Pheoa and going to bring it, and specifically its noble rulers, under our control. I really didn't want to do this but Quarely really thinks we should do some sort of counter offensive, even if minor. I'm really just here to ensure there isn't any loss of life. Or there's as little as possible.”

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Everyone was listening to her with rapt attention, their gaze fixed skywards as that was where the voice was coming from. It wasn't like most of them could see someone as short as her over the heads of those standing in front of them anyway.

“So the plan is.” Jenna continued. “We march up to the town and demand they surrender. If they don't then we break down the gate and walk in. Fight to subdue the defenders not kill. No looting. No raping! Me and whoever's around then march straight to the small castle they have and get the duke and duchess to surrender.” She paused for a moment to think. “Ludis and Margret I believe? Last name Hempenmiemer. Obviously don't kill them under any circumstance. Got it?”

There was no response from the army gathered so Jenna shouted which was loud enough to cause mild ear pain to everyone.

“Say if you got it!”

After recovering from their wince of pain all three-hundred people shouted in unison in reply.

“Got it!”

Geffeld had to take a moment to shake his head after the shout rattled his eardrums with the second loud sound in a short time. Thankfully neither had been loud enough to truly damage one's hearing and he was used to such loud unified cries. It still could hurt though.

With the troops thus rallied Jenna whirled about on her heels, her long golden hair swishing in the air. There was a look of determination on her face and a fire in her eyes. She shouted into the magic mouth again, this time the majority of the sound facing away from the army.

“Alright! Lets go!”

The massive golden portal, which had been standing open this entire time, transformed suddenly. Or more accurately it closed and a new one opened so quickly and in such a manner it looked like it had transformed. First the tall goddess sized portal flatted down to the ground until it was razor thin at which point it blinked out of existence. Then in the same place a new portal opened, this one widening until it was the length of the entire army. It then grew to ten feet tall which allowed humans to easily walk through it.

Jenna's voice boomed out again.

“Forward march!”

Geffeld began marching behind his short goddess as she went forwards into the portal and vanished from view. Alongside him the rest of the troops followed up to and through the golden gateway, their synchronized steps thundering through the earth.

It was actually pretty frightening to walk through one of Goddess Jenna's portals. You never actually knew where they led or what was waiting on the other side. Truly it required putting your full trust in your goddess. They were however undeniably one of the greatest tools for logistics imaginable. Instantaneous transport from one location to another for any military force was simply unheard of and altered the very landscape of war. Why Jenna refused to use this power to conquer the surrounding lands and even beyond continued to baffle the kingdom's greatest scholars.

Geffeld was getting to experience portal travel for the first time and had simply no words to describe it. One moment had had been marching on a field somewhere to the north of Vemdelen and in the very next instant he was standing in the open fields before the town of Lindenburg. All his eyes had registered was a flash of bright white light before showing him the completely different landscape.

Looking around he saw the mountains had moved a great distance with the forests begin completely different. They really had moved a great many miles in an instant. Truly a difficult truth for the mind to wrap itself around. He still couldn't believe it even though he had just lived it.

Only a quarter mile away were the walls of the town of Lindenburg. They were made of stone and stood perhaps twenty feet tall with sparse towers along its perimeter. There was a gate on each side and the entire town took up perhaps a square mile of space. In the center stood the small Castle Liden in which the duke and duchess lived. With the large population of criminals and black market presence there was sure to be violent defenders behind those walls.

Jenna had come to a stop without saying anything and everyone in the front row did as well. The suddenness caused a ripple effect as each row behind the next suddenly stopped as well, usually by bumping into the person in front of them. Regardless of this the entire army was soon halted. Behind them the giant golden portal shrunk down and vanished as it had never been there.

Up in the front Jenna lifted up the magic orb, it floating above her left hand as if it was being held. She was looking out over their target and began to address them.

“Greetings Lindenburg!” Jenna exclaimed. “You may have heard of me. I'm Goddess Jenna, goddess of light and knowledge. Your town has historically been neither part of Celeduun or Pheoa I've heard. However today you will surrender to me and this army I have with me. Understood?”

She paused for the reply that of course was not coming. Even if there had been someone in there with a powerful enough voice they likely wouldn't be at the walls this time of day. So with the lack of response Jenna continued.

“We're gunna just walk into town and take over if its alright with you. I'd really prefer there to be no death so it'd be great if ya'll just surrender please ok?”

Once the small goddess had finished speaking there was a period of silence that lasted over a minute. While Geffeld was sure they would surrender he knew many of his troops expected there to be some resistance. Jenna was a goddess sure but many of the people living here would rather die than surrender to anyone.

The silence was suddenly interrupted when large magical attacks burst forth from the walls of the town and were launched towards the invading army. Fire blazed, lightning crackled, and wind whooshed. There were even ice and earth attacks. All of these strikes coming from clearly competent mages.

None of them found their marks however. Instead the young goddess opened two small portals and stuck her arms through. Then huge portals opened in the sky from which her full sized goddess arms emerged, casually swatting aside the magical attacks like a man would flies. It was beautiful in the horror to which such powerful magic of mankind was countered. This was a goddess after all.

Jenna's arms then withdrew from the portals and all four closed. There was a look of annoyance on her face even though she clearly expected something like this. Her eyes began to glow brightly as she rapidly grew to her full goddess size.

“That's enough of that!” Her voice boomed out. “Anti Magic Thunderdome!”

She then shrunk back down to her human child size while a large golden dome emerged from her growing with equal speed. It then continued growing and moving over the land until it covered the entirety of Lindenburg, though not more than a few feet beyond its walls. This entire process took less than twenty seconds, it leaving the sky slightly sparkly with a golden hue.

No one in the army really knew what this dome did, though Geffeld could guess from its name it blocked magic in some way. Truly a terrifying prospect even if it made his troops safe from enemy mages. Now even the most powerful magic users in the town would surely be just as any other human. Still dangerous sure but unable to wipe out droves of soldiers in a single attack.

Geffeld watched as Goddess Jenna levitated herself off the ground. She then dismissed the magical orb and yelled out with just her own voice, it somehow sounding even more booming than with the magic.

Jenna lifted her left arm, a small sword now clasped in her left hand. She then shouted out and brought her arm down to signal a charge.

“Move in troops!”