Waeh lifted into the skies as a team of mages started to carry him. He was there to hold Kassandora, Fortia and Maisara would come in with their armies to capture her, imprison her, and hold a public execution of every one in charge.
And then it would be Fer and Anassa. Then the other treacherous White Pantheon members. Neneria and Olephia were planned to be last. He smiled to himself, Pantheon Peace would be enforced once again, no matter how powerful the foe.
After all, power was nothing if its wielder was made to serve.
“This is my report on the Lemurs, as they are now.” Sokolowski handed Kassandora a small collections of papers, all hand-written and stapled together. Kassandora flipped through them as her eyes scanned the text. They were in the man’s command tent, of the central-northern army. It had a large table to sit a dozen men, then Sokolowski’s own private desk for his works. A few cabinets of cheap wood, a few hastily assembled crates. A rifle was propped up against a crate. And it was clean, far too clean to be natural, the man most likely cleaned up for her arrival.
“You’ve put no suggestions for improvements.” Kassandora said. She towered over Sokolowski, although she never chose men to lead that would be intimidated by such a minor fact. He wore a similar uniform to her HAUPT suit, but in pale-yellow rather than black. For desert fighting.
“I’d rather avoid another Binturong situation.” Sokolowski replied immediately. Kassandora focused her eyes on him and moved the document in a circle, he obviously wanted to say more. Men had to be taught to speak freely to Divines. “We’re in a war, I’d rather not change what isn’t broken. The Lemurs work so I can work with that.” Kassandora nodded, she had the exact same thoughts on it, she just wanted to hear the man’s reasoning.
“Indeed.” Kassandora replied, she dropped the papers on the table, turned around and walked out the tent into the camp. With modern vehicles, she had drawn up a new design for how camps should be laid out, and this inspection was as much to see how the theory worked as it was to inspect Sokolowski’s situation. Sokolowski caught up to her immediately and she slowed her pace for him in the same way Fer would slow her pace for Kassandora.
Sprawling and large, with roads making up central arteries in the base for easy truck access. Men not in battle were doing what they always did, sitting around campfires and grilling food. Some had gone to sleep, others were cleaning their rifles. “How many times have you engaged?”
“We’ve had skirmishes here and there.” Sokolowski replied. “No large-scale battles yet.”
“How much ammunition have you gone through?”
“A third.” Sokolowski said grimly and Kassandora nodded, a third would be somewhere around sixty to seventy thousand, Sokolowski and Zalewski had been given the largest haul, Ekkerson had Olephia, so he didn’t need the extra firepower. A third still wasn’t good, but that was what she had been expecting too. These modern rifles were hungry little creatures.
“That’s good.” Kassandora said, morale would have to be kept up. Soldiers would get speeches, leadership would get updates on how well logistics were going, there was no better way than that. “We’re working on an automated factory for bullets. All machines inside it, it just stamps them out, it’ll be ready by the end of the month.” Arascus was working on it, but Sokolowski didn’t have to know that. The man did sigh though, and his posture relaxed. Kassandora knew that would work.
Soldiers looked up at Kassandora and immediately stood to salute. She returned her own every dozen steps to grant them rest. “How are the sorcerers doing?” She asked.
“No casualties although a few were wounded. When it’s just mages and not Divines, then they’re…” Sokolowski thought of a word. “Untouchable? Especially with how we use them.” Kassandora nodded. Eventually they would be split up into teams of four. Four could overwhelm a standard team of a dozen mages easily, teams of nine and ten were simply overkill, and Zalewski’s front needed them. Anassa would have never been assigned to the front lines if they had enough sorcerers, she would have stayed behind in cities and found more souls that showed promise to ascend into the arts. But they didn’t, and Zalewski needed something to counter mages, and Anassa could cover an entire frontline by herself, so Anassa had to go and waste her time in the jungles.
That was how things went in war. Every single one of Kassandora’s plans revolved around that small number of sorcerers they had and Anassa never leaving the frontlines, they revolved around fielding artillery with the reliability of the Binturong. Around Kirinyaa suddenly turning on them. On the White Pantheon bringing in the tens of thousands of minor Divines they had on the mountain. On a naval invasion from the east. Anything she could think of, however far-fetched, needed a plan.
As did Waeh. “I have an issue.” Kassandora said and Sokolowski nodded.
“I don’t know what I can do.” He said.
“You can hear me out.” Kassandora replied. “The Waeh situation.”
“He’s been spotted on the frontlines every now and then, but he doesn’t engage in battle.” Sokolowski replied and Kassandora almost missed a step. Why was she not informed? This sort of mistake, even amateurs wouldn’t make.
“He’s been spotted?” Kassandora asked and Sokolowski stopped. They came to a large square with soldiers unloading tinned cans of food from trucks. All men in a pale beige, in shorts and shirts. Standard dress, military fatigues were for battle. The human general looked up at her, eyes confused.
“I’ve sent letters about it.” Sokolowski said and Kassandora looked down at him. If someone else said that, if the man had gone angry or if he had some emotion on his face that wasn’t pure befuddlement. If this was just a child and not one of her generals, she had personally drilled into him how important it was to keep track of the locations of major Divines.
Stolen story; please report.
“You’ve sent letters?” Kassandora slowly asked.
“I have!” The man saluted quickly as if to prove his point.
And the gears started to turn in Kassandora’s head. A sword hit a shield, a castle was stormed. She had no doubt that Sokolowski would send letters, he was far too smart to miss out such a crucial detail, especially when his letters were nothing but bullet-point lists of information that needed to be communicated. Especially when he made sure to include a specific section for Fortia and her sightings in every letter.
How could the man remember Fortia and forget Waeh?
“So someone’s been tampering with them then.” Kassandora said, Sokolowski made a sour face.
“I don’t have maids, I send them off myself.” He said.
“Does anyone enter your tent?” Kassandora asked. The man shrugged.
“Meetings are held there, but…” He scratched his chin. “It could happen when I’m not there. I just don’t…” His face suddenly grew pale. “Actually, I do see the purpose of it.”
Kassandora grimly made some sound of acquiescence. “Mmh.” Fortia had not been removed from the letters, but all mentions of Waeh had been. And Waeh was spotted on the frontlines. If they were getting intercepted, that would explain immediately why frontlines weren’t moving whatsoever. Why Fer had angrily complained about coming across empty camps.
Kassandora nodded. Very obvious now that he said it. Waeh was a hidden element, not a sword to draw for battle but a dagger to plunge into a heart. Kassandora looked up at the blue sky stretching out over the desert as she realised her own position. And now the heart had been exposed. Absolutely dastardly. Fortia had made a good plan. Kassandora would clap if that dagger wasn’t aimed at her. She took charge immediately, her tone growing cold and commanding, her eyes dancing across the horizon. “Sokolowski, call the neighbouring divisions. Call them, don’t send letters, bring them here immediately.” It was a break of procedure, phone calls could be intercepted, but speed mattered now, not secrecy.
“Yes Goddess!” He said with a salute and brought out his phone. Kassandora brought her own out, there were Divines to call and she doubted Sokolowski had their numbers. She blinked at her own notifications.
Twelve missed calls from Anassa, five from Fer, six from Neneria. Kassandora she shouldn’t have muted the notifications, but she was flying anywhere, there was no signal up there. And nothing annoyed her as much as her phone ringing because someone had some stupid question to ask. But that many calls, obviously they were panicking.
Anassa had rang first, so Anassa came first. Kassandora rang her. Anassa picked up immediately. She was breathing heavily through the speaker, as if she had been pushing herself although she was barely audible over the wind rushing past her. Was she attacked? Could Waeh travel quickly? But then why did she answer? “What happened?” Kassandora asked immediately.
Anassa immediately recovered herself. “Kassie? Are you alive?” Kassandora looked around Sokolowski’s camp, then north. A few tents blocked the view, but a few steps in one direction brought her to a wide road with a view of the landscape.
“I’m alive Ana.” Kassandora said slowly. A dot appeared over the horizon in the distance. Pure golden sand, blue skies, and a small black dot heading towards them. A small black dot heading through the air, more along with it. A dozen. Kassandora felt a lump appear in her throat.
“Where are you right now?” Anassa asked. Sokolowski came back and saluted.
“Orders are sent, fourth and fifth infantry divisions are coming to support. They’re bringing artillery.” Good.
“At Sokolowski’s camp. First Division.” Kassandora said slowly, the words being said were mere background noise by now, her mind was forming a plan. Waeh had to be defeated.
“GET OUT OF THERE!” Anassa screamed through the phone. “WAEH IS COMING. WE FOUND SPIES! THEY-JUST GET OUT OF THE-“
“I know.” Kassandora said. The black dot on the horizon grew. Magical speeds, it would be on the camp by a minute. “Anassa, listen to me, go to Kavaa, find me someone unblessed right now. Clean, as pure as they come, and bring him here.” Anassa fell silent for a second.
Then she spoke, her voice cold. “Is he there?”
“I hope it’s not him.” Kassandora said. “I’ll ring if not, but be fast.”
Sokolowski seemed to realise the urgency of the situation and spoke quickly, it was half a shout. “I know of one!” Kassandora blinked then shouted at the phone.
“DON’T HANG UP!” She shouted at Anassa, then to Sokolowski. “Where?”
“Arusei’s third son. His wife died in childbirth, he’s never entered the Jungle.” Kassandora stared at the man blankly. “Arusei is protective of him, he’s never needed to be healed by us, I think at least.” Kassandora turned from him to the dot. It was people now, approaching quick, she wouldn’t have made it back to the plane even if she tried.
Why did she not ask Arusei? She had assumed that entire tribe was blessed. How did his son even get through life without a blessing? Would an unblessed human even work? Kassandora pushed the thoughts of out her mind. Assumptions had to be made sometimes.
“ANASSA, HEAD TO ARUSEI, BRING HIS THIRD SON HERE, RAPTOR TWO IS IN CR, THAT’S YOUR TRANSPORT, DON’T EVEN TOUCH HIM! CALL KAVAA, GET HER ON IT TOO! ANYTHING UNBLESSED, I DON’T CARE WHO OR WHAT!” Kassandora shouted as she looked at those dots. They were within eyesight now, and she could make them out, a squad of a dozen mages and a God: Waeh, thin and lean and tall, in a simple shawl of dull grey that somehow brought attention to him, the mages around him were all clothed in their standard battledresses of various colours. “DO NOT COME HERE ALONE ANA! DO NOT!” She dropped the call before Anassa could answer back. Whether Waeh’s power could work through the telephone or whether it could not was unimportant. Frankly, now wasn’t a time to find out.
Kassandora ripped upon her power as alarms started to blare throughout the camp, commands entered the men to retrieve weapons and aim and fire. It had taken them less than half a minute to traverse the distance from the horizon. Kassandora could issue commands, but she couldn’t make men into Gods. Soldiers secured positions, ran to their tents to pick up their arms, aimed at the skies. Kassandora’s black armour appeared around her, it cut through the black coat, shreds of cloth and leather fell onto sand compacted by feet. Joyeuse materialized in her hand.
It wasn’t a plan, but if she was fast enough… She swung the weapon without even thinking. Mage shields could be penetrated if she threw it hard enough.
Waeh’s voice boomed across the camp like the huge bell of a clocktower which told entire cities the time. “Stop!”
And everyone stopped. As if they had been turned to statues. As if their skin had hardened into stone. And Kassandora stopped mid-swing. Her eyes went to Waeh as he hovered in the air. He couldn’t fly at least, that was an exploitable weakness, the mages around him were conjuring winds for him to stand on. It was obvious from the way his shawl fell around his feet.
Kassandora grit her teeth as Waeh looked over the camp. Sokolowski held his hand over the pistol on his belt, unmoving. Every man Kassandora could see was caught off guard, the few that had guns were frozen like statues, some were drawing them, some were exiting a tent. Some were holding a cigarette. A few had been fast enough to aim, one man, Kassandora could see even had his finger over the trigger.
But no one moved. Silence descended over the whole camp, the din of life had been silenced entirely, only the gentle breeze over the desert and the crackling of campfires could be heard.
Waeh’s voice boomed again. “Kneel.”
And Kassandora knelt.