High Cleric Maximilian

I sat at my desk looking over the most recent reports to be sent back to the Organization. I reviewed each and every report personally. While it was time consuming, I couldn’t let things spiral out of control. If there was a major incident, I needed to know immediately.

Mittens was already racking up an impressive number of missions. The volcano had been quite useful to cool things down. But that was one of many plans we were using to win the war against the Snakes and the Great Lizard Kingdom.

Each High Cleric had different ideas on what method was best. But even the once immutable factions were changing faster than ever. The traditionalists wanted to wage direct war, more crusades. Those had stalled. An elder snake that called on their Ancestral Spirit was a terrifying thing.

That had broken the back of the last crusade and the traditionalists had fallen from power at that time. The technologists rose up and were drawing more people to their faction. New weapons, new tactics, and bigger bombs. It appealed to the remaining traditionalists within the High Clerics.

The mystics were mostly content with the way thing were and wanted to keep empowering the Warrior. Eventually he would be strong enough to sweep aside all opposition. Unfortunately, it had been proven that the power of Ancestral Spirits was a logarithmic curve, and the Snakes were far ahead. They had switched tracks to the volcanoes. A crazy scheme, but one they thought held great promise, even if the famines to come from a cool down would be devastating.

Looking at another closed investigation from Southpaw, I signed off on it and the amount to be paid out. I was a swing vote for the High Clerics who did not want to overcommit. However, I had been pressured to sign off on the upcoming war. A final crusade to end all threats now and forevermore.

The support of the technologist faction for the volcano plan was traded to the mystics for support for the war plan. Complete foolishness, but the eruption of a third volcano had motivated everyone involved. Also, the loss of the device was devastating to our research efforts into Ancestral Spirits.

If they could be targeted directly, then we would be able to sweep the snakes aside. But celestial ore was just too rare. Using it in bombs or bullets, was incredibly wasteful. That was why the Organization and my position continued to have a lot of sway in the Council.

I leaned back in my chair and placed my paws under my chin. Mittens was a new wildcard. Just like her father and grandfather had been. The trip up to the bears had been for her to slow down slightly so she didn’t burn out. That was why I had also agreed to let her father go with her.

She was talented, almost too talented. But that was the talent we would need to stop this upcoming war from becoming a complete rout at the first snake to charge our battle lines. Highwater Bastion was holding on, but once more our forces had been pushed back to its very walls. Those massive walls wouldn’t fall, but it was always disheartening to lose ground.

Her mental health was crucial as well as getting more cats. They were just too good at this job. Was I forgetting something? Hmm, I didn’t think so. Tom Cat was getting old and tired. His mantle being taken up by Mittens was a huge blessing, keeping this Organization succeeding at critical missions.

There was a knock on the door and a fresh report was delivered. It was from Mittens. This would be interesting. I wondered if she had sorted out the factory situation already. I opened it up and began reading. Apostates attacked her train. Possible information leak.

My tail twitched slightly in annoyance as I read through it. Bold, too bold. These snakes thought they could get away with anything they wanted to. It was quite infuriating. Unfortunately, offensive operations were not handled by the Organization. Only counter operations in our territory. A division that had existed long before me.

I set the report to the side and got up. I went to the shine in my office and knelt. I rarely asked for guidance, but now I needed some. I didn’t hold out much hope, but something might change with the grave threat we all faced. “Warrior, grant me your insight.”

‘I am here.’ I felt the words echo in my soul.

“Warrior, the Snakes strike at us.”

‘My child. Protect all. The great evil grows.’ The Warrior’s presence faded away, leaving me feeling empty. I let out a sigh. The Warrior had been saying the same thing since the last crusade had failed. I had been hopeful that something might have changed.

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While his power could be called on, it was becoming increasingly harder. His power remained greater than ever, but for some reason the Covenant Church was losing his blessing and he would not explain why.

Standing up, I let out a long sigh. The hope was that once the war was won, the Warrior would once again be with the Covenant Church. This great evil was never explained. Only that it was growing. Looking out my window, I observed the new cohort of applicants.

There was no standout individual like Tom Cat or Mittens. Training creatures for this job just wasn’t possible. You either had it, or you didn’t. The extra something that put a creature head and shoulders above the rest.

Looking at the applicants running around the track was a reminder that even the less standout individuals like Southpaw did important work. They cleared out the massive backlog of issues that put into the open list.

Almost anyone else would have died on that train. We needed more cats with that special something. Hopefully Missy would succeed. From the reports I had received from the mice on their ship, things were going well.

I would not leave a mess for my successor. Hopefully a long time from now. But this war was sure to stress everyone.

Haskins The Snake

“My Lord Haskins, Lionel has perished and a volcano has erupted,” I rested on my dais while the lioness reported on a dead failure.

“Pitiful,” I hissed out in displeasure. The other snakes were arrogant and proud of their superiority compared to the lesser creatures. Each thinking they would become the living embodiment of Jörmungandr. They were all morons, playing with their Apostates and poking the Covenant Church.

I knew better. Their weapons had been improving. Decade after decade, ever since their last crusade had failed and had been pushed back. Already my spies were reporting they were preparing for mobilization.

Using up a favor, I had managed to get High Apostate Bastet assigned to collecting information on their new weapons. Bombs that could hurt an elder snake. Guns that could damage our scales. She was the best, having not died in some stupid scheme.

Idiots wanted to unleash more volcanos with that stupid idea of a Quackening. More muscle than brain, they lacked cunning and true understanding of the great threat against us. Jörmungandr warned us of a great evil rising. We needed to stop this Covenant Church no matter what, or us snakes would be killed off.

“Any word from the North?” I asked.

“Only increased reports of more militarism and mobilization by the Covenant Church. Our analysts project they will launch an invasion anywhere from 3 to 7 years from now.” I hissed at that.

“Arrange the Scouts, I require a ship. We have been too passive. It is time to launch an attack to show the Covenant Church were not to be trifled with. The mines and steel production? Any delayssss?”

“No Lord Haskins. All creatures work relentlessly. We will meet our quotas, but they cannot be increased anymore.” I nodded at that. It took time and effort to raise up creatures. Wasting them was what a foolish young snake would do.

“And the ship designs?” I asked.

“Struggling. The main issue are the armaments. The prototype works. But without large caliber guns, we can’t fight off other ships,” the lioness explained. I knew this, but that was why I wanted knowledge and technology from the Covenant Church. If their cursed blockade could be broken, then we could deploy our armies in mass to their continent.

Once we got a landing spot like that cursed Highwater Bastion, we could push in and eat all those soft useless creatures. The younger snakes I was carefully raising were ready for the final battle, but they could use tempering before things became chaotic.

Considering my options, I would just raise more. Numbers were the best. Since the strong would survive and the weak would perish. My scales rippled in delight at the thought. Still caution would need to be taken. Having a ship sunk with snakes on it would be disastrous. Against the might of the waves, there was nothing Jörmungandr could do.

“Have our Scouts pinpointed the locationsss?” I asked.

“No new ship building locations since the last report. All the ports have been identified. But we did manage to track a vessel, to an island. We suspect it is the location of the Assassins. I have dispatched a Scout to confirm.” I nodded at this.

“Good. Good. For too long have we been on the defensive. It is time to teach this Covenant Church why they should hide in their homes and holesss.” I hissed out and shifted my prodigious bulk. Perhaps I would get to the delicious taste of badger once more.

They were slightly spicey when they were angry. But the power each of them had, was immense. I could feel myself growing in power in a way that I hadn’t since first hatching centuries ago when I had eaten one. A great delicacy along with the cats. I could see my attendant was pregnant, that was good.

Her child would either be a great Scout or be great food. They were quite useful to trade for favors. That was how I had gotten High Apostate Bastet to do a task for me. A shame she wasn’t a lioness and was unwilling to have kittens.

Not as good as a badger, but they were still delicious. “Bring me a mouse,” I hissed out. A mouse was brought in. “Get into my mouth and then struggle for your life,” I commanded it. The creature walked right into my open mouth, and I closed it.

The creature began to trash and struggle as I forced it deeper into my body, taking its strength into me and making it my own. I only felt slightly content, but thinking was tiring work. After these sessions, I liked to reward myself with a choice morsel or two.

I considered eating a second creature but held off. The mice weren’t that nourishing, more junk food than anything. I would have better meals soon. I would have to capture a female badger. I had been looking for one for centuries, but they were stubborn creatures and the Covenant Church hid them well from my gaze.

It was a shame that things were like this. My dream was for all creatures to live in my breeding facilities and slave pits. Then I would eat several all at once. I had a theory that if I ate one of every creature at once, I would gain even more power compared to a regular meal. I just needed to collect them all. A worthy cause.