Elijah Arad walked through the halls of some a dwarven ruin in his Golden armour; a spear in his hand, a sword on his belt, a short red cape gently catg in the draft. Four more of Alsaria’s Seekers prowled behind him.

  Holes in walls, blood smeared spttered over the walls. It even reached the ceiling in some pces. His heavy boot stepped over the shattered Guguoan bdes, it crushed the loose strands of beast fur now stuck together with dried blood and it avoided the treacherous rubble that would have made it o impossible for a human to fight on.

  “Nothing in the westerioher.” Beniamin Hausmaed.

  “Then we search deeper, a God’s corpse ot just into thin air.”

  From afar, a tall woman in bck watched the party of fifty Seekers make their way into the a fort. A se of the mountain above it was charred into a goat’s head. The woman’s cold lips curled into a snakish smile; nostalgia leasaion.

  Storm clouds rolled in from the East.

  Heleered Kassandora’s cell without even knog. She had to be fast today, Alsaria was on high alert after Atis’ death whereas Maisara and Fortia were seeuring into the Lower Prison far more than was required for just a simple interrogation.

  Kassandora was sitting on her chair, feet oable, eyes closed, looking as if she could be anywhere but the Lower Prison of Olympiada. There was something in that posture that made annoyed Helenna, and then something else that marvelled at the Goddess of War. It wasn’t the easiness, Helenna saw through that immediately: Kassandora’s smile was forced, her humming wasn’t the triumphant march of a band, even that gentle lull of her head looked fake. But the ability to even try and make the best of a situation…

  Helenna supposed it was simply a difference of domains. If Love gave up, a new lover would eventually appear; If War gave up, it resulted in a brutal defeat. Kassandora spoke without even opening her eyes. “Nice perfume Helenna.”

  “I’m that obvious?” Helenna asked. Kassandora quit that rexed state and pulled herself up. She smoothed down the grey prison garbs, took her feet off the table and threw her hair around as if that mass of blood-red needed anymore attention being brought to it.

  “Nice dress too.” Kassandora asked. “What’s the occasion?” Helenna didn’t o look down at herself to know the dress was brilliant. A low-cut and tight bck co of frills and ce which revealed just enough for imagination to fill in the gaps.

  “There’s a situation, we’re going to be fast today.” Helenna closed the cell door behind herself and sat down. Kassandora merely waited, Helenna supposed it was going to be like that. “Has Maisara informed you yet?”

  “All I know is that Atis has died.” Kassandora said easily. “Or that he was missing in a but we all know what happened.” She rolled those red eyes as if nothing else o be said.

  “That’s old news by this point, I was talking about the prisoner from Pepayel Airport.”

  “That I don’t know about.” There were some Goddesses, like Maisara and Fortia, Essa was another one, Alsaria could do it too, where they hated Helenna’s vish dispys of emotions. Helenna hated dealing with them, Kassandora had no such issue. Of Love’s hair ged into a vibrant e and she smiled proudly, this made the whole situation easier.

  “Alsaria told me to get information out of him. She couldn’t and Maisara came st out of the prison after she tried.”

  “No surprise there, those two were never good with people.” Helenna’s hair turned red, it was almost as bright as Kassandora’s. Kavaa and Iniri did not gossip like little girls, they thought it was beh them. Helenna was very mu touch with her inner child though.

  “It’s all just demands and bartering. That’s as far as their skills in talking go.” Helenna said and Kassandora nodded along.

  “That’s the issue where you’re domain isn’t in touch with humanity.” Kassandora added. “Of Order especially, if we gave a chess set a will it would make Maisara.” Helenna burst out in ughter and cpped her hands. This was exactly what she was missing for the past turies. “But you said you wao be fast today, it’s to do with this prisoner I assume.” Helenna ulled bato reality by Kassandora and took a heavy breath before she began.

  “It is, Leo him here along with two dozehe men are useless, I’ve had a talk with them already.”

  “And?”

  “The man is a genius, he’s an elf and everyone knows nothing. They were kept totally in the dark. The most that could be gleamed is two locations of partisan cells and that’s it.”

  “Is anyone iigating this?” Kassandora asked.

  “Alsaria told Maisara and Fortia to see what they could find.”

  “I’ll skip the wait for you. Maisara and Fortia will find cities of gold, reduce them to ruins and then cim they’ve found nothing.” Kassandora said and Helenna burst out in ughter again. “Why did she not send you?”

  “Because she’s Alsaria, why would she send me?” Helenna said, she didn’t know if that expression of support from the Goddess of War was real or not.

  “She’s a mastermind too great for us to prehend Helenna. If you want information, she’s not going to send the greatest spymaster of history, she’ll send two on brutes.” Helenna burst out in ughter again. Something in her mind told her to be wary of Kassandora still, but the amount of pliments she received in the past millennia, she could t on her hands. The fact most of them were about her looks didn’t help either. “So this man, why are you ing to with him?”

  “I’ve gleamed what Maisara learned.”

  “I’d pliment you, but it was Maisara.” Kassandora said to another bout of ughter.

  “The man is an elf, his operation was about stealing phree other airports were hit in neighb regions too. One of the ports, Tress Ceremonial, it took them an hour to realise pnes were missing. Another, Astangrad tral Airport became a bloodbath, the cameras were cut out and when the police arrived, a quarter of the civilians had bled out already. Security was overwhelmed and sughtered to the st man.”

  “Ahe man was captured?”

  “He led the rgest assault, thirty five men, on Pepayel Regional. We suspect he was trying to steal the 77T transports pnes.” Kassandora chuckled.

  “I apologize for my ck of knowledge, but a 77T means nothing to me.”

  “77T because it carries 77 tons. It’s was built to assist the towns in southern Karaina during their heavy winters when roads get washed away.”

  “Big phen.”

  “Big indeed.”

  “And he led the rgest assault?”

  “He did.”

  “Judging from the fact Leona caught him, I suppose she was there.”

  “She was.” Helenna’s hair grew white. Kassandora was incredible, Maisara would have o be told directly.

  “And this elf, yoing to ask why he did it now?”

  “This is the crux of the issue.” Helenna said. “I…” Her cheeks started to go red and her hair became a simple brown. “We’ve… there’s a pact between us, isn’t there?”

  “Like I said already, I will lead you girls to freedom if you call upon me.”

  “I was thinking from your perspective, it’s not… if I were you, I wouldn’t trust me.” Kassandora shrugged and gave her that i smile again.

  “Beggars ’t be choosers, they?” Kassandora said. “And from your position, you doly have any proof I don’t have ulterior motives.”

  “I suppose that makes two of us.” Helenna said. “Leouro Olympiada for a few days, it’s obvious the fight there took a lot out of her.”

  “An elf went up against a Goddess?” Kassandora asked and Helenna shook her head.

  “She overexerted herself. There’s…” Helenna’s hair grew bck again and she hardened her tone. “I rather, I have a theory about it.”

  “And that is?”

  “It’s to do with Leona, her state. I don’t believe Leona will be killed.”

  “Do you not?”

  “I believe she will die of natural causes. Because she’s been fuelling Olephia’s prison all this time – singlehandedly.” Kassandave a slow nod to that.

  “It does make sense.” Kassandora said. “I just hought it would have su effe her.”

  “She has been growing weaker overtime, and if we use Maisara’s theory about her luck holding us together, then she’s using her powers everyday to simply keep the Pantheon funing. The Pantheon or Olephia, she could handle alone, both, I don’t think so.” Kassandora ined her head and nodded along.

  “You know what Helenna?”

  “What?”

  “I hought you would be so calg. Apologies of course, but I’ve uimated you.” Helenna smiled and beamed with pride, the vibrant e returning to her hair. “But it means that Leona’s death is set now. There’s no avoiding it.”

  “And that means that the alliaween us has to be set too.” Helenna said. “I want to make it formal Kassandora, there isn’t… any bag down now. I know you keep eaining Maisara, that is fine, but I want assurahat you won’t turn your bae.”

  “Helenna.” Kassandora said. “Maisara is a good tool to use. Her and Fortia came to me first in this crisis. So I’ll keep pying with them but don’t insult me like that. War, Order and Peace is a bination that ot work.”

  “Fortia’s Pead Maisara’s Order have a different meaning to them.”

  “What I give you then?”

  “I don’t kher.” Helenna said. “But I want to show my loyalty, General.” Kassandhed and waved her hand at that.

  “Don’t insult yourself like that, a General is made by his army, where is mine?”

  “Standing before you is a greatest spymaster in the world, with Kavaa, we have troops skilled in bat and healing. With Iniri, we feed them, you said it yourself, the army be mustered and they’ll appear in two days. That’s Kavaa’s own words. But enough, I want to ask about this elf.”

  “Ask?” Kassandora said.

  “Do you think the Goddess of Love would make a wrong choice of words? Yes, I want to ask. He’s young, just over two hundred. His name, I know you’re familiar with.” Kassandora remained silent. “Ilwin.” Kassandave ion. “Tremali.”

  The Goddess of War blinked, leaned back, ughed, smiled, ughed again, wiped a tear from her eye. She was reduced to a giggling mess, a stunned girl who had just been asked for her hand by the man of her dreams. Helenna sat and watched, her hair brightened again and the road she was going down turned from cobblestoo brilliantly smooth asphalt.

  This response could not be a simple pantomime.

  Helenna wished someone would react for her like that one day.

  “That’s my Iliyal!” Kassandora finally. “General of the Eighth Army, Iliyal Tremali, it’s good to see his offspring are as talented as him!”

  “I’m going to see him now, do you wao inform him of you?” Immediately the mood ge. A new Kassandora stepped into the smiling girl that was sat just before her. Cool faced, those red eyes stopped burning like warm winter hearths and became targeted bzes.

  “Is Leona here?”

  “No.”

  “When will she be back?”

  “No one knows.”

  “Then the risk is too great, tell him I’m here but leave it at that. If he asks, then answer. Draft an escape pn, bring it to me and I’ll make the corres. If he’s a Tremali, then I don’t think even you’ll be able to get much out of the man.”

  “That sounds like a challenge.”

  “Go ahead, but the bloodline was blessed by Arascus in the Great War. They have tremendous willpower. If he’s ten geioached then it will have grown weaker but it’s an elf, fat ce of him anything more than maybe five steps from Iliyal.”

  “Eveer.”

  “I’m gd you’re up for it.” Kassandora said and Helenna’s hair flourished into a bright red. It was those small things that made her like the Goddess of War so much, she simply knew when to say something… something… nid pleasant, as stupid as that sounded. “If I was in his position though, I would reveal nothing and not believe you about me.”

  “You think he won’t?”

  “It’s the smartest thing to do in his situation. Do you want a bet?”

  “On what?” Helenna grew excited.

  “A bottle of wine.” Kassandora said. “It’s been a long time since I had something to drink.”

  “And if you lose?”

  “I don’t make bets I know I’ll lose.”

  “We’ll see about that!” Helenna cpped the table and stood up. “If he tells me anything useful, then you owe me.”

  “I’d start raiding the cupboards already if I were you.” Kassandora waved Helenna away. “Now go, you said you’d be fast.”

  When Helenna finally left the cell, the corridors desded with a sombre euphoria. A sense… nay, a need she had long buried sihe Great War ended and she had resigned herself to being a steward in Olympiada. She wanted someoo think of her as Kassandora did of this Iliyal Tremali, to ugh about her successes with nothing but pure joy. She wanted ao this plotting and politig of the Divine Mountain where every move had to be limited as to not upset the ods.

  She wahat bond that Kassandora seemed to build so easily.

  Kassandora sighed as Helen her cell. Some Divines were an unsolvable puzzle, others… others, well, you just o kno the door and they’d y themselves bare for you.