“I don’t want Kavaa there.” Arascus told Kassandora. “Any of them actually.” She nodded.

  “her do I.” The risk that Essa would try and drag them bato the folds of the White Pantheon wasn’t high, but it wasn’t impossible. The easiest way to stop that was simply for them to never i.

  Iniri sat with Kavaa in the middle of one of the camps. All the camps had expanded, wooden structures had gone up, the bases were looking more like small towns that military locations now. Only Kassandora’s troops still slept is. There, the Goddess of War had not even made a shelter for herself. Some people were watg Anassa train her men from the distance, but no one dared to step close. Anassa had made a name for herself on the first week when people were inquisitive about what she was doing. Journalists were not allowed he sorcerer’s quarter. Not out of any secrecy, but for their own safety.

  Iniri and Kavaa watched Anassa throw her sorcerers around. It wasn’t even a fight, it was an adult beating up small children. And that adult came in with a big stick. The four most experienced sat close to Kavaa as they watched: Edmonton, Fleur, Lyd Eliza. They wore uniforms Anassa had enlisted Helenna’s help to make, red undershirts with bck coats. Oher side of the field was a team of a dozen Cleriassa had wanted for training, they sat in a semi-circle and talked to each other, in dark green shirts and shorts, as if they didn’t even care about what was happening before them.

  Iniri knew of them, Kavaa had healed all of them several times over the past two months sinassa had returhey kept to themselves and to Anassa’s sphere in the camp. Kassandora sometimes enlisted them for help with stuck vehicles when Fer was away on a hunt. If both groups were away, then Kassandora would e to Iniri with the request. Other than their names and the fact they were young and sometimes helped about, Iniri knew nothing of them.

  Anassa stood fag the fourty-nine sorcerers, all tired and weary, with dirty and torn clothes even though only an ho they had dressed themselves in fresh garb, and snapped her fingers. Fourty nine scarlet disks appeared behind her, as if drawn onto reality, and then shot into the line of men. Everyone mao block successfully. Anassa cpped her hands. “Warm up over!”

  Iniri leaned over to the four young children. “This is how she trains you?” She whispered. The tallest of them, Edmonton, merely shrugged.

  “She goes harder on us.” He said, there was some hint of pride in that. Why, Iniri had no clue.

  “Deferaining!” Anassa shouted as she rose into the air. “You have thirty seds to get out of my grip!” The red s ed around the fourty-nine being trained and lifted them to the height of Anassa as they started tle. Suddenly a red beam burst from Anassa and into the group of four. A crimson shield appeared before them and stopped the beam an inch from their faces.

  Iniri recoiled in fright a sed after it disappeared. “Awareness is key.” Anassa said. “Pay attention at all times, even when you’re talking to Divines.” The four nodded as the fourty-ill struggled in the air. One man mao free himself ao the ground. Awo dozen. Lyca gave Eliza, Fleur and Edmonton a high-five. Iniri saw Anassa watch them, her smile crept onto her fad a bde of red came from the air to slice at the high-fiving hands.

  And another shield blocked them. Then a spike came from the ground behind. And another blocked them. Anassa gave a slow sarcastic cp. “Splitting attention is required. Not just otlefield, it helps with every facet of your life. Remember that. Even when you sleep you should be on guard.” Iniri and Kavaa shared a shake of their heads.

  Only five sorcerers were in the air now. The rest had ripped the s apart and fallen, two had obviously ihemselves in the drop. “Time’s up!” Anassa shouted with too much glee, she moved her hands and the five smmed into the red soil. They went up, each with a cloud of dust.

  Kavaa tutted. “This is worse than Maisara.”

  “It is Anassa.” Iniri said. It was what she expected, but to see it iy was still shog.

  “It’s strength training.” Eliza said from o them. “It’s the fastest way.”

  “Is it?” Kavaa asked.

  “You only really push yourself when your life is on the line.” Eliza said. “So…” She shrugged. Kavaa and Iniri once again shared ed looks. Of the sixty sorcerers who had awakened, Anassa had reduced the o fourty nine. Eleven sorcerers, as Anassa so mildly put it, were ‘simply not adequate’.

  “Stand!” Anassa shouted. Most were already stood up, a few got up onto shaky legs, a few could not stand. Anassa moved her finger into the air, seven sorcerers lifted off the ground ahrown a hundred feet across the field. They nded a good distance from the Clerics who merely watched with grim faces. “Crawl the rest of the distance! You have two minutes! Anyone who does not ma will be welve!” Anassa shouted and turned back to sorcerers-in-training who stood. “You have a break until they heal.”

  The moment she fihat, a crimson sword appeared and swept towards some of the men. They mao raise their own barriers in time to block it as Anassa tutted. “If I had used an inkling more strength, you would be dead by now. Do you think you’ll have time for breaks otlefield?” Anassa started going on a speech as Kavaa leaned close to Iniri. Every two or three sentences, a surprise attack would e at the group of sorcerers from the ground, from above, from behind or in front. A disc or a or a sword of Anassa’s cursed sorcery would try to cut them down. They managed somehow mao look as if they were paying attention as they blocked.

  “I now uand why we got so outmatched in the magical arms race back then.” Iniri nodded. If this was how sorcerers were trained, it was no wohey fared so much better in battle than mages.

  “ you imagine Essa training like this?” And it was no wohat mages outnumbered sorcerers twenty-to-one.

  “I ot.” Kavaa replied and tilted her head forwards to look past Iniri. “Yes?” She asked. Iniri turo look at the four students who were looking at them inquisitively.

  “You know Essa?” Eliza asked. A shirl, with brown hair and rge brown eyes. Iniri could imagine her as cute if she wasn’t wearing sorcerer dress.

  “We do.” Kavaa replied. “Why?”

  “This method of training is better than Essa’s.” Eliza said.

  “Is it?” Kavaa asked dismissively.

  “We’ve been training with Goddess Anassa for a year now and we’ve made more progress than in ten years of being in Arcadia.” Iniri merely looked at the children, youth was such a precious thing. It was almost sad to see them wasted in such ways. Iniri would have argued with them if she was some thousand years younger. But she wasn’t, and she had seen enough humans die in war and in peace to know to hold back. Every Divi involved with mortals in the beginning, and every Diviually stopped getting involved with mortals. That was the simple nature of it, those who did ually went mad.

  “It’s not my field to debate.” Kavaa answered briskly. “It’s different than how I train my men.”

  “It’s effective.” Fleur spoke up this time. Kavaa merely smiled at them, silver hair falling past her fad she shook her head. “It filters only the best of the best.” The girl added rather proudly.

  “As effective as using explosives cut down a tree.” Kavaa said and tutted. Iniri moved her hand to try and stop the girl from answering.

  And the girl tinued. “I saw you were looking at it and shaking your head. And Goddess Anassa said that other Divines aren’t willing to push their men as far as possible.” Iniri tur Kavaa, who merely stared at the girl with all the detached eyes of a surgeon cutting into a wound.

  “Girl, you do not know who you are talking to.” Kavaa said. “You are not a Divine. Do not get ahead of yourself.” Fleur blinked in shock at the ge in tone from the voice Kavaa had been using before to the cold and anding words.

  “I… I apologize, I didn’t mean it in that way.”

  “No, of course you didn’t.” Kavaa said ftly. “You’ve not seen people slowly die, you’ve never held a dying man, you’ve never led anything. Yreatest responsibility is to you yourself.” Kavaa turned lifted her hand to Anassa and the sorcerers being thrown about, a few more had been thrown at the Clerics. “Do you holy think so mightily of yourself that you think this offends me? That I’ve not seen worse? Who do you think you are?”

  “Kavaa.” Iniri tried to calm her down. There was no reason to scare the youth out of children.

  And Kavaa tinued. “There isn’t a single Divine in this camp who has not beaten their men. No, the fws are obvious. This is not a scable system. How many men Anassa train at once? A thousand? And what then? When every other Divine has millions? Even Essa has mao mass-manufacture magis. And how long does it take? Will Anassa be able to replenish men through war-time? Will she be otlefield, or will she be beating you here?” The four childre quiet without an answer.

  Anassa leaned from behind from behind the two groups. Iniri turned. One Anassa still stood beating her men, another perfect copy was here. “The question then bees how many men is one sorcerer worth?”

  “A slit throat will kill us all the same.” Kavaa said ftly.

  “True, but I’ve not e tue with you.” Anassa said and turo her students. “Do you know what you’ve done wrong?”

  “I insulted a Divine.” Fleur admitted immediately, she had ation in her voice. Anassa shook her head.

  “No. You are allowed to insult and besmirch Divines all you wish. Your first mistake was insulting this Divine.” Fleur blinked as her hand started to bleed, then she looked down. Iniri had not evehe fsh of sorcery. “Sedly, you didn’t e prepared with arguments. I expect the best from you, whether in battle or in a debate.” Anassa then turo Kavaa. “How I teach my students works for sorcery. It is a skill of the elite, to mass-manufacture sorcerers, as you so put it, would make them into magis.”

  “I wasn’t pining about how you teach, it’s an a method.”

  “Why ge what isn’t broken?” Anassa asked. “Could you heal Fleur?”

  “Could I?” Kavaa sounded shocked, her eyes went to the girls hands. “ she take it?” Anassa merely smiled.

  “Of course she ot.” She turo the human girl. “But this is another lesson, do not start what you are not prepared to finish. And respect Divinity when its in your presence. Some of us are worthy to have our titles. Every Divine in this camp falls into that banner.” Iniri’s heart skipped a beat. Anassa sounded as thought she holy meant it, but then… “Now stand.” Anassa hissed and Fleur stood up. “Do you expect a Divio walk to you?”

  Fleur moved before Kavaa as Iniri rubbed her elbow with Anassa. “Even me?” She asked quietly. Anassa turned and smiled down to Iniri. Whether it was sarcastic or joyous or hungry, Iniri could not tell.

  “Don’t pretend you weren’t nature’s tyrant back then.” Anassa licked her lips. “Every battle had a tingency for what to do if the oaks started growing.”

  Iniri shook her head, she couldn’t feel whether her smile was nostalgic or sad. What memories. Memories long cut down and buried, Iniri had ged sihen, she wasn’t the great Goddess of Nature that had been a wall to hold back Arascus. That Iniri had withered and died and beerow when the Great War had ended. Fleur held out hand for Kavaa and the Goddess put her finger on the girl. “You have bruises on you too.”

  “Basic training.” Fleur said quickly, her voice ft as she looked down at the red soil between hers and Kavaa’s feet.

  “You do them too.” Anassa said and Kavaa shook her head.

  “ she take it?”

  “If she ’t then she’s not worthy.”

  Another voiterrupted them. “That hurts even for me, even Fer feels it.” Cold, loud and anding. Kassandora’s voice. Iniri spun, Kassandora had snuck behind them, she stood, arms crossed and thhly unimpressed with the situation. Red hair cut straight flowed down past that dark coat she always wore now. “And the reaso up with this farce of training is because sorcerers are elite shock troops. They’re not present in every battle, they’re our special forces. That’s the actual reason, whatever Ana will tell you is wrong, these troops simply aren’t meant to be on-fis.”

  “Ah.” Kavaa said.

  Kassandora hardened her void turo Anassa. “Yes, and I’d rather not waste sorcerers on garbage like this.”

  “Sorcerers are my demesne sister.” Anassa said. “Kavaa, heal her, if you would.”

  “And why are you so polite with her and not me?” Kassandora asked, her annoya dropping o.

  “Because you’re you.” Anassa replied jokingly. The training ahead, from the other Anassa, whether that was the copy or the inal at this point, Iniri did not know, got more brutal. The fourty niarted being flung about like dolls in the air as that Anassa started throwing rge waves of red sorcery at them.

  “Wonderful.” Kassandora said and shrugged. “I’m in a good mood today though, so we’re not testing each other.”

  “You won’t even help with training?” Anassa made a cute fad a silly pleading void Kassandora sighed. She looked over at the troops.

  “Give them a one minute break then, and I’ll help with training.” Anassa smiled like a little girl, cpped her hands and the dispy of sorcery stopped.

  “You have one minute! Prepare! You have a special teacher today, don’t embarrass me!” That Anassa disappeared, just blinked out of existence as the fourty niarted to sigh and pick themselves up.

  “Three, two, one, go.” Kavaa ted and began to heal Fleur. Iniri had been healed by Kavaa before, and she knew what it felt like. And the girl took it about as well as Iniri had imagined. It sted a mere sed to close the wound, and Fleur screamed out at the first moment she felt the energies. Her knees gave, she dropped to the ground, tears flowing her face. “It’s over Fleur, it will pass in a moment.” Anassa snapped her fingers and a cw lifted Fleur up to her feet. The girl was shaking, hugging herself, and the three young sorcerers looked at her and at Kavaa with newfound fear in their eyes.

  “That was merely a small cut on your hand. Every Cleric you see out here has had their bones re-stitched.” Anassa said coldly. “That was another lesson.” The cw holding Fleur up disappeared and the girl dropped to her knees, holdiomad ing her arms around herself as she tears streamed from her cheeks and mucus dripped from her nose. “Don’t talk about things you don’t know.”

  “That’s a good lesson.” Kassandora said. “But it didn’t have to be taught this way.”

  “This is the fastest way to teach.” Anassa said. “Now what do we say?”

  “I-I-I’m so-sorry.” Fleur said, she somehow mao turn towards Kavaa. “An-An-And I-I ap-apolo-logize fo-for i-i-insult-ting.” Kavaa merely shook her head.

  “Nothing to apologize for Fleur. You got ahead of yourself.” The Goddess of Health spoke gently, then turo Anassa, those silver eyes pierg Anassa. “We’re not doing this again, I take no satisfa in causing pain.”

  “Just once is enough.” Anassa said. “Now you know what healing is. Don’t put Kavaa in the same league as Essa.” Fleur nodded, shook, and then passed out. Anassa clicked her tongue. “Well, it was impressive enough she mao hold herself for that long at least.” Kavaa leaned down and touched the girl’s cheek.

  “She’ll wake up soon. I was gentle.” Iniri saw Lyca, Edmonton and Eliza exge shocked looks.

  Kassandora took the initiative as the versation died down. “I actually came here because I have news.”

  “Essa?” Anassa asked excitedly.

  “I wish.” Kassandora said. “No, we’ve finally e to a decisiarding Ciria.”

  “Took long enough.” Anassa said bitterly. That much was true, they had spent too long going bad forth with Ciria about who could attend and who could not. Essa had been adamant on the fact Olephia could not, that was only natural after-all, since bringing Olephia would be ing with swords drawn. Then Arascus had made his own demands, then more demands were made, then they argued about the location, and on and on it went for more than a month.

  “And?” Iniri asked. “Will we be there?”

  “No.” Kassandora said ftly. “We’ve agreed to ahree and three split. It will be Essa, Fortia and Zerus from them and then Arascus, Fer and me from us. ral territory in Khmet.” The try directly north of Kirinyaa. “But close to our border.”

  “So not one of us?” Kavaa asked.

  “You are one of us at this point.” Kassandora said. “Arascus obviously has to be there, I have to be there, and Fer read people like no other. This isn’t a peace talk in any fashion, nothing will e of it.”

  “So what is it then?” The Goddess of Health asked.

  “It’s a scouting run to see how powerful Ciria and Waeh actually are. I’ll tell you about them when I e back, it’s set a week from now.”

  “A week?!” Anassa shouted.

  “They’re Divines of this age, we ’t expect to be fast now, we?” Kassandora chuckled as she looked at the fourty nine sorcerers. “So what do you want to do? Just beat them up.” Anassa smirked.

  “Holy, I want you to kill one. I want to assign these froups of twelve so I’ve been w them down to fourty eight.” Anassa poio the four sorcerer childreo them, they looked at each other in shock.

  “Easy enough.” Walked past them.

  “You’re not going to use your sword?” Anassa asked.

  “They’re not you, are they?”

  Kassandora took position as another copy of Anassa in mid-air and expihe situation troup of trainees. “You are to try a Kassandora. You will not kill her, not because I don’t allow it but because you don’t even have the capacity to. You are to simply stop her.”

  “I give them one minute.” Anassa said.

  “She’s fighting with her fists?” Lyca asked.

  “Watd learn, watd learn. This is pure teique.” Anassa said with nothing but respe her voice. Iniri wished people in the White Pantheon would speak about her like that when she wasn’t there. She hadn’t heard Kassandora say a sihing bad about Anassa when they were in private, nor did Anassa ever besmirch Kassandora, but together she got the impression they hated each other. And inside Iniri, she was ashamed she knew what the emotion ure jealousy. She wanted someone like that.

  The copy of Anassa shouted one and. “You are ready to start.” And then she disappeared.

  And Kassandot to work immediately. She kicked up a stone and hurled it at the men. It cracked one in the chest, bounced and hit another one in the leg. By the time they got a shield up, she was among them.

  Anassa was wrong, it took only half a mihey didn’t eve a scrat her.