Anassa worked at Baalka’s curse. Arand of sorcery plucked at Baalka’s soul, tried to get it moving, and was rejected once again. Why did the woman not respond to anything? No matter what Anassa did, it all seemed iive.

  Did Baalka not want to leave that little prison of hers?

  Three months had passed since Essa had instituted her a Great War regimen into Arcadia. Fortia looked at the results of it before her. “een hundred and fifty repoddess Fortia!” A pyromancer in a red cloak shouted, he threw up Essa’s cssic salute. An open palm raised o the face. Fortia did the maths in her head, a hundred and fifty teams have arrived. Essa had not been sg off whatsoever. Wheter came through that Arcadia was sending troops, Fortia had expected a hundred, maybe two hundred. A thousand had been out of the question. Almost two thousand Fortia didn’t even dream of.

  “And Essa herself?” Fortia asked. She stared down at the magi, he fiercely met her gaze. Three months could ge a lot apparently. This man had the same violent shine in his eyes as the mages of old did.

  “In three months she will arrive.” The pyromancer said. Fortia merely nodded down. Frankly, she wao go soohan that. There was a saying to always do the ued, that was true to aent. But when you had someo knifepoint, it was expected to stab them. The longer Kassandora had to prepare, the more devious trickery she would coct up that in that mind of hers and the lohis war would drag on. Frankly, they should have ehree months ago. The only thing that had stopped them was Neneria. Armies entering without magical support would simply result in Fortia sowing the fields and the Goddess of Death reaping them.

  Zerus, Alkom and Sceo would be called. As would Theosius. The mages were the mueeded green light.

  “Goddess Kassandora, I request an audience.” Kassandora stared down at the man in borderline fusion. Excuse me? She knew her men weren’t exceptionally… what was the word? Formal? But this? Holy, she was impressed. People who stood up for themselves were always likable.

  “Your audience is here and now.” Kassandora replied curtly. “What is it?”

  “It’s in regards to the excess Binturong ammunition. The HE-shells.” Kassandora raised an eyebrow. She had merely accepted that they had too many to ever be used. Produ of Binturongs was slowing down to make way for the new Lemur artillery. These shells would eventually get a new vehicle to be shot by when a rept for the Binturong appeared.

  “Talk, I’m not going to give you permission to speak every other sentence.” Kassandora replied. The man took a deep breath as he rexed and his posture dropped. He hurriedly pulled out a small notebook from his jacket and passed it to Kassandora with a bow.

  “My name is David Nell.” Kassandora barely registered the name as she took the notebook from his hands. She flipped over to the first page. It was merely a foreword written by this fellow, that didn’t matter. Then to the sed page. Her crimson eyes grew rge when they nded on the diagram. This is why she let her troops talk to her. She had strategies, tactid pns, but they had iions.

  “David Nell?”

  “Yes Goddess.”

  “Good, I’ll remember you.” She put the notebook into her pocket. “Start making them immediately. As many as you do. What rank and army?”

  “Private Goddess! Northerral, under General Sokolowski!”

  Kassandora turned around, her eyes nded on Sokolowski, he was issuing orders to a rank of a hundred men split into three ptoons. “Sokolowski! e here!” Damian Sokolowski turned immediately from issuing orders and trotted a fast march to her.

  “Yes Goddess-General! Sokolowski Rep!” He made a perfect salute to Kassandora.

  “Make sure Captain Nell here has a uniform to match his rank. He’s assigo engineering at headquarters from now on.” Kassandora passed the notebook ba. “Have a copy of this is ready at my tent by tonight.” She was so happy with that little iion she didn’t even care about the stupid he Hedgehog.

  Fortia walked with Maisara. A week had passed sihe first set arrived, Essa had reported that the sed set would have the same amount, and it would be ready week. There was something in Fortia that wao wait, something that absolutely refused to cross that Kirinyaan border. It was an insidious part of her. “We marorrow.” Fortia said the words out loud before her mind mao finally vince her not to.

  And with those words, something withiarted to move. Gears started to shift, a dams broke away, rivers started to flow. The words were said now, there was no going baow. Peace would be upheld, Arascus would not, could not, be allowed t Arda into global war again. If Fortia o se aire nation of his filth, she would. And she would do it happily.

  “I agree.” Maisara said from her side. Both of the Goddesses walked in their armour. Pin and undecorated, simple silver on Maisara, simple gold on Fortia. Zerus, Alkom and Sceo were in the air, the rhythmic beat of Theosius’ hammers was drumming in the distahe automaton foundries had gone up, as had the smithies for fixing cracks in armour and ref bdes.

  Kassandora threiece of paper onto Arascus’ table. She wouldn’t have e to him if it wasn’t… moal. The God of Pride read it in silence. “Why do you think she’ll attack?”

  “That’s what I would do.” Kassandora replied promptly. “But whether it’s sooner or ter, this…” She tapped the piece of paper. What a masterful py. She was dht proud of herself.

  Arascus tapped the piece of paper. n Sandfire. “ we spin this?” Kassandora smiled that smile she always did when things worked out perfectly. Of course they could spin it.

  “Maisara, you lead the eastern front.” Fortia assigned roles to the Gods. They themselves would assign generals however they wahere was no reason to ge systems that weren’t broken, they had won the Great War this way, they would win this small skirmish too. Maisara had not taken her armour for a week now, Zerus was in his shawls embzoned with gold. Sceo in a dark blue, her eyes held all the calm of a storm. They dashed around at every detail, she had ied the men several dozen times at this point. Alkom stood in silken clothes, light and almost opaque. No o the God of the Sun would call that armour, but then when you burned with all the heat of the stars, you didn’t want steel to cook yourself in. “Alkom will support you.” The eastern front would circle around the tral mountains, get close to the Aittyopios border, and theo push through jungle. A God who could burn it away would do well there. And Maisara was a mighty general in her ht, not as good as Fortia, nor Kassandora, but then no one was.

  “Zerus and Sceo, western front. Push as fast and as far as you until you meet resistahen take it at your own pace.” Zerus’ lightning and Sceo’s wind were perfectly suited for battle in the open prairies, deserts and dunes of western Kirinyaa. There wouldn’t be any trouble uhey ran into a Divine, and evehere was only one who would match them.

  “I will take the tral army and push south to the mountains.” It was the worst job, with no clear end. Depending ouation, the mountains could be seized, or they would simply be sieged. They’d have to wait until Essa arrived anyway to do any rger movements into them but three months? Fortia thought about the distan her head, there were cities in the way, and small towns. Some hills and ope. Realistically, it would be a six-month slog.

  That is, as long as Kassandora repared. Fortia thought about what she would in Kass’ position. She wouldn’t try holding the north of the mountain rahat was for certain. Supplies would be stretched and vulnerable to hunting paages. It would be terrible to push through, but it would be terrible to hold as well. Realistically, Kass would serve her troops, amass on the east a and try to push from both sides along with Fer’s forces from the tre. Beastmen cared little for harsh terrain.

  So three months seemed suitable, Essa would arrive then, and the push would tinue. Zerus spoke up, he always did, that man had to be sure aain of everything. “And Olephia?”

  “We follow Great War directive, disengage and avoid. Perfect would be if you lead her on a wild goose chase. Whichever front she will be on will stall, the other two will push.” Perfect would be if Kassandora had assigo defend the mountains, but Fortia was certain that the woman knew of Olephia’s strength far too well to waste the Goddess of Chaos like that. “Fer and Kassandora, we engage.” Fortia said. Those two were powerful, but amongst armies? There was only so much a melee fighter could do after the bodies reached critical mass. “Anassa…” Fortia sighed. That was a big one. Not like Olephia, who was simply unassaible. Anassa could be killed, she had almost been killed on several occasions. But she was still the Goddess of Sorcery.

  “Lanunions.” Maisara said. “If we split the mages thirty-forty-thirty, we have enough for each front to have several.” Fortia nodded. Lanunions it was, as was done in the past, so will be done now. They were a simple spell, easy to teach but hard to use. But then if Essa herself was training the magis, it was certain they’d be able to field such magic.

  “Arascus?” Zerus asked.

  “Same as always, call for help and overwhelm, he be killed. He’s weaker than in the past.” Fortia said.

  “How do you know?” Maisara begged the question from the other side.

  “Igos footage. He struggled pulling the Blue Grace out of the water.” Fortia said then realised only she and Maisara watched the news. “It was a tainer ship, it took him a good few mio do it.” Zerus, Sceo and Alkom all voiced their agreement, that didn’t sound like the Arascus of the past.

  “And Neneria?”

  “Standard anti-magic protocol. Don’t ge anything, keep the armies tight and protected by mages. The split will be five hundred each.” Armies in the Great War only had a hundred, maybe two. But then in the past, they didn’t glomerate into three mere frontlihe past had been chaos, with flict seeming springing up from all sides. “If you kill her, then do, but she’s not a priority for now. None of them are, simply seize nd. If you feel you ’t push then ask-“ Fortia mao stop herself.

  She was about to say ‘ask Leona’. But there was no Leona. The great seeress was dead. They didn’t have that advantage anymore. Battles didn’t have their flicts foreseen, there would be no helping hand to say whether something was a bad idea or an excellent one. “Ask me.” Fortia said. Leona was not omnipotent though, sometimes she could not deliver information, sometimes she was too far away, sometimes she simply didn’t get a feeling about a topic.

  Leona helped, but that was all she did.

  Fortia finished as she recalled the map of Kirinyaa she had looked at before. Melukal was the first city that would be seized. It was a mere fifty kilometres from the border, barely thirty miles. Her army could reach it in the span of a day’s march.

  Melukal.

  Was that a good idea?

  Fortia wished Leona was here so that she could ask.