Wissel took the microphone as he looked into the cameras. Iliyal had told him that Operatioip would be initiated soon, and that he should prime the popution of Doschia for it. Jozef had already given a spee Lubska about it. That one hadn’t eveoo radical, and the White Pantheon remained silent, all that happened was they got an official statement that the war was in fact going well, and that KTV should not be believed to be a reliable source.

  Wissel sighed, he had a script prepared already, but as the words started to flow, he made a show of crumpling the paper and throwing it behind him. It was as if a dam had burst within him, finally a decision was being made without Divine sultation. “…And so, the people of Doschia wish for ao the war. Doschia takes a hard stand against the invasion of Kirinyaa. All tithe shall be stopped whilst the war goes on and the Kingdom of Doschia announces ao the embargo over Arika.”

  He took a deep breath and smiled. He had been the ruler of this for more than half his life, ahis felt like the first time he made a real decision. “We pray that the Divine Mountain will listen to us, because there will be sequeo this relentless massacre.” The s behind him ged to a picture of Melukal abze.

  Wissel left the stage ahe cameras focus on that tragic image.

  “I still ’t believe you’re healing her.” Iniri sat down into a fortable chair that had just grown out of the wall. A bulbous round thing, hanging on by a thick branch, as Iniri touched it, it started to lift, so that she could kick her into the air. “Not in my thousands, would I ever believe you would.”

  “her did I.” Kavaa said as she wiped sweat off her forehead. The amount of times Iniri saw Kavaa exert herself like that, she could t on one hand. And half of those times had been sihey met Kassandora, Lady Health’s well of ever-life seemingly did have a bottom. Kavaa leaned back down, dull grey hair falling past her as she pced her hand on Baalka’s chest once again.

  The little Goddess of Disease had been asleep ever sihey got out of the Jungle, she had not moved, not even stirred once. She y there on her back, half hidden by the covers. Her hair was a terrible c, a green so dark it was almost bck, the colour could only be seehe light fshed against it. And Kavaa, Goddess of Health, was over her in the usual biform. Iniri sat in her own, it was almost…

  Well actually, it was nothing like the White Pantheon. The hierarchy here was stricter in aspects, but looser in others. There wasn’t a single Alsaria who anded everything, but no one would talk back to Kassandora’s Order, no one questioned Anassa on what she was doing to her sorcerers. Fer’s beastmen were untouchable by a their Goddess, Olephia was the most powerful of them all, and she was merely being used as a brick wall to stall out Zerus and Sceo.

  And then Kassandora had told Iniri to build them a fortress. She had phrased it rather nicely, but it was still an order, Alsaria could also phrase orders nicely. But then when Iniri had finished and Kassandora had goo ihere, there was no pining. Nument about how a certain wall was too high, or how the stairs were the wrong way, or anything trite. Kassandora had returned with a list of ptforms she wanted for heavy artillery, and then told Iniri she did a good job.

  And that was it.

  Iniri smiled to herself as her mind repyed that memory. When was the st time she had been told she did a good job by another Divihere had been that time when they won the Great War, but that had been a general pat on the back for everyone, no for her specifically. “Did Kass ask you to?” Iniri said to Kavaa, who was still breathing heavily. Her eyes and hands were glowing as they poured more magito Baalka.

  “No.” Kavaa replied. “Oh I guess she did.” She pulled away, her legs colpsed and she tumbled forwards onto Baalka’s legs. The Goddess of Health rolled onto her bad sighed as she looked up at the ceiling of the room. It was a small thing, in the grand oak Iniri had grown specifically to house Divines. All the furniture art of the room, the only thing not fixed was the sole chair in the er. That had been grown on a branch, then snapped off. “She said I try, but if she was me, she wouldn’t bother.”

  “So you’re b?” Iniri asked.

  “I want to.” Kavaa said and Iniri nodded as she kicked her legs again through the air.

  “Why?” Iniri asked.

  “I don’t know, I…” Kavaa looked over at Baalka by her side and tried sitting up. “At one point, I was g and telling myself it’s for training but…” She trailed off.

  “But you don’t raining.” Iniri ughed and Kavaa ughed.

  “I suppose not.” She said. “But I think it’s because I want to do it for Kass?” Her voice sounded as if she was questioning herself. “Or maybe for myself? I’ve never had a disease I couldn’t heal. This is the first one.”

  “It could just be because it is her.” Iniri said. She didn’t know if she liked Baalka or not. There was that sense of respect she had from the Great War, and she had met Baalka a few times before it started, they even had one minor war against each other. That one ended when other Divines came in and told Baalka to stay down and not poison the world. But… well, Baalka simply did not sit right with her. Iniri was the Goddess of Nature, there was no reason for her to find the Goddess of Disease friendly.

  “I don’t think it’s her.” Kavaa said as she stretched her arms above her head. “There’s just something odd I ’t touch.”

  “You ’t touch?” Iniri asked.

  “Not at all.” Kavaa answered. “It’s as if her soul is cut off from the rest of the world. As if…” Kavaa stopped. “I rea, then there’s just nothing, then she is there behind that, but I ’t get through the nothing.”

  “Ah.” Iniri said. She knew Kavaa well enough to uand more or less how the woman’s powers worked. The toueeded to be there.

  “So you o get across the nothing?” Iniri said.

  “Mmh.” Kavaa answered. “But I ’t.”

  “But it’s nothing.”

  “I know.” Kavaa replied, her voice still that cool speeiri wished she could have. Kassandora had it too, she and Kavaa never let their emotio into their voice. “But…”

  “So you need help.” Iniri said, she leaned forwards and put her fato her arms. “Someone who get across that.”

  “Someoo get into that in the first pce.” Kavaa said. “I ’t drag people into that, I’m not Essa.” A root turned and twisted in Iniri’s mind. A flower jumped out of the ground, and she stared at Kavaa. Wasn’t the answer simply obvious? Wasn’t there a person they had access to with the power to enter soul realms? In fact, didn’t they have two?

  “Kavaa.” Iniri said slowly.

  “Hmm?” Kavaa said.

  “What about the two here?”

  “Two what?”

  “Neneria and Anassa.” Kavaa’s arms fell as she sat up in a smooth motion, grey eyes met Iniri’s rge brown ones as Kavaa’s mouth dropped open in shock.

  “Why didn’t I think of that?” She asked and Iniri shrugged.

  “We’re not in the Pantheon anymore, we ask.” Iniri’s eyes travelled to the window as one of her trees called out in the distance. She jumped off her chair and called uporee around on instinct. The floor curled and moved, it caught Iniri and then moved with her to get to the circur window. Those had been simply panes of gss that were buried at the roots and then dragged upwards by the wood itself. There was still enough in the ground for this tree to have another few dozen rooms installed. “Kavaa.” Iniri said.

  “What?” Kavaa stood up immediately, she took slow steps and shook the exhaustion off herself.

  “Do I see that?” Iniri said.

  “I see trees and the clouds.” Kavaa said. “You’re looking over the horizon.” Iniri grabbed onto her power, her hair started to swirl in the air and her hand touched the wall. The bark immediately ed around her fingers, they pierced her skin and Iniri felt her blood seep into the fortress. Her senses joihe tree, her nerves sent lightning into the roots, the roots carried it to the roots of the other buildings, the tall towers outside, the four protective walls Iniri had grown from the ground, into the wild roots of the trees, through bushes and grass and ferns and trees, until she came to a river wide enough for nothing to grow u.

  And Iniri looked as far as she could. She saw men rise into the air. She heard the thunderous boom of sound barriers being broken. Steel birds, painted bck, with the white and red emblem of the KAL painted over them, shot overheard. Their bombs started to drop, whining with a high pitched scream.

  A blue beam erupted from behind trees. It caught one bomb, simply ied the explosive without even blowing it up, then the blue light curled into a ball. It hovered for a sed, then exploded with spikes in all dires. Every other bomb the pnes had dropped disappeared just like that.

  More explosions sounded from above. The sihunderous cp of sound as the sound barrier gave way. And more bombs dropped. They screamed, another blue beam caught about half of them, and the rest mao reach the ground. They exploded with a breath brighter than dragonfire, and made that vicious bck smoke that drew a bck across the cloudy sky.

  The winds started to pick up, tearing leaves off branches and branches off trees. It spun and spun until a tornado formed, theornado grew higher and higher, until it started to push the clouds anes immediately turo retreat bato the safety of their smokess, and then a bst of blue light once agaied from the ground.

  It mao touch the back of one be. The engines exploded with a colour of fme the same as the napalm, and it too left a bck scar across the now-clear blue sky. But this was aimed down, the pne fell until it disappeared behind a tree, and Iniri heard the boom. Maybe a archmages were capable of such power, but they had long died out in the era of Pantheon Peaow, there recisely one being ience who could make those blue beams of pure mana.

  Iniri’s gaze immediately retreated back to CR as she searched for Kassandora. The woman was sitting in her office reading through papers. Iniri had to stop and blink for a moment. She had never sidered herself a prying type, but Kassandora was Kassandora, and Kassandora was iing. Ahere had not been a siime Iniri had mao catch Kassandora doing something... something which wasn’t work. The most she got to indulgence was when she poured herself a gss of whiskey.

  “Kass!” Iniri said. The wood carried her voice, a sunflower sprouted in the middle of Kassandora’s offid spoke for Iniri.

  Kassandora looked up, saw the sunflower, and then sed the rest of the room. “Iniri.” She said. “It’s like Anassa this.” She said and tutted. “What?”

  “Essa is fifty miles north west.” Kassandently put the paper back down. Iniri couldn’t tain herself, and looked from the ceiling. It was merely a bunch of statistics from Zalewski’s frontline. Kassandora sighed and nodded.

  “I know.” She said eventually.

  “You do!?” Iniri asked. Kassandora smiled at the sunflower and made a humoured face.

  “Do you know who I am? Of course I know.” She said. “Orders are already out, lemurs are firing in fifteen minutes, we’re raising shields in an hour from now, or if she es close then immediately.”

  “Oh.” Iniri said. She was gd the sunflower did not have a face so Kassandora couldn’t see the stupid expression she knew she was making. They were utack. The Goddess of Magic was that close! She was ing with a forheard of, even in the Great War, mages could number up to a thousand per army, not this… How did Kassandora remain so calm? And she wasn’t raising shields immediately? She nning to shell them first? What?!

  “Is everything fine?” Kavaa asked. Oh. Kavaa was here too. Iniri had fotten.

  “Yes.” Iniri replied, her voice dazed and ft. “We’re about to be attacked by thirty thousand mages led by the Goddess of Magic, but yes. Everything is fine, Kass has it under trol.”