Fortia’s Might & Magic Doe relies too heavily on a Champion-Doe. I was correct back then, as were many who now I call family, that Champion-Doe would eventually e to a close as the great heroes of the past died, defeated by battle’s swift close or by time’s creeping crawl.

  I propose something irely. Tate Divinity to the supp role entirely, to have them serve as mere shock troopers and logistis. Wars are fually mortal affairs. Mortals should be the oo wage them. This radical philosophy has served three decades in global warfare now, its success is undisputable. To have scored victories against Divine Leona, Of Luck is an already immeasurable achievement.

  Thus I formalize it. A hilosophy that removes dependen Divinity. Wars will not be fought through the unreliable variability of might and the whims of magis. Wars will be fought through the sistency of steel, supported by sorcery.

  Excerpt from Goddess Kassandora, Of War’s, Art of Victory: The Steel & Sorcery War Doe. Written during the Great War.

  Kassandora watched Fortia’s spear disappear from the beaten sand of the desert. Kavaa turned back around to face the oning appear as Anassa hovered above. Bck helicopters made swathes of sand as they turilted and flew to either side of the camp, their pilots hearing Kassandora’s tune in their own heads. War’s bombastic orchestra that had gone silent for the instant Fortia threw her spear, and now returned with a rhythmic beat, great drums beat in the background to trumpets and trombohat pyed each of Kassandora’s pns.

  Tunes ged, came a as Kassandora thought of something and discarded it. Those attacks could be pleted. Fortia and Maisara were both strong, but nothi Anassa’s delusions of speed that maed into reality. Kassandave a silent and to Sokolowski, the order simply carrying itself through her blessing, the man turned on his heels immediately and ran off back to his a. Phone in hand, he checked up owo neighb divisions that had been called when Waeh was still alive.

  “Fifth infantry, we’ve covered a tenth of the way. Over.”

  “Sixth infantry, setting off. Over.” Kassandora heard the words through Sokolowski’s ears. She saw his tent and watched through his eyes and he unfurled a topographic map of the terrain. Kassandora fed him what lio draw as the man started w a red pen.

  Three ptoons of men burst from their defensive positions and ran to the front. The drums started to beat as Kassandora fed orders for artillery to start firing. That shield could be broken through Anassa, but it could be beaten and broken through sheer force. Throw enough toothpicks, and you will eventually get through the brick wall. One hundred a men sprinted across yellow sand under bright blue sky, ahead of them Fortia’s army took a step in the shadow of its shield, trails of napalm that had beeinguished made bck smears across that picturesque sky.

  Anassa blinked in position as Kassandora tracked the flight of her shells through watchers. Men raised their binocurs to peer at Fortia. The woman stopped as her troops started to circle around, the Goddess of Peace raised her spear like a javelin again, aimed straight at Kassandora. So it would be like this, only Anassa could parry a swing like that. If Anassa destroyed the shield, she would a half sed to recover, Fortia’s spear would cover the distan half that time.

  Anassa re-appeared h back over Kassandora’s frontline. Kassandora saw Fortia’s golden eyes go to her, then to Kassandora. She smiled and ged the spear throw to a stretd a yawn. Artillery shells impacted harmlessly against that risen yer of air and water and sand weaved into each other. And same as st time, the caught in bubbles of water. Deprived of oxygen, the napalm jelly went out and was thrown off.

  This required a ge of tactics. Engineers stood back as two dozen of the lemur artillery lowered their barrels, only a slight tilt downwards. The sand shook around them as their extended arms kept the guns from ripping apart the truck carriages. Tracked binturongs fired again, one slid as its arm snapped and a , the rest of the lemurs started firing in sequeheir turrets carried the lessons of the binturongs, they could sustaie of fire.

  Shells started exploding over Fortia’s shield every few seds. One here, ohere, another in the middle. Binturong shots whistled through the air and then engulfed the shield in fmes. And another single shot from a lemur. And another. Like a man forced to stand under dripping water, eventually each drop would feel like an anvil dropped on the head. That was the pn at least, and Fortia’s magis struggled to keep with the stant removals.

  The lemurs that ged firing a out a volley of napalm shells. Then another. A third, a fourth. Kassandora held fire ahe guns cool down as the first volley nded in the sand in front of Fortia’s army. A flood of fire submerged the o of sand before Fortia. Bck smoke drifted up and Kassandora ged positions. A few steps to the side. Just in case.

  Anassa flicked into position above the army. Helicopters higher up to give Kassandora vision. The crewmembers couldn’t see as well as the ground troops, nor could they see through that murky barrier of elements the mages had jured up. Kassandora tracked the test volley from the Binturongs, ted the seds down, and Anassa got the order.

  Anassa cpped her hands, sorcery fshed around her. Crimson discs emerged arouhen expanded forwards as quickly as lightning. As if an artist had decided to flick red paint onto a moving vas. They ploughed into the barrier. A hole opened. Another. A huwo hundred. A sed passed.

  Anassa blinked back as Kassandora heard a soni that sighe breaking of the sound barrier. The bck barrier of smoke from the napalm of ground was cleared by a perfect circle. Anassa reached out her hands, then stopped as Kassandora informed her she had moved. It had merely been a gut feeling, but the sheer force of the wind almost knocked her over as Fortia’s spear pierced perfectly through the location she had stood. Several men irenches were knocked off their feet and shouted in panic as the wind threw them up. Kavaa’s Clerics got to the duties of healing.

  Kassandora did not even turn, she moved again, a few steps in another dire as that hole in the barrier of bck smoke cleared up. She watched through the eyes of the crew ihe helicopters as the mages tried to reform barriers. Not fast enough. The binturong volley made taside. Mehrown in the air, bodies were broken, magi and gold-bronze guardian and silver-steel cd padin perished in the explosions and the burning fmes.

  And then, through the eyes of the crew, Kassandora saw the glint of gold. She heard another boom and her visio dark. Kassandora watched one of the helicopters crumple up as if someone had caught it on a fishing li jerked awkwardly up and exploded. A beam of fire followed by rocks was shot at another of Kassandora’s flying eyes.

  Anassa stopped this one. Her guitar roared through Kassandora’s orchestra again, out of tune and terrible, as two of her appeared and Kassandora closed her eyes. Seeing through the gazes of her troops was like naturally switg cameras, as if flig through a s. Seeing through the eyes of Anassa was looking through ohat was two. She always felt sick whenever Anassa did that.

  Anassa snapped her fingers, the fire ut out as if was here. The rocks harmlessly dropped into the fmes below and there was another soni. Not the spear this time. Kassandora held her breath as she tracked Maisara through the air, heading straight to Anassa.

  And this is why she had to link with her sister. A word would have been too slow, a thought wouldn’t cut it. Kassandora moved her body on instinct, simply twisted her chest. Anassa moved in the same way, Maisara’s axe slid through the air. It would have severed Anassa in two if Kassandora hadn’t beeo watch.

  Maisara flew through the air in her dull armour, she stopped her spin through man her axe and Kassandora sighed. That was a good move, Order’s Executioner would o be assigned a Divine or else she would rampage unstopped through Kassandora’s ranks. She flew over the camp as Kassandave an order. “Anassa, break free, take care of her.” She only thought the words, but they appeared in the choir that pyed through War’s Orchestra.

  “With pleasure.” And a sed choir came in to answer. Anassa’s guitar faded away as the Goddess of Sorcery, in her red dress, gave chase to the line of silver.

  Maisara extended her axe to trol the spin. Her eyes sed through Kassandora’s army beh her. Fortia had just thrown her, it was a cssic tactic. Kassandora should have predicted it, or maybe she simply had nothing up her sleeve.

  Her ears caught the deafening booms of ons and her eyes turhat was the target. If those drums were silehen the army could ramp up the speed. They didn’t even have to be destroyed, Maisara would just o sughter the crews.

  She tilted her axe up, caught the wind, ged diremediately, and smmed through a truck with a ounted on its back.

  Anassa took a deep breath as she felt Kassandora’s will leave her. Without little Kassie’s music, the battlefield seemed almost quiet. The din of artillery in the distahe lockstep march of boots nearing them, the burning fmes. Kassandora’s army biding their time, waiting to be given permission to fire. It was almost… dull.

  She took a step. Kassie pined about managing her, but Anassa khat Kassie actually loved it. Or at least, Anassa thought she did. She appeared in the middle of the camp, close to where Sokolowski had parked his artillery. Sixty lemurs apparently, Anassa had seen them shoot now. Certainly more impressive than the ons of the past, but how much stronger were they really? They couldn’t evehrough a dismal shield like that.

  And she saw Maisara in the middle of them, her armour charred and scratched by fmes. She stood on the wreckage of one vehicle that had been perfectly severed in two. The massive barrel now y harmlessly in the sand. “Oh Maisara!” Anassa cooed and took aep into the air. She enjoyed fighting, but she erampling little is far more. Disd bdes appeared around her.

  Maisara could not fly. Maisara had no magic. Maisara only had her Divine Might within her. Maisara was like Fer. But Maisara was nothing like Fer, because Anassa loved Fer, and Anassa did not love Maisara. It was as simple as that.

  Anassa snapped her fingers as Kassandora’s soldiers received their ands. No doubt little Kassie aying attention, and no doubt squads would be assigned. Already the crews were arming themselves with pistol and rifle. Disembarking from their vehicles, Kassandora always said that the men o be traihe guns could simply be re-built.

  The drums in Kassandora’s orchestra stopped, and so did the shield above Fortia’s army. It moved to the front and they began to run. Very smart Fortia, very smart indeed. At this rate, it would only be a matter of minutes. No doubt Maisara had blessed them with her strength. Kassandora stood and waited as her troops rearrahemselves. Heavy guns were pulled back deeper into the camp, the front trenches were left with a mere skeleton crew, and men formed line over line instead of a single solid wall.

  Anassa snapped her fingers. The ground around Maisara disappeared, repced by a drawing of crimson spikes. Maisara jumped into the air, her axe shattered the sorcery. Anassa snapped her fingers again. A sword came down, thin and opaque and aimed for Maisara’s back. The Goddess of Order spun again, her axe hit a piece of the lemur and she let go of it, ung herself forwards and towards another vehicle.

  Anassa snapped her fingers again. What an annoying little Goddess Maisara was. Delicious to aent, prey that fought back were always more fun than prey which did not, but annoying he-less. A disc appeared by Anassa, another and another and they all unched forwards. Maisara’s axe rematerialized in her hands, she cut through another vehicle and dodged low to the ground.

  Anassa snapped her fingers again. What a fast little bug indeed. Another Anassa appeared. A third. A fourth. A dozen. Maisara wao py? Let her py. Every ination of Anassa focused their sorceries onto the Goddess of Order, bde and beam and spike and d wave of red drawings crashed down upon her. Maisara turned and twisted and parried all of them. One scrat that silver armour. Su attack, and all Anassa had achieved was one scratch.

  And Maisara swung her axe, let go of it, a it spinning towards one of the Anassas. The Goddess of Sorcery merely disappeared, blinked away as another Anassa tracked Maisara’s movements. Under a vehicle, then through it. Anassa saw the opening. Going for a kill would be difficult, much better to simply injure. Maisara took a step and Anassa waved her palm.

  The ground where Maisara was about to step turned and twisted shot upwards as a sword of crimson shot from the sand. And somehow, beyond all belief, Maisara spun, her leg pulling up immediately as she pirouetted through the air. She actually had the gall to kick off the bde and into another vehicle. That huge executioner’s axe re-appeared in her hands and she smmed into the vehicle. Cutting it into two.

  Anassa clicked her tongue. What a damn fly. She attacked and Maisara dodged. Maisara would throw her axe up, and Anassa would blink away, and so it went. For how long, Anassa lost track of as she focused everything on the Goddess of Order.

  Maisara heard Fortia’s warhorn. Enough time had been bought. The charge began. Anassa could be defeated, but there was no point risking her life alone when she could do it easily with Fortia by her side.

  Kassandora cooked in rage as she signalled Sokolowski. Half an hour on fifth division, forty minutes on sixth. She looked back at Fortia’s army as Anassa fought with Maisara in the rear of the camp. As they closed the distahe shield ploughed through fme and pushed sand up. Mages lifted into the air, minor Diviook to the field. And the barrier shield, just before it smmed into Kassandora’s army, disappeared.

  Anyone else would have hesitated. It was too fleeting a moment for words to even be said. But Kassandora’s army moved to the tune of her musid they opened fire immediately. A hail of lead cut through the ranks of Guardians and Padins.

  Kassandora pulled Joyeuse out of the sand and took to the field.