Arascus looked at his finished articles. Mam could e up with somethier no doubt, but he was quite happy with them himself, quite proud in fact: “Kirinyaa has a (Military) Problem”, “Yes, We Won, Now What?” and “Let’s Talk about the Boys with Guns.” Frankly, Kassandora would have it easy.

  Kavaa didn’t know why she had e. She didn’t ask Kassandora, but Iliyal had requested thirty of Clerics to be brought into Epa. She really did not o go but then again, the position of Chief Logisti had little to do iermath of a war. The biggest ge to tral Requisitions was that it was being reo iive Kirinyaan to Mti Ushindi wa Kwanza. That was hard to say though, so CR it was. The Clerics would be arriving ter, in aransport, Raptor One was carrying the main package.

  Iliyal Tremali, Fer, and Kavaa. Fer, in was excitedly tapping her foot as Iliyal sat there, straight backed and merely thinking. He was worse than Kassandora, at least she preteo care. The elf had more in on with maes than with men. Is that what Kassandora’s blessing turned people into? Too many notes of War’s Orchestra and suddenly all they could think about was the job itself and nothing else. It wasn’t that she even mihe man, he wasn’t annoying, he was simply… there was something wrong with him. And it wasn’t an illness her healing could fix either.

  “You really did not have to e.” Iliyal finally opened his mouth as the steel of Raptor Oarted to turn. This had ged too, the rear had given up half its size for the ammunition rooms. That was it though, the seats were still unfortable pieces of steel and if they had brought on more people then someone would have to stand and hold on to the steel poles that shot from the floor to the ceiling. Even the lights had not been ged, still the faint blinkihat sighe engine was turned on.

  “It will be good to give them a sparring partner on their level for the first few days.” Kavaa said. The war had taught her how to deal with Kassandora’s soldiers. She had segregated them into two groups, the grunts would follow whatever order she said because she art of the hierarchy. The officers teically ranked with her, so they needed a reason. Argumentation: calls to respect her Divinity, moralising or hoping for empathy all slid off them like droplets of water. But one reason and they’d see sense. Iliyal crossed his arms and sighed. Kavaa smiled in satisfa to herself, there it was. One reason and he saw sense.

  “I’m going to be busy then.” Iliyal said. “I’ll stay the first day, but if you’re here, you hahe training.”

  “What are you going to be doing?”

  “I have a grandson to visit.” Iliyal said and Kavaa stared at the elf’s cold green eyes. In his uniform, parachute strapped to him and with that gre, it was impossible to get a read on him. She supposed he would miss Iliyal, but she also doubted the elf had even an inkling of the seality o go visit a family member for the simple sake of family.

  “I won’t stop you.” Kavaa said. The elf nodded, readjusted his posture from straight thter, and closed his eyes.

  “I want to meet these new girls.” Fer said excitedly. She had to lower her head to not brush her tall ears every time the captain made an adjustment.

  “They’re nothing impressive.” Iliyal said. Oh! Great! So he spoke to Fer? He turo Kavaa as if readihoughts. “I assume you could take on all five at once.” Kavaa raised an eyebrow a her lips quirk into a smile. If there was ohing people rarely plemented, it was her fighting skill. She was useful in battle, but that was through the merit of her Blessing of Health. She herself though? She merely knew how to swing a sword around.

  “Don’t put them down so badly.” Kavaa said.

  “You’ll know what I mean when you meet them.” Iliyal said, he took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and smiled. “Actually, it’s good that you came.”

  “Oh so now you want me here?” Kavaa said.

  “You’re not bad at all.” Fer added from the side.

  “ush them further with your healing.” Iliyal said with a sigh. “I don’t like teag bat.”

  “I don’t buy that.” Fer said.

  “Isn’t Fer for that?” Kavaa asked. Fer proudly sat up, bumped her head, then lowered her pain. “And you’re for tactid leadership.”

  “Even worse.” Iliyal said.

  “Old.” Fer said. Iliyal merely smiled, eyes still closed and arms crossed over his chest.

  “Too old.” He agreed and Fer rolled her eyes.

  “And miserable.”

  “Just tent.”

  “And b.”

  “Already had my fill of excitement.”

  “Alcoholic.”

  “I don’t drink too much.”

  “Annoying.”

  “’t argue with that.” Iliyal said and Fer sighed.

  “And horribly, horribly calm.” She said.

  “The new girls will be more than enough excitement for you.” Iliyal replied calmly and Fer dropped her head. She let out a huge sigh, and swung it from side to side. She looked up and spoke, the tail popping out from under her skirt settled on the ground as she took a breath.

  “Kassie is a factory that take anyone ahem into that Kavaa.” She shook her head as Iliyal smiled proudly. “Don’t ever let her.” Kavaa only smiled. She wasn’t as extreme as Iliyal, but his existence wasn’t as offeo her as it was to Fer. The pne swerved again, sharper this time. The three passengers held onto the steels posts arrahrough the passenger bay and the radio speaker crackled with static.

  “This is Captain Dougs speaking. We’re over the Erdely mountains now.” He said. “Opening doors, thank you for flying Doug-Air.” The crag cut off, then cut ba. “Fer, I still have the Misfortune picture.” The Goddess of Beasthood burst out in ughter and gave him a few cps. Dougs’ ughter echoed hers through the speaker. “Pleasure to have you on board. Call if you need pickup.”

  “What’s Misfortune?” Kavaa asked the two. Iliyal opened his eyes, looked at Fer, then answered the question.

  “The Leona pn.” He said ftly.

  “Oh.” Kavaa replied, she… she didn’t know what to say about that. She liked Leona, but everyone liked Leona. There was, or had been, nothing unpleasant about the woman. She wondered how differently the Pantheon Peacekeeping operation would have turned out if Leona was alive. They would still… would they have won? Was it possible to battle against omnist and omnipotent luck? It must be, Neneria had killed her after all. There was no time to start a plex line of logic. Pistons hissed, valves turned and the rear door started to slide open.

  Kavaa turo look as Fer and Iliyal both stood up. The Erdely region, south of Lubska. Even now, it ractically an autonomous zohin its host nation of Dakia. During the Great War, it ractically owned by Fer’s war-herds, no other army had the skill, the endurahe will or the talent to cross these a forests. Fer’s war-herds and Anassa’s sorcerous. Kassandora had mao add two decades to the war simply because of the sheer impassibility of this region. After, Maisara had po settle it. Dakia didn’t have the popution at, then Alsaria had instituted the Pantheon Decrees, and Maisara’s pn had shattered.

  And so, Kavaa looked out onto the great Erdely woodnds. Pristine and untouched, west of Karaina, it was the st true wild woodnds left in Epa. Mountains stretched all along the western horizon and other than that, it was a sea of dark iferous green. As far as the eyes could see, the trees stretched on for hundreds of miles, they crawled into valleys and the scaled mountains until there was no dirt left to grab hold of. Untouched, with streams and rivers, and with stars above, although those were quickly retreating in the ing dawn.

  Fer went first, she patted Kavaa on the shoulder, stepped to the edge and turned. After spending so much time with Fer tely, Kavaa had grown almost aced to the woman’s antics. The cute smiles, the sweet faces, the kitten eyes. And it was moments like this that reminded her who Fer really was. She stood there, red eyes glowing as she downed a vial of Kavaa’s blood. Her eyes started to grow a vicious yellow, her skin shed hair, then regrew it, her perfect teeth turo fangs and she stood here, wind whipping about in the wind. She turned, gave it another, her ears bounced, she gave them a rge smile, a thumbs up, and she stepped backwards out of the pne.

  And Iliyal ran past Kavaa, he didn’t even say anything, he simply ran off the edge. Kavaa took a deep breath, took a step to the edge. There was a first time for everything after all. She let herself fall.

  The first thing was the view. The rising Suhe western mountain, the o of pirees, the dark sky retreating against the day’s vivid blue. The sed was Iliyal opening his parachute. Far below her, he had put his arms close to his body and shot down like an arrow. The third was Fer. A Divieorite falling down, Kavaa would have assumed bestial rage, a scream of joyous excitement, her arms filing around. There was none of that. She was divi first as if she had dohis a thousand times already. Fer spanned into a tree, a cloud of dust and pines went up. The fourth was a small trail in the distance, rising from the trees, an obvious campfire. That’s where Olonia and her friends would be.

  And Kavaa opened her parachute, she felt her body lurch back, her legs swing, her silver-grey settled down, still carried by the wind but no longer whipping about her head. She looked around, she sighed, she smiled, she ehe breath-taking view.

  And as Kavaa fell, she realised an issue. Iliyal had expihe basics to her, although it was as basic as it got. Which strap to pull to release the parachute, which strap to pull in case the first one failed. Then he had merely sighed. ‘At the end of the day Kavaa, you’re a Divine. Of Health, will a little even kill you?’ Well now she was looking at those approag trees, she kicked her legs, she didn’t know what Iliyal did, he must have had some stupid trick prepared for this.

  When Kavaa hit the brahe only feeling she could call upon was a cavalry charge upon lowered pikes. Branches cut and caught her, if wasn’t wearing her armour, she would caught a branch through her chest. A rope from the parachute caught her arm. Why was she even holding onto the other? That strap tightened around her wrist as Kavaa’s vision was ed by leaves.

  Leaves, leaves, branches, leaves and then the forest floor. A fox ran away from her. And theopped falling, her legs off the ground. She kicked them, swung forwards, swung backwards, hit a tree, and decided not to kiymore. She looked up, tested the ropes. Fer would break them, Fer didn’t hem in the first pce, would Kassie? Kassie had her armour, she could just summon to cut through it. She tested her strength. She had seen this straps lift Binturongs out of mud and when tightened like this, what could she do? Alone, she would tear her hands off ahem ba the ground. But that was an all or nothing situation. Now though? She sighed and supposed she could wait for Fer.

  Fer never came. It was Iliyal Tremali instead, marg in straight backed as if he was on parade, one hand on his bde, the other swinging about with each step. A light cape flowing off his back, the man’s trousers had oiny cut on the calf. That was it. “HOW THE FUCK DID YOU LAND?!” Kavaa shouted. Iliyal looked up at her with a tent smile. He actually shrugged at her! Who did this mortal think he was?

  “You learn how to do it when you have to.” He said. Then looked around, then at her. “Are you stuck?”

  “Do I look stuck?” Iliyal smiled and turned around.

  “I guess not.”

  “YOU FUCK! I AM STUCK!” Kavaa shouted and Iliyal chuckled. He sighed.

  “I know logistics is bad.” He said as he pulled out his pistol. “But you’ve grown a real doctor’s tongue.”

  “I AM A DOCTOR!” Kavaa shouted. Iliyal rolled his eyes as he aimed the gun above her and pulled the trigger. Even more annoying thaing stuck was that the man mao cut the strap on the first shot. One arm freed, Kavaa grit her teeth as she felt her other hand take the weight. She calmed herself down though, it wasn’t bad for a first attempt. Helenna or Iniri had never skydived before anyway, and she doubted they’d be brave enough to do it into a forest. “And the other?” She said, Iliyal looked up at her and patted his sword. Kavaa looked down at her sheathed bde and then back at him. Could she free herself? Of course! Would she? “Iliyal, just shot it.” He sighed and shook his head.

  “This is a wasting of ammunition.” He said.

  “Do I care?”

  “Well her do I.” Iliyal pulled the trigger. The other band snapped and Kavaa fell to the ground.

  “Thanks.” She said as her healing worked the skin and torn muscles, it hurt, but it wasn’t an open wound. These generally were easy to fix.

  “Don’t worry about it.” Iliyal replied. He took a step and he sighed immediately.

  Fer appeared from behind a tree, a brown bear o her. She patted the animal on its head. “He doesn’t bite.” She said. “So don’t worry about it.”

  “Why?” Iliyal asked and Fer quirked a smile. It revealed her teeth.

  “I thought it’d be a funny joke.”