When I select a man to be a general, I do not look for skills or what the man already do. Everything that is needed already be taught. I look for traits of character. The best generals are those who are intelligent, disciplined yet zy. These are the men who will see a solution to a problem, try to reason it out, and then simply start doing it so they get back to their rest. The worst of the lot are those who are stupid, disciplined and endlessly w. A man like that serves as a punishment to the unit he is put in charge of. That sort of leadership does nothing but immediately ence rebellion in the lower ranks.

  In this regard, intelligend drive serve as defining factors. Intelligent men who are driven frequently desd into spirals of analysis paralysis. Stupid men who are driven will frequently make others pay for their mistakes. Driven men will frequently over-exert their authority and try to miahe lives of their men, with intelligence making this even worse. A smart man who stantly monitors others is the most hated.

  - Excerpt from “The Modern War”, by Goddess Kassandora, Of War.

  Olonia was not hard to get a hold of. That would have to ge, if Iliyal mao find her without any sort of assistance from ahen Fortia and Maisara would be able to do it twice as fast. Lubskan news had started rep her victories. Grand victories they were, the Goddess was st into Padin castles, taking a day or two to quer them, and then moving on to the one. Maisara’s massive army in the south-east was simply being ignored. Most likely there was a reason for that, most likely the reasoning was simply an intellectual cover for the Lubskan’s own fear.

  Iliyal looked over at the mismatched array of tents from the crest of his hill and sighed. What a disaster of a camp, it would even put Fer’s beastmen to shame with its tardiness. The tents were id out in a dht disgusting manner, with no form or thought to them, simply put up as men had stood. There was ral path like in Kassandora’s youts, there was no clustering around like in Fer’s, there was nid grid that maximized flow of troops like in Fortia’s. Even Anassa was better, since she would force everyoo sleep in as tight a spot as possible so that they could all be watched over at the same time.

  Iliyal brought the binocurs up to his eyes and watched the camp, just by estimation, there were some thousand men here. Olonia was sitting by a campfire, talking to several of her soldiers. The elf smiled to himself in satisfa, just as he had told her to, she was indeed using a straight-sword. Her armour was gleaming, dented in a few others. That was expected too, she would be making mistakes this early on. Ones from inexperiend others from overfidehe soldiers around her showed off why the camp was in a state of plete chaos.

  A few walked around shirtless, others in shirts, a few in thick sweaters. Everyone wore bck reen or dark blue, with uniform iween them. Some in shorts, others in trousers, two men were sitting down, warming their bare legs by a campfire, dressed only in shirts and boxers and that was it. Maybe someone else would have gotten infuriated, but Iliyal merely stood and watched. There was nothing infuriating about it, it was akin to watg a band of children rolepy as soldiers. A few of the men were carrying their rifles about, others had their guns ying by their side, one of the campfires had a rack, half filled with rifles. Frankly, it was rather sweet. Imitation was the highest form of fttery, as they said.

  Now that Olonia had been found though, there was no time to waste. Iliyal put the binocurs bad got onto the motorbike he was using to chase after the Goddess’s army. It was the cheapest off-roader Iliyal could find that did not look as if it was going to fall apart. He still preferred the horses of the past, those were taller aemperamental, but the motorbike was an undeniable upgrade. Its speed put the horse to shame, and it could drive for as long as it had fuel, unlike a horse.

  So whilst it was loud and annoying, and the ignition switch had to be twisted a dozen times for the bike to actually get moving, Iliyal got on and started to drive. The roads of southern Lubska did not lend him any favours, with more potholes than not, and the tarmac being a rough stony sort rather than the smooth asphalt seen on more frequented roads. The ers were sharp but there was a certain freedom in it. Iliyal felt the wind go past his ears as he turned.

  He drove quickly and came to a stop at the edge of the camp. A few men looked at him curiously. One fiddled with his rifle, but no one said anything. Iliyal supposed none of them would, he wasn’t dressed like a Padin, and one elf was no threat to any camp of a thousand men. “I have e to talk to Goddess Olonia, of Lubska.” Iliyal shouted at them as he kicked the leg on the ugly motorbike down. The men shared looks between themselves, Iliyal had lived for long enough the traces of disagreement before they started to grow into denials. “On behalf of Goddess Kassandora, of War.” Iliyal said and the men’s expressions all ged immediately. “I am Iliyal Tremali.” That should be enough, as much as the elf hated dropping hey were good ammunition to keep loaded.

  “You?” One of the men said. His hair cut long, in a pale shirt half unbuttoned. And shorts. Terrible. No discipline whatsoever. Iliyal shrugged.

  “Me.” Iliyal said. “If Olonia does nnize me, then you’re wele to shoot me.” There was o feign fidence here, Olonia would reize him.

  “It’s Goddess Olonia.” One of the men said.

  “Goddess Olonia.” Iliyal corrected himself. There was no reason to waste time with snarky replies here. “Apologies.” The man sighed and stood up.

  “She will reize you?” The soldier said. Two more stood up.

  “As I said, put a bullet in my head if she doesn’t.” Iliyal answered back. “But it is urgent, and Goddess Kassandora is not oo be made to wait.” These men may have never been lead by her, but they would know of Kassandora, who mao defeat the ehey were fighting against now with far less than they had already.

  So the three men lead Iliyal through the camp. They didn’t ask for his ons, but they made sure to keep their own ready in their hands. That, he supposed could pass, but only because it was him. Anyone else, they should secure and disarm first. He got a few curious looks from soldiers sitting on logs and stumps and foldable chairs or just the ground as they all huddled around campfires and shared stories, but that was it. The elf made sure to keep his annoyance silent, but this is why camps should have tral roads, because this winding nature of this route must have easily doubled the time it took for them to get to Olonia.

  The Goddess of Lubska was sitting on a log, in the armour that Iliyal had seen through the binocurs, and talking with some of her soldiers. A campfire burned in front of her, as with no pattern to their stru surrouhem. Iliyal watched the woman talk easily to men that only reached up to her chest, evehey were all sitting and started makial his was more akin to Fer’s and Kavaa’s leadership styles, rather than Fortia’s and Kassandora’s. That was fine, everyoroops in their own way, trouble only came about if he would try and force Olonia to treat men in the way he did. The Goddess of Lubska tur the newers. Blue eyes framed by a pale fad snow-white hair met Iliyal’s green and Olonia smiled. “Iliyal!” She shouted.

  The elf stepped away from the three men who led him here. He didn’t say a word to them, there was o. He wasn’t Anassa, who took pleasure in kig people as they were down. “Olonia.” Iliyal said, he supposed going straight to business would be bad with this girl. “I see you’re well.”

  Olonia ughed. “As well as I be with everything going on.”

  “That’s good to hear.” Iliyal said. That was enough small talk for him. “I’ve e due to the war.”

  “Straight to busihen?” Olonia asked.

  “I’d prefer not wasting time for now.” Iliyal replied. “But you need help.”

  “I would appreciate the advice of one of Kassandora’s generals.” Olonia said happily. The men around her looked at Iliyal in awe. Evehree who had brought him here now made sorry faces of apology to him. Olonia had unwittingly given him an opening to lead the versation dowh he wao. Iliyal seized the opportunity immediately.

  “I have e precisely for that.” The elf began. “And it is that there is nothing to do for me right now, the issue is with how your military is structured in the first pce.”

  “Excuse me?” Olonia said.

  “It is that you have to take and of the situation yourself.” Iliyal said.

  “What?”

  Iliyal repeated himself in the same tone he used as wheraihe Goddess in fighting with a bde. “You have to take and of the situation yourself Olonia. The way your war is structured right now ot tinue.”

  “I have to?”

  “You are the Goddess of this try. The highest authority lies with you.” Iliyal made sure to keep his tone hard. “And it is me too, I will not deal with running orders by politis or having to ao men who have never held a rifle if you wish my help. I will work with you Olonia, I will nue with men in suits however.” There, the ultimatum was set. Olonia always responded well to ultimatums.

  “Well…” Olonia said. She looked down at herself. She looked at Iliyal. There it was, that was the quiet and shy Goddess of Lubska had seen the first time they had met. That was the part within Olonia that the woman had to sughter if she wao survive for any amount of time. “I..”

  “Jozef is not leading the armies.” Iliyal said, he supposed some rationalization would be good. An example that Olonia could follow, people always loved to folloles after all. “This is like with Arascus and Goddess Kassandora. The God of Pride is in charge, but he lets Goddess Kassandora do as she sees fit. The war is her demesne.”

  “But that’s…” Olonia trailed off. “I mean… I’m not Ka…” She looked up at Iliyal nervously. “I’m not Goddess Kassandora, am I? It’s not my decision to make.” Iliyal made sure not to roll his eyes at the sheer childishness of this situation. The woman was serving as the figurehead of this war, and she still went to others to let them make decisions? The whole purpose of being a war’s figurehead was that the people followed you and not the men in the capital.

  “Olonia.” Iliyal made his tone hard, Olonia had reacted to this sort of positively before after all. “You are leading this war. Whatever Jozef says, he is not in the frontlines, is he?” Iliyal looked around at the men. This was about to be an underhanded move but Olonia had opened herself up for it by wanting to talk here. These men were her soldiers, they weren’t her friends. “Frankly.” Iliyal turned away from Olonia and made sure to sweep his gaze over the Lubskan soldiers. A crowd had formed, as men looked on curiously at this elf who had waltzed in straight to their Goddess. “Every single one of you here is more qualified to lead this war than president Jozef!” Iliyal shouted.

  He got a few smiles and a solitary cheer for that. It was a small rea, but the positivity meant he had found the spark, now it was simply a manner of dousing it in fuel. “Where is Jozef?” Iliyal shouted to the men. “Where is he? How many of Maisara’s fortresses have you stormed already? How many men have died at the hands of Padins? Do you think Jozef will die? Do you think that even if you lose, anything will happen to him? The worst that Fortia will do is sentence him to prison! Exile him off to some tropical isnd as punishment!” That was a total lie. Both Fortia and Maisara were generous with their executions, but Iliyal was the only person here who knew what Fortia and Maisara were truly like.

  And the men cheered. Iliyal turo Olonia, she was the leader here, no man would y cim to her position, but she simply needed a push to get moving. “Olonia.” Iliyal said. “You are losing right now. Maisara is moving through Epa, she will not be slowed by these small victories you have. Every day you spend wasting your time on this is another day that Maisara drives deeper into Lubska.” Iliyal felt the mood of the soldiers around him go sombre. So he had gooo hard, these men were still fresh and inexperiehey weren’t proper soldiers; they were still children. They ories of hope and love and heroism to get them into bat.

  “And what are you doing here? Whilst the East of your try falls, you go around pying whack-a-mole with these fortresses? For urpose? So that you enrage Maisara even more before she gets to you? Are you children? Or are you men? Who have enlisted to defend your nds and your families. Are you here to fight fht-seeing ndmarks or are you here to fight for the freedom of your eion?” And that got signifitly more cheers. Iliyal saw Olonia’s face, it was a timid dread, the sort that said she knew she had to step, but that she could not do it.

  “Olonia.” Iliyal said. “You are the leader of this army. I will help you, just as I helped you train your martial ability, I will now train yhting skill. I have fought against Maisara and Fortia in the Great War. If there is anyone who do this, then it is me.” Iliyal let the silence hang for a moment so that the woman could absorb his words. “But the first step has to e from you. You stay here, as you have been, on the sidelines, getting anded by Wissel and Artois.” Iliyal specifically made sure to avoid Jozef, it was far more offeo say that leaders of fn nations were anding you. “Or you take the reigns of this war and lead it yourself.”

  “I…” Olonia made a timid wain. Iliyal had thought that the training made her more fident, but he supposed it must have only raised her self-opinion about her fighting ability, not her skill in strategy.

  “Olonia. Lubska will fall. Epa will fall. The Coalition will be defeated if you let the politis bae run the war on the front.” Iliyal looked into those blue eyes of hers. “This is your choice Olonia. I ot promise you victory just because you take and, but I promise you defeat if you do not.”

  “You…” Olonia said from that log. The entire camp, all the men had fallen silent. The only sound that was left was the crag of logs in the campfires. “Will you help?” She asked.

  “Why would I be here if I wasn’t prepared to help?” Iliyal said and Olonia smiled. “But this is your try, it is your decision.”

  The Goddess of Lubska stood up, she looked down at Iliyal. She tilted her head forwards and she nodded. “You are correct.” Olonia said. “Lubska is my nd and I will lead it into war.” Iliyal tained his smile as the men around him cheered at Olonia’s procmation. This had indeed been the easier route to go down. Wissel would have taken at least a month to grant him and of the Coalition’s armies, Goddess Kassandora had given him a week, and he had do in two days.