When night falls upon Arda,

  Do not lose hope,

  Darkness is stro before dawn,

  A no matter how strong our fear,

  The light always casts it away.

  - A on saying by priests of Alsaria

  The Imperial war-room was full, it was always full, the world of Arda was awash in war, the eternal night had e and it to the two-dozen souls in this chamber to ehat there would be no daybreak. A map of entire Arda domihe hexagonal table, that table domihe entire room, there were no chairs, windows or decorations. No fgs or heraldry of the Empire littered the walls, no carpet obsg the dark fgstohe only thing that could be ascribed to be décor was a few magical lights h in mid-air and the pi ets filled with relevant papers. The war-room was true to its was for war and nothing else.

  “Irinika has disappeared.” Siranius came to the war-room in his dark cloak, outlined in pulsating crimson runes of his own iion. A staff topped with the purest red heartstone, a pair of pitch-bck eyes with a gaze so intehey seemed to be able to gaze through one’s body straight into their soul. Could a man like that ever bring good news?

  “How?” Arascus stood there at the head of the table. Head and shoulders taller than everyone else in the room, a bck mane of hair that would put a lion to shame, one of the few men in the room who was uhe Emperor would not lower himself to bear arms.

  “We don’t know.”

  “Irinika disappeared.” The table lost all authority to Arascus’ utterance. “And you don’t how?” Had anyone heard their God actually shout out of anger? Certainly no one’s alive to tell the tale, the man never shouted, but his voice was as close to open rage as it could get. Everyone knew Irinika was the favourite.

  “She was supposed to arrive two days ago from the Kanaya Gap.” Siranius said. “Anassa, Baalka and Kassandora searched the pce, they’ve reported no signs of her.”

  “Irinika would not just disappear.”

  “If I may your majesty.” Ilfus spoke up, another human although of no such great raw power as Siranius. The man was old, with an intricate pale e he couldn’t do without and greying hair. Arguably, he was the seost important man in the room after the Emperor himself, it to Ilfus to make sure his lord’s Empire ran day-to-day. “It is Anassa we are talking about. She will be able to find the First Daughter.”

  “Aye, a Goddess ot just disappear.” Grundalf added. A dwarf, the rotund fellow led several armies who tried to hold against the realms uhe surface.

  “I think everyone agree on that.” Emari spoke up, an elven general and patriarch of the Tlerin house. The bck-haired man deserved a hundred medals, received a fair dozen and wore none over his simple coat. “If she was captured, we would know from our spies already, and although it’s not like Irinika to pull a stunt like this.”

  “She was returning through a shortcut! She shouldn’t be lost!” Illian now, a human general. A man of talent in warfare and not much else, he was even cursed with a horribly fettable face.

  “And do we know why she left her army to take the shortcut?” Emari replied. The room responded in silence.

  “We should seo iigate!” Ilfus shouted. “The soohe better.” The elf’s only response was a cool look. “I forward the motion to your majesty on-“

  “Denied.” Arascus’ single word was far more intimidating than any shout. Normally, the Emperor wouldn’t expin himself but leaving questions unanswered would leave men w on hypotheticals instead of the eight-decade long war. “If three of my daughters could not find her, what hope do men have?”

  The only response was silence. Emari finally cracked it.

  “I agree, and it doesn’t ge the fact we have a teroffensive breaking our lines in the Sassara desert.”

  The self-procimed God that is Arascus ot be pared to a crusade or some invading army. Even during our wars, we held a code of honour, he better be pared to a natural disaster or a disease; fitting the supposed “Goddess” of illness is his creation. Our differences are many, but there e times whey grudges over religion and ideas are insuffit to keep us divided. The destru of your world will result in the destru of mine. I, Emperor Leonifer, accept your proposition to the formation of the Sed Coalition.

  The Thirteen Layers of Tartarus stand with Arda.

  “How bad is it?” Irithron said. A rotund dwarf who was only here to repce the te Lord Yril Harkan. The man had been mobbed and torn to pieces by a hungry crowd.

  “The Southern Front has colpsed.” Siranius almost seemed to revel in the crag tension his words caused. “The Army there has been wiped out.”

  “Sixth army? Seventh? Whie?” Irithron apparently didn’t uand what colpsed meant.

  “All of them.”

  “All?” The dwarf was dense indeed.

  “Sixth, Seventh, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth.” Emari added in a ical fashion, he could have been talking about particurly mild weather. “One of Fer’s herds is in the area but I don’t give them long.”

  “That’s…” Finally the dwarf gave up.

  “How?” Arascus asked.

  “Fortia led a force directly.” The elf expined, long ago it was a joke that the Goddess of Peace was exceptionally tale warfare. Not anymore. “She tht through the Sixth, we have minimal survivors from that. She pulled further into the desert after that, cut off the supply routes going along the Karrokai river. They intercepted our shipments.” The audience lit in the middle, half looking uhe others might as well have heard their mothers just died. Emari only shrugged, his face rivalling Arascus’ in its ess. “Troops don’t st long without food, and the Sassara isn’t a pce you sge in.”

  “What about the herd?” Arascus said. Emari o Jur, the beastmen at the end of the table. A tremendous fellow with a thick hide and a goat’s head, his teeth all rown and twisting out of his maw.

  “It’s a small ohere was nothing else to say.

  “The northern front is rep a terattack too.” Siranius absolutely loved voig doom and gloom. Of course he had to tihere’s sightings of Goddesses there too. Kavaa healing is firmed to be there, but there’s two more uified.”

  “ they hold?” Someone asked.

  “A month if we are lucky.”

  “We’re not.”

  “Then they’ve already fallen.”

  Mikanglo has accepted Leonifer’s joining into the Coalition. Paraideisius, Tartarus and Arda stand united for the first time in history. With the Underworld’s limitless troops, we will kill this threat to our three realms.

  The man is a God. He ot be killed.

  No

  Excuse me?

  His existence is suspected to be an Abstract, he will reform soon and then we’ll have this trouble all ain.

  What do you suggest then?

  Capture and trap him. Lock him away for eternity.

  “e in.” Arascus said as he stood on the baly from his room. This was Rhomaion, the capital of the White Pantheon a long time ago, now it was the beati of his new Empire. It sprawled to the horizon and further beyond.

  “We’re losing.” Siranius said as he stepped into the room of the te Emperor.

  “That we are.”

  “I have a proposition.”

  “What?”

  “About the future.”

  “Get to it.” Arascus hurried Siranius along, the man usually wouldn’t take this long.

  “I want your permission to dismantle my Order.”

  “And do what with it?”

  “We have untable texts, research that would prove deadly if it falls into the White Pantheon’s hands.”

  “Much good it’s done us.” Arascus said.

  “In this war, it has not.” Siranius responded quickly. “But the …”

  “I like the optimism.”

  “Alsaria nor Zerus are not strong enough to kill you, even together.”

  “Leonifer and Mikanglo together could.”

  “Likewise, you could kill them.”

  “Not if they are together.” Arascus sighed and dropped the issue. “So what are you suggesting Siranius? For me to flee?”

  “No, without you, our Empire is finished.”

  “So?”

  “We ime. Send the Daughters into exile, I will scatter my works around the world. Fer’s warherds o send their darkfurs into the wilds to repopute. The nobles should retreat, the elves should hide to prepare for you again. The war has to be ged from one of quest to one of stalling.”

  “And then what? We’ve beeed ohey’ll be able to do it again.”

  “We were unprepared.”

  The two men stared across the city in total silence.

  “Where will you hide them?” Arascus finally asked.

  “I don’t know.” Brutally ho as always.

  White Pantheon Pegasus cavalry is ing in from the North sir.

  How many?

  About five hundred.

  When will they get here?

  About three mi their current rate.

  Thanks for the notice.

  What should we do?

  Is there anything we do?

  “We’ve lost Tourai.” Arascus broke the silen the War Room. Siranius was away scattering the mages to the furthest ers of Arda. No o Emari knew about the ge in pns.

  “How could we lose Tourai?” It was a miracle Irithron somehow survived the week. Two assassins he felled. Two! Sometimes Arascus wished the White Pantheon was better at their job.

  “The ground opened behind them. One of Leonifer’s armies cut off reinforts. They were surrounded, an arch-demht dowes.” A general said. General only in he fellow was just here to repother rept.

  “So what do we do now?” Irithron asked.

  “The White Pantheon is two months from Rhomaion.” Arascus said. “We will prepare for a siege.”

  Leonifer backs us on the capture pn.

  The demon knows sense when he sees it.

  Aye, and we all know about the demon’s assimition abilities. He ot be allowed to set foot near Arascus. Joining the two of them would create a monster far worse than what we are fag now… and I’m not certain Leonifer’s mind would not be devoured by the madman.

  I’d prefer for you not to join us either Grand Angel.

  Don’t get overfident Zerus.

  All of my Pantheon but Leona will be there. We overpower him together.

  Are you sure?

  I almost equal him.

  And if he has his daughters?

  Irinika is gone. Baalka, Anassa and Kassondora will not be a problem. He will not fight alongside Olephia, that girl is a dao everyone around her. Neneria will do what? We are immuo her soulmancy. Mam? Please. Fer is the only danger and two against fourteen is still advantageous to us.

  You’re overfident.

  We’ve won already. It’s better for us to do it alone anyway.

  Why?

  Arda o show she fend for herself. She needs some of her own pride untainted by Arascus.

  “Fer.” Arascus watched his daughter as they ate. A soup for him, raw meat for her, some deer she caught.

  “Yes Father.” Fer said, blood running down her beautiful face. Dark brown fur as rugged as a lion’s mane framed golden cat-eyes. She was the tallest of the daughters, stro physically although those eyes preteo hold intelligehat exceeded her. She wasn’t slow by any means, but her mind was held back by an animalistic sort of honour. If there wasn’t a direct corretion to pack-politics, she didn’t think of it.

  “It’s over.” The meat actually fell out of her mouth and the two ears on top of her head peaked up.

  “Over?”

  “The war. We’ve lost.”

  “We still have men. I have thirty darkfurs left.” Darkfurs where the shaman priests, beastmen who were blessed with the gift of magic.

  “The Coalition will reach us in a week.”

  “And we’ll stand and fight.”

  “And what?”

  “We’ll kill them.”

  “The only thing you’ll do is die trying.”

  “’t y the others back?”

  “Kassondora and Baalka are in the North, we’ve not heard from them in over a month. Olephia is…” Fer nodded, Olephia was a walking disaster, she had been evacuated from Rhomaion to protect the Imperial capital from herself. Arascus shrugged, there was no point to list all the eight daughters.

  “So what are we going to do?” Fer asked.

  “Take your herds and hide them.”

  “Hide them?”

  “Even hunters bide their time.” Fer bared her sharp teeth in obvious disdain. “Scatter them across the wilds of Arda. Don’t look back, don’t let reatest creations go extinct.”

  “I create them again.”

  “It took us fifty for the first darkfur shaman. Are you going to throw all that away?”

  “I want to stay.”

  “And die?”

  “I’m loyal.”

  “You’re to go and hide too.”

  “And then what? Be huill I finally get caught?”

  “You won’t get caught.”

  “And you wouldn’t lose the war.”

  “I’ll return.”

  “After how long? Five hundred years?”

  “ you not do that?” Now the Goddess’ eyes fshed anger. Unlike all the other daughters, she was easy to read, whereas in terms of suggestibility, even a child was harder to manipute.

  “Of course I !”

  “I doubt it.” Arascus made his tone slightly smug, if he had to lie to Fer to get her not to throw her life away, he would do it a thousand times.

  “I’ll show you!”

  “Will you?”

  “Five hundred years? Don’t insult, a millennia they’d need. Even if the whole host of fourteen came, they wouldn’t be able to catch me.”

  “Then prove it.” Fer stood up almost reag her father’s height and smmed the table.

  “You better return.”

  Brothers and Sisters. Today we end the war.

  Without Leonifer and Mikanglo?

  Do we hem Iniri?

  We don’t need anyone Alsaria, but Iniri has a point. Why fight alone?

  Fer won’t be there, the beastmen are moving North.

  They’re abandoning him?

  They’re scattering into the forest. It’s just like him to give us a tough time of it.

  we stop them?

  No.

  So we’ve got a tury long mess ahead of us.

  They’ll be sed eventually, Arascus is our priority now.

  Fourteen against one, not the best odds.

  Arascus watched a beam of light tear through the hordes of skeletal soldiers fighting to protect Rhomaion. A Huwo? Five? Maybe a thousand soldiers were reduced to ash in a mere instant. Against Alsaria, it wouldn’t have made a difference if they were mages, humans, beastmen or risen dead. The dead at least didn’t try to flee and the living had bee a scarce resource three months ago. Arascus turned a back to his pace.

  How long before Rhomaion falls?

  The siege is going well, the outer walls have been breached already. Mikanglo and Leonifer are not here as expected, although we have an Underworld Legion and a Choir from them as pensation. They’ve also sent their own Gods for this battle.

  I’m still not fond of their assistance.

  And I’m rather fond of staying uncrippled and alive. We have voted already Zerus, they’re ing with us.

  Has Arascus made a move?

  Every now and then, he es out to stall us but he’s not charging out as expected. Helenna says he’s serving his strength and pns to take at least one of us down.

  With the Paraideisius’ and Tartarus Gods, and our Pahat makes fods. He won’t ma.

  Leona should stay behind though.

  There wasn’t a question, we’re not going to risk her life.

  Arascus sighed. The Imperial Guard around him swarmed the hall before him. They filled the court with lines upon lines of shieldwalls. The mighty legion of ten thousand had lost most of its members in the defence of Rhomaion. Only two thousand remained, but that two thousand was enough to make any army turn around areat. Each man was an expert magi and a pinnacle of the martial arts. The spears lowered, each tip poio the grand doors of divione.

  How long? Thirty minutes? Maybe not even that. Arascus thought as he reminisced about the war. The daughter Goddesses were dead, imprisoned or had fled, his advisors and generals had their heads on pikes. It was an impressive push, a single empire against three grand realms. The Demons of Tartarus, the Angels of Paraideisius and the ucopia of races on Arda had to rally to defeat a single Empire: It took them fifty years of bloodshed to stall his armies, another fifty to push them back to Rhomaion. Reduced to a siy, there wasn’t a hope of retreat. Against the limitless force of the three realms though, there was no way he could escape.

  The doors bent, a crack appeared in the tre. Arascus could hide in the dungeons, there was a byrinth underh the fortress. What was the point? They’d find him eventually. He would rather be defeated standing than be chased like a rat.

  Another boom and another crack. He sighed again. Divione wasn’t that difficult to break through. He saw some of the spears start to glow. “Hold!” His voied across the hall. The decorations had been removed, all that was left were the Imperial Guard and pilrs reag to the ceiling. At the rate the intruders were going at, it would take them aen mi least.

  Boom!

  Boom!

  Boom!

  Crack after crack appeared on the door and Arascus shook his head. Ten minutes was an uatement. He finally stood up after fifteen. “Ready!” Two thousand spears started to glow before him, eae emitting a bright light. Maybe two thousand Imperial Guard could go up against an Ardan God, Arascus himself could duel several at a time, but the ce of them being in the single digits was null.

  Arascus stood eight feet tall, t over the humans before him. He stood in his bck armour, it was a testament to mankind: the stro suit of pte ever made, it had only been pleted thirty years into the war. A tless number of light discs appeared behind him, they stretched from one wall to the other, from head height to the ceiling. A divine bde slid out of eae.

  The door cracked. It swayed, a k fell away revealing the blinding holy light of Paraideisius’ Angels. Another k fell away, and another, and another. His eyes sed them quickly and he smiled. Fods. If anything, they were doing him a service, it was a silent admission of the fay single realm could not go up against him.

  “So you have e.” Arascus’ voied through the hall. His eyes searched for Alsaria, but he couldn’t find her before a reply came.

  “So we have e.” Another voice replied, it was Zerus, the God-King, God of Lightning. “Today is your death.”

  “You ot kill me.”

  “We’ll see.”

  “I’m surprised you did n Leona with you.” She was their greatest on. The Goddess of Luck. It was a terrible force to fight, invisible but ever present. A battle had to be certain or it would be lost, it was a testament to the strategid tactical genius of his forces that the Great War had taken a tury. Eventually though, genius ran dry and their luck was limitless. “Are you that fident you win?”

  There was no reply, Zerus merely stepped forward. Instantly, the room was engulfed in light. Arascus’ bdes shot forward, two thousands bolts of sorcery of every element rushed from spears.

  ----

  It was against fods.

  The battle was over as soon as it had started.

  Arascus felt his side pierced.

  His arm dislocated.

  A hand torn apart.

  His vision blinded.

  His skin seared.

  His soul burned.

  His shoulder exploded.

  A hole appeared in his chest.

  An arrow pierced his throat.

  ----

  It was over. Fods surrounded a standing corpse.

  Gods are cepts inated. The gra of them, we suspect exist in some higher realm: somewhere out there, of Time exists, I am sure. The issue mortal schors face with Arascus’ existence is that he is too far of a stretch. Pride exists everywhere, one man takes pride in his stubborn beliefs, another in his ability tive. Arascus himself is tradictory wheries to tackle him with the information only avaible.

  His true title, one unknowo himself, is ‘Of Mankind’s Pride’. It is a mase pride: Domineering, vengeful, zealous, unbending, unfling. Man looks to the stars and wishes he could tread upon them like he treads upon sand. Feminine pride is entirely different: those stars do not deserve to be tread upon, they are to be preseo her as an . For a woman to do it herself, it is the greatest insult. Not because she ’t, but because she should not o.

  Only with this knowledge does Arascus make sense. He is a twin God, his sister is just as terrible as him. It is only thanks to Leona’s limitless luck that we stumbled upon her before he was even aware of her existence.

  - Excerpt from the secrets texts in the White Pantheon’s closed library. Written by Goddess Alsaria, of Light: ‘The Problem of Pride.’