Dougs and Erik sat together around a campfire iral Requisitions. Simply sitting around and smoking, killing time as they did when not on a flight. “Another one.” Erik said dourly.

  “Show it.” The man turned his phone over and showed Dougs the article: ‘Kirinyaa’s big problem.’ “We just don’t get a break.”

  “Kassandora says not to worry about it.”

  “I don’t worry about it.” Dougs replied. “I’m just not happy.”

  “her am I.”

  Kavaa raised her shield and blocked Aliana’s arrow. She took a step back as Saksma came in with that greatsword. It swung just past her chest, it would have been a ce at a terattack, but Saksma quickly drew it back as Paida came in to cover her friend from a blow.

  They were gettier, although who wouldn’t after a solid month of duelling? They always started like this, with a quick attack but their strategy was g. Agrita’s spear shot forwards, towards Kavaa’s chest. Kavaa found the opening. Her sword arm went up, she closed the distance, her sword smashed through Agrita’s armour and the Goddess groaned as Kavaa twisted it out. Another arrow was blocked, another blow from Saksma was narrowly dodged. Kavaa smmed into Saksma to push her back, then stopped just before Olonia’s sabre sliced into her chest. She took a step back as Agrita groaned and pushed herself off the ground and onto all fours.

  Gohe times when she would quickly wipe out all five in a quick show of skill. Iliyal was cirg the duel. Two dozen Clerics were watg their Goddess fight. The camp had growhe past two weeks, with supplies being dropped in. Fer’s friendly bear was still here, it was sleeping in a hole it had dug for itself. And so they came again. Saksma leading the charge, that was a good blow. From an angle and above, not oo be blocked, but to be dodged. To force Kavaa left where Olonia was already standing with a sabre.

  Kavaa’s eyes met Olonia’s blue. Cold and focused, there was no thought behind them, only pure focus. Her arm was deadly still, not straining itself either. Her fingers gripped her sabre hilt, but they weren’t white with fear as they when Kavaa had e here a month ago. The Goddess of Health took a step towards Olonia, then quickly dug her foot into the dirt and pushed herself off. Her shield caught Saksma’s greatsword, she didn’t try to block, only disturbing its trajectory slightly up and over herself.

  The hunk of metal on Kavaa’s arm ran down the bde, it bounced off the hilt, kept going and smmed into Saksma’s fingers. Paida’s sword came in from the other side, so did one of Aliana’s arrows. Both could not be blocked.

  Kavaa held her breath, twisted her bde, smmed the shield into Saksma’s chest, her bde cut into Paida’s arm. The heavy pte dented as Paida took a step back wing in pain. A month ago, she would have been screaming or shouting. Now she only gruried moving her arm and looked down in frustration as metal pte creaked against metal pte.

  Aliana’s arrow shot into Kavaa’s stomach. The Goddess of Health merely grit her teeth, and tihe blow that had ched Paida’s armour into Saksma’s side. And the Goddess of Doschia fell. Paida quickly joined her on the ground. She was still trying to flex her arm whet of Kavaa’s sword struck her helm. Kavaa turned, blocked the arrow from Aliana and pulled the oill in her chest with the same movement.

  Kavaa turo face Olonia, the Goddess’ eyes were sharp, they didn’t look at her friends once. Instead pletely focused on Kavaa. Not her faor her fist or the bde in her hands, but the whole body. Good, she was learning. Kavaa stepped close, ultimately, a sword and shield would always beat a sabre. Olonia needed a different on at this point, or a shield. Heavy sabres like that were for horsemen who would swing past as they rode and sever heads in one smooth movement.

  Olonia swung quick, she swung fast, she swung hard, but there was no reason t the fight on. Kavaa’s sword hit her arm on a ter attack, her shield aimed for the Goddess’ head. A raised arm mao block it, Kavaa heard the shoulder pop and Olonia fell to the ground. Kavaa turned gave Agrita, still bleeding and pig herself up, spear in her hands, a kick to keep her down.

  And she closed the distan Aliana. The Goddess of Allia only got two arrows off before Kavaa swung her sword at the woman. Aliana dodged the first blow, she left herself open for the follow up. And Aliana fell. The fight was over, much better. This was the best these five had ever done. Kavaa holy would not mind sending them off to battle like this. They wouldn’t be able to beat her of course, but there was being exceptional, and there was being good enough. Only the exceptional had been allowed into the White Pantheon after all. Basic duelling with Kavaa would never let them beat her, that sort of training could only do so much for battlefield instincts.

  Iliyal came forwards as the Clerics cheered. They always cheered when Kavaa won, which meant they were cheering every fifteen or so mihe Goddesses were cmbering to their feet. That was ahing that had ged. A month ago, they would least fifteen minutes on the ground. “Let them regee.” Iliyal said as he came close. “Good.” He gave them a round of appuse. “That was good.” He turo Kavaa, his eyes trailed down from her fad at the wound iomach, Kavaa already khe only mark left of Aliana’s arrow was a hole in her armour that exposed fresh pink skin and some blood oe. “I assume you ’t teach them how to fix themselves faster?”

  “You just get better.” Kavaa replied. “There’s hod, it just gets faster the more you use it.” She shrugged as the Goddesses mumbled.

  “Better this than healing.” Agrita said through grit teeth as she held her side.

  “Ohing I say is not to hold the wound. Let your body do its own thing.” Kavaa said. That did nothing iy, but it would be better if they started w to break the natural instinct of clutg at wounds. That was suicide in battle.

  “Aliana, good aim, pliment o. Saksma, fast swings. Olonia you too.” Iliyal listed them off. This always happened, he would give them one pliment before the critique came. “Paida, excellent teamwork and awareness. Agrita, good job to pick yourself back up.” He finished as the five Goddesses lined up. The elf sighed.

  “We’re goiht then.” Kavaa wiped her bde of Divine blood on her shirt and sheathed it as stood there. “Firstly, Paida. You panicked in the armour.”

  “I did.” Paida said early. The pride had beeen out of them on the first day, when it became undeniable that not listening to advice would get them nowhere. Iliyal went over to the Goddess, even though she was more than a head taller him, he took her injured arm and tur over to reveal her fore-arm.

  “What are these?” Iliyal poio the straps that held her pte fixed to her body.

  “Straps.”

  “And what do you have in your hand?” Paida had to look down.

  “A sword.”

  “I think you put two and two together.” Iliyal said. “This goes to all of you. The first line of defence is movement, the sed is your armour. If you have to sacrifie line, you sacrifice your armour every time.” He drew his own bde and put the tip against Kavaa’s forearm. “You don’t cut like this.” He moved the bde to the side, so it slid between the gap betweee and her undershirt. “But like this, or you slice yourself open. Alternatively, if you find yourself without a sword. Paida, sheath.”

  The Goddess sheathed her bde and Iliyal took her other hand. He grabbed a finger and manha until it was hooked around the leather. “Now pull.” Paida pulled and the leather snapped effortlessly. “Never fet you are Divines. Leather, wood, even steel, you bend and you break.” He walked to Kavaa and drew put his sword o himself. “Now we don’t do this, ever.” He threw the bde into the air, did the motion of pulling the strap off on himself, and caught his own sword by the hilt. “Why? Do we know?” He asked.

  Five bnk faces looked back at Iliyal. None of those eyes had the shine of being talked down to anymore, they were all looking curiously. “Kavaa. You’ve just doo my armour what you did to Paida’s.” He took a step back. Threw his bde in the air, and made the motion of snapping the leather strip of his own armour. Kavaa reacted with the speed only a Divine was capable of. She drew her own sword, smmed it into Iliyal’s and the elf’s sword was sent in an arc across the camp. “There we go.” Iliyal said. “Kavaa’s sword was in her sheath, that’s how easy it is to disarm an oppo. Never let go of your own on.”

  A Clerit to retrieve the elf’s sword as he turned around. “Aliana, you panicked when Kavaa closed the gap. The moment you see someone approag you, you have to start bag away unless you’re certain you dowhe dodge was good, but Kavaa is armed with a sword. It doesn’t matter if you dodge a thousand times, she only has to get you once. Uood?”

  “Uood.” Aliana said in a sombre tone.

  “Agrita. You thought you had an opening when you didn’t.” Iliyal repeated the movement Kavaa had done when she dodged Saksma’s bde. “This here.” Iliyal angled his foot in the same way Kavaa had doo suddenly reverse her dire. “Is a sign of a feint. This goes to all of you, Agrita, you were simply unlucky it happeo you.” Kavaa raised her eyebrows impressed. Most Divines wouldn’t have caught that, the elf was a mortal a he still did.

  “Olonia and Saksma. I have sad news for you.” Iliyal said. “Which is that your onry is terrible. Olonia, you especially. Did you see how Kavaa moved effortlessly with her straight sword?” Both of them nodded. “Saksma, yreatsword is not a duelling on. I don’t have much issue with it, because a greatsword in Divine hands is for cutting men down. This, you have to prepare for yourself. I ’t tell you how to cope. You simply will deal with the fact that every battle, you will have a kill t ihousands. Olonia though.” He sighed, looked down and shook his head. Kavaa wondered how much of that was actually thought, and how much was just pantomime. “Why does the axe have a handle? Why do we not simply used axe-heads as they are?”

  Olonia’s though, was definitely not a pantomime. She narrowed her eyebrows and had to think for a few seds. Kavaa only smiled, this was the world’s easiest question. But then, wasn’t youth’s best blessing the ck of knowledge? “For momentum.” Olonia replied, there we go. The girl wasirely stupid.

  “Good. Momentum. Now look at your sabre. Why does it suddenly get thicker at the end?” Olonia looked at her bde. It did indeed get thicker. They had made duelling sabres in the past, thin pieces of steel, but those were merely experiments. Kavaa had been there after all. She remembered the question. Why not just use a straight sword?

  “To carry momentum.” Olonia replied.

  “Exactly. Why is it a cavalry sabre?”

  This time, the Goddess took loo answer. Iliyal sighed when he finally heard her answer. “Because it was used by cavalry?” It was ear, that was the worst part. Iliyal turo Kavaa. She didn’t he question.

  “You swing it, and it goes through everything. It’s heavy as to not get stu armour or bone.” Kavaa replied and Iliyal nodded.

  “Kavaa puts it in a nicer fashion than I do. It’s heavy so that when bined with the speed of a horse, it will split heads and sever limbs in one blow.” Iliyal head. “But Divines are strong enough not to need assistance like this in the first pce, it’s assistanortals, nothing more than that. You should be using a straight sword.”

  “She’s always used a sabre!” Saksma shouted suddenly, then added in a less bative tone. “And we’ve trained in it.”

  “I saell you were trained when you got here.” Iliyal said. “Saksma, it’s on you too, the greatsword is not a duelling on.” Saksma said nothing, she merely stood there and looked down at her on. It was undeniable that the woman was too weak to use a sword that rge with any speed, the only reason she was troublesome was because they had good coordination, but she was the only who had not even grazed Kavaa yet.

  “I’ve seen Kassandora use a greatsword.” Saksma said in quiet protest. Kavaa looked to Iliyal. She wondered about the man’s rea. Would he bristle with rage? Would he shout? Would he shut her down? And once again, it was annoying that the elf’s ft expression did not ge even in the slightest.

  “Are you Goddess Kassandora?” He asked slowly.

  “No.” Saksma replied.

  “That’s all that o be said.” Iliyal said. “I’ve requested Diviraight swords already, they’ll e in the supply drop. Agrita, yetting a shield. Aliana, you’re also getting a sword.” He cpped his hands. “Right, we go ag-“

  Iliyal’s words were cut off by a cloud of grass, dirt and mud suddeing from behind him. Kavaa didn’t even catch whatever that object was, it had e in like a meteorite, like artillery. A fsh of dark and gold. Her instincts kicked in, she turned, hand on her sword, shield raised. She took a step forwards, towards to protect the elf as she would her own Clerics, her blessing started to flow into her Clerics, they lowered spears, raised shields and drew swords. Then she realised Iliyal’s ck of rea. He merely sighed and turned.

  The cloud of dust slowly settled. Kavaa realised who it was the moment she saw the twe ears, golden and shining. Then the lion’s mane of hair as soft as silk and strohan steel. The two vulpine eyes, almost shining, the fangs. The smile.

  Fer had arrived.

  She stood there in her loose shirt and skirt, tail trailing from underh it. She looked at the Goddesses, she air, looked around. Kavaa’s Clerics settled down. “Ladies, this is Fer, Goddess of Beasthood.” Iliyal said.

  “I am Fer.” Fer firmed, hands nded on hips, she puffed her chest out. She towered over all of them, the top of Kavaa’s said only reached up to her chest. “I am here to teach.” Iliyal sighed and he five national Goddesses all looked at the Goddess in shock, fingers and eyes going from the bear sleeping in its hole to the Goddess that had just desded from the sky. “I’ve been monit the progress.”

  “Where have you been?” Iliyal asked.

  “Paying respects.” Fer replied. She turo Kavaa. “Long time since we’ve been here.”

  “Long time indeed.” Kavaa said. She did not let go of her bde. Fer was lovely, Fer was sweet, Fer was funny, Fer was ever so loyal. And Kavaa had fought against Fer in these woods. And she had seen past the kitten oside. Blood empowered Fer so she drank it, but for every drop of strength she got from it, two drops of enjoymehere too.

  And Fer sighed. Her smile revealed her teeth, two fangs burst from her mouth. “It’s a nice wood. Favourite part of Epa here.” She turned from Kavaa to the Goddesses. “Right dies. We’re on a schedule, so we’re not going to be wasting time.”

  “You’re too much for them.” Iliyal said quietly. “Go easy. Very easy.” Fer made wide eyes, turned from the Goddesses to Iliyal.

  “Weren’t you training them?”

  “We didn’t have a lot to start with.” Iliyal said ftly.

  “So now, what are they? Out of ten?”

  “In parison to what?”

  “Me.”

  “Two.” Fer looked at them with wide eyes.

  “Are you really that bad?” She said, then poio Kavaa. “ you defeat Kavaa?” The Goddesses all averted their eyes, faces flooded with shame. Olonia was the first to step up.

  “She is rather good though, she’s the Goddess of Health.” Kavaa blinked. She… The only reason she was a battlefield Goddess was because of the blessing. She could duel, but she wasn’t… She didn’t pare to the giants of Maisara and Fortia. And the actual people with powers, Alsaria, Anassa. Those were aire league above her, parison wasn’t even necessary. Fer blioo, she turned her head to Kavaa. Kavaa only shrugged iurn.

  “They’ve not defeated me o.”

  “Five against one?”

  “Five against one.” Kavaa firmed. Fer turned on the spot and sighed.

  “So you’ve never seen Kavaa lose?” All five shook their heads. Fer turned and cracked her fingers. “Kavaa, a demonstration then.”

  “There is no need, we both know I ’t defeat you.” Kavaa said.

  “No of you losing, but to show them what they’ll be up against.” Kavaa sighed. She supposed they should know after all. Fortia and Maisara would most likely ehe battlefield, and those, Kavaa did not pretend to be able to duel either. Fortia had utterly crushed Kassandora after Waeh died, and Kavaa did not even hope she could stand against Kass. Fer turo the five women. “This is what Iliyal is training you against, the baby training is over now. You’re now going to be learning against a proper battlefield Divine.”

  “Kavaa’s not?” Saksma asked.

  “I am!” Kavaa shouted.

  “Kavaa is.” Iliyal firmed. Kavaa blinked in shock, did the elf just defend her? “But it’s not her battle prowess. Right now, there is no point teag you strategy because you would be assassinated immediately. We build forts around treasuries before we fill them with gold.” He turo Kavaa. “If you want to show them, then go ahead. There isn’t much for them to learn from this though.”

  “I think there is.” Fer said.

  “Then we agree to disagree.” Iliyal said.

  “I’ll do it.”

  “Excellent!” Fer said. “It’s been a long time.” Kavaa had never duelled Fer before. That was thanks to Leona, the woman would send a letter every time Kavaa was to avoid a battle. To leave her troops to die. There was nothing to be do was the same as when Olephia came. Everyone who could would retreat, everyone who could not would slow Fer down.

  “Your blow first.” Fer said as she spread her arms and legs.

  “I fight defensively.” Kavaa replied.

  “I suppose you do.” Fer said.

  The distaween them shrunk in the blink of an eye. One moment, Kavaa was some twenty steps away from Fer, the , Fer was casting a shadow upon her. She swung her sword. Fer caught the bde with her hand. Blood leaked down it as Fer slid her hand down. Fingers closed around the hilt and Kavaa’s fist.

  Kavaa smashed her shield into Fer’s side. It was like smashing her shield into a cliff of iron. She tried to kick Fer’s feet to knock her over, at least stumble her. She may as well have been kig an anvil. She tried to take a step back. And Fer merely moved her arm up. Kavaa felt her feet leave the grass, she swayed in the air.

  It was over.

  Fer didn’t even hurt her, yet it was already over. “I lose.” Kavaa said and Fer nodded.

  “You do.” Fer replied. She turo the five Goddesses. “Kavaa’s a friend so I’m rather geh her.” Kavaa just hung there for a moment. Fer released her grasp. Kavaa saw the wound on her palm close immediately. That shouldn’t have been called regeion, it was more akin to when mages would stitch castle walls back together. Fer dropped her tone as she spoke. “Now it’s your turn.”