The Greatest Sin [Progression Fantasy][Kingdom Building]
Chapter 400 – On The Edge

If there is one thing Arascus is good at, it is pushing the envelope. It is of not surprise that him and Kassandora both like each other. Both of them have this downright terrible talent at creating new information which would be letter left unknown. Every war Kassandora becomes embroiled in becomes more brutal, more destructive and more total. It sets a new standard everyone else has to follow, else the Goddess of War’s tactics and strategies will simply prove superior and win.

Likewise Arascus sparks ideas within humanity that simply should not be sparked. Paramethus is responsible for the Age of Heroes materially because the man created men powerful enough to rival everything in this world. But did he actually create Heroes?

That is a simple answer. No. He did not.

Anassa can awaken sorcery within people, she does not create heroes. I do not create heroes with my wiping of fatigue and superhuman strength. Kassandora’s Orchestra of War does not. Allasaria’s blessing of Light does not. Kavaa’s blessing of perfect health does not. Paramethus was simply the strongest in this regard, as he gave a blessing which empowered everything a human spirit can do.

But it was Arascus who created heroes.

For Arascus gave them grand delusions of pride. Arascus gave them thoughts they should never have had. Arascus told them they could rival Divines.

- Excerpt from “History of the World”, written by Goddess Maisara, of Order.

Kassandora leaned back and kicked her legs in the air. She sat on the edge of one of the steep cliffs Iniri had accidently made as she collapsed the mountain. The sun had barely even moved across the sky since they come out. All Kassandora had done was tell her men to march out and assemble outside, and then clambered away to watch the proceedings from afar. There were times and situations which called for micromanagement, right now was not it. Her legionnaires were smart enough to be able to step out onto Epan soil without the Goddess of War holding their hand.

So Kassandora sighed and watched. All tunnels led to mountain Holds, there was no such thing as an unguarded entrance into the Dwarven Underkingdoms but not all Holds were made equal. The fact that the only thing which remained of this Hold was carved stone near the foot of the mountain meant it couldn’t have been little more than an outpost or a resupply station. It would be fortified, awe-inspiring, stubborn as the dwarves themselves and unsiegeable, but nowhere did that mean it would have to be particularly large. With the mountain’s collapse, the new entrance to the tunnel was a cave that was overflowing with flora. Great oaks served as pillars around that opening. They had been grown by Iniri to stop the ceiling from collapsing, and to make sure that the entrance could be seen from a distance. The Goddess of Nature had been correct about that, even from Kassandora’s cliff, the entrance to the tunnels below looked like a great green scab on a giant plane of grey.

Kassandora kicked her feet again as her eyes once again passed over the ruined mountain. It was always incredible to see what happened when a Divine tried. Iniri still had it in her, it was simply that she needed the confidence to use her power again. Kassandora sat and wondered as to what exactly it would take for the woman to reawaken the great Mother Nature that was once so terrifying.

And then her mind wandered to Arascus. He would be coming here no doubt. There was no he wouldn’t. Olonia had flown off and was keeping the crowds at bay. People from the nearby villages had raced over on foot or horseback or bike or simply driven to inspect what was happening in their car. They couldn’t be blamed for that, but Olonia was smart to keep the civilians away. The Legionnaires had been given immortality underground, Kavaa had warned that she was straining their minds. That was true. No one died in the battle against Be’elzebub once Kavaa activated her blessing but the moment she retracted it was the moment that men started to give up and die. It had been slow at first, but now a solitary gunshot would go off every hour. Even on the trek back, the men were still giving up. Worse were those who decided to sit down and not move. Kassandora left them behind for the medics to deal with. She wasn’t their mother.

But her mind travelled to Arascus again. Her father had to be coming here. There was no way that he would miss her coming back to the surface. He would want to go and see, and it made sense that he sent Olonia here to inspect the area and keep track of which entrance exactly they would leave. Kassandora had only said they would be leaving from Dineh, but that still narrowed down the immediate exits to some dozen minor Holds. He would be busy, he couldn’t just stand around and do nothing here. It would be lovely if he was here. Kassandora felt the cold wind blow past her face. It should have been cold at least, but the air temperature underground had changed her perspective on what cold actually was. She couldn’t see her breath here, that meant it was hot, even as her red hair blew to her side like a glorious banner. Kassandora smiled sadly as she watched her men leave. She kicked her legs in the air. She sighed. Father would come. Of course he would. But she wouldn’t be waiting for him in the middle of nowhere and neither would he be waiting for her in the middle of nowhere.

It was a feeling both bitter and sweet. Yearning and excited.

What would it be called again?

Disappointment?

That sounded appropriate.

Kassandora sighed as she kicked her legs in the air. Another party was coming out. It was to slowly beating feet. And this party, like all the previous ones, and all the ones that Kassandora expected would follow, had the exact same reaction as everyone else did. Soldiers in dirty, dust-covered uniforms fell to the knees and looked up at the sky. Several burst into tears. Kassandora saw one man stumble in shock and fall onto his back, where he lay spread eagle staring up at the sky. But in actuality, this was not like every other party. This was the party with Neneria and Kavaa.

The Goddess of Death walked out first, far off to the side. She strolled in a magnificent black dress, twice as tall as the men around her and with her coat lined by raven feathers. Kassandora could just about make out her sister squint as she looked around. Neneria gave more reaction to the fact that the rocks underneath her heeled, black boots were loose rather than the sky. Pegaz suddenly leapt out from below the woman and carried the Goddess of Death into the air, the winged horse flew towards the grass at the bottom of the ravine. Rocks and trees and roots and melting snow lay there, although the first signs of an Imperial Engineers Brigade was showing its signs. Two heavy helicopters had landed on the grass and small teams of soldiers were walking around and making notes on sheets of paper regarding the toppled mountain.

And then came Kavaa. Kassandora immediately felt the woman’s eyes on her. Kavaa stood at the entrance of the cave for a moment. She was still dressed in heavy clothes for the underground, and still looking deathly pale. The battle at Fazba had not killed her, but Kassandora doubted that the woman had ever so thoroughly exhausted herself. Kavaa set off, not down the hill but up it. Kassandora could see the trail the woman was going to walk, she herself had picked out the same one after all.

So the Goddess of War sat and waited and kicked her legs in the air. All thoughts of her father left her mind. The moment she realised that was the moment she felt downright devilish for being so excited. She shouldn’t be of course. It was only Kavaa. Kavaa wouldn’t die, Kassandora knew she wouldn’t. She had ordered every test her medics could run and all of them had returned that the Goddess of Health was, in fact, perfectly healthy. But still… Kassandora controlled her smile, it was little more than a slight upwards curve of her lips, but smiling too much would give off the wrong impression.

Kavaa took some fifteen minutes to trot up the mountain and the cliff. More teams of men emerged from within the underground. More awe, more tears of joy. More men ran down the mountain. Some had begun to reach the end of the landslide. They dived onto the grass with the same expressions of men who were about to jump into pools of money.

But Kassandora had her own pool of money approach. Kavaa came without a word. She walked slowly to the edge of the cliff and sat down besides Kassandora. Two pairs of legs kicked into the air. “So we return.” Kavaa eventually broke the silence.

“So we return.” Kassandora repeated. She was glad Kavaa had taken the initiative. The only thing she knew how to bark was orders. Kassandora took a deep breath and thought of what to do. And immediately the answer came to her.

Devilishly simple, wasn’t it? Just downright devilish. Just terrible. It was something no one would have any issue doing. Even mortals would most likely be able to risk it. Kassandora’s sisters? The only one who wouldn’t would be Neneria, and Neneria was Neneria. The Goddess of Death had flown on her winged horse above the helicopters and settled down on a patch of grass away from the commotion as she got to waiting herself. Kassandora felt those dark eyes on her. And then she saw Neneria nod and give a thumbs up. And…

And Kassandora asked herself why she couldn’t do it? She sat next to Kavaa. They watched the Underground Expeditionary Legion return from their Underground Expedition, they said nothing. But… Kassandora needed to do it. Didn’t she? But how? Her own bad planning had almost cost Kavaa her life. Not just Kavaa but Iniri and Kassandora too. She had almost killed everyone in Fazba. And Kavaa knew. Kavaa should have stopped her. Kavaa should have grabbed her shoulder and told her to slow down. When they had talked after Continent Cracking, Kassandora had said that she couldn’t slow down. That she needed someone by her side to slow her down. And she had proved it again. Her mess, Kavaa’s cleaning.

Kavaa put an end to Kassandora’s racing thoughts. She did the thing Kassandora was trying to convince herself was acceptable. Kavaa put her head on Kassandora’s shoulder.

And they sat in silence. Feet kicking in the air. Watching the men leave. Men and dwarves now. Both the animated skeletons in their heavy armour that made them look like walking coffins and the live craftsmen who maintained them in lighter clothes. Those dwarves looked up and around at the sky in awe. They could barely manage a few steps before needing to take a rest to gaze at the endless blue ocean smattered with white islands of condensation that was the sky, or the endless fields of green grass that lay in southern Lubska.

Yet Kassandora did not care. She sat and listened to Kavaa’s gentle breathing and the woman’s heartbeat. She felt Kavaa’s warm cheek on her shoulder. Now, she wanted to take it a step further and grab her hand. But this was enough already. The Goddess of War let the Goddess of Life lean on her shoulder as they enjoyed each other’s company.

And once again, Kavaa broke the silence. Kassandora wanted to cry. She did not deserve such good company. “I have something to apologize for.” Kavaa said.

What? What exactly could Kavaa apologize for? It was Kassandora who had ran crazy with her pace. It was Kassandora who could not slow down. It was Kassandora who had almost killed them, again. “Mmh?” Was all the sound she could manage.

“I have something for you.” Kavaa said heavily. And Kassandora’s mind started to run crazy about what Kavaa could give her. Certainly it had to be a good gift, Kavaa wouldn’t hand out bottles of alcohol, she was much too good for that, wasn’t she? “Well, it’s not from me actually, but it is.” Kavaa said sheepishly then explained quickly. “Fer gave it to me, and then Fer gave me a matching one to give to you. She said to tell you it’s from me but I…” Kavaa trailed off, her dark grey hair rubbed Kassandora’s cheek. “I can’t do that, can I?” If there ever was a laugh without mirth, then it was that.

“Don’t worry.” Kassandora said.

“But I wanted to give you it. I just… Fer gave us a matching set. Or she gave me a matching set to give to you. I…” And Kavaa pulled out a grey scarf from within her coat. “Here. It’s for you. From me and from Fer.”

“I…” Kassandora stared down at the grey material, the colour of Kavaa’s hair before she had exhausted herself. Beautiful, definitely Fer’s work. It was made of fine animal fur and terribly warm. “Thank you Kavaa. I love it.” She meant it. The Goddess of War wrapped her hands in the soft material, and then gently grabbed Kavaa’s fingers to hold on and keep her warm.

“And I’m sorry.” Kavaa said. “Because mine got torn by Be’elzebub.” Was she crying? “I wanted to wear a matching pair with you.” Oh no. Kassandora grasped Kavaa’s hands tighter. What exactly was she supposed to do in this situation? If it was a soldier, then it would be easy. Men who dug trenches didn’t have time for crying. But how could she? What was there to say? Don’t cry!

“I want to say sorry too.” Kassandora tried to keep the urgency out of her voice. She didn’t know what to say, so the best she could do was shift the blame. “For running off and into Fazba, there wasn’t-“ Kavaa actually interrupted her.

“You don’t have to say anything.” Kavaa said gently. “I know. You lose control, you need something. Don’t say anything. There’s nothing to forgive. I trusted you every step of the way. I still trust you every step of the way. You did the right thing.” Kassandora wished that the whole cliff would just blow up and kill her so that she didn’t have to feel the sheer emotional apocalypse that threatened to annihilate her.

Kassandora felt tears of gratitude run down her cheek. “Thank you.” Kavaa let a low rumble of a chuckle from Kassandora’s shoulder. “What’s so funny?”

“Do you remember in the Sassara, when Fer thanked me? After the Jungle?” Kavaa asked. Kassandora would never forget. They had gone in to save Iniri and her own bad planning had almost caused Fer to die. She should have had someone to slow her down then, instead of making Kavaa the janitor that swept up her mess.

“Of course I do.” Kassandora replied gently.

“She sounded the exact same.”

“You saved her life.”

“I know.”

Kassandora smiled and leaned her head on Kavaa’s. She wished this moment would never end.