The Greatest Sin [Progression Fantasy][Kingdom Building]
Chapter 290 – So Starts Soulstorm

The reeds bend in winds far stronger than the storms which crack great oaks.

Yet a single oak’s sway is worth more than a thousand snapped reeds.

‘The Reed and the Oak’, as told by Malam, Goddess of Hatred.

Fer took a step forward as a blast of Neneria’s light-green lightning shot past her. She hadn’t been hit once yet, but a few had come close. Honestly, Fer assumed that Neneria was releasing the discharges of energy on purpose, simply to stop herself from overloading on…

Well, if there was one thing Fer knew, it was that this was simply not her demesne. And it wasn’t something abstract like Helenna’s Love or Kassie’s ideals of war. Those two, although they were undefeatable in their respective fields, could at least be competed with. Neneria could actually just kill with a touch and captured ghosts within her heart. That wasn’t some abstract concept swayed by intelligence, an ethereal ghost was as materially real as Fer’s claws.

Another blast of lightning smashed the ground next to Fer, closer this time and launched up a hail of dirt in a grand explosion of dust. Fer turned around to look at Neneria to remind her not to do tha… Oh.

Neneria was hovering high in the air, the gap between her and the ground was easily twice the woman’s height, and Neneria was a rather tall Goddess too. The hem of her black dress was being whipped about by an invisible wind, her eyes were glowing green, her fingers were crackling with green electricity but beyond that the Goddess was untouched by the air. Neneria’s black hair fell straight down her back, the upper half of her dress clung to her, her collar of raven feathers made her pale porcelain cheeks stand out even more than usual.

Green lightning curled from around Neneria’s fingers. Fer watched it and hummed to herself idly. Bodyguarding was always far more interesting in her imagination than in reality. She knew exactly what it was like, yet every single time she expected it to be different. Neneria let out a shallow moan as she started to lift higher into the air. “Ana.” Fer said, Anassa should hear her.

Anassa did not hear her. Fer rolled her eyes, the ears that jutted out from her golden mane twitched, her tail swished from side to side Fer turned around to look for her sister. She saw Anassa in the air, a good distance away, watching her and Neneria. A dozen other Anassas were positioned in a circle around them, each one on the mark of an hour as the various incarnations of the Goddess of Sorcery watched the horizon in all directions. Fer shouted this time, to the closest copy of Anassa that was about. “ANA!”

A crimson circle suddenly appeared around Fer’s torso. It hooked itself around the Goddess and cast her up into the air. Perhaps tossed was the better word to use though, Anassa was not gentle whatsoever. Fer expected Anassa to throw her away, but instead the Goddess of Sorcery merely rapidly flicked her through the air and further from Neneria. And then, somewhat surprisingly, Anassa gently set her down on the ground. Fer turned and saw why.

The energies around Neneria had started to expand, the lightning around her had stopped crackling and instead became a solid beam of green electricity that was madly carving drunken patterns into the ground around the woman. “Don’t get that close.” Anassa said from beside Fer. This was yet another incarnation of her. Fer clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. That wouldn’t have hurt her anyway.

She didn’t think so anyway.

“I smell something.” Fer said as she pushed the annoyance away. Frankly, she just didn’t want to admit that Anassa had been more aware of her, but the general atmosphere in these lands made her hairs stand on end. It was a cloudless day, the sun was shining from on above, yet Fer could not get rid of that stench of death and the brown mud everywhere reminded her… Well, that was the issue. She had seen all of Arda and she had never seen a landscape that was entirely all mud.

“Do you?” Anassa asked.

“Fuel, divinity, sweat, and metal,” Fer confirmed.

“Ah.” Anassa said. “Thanks for telling me.” Fer looked up as each of the dozen Anassas sent out yet another copy of themselves forward. That was an amazing power, even if only for the ability to see what you looked like from behind.

Fer heard the burning of flames and the whistling of something sharp cutting through the air, then she smelled the various metals and fuels in the air, and finally she saw the white jets coming in from the north. Along the coastline. Twelve arrowheads were soaring through the skies, each one leaving a thin trail of white clouds behind them. “I’ll take them when they get close.” The Anassa by Fer’s side said. Four other incarnations of the woman started to independently move towards the planes, they formed a perfect square, and two more got closer to Neneria and cast a protective shield of crimson energies.

A set of black arrowheads dove down, while a set of figurines wrapped in crimson rose up to meet them.

Fer quickly pulled out her phone as she watched an Anassa disappear. A plane unleashed a hail of bullets at the spot where that Anassa had just stood, and then another Anassa released a beam of crimson light. It clipped the plane’s tail and the whole machine cascaded towards the ground in a marvellous fireball. Fer rang Kassandora as she looked down.

There, on the ground, she saw humans. Humans in silver, a tall figure amongst them. Several groups, as if they had tried to encircle Neneria. “I’m here Fer, what’s the issue?” Kassandora asked over the phone.

“You were correct.” Fer said. “We do have an engagement.” She narrowed her eyes at that crowd. “Maisara and Paladins, Ana is handling the planes in the sky.” Another plane dove at Fer, the Goddess of Beasthood tensed to flee, then saw the off-coloured red tinge in the air. It caught all of that plane’s bullets, then shot forward. That white jet crashed into the formless redness and exploded. Another wonderful display of orange flames and black smoke which tarred the blue sky.

“Understood.” Kassandora said, there wasn’t even a moment of hesitation. “It’s past midday at your place now, right?” Fer glanced at her own shadow. It was starting to grow longer.

“Yes.” She turned to the sky; the sun had definitely crossed its zenith.

“First wave will come at midnight.” Kassandora said and paused. Fer heard tapping and scratching through the speaker. “Then dawn one and dawn two, you’re going to have to hold until then. Or until Neneria finishes.”

“Will do Kassie.” Fer said quietly. “Will do.”

“Alright Fer.” Kassandora answered after a slight pause. “I’ll be waiting for you here. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Fer said as she switched her phone off.  Still smiling to herself, the Goddess of Beasthood turned and saw a crowd clad in silver. Maisara’s Paladins, no one else wore steel that bright and that clean, especially not in the UNN. She saw their Goddess there as well, terribly tall, easily matching Neneria’s height. And she saw a glint of light. Once and again, and Fer didn’t need a third to realise what it was.

Maisara’s great-axe, thrown through the air and aiming straight at Neneria. Fer’s body moved on instinct, there wouldn’t be enough time to tell Anassa, nor did Fer trust that Anassa would be fast enough. It wasn’t that Anassa wasn’t speedy herself, nor was the woman weak, nor did Fer think that Anassa would let harm befall a sister. It was that Fer kept herself on a chain so that the others could pretend to keep up, and when that chain was cut loose, then Anassa, with all her grand sorceries and simultaneous existences, simply did not compare. Fer was just better.

Fer’s feet twisted as she started taking a breath, time seemed to slow down as her heart started shifted from its lazy and relaxed everyday pace. It started taking heavy thumps, the rapid drums of an orchestra. It beat once as Fer worked out the flight path of the axe. There was no maths involved, no double checking whether the blade would turn, no calculations of speed or power needed. Fer watched and Fer instinctively knew exactly how that spinning dervish should be stopped.

Fer’s heart beat again as her feet dug into the ground. She bent at the knees, took a quick inhale and touched her hands to the ground. Her ears quivered, she listened to the silence of the wind, Anassa was opening her mouth to say something, Maisara in the distance was taking a step forwards, the team of Paladins behind her looked like statues for a moment.

And Fer released the tension. The ground around her cracked, it ruptured and released a wave of dust in all directions as the Goddess of Beasthood shot away from it like the heavy calibre of a sniper rifle being expelled from the gun. That great bullet shot through the air, and Fer heard her heart beat once again as she held her breath. She extended her arm, her skin, bones and muscles all tightened and hardened themselves as she prepared for the impact.

With another heartbeat, Fer’s finger locked around the axe’s handle. Her eyes tracked that mercilessly clean silver blade, curved and as long as one of Fer’s arms. The spike at the top and rear of the axe-head allowed Maisara to use the weapon effectively without turning it in any direction. And she grunted as her own weight was caught by the weapon.

Fer twisted in the air, using her own monumentous momentum as a foundation and her arm as a way to guide the axe from its spin. She didn’t fight against it; Maisara had enough strength that it would rip Fer’s arm right off if she tried that. Instead, she glided around it and dragged the axe into herself and herself to the axe. The flight path changed, the axe somersaulted around Fer and the two in the air shot from that straight path towards the Goddess in the air, submerged in her ghastly energies, and towards the endless mud around them.

Fer felt her heart beat once again. She took a breath as she stood up from the ground, the fog of black mud around her settled down and she looked around. “That was good.” Anassa said, yet another perfect incarnation of the Goddess of Sorcery, red dress and citrussy perfume, appeared next to Fer. “I would have caught it though.”

“I have no doubt you would have.” Fer said. “But I did.” Not a single word was a lie, she was sure that Anassa could catch it. The chance of Anassa letting Neneria get hurt was precisely zero, yet within that zero, there was an even more precise zero, and that was if Fer stopped it herself.

“Mmh.” Anassa said as Fer grit her teeth, flexed her fingers, and shook her hand to recover. She felt the torn muscle regenerate and the bone reconnect. That was strong. She saw the silver axe dematerialize and reappear in the distance. A Goddess was walking there, sauntering towards them. In silver armour that was nothing more than a chest-plate, a battle-skirt, shin-guards and a helmet. Ancient arms that had been designed for speed, flexibility and little else. The great beasts of the past had been far too strong for any sane mind to try defending against them head-on. Claws would have to be dodged and teeth would have to be avoided. It was only those who were too slow, like Kassandora, that needed full plate in order to survive at least one hit.

Fer grabbed a vial from her belt and tipped her head back as she swallowed the sweet blood of Divinity. There was no reason to hold back against this great hunter, she felt the power of Kassandora’s blood flow through her. Her limbs were made faster, her muscles more explosive, her bones harder, her nails grew into perfect claws. Her skin hardened like leather, thick fur burst out all over her body, her eyes grew sharper as they adopted the crimson hue of Kassandora’s hair. A wave of dust was set off all around Fer as the Goddess let the hound she kept on a tight leash loose.

Thin, light armour like that was made specifically to fight against the great beasts of the past. That hunter, her hair silver, her gaze stern and unafraid, her posture straight, her walk definite, came in with a team of forty behind her. Forty Paladins, small fry, but beasts were not to be fought alone. They came with pike and greatsword and no heavy tower shield. Maisara did know what she was doing, against Fer and Anassa, those heavy shields would only slow men down and their weight would only bring them sooner to tiredness.

Fer twisted and cracked her neck as she smelled Anassa above. Suddenly, another Anassa was stood by her side. “What did Kass say?”

“Midnight, dawn, then dawn again.” Anassa sighed as remaining planes in the air started to flee. The various copies of Anassa in the air and Fer turned to the crowd slowly approaching them.

“I’ll take the men, you handle Maisara, how about that?” Her cold sister asked. Fer’s hungry mouth twisted into a pure snarl of joy. It had been far too long since she found prey that was worth hunting. Her fangs grew longer as thin flakes of her teeth started to fall over until her lips hid only sculpted daggers.

“Oh I will.”

Thin armour, made to dodge blows rather than withstand the terrible power of the past’s strongest monsters. An executioner’s axe, to bring order to wild anticivilization and keep it in line. A cold gaze and grey eyes, an emotionless shield against the stupefying wild passion that maddening horror inspired. All to keep Arda’s great beasts in line.

But Fer was the greatest beast of them all.

The Embodiment of all Arda’s Wilds took a step forwards.

And Civilization’s Hammer against those Wilds did not slow down.

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