There are few Divines who are able to get surpass the need for Wolfpack tactics. Of the Empire, I can list Olephia, Arascus & Irinika. Of the White Pantheon, I can list Leona & Allasaria. These five exist in their own categories, strategies have to factor in their presence of course, but most strategies simply rely on retreating. We have seen this play out from the Imperial side as well. Legions will manoeuvre and push only after Allasaria’s presence is confirmed in a location, and they will not advance greedily either to overextend themselves. Where these five may decide entire battles by themselves, wars are won on the backs of our troops securing land. Arascus leads with the kind a total style of leadership, he will not bend, nor break. Neither will we. The time for negotiation was over before first blood was even spilled.

  So now, as Grand Marshal of the United Armies of the White Pantheon’s Coalition, I institute the decree that singular Divinity is to be treated as a last resort. The Empire only deploys individual Divines when it is ready to lose them, and they pick our troops off with counter-attacks. We shall go through the same methods that let our kind survive Worldbreaking.

  A Divine Wolfpack is to be composed of one deity capable of ranged combat, and two to support it in melee. Clerics should be dispatched and kept as personal guards, along with any Divines capable of healing or forestalling death until Kavaa is able to arrive. In regards to Kavaa, along with Iniri, both Goddesses must be protected by a superior Force at all costs. Zerus, Sceo & Alkom are to be their personal guards, along with myself and Maisara.

  We have seen this already. Where Baalka is, another Daughter-Goddess lies in wait or is deployed only a short distance away. Kassandora herself does not visit the battlefield unless her plan has no holes whatsoever and all issues are accounted for. Irinika and Anassa both serve as fast response forces to be quickly reassigned to the defence of their sisters. How they communicate, we assume is through some kind of unknowable sorcery.

  How Tartarus and Paraideisius wish to act, they can act on alone. We may study their war theories, but I wish to make sure that everyone remember the very basic differences. All creatures in Paraideisius can fly, whereas Tartarus clearly has a near-endless supply of manpower. How much we can learn from them should always be viewed through this lens.

  - “Re-integration of the Divine Wolfpack”, an open Order signed by Fortia during the latter half of the Great War.

  Olonia walked through one of Lubska’s picturesque wheat fields. Children played in the distance. The sky was blue and brilliant overhead. A warm breeze passed over her. It was mid-year, before the sweltering heat of late summer managed to fully set in. Birds played, bouncing from branch to branch in a forest of endless apple trees. An old man waved to her in the distance and she waved back. A plane passed overhead as Olonia walked. She reached a village with trees around it. Red roof tiles were glinting in the sun, a family sat around a fire, they had taken the pleasant day for a chance at a pseudo-picnic.

  Olonia blinked. How did she know that? A voice spoke from the heavens, a cold report, almost muffled. “Evacuations across Esberia are taking place, the Ashfront has started the advance again.”

  Olonia looked down as she took another step and the crunching of grass turned to the crunching of snow. Not snow though, that had a sharper, crisper sound to it. This… She looked down at her boots, covered in ash. The same pale shorts she had been sent with to the desert. The weight of prototype rifle suddenly sat on her shoulder. Her hand had wrapped around so tightly around the steel it actually bent against her, her back hurt from carrying it for hundreds of miles. She looked up. The muffled tone spoke again. “We have confirmation of a second Landbridge being raised, to connect to Esberia.”

  A whimper came from the distance. “Olonia.” Another voice, someone from that family having their picnic. They weren’t there anymore. Their bodies weren’t even there. It was simply a pile of broken bones and different limbs on the ground. The fire they had been roasting their food on now was an inferno. The house behind them was just three walls, the roof had collapsed in. Those red tiles were covered in ash, the furniture, odd pieces of chair leg, shattered plates, broken glass, all of it submerged. The birdsong gave way to the rumblings of a storm in the distance and howling winds. “Reports from the honoured One-Seventeenth, who have proven that it is possible to survive underneath Ashen Skies, are being used to devise a counterattack.”

  Olonia watched the flames of torches suddenly appear behind the horizon. The figures before them silhouetted and yet she could still make out snarling faces. The jaws of ragged hounds that should have never set their paws on Arda. Olonia’s hand tightened around the hilt of her blade, her boot crushed barren ash as she prepared to mount one final charge. In the middle of those flames, she saw the black line that had struck her before, the fire that had to be cut out to stop burning. “Goddess Olonia is still alive and recovering from the wound she took in her heroic last stand against the demon prince Asmodeus.”

  Olonia launched forwards in a charge. She would dodge it this time. She knew she would, he had taken her by surprise, he wouldn’t be able to hit her if she was paying attention. The Goddess of Lubska shot upwards, not towards the enemy ranks but towards the clear ceiling of a room. The sky outside was blue marred by steel skyscrapers. There were mountains in the distance, their peaks covered in white snow. Something heavy fell down upon her legs.

  A bundle of golden hair, almost like a flaxen field, looked up at her with brilliant blue eyes. A mouth that had fallen open in scream-less shock. A face that was relief and wary hesitation. She had yanked Saksma down over and up, the Goddess of Doschia was looking. A tiny pair of words left her mouth. “Oh no.”

  “What a wake up.” Saksma’s voice cracked with nervousness as she tested the strength of Olonia’s grip. “Ahhh…” She cooed for a moment. “You’re still squeezing.”

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  Olonia finally let go of her friend. She looked at her fingers as they naturally curled into position to grip a sword hilt. “I…” She looked around again. From the shadows of the buildings, the sun was behind them and it was midday. The mountains were to the north then. Not Lubska. “Where am I?”

  “Really?!” Saksma asked as she pushed herself off Olonia’s legs. Olonia wished she didn’t, that weight had been grounding. The covers were light. Ash had been light too.

  “What?” Olonia barked the order, her hand went to check her stomach. She knew the answer already, the feeling of freezing incineration was missing. But she had to check. She grabbed part of the white shirt and pulled, the buttons down the side blasted off. One of the buttons hit Saksma on the nose.

  “Hey!” Saksma said. “That’s one of mine.”

  Olonia did not even reply as she went to touch her tummy. It was there. It was whole. The skin had even faded, from the usual fresh baby-pink that always marked regrowth. She was here. She was whole. Her eyes met Saksma. “Apologies, I had to check.” It was a report, not an apology. Olonia didn’t even mean it frankly.

  Saksma very obviously knew she did not. “Don’t worry about it, I have more.” Saksma said as she looked to the news. It was from Doleto, Esberia’s capital. The roadways were full as the city was evacuating. “Do you want me to turn it down? Sorry if I woke you up.”

  “It was a bad dream anyway.” Olonia just leaned forward. Her eyes went to the sky outside and then to the sky above the reporter. That one was obviously turning grey. So they were coming. To Esberia, to Epa, to her precious Lubska. Olonia tested her feet, her toes curled, her knees bent. Everything worked.

  “I could tell.” Saksma said. She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it. “Are you not going to ask how long you’ve been asleep?”

  “More than a week.” Olonia replied.

  Saksma raised an eyebrow. “I’m shocked you’re not shocked.”

  “You can tell by the skin.” Olonia pointed to her stomach. She saw this procedure done at least a thousand times back then, when men were charred to crisp and needed to have whole limbs remade. A few times, it had been her too.

  “I…” Saksma trailed off.

  “Is this your room?”

  “It’s yours.” Saksma said. “Arascus brought you here to recover.” Saksma blushed and trailed off. “I’m sorry, I… I tried to here as quickly as possible.” She had been here the whole time. Definitely the whole time. Even though she had her own nation to manage, she had taken time away. Even though they were in a war right now, even though Saksma should be rallying the troops. “Don’t look at me like that.”

  “What?” Olonia barked it like an order and realised she was shouting. Gentler this time, one, two, three. She let out a breath. “What Saksma, sorry.”

  “No, don’t be.” Saksma said. “You looked like you were mad.”

  Poof.

  And something was there. Guilt? More rage? Maybe a mixture of both. Olonia pushed the feeling away in the same way she had pushed back hesitation and fear before Tanit and the rest of the troops every single damn day back under… “Where is Tanit?”

  “She’s meeting with the survivors.” Saksma said. “And Arascus said she’ll take a break to recover from… you know. Make a trip around Epa to see how her own people are doing.”

  That wasn’t a good move. Tanit had been under the Ashen Skies just as much as Olonia had. She should be drawing diagrams of the spewer they had destroyed, of whatever it was that attacked her in Anghazi, of the way the ash fell, of how they breached the Ashfront on the way in, when they let it pass over them. Tanit was the most crucial one of them all, if anyone could say how deep into the sands they had been buried, it should be her. “The war is still ongoing.”

  “I know.” Saksma said. “Paida wanted to come but she has to marshal Rancais, they’re sending more troops to Esberia.” Paida took a deep breath.

  “What about the One-Seventeenth?”

  “They’re on break.” That shouldn’t be happening either. They had survived one spoonful of apocalypse, they would be able to handle another one.

  “And-“ Olonia’s word were intercepted this time.

  “Is this about the war?”

  “It is.” As direct an answer as Olonia could give. She shifted in her bed. The air was warm here. That was different. It was almost too hot. The back of her hand touched her bedsheets where she had been lying. Soaked, sweat by the smell. Then to her thighs, only sweat there, she’d hadn’t wet herself then.

  “Don’t ask it.” Saksma said. “Please.”

  “I need to know.”

  “I wanted to talk with you.” That, Olonia could believe without a doubt. She took a deep breath and shook her head. “I’m fine Saksma, I’m alive, I’m here.” Saksma obviously caught onto the fact that all three statements were outright lies.

  “Are you?” She asked softly and finally stood up. “You don’t look it. Or sound it.”

  There had been a time when Olonia had been jealous of how Saksma looked. Of the flowing gold hair and the height and the fact the woman’s bosom was larger than hers. Now? What childish thoughts they were. Now, Saksma was judged even on the way she stood. The two feet pointed straight at Olonia, not prepared to dodge whatsoever. The downwards tilt of her shoulder, thoroughly uninspiring. The shine in her eyes… That wasn’t even jealousy, a shine like that had to be cherished and protected. “What do you want to do then?”

  “I was thinking of making you something to eat.”

  If there was anything which sounded terrible right now, it was food. Olonia’s stomach rumbled to disagree with her mind and Saksma’s lips perked up in a shy smile. “I learned how to make pierogis for you.”

  Olonia slid down onto her bed, utterly defeated. “I don’t even know where to begin.” Saksma would want to hear it. Olonia was sure that Saksma would want to hear it.

  “I said we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” Olonia’s mind found an answer immediately and then tried to find another.

  There was no other answer, but she could at least make herself polite. “I need to talk about it.” Olonia whispered it. Her hand went for Saksma’s and then stopped. There was a war going on outside. Her precious Lubska would end up like that if she did not…

  What could she even do? It wasn’t her who ended that battle. There was no responsibility, she just had to shut up and follow orders as she had done before. Saksma saw the movement. She sat back down on the side of the bed and gently intertwined her fingers through Olonia’s. “I knew you wanted to.”

  Not diplomatic whatsoever, maybe it was even the wrong thing to say. Olonia did not care.“It was the worst experience of my life.” Olonia said flatly. She looked around the room, she should get up. It was clean here, definitely some hotel for Divines, she had been healed and then dropped off and let rest. The walls were a dark grey colour, wooden panels reached half-way up the wall, the door to the bathroom with the shower was open. There was a kitchen, separated by a large island. Traces of flour were still there, although it had been cleaned. Saksma hadn’t been lying when she said she was practicing. She couldn’t stand up now. The moment she did, she would dress and march straight to Central Command to be given another mission.

  “Take your time.” Saksma said. “Don’t… If you’re just saying it for me, then don’t.”

  Olonia wanted to curl into a ball and sleep again. She wanted to disappear into those covers and rot. She didn’t want to close her eyes though. A return to sleep would be a return to that nightmare. She heard her voice crack in a manner thoroughly unfit for Divines.

  It was a long story. The sun set before Olonia got even half-way through.