Human nature is contradictory from its very foundation; an animal that denies its instinct, a collective that praises that the individual, an individual that wishes to be subsumed into the collective. Authenticity and originality in fitting in. I see these contradictions everywhere and my daughters’ entire lives are a contradiction.

Irinika, whose glorious power is so repellent that she is overshadowed by those weaker than her. Olephia, whose loneliness has only made her more social as she was besmirched by the world’s cynicism. Baalka, who can only destroy what fuels her existence. Neneria, who knows everything save for the very thing that serves as her foundation. Fer, who refuses to reject her humanity even though there is none who expect her to maintain it. Anassa, who has found a community in being alone. Malam, who is so sweet yet so bitter. Kassandora, whose ambition is a road to happiness that only leads her further from it.

There is no reason to try and fight against these contradictions. If human nature is inherently contradictory, then let it be so. Especially if one is Divine, then trying to reconcile these positions is a waste of time at best and existentially self-negating at worst; Divinity only exists because man is able to manifest conscious onto reality, A Divine is a living, walking, breathing delusion so certain in itself that it establishes itself as a force in reality.

I am not here to solve these contradictions; I am here to figure out how far they can be stretched. The timeless, yet advancing Empire, stagnant in perpetual domination; the loving war, that sets aside all differences and unites all; the final victory, which does not castrate humanity with a circumcision of conflict yet removes the endless battling of warfare.

– Excerpts from the private writings of God Arascus, of Pride.

Kassandora looked at the grand gates of Dineh. Two huge barriers of carved gold-bronze alloy with runes embedded into them over the artwork of a dwarf standing over a fallen tree. This was the first major population centre into Epa and it was crowded, although by now, everyone in the Underground Expeditionary Legion had seen their fare share of Dwarves to the point that the stunty little half men had lost their charm. The half-men must have sent word that Kassandora was marching though this way because the gates of Dineh of were already open for her troops.

The journey to Dineh had managed to be fascinating and horrendously uneventful at the same time. Iniri had passed out only for a short time, she regrew the bridge in Fazba as the rest of the Legion caught up to the vanguard, and they had moved it. Kassandora had tasked her soldiers to assist the dwarves with scouting and searching throughout Fazba for any papers left over by that Holds’ research. It was only because of Neneria running her own investigation that they learned the souls were to a silver so fine it was borderline invisible to the naked eye. It had been to though, it had been balanced to be in such small quantities that the souls themselves could move it once bound, and since they affixed to an object, they could not leave.

How they managed to stuff a dragon soul into dust, Kassandora had no damn idea.

So her soldiers had to be there. The dwarves were secretive and guarded and they grumbled about the fact that Kassandora had forced a bodyguard on them, but eventually they acquiesced once Kassandora said they would be allowed to keep copies of whatever papers they found. Her men couldn’t read their runes anyway. But her men did know about and what the dwarves did not were cameras. The entire hold would be recorded down to the smallest pebble at the bottom. It would take years, of course, but Fazba was far too precious a treasure to let slip away from memory. Kassandora would do the searching herself if she could.

So Kassandora had led her men straight through Fazba as the engineers stayed behind with Iniri to work on the broken bridge and fashioning a railway into the wood. The Goddess of Nature would listen to her engineers, would make her own suggestions, and the connection would be restored. It wouldn’t be as clean as steel and concrete, and Iniri’s style of building with hooking roots and trees and branches into the masonry would cause some damage to Fazba, but it had to be done at the end of the day. Boots had to march and blood had to flow in this new Arika-Epa line after what could only be Continent Cracking collapsed the old route. It was too important. Kassandora would do the planning herself if she could.

And so Kassandora led the march through the Fazba-Dineh stretch of the underground highway. The huge square tunnel wide enough for hundreds of men and tall enough for a skyscraper to be dragged into it. This stretch of the highway was almost nostalgic. The sealing of the World-Core had ensured that it stayed largely clouded in darkness and it carried none of the majesty the ancient roads did in the past, but that did not mean it had only stagnated into perpetuity. The tunnel was inhabited. It had a small off-shoot holds that had been dug out in the thousand years that had passed and once windows and doors started appearing in the sides of the highway, they only got more and more common until entire swathes of wall were lit up the warm glows of hearths. Kassandora sent teams of humans and dwarves into the new holds to make sure that panic would not spread and to introduce the Legion, but news had to have travelled faster. The closer they got to Dineh, the larger the crowds got. From windows and balconies or from the cold grey surface of the highway itself, dwarves in thick clothes lined up and watched Divines from ancient ages return. There were cheers and there were beers poured out onto the ground. Her scouts returned with papers and documents and letters all vying for Kassandora’s and Neneria’s attention. It was banal work, but it was important too. Relations had to be maintained with the dwarves else these tunnels become entirely inaccessible. Kassandora would do the diplomacy herself if she could.

But she couldn’t do anything of those things. She couldn’t and she wouldn’t because the ship needed a captain of the people down here, only could do command such as a vessel. It wasn’t ego speaking, talking to the lords of minor holds and rifling through old papers was certainly not below her, and even if it was, then Kassandora would do it still. She did not measure herself up to expectations, expectations measured themselves against it. It was the non-negotiable opponent that could only be defeated with effort and time: necessity. Necessity kept her from making sure the Fazba bridge was built to last, necessity made sure that the dwarves would definitely manage to scurry their precious history away, necessity made sure that the leaders of holds here would only look up at Kassandora from a distance.

And, worst of all, it was necessity that kept Kassandora from seeing Kavaa.

The Goddess of Health had fainted mid-battle. Kavaa was alive. Neneria said that her soul was fine and just rebuilding her energies. Kavaa was alive. Iniri had given the woman all the medical herbs needed for a speedy recovery. Kavaa was alive. Kassandora herself had inspected Kavaa’s state. Kavaa was alive. A trained team of Legion medics and doctors had checked the woman’s blood and health and everything and anything. Kavaa was alive. Kavaa had passed out, but Kavaa was alive. Kassandora marched forwards, Legion behind her, stone-faced and towards Dineh hold.

She had seen this hold when the suns under the surface still shone and when the dwarven population was ten times what it was today. She had seen Dineh’s grand farms where the dwarves grew massive mushrooms which could be brewed into ale or eaten after being cooked. The hold had a massive cannery where tin was melted down into containers for preserving food. There would be pools of the metal, there still were actually. But they weren’t the molten magma ponds that looked like visions of hell, they were massive slabs of tin, now covered with a layer of dust. There had obviously been an attempt to use some of the metal, in parts it was chipped away, but without the cannery and without the construct construction of the past? What could such great amounts of tin even be used for?

Large open-topped carts were pulled along by animated dwarven skeletons, filled with mushrooms. Kassandora had learned they were being shipped off to the other holds in Erdely. Dineh no longer supplies almost a third of the underground kingdoms by itself, but that didn’t mean the farms had disappeared. Mushrooms had to be tended to, already several floors had been lost to overgrowth. The hold was larger than Fazba, far deeper, it series of cities stacked on top of each other. With bridge leading into tunnel that opened up to the side of an apartment block on which rested a forge, next to which was a granary, behind it an armoury, down a ramp and through a tunnel was an empty training yard, far above was a library. It was a sight to behold.

Kassandora did not behold it. Kavaa was alive. She saw a series of dwarves in the distance. Malam’s touch in their culture came through. They were dressed in black and white; dark armour with light edges, spears and halberds with shafts of dark steel and blade alloyed with silver. The style of armour was still old Imperial. The weapons were still the halberds Kassandora had ingrained into their battle tactics. Kavaa was alive, that was the important bit. “This is Dineh?” Iniri’s voice pulled Kassandora out of her depressed state and immediately the Goddess of War felt a flash of anger. It was always like, always, great Kassandora never had a moment to rest. War never slept! Everyone could go and feel sad together and leave it all to Kassandora! She would handle it! Wouldn’t she? She always did after all! Kassandora sequestered that annoying voice away.

It wasn’t even true. She would handle it. This wasn’t the first time she would handle it for everyone else and it wouldn’t be the last time she would handle it for everyone else. “This is Dineh.” Kassandora and supposed Iniri was asking for an explanation. “It was the underkingdom’s breadbasket back, I assume you’ve never seen it.”

“No.” Iniri said. Of course she hadn’t. Kassandora eyed the Goddess from the corner of her eye. Iniri, shorter than Kassandora by a head, was wearing the exact same sort of black military uniform, complete with coat and cap, that Kassandora wore. She needed to at this point, because the Goddess of Nature had to correctly signify to the world she was no longer on the other team. Same with Neneria needing to stay close to Kavaa to make sure that no dwarf got ideas about finishing off the Goddess of Health.

“Shroomstalk may be the more applicable word. We’re in the upper hold now, but there’s a lower half and two wings, at least there were back then. Those are all mushroom plantations. The south wing was a specialized lab to grow new species.”

“Ah…” Iniri said as she looked around. “I know back then our soldiers would talk of Dineh ale.”

“The breweries shut down when the World Core was sealed.” Kassandora said. “They’re at the bottom of the upper hold. “But it was made here.”

“And we are properly in the kingdoms now?” Iniri asked nervously as the team of dwarves from ahead approached. Lords and ladies, the lot of them.

“In the Erdely section.” Kassandora said. “The map we got says that Dineh is connected only to other friendly holds and Fazba. We marched through Fazba, so I don’t expect anything here.” No. It wasn’t danger. The prelude to danger was always far harder and far worse than danger. Danger walked hand in hand with sacrifice and reason.

“Can I say one thing?” Iniri said. Kassandora rolled her eyes. She hated when people asked her for permission to speak. She wasn’t that terrifying, was she?

“Just say it.”

“I’m glad you’re here.” Iniri said and Kassandora felt her eyes widen. “Honestly, I really am.”

“Thanks.” Kassandora said dryly. She didn’t know what it was that separated Arascus and her sisters and Kavaa from the rest of the world, but there was simply something. When Iniri said it, the feeling simply did not resonate. “Do you feel like you have to thank me because we won the battle?”

Kassandora saw the Goddess of Nature from the corner of her eye shrug. “I know you won’t appreciate it if I say yes.” The woman was dead right. Kassandora did not appreciate it, but it was the mark of a leader not to let displeasure show. “But I think so.” Iniri took a deep breath. “And there is something else too.”

“Just say it Iniri.” Kassandora kept her tone inviting and gentle, she supposed she should try and get the woman to say something. A voice in her mind sarcastically laughed at her: The joys of being a leader! “We’ve been through too together for me to judge at this point.”

“Oh but you will.” Iniri said.

“Then you should say it anyway, because I will judge you more for keeping silent.”

“I even with what you did for me with Be’elzebub and with Taneth.” Iniri began and Kassandora knew exactly where this was going.

“If you’re not you, then what are you Iniri?” Kassandora said. She had tried to help, she had tried to show, she thought maybe there was some way to heal. But if the woman was truly this depressed, then maybe she did just require a total destruction of spirit for Kassandora to remake her. It’s what was done to soldiers after all, why couldn’t it be done to a Divine? “You did well, you did what was expected, what do you expect me to say exactly Iniri?” Kassandora asked. “Well done? Do you want praise? Are you unhappy? I don’t see it Iniri. Back in the Great War, when the Legions got news of you it was worse than Maisara or Kavaa or Fortia. No one wanted to end up as plant food.”

“I’ve told you before that’s not me.”

“You just almost killed and protected us from an endless swarm of flesh eaters and a ghost dragon. Do you understand what I’m saying? Or are you just in denial about yourself? Is this what a thousand years with Allasaria did?” And Iniri fell silent. Kassandora had seen this before when it happened in her soldiers. They would simply go silent and not respond anymore. Kassandora had to give the woman something to think about, it couldn’t be too bad, but it couldn’t be nice either. When an arm dislocated from the shoulder, the solution was to snap it back in. “You’ve not made any grand advancement of character. You’ve simply forgotten how strong you are.”

Iniri said nothing, so Kassandora didn’t either. The group of dwarves advancing towards them, the live ones in clothes of black and white with ceremonial weapons in similar shades, looked as if it was about to introduce themselves. Kassandora knew who they were already anyway, the names didn’t matter. It was the Holdmaster of Dineh and his council. Kassandora spoke before the men did. Gentlemen, it is good to see that the vows your ancestors laid long ago are still held.”

“A vow is a vow. May mountains fly before vows are broken.”

“And I still hold to the vow my father has made to you.” Kassandora said. “I have returned to make your suns shine once again.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep