The Greatest Sin

President Mwai Ruku sat in his office. It was all fine carved Arikan wood, it only made sense for the President for Kirinyaa to sit in an office that had all domestic furniture. Another sanction from Doschia had come, Karaina had finally imposed their first one. A ban on air travel, most likely they had finally worked out Kassandora and Arascus had her men stationed in there.

Mwai did not care one bit. He looked over at the television. Kirinyaan politics were a fairly boring affair for him, they were a poor country, the government was seen as useless, they didn’t even bother to tax anyone past the central mountain ranges where the nomadic peoples lived that had been pushed east by the coming of the Jungle. It was a country that was surviving on borrowed time, investments rarely came into a land which people were sure would be swallowed by the Jungle eventually. A depressing country, where the government wasn’t even spat upon because no one bothered to spit.

Not anymore.

In one day, with one news presentation, the future of the nation had turned around. In one moment, Kirinyaa turned from fading campfire to Arika’s shining beacon of hope.

The Jungle would be stopped. Let the Epans seethe, let the White Pantheon throw around their warnings and embargos and sanctions. He would go down in history: ‘The man who oversaw the beginning of the Reclamation War.’

Fer lay on her bed, legs kicking up in the air, and browsed her phone, her ears quivered as the Binturongs started firing again. She counted. Fifteen shots. This was the second time one had broken down. She supposed she should go and help the men repair it. She wasn’t any good at the mechanical parts and even if she knew what to do, her fingers were far too big to deal with the tiny screws that held the machinery together, but she could hold up the barrel for them, or bring tracks, or some other activity.

Fer put her phone her down. Helenna had sent her one, and then another, and a third. They were fun little toys. Kassandora had told her not to interact with people on there, not to talk about politics, not to talk about the war, not about anything which could be considered secret. Fer rolled her eyes, she wasn’t stupid, she only used it to read about things she didn’t know. There was a website where people talked, but it was a pain to deal with, and she had to solve puzzles every single time she wanted to post something, and making the account was an ordeal in itself. Username: ‘Fer’ is too short it had said. Then it told her someone had already claimed RealFer. Likewise Real_Fer. Eventually she had to settle on Very_Real_Fer. Today, she had posted a picture of a wild lion she saw yesterday when on a walk, that was that. Kassandora had nothing to complain about.

Fer left her tent and smelled the air. Gunpowder, fuel, napalm, sweat, food, alcohol, water, people, newcomers from the East, they still smelled of the seaside. She closed her eyes. Rubber, steel, light rust, paint, concrete being poured, dust, ash, napalm, and the Jungle smell. There wasn’t a real way she could describe the Jungle smell, it was cold, sweet and sour at the same time, and it left a bad taste in her mouth. Same things with the shouting, it was an overwhelming orchestral cacophony of people talking, of vehicles working, of helicopters circling the camp, of planes and cars, broken up every few seconds by the roar of Binturong firing.

Fer saw Helenna and Neneria sitting on the hill and quietly having a conversation. Her tall golden ears turned and twisted and she honed in on their conversation. Neneria hated when people listened in on her, Fer grinned to herself. Neneria could not stop her now though, could she? Helenna was asking the question, in that sweet quiet voice of hers she always used when talking with Neneria. “What would Kass like?”

“Anything useful.”

“I can’t think of anything she’d need though.”

“Then a drink.” Neneria replied as Fer started walking away from them. Boring. She had expected some gossip or something, not a discussion on what Kassandora would like, besides, there were plenty of things Helenna could do. Training dummies, coats, Kassie liked clothes too, although she’d never admit it. Armour, swords, no one ever gave her that apart from Fer, everyone always thought that because she had Joyeuse, she never used anything else.

Fer moved through the camp, people bowed and smiled and moved out of her way. Journalists had been banned from access to Kassandora’s section, that was good. Kassandora hated journalists whereas Fer thought nothing of them. They were simply doing a job, if she was a journalist, she would have snuck in already. Gifts were a good idea though, she should give Kavaa something for the assistance in the Jungle. Usually she was good on these things but it had slipped her mind with celebration, then Kassandora and Helenna had gone off and work had begun almost immediately when the constructions crews came around.

What would Kavaa like? Not alcohol, everyone always gave that, not swords, Kavaa got them out of her own armoury anyway. A cloak most likely, something for the cool evenings and nights in Arika, everyone always gave light clothes for the heat here and ignored that the night got close to freezing. That was a good idea, Fer smiled to herself, she always had good ideas.

She walked quickly through the narrow rows of Kassandora’s camp as news crews took pictures from afar, and entered the Binturong enclosure. Supposedly this was firing field three, but Binturong enclosure rolled off the tongue. A line of Clerics were safeguarding it, a man was giving an interview and waving towards the cannons. Fer had been right, one of the vehicles had indeed broken down. A crew of engineers had unscrewed the base of the cannon and were working on it. She approached and asked cheerfully. “Lifting needed?”

“Fer!” That was good, Fer didn’t like being called a Goddess. The newcomers from the East still did, and most of the soldiers in the camp, but she had helped the engineers and builders enough for them to consider her one of theirs.

“Barrel broken?”

“It’s this part.” The main man who greeted her, a Cleric assigned to engineering by the name of Jeffrey tapped the back of the carriage.

Another engineer, oil all over his clothes, hands and face, appeared from underneath the vehicle and spoke in the usual manner that they did. “Fucking overdesigned piece of fucking shit. You can tell some fucking labrat made these.” He said before seeing Fer, then blushed. “Ahh… ‘Scuse the language Fer.”

Fer laughed and waved the man away. “So what’s broken this time?”

“Underside.” The lead engineer took out a cigarette and lit it. The other members of the team knew that meant it was time for a break. “Can you lift it, the whole thing I mean?” Fer looked at the artillery. She probably could, they were heavy, but not exceptionally, not long or steady enough for them to work on it though.

“I can roll it over.” Fer said and the man shook his head.

“You fucking roll over this piece of crap and it will explode or some shit. Probably shoot itself or just give up.” He kicked the treads of the Binturong in frustration. The Binturong answered by leaking oil onto the red dirt.

“So what, lift from behind?” Fer asked, the engineer turned and started shouting the Cleric loaders who were awkwardly staring at them, pretending not to hear how he was speaking to a Divine.

“Get a move on! Bring the ramp you useless fucks!” He turned back to Fer. “If you can just lift the back onto a ramp, it’ll be easier to work on.” He shook his head in frustration. “Fucking terrible vehicle, that’s what it is. This one hates us especially, fifth time today the oil started leaking on this garbage.” He went and sat down on a steel stool to finish his cigarette. Fer knelt down close by to listen to Jeffrey and the rest of the team vent their frustrations about the vehicle.

The team of loaders came back. Two teams of men, six each, carrying two large beams of steel that had been made the engineers. They were simple inclines, not tall, but enough for a man to be on his knees as he worked on the undercarriage. “Do you want to see a picture?” Jeffrey showed off his phone to Fer. It was the bottom of the vehicle, a panel taken off to reveal a jumble of twisting tubes and gears and pipes and wires all dancing together. “That’s what we’re working on.”

“Can’t help with that.” Frankly, Fer hoped she would never learn how to fix that because then Kassie would call on her to be an engineer. As long as she didn’t know, she was safe from being assigned to the engineering team permanently.

“Oh no, don’t worry.” Jeffrey continued as another engineer passed out bottles of water around. Fer took one too. “You already do more than these lazy fucks.” Fer burst out in laughter as they watched the Clerics set up the ramps behind the vehicle. Fer heard her name be said in the crowds, her ears turned and she listened in. It was only some journalist asking the guards for an interview with her. He was met with a swift denial.

The loader Clerics finished and excused themselves. “Yeah run away, daddy’s working here!” Jeffrey shouted after them. “Remember not to open the door when you hear your mother screaming! She loves it!”

Finally that got the better of one of the loaders. He turned, raised a rude gesture into the air and shouted back. “Shut the fuck up Jeff!” That made the team of engineers burst out in laughter along with Fer. Everyone exchanged high fives with Jeffrey for getting a reaction. Fer clapped the man on his back, he felt especially proud of himself after that and then she got to work.

The Binturong was heavier than expected, good thing Fer had not agreed to lift it. She eventually settled on simply going around to the front. She felt her muscles, her legs dig into the dirt, she growled, her hands made dent in the steel, but the Binturong moved. It slid backwards, onwards and up onto the ramp. Fer had to stop herself from rolling it off the edge once it built up speed. She finally let go, made sure it was steady and flexed her fingers. All the mechanics looked on in awe, she was sure that this would on the news later on. “Fucking Hell.” Jeffrey said. “That was fast.” He stood up, put his cigarette out in the dirt and clapped his hands. “Break’s over lads, back to work.”

He was met with a chorus of sighs and half-hearted agreements. “Do you need help with anything else?” Fer asked, she hoped they did, she liked hanging around with these people, they were some of the few who treated her without regard for the fact she was a Divine.

“Not now.” Jeffrey said. “You’re welcome to watch though but there’s not much to do, it’s only the filter on this crap that’s thrown the towel in.” Two of the mechanics disappeared underneath the vehicle and started cursing to themselves about the tragic condition of the oil pumps. “Thanks though, you’re a lifesaver.” He walked around the artillery and stopped at the front. “Fucking Hell Fer.”

“What?” Fer’s ears jumped up to attention.

“You fucking dented the fucking front.”

“It was soft!”

“Soft my ass!” Jeffrey shouted back. “This is ten millimetres of steel.”

“So twice as big as you are then.” Fer said flatly and the entire team burst out in laughter.

“Not true, they built the cannon on the back in my image.” Jeffrey said, more laughs as some mechanical machination of a part was thrown out onto the red dirt by the pair of engineers underneath. Jeffrey leaned down and tapped the metal with his knuckle, then turned to Fer. “Can you un-dent this?” Fer crossed her arms and looked down at the man.

“Do you think I can?”

“No.”

“Exactly.” Fer said as Jeffrey sighed.

“This part doesn’t have wires or anything.” He scratched his head. “Alright, we’ll think of something. Thanks for the help.” He turned and gave Fer his hand to shake. Fer always liked shaking hands, not many people had the bravery to do it with a Divine. She made sure to only use a little bit of strength, careful not to break Jeffrey’s fingers. The two men from underneath got out.

“Fucking thing needs a new filter and a new pump.”

“Where’s the fucking assistants then?” Jeffrey asked. He turned to look at the loaders pretending to assist with the nearby Binturong, they weren’t doing anything in particular. “Oi! You’re not paid to inspect each other’s asses! Come here!” The loaders all gave each other terrible looks and shakes off their heads, then slowly started to meander over.

“If you need help with anything else, just call.” Fer said, she heard her name multiple times from the crowd. People were looking for her, from the voices, she could tell it was Arusei and Kimani.

“We do. Blame this lot for not delivering.” Jeffrey said lazily waved a hand over to the loaders approaching them and Fer looked quizzically at him.

“I’m the old one here, I shouldn’t be teaching you about phones.” Fer said and the engineer blinked.

“You have a phone?” He asked in disbelief.

“Of course I have a phone!” Fer said. “I’m not your grandma!”

“Fucking Hell.” Jeffrey shook his head and pulled his own out of his back pocket. “We were just talking earlier how it’d be easier if we had your number.” He held the phone to Fer with his phone displayed. “My hands are dirty so…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Fer added him into her contacts and rang to confirm. “See, who’s ancient now?” She cooed over him. The rest of the team were added too. Fer looked at her contacts book. Nine people now! Wonderful! She’d show this off to Kassandora and Neneria later.

“We’ve hit the big leagues now.” Jeffrey said as he looked into his phone. “Fucking Hell, phone number to a Goddess.”

Fer tapped the side of the Binturong. “If you hand it out, I’m going to pull a tread off.” The whole team went pale with fear.

“I’d rather you break my hand.” Jeffrey said.

“And I better be at the top of your list!” Fer said.

“You’re not my wife!” One of the other mechanics said, the rest burst out in laughter.

“You’ll get a wife when these things stop breaking down.” Fer tapped the Binturong again as the man went red and the team laughed. Jeffrey clapped him on the back.

“That’s a long and lonely road ahead of you.” More laughter as the loaders finally got to them.

“What do you want Jeff?” One of them asked coldly and Jeffrey cocked his head to the pair who had inspected the underside of the Binturong. Fer turned away as she heard her name being said again. Arusei and Kimani were arguing with a Cleric holding the cordon around the Binturong enclosure about how they had to talk with Fer. She gave a single wave back to Jeffrey and his team, and went over to them.

“Let them in.” Fer said coldly, she fixed her posture, her gaze became sharp, her face cold. The Cleric turned in his silver armour, his green cape whipping around to look at Fer, then at the two Arikans, then at Fer again.

“But Goddess Kassa-“

“Let them in.” Fer growled and the man allowed the two Arikans through, immediately, Fer lightened her mood. The fact two were allowed through immediately brought more begging and shouts from the reporters here. These people would never see her as her own, but they didn’t treat her with the boring sanctity Epans did. It was better, but it wasn’t the engineers. “What is it?”

“Lioness.” That’s what they always called her. Fer didn’t particularly mind it, it was a good title and she did have a mane of gold and a tail now. From their expressions and tone though, it was urgent. Had the Jungle hit back? Maybe someone else was taken, but then one of Divines would have rang her. “There is something urgent.” The two Arikans were tall and dark, muscled, scarred, Arusei was missing his ear. “Somewhere more private.” Fer lead towards the middle of the Binturongs.

“We can talk here, no one will overhear us.” Even the voices from the crowd had been dulled here as she turned to face them. They both were looking up at her nervously, and both reeked of fear as if they had bathed in it.

“You entered the Jungle and you retrieved Iniri and your sister from the Jungle’s stomach?” They knew that much, it had been impossible to hide Baalka, but no one had given the name of who it was away. Kassandora said it was better that way, since even if news got out, anyone attacking them would have to plan for several Goddesses instead of just hyper-focusing how to cancel out Baalka’s diseases.

“We did.”

“Where?” Fer tilted her head and looked at them.

“I don’t know where.” Kassandora was the one who would be able to plant a position on the map based off nothing but the stars. “Deep. Why?”

“We talked with Kavaa, she said that Kassandora said you entered the Jungle’s stomach.” Arusei said. Fer shrugged to them. If they talked with Kavaa, she would have given a clinical explanation of everything she saw. She supposed she should give them something that wasn’t that.

“It was a hole in the ground, teeth came out and trapped us in. Acid starting filling the hole, Kassandora made a plan which worked and broke us out.” The two nodded.

“Kavaa said the same thing. There is no way you could get us to talk to Kassandora?”

“She’s always busy.” Kassie had told Fer to simply deny requests with everyone, she even mentioned these men by name. “Why?” Colder this time. The message was simple, either answer or stop wasting her time.

“Iniri we’ve not been able to talk to yet, and Kavaa said she didn’t see anything, but we asked her what she saw. She said she heard Kassandora shout for you to ignore something on the way out.” Fer nodded. She remembered that. She hadn’t thought much of it, Kassie said to ignore it, so she ignored it. Worse had been faced in the past anyway, when Tartarus brought Archdemons onto Arda or when Titans walked the ground.

“There was a big creature.” Fer began drawing in the dirt with her boot. “Like this, it had the smell that the Jungle did, but also it smelled like a lion, a vulture, a crocodile and a snake wrapped together. It was huge, I saw it in the distance growing out of the ground when we got to the stomach but we didn’t stay long enough to take a good look.” Fer looked up from the ground at the two men. “Hello?”

“I thought it was a myth.” Kimani whispered to himself and Arusei finished.

“Kassandora has to be told.”