The Greatest Sin

“Do you think they’ll succeed?” Iliyal asked Arascus. The God took a while to respond.

“With Luck.”

Above the frozen wasteland of Artica, a desert of ice that was flat and stretched into the horizon no matter which direction one turned in, flew five intruders. Five oversized jets, white and striped with gold made their slow journey from Olympiada to Olephia’s Prison, flying in a V. They painted a clear white line behind them, as if an artist was dragging his paintbrush across a blue canvas. Five fat seagulls, gently gliding through the air. And behind them, chased two birds of prey.

“Raptor-One, this is Raptor-Two, I have visual.” Edmonton listened through earpiece in his ear. He stood in the holds of Raptor-One. Arascus had sent him off with a team of men, although they weren’t here for much other than moral support. They were all dressed in thick coats, lined with fur. The dark goggles on his face dulled the blinking lights in the plane’s compartments, but looking through the windows, he would not take them off. The ground below was a blinding white sheet of paper that reflected sunlight too brilliantly. He rubbed his hands together, eager to put some gloves on and clicked the earpiece to monitor the chatter.

“Copy you Raptor-Two, same here.” His pilot repeated. The voice of Seer-Central came on. Edmonton was sure he had heard it in headquarters, but the poor connection quality distorted the accent to little more than a robot’s speech.

“Raptors cut the chatter. The Pelican is a half-hour behind you. Close the distance.” Seer-Central took a heavy breath. “Sorcerers, you’re free to engage. Make it count.” Edmonton grabbed a steel bar as the plane jerked. It twisted sideways and began to descend.

Allasaria sat with Leona in a plane too cramped for her. Leona had no issue of course, neither did the minor Divines Allasaria had called on to act as a shield for them, but she herself was just too tall to sit comfortably. She slouched in the seat, better this undignified posture than craning her neck for the twelve-hour flight.

The plane wasn’t even uncomfortable. With leather seats and carpeted floors and a cabinet for drinks, but it still made Allasaria anxious. She had never liked flying in vehicles when she could fly herself, but jets were undeniably faster and they undeniably did not get tired. In the past, she would have carried Leona on her arms and the trip from Olympiada to Artica took a week. Now, it took a half day of slouching.

Leona looked around nervously, she touched the temples on her head and wiped sweat off the brow. She had been like this ever since they stepped on the plane back at Olympiada’s skyport, if she were a mortal, Allasaria would have thought her to be ill.

“Allasaria…” The pilot’s voice broke the monotonous silence and Allasaria immediately sat up, she craned her neck forwards and pulled herself out of the seat. In the back, the seven Gods on this plane had sat up too. They were only minor inventions, but inventions were better than mortals. “We… ugh… we have a situation.” Allasaria only shouted a response, she was sure the pilot would hear her.

“What?!”

“We are being pursued, look through the windows.”

Fleur stepped to the side door of Raptor-Two’s cargo hold, heavy coat around her. Mikhail had come to before Operation Misfortune started and said that the planes were barebones, little more than tubes with jets attached to them, but she had expected heating. Lights at least! Instead it was a series of tiny blinking red lamps, and they were there to merely indicate that the plane was turned on. Why even have such a feature? She could look outside the window for that! “Sorceress. Final checks.” The man at her side said.

Fleur shook her head and did the final checks. Mufflers, on, hat, on, oxygen mask, working, goggles, on, parachute, on her back, coat, buttoned-up, shoelaces, tied. Done. He opened his mouth to say something else, saw Fleur’s angry eyes and decided against it. Smart choice. The pilot’s voice came over, through the earpieces in her mufflers. “Raptor-Two team, hold on, beginning descent in three, two, one.” Fleur grabbed one of the steel bars interspersed throughout the hold as the plane turned.

It was a steep and fast descent. More like a giant had merely flicked the plane into a tumble rather than it being guided by a pilot. “We’re in firing range, they’re below us. Open doors.” Two of the men turned the heavy red wheel on the door, Fleur gave a final tug to the cable going from her belt to the ceiling, gave them a thumbs-up and stepped forwards.

Were it not for that cable, the wind would have instantly ripped her away from the plane, instead it only tugged and tried to crush her chest. Fleur flailed in the air, held onto the bar and regained her footing. Fresh oxygen started to flow in her mask, it almost made her lightheaded, almost. The pilot’s voice came on again. “Raptor-One is in position, doors open, Seer-Central has given permission to fire. Sorceress, it’s all on you now.”

Allasaria pushed her face into a window as Leona screamed out and fell to the floor. There was a plane above them. One Allasaria had never seen before, triangular, with the entire wing fixed into the body. Huge too, with jets in the wings and two more on its back. It was more akin to a rocket used to launch satellites than anything to transport men. It was painted black, apart from a yellow beak and red eyes above the pilot’s cabin.

Allasaria narrowed her eyes and then she felt her breath stop. One of the plane’s doors was open. There was a person standing there, obscured by thick winter clothes, with a cable struggling to hold them in the wind. The person raised their arms and Allasaria’s instincts kicked in. “DIVE!” She shouted and turned to grab Leona. A bubble of light shielded them, she felt her own plane jerk downwards and looked through the window with Leona in her arms.

A force Allasaria had not seen in nine hundred years came out of that person. A force that ripped through the plane next to them and sent it crashing towards the snow and ice below in a ball of flame.

Sorcery.

Edmonton moved his fingers as ice started to form on them. Thirty seconds he had been told before frostbite would kick in. Thirty seconds was more than enough. He pressed them forwards, concentrated just like during Arascus’ training and channelled sorcery. It came easily so easily he may as well have been riding a bike. Two months of training and he had surpassed whatever magical prowess he held before.

There was no charge time, no accelerating flow of power, no need to condense water from the air. One instant, his hands were bare, the next, red sorcery was pouring out of them in a beam. He felt sweat appear on his brow and his arms grow weak and he stalled the flow. It was enough anyway.

The red beam had cut through the wing of the closest plane like a knife through butter. Fuel leaked out, caught fire, the body of the plane exploded, its trajectory faltered and it fell to the ground in a ball of fire. The white trail of condensed air it was leaving was replaced with black plumes of terrible smoke. Edmonton took a breath and looked up at Raptor-Two. Fleur was there, looking at him, her own kill falling to the ground below her. Two out of five done. Edmonton was disappointed, he wanted to best to her, he knew she wanted to best him, and he knew that she thought the same.

The plane in the middle, the one they had settled on privately for first-come first-serve, began a dive. The pilot’s shout came on in his earpiece. “Get that one be-“ His voice cut out as Edmonton and Fleur both fired upon it. Each got a wing, and the plane became a spear that fell towards the ground.

Edmonton felt his fingers again and aimed at next plane. He wanted to get his gloves on. It was cold.

“Seer-Central, this is Raptor-One reporting. Five birds are down. I repeat, Five birds are down, no casualties on our side. Mission succeeded.”

“Roger that Raptor-One. Pelican is moving in.”

Allasaria did not scream, she had lived too long to be panicked at this point. Her body moved on instinct, one arm held Leona, the other spun, cast beams of light, caught the plane and stalled its fall. It was an impossibility for her to stop the plane from crashing into the ground but maybe she could slow it down enough for them not to be crushed in the wreckage. With Leona here, it was a chance she was willing to take.

The other Gods braced for a crashlanding as Allasaria cast shield after shield. The pilot… He was too far away, the seven behind her were more valuable than the one in the front. A world of white engulfed them. An impenetrable shell as Leona cried into Allasaria’s white dress. They would not die in this plane crash, it was humiliating. The Goddess of Light and the Goddess of Luck? In a plane crash? It simply did not befit them.

Metal screeched as the plane impacted against the snow. Allasaria had steeled and prepared herself for the crash, she and Leona were not rocked in the slightest, the Gods behind her weren’t so lucky though. They crashed forwards in a series of cries and screams. Allasaria opened her eyes and saw them, scratches and bumps, but they were all alive. “Control yourselves!” Allasaria shouted and they began to settle down.

Allasaria waved her hand, the shell of white expanded around them, pushed the wreckage of the plane away and then disappeared. The four other planes had crashed around them. The two black ones that had hunted them down were already in the distance, making slow arcing turns. Were they going to go for a pass on them? Impossible.

The seven Gods behind Allasaria grew silent as Leona threw up on the ground. “Leave Allasaria!” Leona shouted.

“What?”

“Leave! You! LEAVE!”

“I’m not leaving you here!” Leona shook her head and fell over onto the ground. Allasaria would not leave the woman, no matter what happened, but with two enemy planes in the air… Allasaria tried to think of reasoning. Sorcery meant Anassa. Anassa was not free though. Elassa had seen her sister only recently, it would take weeks to train to that level. Months realistically. How did… Allasaria shook her head and made a silent decision.

Anassa had only survived because Elassa had a soft heart a thousand years ago. If she still wanted to keep the woman around, then it would be in the Lower Prison and not in Arcadia. If she refused, then Anassa would die. It was that simple. But Anassa was not the issue now. Olephia was. A free Anassa was a headache, a free Olephia was a threat. Not to the world in particular, but to the Gods of the Pantheon.

Allasaria thanked herself that she always came two months early for Olephia. Planes could be called from there. The two planes circled around them stayed far away. So they did not want to engage. Allasaria turned and looked behind herself. In the distance, a third plane was approaching them.

“Seer-Central, Seer-Central, this is Pelican.”

“Copy Pelican, what’s the issue?”

“We’re nearing the crash-site. The cargo wants to jump.”

“……. Copy that Pelican ……. Are you sure?”

“I am positive Seer-Central, it’s the…”

“Pelican?”

“You know, the cargo with yellow hair. Just refuses to.”

“And the other?”

“Has absolutely no opinion on it.”

“….. I see Pelican.”

“Should I let them?”

“….. Permission received from Headquarters. Let them jump then circle around and land to pick them up.”

“Copy Seer-Central. Will do.”

Allasaria squinted as the plane passed above them, it started to dive sharply, then smoothed its flight into maintaining steady altitude close to the ground. A cloud of snow pushed up by its jets obscured the plane, very smooth. A fog for hiding, very smart. Too bad Allasaria had seen it already.

Two silhouettes had jumped out of that plane just before the snow obscured it. Two very tall silhouettes.