Chapter 104 – An Arika of Ash

Mikhail read the reports. They had been written by Goddess Kassandora on the Binturongs, sent to Iliyal, and forwarded to him. Kassandora suggested some improvements but largely, she wanted to strip pieces out. Certain parts were unreliable. The main axel that held the gun was the main culprit, five of the sixteen had failed already. There was no need for the gun to be able to rotate anyway, certainly not the full-circle Alash’s team had designed. Merely mounting the gun on a simpler mechanism with the ability to turn a dozen degrees on either side would be enough.

Kassandora walked forwards as the sixteen Binturongs slowly trundled behind her. Now that the Kirinyaans had seen it, money had started pouring in from all of Arika. The best were the unstipulated donations from other governments and the wealthy. They had enough money to spare and saw the prospect of land reclamation as an investment. They weren’t wrong about that, part of the papers Kassandora had taken to KIAB in that initial meeting were ancient mines that were forcefully abandoned by the coming of the Jungle. Kirinyaa itself had two dozen oil fields which had been lost. That oil alone was enough to offset the cost of the Binturongs and the napalm. The mines themselves were just a cherry on top.

Kirinyaa and Ausa had both been given permission to manufacture Binturongs, with a portion of the money going straight to Kassandora. That made the governments more than happy. Ausa had raised production numbers, apparently eight more had already been shipped off and a full twenty-four were already half-way built. Kirinyaa had started the construction of three different factories to mass-produce them. When Kassandora had told them that after the war was over, the factories could easily be retooled to create a domestic automative industry, they had grown ever happier. Apparently more than a dozen sites were being discussed. The largest issue was the workforce, those three factories would already be understaffed. A Kirinyaan School of Engineering was also being built now, the location close to Nanbasa.

Then came the donations from the goodwill of everyone else. The Arikan Jungle Crisis Relief Fund had donated a lot, other charities and NGOs had chipped in. Money started to pour in from the whole world. The Arikan Jungle was a travesty on this world and everyone felt good about giving money to a project that received constant publicity. KTV and EIE had permanently set up their temporary offices here to film everything that was going on, Helenna gave them updates every evening. She liked that much more than Nanbasa, especially since there was no longer any need to negotiate. Kassandora had told her to be fully transparent, the woman had such a way with words that even when a Binturong broke down, she made it seem like a full victory, that this was only a step towards making them even better.

Of course, not everyone was happy. Olympiada had released a statement about how Kirinyaa was verging on the line of breaking Pantheon Peace. The UNN, ever loyal fanatics of Olympiada even though they weren’t even on the same continent, had issued their own embargo. Kassandora smiled, every time she had a drink it tasted sweeter now that she knew Elassa and Allasaria were seething in anger about the fact they had to allow what was obviously weapons of war powerful enough to rival Divines the right to exist.

In a week, a thousand square miles had been reclaimed. It seemed like a lot on paper, but in actuality, it was a thin strip of land which had not even breached the Jungle’s skin yet. Today would be the first day that the Binturongs would be firing from reclaimed land. A convoy of heavy trucks was driving behind them, then four teams of Clerics to assist with the loading. Eight hundred shells would be expended in the next two hours. Kassandora’s artillery could fire quickly when pushed, but that put strain on the barrels. She had already sent a report about it to Iliyal. That was something else that needed to be fixed.

Then the vehicles would have a thirty minute break, the crews would rotate, and Sokolowski would take charge from Kassandora to watch over the artillery. Kassandora looked down at her feet, the ash here lay like deep snow. Each step she stook, her boot plunged into the dark ash until it reached past her ankle. She looked back at her Binturongs and studied the treads. They covered the ash with no problem. That was good, it meant they would be able in cold Epan winters in the future.

From the hill, the Arikans that Kassandora was fond of were coming. Not the bureaucrats from the east, but the warriors from the west. Kimani stood tall, Arusei was walking next to him. That man was always noticeable from the lack of an ear. Jebet and Eyapan were coming too. Two dozen or so men. Kassandora gave hand signals to her soldiers to set up and walked past her great vehicles to the people coming. They looked on in awe. All of them stopped when they came to the line of ash that marked where a week ago the Jungle had reached to.

Then Arusei took a step forwards. As did Kimani. Jebet. Eyapan. Careful, tender steps as if in disbelief. Kassandora trod forwards in her HAUPT uniform. She had grown fond of it, it did fit her. Helenna’s had arrived. Neneria’s and Kavaa’s were coming soon. Fer’s was a specialist design, they were still tanning the leather for it. “I have kept my promise.” She said. “The Jungle has been pushed back, and it will be pushed back further.”

“We…” Kimani begun then grew quiet. “We have no words.”

“This is a debt that will never be repaid.” Arusei replied coldly. “Wherever you need us, we will answer.” Kassandora would not insult them now by denying the request, no need to. She may well need their manpower and expertise in the wars to come. They were excellent trekkers, without any blessing they could outdo what Kavaa’s Clerics managed. She saw potential in these men as sharpshooters and skirmishers.

“And I may call on you.” Kassandora said. “Whenever you wish, not today, not tomorrow, but a year, two. I don’t know when, but it may happen.”

“If we cannot, then our descendants will.” Arusei said slowly, in that aged tone of a man who lived the experiences of ten lifetimes even though he was only in fifties. “Already stories are told at night of the Goddess who felled the Jungle.” Kassandora smiled, it was the first time she had been called that title by these men. The Jungle was not felled yet, but it will be, soon. Especially once more Binturongs start arriving, she was glad she saws these in action, field-testing like this was irreplaceable. When war came, they would have the advantage of having vehicles that work in reality rather than just in theory.

“You’re welcome to stay and watch today’s burnings.” She said.

“We did not come for that today.” Arusei said. “We talked with the Lioness in the morning.” That was what they called Fer.

“Oh? Did she want anything?”

“She said when you entered the Jungle, after you found your sister and Iniri, you all saw something.” Kassandora nodded, her grin dropping. She had stopped thinking of what she saw back then and merely pushed it to the back of her mind, but there was no way to forget something like the thing they saw on the way back.

Kassandora answered briskly, in the same way she would she gave orders. “A giant with three bodies, with three heads and three legs and three arms. Big and with animal parts over it but we didn’t get a good look, do you know about it?” The thing had watched them, and started to follow them when they were leaving the Jungle, but it moved slowly. Fer had outran it easily. Kimani looked as if he was going to go pale, Jebet’s hands shook. Eyapan massaged his stomach as if he was going to be sick. Arusei took a heavy sigh.

“We tried to contact you earlier when you went east.”

“I was busy.” Kassandora said. If there was one thing she didn’t like, it was people trying to interfere with her work schedule, she had assumed these men had only wanted to thank her and swear allegiance or something useless like that. Arusei nodded, as if he understood. Maybe he did, maybe he did not. What he definitely understood was that Kassandora was not going to explain herself to him. Kassandora held up her hand to signal a pause for the crews working. “Load and prepare to fire on my command!” She shouted, then turned back to the Arikans. “Why? Did we awaken something?”

Arusei began. “Long ago, before the Jungle became what it was, there were four kings in a valley. North looked the snake, west the crocodile, south the vulture, and east the lion. They were brothers who guided the lost and tended to the woods.” Kassandora remembered the creature she had seen. It only had the parts of those four animals, that alone confirmed this wasn’t some mere tale running rampant. “They were the caretakers of the Jungle, before it became…” Arusei threw his hand towards the wild woods in the distance. “This.” His voice was filled with disgust.

“Go on.” Kassandora said. She had always found that myths like this had a little bit of truth in them. The thing they had seen was certainly real.

Arusei did go on. “North is the sea of sand.” That was what they called the impassable Sassara desert. “When the Jungle grew to reach it, the snake could not grow anymore. As his siblings grew larger, he stayed the same. His jealousy grew and grew until he went mad.”

“Is he the source of the Jungle taking people?” Kassandora asked.

“No, the Jungle itself poisoned the snake’s mind, and this is only a myth, we do not... did not think it real.” Arusei said flatly. “But you said you saw it.”

“I did. Fer did too. Iniri caught a glimpse.” A myth incarnate. A Divine. Kassandora stopped the smug smile quirking up on her face, she had been right. Instead, she just looked on in focus at the men.

“The Jungle’s madness then infected the others too. The four returned to the Jungle’s heart and agreed to lay down their lives to make sure their power could not be used against people. But the snake, in his jealousy tricked them. He waited for the lion, the vulture and the crocodile to die, then the snake wrapped around them, bound them and they became one. From four caretakers, arose one. The first one to fall to the Jungle’s whispers. After that, it started taking people.” Arusei finished with a heavy tone. “It is an old tale, every child knows it.”

“And you think…” Kassandora turned and looked ahead.

“We thought you should know.” Arusei said. “There are not many stories of the Caretaker, but…”

Kimani spoke up. “We only found after because we had a meeting with Kavaa a day ago and she mentioned it offhandedly, but the Caretaker is the hunter that hunts hunters. In the past, before they went mad, they would guide people and punish the guilty.” Kassandora readjusted her cap and made her expression flat. She knew exactly what sort of expression she was wanted to make, but she could not make it before people.

“Thank you for telling me. I will prepare.” She wanted to send these people away already in her excitement. “I will visit your camp later to learn more.” That would make sure they were happy and that they felt respected. Her schedule wasn’t too busy anyway now. Arusei nodded and the Arikans slowly started to retreat as Kassandora turned around from her and took several steps forwards, until she was sure no one would see her face.

Some Caretaker? Some amalgamation? It would come to fight her? Or would it turn and flee? She heard Arusei’s voice in her head‘from four became one’.And from one would become nothing, it would become ash that would blow away in the wind and nothing more. She stood, raised her hand, palm flat and sharply brought it down. The sixteen Binturongs behind her started firing. Fire burst out ahead of her as more of the Jungle was set alight. Napalm burned black, trees started to fall, ash blew in the air and Kassandora stood there. More explosions, a chorus of gunpowder no orchestral drums could ever hope to match, a bellow of flames no singer could ever outshine. Shells whistled above her, and her guns kept firing.

Her face bathed in the madness of war, her eyes burning with delight, her mouth twisted in delight. Her crimson hair danced behind her as she felt the Jungle looking back at her, screaming at her. Telling her to go away, telling her to leave and flee this land. That this was not her kingdom. Telling her that it would finish the Reclamation War on its own terms. She did not move, nor flinch, nor even feel the chills it sent down her spine. These plants wanted to end a war? She was Goddess of War, she made the rules in this field. Good. She was starting to grow tired of constant training anyway.

Every War needed a battle.

Let it come.