Chapter 93 – Gratitude Divines Cannot Do

Wissel stared at his minister, the man looked as if he could not believe what he was saying. Neither could Wissel. “Olympiada has told us to embargo Ausa for harbouring Olephia and Arascus.”

First Kirinyaa. Now Ausa?

Did they want to turn the whole world against them?

Kavaa concentrated on nothing but pouring more and more of her healing into Fer. When Kassandora had held up the Sun, that had required a flooding river to keep the woman standing and her arms regenerating. It was tedious, but likewise a simple thing, as long as her skin kept regrowing, she would not burn up. Now Fer’s veins where filled with poison, her stomach was burning up, her heart only beat because of Kavaa, her lungs needed to be worked manually, her senses had to be kept aware, her vision had needed to be sharp. Every movement Fer did, whether the woman felt it herself or not, tore her own muscles apart, they simply shattered under the quick compressions as if they were being hit by battering rams. Her bones broke every few seconds, the woman crushed her fingers every time she moved them. Kassandora had needed a river to be kept alive, Fer needed a dam to be broken and for the whole countryside to be submerged.

And she had to do that with her arm caught in Fer’s teeth. Kavaa did not dare to heal herself apart from simply accelerating her own marrow to recover the lost blood, a single drop wasted in the magic being given to Fer would shatter the Goddess. Kavaa was barely holding on as it was. She recovered Fer’s hand before the pain caught up to the woman. Her fist would have exploded if she did not reinforce it as it shattered through the Jungle’s teeth. Kavaa saw the stars in the air, the light glow of day in the East and closed her eyes. Darkness was preferable now, she didn’t need eyes to see, and she didn’t want to be bothered by anything. Kassandora took command immediately. “Ignore that thing! Go that way!”

And Kavaa felt Fer whip through the air and crushed her own legs as she landed. She laid the magic on thicker, practically slathered Fer in healing in a way no one had ever received it before. Fer’s teeth twisted in her arm, her tongue lapped up Kavaa’s blood, and Kavaa was whipped by the momentum of the woman jumping.

Again and again it went. They travelled through the air as sweat burst out over Kavaa’s face. Her breathing got ragged. She lost sense in her feet, her legs unfurled from around Fer’s body. If that tail wasn’t wrapped around her, she would flown off. Her shoulder would simply be ripped away, this was a speed no body, mortal or Divine, should be able to withstand.

But Fer’s did. Kavaa kept her eyes closed as her breathing stopped. A branch would cut at Fer, and Kavaa would heal it. The woman would breath in noxious fumes, and Kavaa healed it. Leaves cut Fer’s body, and Kavaa healed it. Twice, Fer was hit by one of the Jungle’s moving trees, her ribs shattered, her organs collapsed, and Kavaa healed it. Baalka’s poisonous blood burned within Fer, and Kavaa healed it.

How long they travelled for, Kavaa did not know. She threw up from the exertion, she heard Kassandora shout directions, she heard Iniri squeal and felt Baalka’s heartbeat, and she kept on healing Fer. Through swamp and tree and bush and rock, until Kavaa was healing the damage of sand.

They jumped again and Kavaa healed Fer’s feet, two more times. And then the rollercoaster stopped. Fer slid in the sand, let go of Kavaa’s arm, and dropped the three Goddesses in her arm. “FER!” Kassandora shouted from behind as Kavaa held with what little strength she had left. She felt Fer collapse and finally opened her eyes.

They were in a desert. The Sassara, it had to be, the endless smooth sand-dunes that separated Arika from the Epa. The sky above was a bright blue, cloudless, with a merciless Sun that distorted the air in the distance. Kavaa did not care, she rolled off Fer’s back, kept her hand on the woman and pushed the smell of blood and vomit and that noxious aura of Baalka’s blood away.

Fer was on her hands and knees in the sand, trying to throw up. The woman shouldn’t be doing that. Her stomach had let go of its lining and was trying to escape. “Sto… stop…” Kavaa said as she kept pouring into the woman. She pushed the shock away from herself, simply ignored it as Kassandora had said she would ignore fear. This was no time for shock, a Divine’s life was on the line.

Fer was a mess. Fur had burst out over from all over her body. Her nails had ripped from her fingers and became claws, the woman had a smooth long tail ending in a tuft for some reason, the sort that lions had. Her hair had grown to length of her whole body, her once-yellow eyes now were a dim crimson. “Fer… no…”

“S-Sick.” Fer growled in between hurls. She managed a tiny amount of the coagulated concoction of Divine blood from her body. “Need. Out.” She said in between tired breathes again as Kassandora half-ran, half-limped up to them.

“Kavaa! Heal her!” Kassandora half shouted, she held her stomach as if a rib was broken. It most likely was. Kavaa did not have the fortitude to check anymore.

“I…” Kavaa said as she forced her eyes open. “I…” Her mind started to race. The woman was poisoned. The blood needed to be removed. It was an operation she had done countless times before. “Side.” Kavaa said, she felt her own body start to shake. It was the constant upkeep of magic, she was sure of it, this is what exhaustion felt like. “Roll. Fer. Side.” Kavaa forced the words out, her eyes had closed already.

Kassandora was a good assistant. Kavaa smiled as she kept her hand on Fer’s arm and felt the woman roll onto her side. She forced her eyelids up, Kassandora was holding Fer onto her side as the Goddess was still trying to throw up. Kavaa fumbled with her free arm at her belt. Her sword was there. Somewhere. Where? Kassandora got it immediately. “You need your sword?” Kavaa smiled, closed her eyes and nodded as the strength left her knees and she collapsed onto Fer’s arm. Somewhere, their bodies made contact and Kavaa kept that healing dam open. She forced her eyes open again, wiped blood from the arm was in Fer’s mouth and made a red mark on the woman’s torso. “Here. Deep.”

Kassandora pulled Kavaa’s blade in a panic and held it against the woman’s stomach. “Like this?” She asked. Kavaa forced one eye open again, her breathing was getting harder. Desert was quiet, it was harder to stay awake here. Even Fur’s mad attempt at expelling her stomach interspersed with fits of coughing was getting quieter.

“No.” Kavaa said. Kassandora held the blade as if she was going to split Fer’s chest in half at the waist, she was simply stupid. “In. Poke. Deep.” She meant to say stab, but it was the same thing. “Now. Cannot. Hold.” There was supposed to be an‘on’at the end of that, but Kavaa’s throat no longer made the sound.

Kassandora nodded hurriedly and stabbed the tip onto that red spot of blood as Kavaa’s senses faded away. That noxious smell became dull, her ears became silent, she forced her eyes open one last time to watch Kassandora cut a hole into Fer. That was deep enough. Kavaa waved her hand, attempted to, her fingers moved but the woman caught sight of it. “This is deep enough?” Kavaa forced her hand into a fist, thumb straight, then gave it a shake to the side. “Out?” Kavaa made the smallest nod as she prepared to use the last reserves of whatever magic she had left.

Kassandora pulled the sword out and Kavaa forced the wound to stay open from the inside. A black liquid spilled out through that hole in Fer’s stomach, with the pressure relieved, Fer’s burning immediately started to drop. Her fever disappeared, her gasps became sighs as she drank the air heavily. “Up. All fours.” Kavaa rolled her head towards Fer. Tried to at least.

Kassandora heaved the heavy Goddess onto her front, that black stream became thicker as Fer’s stomach emptied itself. Kavaa stabilized the woman’s blood-flow. A complete heal would be impossible now, but she had seen Fer regenerate her wounds before. The threat-to-life had to be addressed and then Kavaa could rest. She found scraps of energy within herself and smashed them into the clots in Fer’s veins. The woman’s heart was damaged. Another scrap fixed that. Kassandora had accidentally nicked a lung when she made the hole. A scrap patched that.

Kavaa silently searched Fer’s body as she floated in a darkness devoid of her own senses. The stomach emptied itself and another scrap patched that. The wound and bleeding and broken bones, Fer would have to deal with on her own. Kavaa smiled and talked to no one in particular, she just hoped one of them would hear. “Done. She. Survive.”

Kavaa felt something touch her cheek and then Fer’s voice whisper into her ear just before she lost consciousness. Soft words, filled with a gratitude she had never received in the White Pantheon. A gratitude they had all been allergic to. “Thank you.”

So sweet.

She smiled in that darkness, ready to die.

It wouldn’t be a bad death.

She just wished Iniri didn’t have to see her like this.

Maybe it was for the better. Iniri would never forgive herself if Kavaa died somewhere randomly.

And then something smashed into her chest. Kavaa lungs filled with air as she felt someone’s lips touch hers and breath out. Then her chest was hit again. Kavaa felt her heart kick and Kassandora scream from above her. “KAVAA! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DIE! NOT NOW! NOT EVER!” Their lips met again and Kassandora forced more air into her. “KAVAA! YOU’RE ALIVE! I KNOW YOU ARE!” Ten more thumps on her chest, more air. “KAVAA! HEAL YOURSELF! HEAL YOURSELF AND THEN SLEEP! YOU ARE BLEEDING!”

Kavaa scanned her body. She was bleeding. She had forgotten about it. “KAVAA! HEAL YOURSELF NOW! DO IT ALREADY!” Kavaa shook her head. If that’s what it took to catch a break, then that’s what it took. “HEAL KAVAA! HEAL NOW!” Kassandora screamed, she leaned in, pinched Kavaa’s nose and blew more air into her.

“Yee…” The word trailed off as Kavaa tried to push Kassandora off herself. She only pathetically managed to brush the back of her hand against the woman’s stomach. “I… will…” Kavaa held her breath and closed her wounds.

She shouldn’t have done that.

How could she forget healing hurt? It felt as if in a thousand sewing needles had grabbed each twine of muscle and stitched them shut. As if a pair of tweezers had grabbed her veins, slammed then together, and something welded them shut. Kavaa shot up with a scream, threw Kassandora backwards, the Goddess slammed into the sand and grabbed at her ribs again, before rolling over to look at Kavaa. There was a victorious little smile on Kassandora’s lips, a mad pride in her eyes as if she had just won a battle. “I’m awake!” Kavaa shouted.

“I know.” Kassandora said and then rolled back. “I know Kavaa.” She burst out in laughter as Kavaa looked around. Iniri was on the ground, rolled over to look at them. She smiled and waved. Baalka was unconscious next to her, looking as if she still did not care. Kassandora was lying on the burning sand in a fit of laughter that was broken up with cries of pain as she grabbed at her stomach and Fer…

Fer was lying next to Kavaa, breathing slowly as she watched. The ears that usually stook out of her hair were now tilted downwards, her eyes were yellow again and she took Kavaa’s hand. “Thank you Kavaa.” She said again.

Kavaa collapsed onto her back, the sand hurt, it was too hot. She held her once-injured arm up and looked at the closed wound. It was still dirty and covered in dirt, mud, stabbed with thorns and slathered in blood and spit, but the damage of Fer’s teeth may as well have never happened.

She thought about the situation. She had freed Kassandora, arch-enemy of the White Pantheon, commander of Arascus’ armies, and had recruited her and Fer to rescue Iniri. They had rescued Baalka too, and now Kavaa had been pushed further than she ever had in the attempt to save Fer’s life. Her arm dropped.

And then Fer thanked her for it. Even though it was Kavaa’s friend, even though there had been no reason for her or Kassandora to enter the Jungle, even though she had done nothing but slowed them down the entire way. She thanked her with a gratitude that poured from her whole heart. She thanked with a gratitude Kavaa had always thought Divines weren’t capable of.

Kavaa burst out in laughter in that desert sand.