Janine had to run to keep up with Devoured and Ravager, who traveled at a leisurely pace. A hill, a protruding rock, a steel pipe—anything that ended up in front of Devourer had bee a part of a fttened road, pressed by his inprehensible bulk. Ravager punched holes ihing in her path, rather than leaping ged rocks. Devourer shifted his body, coiling closer ter, and the ander picked up the game, folding her arms behind her bad standing upright, slowing her pace to a stroll. The two walked in a show of unity for the armies, and Janine caught up.

  The illusion was shattered when they crossed ten kilometers and reached a yon that encircled parts of the mountain range. Ravager leaned against a mountain, and Devourer hissed, his shadow dang over the ander. It took Janine a moment to realize that the Sed Army ander was shaking with rage.

  “Are y to upstage me?” He thundered, and the politeness and warmth washed out of his voice. His baritone echoed through the yon below the group.

  “I simply followed the Dynast’s order, Devourer.” Ravager released her cws, lig something off of them. “The bitch was a threat. Now there is no bitch.”

  “Except for the one before me.” He struck.

  In her long life, Janine has seen city walls fall, some of them crushed by her own axe. She’d seeire mountain ranges engulfed iheir sides melting from the intense heat and colpsing uhe weight of a never-ending artillery barrage. What she had not seen was a mountain disappear from her sight. And Devourer did just that. His lower half moved so fast that her eyes simply failed tister the movement; only the throbbing pain in her eardrums and the shockwave crashing against her alerted her to the titanient wheail ected with Ravager’s , crag the mountain. The rift of destru widened, splitting the mountain in two. Before the warlord could raise her paws to protect herself, the anders sed the stohat were falling on Janine.

  “Apologies for the outburst, warlord,” Devourer said. “The Dynast gave us the order to take the city together!” His voice silehe fallen avanche. “We were to surround the city properly, cut off all escape routes, and bombard it into the stone age.”

  “And hoeople would’ve died?” Ravager asked, wiping her .

  “And how many of our soldiers had died?” Devourer replied. “I reviewed the report, Ravager! The bastards tortured and murdered our emissary. Why did he even go in there?”

  “He insisted on doing his duty…”

  “I am sure the feeble Ravager couldn’t restrain a mighty Normie,” Devourer sneered.

  “Teo-Queen had pnned…”

  “Something to sughter us all; yes, it is obvious to ah half a brain.” Devourer rolled his eyes. “Sers could’ve pinpoihe bomb’s location, and the sheer firepower of four heat rays fired by the crawlers’ main ons would’ve melted her throne room, shield or no shield.”

  “Along with the hostages,” Ravager said quietly.

  “Along with the hostages.” Devourer nodded. “Tragedy and mercy. We wage war, Ravager. People die. Teo-Queen was never a threat. She was simply a reli ahat stubbornly refused to die, existing solely to add to my peerless legacy. You stole this triumph from me because you refused to wait for my arrival…”

  “Your fault for being so slow, weakling.” A spsh er’s blood nded between Devourer’s eyes.

  He froze and closed his huge eyelids. Hearing the rattling sound of Devourer’s tail and the fur rising er’s neck, Janine lunged forward, ndiween the anders and kneeling.

  “Blessed Mother, ander Devourer, cease this aggression! Our armies stand near, extending a radely paw to each other. It won’t do for either of you to shatter our sisterhood out of pure childishness.” I am dead. Janine decided, as their bined irritation focused on her. Might as well go all out. “Yes, childishness! For what reasons do you act like a cub who’s been denied her first treat? ander Devourer, yenuity has led to the founding of some of the most prestigious cities iate; why should you worry about missing out on a humble snaworthy of the title of settlement? Ohe Blessed Mother toppled the tyrant, her people willingly joined our ranks. I imagihat if we had bombarded them mercilessly, the situation would have been different, and if Iterna had recorded us dug a more traditional siege, they might have used these materials to sow discord in our ranks instead. ander Ravager, I uand your dedication to keeping our allies safe, but ander Devourer has a point! If the Dynast had ordered us to work together, we should have worked together! At the very least, you should have informed him of the ge in pns.”

  They gred at her. Two godlike beings, ahat an ant has barged into their business. Janine could almost sense Ravager’s lips parting, revealing deadly fangs ready to pierce her skin for daring to take the initiative. Devourer’s silent disapproval was just as palpable. But she didn’t care. Soldiers must see their leaders united, tag each other in public. What was allowed for warlords and lower ranks wasn’t allowed fer or Devourer, and by the Spirits, she will make them see the reason, or perish trying!

  “Janine,” Ravager said. To calm herself, she pced a paw on her head. “Our duty demands the utmost sacrifice from us all…”

  “Oh, be silent for a moment, gnat,” Devourer hissed, taking a deep breath that tugged at Janine like the pull of a sandstorm. “On principle, I agree with you, warlord. However, there is a rger issue at py here. Do you see these things?” Devourer’s head came down, stopping befer. He turned his head to the left and right. “Do you know what they are called? Eyes! Ah eyes see that you are reflexively shing out at everything and everyone in your path in the misguided hope of beiroyed.”

  “How dare you?” Ravager’s muscles flexed, the skin of her ned arms infting like balloons. “You fet your pce…”

  “It is above you, now and forever,” the Sed’s ander replied smugly.

  “Is that ser’s voice dropped to a whisper. “You lost the st time.”

  “It doesn’t t.”

  “What?!” Ravager blinked, more fused than angry. “Why?!”

  “Because I didn’t win. Stay silent, woman; I haven’t fialking. Sure, I’d have liked nothing more than to see your wreck get its euppance, but as, the men and women who were so foolishly pced under your and deserve none of this shit. Look at the state of your forces. Open your eyes and see, Ravager! Power armor is falling apart, your warlords are wearing filthy rags, medie is in short supply, wounded and dying everywhere, and soldiers are forced to sge like looters! Where are your supply lines? For on your miserable life, uand what you are causing for the people under your and, i child!” Devourer’s head rose. “I do not know what the hell happened in your life to make you like this, and frankly, I do not care. The past has e and go ’t hurt you; it has no trol over you; only the present and the future matter. But if you want to act like a petunt child in need of a punishment, fine, I’ll treat you like one. I had a little talk with Dynast, and yrounded, bitch! You may speak.”

  “What do you mean by this, Devourer?” Ravager asked cautiously.

  “Why, the Third Army—the entire army, mind you—is to be stationed in Houstad. It is time for you to see what you have helped to build.” A hint of genuine warmth crept into Devourer’s tone, repced by a mog tone almost as quickly as it came. “Officially, the Third Army is to help the regional defense forces keep the peace. Unofficially, you are to resupply and replenish their numbers. And you are to rest. No killing allies, no sneaking into ions to hunt ht; just stay, sleep, or finally start ag like an adult and try to educate yourself to bee someone worth looking up to. You even call me; I’m a good listener and won’t judge, truly.”

  “You have nht to do this to me, Devourer. You owe me for the Restoration Pact! I’d supported you! I helped however…” Ravager stepped forward and stared ily at the massive, serpentine figure. There was fear in her eyes. Fear not of Devourer, but of something else.

  “And for that, I am eternally grateful to yer. However, my obligation to you does not excuse me from permitting you to reduce your army to nothing in order to satisfy your pitiful need for misery. Sort yourself out and leave the war to the professionals.” Dev the distant city. “The old-timers are all the same. Cowards and idiots, resigo a single role, handicapped by their past. Yet here I am, armless and legless, enjoying life, unlike you. I live instead of existing. Even your own children have ged, and in that they have surpassed you,” the serpentine New Breed said, nodding at Jahe day will e when the Wolf Tribe’s cubs will attend schools in the Core Lands and study alongside the Ice Fangs, and that is final.”

  “Would that be true,” Ravager mused. “What a life it would be. You need me. I… This is all I know.”

  “Learn something else,” Devourer said mercilessly. “Do not fall too far behind your children. Face the world you helped build, marvel at its excellence, and find a pce for yourself in it! Or crawl away like a coward and prove me right.”

  “You don’t get it! You haven’t seen what the people do in these regions! You have no idea how they operate or what they do to your soldiers! Your ventional methods will spell disaster for your troops.”

  “People are the same everywhere. Just because the fools in this region pride themselves on their brutality does not make them special. Civilization has always devoured barbarians in the end,” Devourer cut her off, smirking smugly. “Take Crimson Pgue, for example, and his fire cult. They’ve been burning hundreds each month, raiding and pilging everything in sight. So I have burned Crimson Pgue and forced his forces to kneel on my way here. All without firing a single shot.”

  “But.” Ravager drooled untrolbly on the ground. “Crimson Pgue is immuo fme.”

  “Was. Also, fme is not the only thing that set your body alight, my friend. Poison, carefully ied into his food by my agents, did just that to his his led to him experieng excruciating pain, rolling around, and screaming for mercy. Since he had de to others, it too was deo him, and he perished ignobly,” the ander ughed. “I am Devourer, and I am anything but ventional! I adapt to anything, for I am the one who will asd to the position of Grand ander of the Recmation Army. It is my destiny to and you and Outsider, t the will of the Dynast to every er of this p! No one is my equal! I will save humanity and bring it uhe Dynast’s rule! Tales of my glory will ring forevermore! Now sit on the sidelines and watch how a true professional prosecutes the request swiftly and effitly. Never again will you dare to steal my thunder, Ravager.” He turo Janine. “My apologies for the pompous speech; I still occasionally lose a hold of myself. No matter, nothis perfect without putting in work. Say, how about serving under someone petent for a ge?”

  “ander Ravager is petent, sir.” Jaood at attention. “Her methods may be unorthodox, but she brings results. And I ’t leave my pack or the vilges in my care.”

  “The more, the merrier, I say!” Devourer’s smile grew wider. “Bring them all; the Sed could use your expertise.”

  “Our loyalty is to the Blessed Mother and to the tribe, ander,” Janine responded. “The Blessed Mother delivered us from demise, and to her, and it is to her and the Tribe that we owe our very existehis is not a debt we ignore or discard.”

  “Ack, this stinks.” Dev Ravager. “About that pet project of yours. I’ll foot the bill.”

  “Till Ingo has already agreed to treat them for free,” the Blessed Mother responded.

  “How in… Never mind. Hop on, rades!” He spped his back with the tail. “Drinks are on me! First one down… loses!”

  “Challenge accepted, Devourer.” Ravager smiled.

  ****

  “How are you?” Janine asked Martyshkina. She wao ask, ‘Are you okay?’ but that questio hollow even for her.

  Marty wasn’t okay. It was as clear as day. The warlord had ordered her pack to board the crawler, while she forced herself to joke and brag. Her ugh sourained even to Janine’s ears, who followed the warlord after their packs had settled in.

  “I… don’t know.” Martyshkina stood on a small observation ptform atop the crawler’s spire, staring at the distant sun. She raised her trembling paws. “It’s cold. And painful.”

  “Your daughter,” Jaated, stopping beside her. Marty had lied to her earlier, saying everything was fine.

  The crawler was on the move, cirg the city. The mae was se that a simple turn in pce required a much rger berth than the camp could provide without risking crushing the soldiers of the Sed Army.

  Laughter and cheers filled the air. The Sed Army brought rge vats of nutrient paste, hermetically sealed. Devourer no longer lived up to his name; he preferred regur cuisine and asted human flesh. On this day, he allowed the soldiers to sample the exquisite dishes synthesized by the feeder and ordered them t out his personal stash of alcohol. Champions of both armies accepted the challenge, renewing the oaths of sisterhood and brotherhood, and soon drunken bodies littered the pins, often embrag in their slumber, while two demigods tio fight, surrounded by the awe of soldiers on both sides.

  Ravager and Devulped down bottle after bottle, threatening to deplete the Sed Army’s supplies. The Blessed Mother’s belly had disgracefully bloated, turning into a barrel of flesh. Yet she persisted, somehow managing not to burst as she kept pace with the rger oppo, her body digesting the alcohol as quickly as it poured in.

  First ged, not even trying to expin to the Iternians what was going on. Alpha lied, g it art of the Recmation Army’s national games.

  “I ’t stop thinking about the st battle… About… My cubs, Jani,” Martyshkina choked out the words. “I promised my soulmates to look after the cubs, and they all… I outlived them.”

  “You kept your promise.” Janied her elbows on the railing. “I saw yranddaughters dating boys ba the vilge. Sweet girls, all twelve of them.”

  “Have I?” A fsh of anger ran through the amber eyes. “Have I really, Jani? I ’t stop thinking about how I failed her, even for a moment. I knew of the possibility of a taint in her blood, yet I allowed—I damn well allowed—my beautiful princess into the pack. I could have kicked her out a her far away to live safely as a hermit, away from danger, away from war, away from…”

  “… from making her own decisions,” Janine grabbed her friend and turned her around to face herself. “You ’t live your life for her, Marty. I…” There was something ihroat that made her words flow quickly and passionately. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about my cubs and what I did wrong in raising them. Every m I am afraid I will never see them again; that is why I tried to push some of them away to safety.”

  “You too?” Marty smiled. “I saved some tokens and offered her a pce at uy…”

  “And an apartment in the Core Lands,” Janine finished, and the two women ughed mournfully and hugged. Like in their childhood, Janine found her snout on Marty’s shoulder and Martyshkina’s snout on her own. “It’s a most damning feeling, Marty. To know how to save, yet having to let go,” she whispered. “But we ’t ensve our cubs; we ’t force them to do our bidding all their lives. Whatever the situation, all we do is guide them, educate them, support them, and always be in their lives when they need us. And you have dohat. You have never abandoned your family; you have watched over your cubs every step of the way, and they have lived their lives as they have desired. It’s time to let them go and live.”

  “It’s hard, Jani.” Marty replied, and somethi dripped on Janine’s fur.

  “It never gets easier. Not to my knowledge.” Images of her dead cubs, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren threateo overwhelm her. “But we have to live. We must fe our own path, endure new wounds and heal, and rediscover how to be happy. For the fallen deserve nothing less. One day we will see our families again in the Great Beyond, and how we look them in the eye if we waste the gift of their sacrifice? There is enough tragedy in the world, o add to it. For now, we must live for those left behind, Marty. Our strength save thousands. Thousands of people who think like us. Mothers and fathers who ck the strength to protect their families. Take so aiding them. And our pain is not special.”

  They stood together, grieving for their loved ones and supp each other as the loud petition tinued and the ughter of the soldiers filled the air.