Cadius read over the report he had just been handed. He frowned; its contents were not what he had been expecting. A rare occurrence, to be displeased by the unexpected. Having lived for as long as he had, he typically enjoyed surprises.

This was most certainly not an enjoyable surprise.

Cadius glanced up at the patiently waiting agent. “Have the Oros division send a squad to support them. Tell them to keep collateral damage to a minimum.” Cadius paused, before adding, “I’ll need the post-situation report as soon as possible, a letter to the Westray city council might be in order, if things get bad enough.”

The agent nodded before briskly exiting the room.

Cadius sighed, smiling wearily, and shook his head.

“She sure is bold,” he muttered to himself. “Two incidents in the same month? Is she already stirring up trouble?”

Cadius’s frown deepened. His jaw set, eyes narrowed.

“If Yltris decides to drag us into another of her conflicts, I might have to step in and…”

He drummed his fingers against his desk, scowling. Few things in this realm could truly infuriate him.

Yltris was most certainly one of them.

Yltris the troublemaker. Yltris the warmonger. Yltris the cruel. She had many traits Cadius found detestable. She ravaged and plundered, razed and slaughtered, all for her amusement. One activity she found particularly thrilling was instigating conflicts between others and watching the carnage unfold, like a spectator at a gladiatorial arena.

Yltris, the demigoddess of rapacity and devilry.

Cadius would have snuffed her out long ago, if not for the fact that her status would simply be transferred to another upon her death, as it would for all demigods. She didn’t have an Apostle, as she had no interest in raising a successor. No, her power would go to the person who best embodied the qualities of the title. In other words, another scumbag. Cadius would rather have the known evil over the unknown.