This,” Olaf's voice boomed in the vast reaches of the arena, "was once the place where all men, and sometimes Dwarves, came to prove their metal.”

Marius stood in the sandy centre, and looked up at the high seats and stalls that surrounded the arena, and the statues littering the high alcoves. A hulking statue stood above the entrance, twice the size of any other; a huge male figure with a winged helmet wielded a mighty war-hammer in a triumphant pose.

Olaf followed Marius's gaze and smiled. "That is Vingthor, god of strength and storm.”

Marius looked confused, and Olaf remembered the Alturine Inquisition's heretic witch hunts. He cursed, and looked back up at the statue of Vingthor.

"Look Marius, the Alturine Inquisition has stamped out the true gods from their Empire, and made the people follow their god Elduin."

Marius became more confused at this, and Olaf signalled to a few benches that lined the walls of the arena.

He seemed to take a moment to collect his thoughts as he emptied and repacked his pipe.

"Lad, in order for you to learn under me, we need to go a bit further back in time than our little history lesson about the Eldar. Are you prepared to do that?"

Marius felt his curiosity spike and looked up at Olaf with a questioning gaze, thinking of Olaf's outburst about the true gods. Olaf stared back at Marius with his piercing blue eyes. Marius nodded and waited for Olaf to begin.

Olaf cleared his throat and took a puff on his pipe. This time, no figures or sounds came from the smoke. Only Olaf's voice could be heard now, speaking in its lyrical rhythm.

"No one knows how the earth was created or how the gods began, but one day they were there, as were the Eldar, and the Dwarves. There were three original gods, and they were Oedin, Elduin, and Aelin. These three gods protected the Eldar and Dwarves against the shadowy abyss that spewed hateful demons onto our realm."

Olaf puffed out more smoke, savoured it for a moment, then continued with the story.

"These three gods protected the mortal Eldar and Dwarves for thousands of years, until finally Aelin had had enough of the battles. He sought a way to close the abyss and protect the mortals for eternity. He searched for ages; the lands changed, and kingdoms grew and fell. Finally, part way through a dynasty of Eldar kings, a few small tribes of men settled, and came into service of the Dwarves, and brought with them a sacred seed and their goddess Erin, more commonly known as the Mother Earth. Erin gave the seed to Aelin in order to help protect her human mortals, however Aelin wanted to protect all mortal people, and included the Eldar and Dwarves in his spell. In doing so, the spell took his immortality away from him, and the seed grew into the great tree Yggdrasil, and sealed the abyss for all eternity, giving both mortals and Gods peace.

"Aelin fled the known world as a mortal, never to be seen again, and Oedin grew to love Erin, leaving Elduin to tend the Eldar and Dwarves on his own. However, Elduin had never liked the delving Dwarves, and concentrated his efforts on the Eldar, who grew proud and selfish. Oedin and Erin married, and under their union, Man and Dwarves became closer, and both became detached from the Eldar. Erin became pregnant, and had twin boys named Vingthor and Luka, who in turn grew in hatred of each other. Vingthor became an acclaimed hunter and outdid Luka in everything. Luka turned to dark magic and created a creature named Gwendol the monster queen, and together they had two sons; Glauran, who tamed all dragons, and later Benzar, who ruled the demonic creations his mother made. Vingthor became a great warrior against these demons and drove them back, protecting the mortal races.

"Oedin, seeing the growing war between his sons, created the Hollinhalla or the Holy Halls. These three great halls presided over the realms richest lands, and protected the inhabitants. Oedin himself took the High Halls of Valhalla, and he gave the Stromhalla, or Storm Halls, to his son Vingthor, and the Undarhalla, or the Under Halls, to his son Luka. Luka, now realising he was losing, gave his sons more power. Glauran transformed the dragons into great, almost demonic beasts, and Benzar fed his demons more energy. Together they pushed Vingthor back into his halls, trapped him there, and brought on an age of darkness to the realm. That would have been the end of the world; Luka and his sons had become too powerful even for Oedin and Elduin to control. However, as you can see it was not the end. A human princess named Claindol came to Vingthor seeking to heal him, and the Dwarves brought a vast hammer called Mjolnir blessed by Oedin. Together with Claindol and Mjolnir, Vingthor regained his strength in secret."

Marius looked up as Olaf looked into his pipe, inspecting the charred remains of his tobacco.

"What happened next, Olaf? What did Vingthor do?"

Olaf repacked the pipe and smiled. "He had two sons of his own. Vingthor came to love Claindol for what she had done for him, and in kind he made her his immortal wife. Together, they had two sons: Viktos and Kaehan. With his sons, the hammer Mjolnir, and an army of mortal Men and Dwarves, Vingthor marched on his brother's and nephews' demonic horde and obliterated them. Vingthor killed his brother just as Kaehan killed Glaurun, and together Vingthor and his army drove Benzar back and ended the ancient God Wars. After that, Oedin created The Veil in order to separate Hollinhalla from the mortal realms, and named Kaehan the Guardian of the Veil. Benzar married a young witch who wanted immortality, and together they stayed in Undarhalla plotting away. Viktos married a young human princess named Mira, and had a son called Mathius, who fell through The Veil before it was completed, and became the king of men – the same king of men who fought against Vlasmir in the Elf Wars and had the three sons who wielded the Elf-Bane."

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Marius sat in amazement, trying to imagine the God Wars and how striking Vingthor would have been on the battlefield. A thought came to him.

"Olaf."

Olaf looked up from his brooding and fixed Marius with his gaze. Thoughtfully he answered, "Yes, Marius?"

Marius looked around and indicated the arena. "How has that got anything to do with you teaching me how to defend myself?"

Olaf took a moment to think, and then stood up before speaking slowly. "Because, the events I have just told you have directly affected your life. Every decision each God made shaped your life as it is today. If Aelin had not created Yggdrasil, the Gods would have ultimately failed and wiped out all mortal races. If Vingthor had joined Luka, the same could have happened. If I am to teach you, Marius, you need to learn that whatever you do, and however powerful you become, your choices will have direct consequences on something or someone else."

Marius nodded. "I will keep that in mind,” he said.

Olaf smiled and strode over to a cage in the arena's wall. Swinging the door wide open, Olaf pulled a vast weapons rack out with a wide smile showing beneath his beard.

"So lad, what do you like to hit things with?"

...

Alun stared at the cleaved beast between his feet, then up at his saviour. Luther whimpered in his crumpled, unconscious state. The short, axe-wielding stranger looked down at Luther then up at Alun. She pulled back her black hood to reveal a shaggy red head of hair which fell behind her in braided strands. Gold clasps held these braids together in a stylised ponytail that spiked out at strange angles. Her nose was pierced with a single gold ring through her left nostril which sparkled against her armour, and her amber eyes glinted under her red, bushy eyebrows. The short woman took a step forwards, and wrenched her silver throwing axe away from the first beast's skull with a sickening squelch.

Wiping away the slime on the dead beast's fur, their saviour threaded the axe through a loop at her side, walked over to Alun and extended a gloved hand.

"Hello there, I am Orei, at your service."

Alun stood there blinking stupidly for a moment before he took the hand.

"Uh... and... Alun? At yours?"

Orei regarded him with a critical eye for a moment, then cocked her head as the forest chimed with the howls of returning beasts. Orei looked down at Luther and shook her head, then regarded Alun for the second time.

"Right, Alun was it?"

Alun nodded.

"Can you lift limpy here?" Orei indicated to Luther, and Alun nodded again. "Good, now follow me close and don't stop for nothing, you hear me?"

Alun hefted Luther over his shoulder, and sagged from the weight as Orei checked the mouth of the alley for any signs of trouble. Seeing the coast was clear, they began to jog through the streets at a steady pace.

The howling came closer to Stonehill as the beasts loped away from the smashed carriage and demolished horses, trailing the scent of their fallen comrades. Orei sped up as they left the outskirts of Stonehill and headed into the eastern border of the Black Forest.

As the trees thickened and the shadows darkened, Orei pulled up her hood and drew a canister from her cloak. She turned around and signalled for Alun to keep moving. Alun felt Luther's weight drag at him, but determination fixed his step. The ground grew steeper as the foothills of the eastern mountains came underfoot. Alun continued in this easterly direction with a constant worry for Orei; distant howls echoed through the trees as well as a strange hissing noise. A sudden sound behind him caused Alun to spin around, and relief flooded into him as Orei sprinted up behind, her black cloak flaring out behind him, leaving her armour to twinkle against the surrounding tree trunks. She ran past and signalled Alun to follow her.

Alun picked up his pace and followed Orei through the twisting maze of the forest. The ground became steeper and steeper as the run turned into a climb, and Luther's legs dragged against the forest floor, kicking up decomposing leaves, and occasionally getting caught on roots.

They finally reached the summit of one of the foothills, and Alun peered out at the sweeping green forest that spanned out beneath them. Orei pointed out south to a break in the great green. A small grey crack between two mountains far off could be seen just above Orei's index finger.

"That," Orei said, "is where we're headed. I've delayed those bastard wargs, but not for long I fear."

As if on cue, the strangled howls of the beasts echoed in the distance, but they were further off and weaker than the rage-filled howls from before. Alun looked out at the grey crack in despair. It was so far away, and with every step, Luther seemed to become heavier.

Orei pulled out another canister and placed it in a cradle of a nearby tree. Alun watched as Orei pulled string from its lid, and unwound it, then tied it to a branch across from where they had just come.

She looked back at Alun and smiled.

"This is a trip wire," she explained, indicating to the string. "Wargs come through here and get drowned in sulphur-infused gas, which stuffs up their sense of smell."

Alun smiled back at Orei and felt a little hope glimmer within him as he looked at the bomb. When she had finished, Orei signalled Alun to carry on down the slope. They had made it into a small gully that led to the grey crack by the time Orei's trip wire was triggered. Allowing themselves a brief satisfactory glance back to the top of the hill, they saw yellow gas pouring above the branches. Howls of disgust echoed out as they continued on, large smiles on both faces.

“Glad that worked,” said Orei, leaving Alun to stop and stare dumbfounded with Luther hanging limply from his shoulders.