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The din of the crowd could be heard as several revelers and spectators cheered in delight, and carnal bloodlust as two combatants battled. The Mirak Arena was the premier place where warriors from all around Elhiem came to compete for glory, honor and the many prizes that came with being a combatant in the giant arena. From the large to small, nobles to peasants all came to watch and participate in the games held in the Mirak. And one such game was underway right now. The combatants a giant of a lupine, even bigger than his outer lupine brethren, standing at nearly eight feet tall. Armed with a gladius and a round shield on his forearm the lupine faced against his opponent, a human man, armed with a trident and net.

"So, we meet again Tybalt!" The Lupine shouted loud enough for the crowd to hear, despite being warriors they were also showmen and women and they had to play up their competition to the paying crowd, it was something that was owed to those who watched them fight and shed blood for their amusement.

"Ah, but this time, I'll defeat you Hrodgæir!" Tybalt said hoisting his trident in the air, this made the crowd go absolutely wild cheering, hollering, and prodding for the two fighters to fight in earnest. Hrodgæir readied his gladius and charged at Tybalt, the human parried it with his trident and thrusted upwards trying to catch Hrodgæir's chest, the lupine jumped out of the way and tried to attack at a lower angle, he managed to catch his opponent's left leg which made Tybalt yell in pain, as he clutched at his leg. This was Hrodgæir's chance, he tried to wrestle Tybalt to the ground, but this proved fruitless as the human managed to kick him off and stood up towering over Hrodgæir with his trident at his neck. This proved to be Tybalt's mistake as Hrodgæir managed to kick the man out from under his feet climbing on top of him he brought his gladius to his throat, this signified the end of the combat.

"Good people of the Mirak! We have a winner!" the announcer said over the crowd as they cheered for Hrodgæir's victory, he stood up, sword raised in triumph. Tybalt held his opponent's hand as well, a show of sportsmanship as the two entered the vomitorium that they entered the battlefield onto. The other gladiators rushed to congratulate the two on a battle well fought.

"Wow, I thought you almost had him Tybalt." A gladiatrix said as she sharpened her khopesh against a whetstone, Tybalt rolled his eyes as he put his weapon in its rack and went to get a drink of water from a well situated in the middle of the bloodworks. Hrodgæir's for his part left not feeling in the mood for reveling in his accomplishment he wanted to tend to his wounds and get some sleep. Walking to his room in the Arena, he was stopped by a random passerby. They were a Ratfolk, with white pristine fur and piercing red eyes, a fat man if he'd ever seen one wearing the clothes of a highborn nobleman.

"Are you Hrodgæir?" The man asked, Hrodgæir nodded as the man inspected him, looking him up and down in such a way that he only remembered being inspected when he was still a newbie gladiator, like he was a piece of meat being inspected by a butcher, "Hmm. Yes, yes you'll do quite nicely" the man said, at this point Hrodgæir was tired and pushed the man aside but he was insistent and followed him.

"My good, Gladiator, I have a proposition for you!" the man said fervently as he kept following Hrodgæir the lupine snarled at the man, though this did not faze the mouse who simply carried on prattling as if nothing happened, "My name is High King D'Alessio of the Kingdom of Umber and I am in need of your services." The man said, they were now outside Hrodgæir's bedchamber, he looked at the man and sighed.

"What do you want?" He asked, at this point willing to say anything to get the insistent mouseman out of his hair and allow him to rest before his next fight, every moment he spent cavorting with this in his opinion idiot of a man was another minute lost that could be spent on something vastly more important: Sleep!

"As I said, I'm High King D'Alessio of Umber, one of the kingdoms on the island of Vernia, and I am here to ask of you to be the bodyguard of my eldest daughter." D'Alessio said, he then clapped his hands and from somewhere he wasn't sure where probably somewhere in the shadows a mousey (and he meant both in the literal and figurative sense) woman emerged, she was younger then him (probably nineteen or eighteen, compared to his twenty-nine,) she was dwarfed by in terms of size only reaching up to Hrodgæir's navel, she had bright green eyes, her trappings were that of your standard noblewoman, a dress made of probably the finest silks that money could afford, her face was hidden by a bright green cloak. The woman stood close to her father, not looking Hrodgæir in his eyes, "This is my daughter Dorotea, and she is my pride and joy. I wish for you to keep her safe as we travel back to our homeland." D'Alessio said.

"Look, I'm a gladiator, once a mercenary, but I'm not a bodyguard." Hrodgæir said, King D'Alessio sighed, he knew this would be a thing and so he had one last trick under his sleeve, he knew that Hrodgæir was a man of fortune, why else would he participate in a blood sport other than to make his fortune. So D'Alessio reached into his cloak and from it he drew fourth a bag, filled to the brim with gold coins, Hrodgæir was surprised to see this rather obscene display of wealth. Hrodgæir grabbed the bag, taking it in his hand, he took out a single coin. Shiny and shimmering in the sunlight that streamed through the bloodworks from the up on high, he took the coin into his mouth and bit down upon it with a single canine, when it did not bend or alter he knew it was genuine gold.

"How much?" Hrodgæir asked, he wondered just how much his time was worth, well he was about to find out.

"Seven hundred Reali, more than enough to pay for your services." D'Alessio said, Hrodgæir thought for a moment, doing the math in his head as to how many Royals that would amount to, a pretty sizable sum if he did the math correctly in his head. This left him...in a bit of a conundrum, he was happy in his place as a gladiator, fighting for glory, fame and money against his fellow gladiators and gladiatrixes, but he also wouldn't mind being paid quite a handsome sum of money for what essentially amounted to babysitting for him.

"Fine, I'll do it. When do you need me?" Hrodgæir asked.

"Tomorrow, at sunup." D'Alessio said as he left Hrodgæir to his devices, Dorotea followed behind him, looking back at her new bodyguard before they disappeared into the crowd in the bloodworks Hrodgæir sighed.

The next day at about sunrise Hrodgæir was in his old mercenary armor, steel splint he had exchanged his gladius for his old broadsword, and his buckler for his old kite shield. He tied his normally loose hair into a neat ponytail and looked at himself in the mirror that stood on his dresser , this was something he hadn't worn in six years, he kept the armor and shield and sword for prosperity reasons, now here he was donning it again after so long. A sigh escaped his mouth, and he left his room, D'Alessio had given him instructions to meet near the oak tree by the arena, he knew the one he was talking about. And as he promised, waiting there were D'Alessio and Dorotea. The two were swaddled in cloaks and looking quite paranoid.

"Good, you're here, we must make haste." D'Alessio spat out fear emanating heavily from his tone, this caught Hrodgæir off guard, gone was the rather jovial if a bit weird man he met yesterday, in that man's stead was a paranoid man looking over his shoulder ever second of every minute for some invisible assailant

"Why? What happened?" Hrodgæir asked concerned what had happened in the hours between him getting hired and now.

"I've gotten word," D'Alessio said holding up a message a hole was in it's middle, judging by the angle and shape a dagger was used to affix it to something, no doubt to D'Alessio's door, "Prince Alighieri has sent his assassins to kill me and my daughter. So. We. Must. Make. Haste." D'Alessio said, emphasizing each word to show the gravity of the situation at hand. That's when Hrodgæir felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on edge, this caused him to turn around just in time for an arrow to sail past them impacting the ground. From the shadows three figures emerged.

"Dorotea! Get Back!" D'Alessio yelled as he stood in front of his daughter just in time for an arrow to impact his chest, the older Ratfolk collapsed to the ground, Hrodgæir thinking quickly grabbed Dorotea and ran with her, leaving her father behind, his job was to protect her, and he do just that.

"We have to hurry! A stable!" Hrodgæir yelled, a stable used by the visiting nobles to store their steeds, in the stable a black mare stood while he was not one to commit horse theft, desperate times. Grabbing Dorotea and blocking a stray arrow from hitting her he pushed her onto the saddle of the horse, he then took off like a bat out of hell; riding as fast and as hard as the horse could carry them, only stopping when the beast was nearing exhaustion. By this point the sun was high in the sky, indicating they'd ridden until noon. Stopping for a moment the two dismounted their stolen steed. And for the first time Dorotea had the chance to process what had happened, before her very eyes she'd seen her father-the man who raised her since she was a pup, was killed. And rather than mourn for him right then and there she had to run; make sure her father's death wasn't in vain. But now? She had all the time in the world to process this, slumping to the ground Dorotea looked up at the sky her mind in abject loss at what just happened, she was well and truly alone her father was her only family left, the rest haven died in other assassination attempts by Alighieri's family or in the case of her mother, in her birth.

"Are you alright?" Hrodgæir asked seeing the look on her face, it's one he knew all too well. That look of loss; a look that he saw many, many times on his former comrades when he was a mercenary and one he had when he lost someone important to him in the line of battle.

"No." Dorotea said bluntly, she was fighting back tears, now, tears that she dare not let come forth, tears that she didn't want Hrodgæir or anyone to see, and Hrodgæir seeing this decided to turn away leaving Dorotea to her devices, he needed to scout ahead anyway see where and what their next move was. They'd lost the assassins but, they were far from out of the woods, he didn't have a map so the next town or city they found he'd have to find a cartographer and get one, and failing that, like the horse: steal one. Returning to Dorotea she was still not in a good headspace, and while he felt for her, the time to grieve was not now.

"We have to move." Hrodgæir said.

"I know." Dorotea replied. Getting up from where she was sitting she mounted the horse again, with Hrodgæir following close by her. He was unsure of any towns that might be nearby, so they might be moving for some time. At least for the time being, they were safe, it would take a while for Prince Alighieri's assassins to find them, how long would that be? Who knows, days, months all Hrodgæir knew is they had to keep moving. They continued in silence, not really speaking.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't save your father." Hrodgæir spoke up, Dorotea looked at Hrodgæir, her face was stoic, not the kind of stoicism one got from battle but from seeing many of your family die before your very eyes. From being hunted by one man and his quest and thirst for power

"I know." Was all she responded. Hrodgæir promptly shut up. The two had continued their silent trek through the countryside until they came across a small hamlet. Dorotea dismounted from the horse and the two went towards what they assumed was a tavern or inn or anything really. Upon entering they saw it was a tavern, though barely populated one, the owner a human looked at the two with an air of suspicion when they walked in, not that hard to figure out, they definitely looked out of place in the tavern.

"How can I help ya?" The man said as he eyed the two.

"We're looking for rooms, and directions to the nearest city." Dorotea said she pulled out two gold coins from her cloak and handed them to the tavern owner, he quickly checked their authenticity and after verifying them he showed them to their rooms. They were modest but they would do, afterwards the two settled down to eat something and discuss their next plan of action, the nearest city was Windfall which if the tavern owner said was true was a two day trek from the small village. They didn't have a map but if they kept going west they'd see the walls of the city eventually. They'd spend a few days in the town, gather some supplies and then make for Windfall.

"I say we leave at night, less easy to track us that way." Hrodgæir suggested, Dorotea nodded her head.

"Agreed, I'll head to the general store here and see if I can find anything we can use." Dorotea said as she finished her meal, got up and walked out of the tavern, Hrodgæir followed behind her keeping a safe distance, she was still his charge after all. Waiting outside of the store he watched the people of the town, they lived their lives not really paying him any mind it seemed, odd since this seemed to be a human settlement and a lone lupine and ratfolk walking about was out of the ordinary. Still the fact that they were the only non-humans would make seeing any would-be assassins all the easier. The ones who attacked them were ratfolk like Dorotea and her father. Soon Dorotea extended the store their provisions in tow. Dorotea said she would retire to her room, so Hrodgæir was left alone.

Inside her room Dorotea finally was alone, and for the first time in hours she was allowed to do what she wasn't allowed to do: grieve. Tears soon welled in her eyes and she fell to her knees letting them flow like a river. Cursing Alighieri and his family, praying to Morte for her father's safe passage to the afterlife and simply just letting her emotions flow, she didn't want Hrodgæir to see her like this, she was now Queen, and queens had to be strong, but for now. She would let those walls she had erected years ago down, let them crumble into dust and she would grieve and grieve and grieve. She cried until her tears would not flow anymore, then she fell into a deep sleep, a dreamless sleep. She was woken up by a knocking on her door.

"My Lady, I have some food if you want it." Hrodgæir said on the other side of the door, Dorotea got up from her bed, walking up to the door, Hrodgæir appeared, a plate of bread, meat, and a bottle of ale in hand.

"T-Thank you." Dorotea said, accepting the meal.

"Are you okay?" Hrodgæir asked, she nodded he probably noticed her eyes were red and puffy, "I can talk, if that's what you want from me?" Hrodgæir asked he was not the best when it came to emotions, but he knew loss; he knew loss as if it were an old friend.

"I'm good." She lied and Hrodgæir could tell, but he respected her wishes and left her alone. Two days would pass and the two of them would take off again, towards Windfall. Hopefully, they would be safe, and make the trip relatively unmolested. The first stop they made for the day was a bit of a nice area, a stream crossing near a bend. Streams meant fish, and fish meant a nice meal rather than the rations they had with them.

"Ah a river, so fresh, so clean." Dorotea said as she took a handful of water from the stream into her mouth savoring the nice cool water, she nearly spit out said water when she saw Hrodgæir disrobing, "Wh-What are you doing!?" Dorotea said as she turned away from her guard, Hrodgæir rolled his eyes and answered.

"I'm fishing, we don't have poles or lines, but I'm very good at catching things with my bare hands." Hrodgæir said as he was fully stripped down, Dorotea turned and saw his nude form and quickly turned away again. Hrodgæir jumped in, the water cool and refreshing against his skin, he saw a salmon in the stream and darted towards it, his claws ready to slash at the fish and kill it. Slashing upwards he brought the fish to an untimely death rising up from the water he threw it to the shore and then went back in looking for more prey. Dorotea watched this with a sort of awe, she'd never seen a lupine hunting, the way he swam through the water was magical, he would strike a wolf in the stream then bring them to the shore and do it before long he'd acquired four plump salmon for them to feast upon and then smoke and preserve for later. Though in her watching Dorotea forgot that Hrodgæir was naked and she was now face to face with his nakedness she quickly averted her gaze with Hrodgæir sighing as he sat down on the grassy ground letting the air and sun dry him.

"Can you please get dressed again?" Dorotea begged, Hrodgæir sighed again and put on his clothing as quickly as he could. His fur was still damp, but he'd live through it, the two started a fire as the night began to roll in. The salmon now cooked, and the rest being smoked as well the two looked up at the stars.

"I haven't done this in a long time." Hrodgæir said as he looked at the constellations he recognized, the immortal stag, the grand huntress etc.

"Really?" Dorotea asked Hrodgæir nodded,

"When I was a mercenary I learned quite a bit about the stars, for instance the Immortal Stag, forest god, the Eternal Huntress, his longtime enemy." he said pointing to the various stars and what they meant.

"Huh, that's what lupine call them?" Dorotea asked, "We call them the Grand Stag and his lover the great shepherd." Dorotea added, the two talked about stars until they fell asleep. Breaking camp the next morning the two continued their trek to Windfall, a day passed, and they finally made it to the city.

End of Chapter One