In the infinite stretch of the universe, it is impossible to know where Hurona shall find refuge. Humanity has stretched too widely for me to accurately predict the permutations of her plotting.

  -From the musings of the Allfather, recorded in secret by his Ahnenerbe

  Water pattered on the tin roof above as Kree stared into an endless torrential downpour. His gaunt eyes hungered as they drifted over the empty crates that surrounded him, and dark pangs reminded him of his mortal needs. His brother lay on the ground before him, consumed with an ever-rising fever.

  In the darkness of a fading red sun, with the passing of the heavy downpour, he gazed up at two mountains gathered before him and prayed. Do the Gods make such beauty to mock us? He wondered aimlessly as Hurona watched him from beyond the veil.

  There is promise in his bones, she felt, the seeds of the future. The ever-churning mechanisms of fate rolled around in the back of her mind. His empire has spread across the stars, she thought; he has had a free hand for centuries.

  “It is time that I set my plans into motion,” she murmured, and her voice carried on the winds.

  Death stood nearby and watched. Curiosity had overcome Death’s need for secrecy as they watched her work. This is the champion she picks, thought Death, how curious.

  In the space between that which Kree could see and that which he was not privy to, a growing sense of unease bubbled up his spine. He could feel himself being watched as wicked Shadows crept out from the base of the mountains.

  Without words, they peered into his mind and saw the hunger that gathered in the base of his belly. I must eat, his mind churned as they turned his eyes slowly towards the withering flesh of his brother.

  “No…” He breathed, “I-I could never,” He felt his tongue palpitate with disgust.

  “My child…” He heard a whisper in the dark. Kree’s eyes darted away from the depths of black imagination, back into the stark reality of his rusted tin shack.

  “Who?” He managed to speak through dry, cracked lips, “who goes there?” His voice creaked. The shack was empty, apart from his chair, and his brother, who shifted uneasily in a hunger-induced sleep.

  “I once stood between two mountains?” Spoke the voice, “I dreamt of a shining city gathered between them,” she said. The voice was reached from the void, manifesting in the room, “But that was an age ago… in long forgotten Cordillia.”

  Am I dead, wondered Kree, has the madness of famine finally taken me too? His thoughts churned to the last grain he had, the one he gave to his little brother.

  “Close your eyes…” Whispered the voice, “and dream with me,” her voice was kind and soft. Soon, Kree’s mind reeled into the back of his head, and he felt the warm glow of Hurona’s light peering out from the void.

  War and famine faded to distant memories in his pocket of thought as he wandered through budding, flowing fields that stretched endlessly. Sunlight tingled on his haggard face, and a gentle wind graced him, but his pangs of hunger remained, tethering him to the reality from which he walked. Beside him, his brother, Saul, stood. Though grave, he tried to force a meager smile.

  “Are we saved now, brother?” Asked Saul as he turned around. Kree stood and shrugged, unsure. In the distance, a tent stood, and they ambled towards it. Will the dream yet fade, thought Saul.

  Kree pushed aside a worn tent flap and let his brother, Saul, go first. Within the tent, a table stood, and a shining goddess sat at its head. She motioned for the two to join her.

  “Sit… eat…” She said to Kree as Saul bowed before the shining Goddess. Without hesitation, Saul and Kree men filled their sickly faces with the food left before them. The Goddess smiled kindly, letting them fill their bellies before she spoke again.

  “Young Saul and Kree, I bid you here to help me,” said the Goddess, cloaked in light. The two young men looked up to her and waited for her slowly flowing words. She stood and picked up a sheer sheet from a nearby chest, then threw it over them. When the boys fought their way through the strange fabric that tickled at their skin, they found themselves elsewhere.

  Fires burned, and their flames spread across the galaxy—thousands of soldiers charged from endless trenches into mists of blood and bullets. Saul and Kree stood still, trapped in leather and metal, their rifles pointed over the top of the trench.

  “My enemies gather, they spread like rust across the untouched holy lands of the universe…” Said Hurona, “They breathe wicked air and poison every place their tendrils touch,” she pointed towards the billowing towers of smoke that rose over the horizon. Before the two, a young warrior in a woolen greatcoat leaped over the top.

  The light of angels blinded him, but the brothers could see the banner he carried into battle. A six-pointed golden star upon a crimson field billows in the winds of battle. Another Bannerman, another age, a thousand cycles torn asunder since that day, she remembered as she tried to forget and push the memory of his broken face from her mind.

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  The warrior in the woolen greatcoat charged into the fire and flame. Bullets ripped through his flesh, but he pushed forward. The Bannerman's armies followed him into the gaping maw of smoke and flame, moving ever further into hell.

  “One of you shall build the city of my six-pointed star… Cordillia, my holy land…” She said as darkness filled her heart. Bloody tears streaked across her silken cheek, and the smell of death filled the brothers’ nostrils.

  “You said,” Saul interrupted cautiously, “One… of us,” his voice sloped into a question, and the Goddess’ eyes darted to Saul.

  “Indeed…” She said, “Only one shall survive…” She explained, “The trials in the dark…” The Goddess continued, “there lies a castle beyond my control… within it, you will find the instrument of my glory that shall bring my Kingdom from the realm beyond the physical… into the manifest… to the human. The one who lives shall be my prophet… and my voice.”

  Kree’s eyes fell to the ground. His pangs of hunger turned to guilt, “do you know who is to die?” He asked, unsure he wished to know.

  “That is not for me to decide,” the Goddess replied coldly as she turned back towards the battlefield, “take these blades. They shall serve you. To Kree, I give Litchfoe… the Blade of many Bannermen.” She paused, “To Saul, I give the blade Joyeuse… the holy blade of Cordillia,” as she spoke, two swords appeared before them. Slowly, Kree reached out, touching Litchfoe, when he felt his feet unsteady, and the earth opened beneath him.

  He found himself elsewhere, again, standing under grey skies and thick fog. The burning sensation of the fires receded from his flesh, and the blade in his hand gleamed brightly. Soon, Saul stood beside his pale-faced brother and silently nodded.

  “I hope this quest chooses you, brother,” said Saul. Kree mustered a soft smile in return.

  Before them loomed a decrepit black-stoned castle. They slowly approached, and Kree placed his shaking hand against the dark surface. The weathering of age had smoothed the surface of the stone, and he felt small pock marks in its absorbing surface. Am I yet dead, Kree wondered softly, is this but a fantasy? No hunger pangs waited to remind him. With the shake of his head, he motioned for his brother to continue onward towards the castle’s entrance.

  Slowly, they entered the castle and gazed upon its old, cold stone floor. Kree could feel his heart sinking as a shadow rose behind him. Antique bones lay scattered across the floor, watching and thinking. Long tendrils reached across the black stone floor of the entry hall. The Shadows crept up Kree’s spine and wrapped around his ears, whispering softly into his subconscious.

  Why should I die that he may live, the thought rolled around Kree’s head as his fingers slowly wrapped around the handle of his sheathed blade. Do I not deserve the Goddess’ favor?

  “Something wicked lies ahead…” Whispered Saul as Kree’s mind snapped back to reality. He could feel something evil gathering below. Dark thumping arose in the belly of the castle.

  “No matter what the Goddess says…” Saul postured, “We should face the challenge together,” he said. Kree looked back and saw a strained smile on his brother’s face. His hand crept away from his blade.

  “Of course,” Replied Kree, his face flushed with shame, “together,” he said as he tried to purge the horrid thoughts. Blood stained the hands of his vision, and Death loomed over them both.

  Before them, amongst the bones of the dead, loomed a cracked wooden door with pitted and rusted metal bindings. Saul reached out and yanked the door open before peering inside. Oppressive darkness poured out of the stone doorway. From the depths of the abyss, they heard a lumbering creature groan, beckoning them forward.

  They descended the stairs into a cavern built with grand stone columns. Kree reached for his blade, which glowed within its leather sheath. With a frightful swish, the blade emerged, alight with holy fire. In their dancing flames, they could see the spirits of lost souls, illuminated by shadows at the edge of the liminal. From the depths below, both brothers felt a dark spirit approach, its presence growing stronger with each lumbering step forward.

  “Only one…” Saul grimaced as his blade loomed over Kree. Clashing sparks sprang from Kree’s holy blade as his sword clashed with Joyeuse. Kree felt his heart sink as his brother struck his blade once more. His eyes were lit aflame with hate, Kree saw as he was pushed onto the ground.

  “Why, Saul?” Asked Kree as the shadow of Death’s specter drew over him.

  “Because you were weak!” Exclaimed Saul, “You chose death when you retreated from your sword. I have all but died already, and I will not succumb again,” growled Saul as the dark tendrils of wicked thoughts tore through his soul. Kree closed his eyes and held his blade aloft, begging for death.

  “I will not betray you…” Kree whispered into the darkness. He heard a visceral grunt and slowly opened his eyes. The blood of Saul was splattered across his face. Behind the still-breathing corpse of his brother stood Hurona, the shining Goddess. Her hand lay outstretched, having pushed Saul onto Litch-foe, the blade of the Bannerman.

  “I wondered which of you would succumb to the Shadows. Their will is unmistakable…” She whispered to the surviving brother, who stared emptily at the rasping body of his dying brother, “he made his choice… theirs, rather.”

  “What did you send us here to find?” Asked Kree. The Goddess looked at the bloody body of his brother and replied coldly.

  “I was looking for one that I could trust… Just as you did not betray your flesh and blood, I know that you will not betray your God,” she whispered, staring darkly into his eyes. Her hand grasped him by the chin, and she roared, “You will look at me when I speak… take the blade, Joyeuse, and leave Litch-foe with him. Hurry…” She spoke sharply, “ even Gods tread lightly in this place,” as she spoke, they both could hear the deep and ominous rumblings of the beast that poured from the depths of the cavern, “he belongs to them, now.”

  “Yes, Hurona…” He replied. His eyes darted to the floor, and he quickly picked up Saul's blade. The two suddenly stood back on the field outside their ramshackle home. The rains had faded, and the sun shone brightly on the surrounding valley. The sky above, however, was new.

  “This planet, far from Earth… Your home… Shall be the rock upon which you build my Kingdom,” she explained, “build my city… Cordillia… And I shall show the people of the galaxy a path to this place that they may serve us well when the Shadows reach the edges of this kingdom. To you, I give my gospel, upon your heart I draw my path. Prepare them for my war… And for the coming of my Bannerman!”

  Kree looked up to the shining Goddess and softly asked, “Did you choose who would serve you before we traveled to the castle?”

  She glared at him, “It is best you do not know,” the two stood in desperate silence for a long moment.

  Kree looked up towards the great mountains that flanked him and smiled meekly. He closed his eyes and let sun rays dance on his face.