General David Tyr (Pronounce: Tire) breathed heavily. This latest battle had been bloodier than most. He had taken to the field once again when an unseen host of icemen had broken through.He looked through the thermal scope of his rifle, his brown hair escaping from under his white fur lined hood. Despite his advanced gear, he still couldn’t spot any of the damned elusive icemen.“General! Orders from the Emperor.”“What is it?” Tyr demanded, watching the snow covered tree line for more of the brutes.“You are being summoned to the capital. The orders say immediately.”“Doesn’t he know there is a war going on?”Movement caught his eye behind the courier. David grabbed the man’s arm and tossed him into the snow as a huge brute of an iceman emerged from a snow drift and swung its arm like a club.The white furred hulk resembled a yeti right out of the myths and legends of old.David’s killing calm returned in an instant. This kind of battle was exactly what he had trained for over a de

The two men dressed in suits stepped wearily into the room and glanced at the two security guards and then at David towering over the manager.“Umm, sir… would you kindly let my manager up?”David glared at the manager and slapped him hard again, for good measure, as he turned to greet the two newcomers.The manager crumpled to the ground from the force of the blow and didn’t bother to try to get up.“That was uncalled for, but, seeing that my security team is just standing there, perhaps it was justified? Care to share your side?” the bank president asked.“Your branch manager accused me of theft and then broke my phone and tried to slap me. I have delt with him in kind. Bank president, I just want some cash from my account and to be on my way.”“I see. And why did such a request cause such a fuss?” the bank president asked, looking at his manager.The manager just flicked David’s black gold card at the bank president who caught it deftly.“You presented this card?” the President ask

All told, David’s new pack with all his gear came in at 23 kg, with room for food. He was thrilled with the new items. This ultralight gear could cut nearly 2/3rds of the weight he was used to lugging into the northern wilderness on winter campaign.“That will be six thousand dret.”David blinked at the number but reminded himself that good gear was worth every dret, and besides, money was nothing to him. He swiped his card and was about to leave when the clerk said,“Good luck, and don’t be too surprised if you have company in the next day or two.”David raised an eyebrow and the clerk just lifted his chin, indicating some people behind him.David looked over his shoulder to see several attractive young ladies who appeared to be in their last year of university watching him with furtive smiles.“You may not be dressed like much sir, but a purchase like that will pique all of their attention. I bet they expect to see you climbing the cliffs soon.”“Climbing?”The clerk grinned and poi

David didn’t miss the not so subtle suggestive tone from Hailey and winked at her as he slipped on the harness and tightened the waist band.“Good?”“Ah, let me.” Hailey squatted down and ran her fingers under the thigh straps, checking the tightness and then began pulling on the strap to tighten each leg loop. The back of her hand gently brushed his sensitive parts and he subconsciously flinched.She tugged on his shorts playfully but David had to admit she had managed to unhunch the pants and make everything fit in the harness more comfortably.“There. Don’t want you falling out of the harness half way up.” She then passed him a pair of special climbing shoes with a curved sole made of a rubber that could mold to and grip even tiny ridges in the natural rock.“These are too tight.” David said, disappointed in Jack.“Do your feet fit?”“I mean sorta. Its super tight though. My toes are all squished up” David said.“Then they are just right,” said Kat as she strapped herself and the a

“Look at this. You know what we suspected before that there was more to it. Now look at it and consider the angles.”Nyx looked down at the sheet, her chin resting on his shoulder. “Looks the same to me. Besides, mortal necks break easy enough with enough force. Why are you so obsessed over this one sheet? You have studied it for years. I am bored looking at it.”“Then, find me a new one and we can study that,” David retorted. In truth, the imperial scribes had speculated that there had once been twelve such sheets. However, they belonged to the fae realm and only after some mad men had stolen six from a fae lord had they come into the mortal world. The only one still known was now in his hands, passed down from the Imperial scribes to him when he claimed the title of God of War.While many of the Imperial army’s top fighters had studied this sheet, he had been the first to see and understand a second level of meaning. This was no simple punch, but one that had allowed him to shatter