London for me probably isn't the image of glamour and luxury that it gives many people. I don't know who my mum is. I don't know who my dad is. I don't have a single memory of them, seeing as I was abandoned in a tube station when I was only a few months old. In short, London, in my opinion, is hell on earth. It was a Sunday, and waking up wasn't easy, especially knowing that all that awaited me was a bowl of disgusting porridge sweetened with sour honey, which was a very enticing reason to get up.

I lay in bed for a while, thinking why I might want to get up. I got my reason soon after when Ulrik, a dormmate, ran through the wall. Yes, he did run through the wall. I shot up, shouting: "What the hell!", only to get the reply: "I think you mean Niflheim". Mystified, I was preparing to ask him how he had run through the wall, but he grabbed me and told me to run for my life, just as an enormous figure, seemingly made of ice walked in through another wall. I didn't hesitate. I just ran.

I ran through the corridor of the orphanage, looking for something to defend myself with. I ran into the kitchen, taking the longest knife on display, and one of the covers for the deep-fat fryers as a shield. Turning around when I felt an icy chill down my neck, telling me that the Ice Golem had beaten Ulrik and was now after me.

I hid under the giant ovens, after having hit the Golem with my "shield", and put my knife in it, hoping the Golem would melt, or at least be harmed by a hot blade, seeing as a cold one didn't seem to work, unsurprisingly. Jumping up just as the golem got near, I threw the knife at it and opened the oven, which was on, cooking bread for lunch. Even though the knife hadn't had much of a effect, the oven had melted it, or at least sent it away, considering the small puddle of water at my feet.

I rushed back upstairs to the dormitories, only to find Ulrik surrounded by children in fur clothing, taking to what looked like a cabin mounted on a dragon, which to me seemed a little bizarre. Ulrik looked at me, and then at the other kids, and murmured: "Take him...", before passing out on his wood and fur stretcher.

Considering I'm now on a dragon flying somewhere with a group of angry looking fur clad kids staring at me, I thought I'd take the time to introduce myself. I am called Jassen, but I don't know my last name. I'm twelve years old, and the fur clad kids keep mentioning Heimdall- you know, the Norse God, and are going on about some people called the Guardians.

The Dragon was lurching around, and generally making me sick, but the other kids were unfazed, even Ulrik, who was obviously in a bad way. I got up to see if he was all right, only to be stared back down by the others, who looked at me as if I was completely demented. Just as I regained my seat, I was thrown straight back out of it, and then the dragon stopped moving. We had landed. The kids quickly left, but one stayed behind, obviously annoyed by the fact that he had to look after me.

"Hello, newbie," he began, in a tone that said he probably didn't want to be my friend. "Welcome to the Aesir Encampment. You have been chosen by a particular god to represent them in this world, as they cannot come to Midgard."

"Why can't they come down?" I asked. "Surely the Norse Gods can leave Asgard?"

Apparently that wasn't the case. The guy looked at me blandly and said: "Follow me please."

We left the Compartment and stepped into a large camp with various Viking Longhouses, each with different symbols on them. There was also what seemed to be a forge, an armoury and an extremely large eating hall.

The guy then continued: "Do excuse me for not introducing myself. I am Ulf, one of the Bards of Bragi, responsible for showing you around the encampment. There are several groups who serve here. They include the Guardians of Heimdall (the defender of the Asgard bridge), the berserkers of Thor (the thunder god, the Bards of Bragi (the god of eloquence and the arts), the shadows of Loki (the god of mischief, and the Servants of the Trinity of Beauty (the three Gods Freyr, Freya and Balder, the gods and goddesses of beauty and fertility). I know it's a cheesy name, but it's all we could come up with. Anyway, each group has a longhouse to itself, along with some companion buildings such as armouries and sleeping halls. Each group is led by its respective Jarl, who is also in charge of apprenticing. Any questions?"

I was in a daze. All the events of the past hours had made me senseless, especially as some Bard guy just told me that Norse mythology and everything to do with it was real. I decided to vent my frustration in question form, releasing a torrent of inquisitions:"Which group am I part of? Where do we train? Where are we? What was that ice guy? When-"

Ulf cut me off. "One question at a time, alright. Anyway, answering your questions, you are part of the Guardians, and you will be apprenticed to one of them. You train wherever your Jarl tells you to. We are in Svalbard, in the Arctic Circle. "That ice guy" was a juvenile rogue ice giant, and you dealt with him quite remarkably, I have to say, although it wasn't impressive enough to write an ode about it."

We stepped into a large cabin with an enormous shield over the doorway, to find a petite girl of about fifteen sitting in front of a fire. Ulf called out. "Jarl Leiha, you charge is here."

The girl turned around and looked me in the eye. I instantly knew that life wasn't going to get any easier.