Faced with about a dozen or so bandits, Radolf gazed into the depths of his steel longsword, his weather beaten face staring back at him. He thought about his next words; he did not doubt his ability, but he would rather not fight needlessly. He looked up from his sword to the gang of bandits facing him.

'Now, you could make this easy by handing over your captive, and I'll walk away like nothing happened. Or...' he paused for a dramatic effect 'I could kill you all.'

Their leader; a redguard who was a few inches shorter than Radolf, but built like a brick wall; looked amused and some of his comrades sniggered

'Well look, it's the hero come to save the damsel in distress' the leader spat mockingly 'you obviously haven't heard of me kid, because if you had you would never have come here. My name is Jartod, sacker of cities and I'll give you one chance and one chance only to take your pompous arse back to wherever you derive from before I make you food for the worms.'

'I guess it'll be the hard way then' Radolf smirked

Without any warning, Radolf sprang into the midst of the bandits, landing accurate and deadly blows on two of the bandits before they even had time to react. He dispatched a further 3 before any had drawn their weapons. A look of disbelief crossed Jartod's face, but a split second later it was replaced with anger, and he jumped at Radolf wielding two fearsome looking scimitars. Radolf merely jumped back and edged towards the tunnel he came through, which was barely wide enough for one person to pass at a time, and so would allow him greater odds.

'Get him!' Jartod screamed

The remaining bandits scrambled over each other to comply. Radolf drew in a breath, calmed his mind and readied his sword. The first bandit came running in, and was quickly dealt with by a sword though his chest. As his body slumped to the ground another bandit came attacking in a similar way and met a similar end. The third bandit approached with more caution and attempted a swing at Radolf's body, Radolf parried the incoming attack with his shield and swung his sword at the bandits neck. The sword sliced through the flesh with ease before hitting his spine with a sickening thud. Radolf placed his foot on the bandits chest and pushed him back to dislodge his sword. The growing pile of bodies was proving a challenge for the few remaining bandits and they had to climb over their fallen comrades before facing Radolf. The last 3 bandits didn't prove to be any trouble and they were all dealt with in quick succession. After finishing off the final bandit, Radolf climbed over the pile of dead bodies and advanced towards Jartod slowly, a sneer crossing his face. Jartod yelled and charged towards Radolf, using his dual scimitars to attack both sides, Radolf parried the first attack and used the flat of his blade to knock one of the scimitars from Jartod's hand whilst simultaneously kicking the side of Jartod's knee. He let out a cry of pain and fell to the ground. Just as Radolf was about to deliver the finishing blow, he heard and alien voice shouting.

'Radolf!... Radolf, wake up!'

Radolf was shaken from his dream world and awoke to see his father standing over him with and amused expression on his face.

'Radolf, are you coming to help me in the forge or not?' he asked

Radolf wiped the sleep from his eyes 'Yes father.' he replied

'Good! Be out in 10 minutes.' And with that his father left the room

Radolf sighed 'It's always the same dream' he thought to himself 'why can't something exciting happen here for once'

How cruel the fates were feeling that day, Radolf would have his wish answered, but not in the way he expected, and little did he know that the fates had planned something special for this seemingly unimportant apprentice.