Hey friends, this is my first attempt in writing a story after being a long-time lurker here so I'm anxious to see how this project develops. Please note that Inglish is not my mother language so mistakes will be made in terms of grammar so please have a little patience with me there. Any and all feedback is welcome and know that I will be cross posting this and all future stories in AO3 if you prefer to read it there. With all being said, I hope you enjoy this story.

? I

Darkness. That's all that was around her.

No sound, no smell, no color. Only the ever-present darkness that didn't even let her see her limbs. She had been in this limbo ever since she collapsed after her last battle against the Emperor's Champion, his horrified look after her last words being her last memory before she was brought here, to dwell for all eternity. She didn't bother to even attempt keeping track of how long she had been imprisoned in this wall-less cell; it could have been days, years or even millennia for all she knew.

With nothing but time to herself she began to think of her life and the events that had led here. In her last decades she had been Apollyon, Warlord of the Blackstone Legion, guiding, fighting, planning, scheming, killing and betraying her way across the lands to remind not only her people but her world what they really were. During these years she sacrificed everything to bring her vision to life, losing to her ambition brothers and sisters alike.

Before that she had been Isata the Black, distinguished Warden of the Order of Blades, training with her sword as well as her mind. In her time in the Order of Blades she had learned the meaning of honor, integrity, dignity and chivalry, later growing to resent them fiercely, looking at them as nothing more than tools for the weak to overcome the strong. Within the libraries of the monastery of the order she learned of great warriors and leaders of eras long past that had rallied their people to fight a common enemy creating vast empires and bringing prosperity to their domain, only to be betrayed by the sheep that had risen during these golden eras. Here she learned that to bring the change that Heathmoor needed it wasn't enough to be a hero, one needed to become a demon.

Even before she was Luetta, captain of the legionaries posted in a fort near the border with Valkenheim under the domain of the Iron Legion. During her time as a simple legionnaire and later as an officer she learned discipline, to take and give orders, how to rally her soldiers to give one final push along with the importance of morale and how to give it or break it. Although the most important thing she learned was that the Iron Legion was rusting with their commanders falling to corruption and infighting with only the yearly raids to fend off. And with the Legion being fractured year by year it only meant that somebody would need to rise to pick up the pieces when the time came.

Further back she had been Alara, a young girl that grew among bandits, scavengers and criminals. As she grew, she learned to think outside the box, to always find another angle and how to always be one step ahead by being cunning, vicious and ruthless. Most importantly she learned that vicious and mad dogs might become the most loyal hounds under one's leash if given the chance and that even the most rabid hound may still be of use in one last hunt.

But in the beginning when a frontier village burned around a little girl covered in ash and blood surrounded by the corpses of friends and family… she had been Catherin Lield. There she had learned her first and most important lesson, one that had accompanied her till her last breath, that in this world there were only predators and prey. The predator slaughtered the weak and their kin as they liked due to being stronger while the weak waited passively for their turn to be slaughtered, for that was the natural order of the world.

Predator and prey.

Strong and weak.

Wolves and sheeps.

But humans were a paradox of nature, they could choose where in the spectrum they lay. Young Catherine had survived her first taste of weakness and she swore to never be weak again.

And after all those decades of planning, fighting and suffering she had accomplished her dream. She uprooted those monsters that had been happy to see all the people of Heathmoor rot in their "peace" while parading themselves as sheep in wolf's clothing and she liberated the wolves among the factions so they could cleanse the weak from among their ranks. She may not have lived to see the future she planned but the knowledge that she had setted it in motion was enough and if an eternity in the abyss was the price to pay for her new era, then so be it.

Just as she accepted her destiny, she managed to see a light no bigger than a firefly manifest from the depths of the void. While she tried to focus her sight on the small light it began to grow and expand becoming bigger and larger until it reached the size of a large boulder before exploding violently in a flash of blinding light. As her sight returned to her she noticed that the dark that had been her prison was replaced by pure white that encompassed all that the eye could see, not only that but she noticed she could see herself again and she still was clad in her infamous black armor sans her helmet. As she inspected herself over, incredulous of what was happening, she managed to hear someone behind her.

"Ah you must be Catherine Lield, right?"

Surprised to hear her original name after so long, she slowly turned around to face the voice only to see a man wearing a set of humble yet fine made robes. The man in front of her wasn't short or tall, young or old, ugly or beautiful, he seemed to be all and nothing at the same time with graying black shoulder length hair and a set of eyes that gave the illusion of being darker than the void she had been in. After assessing the being in front of her she answered "That was my name once upon a time, yes. And who you might be?" The man gave a low chuckle "I have many names, my friend. From where I am from they call me The Stranger, but you may know me as Death''.

Seemingly undisturbed with the identity of her visitor Apollyon gave a small bow with her head before extending her hand "A pleasure to finally meet you, Destroyer of Realms. What took you so long?". Amused with her reaction The Stranger smiled and shook her hand "I'm sorry for the long wait Lady Lield but dealing with your gods took longer than I expected, they all were quite angry with you" letting her hand go he snapped his fingers creating a small table and chairs "Please, make yourself comfortable".

As she took a seat she raised an eyebrow "So the gods are real?" nodding his head The Stranger responded "Very real and very angry, much like the people that worship them. The one of your people is very disappointed that you guided your countryman to accomplish your macabre vision under the pretense of being their savior and he is more irritated that you were successful. Those of your neighbors in the north are more proud than angry, you manage to fundamentally change the ways of their people to what they had intended for them in the beginning, but they still want retribution for the slaughter you made. And those of the empire of the swamps are outraged at the mockery you made of their teachings and their ways of combat, but they are livider that you choose those of the frigid north to wear their subjects down before striking yourself."

Laughing he continued "Honestly if they didn't need to contest for your soul with the other gods, they would be fighting among their own pantheons to decide who shall deliver "justice" upon you". She was caught off guard by this, although the thought that the gods were just as prone to petty conflict as their subjects brought a twisted sense of joy to the warlord, but after processing what the embodiment of death had told her she asked "Earlier you said you were dealing with them, what did you mean by that?" After composing himself, he explained "I was negotiating with them, trying to convince them to let me take your soul myself".

"And what use could a mere warrior be to Death himself?" Apollyon asked skeptically.

"My dear lady, if you are just a mere warrior then I'm just a humble grave keeper. With nothing but conviction and cunning you manage to shred the status quo of your world and jump start a new era of conflict that, whether justified or not, ultimately changed the future of your realm." Passing his hand across the table a map that she didn't recognize was manifested. "You see, my brothers and sisters have been planning the future of ours with overcomplicated plans and schemes. Each one has thrown their chips under different players, and I have decided to join their game with one of my own."

"So, you want me to be your pawn on the board to do your bidding? To enact your own version of fate for your realm?" She asked with venom dripping from her voice. Having been present in the various power plays of the Iron Commanders she wasn't keen on being involved in one amongst gods.

"Nothing of the sort, Lady Apollyon", he said shaking his head, "I want for you to become my wildcard. You see I don't really care about the petty squabbles of my siblings; in the end all our subjects end up in my domain, but messing with their carefully crafted plans just scratches a certain itch of mine. You see there is a saying around our mortal realm: "No one sings for The Stranger", but with you as my proverbial tip of the spear the songs will only speak about me this round".

´Even the damn gods are too vain for their own good´, she thought with humor and dismay as she pondered the offer. On one hand she could accept the deal and plunge herself into an unknown world full of dangers along with, knowing her rotten luck, fools a plenty. On the other she could reject it and wait centuries for the gods of her realm to decide who would torture her for eternity.

Honestly it wasn't even a choice.

"Fine Stranger you got yourself a deal"

"Excellent!" As he jumped off his seat he snapped his fingers, materializing a stylized dagger with a wolf head in the handle. He motioned her to stand and as she did, he grabbed her by the shoulder and stabbed her in the heart passing through her armor as if it wasn't even there, and as she processed what just had happen The Stranger gave her an apologetic smile "Sorry friend, this is the fastest way to get you out of here."

As her vision blurred and the world around her disappeared the last thing she heard was her new patron whisper:

"You shall rise in this new life as you did in the last but you shall be bound by the one thing you never knew, a family. Whether they rise with you or wither because of you is up to you to decide but remember that the lone wolf may kill the deer, but a pack may bring down the mighty bear. Choose your allies wisely and may your fate be dictated only by your own sweat and blood."