Free The God Warriors by Sean Liebling

this to her platoon leader had resulted in an explanation and punishment. The punishment she would not soon forget. It had resulted in running ten miles in practice armor, leaving her exhausted and very sore afterwards. The worst part was performing this punishment when her free period arrived. She had barely made it back to the barracks and washed up before the lamps were extinguished, causing her to miss the evening meal.
    The explanation made more sense. No recruit left the training platoon until blooded by his or her first battle. When Wolf Company went on patrol, the recruits accompanied them, at the rear, and were expected to engage when the flanking outriders spotted Illians sneaking across the border. Elsa understood the kingdom of Jordache was small compared to many others, and  the guard force, therefore, needed to be elite. Though at times the guard had suffered heavy casualties, they had never been defeated in hundreds of years. It was both a source of pride within the populace and a burden to bear, due to the constant training necessary to stay on top.
    Six years later, after several dozen skirmishes against the forces of Illian and Belgresse, Elsa was promoted to Wolf Company Captain. The old captain had retired after a particularly vicious battle with over fifty percent losses. The king had awarded Elsa the company after Gusa announced his retirement. Though there was the usual grumbling, everyone knew she was most qualified to succeed him.
    Once the company was her own, she kept the men and women in a modified training status. They performed their patrols; however, they also constantly trained. She not only wanted to be the most deadly company within the Jordache guard, but she also wanted to one day take out Korath's own elite guard during the games. A festival held twice a year with allies broke up the monotony of daily duties and improved the relationships between those countries. Invariably, the Korathians took the lead prizes when their respective guard companies competed against each other. Held in a different country of the Alliance each year, it was the country of Jordache that would host this year's events. having held them in Belgresse last year, even though most countries seemed to be at war with Belgresse every other year. Elsa was looking forward to this year's games held in Jordache. She knew her family would attend, and it would be great to see them again.
    Each night, Elsa prayed to Goddess Hera, the Queen of the gods. She knew most of her company, and most soldiers in general, prayed to Ares, but not Elsa. She was a woman, and she would pray to a woman. She thanked the goddess for her health and prayed for the health and safety of her family. She also prayed for the continued improvement of her company, that they would suffer few casualties on their next patrol. Finally, she asked the goddess to send some excitement in her otherwise boring life. Being a captain of the guard was monotonous, although now she slept and bathed in private. Unlike most of the other men and women in her unit, and all of the other guard captains she knew of, her life was dull, duties and training intermixed with studying. She seemed to be the only one around without a private life.
    One night, during her prayer, an unbidden response came to Elsa. [There is one, a man, who will be arriving soon that you should pay attention to.]  Elsa almost fainted. The goddess had actually spoken to her. The voice in her mind was warm, friendly, and bespoke patience and stateliness while being obviously female. Oh, she had heard the goddess talking to her priestess and occasionally some of the acolytes, but it was unheard of for Hera to speak to a commoner.
    [You are much more important than you think, dear Elsa, and in time, I will reveal more. Suffice to say, you will know the one I speak of when you meet him. It will be an interesting meeting and one that is vitally important for this world.]
    "But how will I know him?”
    [You