Asgarth looked over the scorched plains of Corilth, he had travelled many days since the joining with Strum, she was still on his mind, as was the mighty news of his heritage. The magical shining thing still lay in the future, now was the present and Asgarth scanned the horizon for any sign of life.

In the distance, Asgarth saw a column of smoke twisting its way towards the heavens. It looked tiny, but Asgarth noticed it was growing, a sign. A sign of riders approaching, good or evil, Asgarth did not know, but they were headed towards his position. The plains were so big it would take a few hours before the riders reached Asgarth's position, just enough time for Asgarth's dull witted brain to make a plan. He sat down on the bare dusty ground and began to think.

Suddenly, they were upon him, eight in all. Asgarth was taken by surprise, his mind had only just begun to think of the possibilities of outflanking them.

"Asgarth, Asgarth the Invincible?" The first rider called.

Asgarth reacted almost instantly, his massive arms swinging his huge battle axe. It landed with a crash and split the front riders head in twain. Brains and blood spewed into the air like a fountain, splattering Asgarth and his opponents' body alike. The body crashed to the floor and lay twitching in a heap. Asgarth turned the second rider was almost upon him, he ducked to the left and delivered another hack with the axe. A second body joined the first. Two of the riders joined forces and began to charge across the ground straight at Asgarth.

"You Bastard, that was my brother!" One of the riders screamed as they bore down on Asgarth. Asgarth waited until they were almost upon him then standing between the riders horses he leaped into the air and executed a perfect split kick to the temples of both mens heads. The two riders tumbled from their mounts onto the stony ground. Dazed, one stood up in front of Asgarth his sword ready, Asgarth plunged the axe into the head of the man, opening another wound and inflicting a fatal blow, the axe wedged in the skull.

"My other Brother! You Bastard!" Asgarth turned to face the second rider who had climbed to his feet and was charging again on foot. Asgarth grabbed the body of the first assailant by the arm and using the torso as a shield entered into a duel with the other rider. A quick slash and the man was down clutching his stomach in a vain attempt to keep his guts in.

"Today will see you body on the ground joining our brothers, you Bastard!" One of the four riders called as they now came in for an attack. Asgarth was ready, he ran and slid along the ground into the legs of the first riders horse. The horse tumbled with broken legs. As it hit the ground, the other riders were travelling too fast to stop in time and crashed into the body of the horse and rider and hit the ground with horrific speed, two were killed outright, their brains and blood mingling in the midday sun. The final two riders got to their feet and drew their swords. Asgarth picked up one of the swords from the corpse strewn ground and ran the first attacked through. His body split into two parts, the stomach and groin going one way whilst the upper torso the other. Asgarth spun on the spot and crushed the head of the final rider with the sword under his helmet, blood streamed from his nose and he collapsed in a heap.

Asgarth was in the process of collecting the swords and surviving horses when he heard groans from behind. One of the riders was still alive despite the battering they had taken. Asgarth decided to investigate. Asgarth drew his sword above his head, the sun glittered off the blade.

"Don't kill me, please I beg you sir, don't kill me..." The frail body moaned.

"Why not I Kill you?" Asgarth demanded.

"We are just messengers from King Machachata, he wants to meet you, his castle Kalliet Lies south of here, we were sent to escort you there." The rider explained.

"Oh, sorry about that then." Asgarth indicated the bodies of the other riders lying about. The rider's life gradually faded, his head slumped one last time.

"Which way's south" Asgarth mused as he set off in the direction the riders had come.

* * * * *

Asgarth looked up at the mighty castle walls. The walls were at least forty metres high and interspersed with mighty turrets at regular intervals. In these turrets Asgarth could see the black holes of mighty arrow slits. Flags flew at the point of each tower with the mighty flag of the owner emblazoned mightily upon it. The gate of the castle was made with mighty oak panels each mighty two meters in width. A great mighty knocker hung in the centre of each mighty door. The sight looked mightily impressive even to a brainless buffoon such as Asgarth.

Asgarth slipped from the saddle of his horse, his buttocks ached mightily from the many days ride over the rocky terrain of Gadada. Asgarth pondered for a while about what to do next. Was this the castle from which the messengers had been sent? If it was, it mattered little to Asgarth, for he had already forgotten about their message. Whoever owned this castle had put it in Asgarth's way, and as he did not want to ride around it, the only option open to his faltering mind was to go directly through it. Asgarth strode mightily up to the door, it towered twenty metres above his head. Asgarth pushed the door, it would not give. Asgarth pulled the door, it would not give. The sun had begun to set when Asgarth struck on the idea of using the mighty knockers. He pulled back on the mighty iron object and let it fall. A great thud resounded, Asgarth let this happen twice more. "Who goes there?" A voice from above called. Asgarth looked around but couldn't put a face to the voice.

"Up here, idiot!" Asgarth looked up, in one of the arrow slits a face peered down on him. "I say again. Who goes there?"

"Let me through!" Asgarth roared.

"Not without the proper authority. You must answer me first."

"Answer what?"

"The question!"

"What question?"

"The one I just asked!"

"What did you just ask?"

"Who goes there?"

"I don't know, who goes there?"

"You tell me!"

"Tell you what?"

"The answer!"

"The answer to what?"

"The question!"

"What question?" It soon became clear to the gatekeeper that he was dealing with an idiot. He changed his tack. "What is your name?"

"Asgarth, what's yours?"

"That's not important, come in, we've been expecting you. By the way what happened to my Brothers who were sent to get you? Oh well tell me later, I'll let you in first."

With that, the great mighty door swung open in front of Asgarth.

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