Once, long ago, there was a great godly Clan. A clan is handy for allied gods, as it means they cannot take over each-other's towns because (in effect) they are shared between the clan. Negai (the power of the people's prayers) is shared, along with wood, food and other natural resources. Anyway: this particular clan was known as the clan of Order. Its duty was to fight gods that sought to bring the word to its knees, and to defend each other. It was like the clan was one big family, with over thirty gods and goddesses in it. They knew that if there was any one ruler of Earth, it would fall into Chaos. They were not biased, either. There was a generous mix of good and evil gods, making it an effective fighting force.

But all forces have a weakness.

The leader of the clan, a god of evil, was married to a good goddess. On the day of their Betrothal, a great enemy of the clan, Nemesis, rose up and killed the pair by destroying their temples. The Clan fought bravely, but Nemesis had brought several allies with him, and one of the clan, a cowardly, corrupt god called Lethys, betrayed them and attacked from behind. The Clan was slaughtered and their temple's destroyed; their villages either burned to ash and ruins, or taken over by the Dark Clan.

But there was hope for the Clan. On another part of the island, a group of young gods and goddesses were being educated in the ways of the Order. We join them shortly before the attack…

"I submit!" The god cried out. The red-haired goddess who he was sparring against smiled in a cruel, but strangely charming way, and then stepped away from him. She sheathed her slender, ivory-handled Katana and put one hand on her shapely hip. He stood, retrieved his Polearm and fiddled with it nervously. He was a medium height male god, who looked about twenty. His simple black leather armour and knee-length cloth greatcoat gave him an appealing, undemanding look (although nobody admitted it, and he didn't know what they thought of him). His skin tone was mixed race, and his black hair, and rectangular beard on his chin almost amplified the sheepish look on his face.

"What's the matter, Toku?" she teased "too much for you?"

"Whatever, Saitaku, don't get too worked up about beating me…" He tried to act tough, but his soft brown eyes sort-of spoiled the effect. The corner of one cherubic lip curled in a smile again, and she flicked her shoulder-length red hair from her face and stared at him with her electric-blue eyes. Her face was a small, heart shape with a pointed chin, and her small shoulders and arms looked like they lacked the power to take down the god who was half a head taller than her. She was clothed in a pair of plain brown trousers, a pair of boots and a shirt/tunic of some kind of powder-blue silk.

"When you two are quite done flirting…" A voice sighed, making both deities jump out of their skins.

"I'm going to skin you alive, Omoi…" Saitaku hissed, reaching for her Katana. The newcomer was also average height for a twenty year old. His black hair went well with his black tunic and grey/blue trousers. He wore a silver chain around his neck, and his green eyes were hidden beneath his fringe. He wore no visible weapon, but they knew better than to judge him by that. His neck chain could morph into a barbed whip/flail weapon.

"Whatever…" He sighed. "I've just come to inform you that it's time to choose our creatures…"

"WHAT!?" Toku and Saitaku both exclaimed.

"Yeah, come on. We can't start without you."

Toku was exasperated that they had not been informed by their mentor (a god called Khazaar) that one of the most important events of a god's life was to take place now. The three of them took off and hovered for a moment, before swooping to the crescent-moon shaped valley which made up the trainee's land. There were four towns in this little swathe of beach and grass. One had the characteristic wooden structures of the Norse humans, one was made up of tents and tipi's (Red Indian) and two were made up of solid stone and slate buildings. The path to the rest of the island was situated behind Saitaku's Temple, which was on a hill in the upper corner of the semicircular patch of land. Omoi had his in the bottom corner and Toku had built his home upon the cliff, where it curled to the right of Omoi's realm. As this was only a small land (for thirty-three gods and goddesses), the recruits were only allocated a single town each. Their 'homework' was to fulfill desires or generally expand. Khazaar had his own land beyond the path from this area. There was another way out of the 'Training Pen' (as it had become known). This was a pass through the mountains that was blocked off by a set of twenty-meter-high gates. None of the recruits were permitted through this area, and there was nothing there anyway (from what they could see when they flew overhead).

Khazaar waited for them beside the huge gates. He was dressed in a fur cloak and wore leather armor underneath it. His Nordic longsword was sheathed at his hip and there was a round shield on his left arm. He had shoulder-length blonde hair and a long, drooping moustache.

"You've got something on your face, Khazaar." Omoi said, touching down a few metres ahead of the others.

"Very funny" his teacher drawled, toying with the edges of his moustache. "As you know, this is the day you shall receive your creature. There will be more lessons on them later, but for now…"

He raised his hands and a bracelet appeared on each of the trainee god's wrists. Carved into each one was that God's (or Goddesses') symbol. Omoi had the Yin/Yang, Toku had a Circle, and Saitaku's was the Three Legs (the flag for the 'Isle of Man' in real life!).

"Through this gate are three wonderful creatures." A voice said. The three trainee gods looked around at the gates themselves and found that a human with dark skin, leather animal-handler's clothes and brown hair had emerged from a small side-gate that was in the corner of the larger one. "I am Sable, a trainer of creatures."

"Cut the Crap, let's go in!" Saitaku hissed to her friends.

"Sssh!" Toku hissed back.

"You shall enter, pick the creature you wish to make your own and then go back to your respective towns." Sable went on. At her words, the gates gave a great creaking groan and swung open. Light glared in at the valley beyond, and they entered.

Inside, new sounds and scents caught them. The smell of grass and nature was very strong here, and there was the gurgle of a stream nearby. They reached a small hill, and found what they had been looking for atop it. Three creatures stood there. The tallest, most muscular was a shaggy-furred grey wolf. It was currently engaged in a scrap with a reddish-haired ape. The ape had short, stubby legs, but strong, muscular arms which delivered a blow to the side of the wolf's torso, and knocked him down. The wolf, however, was crafty and lashed out with a foot sweep that brought the ape to the floor with it. Behind the dueling twosome was a lazy looking cow creature. It was a brown-white colour with big ears and a blunt snout, and its hooves were shaped in likeness to human hands. He was the shortest, stoutest creature present. His belly jutted out ahead of him and he sat in an amused silence, watching the fighters as though this was nothing new. The short Cow was still massive, over four metres tall and still just a baby creature. The Ape was around four and a half and the Wolf was five metres tall. Saitaku stepped forward instantly. She was the best fighter of the three and chose her creature to match this. She raised her arm and a leash shot from the bracelet and attached itself to the wolf's fluffy neck. The wolf raised its paw and felt the leash had attached itself to a strange collar that had appeared there, with Saitaku's symbol on it. It gave a startled bark and tugged a couple of times, before falling silent. Saitaku used the leash to call it to her side. The Ape gave a frightened yelp and reached out a hand towards its sparring partner, but there was no response. It dropped its hand and was silent. Toku turned to Omoi.

"Which one are you going to choose? Do you want to go first?" He asked. Omoi shook his head:

"I can't decide, you go first"

They realized that they had been talking in whispers. It was natural: this was like a holy place. There was no sign of human's living here and these creatures had cared for the small valley. It showed this in its beauty and Toku felt sad to take its carers away. He thought of which creature to take. He was a mainly good god (about 70 good), and the cow was a powerful ally to the good. However, he needed a creature which adapted fast and learned well what he taught it. He walked up to the ape and scratched its belly. It gave a happy 'oook' noise and he leashed and led it away.

The cow (realizing that its friends had been taken from it) stood, gave a frightened 'Moooo…' and put its hooves to its snout in a gesture of fear. Omoi walked up to it and gave it a reassuring pat on the head. It calmed down and he also leashed his cow.

"Let's go back to Sable and Khazaar." Omoi sighed. They led their creatures back up the valley to their new homes.

Meanwhile, beyond the valley of creatures and beyond the wedding of two great gods which the friends knew nothing about, there was a cliff overlooking the town in which the wedding was taking place. A spot on the cliff suddenly seemed to warp and distort, and a column of light burst from it. A vortex appeared there, a hole filled with swirling light that threw out bits of rock and trees from the other side (wherever that was). A figure appeared. He was tall (almost 7ft) and had shaggy black hair. His piercing, emerald green eyes stared down at the oblivious gods and humans partying below, and he reached up to his back and drew a Masamune sword that glinted in the dying sunlight. Behind him, blocks of human soldiers, Aztec warriors with club/swords, began to march from the portal.

"Orders, my lord?" one man, in a massive feathered headdress asked him.

"Kill them all…" Nemesis rasped.

Ooooh! Nemesis is here. Run and hide!! Will our hero's escape alive (well probably, otherwise it would be a very short story…)