Quirze is an almogavar, a wild auxiliary from the Pyrenees in the service of the Crown of Aragon. Dymtrus is a Cossack, a horseman sent to cut Napoleon’s Grande Armée into pieces in the vast and cold landscapes of Russia. Since the times of antiquity, states have recognized the military value of deploying special forces whose military value relied on a reputation for ferocity and ruthlessness. Quirze and Dymtrus are members of such forces, and they will clash with their opponents during their respective time periods and then meet in the warriors’ afterlife of Valhalla.