Exactly when Ximeron and the rest of the people and creatures in the Warrior of Worlds-series came into being is difficult to say. Personally, I feel like they have been with me always. To fit these characters into tales that did them justice, however, literally took years in the making. I feel like it is akin to a 30-year old whiskey that have been maturing in an oak cask in some dark cellar while waiting for this very special moment when the cask is finally opened and the noble liquid sees daylight for the first time. This is a potent brew with a mighty kicker, and in my humble opinion it is best enjoyed straight; no ice, no water, no diluting reconstruction or political correctness. Ximeron is a force of nature: a storm that strikes at the heart of of evil and injustice whenever and wherever he encounters them. Partly because he can, partly because it is what he has been trained to do. Mostly, however, because of who he is. He is an empath. He feels other peoples' pain, and the only way he can get rid of that pain is by trying to remove whoever or whatever is causing it. He does so with sword in hand as often as not, which makes him unpopular with both criminal circles and enforcers of the law. As Ximeron himself puts it, the law and justice may not always be equivalents. Instead, he distinguishes sharply between good and evil. Wherever there is love, light and life, goodness will inevitably flourish. Death, darkness and depravity-when hooking up together-invariably leads to evil. In that respect, Ximeron is the arch-type old-school hero. However, he is also a tragic figure haunted by a troubled adolescence and unsolved mysteries surrounding his origins. He knows he is not like other men. He is larger than life, but he is also constantly denied a life of his own. Why? Why does trouble seem to gravitate towards him? Why do so many powerful people want him dead? Why does he feel he is but a pawn in a dark game that goes back hundreds if not thousands of years? These are just some of the questions that vexes Ximeron's mind continuously. In his search for answers and peace, he may well have to make choices that no sane man would ever contemplate. 

Ximeron's genes has been altered by dark magic, bestowing upon him powers not found in ordinary men. I think what drove me to write this story is that Ximeron is one of those very rare individuals who stand out from the crowd, and stay there despite a harsh childhood and general adversity. He neither asked for nor wanted the powers given him, but they are with him always, embedded in the very cells of his body. How do you handle that sort of power? How do you prevent yourself from going mad? Disciplin, training, and education will go a long way to keep you on the narrow path of virtue, of course, but at the end of the day there has to be something more fundamental, something inherently spiritual - or lack thereof - that ultimatly direct the course your moral compass will set. And this is what separates Ximeron from the classical, stereotype sword-and-sandal-hero. His story is not a story of barbarian brawn pitted against cunning minds from older and grander civilizations. It is a story of hearts and souls, really, of what people are willing to do on that day they see a great storm appear in the horizon, threatening to upend the life they have known till now. 

Ximeron himself talks about a person's Lifelight; the glow of life found in all living things. He sees this Light and compare it to the stars in the sky. When he kills his first man, he does so because the man has a dark Lifelight, an evil Light. In that moment, Ximeron's destiny becomes manifest, though he does not realize it at that point, of course, being as young as he is. However, the people around him, his teachers and companions, recognize the killing and Ximeron's subsequent reaction for what it is, and they become scared. They become scared because they suddenly find themselves confronted by a child's innocense combined with a clear and unwavering sense of justice they themselves cannot comprehend, with one or two exceptions perhaps. 

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