For ages, the tranquil Japanese village of Aoku nestled near the vast northern forest. Yet, as time passed, the forest, now dubbed Kiba, turned hostile, with harsh winters and prowling wolves. Yumiko, known locally as a cheerful blind seamstress, surprised all when, at 537, she took up arms against the forest's monsters. Over the years, she honed her skills, rescuing children and battling creatures, until she faced the source of the corruption—a witch named Ukionna. There she fought the witch Ukionna and broke the bond between Yumiko's world and the twisted forest corrupting her land. In the final moments of the battle, a valkyrie appeared. Without a word, Yumiko leapt on the flying horse and went happily to sleep. Yumiko is happy to fight in the tournament, while she senses that she has one more great deed to accomplish, but waits patiently.

No mortal has seen the center of the Fangwild Forest. The magic is too dense, the peril is too deep. Not the elves who live on the edges of the Fangwild. Not the adventurers and fools who brave the forest in search of paths to other universes. Not the ghouls and beasts drawn in by the call of magic. No mortal but Ember. For thousands of years, Ember hunted the ever-changing paths of the Fangwild. With the wolf Ash and her raven Yarra, she guarded the Fangwild from itself, and protected the bordering worlds from the eldritch wood. She fought the Primordials. She befriended a lonely Minotaur. She rescued a furious Viking lost in deep in the Fangwild's heart. She rode a wild dragon through the maelstrom at the heart of the forest. In ancient days before Valhalla, Fangwild's borders touched even Asgard, and Ember walked with the first warriors among the mighty trees that would form its rafters. Now, amidst the glory of her afterlife in Valhalla, Ember's mind is fixed on the Fangwild.