Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Before his head could fall to the ground, Reidar touched his shoulder: "I'll take your place, captain. You rest".

"Thank you, Reidar. It looks like they went to sleep on the other side of the door too, the lights are off" Dag said, lying down.

As he watched Reidar sit by the door, Dag closed his eyes asleep.

...

"Mh..."

...

*crack*

"Uhm?!"

Turning the other way, Dag crushed something with his arm.

He began to move the straw from the ground, digging.

"Wake up! Wake up now!" he said aloud, instantly recovering from his sleep.

Reidar had fallen asleep with his head resting at the door and leaped from fright.

"What... what happened?" he exclaimed.

Karl also woke up, sitting with his eyes still closed.

"Dag... you complain when I wake you up early in the morning... but then you wake me up late at night" he said, yawning.

Dag pulled something out of the straw: it was a human skull, which had been partially shattered by his arm.

"What is that?!" continued Karl, who crawled back until his hand also crushed something hidden in the straw.

"What the fuck! What the fuuuck!" he yelled when he noticed that human bones were also near his bed.

Reidar got up from the ground immediately and tried to open the door, pulling forcefully.

"It's locked!" he exclaimed, turning to Dag, who had his eyes closed.

"Captain! I said the door is locked! It looks very durable, which means we're stuck in here!" he continued, approaching Dag.

"Silence! Wait a moment" he said, trying to silence his panicked comrades.

With his eyes closed, he focused on the sounds: the hole at the top of the barn wall allowed him to easily hear noises coming from outside.

In the distance, horses were approaching the farm.

Dag opened his eyes and moved towards the locked door.

Slowly, a rune appeared engraved on its thick wood.

"This rune... should be 'Thurs' the rune of protection. Only a skilled shaman would be able to impress it" said Reidar, who touched the newly engraved wood with his hand.

"The old man. I should have used Niva on him... Maybe I would have recognized his magical powers" Dag said, as he tried to come up with a plan.

"Thurs? What does that mean? How do we get out of here?!" asked Karl, after getting up from the ground and shrugging off the straw.

"Only killing the shaman who summoned it can make the rune disappear... or he should be the one to break the seal himself" Reidar continued.

"I have already been in such a situation once, but I had neither my weapons nor my powers. We're going to get out of here. Men on horseback are approaching" Dag replied.

"How the fuck do you know, Dag? You will explain to me where this powerful hearing of yours comes from... if we can get out of here alive" Karl said, as he looked around in a panic.

Dag approached the door, resting an ear on it.

"Are you sure they won't be able to break free? The guy with the hammer looked like a very strong warrior..."

"Shut up, woman! I've sent the signal, Kenneth's on his way... the important thing is that I managed to keep this hidden".

As he listened to voices coming from the other room, after these words, Dag felt a strange sensation coming from his chest.

"What is this sound?" asked Reidar.

Dag walked away from the door and put his hand under his jacket, pulling out his necklace: the Bjelke Sphere was vibrating.

Karl and Reidar looked at him without understanding.

"I'll explain to you later. The old man has one of the ten emblems, certainly of a higher rank than mine" he said, tucking the necklace under his jacket again, and pulling his pendant out of his pocket so his friends could see it.

As soon as they saw the horseshoe-shaped necklace, they opened their eyes wide, in disbelief.

"Reidar, the effectiveness of the rune is equal to the magical force of the shaman who created it, right?" asked Dag, pulling out the hammer.

"Y... yes. In theory..."

Before Reidar could finish the sentence, Dag's hammer began to emit blue sparks, which, joining with the gas released from his arms, turned purple.

"Step aside" he said, standing in front of the door.

Reidar moved, positioning himself next to Karl, just behind Dag.

After loading the shot, Dag hit the door powerfully, which bent and began to shatter.

"Unbelievable!" Karl whispered, watching the scene.

When he hit the door again, Dag screamed and the impact of the hammer triggered an explosion of lightning bolts, emitting the sound of thunder.

The door was swept away, flying meters away into the other room. Along with it, a piece of the barn wall also broke away and fell apart.

"Aaagh! How... how the fuck did you do that?!" the old man shouted when he saw Dag and his companions poking out of the smoke of the rubble.

"Give me the emblem, old man" he said, as his hammer continued to release electricity.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about!" he replied, backing down to his wife.

"You know what I'm talking about. Hand me the emblem and I will not harm you, your wife and your son, Kenneth" Dag continued, walking slowly toward him.

"How do you know about our son?!" the woman asked, as she hugged her frightened husband.

"My goodness... who are you?!" said the old man, who began to tremble, looking at Dag.

"Do as he says and no one will get hurt" Karl exclaimed, according to the game.

Dag stopped and turned to the front door.

"They're here" he said.

The sound of horse hooves in the muddy ground was gone: men were sneaking closer to the farm.

He waved his hand at Reidar, who positioned himself near the only window of the farm, while Karl went behind the front door.