Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

He smiled and approached his girlfriend and his sister, trying to get those constant thoughts out of his head and have fun with his friends.

After several hours spent in the city center wandering around, they finally arrived at the secondary entrance of Skjegg, located in the diametrically opposite direction of the main gates.

They passed the gallery, finding themselves immersed in nature, with vegetation that seemed to be much denser than the one on the other side.

Right after the exit, skirting the outer walls on the right side, they arrived to a wooden structure, quite large and square in shape, perhaps more similar to an animal fence than a real arena.

"Here we are" Freydis said, pointing to his new teammates their destination.

Large wooden training dummies were fixed in the ground at the outer side of the sturdy wooden fence: as soon as he saw them, Dag thought of those on Mount Torden, in the clearing near the farm, where Magni taught him his personal technique, 'Adamant Mountain' and helped him improve his fighting style.

When his thoughts went to his late Master, a feeling of deep melancholy pervaded his body and lungs, but he managed to hold back the emotion, merely thinking that Magni would be proud of the warrior he was becoming.

The companions began to train and fight with each other, sometimes with fake weapons, other times with their bare hands, having fun and laughing at each other, until the evening came and they decided to return to the city, looking for a good inn where to drink and eat and then go to the dormitory.

In the city, the main topic among the people was about them and what had happened in Altar of the Raven Square and the villages on the coast: most citizens, despite having never had direct contact with Dag, knew his face, after his public fight against Master Ellen, valid for the title of Warchief.

Many people approached them during the walk through the streets of Skjegg, which in the evening looked much more welcoming, with many torches and lights lining the squared buildings. 

After receiving lots of compliments and acknowledgments from the citizens, they found themselves in a beautiful inn, toasting with unknown people, who offered them food and drinks, to thank them for their work against the enemy warriors.

Despite holding the alcohol well, this time Dag also let himself go and took his whack a little more, drinking almost two whole bottles of mead on his own, celebrating and screaming with all the tavern-goers, while his companions enjoyed the evening in the same way.

It was late at night when they left the local and walked rickety to the dormitory, looking towards the elevators as if the stretch of road to walk through was an infinite distance, for the common space-distortion effect due to the alcohol.

Dag and Freydis giggled, babbling, and Karl joined them, resting his hand on his sister's shoulder and chatting with them, who continued to walk on each other.

Meanwhile, behind them, Reidar followed them at a slow pace, also slightly shimmering when, at one point, Gridd placed an arm around his neck, letting herself go dead weight, unable to hold on her legs anymore.

"Hey... Gridd... what are you... do... do you want a hand?" he asked, having trouble keeping his eyes open, due to exhaustion, as Gridd placed her face on his shoulder, embarrassing him.

"Y... yes, Reidar" she whispered, completely abandoning herself in his arms and closing her eyes, unable to walk further due both to fatigue and drunkenness.

The archer looked towards Dag, who with Freydis and Karl had almost arrived at the wooden platforms and continued to walk forward, never turning around.

Without thinking too much, he took Gridd in his arms, placing one arm under her neck and shoulders and another under her legs.

She placed her face on Reidar's chest, snuggling up like a helpless child.

He began to walk, carrying Gridd with him, feeling his heart beating tightly in his chest and trying to think of Turid, his girlfriend, who was waiting for him in Hevnen.

Although he was in love with her, Gridd had always attracted his attention, from the first moment Dag introduced him to her.

The early days they met, they were always at odds, but lately, they got much more united and their thoughts sometimes seemed to merge, with an empathy difficult to achieve with other people.

"What am I doing? Uff... Reidar, don't be an idiot!" he thought, shaking his head and continuing to look at Gridd and think of Turid at the same time, feeling guilty.

Dag, Karl, and Freydis began to climb the Rocky Crown, and when Dag noticed that Reidar and Gridd were missing, he turned and smiled, witnessing the scene of his trusty companion carrying his sister in his arms, who also being a strong Shieldmaiden, at that time had turned into a helpless and fragile girl.

Half an hour later, Reidar and Gridd arrived at the dormitory, after he carried her in his arms all the way, even climbing the stairs leading to the rooms.

When he arrived in front of the three doors, trying not to wake up the girl, he put a hand in his pocket, looking for the door's key, without success.

"Where did I put it? Fuck... Karl must have taken it..." Reidar thought aloud because his roommate had the key to their room.

Without leaving Gridd, he approached his room and began to knock with his foot, calling Karl.

More than ten minutes passed, but Karl didn't open the door, which was locked from the inside.

"Fuck, Karl! You're a son of a bitch!" Reidar thought, realizing that the only way not to sleep on the floor was to stay in Gridd's room, which had already fallen into a deep sleep.

He closed his eyes and, trying to be as gentle as possible, slipped a hand on the girl's leg, looking for her room's key.