Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

"I'm starting to lose my temper!" Dag exclaimed as electric sparks began to leak from Magni's hammer, laden with energy.

In front of everyone's astonished eyes, before the wolf could snap forward and try to bite the Iron Alliance Warchief, a beam of dark liquid flowed out of his back and took shape, without splitting, becoming a single long dark blade.

The blade was fired at great speed towards the wolf and pierced his neck, causing him incredible pain and making him groan.

"Fuck!" Kjell yelled, who failed to hold back his surprise, not believing that Dag would anticipate the enemy's moves, being accustomed to his fighting style, mainly based on waiting and counterattacking.

The beam of liquid, after pierced the thick neck of the wolf, was extracted with force and from the wound began to gush liters of blood, which fell to the ground as if by a waterfall.

Soon after, taking advantage of the stun of the wolf, whose senses were clouded by pain, Dag struck him again, sticking his large black blade under the neck of the beast and piercing his jaw, reaching his mouth.

The groans became persistent and increasingly excruciating when the wolf spat a lot of blood from his mouth, which fed the red spot on the ground and forced him to lower his head, bending it according to the movements of the blade, which swung commanded by Dag's will.

He moved it towards himself and along with it, the wolf's head also moved until his mouth was in front of one of the beast's two large pointed ears.

Dag approached his lips and with the same air of superiority, said: "You have been warned." 

The wolf's large yellow pupil moved toward Dag's face, while his eye was blood-bound and his limbs began to fail due to the blood that kept gushing nonstop.

"Who... who are... you?!" the beast whispered, his tongue barely able to move inside his mouth, wounded by the blade, which in addition to piercing the lower part of his jaw had also punctured his palate, preventing him from breathing as blood accumulated in his throat.

Witnessing that grisly scene, the soldiers did not know whether to be happier that their leader had managed within minutes to get rid of such an imposing enemy, or crushed by the horrid spectacle of blood before their eyes.

"My name is Dag. I am the one who will free the Gods from their slavery. The one who will eliminate the threat of the Frostsinners!" Dag exclaimed, answering the question of the wolf, who squinted at those words.

At that point, as the dark blade held his head still, Dag placed Gianbane under the blood stream that leaked out of his jaw, letting its blade get wet and activate his power.

The blade of the axe began to shine and immediately vaporized the blood, becoming incandescent. 

Dag twisted it in his hand and as the wolf tried in vain to drag back with the only paws that could still move, then he placed it on his neck, using the wound already present to begin to carve.

In a sudden and horizontal movement, Dag cut off the head of the huge black wolf, who died agonizingly after a few minutes.

The dark arm was extracted from the enemy and returned floating behind its creator's shoulders, disintegrating and slowly returning to the liquid state, before re-entering his body.

When the fight was over before it even started, Dag turned to his men, noticing their distraught expressions.

"Dag... how...?" Freydis whispered, who could not believe her eyes, while Master Sander approached the wolf, resting a hand on his black fur.

The silence lasted a few more seconds, until Sander exclaimed: "The passage is free! Once again, Master Dag has shown his incredible strength, eliminating the threat and saving our lives! Long live our invincible Warchief!" 

"Long live Dag!" Gridd repeated, raising her arm and celebrating the victory.

"Long live Master Dag!" 

One by one, the soldiers recovered from the scare and realized that they were safe, without having moved a single muscle.

Dag looked around until he could see his friend Thalos, who looked decidedly frightened, looking at his master with an interdicted air.

"Thalos, I had to do it. He was going to kill us all, you know that, don't you? He was not a wolf, but only a stupid human being..." Dag said, putting his weapons down and kneeling in front of his four-legged friend, who, though timidly, approached and let himself be caressed on his neck as if he understood Dag's apology, who had justified his gesture.

"Captain... is everything okay?" Reidar asked, approaching him with Egill, to check his mental state, noting that he had undergone a drastic character change, turning into a ruthless warrior in just a few days.

"Yes, Reidar... thank you for asking me. Now let's move, we're going to make a stop just coming out the other side of that tunnel. It's early to celebrate, we still don't know what's ahead" he said, turning and walking toward Gridd, busy talking to Freydis.

As soon as the two of them saw him coming, all three of them entered the tunnel with a firm pace, inviting the rest of the soldiers to follow them.

Encouraged by recent events, the warriors joined them, walking one at a time into the narrow gallery that would lead them out of the room where the corpse of the huge black wolf lay, beaten by Dag in one fell swoop.

"We could have skinned him and used his fur to withstand the cold...we could take a little break there and then continue out journey carring the cargo" Sander said, referring to the haste with which Dag was heading to the other end of the cave, anxious to reach the phantom exit. 

"I have not touched the dignity of that wolf out of respect for Thalos. I thought his fur might come in handy, but I'd rather let him go. I don't want my friend to see a scene like that..." Dag answered, looking at Thalos out of the corner of his eye and smiling, glad that he had managed to dodge the attack.