Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

"Aaargh! Forgive me, Commander! I should have asked permission before..." 

*crack*splat*

In front of everyone's eyes, the ice that had completely wrapped the body of the guard, also grew inwards, piercing it and splitting all its bones, which with a disgusting noise that mixed with that of the organs spread and killed instantly the man who had tried to express his opinion freely.

"Fuck!" Orvar exclaimed, turning the other way and failing to hold back the disgust.

"Tomorrow morning, as soon as the Sun will be high in the sky, I'll meet him at the foot of Snake Mountain. It's useless for me to tell you where it is, your archer friend knows that place since he's one of the Hunters Of Ullr" Kranus said, as if nothing relevant had happened, while the blood of the man who had just been killed dripped along the slippery surface of the blue ice block that enveloped the remains of his body.

Orvar made a sulky expression, knowing that sooner or later someone would find out he wasn't from Okstorm, like the other two.

"All right, Lord Kranus. I will report your answer to my Warchief and tomorrow morning he will show up at the designated location with two of his warriors... not that there is a need, but it is appropriate that two important leaders like you do not wander alone in these lands. It's just a precaution" Kjell answered, concealing the satisfaction Dag would have felt when he knew the ice giants leader's positive response.

"You can go now" Kranus concluded, turning to the other side and returning to sit in his chair, the ends of which were connected to wooden beams, which were promptly grasped by four men who lifted it along with their leader, ready to bring him back to his place as if he was a true king.

Kjell made a slight bow, not to disrespect everyone present, and as he kept his head down and his gaze turned to the ground, he began to slowly retreat, inviting his teammates to do the same. 

Terje and Orvar obeyed and holding the reins of the horses tightly, took a few steps back, and then turned, riding on horseback and beginning to move slowly south.

When they heard the sound of the heavy stone planks of the door closing, they finally could breathe a sigh of relief, useful to relax their minds after those endless minutes of acute and increasing tension.

"Fuck, it was close, Kjell! You risked getting us all killed!" Orvar gasped, continuing to look behind them, fearing that someone from the enemy Clan was following them.

"What?! Don't say shit, Orvar! It's only because of me that the mission was successful! If I hadn't risked saying that Dag is here and possesses the weapon they're looking for, we would have been forced to flee without a concrete answer and the plan would have gone up in smoke! I just used our ace in the hole at the right time!" he replied, explaining his choices, confident that he had made the right decision.

"That's true, but I sweated cold, fuck! You saw how many warriors were in there! Just at the entrance, there were more than thirty of them, I dare not imagine how many there are in the rest of Tungvek, which is a huge city!" Orvar replied. 

"Master Kjell, I have only one perplexity..." Terje interrupted, implicitly asking permission to speak.

Kjell nodded his head, giving him permission. 

"Kranus has managed to understand that Orvar belongs to the Hunters Of Ullr, perhaps looking at his equipment or I don't know how... now, surely he's aware that the rest of the hunters live in Fort Hvit, right?" 

"Yes, right. So what? I still can't figure out what's bothering you so much."

"And so, associating one of the warriors who lives at Fort Hvit with us and Master Dag, Kranus has definitely understood that our Warchief is there, that's why he didn't insist on knowing his location!" Terje continued, trying to warn the other two.

"Don't worry, boy. All these years, if the Giants Of Ymir wanted to take over the Fort, they would have done it already, believe me. We couldn't do anything against such a large army. They never had a reason to attack us, because we have always been peaceful and solitary, we never bothered anyone! Only the wolves of the Claws Of Fenrir attacked us repeatedly, without ever succeeding" Orvar said, who heard himself called.

"They didn't have a good reason to attack you... until now. Things are different right now because they know that the thing they wish to have more in the world is a few miles away from their main city!" Terje said again, raising the tone of his voice, to give further importance to his words.

"The official meeting with Dag will be tomorrow morning. Are you saying they won't wait that long? Could they attack us tonight without our knowledge?" Kjell asked, who finally understood the Hammers Of Thor soldier's speech.

"I think so, Master. I sincerely hope that this does not happen, but... I think we should do the shifts tonight... I wouldn't trust the word of a man who can kill one of his soldiers without even looking him in the face, just because he dared to speak without his permission.

Kjell and Orvar, after Terje's careful observation, looked at each other for a few seconds, admitting that they had not considered this important detail and realizing that perhaps, confirming to Kranus that Dag was in Krypstorm had not been a smart move, even if the commander of the ice giants had already guessed it.

"We absolutely have to explain to Dag and the other Masters what happened. I'm sure after a confrontation between us, we'll figure out what to do. We only have to be careful one night" Kjell concluded, slightly urging his horse, who, after resting during the speech, could speed up the pace.

...

"We haven't had sex in the trees since you left Jernhest, Dag... do you remember?" Freydis asked, hugging her man while they were both on horseback.