Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

"Perhaps the mistake was letting me go with them, Dag. If I hadn't been there, Kranus would never have understood that we are all connected to this place and now our soldiers would not be in danger" Orvar sighed, reflecting on what had happened because of him.

"Orvar, if you hadn't gone with them, they probably would have taken twice the time to find the right path to follow. Anyway, none of us are in danger, you'll see. We just have to be careful tonight... even though their army is huge, we have nothing to fear if we stay in here. The walls of Fort Hvit are more resilient than you think, and we have faced far stronger enemies than the Jotunns in the past" Dag continued, reassuring the archer, who continued to look at him with a sorry air.

"When the darkness begins to fall on us, we will organize control groups, which in turn will position themselves on the four observation towers and alert everyone in case of suspicious sightings. With a little organization, we can rest without worries. Besides, if Kranus really is as smart as you say, I doubt he's going to underestimate our strength. Trying to steal the axe by force would not be a wise move, considering that we allowed him to have a peaceful confrontation with our leader" Egill added, who, with his wisdom, explained to all the strengths of their strategic position.

"You couldn't be clearer than that, Egill. As usual, you managed to calm everyone down" Sander smiled, who took advantage of the talk among his colleagues to drink wine, in the absence of mead. 

After Dag officially congratulated Kjell and his team for completing the mission without a hitch, he began to think nonstop about his upcoming meeting with the Clan leader who wished to see him dead. 

"As I said, the meeting place will be the Serpent Mountain, which should not be so far from here. I told Kranus that you're going to be traveling with two of your men and that he can do the same. Do you already have any idea which of us will are the best suited to come with you?" Kjell asked, trying to make the action plan clear. 

"Yes. I've been thinking about this from the very first moment I proposed it to you. Then, surely none of you three will be my choice, because you are entitled to rest, having just returned from a dangerous mission" Dag began, excluding Kjell, Orvar, and Terje, who would be more useful to the Fort. 

The three named warriors nodded to their Warchief, pleased with his decision.

"Being a diplomatic meeting, during which I hope that it will not be necessary to resort to arms, I would like Master Egill to join me. His wisdom will be of great help to me, if Kranus puts me in trouble because he can predict the intentions of others without even noticing it... he has a… gift" Dag continued, who took advantage of everyone's moment of attention to praise his former Master and lighten the tension. 

Egill smiled and bowed his head slightly, proudly accepting the unexpected invitation, believing he would not be Dag's first choice. 

"And then, in addition to him, I will take advantage of the presence of one of the wisest friends I have ever had, whose advice has helped me in the most difficult situations and whose looks can communicate more than a thousand words. Reidar, will you join us?" 

After his words, all those who were seated around the table turned to the archer, who caught off guard, dropped on the table the knife with which he was peeling an apple, looking at Dag and everyone else with a confused look. 

"Wait for a second... what? I? Are you sure, Captain? I'm just a simple soldier, there are some of Okstorm's strongest Masters to choose from..." he stammered, not being prepared for that request. 

"I asked you a question, 'simple soldier'. Will you accompany me and Master Egill to the meeting with Kranus?" Dag chuckled, who had thought carefully about that choice. 

Reidar returned serious and looked into his captain's eyes, realizing that for him, this had been a thoughtful and difficult choice, having had so many strong warriors at his disposal. 

"Of course, Captain. It will be an honor to come with you."

Dag and Reidar continued to look at each other and smile for a bunch of seconds, empathizing with their mood. 

"Perfect, that's what I wanted to hear. I guess a lot of you are now wondering what I'm going to propose to the Giants Of Ymir, aren't you?" Dag asked, standing up in front of the table and looking one at a time at all his teammates. 

They remained silent, hanging from his lips. 

"I will ask Kranus if they want to become our allies."

"What?!"

"Uh?!"

"Ah?! Did I hear you right?!" 

All those present, except for Egill, Reidar, Terje, and Kjell, could not hold back the astonishment, believing that that was nonsense. 

Sander was so surprised by that statement that he spat on the ground the wine he was drinking. 

"Boy! Have you lost your mind?! Did you really say you're going to ask those dirty Jotunns to join the Iron Alliance?!" the Master Of Defense asked, unable to believe his own words. 

"No, I didn't say that. I don't trust them either, so I would never permit them to interact so much with our soldiers, our resources, and our territories. But think about it... if we declared war on the ice giants, as they did with us, we would all die in a matter of days. Their army is too big and knowing our location, they could attack us over and over, until they break our defenses and crush us like flies" Dag said, who despite the detailed reasoning, failed to convince his audience. 

"But you're the one who ordered us to give this information to Kranus! If we had stayed here safe, he wouldn't have known anything!" Orvar exclaimed, frightened of what might have happened.