Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

*gasp*

Kranus could not hold a deep breath, which also shook Freydis, who tried to ride looking at the neck of her horse and dodging the corpses in the snow, followed by Dag, who closed the row and occasionally peered upwards, perceiving someone on top of the rocky walls a few meters high, which lined the road on which they were riding.

"Keep your head down and avoid obstacles. The enemies are watching us" he said again, knowing that at that distance, despite their developed hearing, the wolves would not be able to hear his words.

Trusting the young Master's senses, the members of the exploration team followed his advice, noting that among the bones of all those corpses, large arrows were embedded, which made them understand that they were in the range of enemy archers, hiding who knows where above those mountains, which constituted a real natural shelter.

"Don't mind the arrows, keep walking. The archers are certainly above us, but as long as we are with our arms raised, they will not load their bows" Dag kept on talking, who sensed other indistinct voices coming from the same direction.

Finally, after about 15 minutes spent walking among the corpses immersed in snow and fog, the rocky wall to their right ended, becoming the base of the mountain and next to it, a kind of wooden gate appeared, consisting of many beams pointed at the top, juxtaposed one next to the other.

In addition to the wooden construction, figures could be seen in the fog and as soon as they noticed the presence of Dag and his companions, some of them screamed:

"Who's there?! Stop where you are, don't go any further!" 

Immediately, Kranus was the first to stop, followed by the rest of the team.

One of the figures in front of them began to walk in their direction, emitting a metallic noise, caused by his armor and his weapons moving with him during the walk.

"There are five or six men... I can't feel it exactly... but they're all armed. Behind the gate, there are two more of them" Dag whispered, who after hearing that voice, closed his eyes and focused on all the sounds behind him, to take stock of the situation.

While Kron and Atran marveled at his companion's animal-like senses, which were unparalleled to theirs, who, though sharp, had not perceived other men in the distance, the warrior who had spoken just a few seconds before was revealed.

He was a man of medium height and quite robust, who wore a fairly wide leather armor at the top as if it was not of his size. 

A simple soldier helmet completely covered his head and in addition to it, a thick fur wrapped his neck, leaving only his eyes uncovered to protect him from the cold, having to stay outside to guard that door for who knows how many hours a day.

"Greetings, guard. We're a diplomatic delegation from Giants Of Ymir. We came from Tungvek for a peaceful confrontation with your leaders" Kranus said, his arms pointing upwards and his gaze down, showing respect to the unknown one, as his white beard dangled down, moved by the cold wind.

"Eh?! Giants Of Ymir?! How dare you set foot on our land?! Archers!" the guard yelled, raising his arm towards the mountain wall just behind them and drawing the attention of his men hidden in the shadows.

As dozens of archers popped out from small caves along the rock face and began to watch the group of explorers, two other guards reached their colleague, intent on peering at Kranus and the others.

"Please, we came all the way here with our hands up... we are showing you due respect, do the same with us. We have no bad intentions, we just want to talk" Kranus continued, without crossing his eyes with the guards, one of whom approached his horse.

"And what would you say to our leaders? I'm listening..." 

While Kranus reflected on the best way to explain their real intentions to those irascible men, Dag spurred his horse by hitting him with the heel of his foot and make him advance at a slow pace. 

"Dag! What the fuck are you doing?! Come back! Hey!" Freydis whispered, who without lowering her arms tried to dissuade her man from what he was about to do.

As soon as they saw a hooded man advancing on his horse towards the guards, some of the archers loaded their bows, beginning to aim at Dag's head, which noticed was in their range.

"Stop there, don't move! If you take another step my archers will make you a colander!" one of the guards yelled again, raising his hand towards Dag and ordering him to block his advance.

Dag obeyed and looked up at the three unknown men, showing his face barely visible under his hood.

"We must make them an offer that they will not refuse. It's about the destiny of the city of Klorr, your homeland" the young Master said, in a decisive tone.

"Klorr?! And what does that have to do with our capital?! Lies Of Loki occupied it years ago, forcing us to take refuge in this dump! I don't know what you want..." the first guard said, reflecting on Dag's words.

"I think they're just trying to trick us, let's not let them through" one of his colleagues added, looking at Dag's face and not trusting him.

"If we had bad intentions, we would not have come here in five, but we would have brought our entire army. As proof of our consistency, we also drove out all our warriors who were near the Ice Gorge and also those on the other side, southwest of the Massif" Kron added, believing that this was the exact time to give that news.

"Is that the truth?" the first guard asked his comrades, who behind him began to chat in a low voice. 

One of them, not knowing the answer to that question, walked back to the door he guarded and asked the other guards for confirmation.