Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Many meters before, however, at the end of the path that walked straight through the whole area, branching out to the various encampments, there was a gigantic mountain, much more similar to a shield volcano for its wide cone shape.

Two huge columns made of the same stone as the mountain had been excavated on it, reaching more than 40 meters in height, as a result of tens of years of constant work.

Above them, another important element had been obtained from the rock, namely a large horizontal beam with decorations along its surface.

In the lower part, on the other hand, in correspondence with the fake support floor of the two imposing columns, which were instead part of the mountain, a wide staircase led down, inside a cave with high vaults that followed the morphology of that colossal architectural work. 

"I've never seen anything like that" Dag said, not finding the exact words to describe what his eyes were admiring. 

"None of us ever imagined that all this stuff was in here... the one carved into the rock must be the entrance of their city... it's not easy to guess it standing still here, we have to get closer" Kranus replied, trying not to be slowed down by that unexpected vision.

Cautiously, accosting themselves in a neat row, with Dag and Kranus ahead, Freydis in the middle and Atran and Kron closing the line, the exploration team continued along the main path leading to the palace.

All of them noticed, however, that at that moment no one else was walking on the same path, thus inferring that they would surely give in the eye. 

Just when everyone was sure that someone would stop them sooner or later, a voice caught their attention.

"Heeey! Where do you think you're going?!" a warrior yelled, watching them pass undisturbed from his camp, surrounded by his comrades.

"The guards let us through! We're headed over there, we have to deliver an important message to your leaders" Kranus replied, yelling to make himself heard and not paying attention to the fact that his voice would attract even more looks.

The warrior, who was walking with the other men on the road that connected the main path with his settlement, suddenly began to walk towards them with a menacing air.

When he moved his arm towards his companions, Dag was able to hear his words and clearly hear: "come on, guys! Let's have some fun, you can see they're foreigners! They don't even know where they are!"

"Stay behind me and Kranus... these men have no good intentions" Dag told his teammates, standing next to the Giants Of Ymir's Commander and ordering them not to meddle.

"So... what do we have here? An old man, a kid and some other awesome people... who let you through?" the warrior continued, slightly lower than average and of a fairly slender constitution, also dressed in armor slightly wider than his size and without a helmet, with short black hair and scars on his head.

"The guards decided to let us through, after realizing we do not pose any threat to you. I don't know the name of the man who decided it, but you can go and ask if you don't believe my words" Kranus replied, somewhat naively, not immediately realizing that that was just an elementary way to pick a fight.

"Hahaha! Did you guys hear that? We can go ask! Hahaha!" the warrior laughed, turning to his companions and ironizing on that phrase.

"I like your horse, old man... I think I'll borrow it for a while, what do you say?" he continued, looking at Kranus's majestic white horse with a malignant smile printed on his face.

"I'm sorry, but I can't give it to you... Iron obeys only at my commands, it would be useless in your hands" the ice mage replied, slowly stroking the neck of his steed, who remained motionless and quiet.

"Then it means I'll turn it into steaks for my men! Hahah! Come on old man, get down..." the unknown warrior said again, extending a hand towards him, asking for Iron's bridles.

"I told you I can't. I'm very sorry, but we urgently need to reach out to your leaders to deliver a message to them." 

As Kranus spoke, Dag activated his reconnaissance skill, Niva.

A faint yellowish aura surrounded the body of the warrior who was being a bully, who was the strongest of his companions.

"They are not a great threat, they are very weak. I'm sure Freydis alone could knock them down... but in any case, we cannot risk starting a fight, otherwise, we would also be alerting the warriors of the other outposts, a few hundred meters from here. Kranus will never deliver his horse... what do we do now?" Dag thought, who, reflecting on how to get out of that uncomfortable situation, did not know how to behave.

"And I said you have to get off your horse now, old man... or do you prefer to taste the steel of my blades?" the warrior said once again, resting a hand on his sword, while the men behind him made the same gesture, trying to intimidate Kranus and everyone else.

"Let's do something... I will leave you 3 gold coins as if your camp is a checkpoint... and after we're done with our diplomatic mission, I'll give you another 3… per person!" the ice mage exclaimed, making the men in front of him guess that he had a lot of money with him.

"3 coins each? Uhuhuh! It means you have a lot of money, you smart old man! Hhahaha! This is our lucky day, guys! Money at will and tonight horse meat for dinner! Take the old man!" the warrior replied, ordering his men to steal the money by force and seize the horse.

"Fuck, Kranus! What did you do?!" Dag thought, who in a matter of seconds would have to finish the fight, so as not to risk disastrous consequences.