Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

"It seemed that you cared a lot about him... a second before you wanted to spare his life, a second later you killed him without even giving him time to talk. It was a mistake, Atran. We could have extorted more information from him" Dag added, looking at the head of Outpost 1 with a serious look, making it clear to him and the others that what had just happened was nothing positive.

"What could I do? We were supposed to leave a Lies Of Loki impostor alive after finding out he's been with us for who knows how long?! I wonder what he made of the real Ned's body... he must have killed and buried him somewhere, who knows where... poor boy. Despite his very low social rank, we were friends" Atran replied, justifying his impulsive gesture angrily.

"Dag is right... you shouldn't have killed him. Now we will never know if he has accomplices and if one of them has already reported any important information to their bosses. You must stop being so impulsive, Atran!" Kranus yelled, taking the floor with arrogance and scolding his general as if he was one of his students.

"At least we know he hadn't been here for a long time..." Kron intervened, who was sitting at the table with his arms folded, thoughtful as usual.

"Uhm?" 

Both Atran and Kranus turned to him, not understanding what he was referring to.

"I thought so too, Kron. If Ned was with Atran at the Outpost 1, it means he just arrived in Tungvek recently and did not have the time to investigate the Clan's most crucial information" Dag interrupted, who was the only one who understood the Outpost 2 chief's speech.

"Mh... that's true. So do you think the Outposts, unlike the capital, are more susceptible to such sneaky attacks? In fact, I didn't think about it" Kranus thought out loud, touching his long white beard.

"You've never had contact with Lies Of Loki since you were in Tungvek, right?" Dag asked, adding the last missing pieces to his theory.

"No. We created the Outposts precisely to fight against the enemy Clans without dirtying the capital, which as you will surely have noticed, is the home of many innocent families, who have nothing to do with the political issues that revolve around these lands" Kranus replied, convinced of his words.

"So this decreases the probability that there are enemy spies among your men. The most vulnerable are the Outposts warriors, we need to control them more than the others. If any undercover members of Lies Of Loki were hidden among Tungvek's warriors, it means that they have been here for a long time, so the recruits are also excluded" Dag continued, who reasoned aloud, excluding the idea that he had just before, on the return journey from the Randt Mastiff.

"Damn it, I don't understand anything anymore!" Atran exclaimed, touching his forehead and forcefully pulling the dagger out of the impostor's head, as blood continued to flow on the stone floor of the room, expanding more and more into a thick, red spot.

"So… the real problem is the Claws Of Fenrir " Kron interrupted again, entering the conversation without warning.

"What do you mean?" Dag asked.

"I doubt Bloodfang is thinking about all these details... the really vulnerable ones are theirs. Geographically they are also much closer to the Lies Of Loki and their many small settlements, scattered in dozens of caves on the lands of Krypstorm, amplify the chances of enemy spies infiltrating their wolf warriors. Thyrius should also do a check, a werewolves transformation test... warriors who fail to transform could be warriors of another Clan, it's quite simple." 

"In fact, all the soldiers scattered in Krypstorm will surely return inside the Randt Mastiff every now and then... and with them, impostors could also enter the Rock Prison and steal important information, and then distribute it to their Clan once they return back to their outposts! Fuck, I didn't think about it! Imagine the scene: a Lies Of Loki soldier steals the appearance of one of the Claws Of Fenrir and from one of their outposts, travels to the Randt Mastiff. Once there, he enters the Rock Prison, convinces a Clan guards to tell him about the latest events, and then, undisturbed, returns to the cave from which he came and from which he can very easily reach Klorr or Dolken, the cities of his real Clan" Dag explained, making a trivial example to make his hypothesis clear to the other two of them.

"Fuck, their distribution network would be a real danger to our alliance... our two armies cannot counter that of the Lies Of Loki, not if their men are all in the same place!" Atran exclaimed when he finally understood the speech.

"Hey, calm your tempers. Unfortunately, there's not much we can do right now, other than waiting for Bloodfang's men and trusting that he has tested his warriors and identified possible spies. We shall do the same in the meantime, starting tomorrow morning. It's the only solution we have" Kranus said, bringing order back into the conversation, which was starting to get too confusing.

As the three Giants Of Ymir continued to discuss the recently discovered facts, Dag continued to stare at the man lying on the ground, looking at his face full of pain and enjoying that scene.

"These sons of bitches killed my father and many innocent people without thinking twice! I will avenge your name, Stein, I will never forget what they did to you! I'm going to cut Hackon's throat and return it to the earth, no matter the cost!" Dag thought, clenching his fists and taking a deep breath, holding back all the hatred he was ready to unleash against his real enemies, the warriors devoted to Loki, the trickster God.

"Gentlemen... I'll go back to my house, Freydis is waiting for me and Claire may need more care. See you tomorrow morning in the arena, I'm interested in finishing the talk with you. Have a good night" he exclaimed, interrupting the fiery speech and making others realize that he had a day too busy to stay awake at that time of night.