Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

"Archers! Leave your bows on the ground. I want the deal to be respected!" Kranus ordered aloud. 

The warriors at the bottom of the line, next to the man who played the drum for the rhythm of the march, left their bows on the ground, as ordered by their Commander.

The Lies Of Loki warrior loosened his grip on Kron, but he still could not move, being the blade in close contact with his throat.

"I am a man of my word. We have a deal... none of my men will hurt you when you'll run away. You are free to go..." the ice mage continued, crossing his arms.

The enemy soldier kept sweating cold and looked around, breathing deeply and hesitating, as if he was about to jump off a cliff.

"Go, I said! Run away before I change my mind!" Kranus yelled, making everyone realize that his patience had almost reached its limit.

Not expecting such an exaggerated reaction, the warrior jumped of fright and pushed Kron forward, causing him to fall with his face into the snow, near Atran's feet, which promptly rescued him, despite his damaged arm.

Soon after that sudden gesture, he turned back and began to run, disappearing into a cloud of black smoke, but leaving his traces in the snow, which became more and more distant.

"Sir...?" Gunnar asked, waiting for Kranus to order his archers to fire.

"Let him go... he will not be able to arrive in time for..."

Shortly before Kranus finished speaking, an elongated, pointed object flew over their heads, leaving a luminous trail in the sky and followed by another similar one.

After darting over them and making a parabolic trajectory, both of the bright objects, as if they were two lightning bolts, hit the body of the fleeing soldier, piercing his leg and then his chest, leaving him dead on the ground.

All the soldiers who witnessed the scene immediately turned backward, trying to figure out where those strange golden bodies that looked like shooting stars came from.

Dag and the others did the same: in the distance, more than 200 meters from their position, a man on horseback was barely visible.

Being very far away and due to the morning wind that raised a moderate amount of snow from the ground, not even Dag was able to guess his identity.

"What the hell is going on today? Who are all these unknown men?" Wrage asked, who, in the meanwhile, had got off his horse to help Kron and Atran.

"I recognize those arrows... it is not possible..." Dag whispered, drawing Freydis' attention, who turned to him suddenly.

While the Masters took care of checking Atran's health, which was so exhausted that he couldn't even get on horseback, the man in the distance began to approach slowly.

"Do you know that man, Dag?" Kranus asked, who after seeing the death of one of his enemies before his eyes, sensed that the person who had killed him from that distance was an ally.

"I think so... but I'm not sure he's who I think... it wouldn't make sense..." the young Master replied, while the soldiers in front of him walked towards the enemy's corpse to return his equipment to the real General Atran.

"Commander... I humbly apologize if I allowed an enemy soldier to sneak secretly among our people. I deserve to be punished by death... I went all this way in the hope that you could give me this punishment" Atran confessed, approaching Kranus's horse and kneeling before him, looking towards the ground.

"Don't say nonsense... Atran. I'm glad you managed to get back safely. There is some important news that you need to know... Kron! Explain to your colleague why our army is marching west" Kranus coolly replied, but looked at his general with happy eyes, being really pleased to see him.

However, his attention was drawn to the man on horseback who was approaching his soldiers.

While Atran continued to marvel at being re-accepted among his people and fondly embraced his friend Kron, who had thought he would never see him again, the man on horseback continued to approach and the wind subsided, allowing Dag and others to look at him better.

A battered horse moved out of their direction, following in the footsteps the soldiers had imprinted in the fresh snow during their march.

The man was fully covered with a cape complete with a hood, made of thick fur that appeared to belong to a bear.

Behind him, a kind of leather case, consisting of several pieces wrapped together, clearly hid a longbow.

Dag, without thinking twice, spurred his horse, which began to move forward, separating from the others.

"Dag! Where are you going?" Freydis asked, who tried not to worry too much, knowing that her boyfriend knew how to behave on those occasions.

He pulled the horse's bridles and the steed stopped, biting the mouthpiece with his pronounced teeth and venting from his large nostrils.

"Is that really you?" the young Master asked, with the draft of a smile drawn on his face, knowing that that man's true identity could disappoint his expectations.

The knight raised both of his hands and grabbed the hood of his cloak, lifting it and uncovering his head.

His long black hair was neatly tied back and the beard on his face was well-groomed, bordered by an elegant pointed goatee under his chin and two thin mustaches, which gave that young boy a more adult look.

"Hello, Captain..." he said, smiling and looking at Dag with shiny eyes as if he was looking at his own brother.

"Reidar! What are you doing here?! I would have sworn that those two arrows were created by the Failnaught! I recognize them by heart!" the young Master exclaimed, who was so pleased to see one of his most faithful friends, that he almost started crying with emotion.

"I couldn't let you continue alone, Captain. My destiny is by your side, always. Freydis..."