Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Chapter 383: CCCLXXXIII. The Scratch

"Twenty-four... fuck it..." Dag replied, reflecting on the fact that after so short time, the number of their soldiers had already almost halved, only because of Kjell's stupidity, that if he had listened to him, he would have avoided that unnecessary bloodshed.

"You know it's not your fault, Dag... it's only thanks to your intervention that we're still alive, never forget it. After this negative experience, you will see that the soldiers will only carry out the orders of their Warchief yours" Karl continued, trying to explain to his friend that everything that had happened could also be interpreted with optimism.

*scratch*scratch*

"Uhm? What is this noise?" Karl asked, heading to the front door of that small room in one of the village's remaining stone dwellings.

As soon as he opened, he discovered with amazement that it was Thalos, who with his claws was scratching on the wooden door as if he wanted to knock politely.

"Hey, Thalos! How are you, buddy?" Dag asked, smiling at his gray wolf, who suddenly came in and scared Karl, who wasn't very practical about animals, especially of that size. 

Dag stretched out his arm down, leaning slightly out of the stone bed, and the wolf, when he was close enough, began to lick his hand and wounds, emitting a crying-like groan, realizing that his master was not well.

Gridd and Freydis also came in from the semi-open door, and when they saw Dag interacting with Thalos, they calmed down and smiled, glad he was fine even after Egill had removed the rock fragment from his eye.

Karl closed the door, while the rest of the warriors scattered between that house and the other one spied inside the room to ensure the physical condition of their Warchief.

"Brother, how do you feel?" Gridd asked, approaching Dag and gently touching his left leg, in better condition than the right, which was covered in bandages from which poured the blood of the wounds still open.

"What do you think?" he chuckled, trying to ironize about his almost vegetative state, to lift everyone's morale.

"Before you ask, know that they are all well. The warehouse was destroyed, but most of the soldiers still managed to put food in their bags. In that regard, I brought you some water and something to eat."

Dag grabbed the leather water bottle in Gridd's hands and with her help, raised his head and drank a sip of water, which quenched his dehydrated body.

"Terje and Runa, two soldiers of your Clan, are checking the condition of the other soldiers along with Reidar. In addition to being two formidable warriors, they seem to be very close to the rest of the troops... you'll be pleased to know that they talk about you with pride, painting you as a wise and powerful leader even to those who don't know you so well" Freydis said, joining the conversation.

"How long have I been unconscious?" he asked, scratching his head, dirty with earth and dust.

"Just a few hours. You need to get some more rest, Dag... when you'll feel better, we'll get back on track" she continued, stroking his face.

Among the cuddles of his girlfriend and sister, who made him feel better, Dag sighed and added: "The wolves... I couldn't kill them all. A dozen units of their herd are back inside their underground lair. When the forces flow back into my body, we're going to find them... and we'll annihilate them all. 

In Dag's tone of voice, his companions noticed an unusual streak of hatred.

"Don't you think it's better to continue north? We are still close to the coast, the exploration will take a long time..." Karl answered, who did not expect those words.

"If we continue to travel north without first looking after them, we risk suffering another surprise attack and losing many of our soldiers. No, we're going to go into that underground cavity and kill them all. They will suffer the way we have suffered" Dag continued, in a justily intolerant tone.

"I agree with my brother. So far, his instincts have always allowed us to win battles and solve difficult situations. We will do as he says" Gridd confirmed, before leaving the room again to check the status of her Clan's warriors.

Dag began to look at the ceiling again, while Freydis and Karl discussed the details of what had happened, the battle and the new enemies, wondering what they looked like in their human forms.

He could not take the image of Magni out of his mind, who once again came to his rescue in the spirit form and mentioned his parents for the second time, of whom he did not yet know anything.

"We'll call him Dag... are my father's words. Why did you abandon me and my mother on Earth, father? You knew what I was going to fet through! You didn't want to cause me suffering and make me live a whole life forced to flee, but leaving me on that dying planet you did much worse, making my existence be like hell, as well as that of all the other children who like me were forced to undergo the Temporum and travel between the planets. Why, father?" Dag thought, who somehow, during the last phase of his powerful attack, had managed to remember the voices of his parents, extracting them from some old drawer of the archive of his subconscious.

"So, Dag? What do you think?" 

"Uhm? What? What are you talking about?" 

"But are you deaf? We're assuming that the peasants we killed in the village belonged to the Claws Of Fenrir!" Freydis replied, astonished that Dag had not heard a single word of her conversation with Karl.

"Mmh... I'm not sure about it. If they were from their Clan, why did they live on the surface? I didn't think I saw any symbols or monuments depicting the great wolf Fenrir, so I assume it's unlikely that those traders belonged to the Claws Of Fenrir. Anyway, there was definitely a connection between this place and that Clan" he continued, focusing on the words of his companions, taking an interest in their speech.