Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Chapter 397: CCCXCVII. The Wounded Man

"I... I... I can't breathe well... here... here..." the man continued, unable to complete a whole full meaning sentence and pressing with his hand on the wound, which from the center of the stomach reached up to the chest.

Gridd gently grabbed his brother's arm, to avoid scaring him and slowly pulled him back, suggesting to lower his weapon, because there would be no need to use it.

"Who reduced you like that?" Dag asked, convinced that, with a little effort, the man would be able to give them some useful information about the Claws Of Fenrir.

"Wolves... those wolves... argh!" 

"Wait, you're telling me... that you're not one of them?!"

The man shook his head, responding negatively to Dag's question, who did not expect such news and looked at Gridd, not knowing how to react.

"And you... who are you?... what are you doing in this hellish place?" he asked.

"It's not up to you to ask questions, you don't need to know who we are. What Clan do you belong to and why are you here alone? Are there any other men with you? How many are there and how many are the wolves on the other side of the tunnel?" Dag asked, pointing the Giantbane back at the neck of the wounded man, who swallowed empty, continuing to sweat from his forehead, despite being bare-chested in that cave characterized by very cold temperatures.

"Calm down, boy... how many questions... you don't see that I'm... urgh... dying?... cough! My men and I went down here across the tunnel... our village is a few kilometers away from the inlet in the ground that leads here..." 

"What?! Are you saying the tunnel has another exit?!" 

"Yes, near the village where I come from... anyway, my 15 men are all dead, I'm the only one who managed to... to survive... more or less..." 

"How did this happen?" Gridd asked, intrigued by that tale shrouded in an aura of mystery, which being told so slowly because of man's poor health, was made even more gloomy and mysterious.

"We came down here to kill those sons of bitches... who in a single month have ransacked our settlements... killed our women, children... our cattle... it was never possible to have a confrontation with them, so we went down to face them... but we didn't make it... they've outdone us in number and fighting skills... my troops weren't prepared for such strong enemies ... I was wrong... I did a mistake" 

As he continued to speak, the man slightly hung his head, risking to lose his senses, but he immediately brought it back when in contact with the Giantbane blade, which Dag placed under his cheek, to prevent him from falling asleep.

"You're not done yet. You will die when I'll give you permission to die! Now talk, go on!" Dag exclaimed, asserting his physical advantage.

"I would have died too... if it wasn't for the sound of a bell... I don't know where it came from... maybe on the other side... when it was rung, the wolves started running and... they ran off at great speed in that direction... so I hid and when they came back, they didn't find me... I waited for the right moment to... to..." 

The man stopped again, but this time his gaze was alert and fixed on a particular object.

One of the drops of blood from the wound on his forehead had fallen on the blade of the Giantbane when Dag had placed it under her face to prevent him from fainting.

The same drop, after slipping on the handle, reached the outer part of the blade, which immediately became incandescent, activating the divine power of the weapon.

"The right time for what?! What were you saying?!" Dag said again, demanding his interlocutor to complete the story.

"That... that's... that's not possible... you are the earthling!" he exclaimed, using the few energies left in his body to raise his voice and open his eyes wide, looking at Dag in a strange, terrifying way. 

The man's wide, blood-filled eyes made him shudder for a few seconds.

"How do you know him?! How do you know my brother?! Which Clan are you part of? Answer the questions!" Gridd interrupted, approaching him and kicking him in the leg, causing him a lot of pain because of the large wound on his belly and making him shake in agony.

"What... what did you say?" Dag asked, in a calm tone, not believing what he had just heard, trying to reason rationally.

"Your weapon... you own the Crystal of Fire... you... you destroyed an entire fleet of my Clan..." the man continued, catching his breath to speak.

As soon as he heard these words, the Giantbane's blade was placed on the man's neck, who tried in vain to back down, having the tunnel wall right behind his shoulders.

"Dag, what are you doing?! Wait, let him talk!" Gridd said, avoiding touching his brother and angering him further, believing that killing the man would not be a wise choice in those circumstances.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't cut your throat right now!" Dag yelled in the man's face, partially burning the skin of his neck with the flaming blade.

"Do you want to explain to me what's going on?! Crystal of Fire... Clan fleet... who the hell is this guy?!" Gridd continued, who couldn't understand what was going on.

"He's one of the Giants Of Ymir! It refers to when I exterminated the fleet that attacked the shores of Runar!" Dag replied, clearly describing the situation to his speechless sister.

"How did you do it...?" the man asked, with a thread of voice and now resigned to death.

"To do what?!" 

"To claim it... where did you find the Crystal of Fire?..." 

'It's a long story and it doesn't concern you at all... why did you want it at all costs? You tried to steal it from me during that battle, don't think I forgot this detail!"