Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Chapter 414: CDXIV. The Big Shadow

"And what about your Masters? They couldn't defend the base and the village? I understand the citizens, who died because they were helpless, but the Masters and the warriors should have resisted the attack!" Kjell interrupted, expressing his personal thoughts, imagining the epilogue of the story.

"It wasn't that easy. At first, my friend and I, hiding behind a little wall among trees, saw our Masters and their best students killing dozens of werewolves. The town had suffered considerable losses, but the situation seemed almost resolved, and all the younger recruits who were unable to fight against those enemies, joined me and my friend, hiding in our own place. But at a certain point, he came... a gigantic shadow came through the breach that the enemies had managed to dig into the walls and fast as a dark lightning bolt, seized two of our Masters and killed them, cutting off their heads with his canines and devouring the rest of the body in one bite..." 

While Dag and his companions shuddered as they heard that story, one of the archers approached Orvar, resting his hand on his shoulder. 

He was a grown man, perhaps his peer, in his fifties.

Looking at his friend's sad expression, Orvar remained silent a few seconds later, before continuing.

"After also killing the third Master, Layrus began with the soldiers, then with the citizens, while the other werewolves raided and sowed panic, destroying everything in their path, even entire buildings, as if basking in that damn chaos, during what was a silent spring night. After that event, Kogr was razed to the ground and its inhabitants exterminated. Taking advantage of the noise and the screams, I managed to escape and lead to safety the other young warriors, who, like me, had seen death with their own eyes. Knowing that we no longer had any family, no place to live, we walked for days and..."

Orvar failed to continue the story and put a hand on his face, beginning to cry and turning back so as not to show his weakness at everybody.

"The friend who was out with him that night was me. My name is Skaldr, nice to meet you. Excuse Orvar, but the pain that afflicts his heart is greater than anything. As he was saying, thanks to our ability to use the bow, we had no difficulty in getting food, hunting in the woods west of here, now completely snowy. But hypothermia was going to kill us, and every night we spent sleeping sheltered in some damp cave could be the last. One day we took courage and went back to find a place where we could hide for good, so we found this fort, which was an old Giants Of Ymir outpost, abandoned for many years" the archer next to him said, explaining to Dag and the others the rest of the story.

"I am very sorry for what happened to your people. Did you have a library? I mean... the scrolls you used to learn your Clan's unique abilities... have you managed to save them?" Dag asked, who thought before anybody else about this detail that would also make him understand the level of combat of the warriors in front of him.

"We had a library, yes. But it was destroyed and all our archives were lost forever. Only Orvar knows two of our Clan's abilities, and during these years, he has spent his time teaching them, to resist the sieges by the Claws Of Fenrir, who after discovering that we are hidden here, have tried several times to assault Fort Hvit, which we renamed so because of the color of its walls, which despite the adverse weather conditions remained snow-white" Skaldr said, the deputy leader of the Hunters Of Ullr.

"And Layrus? He never came back to visit you?" Egill asked, trying to understand more about their current situation, noting that despite knowing each other for a few minutes, the survivors of that Clan had not hesitated to tell them the whole truth.

"Over the last few years, the relationship between Giants Of Ymir and Claws Of Fenrir has deteriorated and the wolves have no longer paid attention to us, focusing on fighting far more fearsome and numerous enemies, the Jotunns. The great black wolf, Layrus, remained inside the cave that you crossed to get here, which was one of the outposts of their Clan. He is said to have slept for almost ten years, waiting to face an enemy worthy of his ferocity" Orvar exclaimed, who had recovered from the sadness that had assailed him moments earlier.

"He has obviously aged during his sleep because our Warchief has eliminated him without any difficulty. As you may have noticed when you tried to hit him with an arrow, Master Dag possesses powers that go far beyond your comprehension. I believe that if you became our allies, it would be a fortune for you" Gridd interrupted, daring to speak in a more harsh tone, certain that, taking advantage of that moment of weakness, she could impose their supremacy on the 8 warriors who guarded the fort.

Dag looked at his sister, fearing that her move had been too risky, and soon after turned to look at Orvar and Skaldr, who looked at each other, reflecting on those strong words.

"Yes, I believe that at such a difficult time for our Clan, the best thing would be to have allies. Believe me, Layrus was the biggest threat. Now that he's been killed, we can reset our plans and think about reorganizing our Clan" Skaldr said, who without waiting for his chieftain's permission, tried to exploit that offer of peace, which would bring them obvious benefits, even considering their numerical inferiority.

"Wait a minute, Skaldr... Dag, your powers... I've never seen anything like it, not even from the most powerful sorcerers in the far north, experts in the occult arts... where do they come from?" Orvar asked, who wanted to clarify a few points before continuing the friendly talk.