Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Chapter 442: CDXLII. Your Fame

"I accept" he replied, coldly, stretching his arm toward Dag, inclined to shake his hand.

"Well, you made the right choice. Now, there are a few things you need to tell me about the Crystal of Fire. I'm going to take you to your city and in a safe place, we'll discuss what to do, since we're both at war with the Claws of Fenrir and that, it seems to be the first problem to solve" Dag said, grabbing Kranus's forearm and clutching it, speaking as if he was giving orders.

Kranus, despite being embittered by the defeat of his men and the tone with which Dag was speaking to him, thought back to the episode that happened a few minutes earlier and intelligently replied: "Sure, Dag. Follow me, I will personally escort you to my palace and I will show you everything. You have my word that no one will hurt you." 

Dag turned and walked to his horse, grabbing the reins that Reidar was holding and jumping onto the saddle.

"Captain, are we sure we want to enter Tungvek? Kranus may be lying about the deal, maybe he's just afraid of being surrounded by us! But in his city, there are thousands of Jotunn warriors, too many even for you! If they attacked us, we'd all die" the archer said, looking at Kranus, who was not listening, climbing his white horse.

"He will prevent this from happening. Despite being the leader of an enemy Clan, Kranus is a very wise and intelligent man. When he met Kjell and the others, he did it outside the city walls and Kjell told me that inside the city the situation was very different from what he expected, with children playing in the streets and old people and women walking quietly. Although it seems very strange to me, probably Tungvek is not a military outpost, but a real civilian city, with laws regulating the lives and well-being of its inhabitants" Dag replied, telling his friend that he had already thought about that detail.

"Well! Then the two of us will come with you. I hope that others will understand for themselves that the time to withdraw has come, their help is no longer necessary... they'd better go back to the Fort" Egill added, who, out of the corner of his eye, looked towards the forest adjacent to the mountain, trying to locate the rest of the troops, but was unable to do so.

"This way, Okstorm warriors" Kranus said, urging the horse and heading northeast toward his capital.

"Let's go. Gridd and Freydis will know what to do. Our soldiers are in good hands, fear not" Dag said, urging his comrades to ride without turning back, so as not to arouse suspicion.

...

As Dag calculated, meanwhile, among the trees and snowy bushes of the forest, Gridd and Freydis began to suspect something.

"Where are they going? Looks like they're following Kranus!" Karl asked, looking at Gridd and Freydis for answers.

"Dag managed to win against both enemies and surely the deal he had proposed to their leader was successful. It's a clear sign of retreat, don't you think, Gridd?" Freydis said, dropping the responsibility for that choice at the Sons Of Freya's Master of Offense.

"Yes, absolutely yes. That way is Tungvek, the capital of the Giants Of Ymir... I think they're heading right there. There is nothing more to do here, we can order all the soldiers to return to Fort Hvit, the threat is averted, there was no trap" she said, and soon after she got up from the bush where she had remained hidden until then and headed for the rest of the troops, telling them of the decision to turn back.

With the help of Skaldr and Orvar, the soldiers gathered in a row and marched in the opposite direction to Dag's, following the same snowy path they had traveled to get into the forest, knowing that in an hour they would return to their shelter.

...

Dag, Egill, and Reidar continued to ride silently behind Kranus, when the young Master joined the wizard, trying to extrapolate other useful information and familiarize with him a little, feeling their relationship still hostile.

"When we got here to Krypstorm we didn't know what we were going to find, on our geographical atlas, the knowledge of the navigators stops in the Great Deep See. This makes us the first true exploratory team of the West that ventures so far from home." 

"It's not hard for me to believe you. Our knowledge of Okstorm is slightly higher but still incomplete. About fifty years ago, one of the ships of the Giants Of Ymir returned from your continent with only one man on board, a bard who had been spared by the soldiers of I do not know which Clan. He managed to write a book, describing what he had seen, but his age advanced, and that book, now jealously guarded in our libraries, was never finished" Kranus answered, who unexpectedly explained to Dag the details of their exploratory history.

"To unite our two great nations in the battle against our true enemies would be a victory greater than anything. With your huge army and knowledge, this goal could be achievable someday. But our King, King Einar, is totally oblivious to this mission" Dag confessed, making it clear to his interlocutor that the only leader of those men was him.

"So you didn't leave on your sovereign's orders? Isn't he the one who sent you here to avenge the men you lost because of our siege?" 

"No, absolutely not. I've never even met him, so I doubt he knows who I am."

"Believe me, boy. I'm sure your King knows your name and your deeds well. You may ignore it, but by now your fame has made you very well known in all Skjold's landmass" Kranus continued, turning to him and looking at him.

Dag was astonished by the answer, which seemed to him anything but grumpy: that man, despite showing a clear grudge against him, having seen his powers and realizing that his age did not make him as inexperienced as he believed, had drastically changed his attitude towards him and was now downsizing his way of answering questions.