Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Chapter 450: CDL. The Chromed Army

Resisting the embarrassment, the two fell asleep, while the faint light of candles on the shelf of the room illuminated the white stone walls.

...

"Daaag!" 

"Daag, wake up!" 

"Captain, wake up, quickly!" 

Several voices called Dag from all directions, infusing agitation into the air.

"Uhm... what... what's going on?" he said, slowly opening his sleepy eyes and discovering that Freydis was not lying next to him.

"You will never believe who is right outside the gates of the Fort! You have to come and see with your own eyes, brother!" Gridd exclaimed, who along with Reidar, Egill and Freydis was in front of him and called him insistently.

"Mmh... okay, all right... I'm still very sleepy, but I'll get up anyway. Just give me a moment" he whispered, resting his head again on the straw pillow and yawning, looking at the ceiling.

After less than a minute, despite the morning cold outside the warm winter blankets, Dag got up and walked downstairs, intending to leave the building.

He noticed with astonishment that there were not even one of his warriors inside the building, not even an archer of the Hunters Of Ullr, and this was a rather strange thing, considering that the dawn had only passed for a few minutes and that the Sun had not yet risen completely.

As soon as he went down the stairs, the inevitable Thalos was there, standing still waiting for his master, as a faithful good friend.

"My friend, you're the only one waiting for me, thank you! What's going on? Who's there?" he asked as if the wolf could answer him.

When he walked out the door of the palace, he noticed that almost all the guests of the Fort were gathered on the front walls, attached to each other.

"Master Dag! We await your order to open the gate! All the other Masters have already given their permission, only yours is missing!" Terje exclaimed, who along with the other soldiers next to him, had a happy expression on his face.

"But why doesn't anyone want to tell me what's going on? Damn, I'm going to have to go up there!" Dag said jokingly, stretching his sore muscles and climbing the ladder leading to the top of the observation tower.

Gridd, Egill, Reidar, and Freydis made room to let him pass, while he out of the corner of his eye noticed that on the other tower, the one on the other side of the door, there were Sander, Kjell, and all the others, with their gaze pointed downwards and his face smiling.

Without saying anything and intrigued to look at what was more important than his sleep and also attracted so much the attention of his companions, he looked in front of him.

An entire army of men on horseback and with shining armor was at the foot of the fort, led by three men, positioned before all the others.

The soldiers on horseback wore chrome armor and helmets of the same material, which covered their heads only at the top and had two eye holes in the front, leaving all the face uncovered.

The only things that differentiated one warrior from another were the weapons, which were all different.

Even the horses, of different colors, were all arranged in neat rows and did not move an inch without the explicit command of their knights.

Dag's gaze, after briefly analyzing the men of that army of about 50 units, fell on the three figures that guided them.

Two men slightly further forward and another further back.

All three of their horses were decidedly different from the others, much bigger and muscled, particularly that of the man in the second row, who was an all-white stallion covered with a gold armor, which protected his neck and front legs.

The man riding the white horse had a glitzy armor, also completely golden, with a red cloak hanging on one side, resting on the back of his steed. 

Even his boots, such as the chainmail under the armor and gloves, were made of the same material, which judging by how it shone under the dim sunlight that was about to rise was definitely pure gold.

"But who the fuck are these? What are they doing here at Fort Hvit?" Dag asked, but before his teammates could answer, one of the two men in the front row yelled: "You're Master Dag, I suppose!" 

Dag did not immediately respond, and with a confused expression, he studied the indistinct figure who had just called his name.

Unlike the man in the second row, the two on the frontline rode two black horses, their hooves partially covered with a smooth fur of the same color and wearing leather-colored armor with small metal spikes on the necks and on the end of their backs, above the tails.

All these characteristics gave those two horses a much more menacing appearance than the others, and even their owners did not seem to be people of good manners.

"So what?! Is it you Master Dag or not?!" the man replied, shouting Dag's name and looking up at him, with a long black beard hanging over his petrol-colored armor.

"Yes, it's me! And who are you?" he asked, not trusting all those men, who being so many, could have put his soldiers in serious trouble.

The man, before answering, looked at the warrior beside him, the one on the other black horse, and began to laugh out of control.

"Dag, what the fuck are you saying? Is it possible that you still don't understand who they are?!" Gridd said in a low voice, who took advantage of the hustle and bustle to speak in his brother's ear and prevent him from saying nonsense.

"Insolent of a Master! Exile must have made you lose your brain! How dare you ask for our identity! Your colleagues were waiting for your order to open the gates to your King, King Einar!" the guard yelled again, beginning to lose patience.