365 CCCLXV. Playing Away

"But when we arrived in this village the sunset had not yet arrived! How is that possible then?" the archer asked, touching his chin and reflecting.

"I said the 'legend', Reidar. According to the legend, we could never meet a God in the flesh, yet we did. In my opinion, here at Krypstorm, Fenrir, Ymir, and Loki's powers are stronger, and those of our Gods are weakened. I don't know why, but I have this feeling, I can sense it in my blood!" Dag continued in a low voice, as Freydis slightly looked at him, smiling and happy to be with him in a warm place.

"Fuck... so you think that in reality, the Claws Of Fenrir can transform even during the day?! That would make things even scarier! We don't know where they are and where they come from... they could attack us at any moment!"

"That's why I ordered the soldiers to monitor the huts. We have to be smart, Reidar... this time we're playing outside. We are just intruders in their land. Krypstorm may seem like an endless expanse of snow and rocks, but I'm sure it's not like that for them: they know every corner and every cave, which makes them much more skilled than us in the movements" Dag continued, trying to keep these concepts in mind, which should never be overlooked during any kind of route, short or long.

Despite the unencouraging chat, the two friends returned next to the bonfire, lying down and trying to rest, while the first six warriors stood up and distributed themselves alongside the walls, trying to spy through the cracks in the wood and the windows, which although they were almost completely destroyed, still sheltered from the cold. 

Dag rested his head on Freydis's legs, who began stroking his face and hair, helping him to sleep.

The fire, in addition to heating the interior of the hut, illuminated the spaces, which would otherwise have been completely shrouded in darkness, as well as the landscape visible from the windows.

Dag, with his eyes ajar in exhaustion, continued to look out the window, imagining all the dangers that could lie in that cold darkness, inspired by the speech he had made just a few minutes before with Reidar. 

The atmosphere was made even darker by the sound of the wooden walls, which squeaked during the voluptuous gusts of wind, which in addition to wobbling the entire structure, whistled through hundreds of spiffs, in every direction.

Sander, Kjell, Egill, and Gridd lay nearby, next to the bonfire, enjoying the slightly higher temperature in that position and slowly falling asleep. 

Karl and Reidar also lay down, but on the other side of the fire, next to Freydis, on whose legs Dag stayed still, exceptionally remaining awake more than others, immersed in his thoughts.

Continuing to think and pampered by the sound of the wind becoming lighter and lighter, Dag fell asleep.

...

The next morning, the bitter cold outside the hut penetrated the wood of the shattered walls, while the warriors continued to take turns to guard the two buildings.

Dag and Kjell were the first two Masters to stand up from the ground and after a long stretch, useful to awaken the sore muscles from the icy floor, they approached the soldiers.

"Master Dag, Master Kjell! The situation was calm throughout the night and the weather seems to be better compared to yesterday. The violent wind stopped and the visibility increased significantly" a young warrior said, who immediately reported on the current situation as soon as he saw his two Masters.

"No suspicious movement or noise?" Kjell asked, also looking at another guard next to the first, to get a second opinion.

"Yes, Master Kjell. Everything went well. The haze that rested on the snow yesterday has disappeared and despite the almost arctic cold, this morning the sky is clear. I think these are the best circumstances to get back on the road" the second guard said, standing with his back straight ahead of Kjell, out of respect.

"Well, that's good news" the chain-warrior replied.

"Kjell, wait for everyone to wake up and get ready to resume their journey. I will be waiting for you outside the hut... I need to check something" Dag said, resting his hand on the shoulder of his ally, who not asking for further explanation, nodded, realizing that Dag was referring to the possible footprints left by Jotunn's killer.

After his request, Dag approached the door and opened it with difficulty, shifting a remarkable pile of snow that had formed behind it overnight.

In front of him, the view was breathtaking: a flat expanse of fresh snow stretched for a few kilometers and here and there, scattered around the moor, mountains with acute peaks and steep slopes sprang up.

Looking around, he was able to easily locate the cliff near which it was possible to access the cave leading to the Iron Emerald.

Behind the village's three huts and wooden walls, two small snow-capped and almost totally devoid of vegetation hills hid the view of what was behind them.

Before heading that way, Dag approached the Jotunn hut, to take a look at the corpse: he just stopped before the destroyed door to notice that the giant's body was still there, lying up, exactly as they had left it the night before.

From his large toes to the ends of the head, the corpse was almost in a state of complete hibernation, having been exposed to those temperatures for many hours.

It was enough for him to note this detail to infer that no night beast had approached the dwellings, as described by the soldiers of the Allied troops.