368 CCCLXVIII. Desire To Rule

The flat ground decreased in altitude and the huge flat expanse of snow became a slope, the inclination of which gradually increased towards a deep inlet in the rock, precise as a cut, which looked like a kind of wound dug into the ground.

A small ravine opened in front of the soldiers, who slowed their advance until they stopped, under Dag's orders, who raised his arm.

"It looks very deep down there... do you think there's some water?" Sander asked, trying to get up on the tips to look over the overhang.

'I don't know and I don't think it's an important detail. That village in the distance seems to be inhabited. Grey smoke comes out of the chimneys of its houses. We must proceed with caution. We're going to use that headland on the right to get closer... if we continue in this direction, the enemies could very easily identify us in the midst of all this white snow" Dag replied, signaling to his colleague and all his allies a small mountain with a pointed summit a few hundred meters away from them.

With caution and trying not to make too much noise despite the distance from the village, the soldiers followed their Masters behind the promontory, remaining focused and ready to extract their weapons in case of sudden attacks.

Dag ordered Thalos to join them, preventing him from proceeding alone, continuing to sniff.

"It looks like the lead identified by your wolf leads down there... do you think the village is guarded by warriors?" Freydis asked, approaching him from behind.

"Look... not far from those buildings there are wagons. I can hardly believe it, too, but this place looks like some kind of commercial base. Maybe it's a center from which supplies are transported" he said, pointing a specific point to Freydis.

The village, unlike those that they all were used to seeing, was without walls and was completely carved into the rock of a low and wide mountain. 

The doors and windows were square and people came in and out of the buildings, moving on foot or dragging small horses, which from a distance looked like mules.

"If it's as you say, we were lucky! Assaulting that place is gonna be a breeze and we will be able to feed and dissect our soldiers!" Gridd intervened, who was listening to the conversation.

Before answering his sister, Dag looked at the wolf, trying to figure out what his feedback was on that situation.

Thalos, unlike them who were focused on looking at the village, had his eyes set on the gigantic split in the rock.

"Hey, what's down there?" Dag asked, trying to figure out what was attracting his pet's attention.

Dag looked toward the inlet, which was about half a kilometer from their current location, then toward the village, located about the same distance, but on the other side. 

"Our soldiers are starting to get hungry Dag, and our food and water supplies are running low... we should take advantage of the temperature of the day to attack and plunder those warehouses!" Gridd added, who strangely agreed with Kjell's plan, looking towards the village and imagining the function of its buildings, which seemed very well organized.

He accepted the proposal and lowered himself towards Thalos, whispering in his ear: "Let's wait a bit, okay? After attacking that village I promise you I will come with you to check what is under there".

The wolf seemed to dislike the message and continued to sniff on the ground, without giving too much importance to the soldiers of the Allied troops.

"We will split into three groups so that we will be ready to help each other in case of need and not be easily under fire from any enemy archers" Dag said, who immediately proved to his allies that he could be resolute and practical, feeling responsible for his role as Warchief.

After his order and the support of the other Masters, within minutes, the troops quickly split into three groups, one for each Clan.

A fourth group consisted of the 5 Masters, who were the first to approach the village, with their backs slightly lowered, trying to keep a low profile for as long as possible.

Mimicking their commanders, the soldiers did the same, walking in rows slightly lowered on their legs and separating from each other, covering a larger area as they approached the village.

As he walked, Dag noticed that Thalos was not following them, but had lagged behind, near the mountain, as if he had been offended by the response of his master, who had preferred to listen to other human beings rather than to him.

With slight remorse, he tried to stay focused on the impending assault, trying to locate enemy soldiers, but they were not yet visible.

About a hundred meters from the first dwellings, being the village seemingly defenseless, Kjell took matters into his own hands, and without telling anything about his intentions to the other Masters, pulled out his chains, producing a metallic sound, and beginning to run forward, sliding them through the snow.

"Kjell! What the fuck are you doing?!"

"Kjell!"

Sander and Dag tried to call the chain-warrior, but he did not listen to them and continued on his way, heading at great speed to the town.

After seeing the scene, some of the Crows Of Odin warriors followed their Master, charging towards the village without a plan of attack, holding their weapons and screaming.

"Fuck! Fuck! Let's go!" Dag exclaimed, who began to run after them, making a signal to the other Masters and all the other troops to attack mercilessly, not being able to leave Kjell and the few soldiers who had decided to follow him alone against the enemies, whose number was not yet known.