370 CCCLXX. The Warehouses

Immediately Dag got up and pulled out the hammer.

He dipped it into the red-soaked snow, and the rocky head of his weapon became covered in blood.

It was only after completing this operation that he joined his comrades, who had since killed all the citizens, who did not exceed thirty units.

"Dag, did you check the other warehouse? What's inside? We're still trying to open this one!" Freydis said, who as soon as she saw her man arrive began to ask him questions, but noticing the blood-soaked hammer, she realized that he had been fighting.

"No, I haven't checked it. I was busy with two farmers armed with shovels and pitchforks" he replied, pretending perfectly.

Right at that time, Sander approached the two doors of the building in front of them, which was a large semi-circle of stone and concrete, in the shape of an igloo.

"Get out of the way" he ordered two of his men, intending to force the lock of the two thick solid wooden doors that closed the structure.

After the soldiers made room for their Master, he pulled out his shield and placed it in front of him.

Loading a push on his legs, he snapped towards the door and as soon as the shield hit it, the metal lock broke into a thousand pieces and the door opened, revealing the contents of the warehouse.

"Hahaha! Look at all this food! We will finally eat something!" he exclaimed, chuckling and putting the shield back in its place, after breaking a gigantic door with impressive ease.

Dag was amazed by the staggering physical strength of the Master Of Defense and along with him, Egill, Gridd, and Kjell entered the domed building.

Inside, numerous shelves on the walls were filled with all kinds of provisions: in addition to fresh meat of wild boar and buffalo, there were barrels full of mead and others filled with cow's milk. 

A shelf was completely full of fish, both fresh and dried, the smell of which inebriated the nostrils of the soldiers, whose stomach began to mumble.

"Wow..." Dag said, unable to hold back his astonishment at seeing all that food and thinking that there was a second warehouse that had not yet been opened.

Sander rushed up some shelves and began to gobble everything, grabbing a piece of salmon already cut and slightly dried and devouring it in a matter of seconds. 

Then he grabbed a mug and opened one of the mead barrels, filling it to the brim and drinking with greed.

The other Masters did the same, leaving room to the soldiers, that lined up neatly and accessed the loot, to feed their stomachs.

About half an hour passed, when all the warriors of the three Clans fed, eating more than half the stock of the entire warehouse.

Dag chose to eat fresh fish, which with Freydis cooked inside after lighting a small bonfire with Reidar's help.

After eating and drinking satiated, everyone immediately began to fill their backpacks with other supplies, ready to resume the journey shortly, smiling and satisfied.

"Dag, follow me. Let's go open the other warehouse" Sander exclaimed, resting his hand on Dag's shoulder and waiting for him to get up, to accompany him to the second semi-spherical building.

As they walked on the snow, under which they could see a road built with smooth rocks, a voice suddenly shouted: "up there! The bell! Someone's going to sound the alarm!" 

Immediately, all the men present looked up towards the tower, after a Shieldmaiden had seen a figure moving on its top.

Dag did the same and being closer than the others to the place in question, he was able to distinguish the details of that shape.

The child, who had just hidden under the overturned carriage, was climbing on one of the edges of the top floor of the tower, trying to grab the rope to ring the bell, decidedly too high for his stature. 

"Fuck... I told you to stay still and hide..." Dag thought, as his allies were alarmed, looking for a way to prevent the little boy from tolling the bell.

Before he could turn to his companions, an arrow struck the child, piercing his neck.

He, who had managed to reach the bell, clung to the rope and clutched it in his hands, falling inward, lifeless.

Dag turned backward and noticed that the arrow had been fired by Reidar, who was the only one of them capable of hitting such a distant target with that precision.

When the archer looked at his captain, his expression became sad, sharing the empathy Dag was feeling towards that poor innocent child.

Reidar did not have time to say a word when the bell rang.

*doooon*

A single sound rumbled across the village, spreading across the plain, slightly shifting the snow to the edges of the rocks, which fell to the ground in flakes.

All the Berserkrs and Shieldmaidens of the three Clans stood still and looked around with terrified expressions, ready for the worst.

Dag did the same, trying to peer into something in the distance, but the only thing he saw was a shadow running towards them from afar.

Squinting his eyes and sharpening his gaze, he discovered that it was Thalos, who at great speed was heading in the direction of the village.

When the bell stopped vibrating and the propagation of its sound stopped, the wolf came in front of Dag and hid behind his legs.

"Thalos! What's going on, what do you hear? Enemies? Where are they? Which way are they coming?" he asked, noting that the wolf was terrified like a helpless lamb, emitting verses of fear, with its tail between its legs.

No one said a word, everyone stood still and listened, with their weapons in their hands, ready to defend themselves.