373 CCCLXXIII. Brand New Enemies

After killing the second enemy, Dag quickly turned to the last remaining enemy, who after getting up, was impaled by the undamaged dark arm, which moved from behind Dag like a scorpion's tail, sharpening its end, sharper than the blade of a spear.

When the third wolf also fell to the ground lifeless, he began to run again towards the other two Masters, realizing that another dozen werewolves were coming to the village, their red eyes shining in the heavy rain and the mud squirts caused by the momentum of the battle.

Kjell and Sander were standing, shoulder to shoulder, surrounded by four enemies, after killing three of them. 

"Hey! Heeey!" Dag shouted, drawing the attention of the two wolves closest to him, who naively turned in that direction, with the drool dripping from their ravenous jaws.

Taking advantage of that combat pattern they tried several times during their pre-departure training, Sander placed the lower end of the shield on the ground, wedged it into the terrain, and Kjell used it as a ramp, jumping toward enemies' back.

His chains were shrouded in a bundle of fire as the chain-warrior flew through the air like a phoenix ready to catch its prey.

With a precise blow, crossing his long weapons, Kjell wrapped both of the wolves: when the chains came into contact with their bodies, the air became impregnated with a stink of burnt fur and the two werewolves began to squirm and emit excruciating verses. 

Kjell fell with his feet on the ground, his arms outstretched to keep the two targets steady, oblivious to what was about to happen. 

Sander, at that very moment, placed the shield in front of his fellow Master's feet, wedging it once again into the ground.

Unable to touch the chains with his hands due to the fire, Kjell used the shield as a lever and slide them over it, pulling them hard backwards.

Trapped in a deadly grip, the two werewolves remained standing, while the two scorching chains burned their flesh and cut them in half, causing an explosion of blood, which spread around them.

Without being intimidated by the scene they had just witnessed, the other two enemies ran towards Kjell and Sander, who were facing the other side, but Dag appeared above their heads, who holding on to his long dark arm had managed to jump over them, ready to watch their backs.

Raising the hammer to the sky, a purple lightning bolt struck its stone head, charging it with static energy, which was released as soon as the weapon hit the ground.

The blast caused a violent explosion, followed by a shockwave, which broke the rock and caused a tremor, similar to that of an earthquake, making the two wolves and the two Masters fall to the ground behind Dag. 

On his shoulders, the dark arm that had just been snatched in half slowly regenerated, with the gray gas that enveloped the missing parts and condensed, forming other black fluid.

"Go to the houses at the bottom of the village! Gridd and the others need your help!" he yelled to his two colleagues, never looking away from enemies ahead of him.

Kjell and Sander, after a few seconds of hesitation, obeyed their Warchief's orders and ran to Gridd, Freydis, and all the other soldiers, working to fight other wolves who had reached them in herds.

Dag's piercing purple eye remained fixed on the two beast-men.

Werewolves were all unarmed and fought using only their claws and jaws, like real wild wolves.

Several seconds passed, during which both Dag and his enemies stood still and sized each other up, thinking about the next move.

"Their physical strength is proportionately higher than that of the Jotunns. They're smaller and faster… real war machines. Not only do they manage to transform during the day, but their werewolf form lasts even after death" Dag thought, looking at some enemy corpses out of the corner of his eyes, noting that they had not returned to their human form.

*grrrr*

One of the werewolves began to growl at him and to rise his fur on his nape, ready to attack him.

"Did you kidnap the girl?" Dag asked, trying to communicate.

The two enemies stood still and after looking at each other, they turned back to Dag.

"Answer me! The girl with the Jotunn… did you kidnap her?" he continued, convinced that those beasts could speak.

Before they answered, a shadow came up behind Dag, who immediately noticed that it was his trusty friend Thalos.

The gray wolf stopped beside him, growling at the two warewolves and taking courage to protect his master.

This stunned the enemies, who stopped looking at him, wondering why a big wild wolf stood next to a human by his choice, ready to even sacrifice his life.

"Thalos, go away! These monsters are super fast, back to protect Freydis and Gridd! Go!" Dag said, in a stern tone, ordering the wolf to leave.

But he did not move, he stood with all four legs still in the snow, growling and looking forward, intending to fight.

"We needed food, otherwise we would have starved to death. That's why we ransacked this village. We didn't know it belonged to your domain and we have no intention to fight against you" Dag continued, realizing that many of his soldiers had already died because of Kjell's naivety and that many other wolves were probably ready to come out from the surrounding area.

One of the werewolves took an upright position, breathing deeply, under the astonished gaze of Dag, happy that perhaps there was the hope of establishing peaceful contact with one of the legendary Clans of the land of perennial ice.

"We were just looking for the girl and the food. If you give us a chance, we're going to leave without causing any more damage. My name is Dag, of the Hammers Of Thor and on that side, there are other Masters of the three Clans of our alliance. Let us go" Dag continued, maintaining a calm and peaceful tone, but without lowering his weapons and two dark arms, floating behind him ready to unleash their full potential at his signal.