503 DIII. The Packmaster

A small sword with a rusty hilt hung from his belt and a detail of his attire immediately caught Dag's attention.

That kid didn't have the top of his armor bigger than the lower one, but his boots were oversized.

"Surely they belong to his father or some warrior greater than him. He looks like an inexperienced kid who just wants to fight... it reminds me of me when I started training in the arena" Dag thought, looking at him from head to toe, careful not to catch his eye, as he thought about what he was willing to ask his superiors.

Just as he was concentrating on looking at him, he heard the noise of an open door coming from the top of the high spiral staircase that continued over the high ceiling of the room, leading perhaps to the top of the tower visible from the outside.

*toc*toc*toc*

Slight steps creaked the wooden stairs and gradually, two people descended down.

They were a man and a woman, with a baby in their arms.

They looked at each other smiling and stroking the baby, who kept crying for no apparent reason. 

Dag looked at them from start to finish, imagining that their happiness was definitely due to what had happened at the end of those stairs.

Without looking at any of those people in the face, the young couple and their baby left the room, releasing a trail of happiness and carefreeness.

"Next!" a voice from the upper floors yelled.

Kranus, Atran, and Kron stopped talking, attracted by that voice, and turned their gaze upwards.

One of the two women rose from her bench, took two of the five children by the hand, and together they began to climb the stairs, slowly.

"Other children... maybe they do some kind of ritual... a blessing to the great wolf Fenrir, or something..." Dag said in a low voice, asking Freydis for an opinion, who like everyone else had witnessed the scene.

Not knowing what it was, the five adventurers continued to wait silently in the waiting room, immersed in their thoughts, until even the woman with the two children went down the stairs, with an evident smile printed on her face.

The two little ones, a boy and a sissy, in tears, like the little one in the arms of the couple who had gone out just before.

After greeting the woman who had made her company, the mother of the two children went out and the other one rose from her bench, gathering her children and ready to climb the stairs.

"Next!" the same voice called again.

"Yes, it's a blessing... otherwise you don't explain these women with their children" Freydis replied, after reflecting on what she had seen.

...

About half an hour passed when everyone climbed the stairs, including the young warrior with the rusty sword, who went just before Dag and his companions.

"Earlier the guard said that several people need to talk to 'him', which means the Packmaster is only one. Atran, Kron, let only Kranus and me talk to him because we know exactly what we need to say and remember... our main goal is to ally ourselves with them, not to make relations worse" Dag said, who before going upstairs, wanted to make things clear, knowing that the two warriors of the Outposts could interfere negatively during the dialogue.

"I don't think I'm going to talk... otherwise I wouldn't be able to hold back... if I think for one minute only that we must be polite and kind to the one who ordered the extermination of our soldiers, I shudder. It is because of that damn son of a bitch that wolf warriors have continued to attack us for years, without a break" Atran answered, trying to be as sincere as possible.

"For the success of the mission, I can assure you that the two of us will only speak if we are explicitly asked. Don't worry, Dag" Kron added, who as usual seemed the most reasonable of the two.

Freydis did not need to add her thoughts, because until a few minutes earlier she had spoken to Dag and explained her concerns to him, saying that she had no intention of saying a word and was there as moral support.

*toc*toc*toc*

The sound of footsteps broke the silence again and the young boy who had climbed the stairs a few minutes earlier, went downstairs, with a happy expression painted on his face.

He walked to the door and ignored the looks of Dag and the others, amazed that he too had such a satisfied face and wondering why.

"Next!" the male voice coming from upstairs yelled. 

"Well, our time has come! I know it's going to be difficult, but we've traveled all this way to complete the diplomatic mission, so... keep calm!" Kranus exclaimed, speaking to his men and trying to convince himself.

Kranus, Dag, Freydis, Atran, and Kron climbed the spiral staircases in that order, until they arrived at an ajar door on the landing on the first floor, noting that the stairs continued upwards, reaching the tops of the tallest tower.

The ice mage put a hand on the door and opened it, causing it to squeak.

A short man with a thick mustache greeted them, inviting them to enter the room and not stand in front of the door.

They obeyed and as soon as he entered, Dag first looked at the ceiling and details, as he was used to doing every time, noting that that room was similar to a library and there were many shelves full of books on both its sides.

When his gaze fell on the middle, at the bottom of the room, he saw a large man sitting on a throne: despite standing still in a relaxing position, his pronounced muscles were clearly visible, as well as the hundreds of scars on his bare chest, on which was tattooed a large wolf with a sun-like star between its jaws.