519 DXIX. Don't touch me!

"Is the Lies Of Loki army really that big? Why do two powerful Clans fear them so much? What's special about those sons of bitches? The warrior who killed my mother was strong, yet he was defeated by her with ease... how strong will Hackon be and will he still have emblem n°6 in his hands?" 

Dag's usual questions, that almost every day since he lost Stein and learned of Brann's story, were amplified after recent events, which had revived his hatred for the Lies Of Loki, now that the battle against them was looming. 

Trying not to get too distracted by those details and knowing that the only way to reach his objective all without losing his life was to wait, Dag tried not to divert his attention from his primary mission: to complete the prophecy and collect all the other Crystals of the Elements, in order to defeat the Xis once and for all.

Just as this thought pierced his mind, he arrived behind the door of his house.

Before he could touch it, a sound of keys echoed into its lock and the door suddenly opened.

"Have you gone mad?! What the fuck does your brain tell you?! You and Thalos left without saying a word, you made me die of fear! Where have you been so far? Are you hurt? What happened to you? How's Thalos?" Freydis asked, flooding Dag with questions and scolding him for not explaining anything to her. 

Just after naming the wolf, he sprang from behind Dag's legs and entered the house, approaching Freydis wagging and looking at Claire, to check on her condition.

"We're fine, don't worry. I'll remember this night forever, now let's go to bed... when we will finally lying together under our soft blankets I'll explain to you everything" Dag answered, who sighed once again with tiredness, closed both the door and the window and undressed, removing his armor and belt and entering his bed under the blankets, waiting to be able to touch the half-naked body of his girlfriend, who had gone to open the door with only her underwear on, consisting of panties and a band of fabric covering her breasts.

After hugging and kissing her on the neck, Dag told her about the sudden events that had forced him to flee from his house and the important role Thalos had played, following the spy's lead.

He justified his prolonged absence by the fact that he would have agreed to clarify all of his doubts immediately, not being able to let that impostor go without making sure he was the spy of the enemy Clan.

Freydis accepted the apology without thinking twice, marveling that all those events had happened in such a short time and regretted not participating in the chase, despite being tired.

As they continued to talk, unable to keep their eyes open, the two lovers fell asleep hugged.

...

"Bleah... Thalos! All right, I'm going to get up, give me only a second more! Give me a moment!" Dag whispered, his eyes still stuck to sleep, turning to the other side and snuggling up again beside Freydis, who was still soaked in sleep.

The wolf, unhappy, climbed with his huge front paws on the bed and repeatedly touched Dag's back with his nose, pushing him and drawing his attention.

"Uff... alright, alright..." Dag snorted again, trying not to wake his girlfriend and coming out of bed like a thief, without making the slightest noise. 

"What are you doing here, what do you want to tell me?" he asked subtly looking at the wolf, who was sitting still by the bed and kept looking at him in the eye as if to communicate something.

Soon after those words, Thalos turned and went down the stairs in a hurry, approaching Claire, lying by the fireplace, inside which the last remaining piece of wood was still burning, warming up the area.

"Did she wake up? Is that what you want to tell me?" he asked, tucking into his pants and following the wolf, kneeling in front of Claire after going down the stairs.

The girl had been lying in the same position all night long and her injuries seemed to have started the healing process, aided by the ointments that those two ladies had kindly given them.

At that point, Claire's only eye opened slowly and her pupil moved from the bottom up as if the sleep in which she was immersed was so deep that it temporarily clouded her sight.

"Hey... Claire!" Dag whispered, who wanted to leave Freydis to rest a little longer.

"Mmmh... mmh..." the girl lying by the fire began to moan again as the previous evening, but in a less harrowing way.

Slightly moving her back on the fur resting on the hard floor, she creaked some of her sore bones and her pupil stopped in front of her, framing Dag.

As she looked at his smile, slowly and gradually, Claire's neutral expression turned into a terrified look and her mouth bent down, exhaling her wheezing, as if she was seeing an enemy.

"No... no... let me go! Don't touch me!" the girl exclaimed, with her voice still hoarse and low, having been left for a long time without being able to speak.

"Claire, it's me, Dag! You're safe, no one's going to hurt you anymore!" he repeated, gently stroking her arm and smiling.

"Fuck! I said don't touch me! Dag will come for me and kill you all, sons of bitches!" Claire cried, totally recovering her voice and screaming with all the air in her lungs, hitting Dag with a loud slap on the cheek.

The young Master, who did not expect such a reaction, did not dodge the hit in the slightest, which was followed by a long series of other slaps and blows, while Claire had not yet realized that she was no longer immersed in her own blood in that fetid cage.