LXIX. The Troops

Dag, without thinking, pulled out the hammer.

The man with the spear charged towards him, while the other drew the sword and got ready to attack.

Dag dodged the shot and kicked the man, who fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, the other tried to hit him in the back, but Dag managed to dodge the clumsy sword blow and elbowed him in the face.

The enemy retreated after the blow when Dag tried to hit him with the hammer.

The man raised the shield, attempting to parry the hit, but as soon as the hammer hit the wooden and iron shield, it shattered it into a thousand pieces, causing the man to fall to the ground, who looked frightened at the broken shield in his hands.

"Wh... wh..?!" said the man, backing away to the ground.

Dag looked at the hammer.

The power of that weapon was absurd, with a simple light hit he had managed to shatter a shield.

He quickly turned to the other man, who had risen from the ground and was trying to hit him with a spear lunge.

Dag grabbed the weapon's rod and turned on himself, kicking his opponent's ankle, which fell to the ground.

He turned the spear into his hands and thrust his enemy at the center of his chest, making him die after a few seconds of agony.

I won't tell you again... why are you here?" said Dag, clutching the man's neck, which began to creak.

The warrior tried to resist the squeeze, but after a few minutes confessed: "We came here...to claim the Temple of the Hammers Of Thor, now that their... chieftain is... dead"

Dag was astonished.

"How do they already know of Magni's death?" It had happened during that night, the news could not get out of Mork Castle in such a short time.

Some of them must have sent a spy, or some Renegade, after witnessing the scene, must have sold the information to the highest bidder.

But all this was still strange to Dag since before his eyes, every man excluded himself, Magni and Hjalmar had become undead.

"Who gave you the information?!" continued Dag, twisting the man's neck.

"Aaah. I.. I don't know... my warchiefs are the ones who decide, not just a recruit like me! Let me go, please!" the man pleads.

"You know I can't do it. You saw my face, you'd go and tell your superiors that I'm here and that I'm a threat, I'm sure of it!" Dag said.

"A threat...eh…eh.." chuckled the warrior.

"The delegation that is about to storm the Temple Of Orn has more than 400 warriors... how could you be a threat? Hahaha!" the man continued, laughing.

"400?!" thought Dag. The men who had passed in front of the bear's lair were only a small part of the entire army.

Surely they were attacking the Temple on multiple fronts, it would have been too stupid to concentrate all the soldiers on the main road.

Dag spun his arms, breaking the man's neck, which fell to the ground lifeless.

He had to think fast.

Without Magni to defend the Temple, only the other two Masters, Egill and Dargeon, remained, with the strongest apprentices in the Clan.

Dag didn't know the exact number of warriors in his clan, but 400 opponents would not be easy to defeat and surely, part of his comrades would die in their sleep, during a stealth attack.

He approached the man he had just killed and dragged his body into the cave.

Soon after he did the same with the other.

He began to strip the warrior of his armor and wore it.

"I'm visually camouflaged with them, now. This is going to give me a few more minutes ahead of them" he thought.

He came out of the lair and continued on the path, briskly.

After walking a few hundred yards, he saw the rest of the troop.

Before them all, two sturdy men led their warriors.

One of them wore a helmet with two iron wings on the sides and sturdy heavy armor.

Behind his back, there was a giant axe.

The other, however, had no head protection, showing off his long black hair.

Dag camouflaged himself among the warriors, walking behind them.

"Excuse me, brother. Remind me what the plan is" he whispered to a warrior next to him.

The man looked at him with pride: "How can you forget such a thing?!"

"Forgive me... last night I exaggerated with the mead and now my head is throbbing" Dag said, trying to be convincing.

His hands were sweating: if he alerted the enemy warrior, they would have killed him immediately.

"Umpf... We will be located on a short distance from the main entrance, hidden through the vegetation. As soon as the other troops break in from all sides, they're going to play the horn and open the gates. We're going to be the last ones to come in. Our goal is to kill the two remaining Masters, to plunder their libraries and steal their artifacts" the warrior said, snorting.

"Thank you... now I remember everything" Dag replied.

He slowed down slightly, pretending to bend over to adjust the lower plates of the armor.

When he made sure no one noticed him, he snapped toward the rock face, resting with his back on it.

He waited for the troop to move away, turning the corner of the road.

Quickly, he took off his armor and climbed on the wall, using as a foothold the stones protruding from it.

Once he climbed, he entered the thick vegetation and continued to advance toward the temple.

"I must get to the Masters before them, or it will be too late!" he thought, trying to run without making too much noise.

Climbing the rocky walls, he had managed to gain a few minutes of advantage over the enemies.

He saw a small, hidden wooden door along the castle courtyard wall and he recalled that it had to be the back door of the armory.