442 CDXLII. Your Fame (1/2)
”I accept” he replied, coldly, stretching his arm toward Dag, inclined to shake his hand.
”Well, you made the right choice. Now, there are a few things you need to tell me about the Crystal of Fire. I'm going to take you to your city and in a safe place, we'll discuss what to do, since we're both at war with the Claws of Fenrir and that, it seems to be the first problem to solve” Dag said, grabbing Kranus's forearm and clutching it, speaking as if he was giving orders.
Kranus, despite being embittered by the defeat of his men and the tone with which Dag was speaking to him, thought back to the episode that happened a few minutes earlier and intelligently replied: ”Sure, Dag. Follow me, I will personally escort you to my palace and I will show you everything. You have my word that no one will hurt you.”
Dag turned and walked to his horse, grabbing the reins that Reidar was holding and jumping onto the saddle.
”Captain, are we sure we want to enter Tungvek? Kranus may be lying about the deal, maybe he's just afraid of being surrounded by us! But in his city, there are thousands of Jotunn warriors, too many even for you! If they attacked us, we'd all die” the archer said, looking at Kranus, who was not listening, climbing his white horse.
”He will prevent this from happening. Despite being the leader of an enemy Clan, Kranus is a very wise and intelligent man. When he met Kjell and the others, he did it outside the city walls and Kjell told me that inside the city the situation was very different from what he expected, with children playing in the streets and old people and women walking quietly. Although it seems very strange to me, probably Tungvek is not a military outpost, but a real civilian city, with laws regulating the lives and well-being of its inhabitants” Dag replied, telling his friend that he had already thought about that detail.
”Well! Then the two of us will come with you. I hope that others will understand for themselves that the time to withdraw has come, their help is no longer necessary... they'd better go back to the Fort” Egill added, who, out of the corner of his eye, looked towards the forest adjacent to the mountain, trying to locate the rest of the troops, but was unable to do so.
”This way, Okstorm warriors” Kranus said, urging the horse and heading northeast toward his capital.
”Let's go. Gridd and Freydis will know what to do. Our soldiers are in good hands, fear not” Dag said, urging his comrades to ride without turning back, so as not to arouse suspicion.
...
As Dag calculated, meanwhile, among the trees and snowy bushes of the forest, Gridd and Freydis began to suspect something.
”Where are they going? Looks like they're following Kranus!” Karl asked, looking at Gridd and Freydis for answers.