Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Chapter 285: CCLXXXV. The Hypothesis

The adventurers mounted on horseback and slowly exited the city, while the sunlight did not yet surmount the high walls of the Rocky Crown.

"So, my friends... we are heading southeast, towards the rocky shores of Runar. Three villages have been completely razed, while others should still be intact... or at least I think so. With any luck, we'll be able to gather more information from the fishermen, who were too scared to think straight the last time we met" Ellen said, who along with Kjell opened the line.

"Three villages? How many enemies were there? I thought you said that only two boats had docked along the coast..." Gridd asked, trying to collect her thoughts.

"That's it, indeed. A bigger boat and a smaller one. When we'll be there, there were about ten of those monsters... considering we didn't find any corpse belonging to them, that means that was the total number of the crew" Kjell added, who kept looking forward, focused on the road ahead.

"What?! Ten? Two boats for only ten warriors?" Gridd replied. 

"Those monsters are definitely huge, Gridd. Just think of the head we saw in that bag. I don't think a medium-sized boat can hold more than five or six of them. They're going to weigh about 400 kg each" Reidar said, interrupting the conversation.

"Well, I still don't understand... why did you leave if the threat hadn't been eliminated? What happened to the Jotunn who had attacked the villages?" Dag's sister continued, who could not explain the succession of events.

"They're gone. After our arrival, we initially rescued the injured and took care of them. Right after that, Kjell and I fought against some of them, managing to kill only one, the one of whom I showed you the chopped off head. Many of our soldiers died, but at some point, just when our end seemed to have come, one of them sounded a huge horn, announcing the retreat" Ellen said, continuing to ride.

"Master Ellen and I fear that the same number of giants may repeat the attack. We do not believe that their number will increase, I assure you that 10 of them are worth as 100 normal men. Something prompted them to stop destroying all the other villages, but we haven't found out yet the real reason. You will help us understand that" Kjell replied, implementing what his colleague said. 

Meanwhile, Dag tried to collect his thoughts about the possible place of origin of the Jotunn: the nation of Krypstorm.

When he studied the geography of the planet, the chapters dedicated to Krypstorm were poorly detailed and described that place about twice the size of Okstorm as a huge barren expanse of land and ice, decidedly inhospitable to any kind of human settlement.

Besides, during his teenage years spent training and dreaming of joining a Clan, he had discovered that all the 'evil' Clans, that is, those who pursued chaos and destruction, came from the deep north, right at the edge of the ice land.

He also tried to remember the faces of the Masters representing those Clans, gathered on the day of his pledge, but because of the strong nervousness of that day, he could not materialize those figures.

"Giants Of Ymir you said, right?" Dag thought aloud, asking Ellen and Kjell for confirmation, who turned slightly toward him.

"Yes, they are the ones who can change their human form, turning for limited periods of time into Jotunns" Ellen said, confirming.

"For limited periods of time... maybe that's the reason why they retreated before attacking the other villages, don't you think?" he asked again, trying to reason with them.

Kjell looked him in the eye and after a few seconds of general silence, he said: "I had never thought about it from this point of view... could be a plausible motivation, yes..."

"Mmh... but there's still something wrong... why didn't they attack with more warriors? Why limit themselves to 10 units? Perhaps their real intent is to probe the ground to understand where Okstorm is most vulnerable" Dag continued, while everyone else listened intently to his remarks.

"Do you mean to say that, in your opinion, they are planning to declare war on Okstorm?!" Ellen exclaimed, who was surprised by that statement. 

"It's a hypothesis, yes. How much information do you have about that Clan? Do you know its Masters?" he replied.

"Sander is the only one who saw one of them once while he was in Jernhest to recruit new warriors. We've already asked him this question, but he said he barely remembers his appearance... he described him as a man even bigger than him, completely bald and without a beard, looking decidedly grumpy".

"Mmh, I don't think these details are useful right now... look, I see some villages over there" Gridd interrupted, pointing her finger forward.

The road in front of them became progressively bumpier, until the path disappeared from the ground, as did the vegetation, which became less and less dense.

A slight descent marked the boundary between the biome of the forest and that of the coastal section, characterized by coarse and yellowish sand.

"We've arrived!" Ellen confirmed, who repeatedly hit the horse with the heel of her boot, causing him to stretch his stride. 

After the forest, dunes separated them from the beach, along which it was possible to see several tiny villages, each of which was formed only by a few small wooden dwellings, with fishing nets that, fixed on high poles, ended up in the water.

"The destroyed villages are on that side" Kjell stated, pointing his finger in a precise direction when he noticed that Dag was looking around.

He could not help but notice another detail of that place, concerning the morphology of the coast: while the destroyed villages were on a very low stretch of coast, practically at sea level, three other villages were clearly visible on the other side, where the coast rose for several tens of meters, taking on the typical shape of the rocky coast, with high sheer cliffs.

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