Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Chapter 220: CCXX. The Stray Boy

"If I only had arrived earlier... he said it happened about a month ago... I should have reached Skjegg right after escaping from Mork Castle! She would have met me and maybe she would have given up on leaving for that diplomatic mission! What a stupid!" replied him, who seemed not to listen to Gridd's words and clutched his trousers in his hands, angrily.

"Oh, yes? That's what you think? In that way, now, not only would there be no Iron Alliance... even the Hammers Of Thor would no longer exist! If you hadn't returned to the Temple Of Orn, you could never have warned them of the danger and fought for your allies! Stop blaming yourself, brother, you can't escape your destiny. It's pointless to cheer like a girl, we'll find this Ragna girl and hope for the best" replied Gridd, who despite feeling partially ignored, continued to spur her brother, who was down in the dumps.

The platform, after a few minutes, reached the top of the Rocky Crown and the two siblings got off, along with other people.

Gridd kept looking at Dag, who reciprocated her gaze: his purple eye was less bright than usual as if expressing his mood at the time.

Without adding anything else, she grabbed his hand and shook it tightly.

Dag observed that loving gesture and then nodded his head, determined after finally getting his sister's message.

Once they moved from the wooden elevator, they made their way through the crowd of people who walked frantically through the city streets, which were much narrower and less spacious than Hevnen's.

"A house in the downtown... it's not that detailed, we should find out where..."

"Excuse me, sir, do you happen to know a young Shieldmaiden named Ragna? We are her companions, come from far away and we would like to bring gifts to her and her family for what happened..." asked Dag to a passer-by, completely ignoring Gridd's directions.

"Uhmm... Ragna? I'm sorry, boy, I don't know who she is" the man replied.

Dag repeated the same question to about ten different people, men and women of all ages.

"Hey, you! You, with that strange purple eye!" shouted a voice from the crowd.

Dag turned in that direction: a child with his face and hands completely dirty with soil and dressed only in rags was trying to attract his attention.

"Tell me, kid, do you know her? May I ask you where does she live?" asked Dag, approaching him at a sustained pace.

"Mmh yes, I can. But maybe I don't remember very well..." answered the little boy, looking up and pretending not to remember.

Without adding anything else, Dag pulled a gold coin out of his pocket and handed it to the stray boy that looked at it with twinkling eyes.

"Follow me!" exclaimed the little guy, beginning to run into the crowd.

"Wait for me, brother! Where are you going?! Fuck!" shouted Gridd, who managed to run after them with difficulty, because of the multitude of people who crowded that street. 

The houses and other buildings in the city were all made of bricks and the colors ranged from gray to dark red.

There were no very tall buildings, except for someone, which was built on several floors.

The little boy suddenly turned to the right, entering an even narrower street, lined with artisans of all kinds: while a blacksmith inserted a piece of hot metal inside a bucket of water, emitting a cloud of white smoke, two women weaved straw strings and others worked leather and furs.

"We're almost there!" said the little boy, surprised that Dag managed to keep up with him, while Gridd had some difficulties, due to the city noise and rapid changes of direction.

Finally, after about 5 minutes of running through the streets of Skjegg, the child stopped, pointing to a house across the street, much less crowded than the others.

"Thank you, my friend" Dag said, in a serious tone of voice, heading to the house, followed by Gridd, who looked at the child as he stared captivated the gold coin he had just earned.

"Ragna! Does Ragna live here?" he said aloud, repeatedly knocking on the door, so insistently as to be rude. 

"Dag, wait! I don't think it's appropriate to swoop in here and..." 

As she spoke, Gridd was interrupted by a man in his sixties, who opened the door just a few inches, as it was attached to the wall with an iron chain.

From that small space, half of his face sprang up, with which he peered at the two unexpected visitors with a questioning air.

"Who are you?" 

"Hi, I apologize for the inconvenience. I'm Master Dag, of Hammers Of Thor. I need to talk to your daughter about the Vaeren Island's affair" Dag said, bowing his head out of respect, even though his rank was much higher than that of a simple middle-class citizen.

"I'm sorry, Master Dag, my daughter stopped talking... I wish you a good day" said the man, who as he closed the door was stopped by a hand of Dag, who grabbed it.

"I insist. It's something really important" he continued, as the man noticed his purple eye and without adding anything else, closed the door, unhooked the chain that held it locked and opened it, letting Dag and Gridd in. 

"Other warriors like you tried talking to her, but there was nothing to do. Ragna was a bright and lively girl, as well as being a great chatterbox... try not to be too hard on her, she is still upset by that day" the man continued, as a woman began staring at the two strangers from behind a wall, caught unprepared.

"Thank you very much. I apologize again to you and your wife for the break-in. It's an important matter" Dag replied, walking to Ragna's room and also addressing the woman, who realized she had been noticed.

He stood at the closed door and knocked gently.