Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Chapter 243: CCXLIII. The Black Cloud

From the sides of the hills, Dag and his companions heard the sound of horns announcing the attack.

The first enemy troops to charge were those formed by horseless warriors, who, forming a wedge, quickly descended from their position, taking advantage of the steep slopes of the hills.

The chivalry stood still, deployed in the same place, and divided into four groups of about 15 individuals each, alongside other groups of horseless warriors and archers.

Enemy soldiers screamed at Dag and his comrades, charging madly.

There were several hundreds of them and thickening, they completely covered every part of the green slopes.

Dag descended back to the ground, leaving his dark claws thrust into the ground, ready to push himself upwards to load a Lightning Strike, the only attack beyond Storm Bolt that would allow him to do damage to such a vast area.

Gridd put herself in a combat position, as did Freydis, who had a very different style, with the blade of the sword facing backwards and its hilt pointed forward, her legs wide and knees bent.

Reidar stayed slightly behind his companions and loaded an arrow, generating two more, knowing that perhaps that was the only magic shot available, before the enemies noticed him, disabling the Failnaught's powers.

Karl raised his shield, which trembled following the movements of his arm.

The enemies continued their advance fast, trampling on the bushes and shrubs at the foot of the headland and ready to break into the village, when, suddenly, something obscured the moonlight.

A deafening noise forced both enemies and Dag's team to cover their ears and turn their gaze to the sky.

A giant flock of birds, the size of a cloud, crossed the sky above their heads, croaking out of control.

"Oh no! Dag! It's the same crows who attacked us when we left Hevnen! This is the last thing we needed!" shouted Gridd, fearing that the enemies, already numerous, had received additional reinforcements.

The flock continued to fly forward, slightly lowering its trajectory, with hundreds of specimens moving lightly in unison, under the incredulous and captivated gaze of thousands of soldiers of the enemy Clan. 

At that very moment, another sound joined the noise of the birds.

"The bells! These must be the bells of the watchtowers! Enemy ships have arrived in the harbor!" yelled Reidar, turning his gaze to that redundant sound.

Dag narrowed his eyes, concentrating and trying to make the most of his sight, watching that flock of crows. 

"They are not enemy crows! It's our reinforcements!" shouted Dag, enthusiastically.

After that statement, the large birds dived into the enemy army, moving en masse like a giant black wave, which in a matter of seconds enveloped the lower part of the hill.

As Dag and Reidar had guessed, the crows, just before reaching their enemies, changed shape, turning into human beings, falling from above and beginning to kill enemy soldiers one after the other, hitting them with their sharp weapons.

"Let's go! What are you waiting for! Come on!" shouted Dag again, ordering his teammates to attack, to support the reinforcements.

With his dark arms in the ground, Dag pushed himself forward, sprinting towards his enemies, followed by Gridd and Freydis, faster than Karl and Reidar, who closed the line.

"Aaaagh!" 

As they screamed at the charge, reaching their opponents, other men literally rained down from the sky, in the form of crows that just before they touched the ground, sometimes managed to hit their targets, other times instead, were killed under their blows.

Placing his dark arms again on the ground, Dag leaped upwards, using them as a trampoline: he raised the hammer, which was hit by a lightning bolt, electrifying itself and simultaneously wrapped in one of the bundles of dark liquid, which became soaked in electricity.

In an inhumane effort, he rotated on himself, using the beam of electrical fluid as a giant whip, which hit the ground exploding in a barrage of lightning bolts and emitting a shockwave so strong that dozens of enemies flew away, some of whom died instantly.

Before falling back to the ground, Dag managed to swing the dark whip again, which hit the ground for the second time, burning it due to the enormous amount of static energy released.

Once again, a whole group of enemies was wiped out under his unstoppable blows.

In about ten minutes, what was supposed to be a quick and reckless mission, became a real war between Clans, during which warriors of opposing factions fought mercilessly and many of them lost their lives.

When he came down again, Dag noticed that an opening had been created around him: enemy warriors avoided being too close to him, afraid of the incredible power of his attacks laden with electricity and dark energy.

While Gridd and the others also began to fight in the rear, against enemies who escaped the watchful eye of Dag and the Crows Of Odin soldiers, he made room for the top of the hill, trying to reach the chivalry unit, standing still and watching forward.

Two other enemies stood between him and the target, trying to hit him head-on.

He, without even raising his weapons, moved one of his fluid claws and cut both enemies on the chest, causing them deep wounds and making them fall to the ground.

Soon after, while distracted looking forward, someone else tried to attack him from behind but was stopped by a spear blow, which stuck his collarbone.

Dag turned unaware that he had just been rescued.

Behind him, Sander and other soldiers were following him and helping in combat.

"Didn't you say you had to discuss it with the other two Masters first?" asked Dag, while other enemy soldiers continued to charge at them.

After those words, a large dark brown crow whizzed low, near them, heading fast toward a group of about ten running foes.

Making a twist on himself, he turned into a human being: his wings became two long chains, at which end there were two spiked iron balls, while the rest of the volatile's body assumed human appearance.