192 CXCII. The Old Acquaintances

At that point, the flock of crows croaked even louder, emitting a deafening sound, resealing two pieces of metal crawling between them, that forced the warriors to cover their ears.

A second attack ensued by the crows, who dived together.

Dag pointed his arms at them, clenching his fists and putting his hands together: just before the birds could reach him and his companions, he unleashed a Shockwave that swept away the crows, who lost control during the flight.

Some of them ended up in trees, others on the ground, others continued to fly undisturbed, reaching Dag and Reidar, who were the closest.

"Aaagh! Fuck!" yelled Reidar, as the crows encircled them and began to form a kind of air and feather vortex, repeatedly hitting them on the uncovered parts, like their arms.

Dag, trying to keep control, opened his arms, leaving his face vulnerable for a few seconds.

"Captain, watch out! Your face! These birds strike hard!" shouted Reidar, as Gridd and the others did not know how to intervene and stood still in the same position, trying to calm down the horses.

With his arms open, Dag performed a quick twist of the torso, spinning on one leg.

At that instant, his arms released electricity in the form of blue sparks, which in a few seconds expanded, until they enveloped his body, creating a kind of protective barrier.

The crows were hit by electric shocks but continued to attack Dag relentlessly, until he stopped his rotation and clasped his arms to his chest, then opened them up in a sudden motion, after which the sparks were released into the air, causing a real electric explosion, which hit all the crows around him.

For the first time he had managed to perform 'Storm Bolt', the last skill learned from the scrolls of the Temple Of Orn.

Many of the birds died instantly, others were paralyzed and fell to the ground, barely moving their wings.

After witnessing that scene, the crows around Reidar flew away frightened, as if their army was retreating.

Dag grabbed one of the dead birds to the ground and threw it at his sister, who grabbed it, disgusted.

"Did you want to see one up close? Here you are satisfied!" exclaimed Dag, as Gridd watched the mutant animal, which had a much larger beak than a normal crow and the claws of its legs incredibly sharp.

"Reidar, are you all right?" he continued, approaching his companion, who had ended up on his knees trying to protect his face.

"I do, Captain! But you... your arms are all scratched!" he replied, worried to see the blood coming out of Dag's arms.

"It's nothing, I'm sure Karl will be able to heal me in a moment" Dag said, looking at Karl, who had not moved from his position, frightened.

"Uhm?!"

Immediately after speaking, Dag spun around the street, squinting, as if he wanted to look at something in the distance.

"What's going on now?!" asked Gridd, ready to get off her horse.

"Master, I thought this was a peaceful expedition! What was wrong with that crows? Why did they try to attack us?!" exclaimed the boy next to her, panicking.

Before Gridd could answer, Dag nodded his hand.

"There's someone down there" he said, wielding both of his weapons, warning a presence in the distance that head toward them.

Gridd, without asking any more questions, got off his horse, ready to intervene in case of need.

"I heard noises coming from that side... I'm pretty sure someone or something is heading towards us" he continued, looking forward.

Dag squinted, trying to exploit his powerful view, focusing on what he had in front of him: the sunset only partially illuminated the plain around them, almost completely devoid of thick vegetation, except for a few green patches of tall, beech-like trees, grouped together to form small groves.

A similar situation was located next to them, where there were several trees, on which just before the crows who had attacked them by surprise were parched.

Dag's companions kept quiet, waiting for orders from their Captain, who continued to look in the same direction, holding his breath.

"What is that?" he said, noting that among trees hundreds of meters away, a kind of bright dot had appeared.

Before he could realize where that light came from, the dot suddenly grew larger, blinding him and his companions behind.

…

*punch*

Suddenly, a powerful punch hit Dag in the face, knocking him meters away, causing him to end up in one of the muddy pools of water scattered across the plain.

"Aaagh! What the fuck?!"

"Daag!"

"Captain!"

Reidar, Karl, and Gridd screamed in fear: the shot had been so fast that they couldn't even see where it had come from.

When they could see again clearly, after being blinded by that sudden white light coming from the woods, they noticed that a figure was standing in front of them, with her arm still stretched out after throwing her fist.

Reidar, when he noticed she was an elderly woman, opened his eyes wide.

"How the...?!" he said with a thread of voice, after the woman in less than a second also struck him, with a punch in the stomach, which caused blood to spit from his mouth.

"Reidar!" yelled Karl, charging madly at her, trying to hit her with the tomahawk.

The woman turned to him, who promptly raised the shield before being hit with a kick, which made him crawl to the ground to the feet of Gridd, who was still standing near the horses.

"Fuck! Get up, Karl!" she exclaimed, helping her companion to get up from the ground, without looking away from the woman, who began to walk slowly toward them, without saying a word.

Before she could reach them, a lightning bolt ripped through the sky, drawing her attention: Dag, after coming out of the water, had run back there, jumping towards the enemy and loading a lightning strike.

The lightning bolt, descending towards him, became purple and hit his hammer, which was drenched in electricity, releasing purple lightning bolts into the air.