300 CCC. Last Hope Strike

A large purple lightning bolt struck the head of Magni's hammer, causing Dag, whose body began to succumb to exhaustion, to unbalance.

Emitting superhuman screams and consuming all his last energies, he joined his hands and his two weapons made contact: as soon as the hammer and the glowing blade of the axe touched each other, a blinding light was released and even his companions, still in the village, were forced to cover their eyes.

Reidar was the first one to watch, and when he saw that scene, his heart stopped beating for a moment, because of the whirlwind of emotions he was experiencing at the time.

Above Dag's head, a tornado of lightning and flames reached the sky, crossing over the dark cloud, which widened and began to dissolve.

The two elements were united and were about to unleash all their power, in that breathtaking spectacle, which made both enemies and allies shudder, both enchanted to admire that infinite beauty.

Before his legs gave up completely, Dag used his last ounce of strength to lower both arms, hitting the ground with the axe and hammer at the same time.

The attack gave rise to a devastating explosion, after which the ground beneath his feet disintegrated, creating a crater around him, while a seismic wave laden with electricity crossed the ascent from the coast to the village.

As it made its way, most of the giants, intent on escaping, fell to the ground.

After a few seconds, during which the wave exhausted its energy, dissipating underground, the earth began to split and a red glow illuminated the fractures of the rock.

Before the enemies could stand up, violent tongues of fire rose from the underground, rising about ten meters into the sky and carrying everything on their way.

The Jotunn were swept away in an instant, hovering in the air as their bodies caught fire and then fell to the ground lifeless.

The enemy horn began to sound mad again, recalling the few remaining soldiers to the boat, who continued to stumble as they kept on running forward without ever turning back.

"I won't let you go... you will not go anywhere..." Dag whispered as he squinted his eyes, and his gaze tarnished, trying to distinguish the shapes amidst the black smoke in front of him, illuminated sporadically by small flames, which continued to come out of the rocks of the ground, gradually exhausting their power.

His legs began to tremble, as did his arms, which left the axe and the hammer, that had never seemed so heavy.

Dag could not even kneel and lost consciousness falling deadweight, looking up at the sky and opening his mouth, seeing the clear sky slowly blur into his eyes.

...

"I don't know, I don't know how he did it!"

"I... I am speechless..."

"The important thing is that we made it! The Captain averted a second attack!"

"It may be... but this could trigger a chain reaction... it was a reckless act".

"Mmmhh..." Dag whined in confusion, who began to distinguish the voices around him.

"Here he is, he's back! Dag, Dag! Brother, it's me!" Gridd said, resting one hand on his shoulder and one on his cheek, gently stroking him.

He continued to yearning, stretching his back and clasping his hands, feeling under them a soft fur coat, which upon contact with his rough and calloused palms, gave him a feeling of relief.

"Hey... where..."

"You're safe, Dag. Thanks to you, we all are… once again!" Gridd continued, smiling with joy at him, who tried to open his eyes.

When he succeeded, he saw his sister's face, slightly swollen on a cheekbone and with some cuts at the height of her neck and chin.

Without saying a word, he reached out to her, moving her long blonde hair from her face, and touching her wounds slightly with his fingertips.

Gridd clenched his wrist, closing her eyes and enjoying the moment, continuing to smile.

"You're... are you ok?" Dag asked, who, speaking louder, realized that his muscles were all sore.

"Yes! Yes, brother, I'm fine!" she replied, pushing Dag's hand towards her cheek, letting him caress the rest of her face and the tip of her nose.

"Captain!" Reidar exclaimed, who was standing near a door, as faithful as ever.

Dag responded with a smile, after which he placed both hands on the bed on which he had rested and tried to get up, while his leg and arms bones creaked.

"How long did I sleep?" he asked, stretching his neck muscles.

"For about three days, Captain" Reidar immediately replied, who seemed to be ready for that question.

"What?!" Dag gasped, sitting on the bed and looking around, in disbelief that it took him so long to regain his strength.

He was located in a small room with wooden walls, which, except for the bed was almost devoid of furniture, with some buckets full of water resting on the ground and wide fishing nets hanging on the wall.

A large window behind him overlooked the sea, hinting that he had not strayed far from the site of the battle.

"Yes, you've slept like a dormouse! We avoided waking you up, you needed to recover your energy! Anyway, you're probably wondering where we are... with you in those conditions, we thought returning to Skjegg would be a risky move, so we stayed in the area... we are in the first of the surviving villages. A man offered us his house to let you rest..." Gridd continued, opening the window and letting the fresh sea air enter into the room.

"Ohu... fuck..." Dag said with a confused air, getting out of bed and scratching his head as he continued to stretch.

Next to him were his weapons, resting on the wooden floor, made out of crooked and irregular beams.

"Captain, I've allowed myself to clean up your weapons. After the fight, both the hammer and the axe were dirty with earth and blood... well, I spent my time waiting for you to wake up, so I kept myself busy" Reidar smiled, trying to please his friend.