336 CCCXXXVI. An Experienced Opinion

A sudden silence fell in the room and everyone turned to him, not having thought of that important detail.

"You should listen to Master Kjell, he has considerable naval experience, he has already successfully completed numerous missions by sea, even one to the island of the Hands Of Tyr, not many years ago" Sander added, drinking a sip of mead.

"Okay then... how can we prevent this from happening? How can we tell if there are enemy control towers on the other side?" Dag asked, seeking answers from Kjell, who, with his disliked and taciturn attitude, gave only a little information at a time.

"We will need a second boat, smaller, two seats at most. About halfway through, it must continue solo and travel to Krypstorm, while the larger boat will follow it at low speed. A light signal will be enough for those who will ride the small boat to indicate to the rest of the crew that the route is clear and the docking is safe" Kjell said, looking up at Dag, looking at him with his usual mocking smile.

"To do what you say, it is important that the sky is as cloudy as possible and that the sea is calm. With an even slightly rough sea, the small boat would eventually capsize and the light signal would be barely visible... although, now that I think about it, during our attack on the island of Vaeren we used the bad weather as a diversion. Frank assured us that our new ship will be almost as quiet as the Brass Arrow..." Dag continued, helping to study the problem.

"I will never forget that day..." Gridd interrupted, taking another piece of meat from the large clay bowl in the middle of the table.

"Anyway... I doubt that there are high population settlements on the coast, but it wouldn't surprise me if we find real cities not far from it. Krypstorm is called 'perennial ice land' for a reason, the climate inland is highly inhospitable and does not easily allow human settlement... while near the sea the discourse is different... it is milder and the cold is definitely less harsh. I believe that on the west side of their coasts, small villages are built, similar to those of the fishermen that the Jotunns have razed. That's why we shouldn't dock as soon as we see the mainland, but we'll choose the exact spot, away from prying eyes" Kjell continued, who had thought about every detail of that phase prior to the deployment of troops to the enemy island.

"This is exactly the same tactic they used against us. They sent a smaller boat with the only aim of distracting us and separating our defensive forces, opening a kind of gap. Meanwhile, the real enemy fleet has landed on the other side and has had plenty of time to prepare for the assault, beating us on time. I thought a lot about that stage, my friends… and I came to the conclusion that they could not imagine our disposition, they could not know how many and where we were... I don't know how, but... someone is in touch with them. Someone was a spy, telling them what was the best time to attack Runar's shores" Dag replied, interrupting his meal and looking into the eyes of all his comrades, with a serious air.

"When we spoke to the fishermen of the villages, they told us that no ship left the coast, neither before nor after the attacks. How does an informant warn enemies without physically leaving Okstorm?" Ellen interjected, who felt it necessary to remember this particular.

"They told us with certainty that no boat left after the assaults, for fear of being attacked at sea. But if you think about it, we've only heard the voices of fishermen from three out of six villages... why were three villages immediately destroyed, while the other three were not? Maybe because they saw something they shouldn't have seen! In addition, the fishermen's boats do not have a suitable structure to make such a long journey, up to the coast of Krypstorm, in fact, they barely stray from the coast... so anyone who has informed the Giants Of Ymir has certainly used a different boat, which will have caught someone's attention" Dag said, who was increasingly convinced of his hypothesis.

Before anyone else could respond to that statement, Egill said: "This is a very good remark, Dag, really sharp. Honestly, I hadn't even thought about the detail of the boat, perhaps because of my old age, which in addition to weakening my muscles, slows down my reasoning... what if no boat had left?"

"Uhm?"

"What do you mean?"

Everyone marveled at those words, which seemed meaningless, after an entire conversation about it.

"Let me explain better... none of us have ever known the warriors of the legendary northern Clans... the shrewd Lies Of Loki... the ferocious Claws Of Fenrir... the Giants Of Ymir... some of these warriors have inherited legendary abilities, belonging to their ancestors, who in antiquity declared war on Okstorm, a war that never really ended. And among these abilities, it is possible that there are some capable of making them shape-shifters" Egill explained, asserting his wisdom.

"Master Egill... are you saying that Giants Of Ymir warriors turned into animals and flew here to figure out how and when to attack us?" Dag asked, confused.

"What a bullshit..." Kjell whispered, continuing to eat not to believe in the slightest of Egill's hypothesis.

"That's right, Dag. Flying, swimming... anyway, they managed to get to Okstorm. Maybe they know more about us than we know about them! Think about it, in recent years no one has ever talked about Krypstorm, imagining that they can establish trade routes or even just diplomatic. As far as we know, they may have been aware of our movements for years, spying on us and controlling us in a thousand different ways. Spies, infiltrators, shape-shifters... they could be anywhere, even among our soldiers" Egill continued, who sat with his arms folded, looking up and continuing to think.

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