565 DLXV. The Shadow Cloak

"Well, I already imagined you wouldn't let me down. You know, Dag, I followed your adventures with interest and fell in love with your power... all that darkness, that wickedness... I can feel it, it comes from here, from inside your body, it's part of your soul! *sniff*... mmmhh..."

The voice continued to speak, emitting the classic sound of those who are sniffing something as if he could materially perceive dark matter within the young earthly warrior. 

"I... I will kill you, son of a bitch! You destroyed my family! You and your dirty warriors! You're going to pay for it! I will kill you all, from the first to the last! I will destroy Dolken and everything that belongs to you, I will make sure that you will be erased from history, pieces of shit!" Dag thought angrily, clenching his fists and focusing his objective, perfectly remembering the face of the Lies Of Loki's leader, after seeing him in the memories of Egill, who showed him the moment of Brann's death.

"Here it is, that's the wickedness I was talking about... you can't give up on it, it's part of you... however much you dream of becoming a good and just warrior, the purest evil lives in your body, ready to kill anyone who stands between you and your goals. I... I... I want your power" Hakon's voice replied, which continued in the usual warm tone that characterized his evil and self-confident personality.

"So come and get it, son of a bitch!" Dag exclaimed loudly, banging a fist to the ground and cracking the floor surface while he was still on his knees, emitting a rumble and scaring anyone nearby.

"Dag... not... what have you got..." 

"... maybe... step... step back!" 

After those words, he slowly regained his hearing and the words of his friends were finally picked up by his ears.

"Dag! Where is he?! Where is Hakon?!" asked Freydis, repeating that phrase for the umpteenth time, hoping that sooner or later he might answer that question, having uttered the name of the greatest of his enemies.

*ttzzzz*ttttzzzzz*tttzzzzzzzzzzzzz*

A strong vibration moved the circular metal plates on his leather armor and Dag touched his chest. 

He slipped a hand under his armor and pulled out the Bjelke Sphere, the relic-hunting pendant. 

The small sphere was vibrating very strongly, moving incessantly and rotating on itself, almost more than when King Einar, the owner of the emblem n°1, was in front of him, a few meters away.

"He's here…" Dag said, swallowing empty and sensing a drop of sweat slipping from his forehead, while strong chest tights continued to annoy him.

As Dag rose from the ground, the darkness in the square began to materialize, as if it was no longer a simple lack of light, but a real aeriform material. 

A shadowy wake began to rotate, converging in one spot and ascending from the floor upwards, creating a small dark vortex.

After a few seconds, while only Dag and his closest companions were inside the square to witness the scene, the vortex was abruptly interrupted, and inside of it, a person appeared. 

The first distinguishable element was a long cloak that reached the ground, black as the shadow that had spawned it, and at its top, a huge hood covered the face of its owner.

The darkness that enveloped that man disappeared into thin air, followed by a metal screech as if a blade was crawling on an iron board.

In front of him, Dag, Reidar, Freydis, Kron, and Atran remained motionless, not expecting to see such a thing after winning a battle of that size.

The Bjelke Sphere on Dag's chest continued to vibrate loudly and the young Master pulled it out of its position and put it in his pocket, so as not to be distracted by that harassing noise.

Reidar was the first and only one to notice his Captain's gesture and, knowing what the pendant was for, he quickly realized that the man who had just materialized in front of them, was surely the owner of some emblem.

Linking that event to the name of Hakon, who had been yelled at earlier by Dag during his emotional crisis, Reidar had no more doubts and extracted the Failnaught. 

"What's going on?! Don't tell me that he is..." Freydis said, in a flickering voice, taking a step back in fear.

The mysterious enemy stepped forward, and as soon as his foot touched the floor, the snow on it melted.

The huge hood completely covered his face, masking his identity: the only thing that transpired was his downward gaze.

Atran also pulled out his daggers, positioning himself next to Kron and in front of Dag, ready to defend the young Master despite his massive injuries, which had started hurting him again.

"Where's Commander Kranus? We absolutely need your help! Without his powers and Bloodfang's, how can we make this?" Kron whispered, addressing the other Outpost general, who didn't know what to answer, not knowing the location of the ice mage, which since Dag landed in the square killing the Keeper, seemed to have vanished into nowhere.

Dag remained motionless, not looking away from the enemy for a second, just waiting to ascertain his identity, while his hands trembled with nervousness and his heart beat hard. 

"What a moving scene... two warriors from a Krypstorm Clan ready to defend you despite their meager power. You've always had a strong charisma, Dag..." the man said, in the same dark and deep voice that a few seconds earlier had spoken in the head of the young Master of Okstorm. 

At that exact moment, Even Dag had no more doubts: before his eyes, there was the enemy he had waited for all his life, the supreme leader of the Lies Of Loki, the one who had killed Brann and caused Stein's death.