CCLXXXVI. The Authority

As Ellen continued to ride fast toward the first of the villages that survived the attacks, Dag, Kjell, Gridd, and Reidar stayed further behind, looking around.

The scenery was rather bleak and the skeletons of the fishermen's small houses were right in front of them, while the blood of the victims of the giants still bathed the soil around them.

"Oh my goodness…" Reidar stammered, who despite not making such exclamations, couldn't hold back.

The archer slightly diverted the direction of his horse to be able to look closely at the wretched one, while the others followed him with their eyes.

The pile of wood, corpses, and utensils of various kinds was all that remained of two adjacent villages: the wooden beams seemed to have been broken with force, despite being very resistant.

On some of them, he even managed to distinguish the bloodshed of some poor victim who had tried unnecessarily to get to safety.