"Griiiiidd!" Dag called, looking at his sister out of the corner of his eye.

Reidar stopped by her to help her get up.

"Go, Dag! I'm fine! Run!" Gridd shouted back, after getting up from the ground a bit numbed by the fall.

He did not stop riding and together with Ellen and Kjell continued his advance towards the village, when a second arrow pa.s.sed next to him, plunging into the ground again, creating a deep groove.

"There's an archer over there!" Kjell yelled, who managed to locate the arrow's starting point and pointed his hand at it.

Dag looked in that direction and finally saw one of the legendary Jotunns: he was a mammoth being, almost as tall as Roar when he turned into a goat demon.

He was s.h.i.+rtless and wore only a kind of skirt made of leather and fur, from which sprung two muscular legs and feet, the shape of which was exactly that of the footprints found near the corpse on the opposite coast.

The beastly being, equipped with two large tusks that sprung from the lower lip of his mouth evidenced by a p.r.o.nounced jaw, held in his hand a kind of bow, consisting of a tree trunk with a very thick rope tied to its ends.

Without thinking too much, caught by sudden anger, also generated by the fact that, if he had known before about that hidden cliff he would not have been deceived, he turned to that single enemy, intending to fight him face to face.

"Dag! The village!" Ellen shouted, trying to remind him that the lives of helpless citizens took priority.

"Get to the rest of the soldiers and protect those poor people! I'll handle this one!" Dag replied, without even turning back, sure of himself.

Ellen, after making a stinging expression, ran away with Kjell, continuing to ride straight.

The Jotunn in front of Dag placed the lower end of his bow on the ground and with his other arm, loaded another giant arrow, which he forcefully placed on the rope, that began to bend hard.

At that point, Dag leaned his feet on the saddle, crouching in balance on the back of the tireless Aslan, who deeply breathed from his mouth and nose and continued his advance towards the giant, without fear.

After the rope bent completely under the weight of Jotunn's mighty arm, the third arrow was fired at Dag, who as soon as he saw it departing, clutched his grip on the bridle, while Aslan performed a perfect dodge, moving quickly to the right.

The grayish skin giant's small eyes remained pointed at him until, forcefully on his legs, he leaped upwards, detaching himself from the back of the horse, which suddenly stopped, as if he had empathically understood his rider's plan.

Dag flew a few meters into the air and unplugged the Giantbane from the magnet on his belt, intending to strike the enemy in front of him, who was still standing with his hands holding the bow.

As planned, the axe hit the target and its blade, initially directed to the center of Jotunn's skull, struck his shoulder, sticking inside of it and getting stuck between the muscle bundles of that shape-s.h.i.+fting warrior.

The Jotunn, without emitting a breath, dropped the heavy wooden bow to the ground and tried to grab Dag, who failed to immediately detach the Giantbane from the body and let it go, dodging the giant's big hand.

The enemy grabbed the axe, easily pulling it out of his shoulder, from which he began to gush blood that then poured down his chest, dripping to the ground.

After grabbing the Giantbane, the Jotunn began staring at it, clutching it in his hands, as its blades began to glow, being stained with blood.

"Uh?" the giant said, uttering an animal verse that expressed astonishment, as if enchanted by Dag's weapon, forgetting about the fight.

Dag took advantage of his distraction, clenched his fist, and then opened his hand, letting the electricity flow into his arm, which was surrounded by sparks.

Magni's hammer detached itself from the magnet and, because of the great amount of static energy released, was attracted to the palm of Dag's hand, which gripped him firmly before hitting the Jotunn from the top down.

The enemy, after being hit violently on the chin, took only one step back, shaking his head.

But in the meantime, Dag had already loaded another blow, which hit one of his legs, causing him to bend and forcing him to get down on his knees.

"What the f.u.c.k is he doing? Until a moment ago he wanted to kill me and now that I'm here in front of him he doesn't react..." he thought, while the umpteenth hammering hit the target, this time striking the Jotunn in the face, unleas.h.i.+ng a wave of electricity.

Despite the incredibly powerful blow, the enemy's head barely moved, but he stood still on his knee, leaving Dag shocked, after he had loaded the last shot, and was sure it was enough to knock him down.

The giant rose to his feet, resting on one knee, and tried awkwardly to attack him with a slap, that Dag deftly dodged, lowering himself.

"Hey, you… p.r.i.c.k! Not so smug now, without your tree trunk, are you?" he exclaimed, intent on provoking his opponent so that he could reveal his true potential.

"Just know that I'll have no mercy! You tried to kill me, and before me, you killed dozens of innocent people! I'll make you pay for it!" Dag continued, as other blue and purple sparks began to come out of the circular plates of his armor, which catalyzed that energy and released small lightning, that impacted the ground, burning its surface.

The Jotunn, continuing to squeeze the Giantbane, which in his huge hands looked like a flaming toy, waved it forcefully towards Dag, who dodged it, managed to feel the strong heat emanating.