"Hello, do you mean me harm?" David asked, continuing to put distance between himself and the crazy looking white haired drifter before him.
Lord Bruce glanced down at David's rifle, and the bayonet attached to it. Bruce had not seen a rifle since the time of Sigurd Hring, and he briefly thought back to those troubling times when chaos and civil war ensued throughout the Viking world. Oddly enough, and perhaps to David's surprise, Bruce showed no fear of him whatsoever, despite being unarmed. He just gazed at the young man for a moment, studying the frightened man's body language which betrayed his composure.
"I don't want any trouble," David said, looking at Bruce carefully and watching him for any sudden movements. It seemed as though the old man was still processing his words as the Cherusci and their allies continued to retreat, now being pursued by Bjorn Ironside and the last of his berserkers as a twist of fate.
"Shhh, be silent." Lord Bruce suddenly spoke, pointing his walking stick to the warriors in the valley behind David Baxter, who would be much more threatening to the spaceman than the old hermit who stood in front of him. Ironically, it seemed that Bruce had understood David Baxter in his own language. After all, Bruce of Essex was an Anglish speaking fellow who understood the common tongue, unlike many of Gaia's other inhabitants on the Ellarian continent, especially most of the Iskjerne Vikings who continued to speak Old Norse or similar descending dialects.
"Come. Quickly," Lord Bruce said as he turned and walked deeper into the forest, away from the blazing fire and away from the valley. The old man had apparently deemed the younger man to be innocent and not nearly as dangerous as himself, despite his appearance, as he started heading deeper and deeper into the wild, heading into the Viridescent Woodlands and back to his secret hideout at the Grove of Yggdrasil, where Lord Bruce had spent most of his life as a hermit after Sigurd's death. It was entirely David's choice whether or not he wanted to follow Bruce, or if he would rather take his chances with the others he had just encountered. Either way, Lord Bruce wasn't sticking around or waiting for him. Bruce knew what dangers were waiting for them in the other direction.