BTtNR - Book 2 - Chapter 016 - Praise Given (Patreon)

“I’m fine… leave me alone,” Einar groaned as he tried to sit up.

“You’re a fool! Let me do my job and drink this.  You lost a lot of blood and never told me you were bleeding like this! You’re lucky I was healed and my power returned or I would not have had the Wyrd to heal you as I did!”

Thorve was chastising him again and the frowns on everyone's faces told Einar none were too happy with the turn of events.

Sunlight illuminated the area and taking the cup, he drank the awful liquid she had made, grimacing at the taste.

“Now, sit your ass there and let me do what was supposed to happen last night before you almost died!”

Shifting against the log someone had brought for him, Einar groaned and motioned for her to go.

He wanted to smile, seeing Thorve upset, but knew she was giddy.  She moved with a light step, gliding across the ground.  She had on her white robe and motioned to Thorodd who let out a loud whistle.

“Children of Odin and Freyr! Come gather around! The time has come to finally offer the gods what we can as a thank you for the gift they gave us!”

She began to move, dancing like one his age, her feet moving to a cadence that was soon matched by clapping by those gathered.  

A hum came from their healer as she raised hands and began to spin, speaking in a language that was said only those who trained in her arts knew.  

Words of power. 

Words that the gods couldn’t ignore.

They were used to show their appreciation of the blessings given to them.  Some told stories that it was Odin himself who taught these words to the first healers.   Sharing with those Vikings a secret so powerful they had to swear upon their souls to never reveal to another who was not worthy of absolute devotion to the gods before all else.

A healer couldn’t gather riches for anything but runes.  Simple life, hard devotion, yet a connection none would ever know but those oracles and ones at the temple.

In the clearing as the morning sun rose, Einar felt it.

The same feeling as when he walked in the temple.

Gods were watching.

Dancing in a circle around the pyre which had the body of the elite, chopped up and prepared, she chanted louder, the flames swirling as she twirled.

And then she thrust the torch into the wood.

It erupted with a power that had only come before when he used his fire magic upon those rings of trees.

Yet here, the flames rose immediately, forcing Thorve to back immediately.

Immense heat came from the wood as if the sun itself was sitting there.

They rose higher and higher until the flames were over eighty or ninety feet tall.

Then it was gone.

Glancing at the spot where the pyre had been set, nothing but a burnt section of dirt remained, going outward about five feet from the spot.

Everyone looked at each other, stunned at what they had just witnessed.

And then the presence vanished.

“The gods have accepted our offering of thanks! Praise be to the gods of Asgard and Alfheim!”

“Praise to the gods of Asgard and Alfheim!”

“Praise to the gods of Asgard and Alfheim!”

“Praise to the gods of Asgard and Alfheim!”

Three times everyone chanted, and then Thorve held up her hand.

She turned, fixing her eyes upon Einar, smiling as she did.

“Einar Sibbison! Viking! Thegn! Touched by Odin and our Leader!”

“Einar! Einar! Einar!”

The gathering of Vikings roared as they cheered his name, grabbing him and yanking him off his feet.

Slaps, hugs and even a few kisses came as they celebrated what they had just experienced.  

After a while and once everyone had their turn to tell him thank you, Einar raised his hand and quieted them all.

“Vikings and warriors.  We owe the gods everything and so we try everyday to prove to them we are worthy of their love and power.  I promised you that we would grow stronger and do the impossible and yet never would I have imagined the gods being so kind as to give the gift they did.”

Murmurs and nods came as he gazed upon them all, taking a moment before speaking again.

“Each of you are here because Odin wills it.  Every worker, every cook, every warrior. We won last night because all of us played our part.  Some brought fire, others brought shields and weapons, even one brought a cask to help provide the break we needed.”

Some small cheers and gentle shoves were given to the Viking who had done that task.  Her face was red but she beamed with joy at the acknowledgement.

“I cannot promise we won’t die.  I will not promise that we won’t fail. But what I will promise is that our names will never be forgotten!”

Roars and cheers came as Einar pumped his fist in the air a few times.

“Settle down… one last thing and then we must prepare to take all this to the road and then decide the next step to take.”

Clearing his throat, Einar pointed at Varitan and Lyeneru who stood a little bit apart from the others.

“We are the guests of these two. They have fought beside us, bled with us and felt the love of the gods like we have.  Let it be known that any Viking you meet and tell this moment to, do not ever fail to mention the names of our brother and sister!”

Both elves blushed as people swarmed them and gave them their thanks.

As he motioned for everyone to return to their duties, Thorodd came close, pulling Einar away from the others.

“We’ll need to talk later in private but…” The large man swallowed, coughing once to clear his throat. “I’m not certain you know how much that boon means to some like me… actually to all of us except you three.  Some of us were at our limits… Thorleif… one more death and he would have probably had to leave us.  Three of his runes were about to break… now… well don’t go picking a fight with him because if he's anything like I remember when he started, he won’t be an easy one to beat.”

Glancing at the bald headed viking, the man wore a smile. For so long he was the quiet one, never talking unless needed and somber.  Now he looked like a new man.

“Tell me about our supplies.  What is our plan?”

“Well, while you were sleeping, we have been carting off as many of the corpses we can to the road.  We’ll move the rest there and expect a cart to arrive today.  

I’m sending three men back to the city with Varitan.  They’re going to ride non stop and get fresh horses.  It should take them three days as they are going to depart now.  All we need are shields.  Varitan will also have two carts coming instead of just one as we’ll have to leave some of the corpses on the road.

“That will leave us here for three days with three less warriors and one less elf.  Food and water wise we are fine.  Osvif is frustrated as we have used most of his supplies these last four days.  You do realize how much stuff he likes to bring?”

“And we all saw the results of his preparation,” Einar replied with a grin. “So three days of resting or what?”

Frowning, Thorodd shook his head.

“I wish… no we’ll scout during the days, making sure we don’t harvest anymore of this wood.  Not that Osvif believes there can be too many left, it would appear as long as we don’t disrupt the trees too much, we shouldn’t be attacked by those things.  Besides, we'll stay on the road.”

“So we start scouting for the trolls?”

“Aye.  Varitan and Lyeneru both have an idea where it is.  Most likely it's further in the woods than we will go but we can also find out what else is out there.”

Nodding, Einar watched as the camp was already further along in their preparations to leave than he had expected.

“I guess this just proves how valuable you are as my next in command.”

“You realize I dislike being in charge? If something bad happens it’s almost always going to fall on me.”

Laughing, Einar gave him a slap on the back and then began moving to help the others.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

***

Resting there for a moment, Einar saw the notification he had been waiting to read.

[ Rune Level Increased ]

[ Healing of the Gods Ability Granted ]

[ This ability has a three-day cooldown and provides the Viking with 100x the normal regeneration rate for five minutes of both health and Wyrd.  If unconscious the ability will activate on its own if ready to use. ]

One hundred times the normal rate? Just how fast is that?

He tried to consider the implications of such a healing boon.  

I could literally not run out of Wyrd but what would the health side be?

Knowing limbs couldn’t be regrown as one didn’t normally heal that kind of injury the other problem was how long to heal a broken bone?

Some might heal faster… others might take longer… still it would appear to keep one from dying after a battle versus one where a creature kills you in a single strike.

Considering the gift he had been given, Einar smiled and closed his eyes, glad to get a small nap in before he had to lead once more.

***

Studying the map Varitan left him, Einar considered the plan for tomorrow.

“You’re certain there are other creatures in the forest? Even though we saw the number of dae thlibs that we did?”

“Do the forests outside your barriers only have one monster that lives in them?”

Shaking his head, he sighed.

“No… I see your point.  Which makes me wonder what could live in a forest filled with that many of those creatures.  I’m assuming the troll we’re searching for would be able to deal with them.”

Narrowing her eyes, their elf ranger cocked her head some.

“Are your trolls not dangerous in your realm?”

“Yeah, I mean they’re eight to maybe twelve feet tall and–”

“Eight to twelve feet! Those are babies here!”

The way Lyeneru slapped the small table and how loud she shouted gained the attention of those who were nearby.

“Just how big are we talking?”

“Fifteen to twenty feet.”

Einar coughed and shook his head.

“That’s a little bigger than I thought it would be.  We’re going to have to change a few things if that’s the case.”

“Which is why Varitan said to come here and fight this one.  There are a few packs of two or three and no one ventures into those areas anymore.”

The thought of three trolls that size left a lot to be desired and wasn’t anything he wanted to deal with for a long time.

“Fine, we’ll scout, see what all is out there and then prepare for the troll once the others return with supplies.  Anything else?”

“Just one thing… Did you mean what you said earlier today? About us being brothers and sisters?”

Tapping the bracelet on his wrist, Einar nodded.  

“I never had a blood brother or sister but I have a lot of those who I call brother now because they fight alongside me.  You and Varitan did just that last night and no one needed to tell me who threw that spear.”

Her face turned red and she grinned before shrugging.

“It was just hovering there, begging to have something sticking in it.”

“You changed that battle in a moment.  With it blinded, it fell under the assault of everyone there.  I’d trust you with my life.  That’s something I do with my family.”

Einar watched as she scrunched her eyebrows.

“Is that a problem?”

“No… family with elves is different.  There are those who like Varitan who have a sibling.  We aren’t born like you.  Yet sometimes the elders who are responsible for children give a pair of adults a child. They claim Freyr selected them.  Even less often a second one is given but it does happen. Those are very close bonds in our realm.  Each elf if they are honest wishes for such a thing.  It is almost as close of a relationship as one you would consider like marriage.  We find an elf, often after a hundred years, who we like and after a decade or so bind ourselves to the other.

“I won’t bore you with our history on this right now but know that not every choice is accepted by one's parents.  Even though they aren’t your blood parents, it is hard to disappoint one who raised you for so long.”

“Trust me, I understand that pressure.  I would like to say that I’m one who knows exactly how much it hurts to have a bad relationship with one's parents. Knowing they won’t even see you rather than admit you’re able to make life decisions for yourself is heartbreaking.”

Lyeneru started to chuckle and then began to laugh.

Staring at her and not hiding his confusion, Einar waited till she settled down, wiping a few tears away.

“Perhaps you really are family.  You sound just like an elf would.”

Both of them laughed, grateful for a night where no one expected to be overrun by sap and blood sucking monsters.