The Sage of Einar

On the main ship, Oleg was kneeling while he was praying at the small altar on the ship. Beside him were two priests who were doing their daily prayers.

Gautier just looked at them in silence before shaking his head and leaving the altar of the ship, as he wanted to see how they were moving through the great river that would take them north.

After climbing some wooden stairs, the sunlight dazzled him a bit so he used his hand to cover his face.

When he was fully out, he was able to see the beautiful landscape around him.

Beautiful trees and from time to time the occasional Viking ship in the river as well as some remnants of villages that were burned at the time.

But they already had weeds growing over them, just giving the place a calm and dangerous appearance.

Although in spite of all that the atmosphere was too calm because the birds sang and the air created a sensation of tranquility.

At the bow of the ship, Gautier could see Guido, who was leaning against the wooden railings, so the duke decided to walk towards the former Praetorian guard.

Upon arrival, he patted her on the shoulder and looked at the beautiful river they were running.

"How long do you think it will be before we can reach the North Sea, where all the pagan tribes are supposed to be?"

Guido turned his head and looked at the duke quite wearily "I have no idea, but from the large number of Viking ships that are beginning to see.

As also the low temperatures, I am sure that we are close, although I could be wrong since the farthest north I ever traveled was with the Emperor Charlemagne to one of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

In that place we only stayed a few days, because the duke who ruled the area said that he had in his possession a sacred relic.

Although I do not know what relic it was or why it caught the emperor's attention, that was the farthest north I have been, of course, without taking into account the wall of the pagans. "

Gautier scratched his head "According to Oleg we should go out into a kind of lake from where we can reach the sea. After this, we would have to go through the true pagan nucleus.

It doesn't sound like something I'd like to do but I guess we don't have a choice; but I want to know what are doing the princess right now. "

Adelaide sneezed as she looked at the burning city below the tower they had just conquered.

"With this city your end has come, Duke Frederick, but how much time and blood do we have to free in order to win?

Why didn't they just give up and accept their punishment for traitors, the same way they decided to use their sword to destroy the empire.

You know I hate using brute force against children and you made me do it. You just had to open the doors and surrender.

But your damn pride believed that they could win and now, you are nothing more than a bundle of worms that I had to kill with my own hands, including your children. "

Adelaide lowered her head and sighed before turning it so she could see the corpses of Duke Frederick and his family, which were swaying through the air as they were all hanging.

"Now you do not have any city or fief that belongs to you, you will be forgotten, and this place abandoned forever.

But that is a price you had to pay for the betrayal you committed, only lives your son who like a rat does not stop attacking our supply lines. "

Adelaide stood up and pointed to the corpse of the Duke "Although unfortunately your stupid efforts will not last long, you can fight us but your men.

Haha, only a few gold coins were enough for them to agree to kill your son. At that moment, I will bring him to this place to rot with you.

You need to know that who kills with iron with iron dies. I hope that in hell you will find the ambition you were looking for. "

On the ship after a few days Oleg rang the emergency bell, so Gauiter got up from his bed quickly and took his sword.

When he came out on the deck of the ship, he felt a horrible cold in his body, although there was no snow, the air was too cold.

So, making a face of discomfort, he continued walking and came to where Oleg was.

"Where are the enemies, why did you ring the emergency bell?"

Oleg smiled at the duke's question, "We are on enemy land, we have just left the lake and we are officially at sea.

In this place of death lurks everywhere. Even a fleet like ours can be completely destroyed by sneak attacks.

From this moment on we must all be awake and maintain an always active profile, even more so when we reach the northwest pass.

Well, in that place is a series of islands where the pagan kingdom of Denmark has containment areas for any ship that enters or leaves the sea.

We may have to fight more than once, although we have enough ammunition. I don't know how constant the attacks will be.

I hope you can understand why I rang the alarm bell.

This place kills the weak and leaves no bones behind, especially since most live on the edge of death.

Too many people and not enough food are a dangerous combination. "

Gautier just sighed and put his sword in its sheath because he planned to return to his room to put on a coat because the weather was not comfortable at all.

After donning his coat and stepping out again, he could see a ship's crew start running toward the bell to report that enemies were in sight.

Seeing that, Gautier only felt a feeling of disgust because he knew that his stay in this place would not be peaceful at all.

In the sea near the great convoy of Byzantine warships, a group of Drakkars were approaching because although they did not understand why the Christians were in their lands.

For Vikings like them, there was only wealth, so they would attack those ships in order to gain the wealth they have or, failing that, a better ship.

"Sigrid, you're sure it's a good idea to attack those big ships. I think it would be better ..."

Sigrid, the leader of the Vikings, looked at his partner and shook his head "Don't say stupid things, young man. You know that we must attack those ships because we have no other choice.

This year the toll on those damn Danes was too high, so our profits were cut.

We must recover our profits by attacking these Christians so that we can put our tribe's name in a high place.

We are also more than forty Drakkars full of warriors ready to kill at any moment; they are just a group of small ships.

If we fail, nothing will happen because we will meet in the Valhalla where we belong. "

The young man only clenched his fists, as he felt those ships were too dangerous, but he didn't know why.

On the other ships of the expedition, the Byzantine soldiers loyal to Empress Irene showed only smiles as they prepared the siphons for Greek fire.

One of the highest ranking soldiers, a fallen nobleman named Nicetas, took his sword and pointed to where the Viking Drakkars were.

"This pagan scum is trying to end our lives. Let us not allow them to succeed. Our loyalty is with the family of Empress Irene.

We cannot die before we can see His Majesty Kassia, so they set those heathens on fire, let their bodies suffer in hell. "

All the soldiers shouted in unison and began to move the ships so that they could face the approaching Viking Drakkars.

When Sigrid looked at this, he could only smile, as he thought it would be a glorious confrontation where he could show his worth to the gods.

As their ships were closer and closer, the Vikings prepared their weapons for the glorious confrontation, but in just a few seconds all their preparations were useless.

Because in those ships there were dragons from which a fire started to come out, all the Vikings that were nearby began to burn because of the Greek fire.

The screams of those Vikings could be heard for miles, but unfortunately there was nothing they could do to avoid being burned.

Although most jumped into the water to try to put out the fire, it continued to burn them as they sank into the sea.

Upon seeing that scene of destruction, the Viking Drakkars, who were far away and who had not suffered from the Greek fire, turned around while asking Odin for forgiveness.

They thought they had attacked ships belonging to the kingdom of the gods because there were dragons taking care of them.

Nicetas, seeing how the Viking ships left, could only feel enormous pride as he remembered the stories about how the Muslims were expelled using Greek fire.

"Today we won a victory over the pagans, let their bodies burn for eternity in this ocean.

That will be your payment for trying to prevent us from fulfilling our mission. "