Chapter 10
Gudsdyrkan
Strength is life, for the strong have the right to rule.
Honour is life, for with no honour on may as well be dead.
Loyalty is life, for without one's clan one has no purpose.
Death is life, one should die as they have lived.
The wind was cold and rough, water smashed against the rocks and cliffs.
Sebastian and Nodi were on their way to Ireland.
Nodi was curled up in Sebastian his arms as cat.
She looked around curious, at the large rocks, the cold water.
The air was fresh and clean, birds were flying around, they got lifted by the wind and barely needed to flap their wings.
As the boat came closer to land, small castles could be seen, they still looked new as if they were build not long ago.
Everywhere was bright green grass, large trees were like decoration for the castle.
Sebastian thanked the captain and payed him his fair deal.
He stepped of the boat still holding Nodi in his arms.
He looked up at the view before him, he thought it looked like a painting.
It was so perfect, he wasn't able to find a flaw in the entire view, everything mixed in together like a puzzle.
He smiled and started following a path that led from the beach to a castle nearby.
He heard music and voices from far away, he looked down at Nodi for a moment.
Nodi was sleeping as her ears twitched slightly.
Sebastian chuckled and walked closer to the castle, he looked up at the large walls, and the big iron gate.
A soldier was standing on top of the wall, he looked down at Sebastian and Nodi 'Who goes there?' he asked raising his voice.
Other soldiers looked up and grabbed a hold of their weapons.
Sebastian smiled as kindly as he could 'Please men, I mean no harm, we come from England, the country across the sea' he said pointing to the horizon.
The soldier raised his eyebrow 'We? Who is we, I only see you' he said confused while looking around.
Sebastian looked at Nodi in his arms, he looked up back to the soldier and smiled again 'Me and my sister, she's still at the beach'.
The soldier nodded softly and looked over his shoulder, he shouted something Sebastian could not understand.
After a few seconds the gate opened.
Sebastian felt relieved and walked in, inside he was greeted by many people, soldiers, people who had their houses inside the walls, and children.
It looked like a small village surrounded by large stone walls.
The kids jumped up at him and looked at Nodi who was waking up cause of all the noise.
She yawned and looked at the children meowing softly.
The children looked at her with large eyes 'Can we pat your cat sir?' a little girl asked.
Nodi meowed again, she moved around in Sebastian's arms as a sign he had to put her down.
Sebastian gave her a little kiss on her head and placed her down on the ground.
The kids kneeled down next to her as they patted and played with Nodi, Nodi loved it and started purring the moment they patted her.
She laid down on her back and pawed at the little bird feathers they kept in front of her.
Sebastian smiled as the soldier which was standing on the wall came towards him 'Hello sir, may we know your name?'.
Sebastian nodded 'Ofcourse, my name is Sebastian, and my sister is called Nodi, we come from England, a little village called Tintern'.
The soldier bowed slightly 'You don't look poor, why want to stay here instead of a nice hostel?'.
Sebastian smiled 'Well, my sister and I are already used to all the fancy, expensive hostels, we'd rather be with nice people who make it fun to be…alive, instead of making everything easy with money'.
The soldier laughed 'I think people will like you here, no one really has money, but the point you chose for this instead of wealth, will make people look up to you'.
'That's nice to hear, I'm sorry to ask but…do you maybe have some work to? I'd love to help around' Sebastian said smiling brighter.
The soldier laughed again 'Ofcourse we do, we can always use more men, I'll send you to the Lord of this castle, he'll make sure you'll get to do what fits you best'.
Sebastian bowed slightly 'Thank you very much' he looked at Nodi who was having a blast playing with the kids, he didn't want to take her along and make it boring if she could have fun here.
He kneeled down and patted her belly 'I'll be right back' Sebastian said and stood up as Nodi meowed.
He grinned and followed the soldier who led him to the Lord of the castle.
Sebastian looked around as he was walking, large flags were waving in the wind, a shield was hanging above the door of the castle.
When they walked inside the air was chilly and Sebastian started feeling a bit cold, which is surprising for him.
Even though there were loads of candles burning, it wasn't enough to keep the castle warm.
The windows were big and open and let in a lot of natural light.
He saw big paintings and art hanging on the walls.
The soldier led him through several rooms, on bigger and more fancy than the other.
More colours popped up as they got close to the Lords room.
Blue, red, green, brown, most were natural colours which you could easily find while taking a small walk around the forest.
The soldier opened a large door and walked inside 'My lord, a new visitor' he said and bowed, he left and closed the door behind him.
The lord looked up, he stood up from his chair and turned around.
Unlike his large muscular build, his face looked sweet, his eyes looked caring and his smile was kind.
Sebastian bowed out of respect, when he stood straight the Lord was right infront of him.
'Hello stranger, I'm the lord of this house, Lord Aengus McGuinness, but everyone calls me Aengus' he said smiling and shaking Sebastian his hand.
Sebastian smiled 'They do, I mean…you are their lord. Can they just call you by your first name?'.
Aengus laughed loudly 'Well stranger, I'm not only their lord, but I'm also their friend. If my people don't like me they will never give me their respect'.
Sebastian nodded 'I understand, it's very smart my lord Aengus, my name is Sebastian and I came here with my sister Nodi, she is still outside, we come from well…everywhere, we are originally from England but we've been to China, Japan and crossed many sees'.
Aengus looked at Sebastian and smiled 'Please go get your sister, you will be eating with me and my wife today, I can't wait to hear your stories!' he said exited.
Sebastian nodded 'Well of course, I'll go get her this instant' he said while bowing, he turned around and walked outside, he picked up Nodi who was still playing with the kids outside.
The kids looked at Sebastian sad 'Awh please don't take her away mister'.
Sebastian smiled 'Don't worry I'll bring her back then you can play with her again'.
The kids cheered and patted Nodi one last time. Sebastian walked with her back inside the castle.
He placed her on the ground and the black smoke surrounded her silently.
Only a few seconds later Nodi stood in front of him in her human form, she was wearing a plain dress and her hair tied up.
Sebastian looked at her and took her by her arm 'Let's go'.
Nodi looked at him confused a bit resisting 'uhm…where exactly?' she asked looking at him.
'Oh ofcourse I didn't tell yet, I met the Lord of this castle and he liked to dine with us, I told him where we have gone and he wanted to hear our stories' Sebastian explained as he kept walking.
Nodi tilted her head 'Is that smart to say? I mean, how will you tell him we did that in…well in the time we are realistically alive, you can't just say to him "oh hello, we have been living for 9 centuries now, nice to meet you" now can you'.
'Well no ofcourse not, and I won't…don't worry that much, have I ever failed?' Sebastian asked her as he looked at her blue eyes.
Nodi grinned and looked away 'No…never' she admitted while walking along.
A servant was waiting for them and led them to the dining room, Aengus was already sitting at the table with his wife next to him.
Nodi and Sebastian bowed and sat down across from them.
Aengus his wife was very beautiful, she wasn't really that young anymore but she had a very elegant face, she was a redhead and had bright green eyes, she looked very motherly and kind.
She looked at Nodi and smiled 'Are you sure you are his sister? You two look very close, I'd mistake you for a couple' she said softly.
Nodi blushed and giggled 'Many people do milady, luckily they are wrong, I love my brother too death but that's a bit too much'.
The lady introduced herself 'I'm Merina, the woman of this castle, Aengus told me you have travelled a lot? That makes me very curious, you still look so young' she said while looking at Sebastian and Nodi interested.
Sebastian nodded 'Yes milady we have travelled to Asia not long ago, we have seen China and their neighbour country Japan. They are very different even though they are so close'.
Aengus who was loudly eating a from a large chicken wing looked up 'What makes them so different then?' he asked still with his mouth full.
Merina rolled her eyes looking at him.
Nodi chuckled looking at Aengus, as Sebastian answered his question 'Well their food is very different in taste, also the fighting in China is more about techniques, and in Japan they are more about balance, without balance the techniques will be useless'.
Aengus looked at Merina '…maybe…that could help us' he said and put the food down on his plate.
Nodi looked at him 'Why that milord? Is there a fight going on?' she asked out of curiosity as she took a bite of her food.
Aengus gave a small nod, he wiped off his hands and mouth and leaned over the table a bit 'We have heard from various houses and castles that Vikings have started to invade our country, we received a letter it started with Dublin, a very important city to us. It'll only be a small time till they arrive here, that is why we moved everyone behind the walls' he explained as clear as possible.
Marina gave a nod as agreement 'The Vikings are smart, but also strong, they don't really have a clear plan…they just do what they feel like is best at the moment. For them it's no problem, but for us…we don't know when they'll hit the castle'.
Sebastian nodded 'I understand your problem, but we can't help, I'm sure you want to defend your castle, but the combat we learned is only good for one on one combat, not for entire armies, also I don't think it will help if the Vikings do as you say, it it's only useful if you know the other army has a plan, then you can sabotage it. But if they don't have a plan, as you said milady, it won't work' he explained calmly.
'I'm afraid I'll have to agree with that, I have not had many combat training, but the balance of a one on one combat does nothing for two big armies. I wish we could help' Nodi said softly, she looked up at Aengus who looked a bit sad and disappointed.
He looked at Sebastian 'Could you help us? Maybe fight with us?' he asked carefully.
Sebastian sighed 'I'm afraid not, I understand you need more people, from what I have seen your army is not that big, but fighting I will not. I'd love to help with strategies only I'm afraid that's not my best specialty'.
Aengus gave a small nod 'I understand, I appreciate you share your knowledge with us, who knows it might help us' He said smiling
The dinner went on for quite some time, they talked about the strategies, the Vikings, and what would be best for defending the castle.
Not many days later the Vikings came into sight, they were fast and before the army was set up they stood in front of the gate.
To prevent an unnecessary fight, Aengus and the Vikings leader talked, they discussed and tried coming to an agreement.
Unfortunately they did not, Aengus had to do anything to make his army stronger, smarter and faster in such a small period of time.
They went into battle with everything they had, with the passion to defend their home, their wife's and children.
Nodi was inside with the children around her, she was reading to them and told them stories about China and Japan so they'd stay calm.
'Will we die…?' one of the kids said suddenly.
Nodi looked up and smiled 'Of course not, they will win and you will all be safe' she said softly stroking the kids hair 'Don't worry, It'll be okay'.
Luckily for them she was right. Even if only a small part of the army survived, the Vikings pulled back and the castle stayed safe in Aengus his hands.
Aengus gave a big party with a lot of beer, food and well…sex.
Nodi got pretty worked up herself, at the end of the night she was completely wasted, she was even hitting on Sebastian cause she couldn't see it was him anymore.
Sebastian found it very frustrating, he picked her up and brought her back to the house they were staying, he laid her down on the bed as he got pulled in along next to Nodi.
She cuddled up against him letting out some soft purrs. She talked in her sleep about how much she loved him, she fell asleep the instant she placed her head on his chest.
Sebastian sighed and placed his hand on her head stroking through her hair softly.
He watched her sleep until he couldn't keep his eyes open himself, he hugged into Nodi and fell asleep along with her.
HiHi ^0^ This chapter came up pretty fast didn't it?
I actually don't know why but atleast it isn't 4 weeks XD My summer vacation has almost started, although I don't need to go to school anymore only two small days which is for closing the year, but that's it.
Now It's sleeping out this week and next week I start with work for a month, then 2 weeks free for myself and then one last week of work, and finally the last weekend of August the Anime convention I go to will start again (I can't wait till my cosplays are done!)
This chapter has been mostly about Ireland and Vikings cause I myself find Vikings really cool, this Century the vikings attacked Ireland and some things with religion but I am not really familiar in that section…well…except Satanism…but that's just me…hehehe, so I just kept it with the vikins. Also the name of the chapter means religion in Swedish (got this from translator, so please correct me if i'm wrong).
But eitherwaaaay, I hope you liked this chapter, it's a bit longer than normal…but I just didn't notice until I was already at a 1000 words XD so yeah…bit longer.
Still I hope you liked it, please review and tell me what you think ^-^