“We’re finally at Itil boys.” Gustave’s voice travelled across the skies and reached all twelve ships.
Great stone walls stood tall in front of indomitable clouds. Above these pillars of wealth, great stone homes rose three stories high. All of which was domineered over by a great castle. A bastion of hope and prosperity for the men and women who strode along the roads with all manner of goods.
As we approached the docks, a small vessel sped towards us and hugged my boat’s hull. A man equipped with a recurve bow on his back and a small spear on his waist asked, “What is your business here?”
“Trading. We’ve brought goods from all the way up the source of the Itil River.” I answered.
“What kind of goods, and have you already been here?”
“Yes, I’ve come here six times in the past two decades, so I know how things function. And for the goods, I’ve brought silverware, gold, furs, clothes, and slaves.”
The man gave a quick once-over the twelve ships which followed close behind. “Unfortunately, the docks aren’t equipped to receive this many ships; however, I assume that those three in the middle are the ones carrying the cargo.”
I reflexively looked back. “Yes, they are,” I answered with slight displease at whatever was approaching.
“Then I’ll give you permission to dock those three.”
Thankfully, it wasn’t anything much. I took out a gold coin in my pocket I had saved for moments like these. “If you’d be so kind as to let my ship dock as well then, I would greatly appreciate it.”
The man took the coin from my hand without a second of hesitation. “Very well. Have a profitable stay.”
I told the remaining longships to go find a safe shore to wait at and docked at the port.
Soon enough port workers helped unload the cargo and another man with a scroll nailed to a piece of wood came up to me. “Are you the leader of this merchant group?”
I nodded.
“These are the rates for depots at this moment.” He turned the piece of wood in my direction.
1 storage depot:
* 1 week, 30 gold coins
* 2 weeks, 45 gold coins
*To rent an additional depot will cost you a fix rate of 15 gold coins per week.
“Wasn’t it twenty gold coins two years ago?”
The man turned the wooden plank back around and broke his eye contact with me. “That was two years ago. Now it is today. You can leave in the next hour if the price isn’t to your liking.”
Well, complaining to this man wouldn’t do any good. And considering the arms production in that village something must be brewing. Anyhow, it should be fine, especially since we had only brought small but high-value items. “I’ll only need one depot for two weeks.” But since these were high value items, it should also take a bit longer to sell them. “Hey Gorm, bring me over forty-five gold coins.” The man who oversaw finances ran off into the hall and came back with a small wooden box filled with coins.
I handed it to the dock worker who piled the coins on a small wooden table. The payment confirmed, he stored the coins back in the box and left, not forgetting to give us a piece of wood, with the number eight carved in.
For the rest of the day, we set our inventory straight, counted our goods, and divided the tasks we’d need to complete. I would oversee the selling of slaves as I knew the slave dealer from way back.
As the night drew near, the men and I found an inn where to stay, they served us warm food and finally I went to sleep in my private room, however, as I lay in bed and looked up to the wooden frame above, I noticed that Aidar was nowhere to be seen. Well, it was weird that such a mysterious being followed me for so long. Perhaps he just wanted to explore town. After all it seemed like his first time on our plane of existence. Perhaps he was also upset that we didn’t let him join that first raid. He disappeared for a while after that day and although he had always been quiet, the air around him changed when he returned. And in the second raid he went on a rampage, sucking dry all the women and children. No doubt that was his vengeance for leaving him out the other day. Well, at least nothing bad happened to us. Just meeting him was a great privilege any Norse warrior would cherish for the rest of their life and would sing about in the halls of Valhalla.
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#
“You did well,” said my father as he sat atop the highest tower of the castle in the centre of Itil.
I didn’t know how to respond.
My father noticed my dejected look. He took in a deep breath and let his back rest on the tower’s battlement. “I know it was long.” He shook his head. “No, no, I know it wasn’t that. I don’t know why you’ve always had an aversion to drinking blood. Perhaps a curse or a disease, hopefully the patriarch can find a cure; however, you’ve done well. At least now you understand that humans are much worse than us. Now you should see, with those two mate eyes of yours, that humans are barbarians. Now you should understand with that absent-minded brain of yours that perishing to our fangs is sometimes much better than living in this unforgiving world.”
I still couldn’t answer. Although a while had gone by since then and I had accepted the events, I still hadn’t accepted myself and so I couldn’t respond in fear the words I would utter wouldn’t be mine.
“Anyhow,” said my father. “It’s time for your fourth trial. Well, since you travelled with raiders it should be rather easy. You just have to go into town and understand how humans find food in cities, how humans work together and look over themselves, and how they control and judge their own. Don’t take too long, a week or two should be enough, I’ll be waiting here.”
Yes, this wouldn’t take too long. I wanted to go hide away in the patriarch’s church or whatever they called his residence. “Humans separate their tasks. Some go out to hunt, others make clothes, or build homes. They assign value to money which is normally precious stones to trade these goods and services. They live in large familial structures, clans’ systems, or larger groups overlooked by states or strongmen. And to judge and control their own they use concepts such as laws or social taboos, which are enforced by family, clans, the state, or strongmen.”
My father’s eyes widened for half a second. “Well, it seems you aren’t completely lost. Hopefully, your new insight in humans is acknowledged by the patriarch and the vampiric fire.” Father got up and dusted his back. “Then let’s move on to the fifth trial.” He walked onto the battlements. "You see over there," he pointed to something in the distance.
I was still seated so I couldn’t see anything. “That’s where the leader of the raiders is currently staying. Kill him.”
My father turned his head and stared into my eyes, perhaps he thought that one like I, who couldn’t bear the sight of blood would have grown attached to a caregiver. However, it seemed that no one in this era understood me. From Ari and the Vikings who thought I wished to kill the women myself, to my father who thought I would come to care for a killer, rapist, and pillager. Their senses were skewed beyond reason.
“Yes, I’ll do it,” I answered. I just needed to be quick. Quick as a falling star.
#
The night here in Itil wasn’t too cold. Yes, rolling winds descended from the north; however, the Khazar Sea also brought warmth. And so, even at night people could be seen strutting along the dimly lit roads.
I flew above the inn’s roof. Unfortunately, here the roofs were not made of strung together hay but ceramic or mud tiles. As such I couldn’t bore holes into buildings but had to look through each and every window. It took me ten minutes to find the one where Ari slept. His snores made his bed rumble and every so often his breath stopped. Well, only suffering from sleep apnea and muscle hypertrophy didn’t sound so bad for the Early Middle Ages.
I turned back into my human form and sat next to Ari. There, on hay, moonlight shined on his face and made his brownish-blond hair a silvery silver.
He looked dead.
Blood flowed from his neck and painted the hay red. I couldn’t drink his blood. It made my stomach feel light, and my throat heavy. I flew out the window and back to my father.
“It’s done,” I said.
My father stared into my eyes once again. I wondered if he could tell when I lied or not; however, I had never lied to him, or to anyone else in this life. After all, why lie if you had nothing to gain and the only thing I had to hide; my reincarnation wasn’t something to ever cross his mind. I wasn’t making great strides in science or proclaiming lost sayings and knowledge. No, that was for later. For now, I puked up blood. Anyhow, I didn’t know where he found this baseless confidence of his.
“Then we can leave. See it wasn’t long, you only have three trials before your consecration by the patriarch.”
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“South.” He transformed into a bat and flew off into the starry skies above.