It was night and the sea was calm . A large medieval ship full of men and women of all ages slept . They were so crowded that some of them slept on the cold hard floor. Only the chieftain and his 7 year old son were awake.

The chieftain was a middle aged man with a wise face . He had lived and he had learnt well from his mistakes. He had tan skin with blue eyes and a beard that seemed to be greying . He had an athletic physique always ready for battle. 

His son however was an anomaly . He had red glowing eyes and a face full of mischief and curiosity. He had inherited some of his fathers and mother attributes all except one , the eyes. Despite his anomaly the village welcomed him and even praised him 

Eívarr Einrádi 

It meant Eternal One . A child born to live and never die . A child who would never see death. The gods own chosen son . The villagers dubbed him as their Eternal Warrior . 

The chief controlled the ship while constantly answering his son . 

" When do you think we will arrive father ?" The child asked. 

Despite being asked them same question over the past week , the chieftain replied with patience.

" When the gods will it " That was always his response. 

" When we arrive what will we do ? Do you think we will meet new people ? Do you think those bloodsuckers will attack us again ?" The kid asked quickly . 

His father sensed some fear when he asked about the Class D dentoris subclass Vampires. He put on a confident facade.

" We will rebuild our village and then we will expand. It is inevitable we will meet new people and perhaps you as the son of mine will marry one of their beautiful daughters to unite us. When we are one ..... "

" our strength is undeniable " His son finished the quote. 

The chieftain smiled and ruffled his messy hair making the child giggle slightly .

" That is right . When we unite with the people there , we shall be strong perhaps strong enough to defeat the vampires. " The chieftain consoled his son. 

The two were quiet as the ship rocked back and forth . The child too could sense the apprehension on his father. The vampires has taken a lot from them and among what was lost was his elder brother and the chieftain's first son .

The child skillfully changed the narrative .

" I heard that the land of Umob is far warmer and they only experience winters on certain seasons " He said in wonder as his mind tried to picture such an absurd scene . Where he came from the snow was part of them with only a 2 months of no snow. So the thought of no snow for most of the year was weird for him to comprehend .

" We shall see it for ourselves " The father said with a chuckle. 

" And uncle also told me that some of the inhabitants there have skin as white as snow . Could it be true father , skin as white as snow ?" The child asked. All his life he had met only olive and dark-skinned people all his life. Even the Vampires in their former region had skin as dark as them . 

The father laughed instead. 

" Ragnar , once we get there you shall see for yourself . " The chieftain's voice was calm and mysterious. It only added questions to the young lads mind.

Ragnar stopped with his questions , He instead asked his father to go for a walk. 

" Can I go to see in front father ?" The young boy asked.

" Go but be careful " 

Ragnar ran out. He carefully avoided the sleeping men on the floor until he reached in front. 

He looked down . He liked seeing the ship hit the waves. It calmed him . It made him forget for a moment of Espha , the land he had known , the land full of snow and blood and the land his brother breathed his last .

He looked ahead with longing and that was when he noticed something

It was just the sea ... but something caught his sight far ahead. 

" Land !!! Its land ! " He screamed out in excitement as his little finger pointed ahead.

One of the men sleeping next to him groaned .

" Quiet down kid. "

" Its land ! " 

The man stood up and looked far ahead and indeed saw land. 

" By the gods , it really is land " He quickly headed up to the lookout and took out a horn. 

He blew the horn and almost everyone woke up. 

" THE GODS HAVE FAVOURED US !! LAND IS IN OUR SIGHTS !! " He shouted. 

Everyone who heard it woke up and rushed ahead . They clamored infront with some of them crowding the lookout. 

Whispers were heard as they murmured of the land in front. 

" By the gods it really is Umob. "

" We have arrived "

" Finally "

" Set full sail to the land !! " The chieftain shouted and everyone excitedly gathered into position .

Excitement was all over the place and as the land neared , the people's excitement increased. They were finally there. They were closing in on a large land and their destination was the lash green forest .

The ship scraped against the shore and the villagers took out their belongings and quickly got out of the ship they had dreaded for months. The moment most of the villagers feet touched the ground they exclaimed with joy , kids ran around in ecstasy .

The lands were unfamiliar yet at the moment a very welcoming sight. The green trees , the wild flowers and the noise of birds were all things the villagers from the youngest to the oldest noticed with a lot of curiosity . The warm weather too was weird yet very welcoming too the villagers. Perhaps they would not need to where those heavy attires. The smell too was great . The smell of the seas the villagers had mostly known was reduced and replaced by the smell of wild flowers , trees and humus.

Their marvel soon ended when the booming voice of the chief told them to go set up their tents for the night.

" Go boy , help you mother and sister with the tents " The chieftain commanded .

" Yes father "

Ragnar's mother was tall yet still shorter than her husband . She had the physique of a warrior and the eyes of one who has fought far too many battles. Yet in front of her kids , this fierce warrior was replaced with a gentle soul. She had black eyes and long braided hair. 

Ragnar's sister was a year younger than him . She heavily resembled him except for her eye colour that was blue and the girlish charm. She was a child that depended heavily on her brother. Anything that he did she was bound to do .

The trio set up the tent or rather Ragnar's mother Hilda did. Ragnar spent more time taking care of his little sister so that she does not wonder off. Skadi was curious girl much like her brother but whereas Ragnar could wait till he satisfied his curiosity , Skadi let it get the better of her at the worst of moments. 

Once the tent was finished , the trio heard the sound of a horn .

" Come on children , it is time " She said as she held the two's arms and headed straight to the chieftain for he had called.

Everyone soon arrived shortly after the trio . They knew that this was no mere meeting , they knew the gods were involved and to escape the meeting was to disrespect the gods. 

Once everyone had gathered 

" The gods have been merciful to us and to not repay them will be heresy . Let us give offering to our gods !!" The chieftain boomed and the trees around them shook . The crowd was momentarily silent admiring the power behind those words. 

" Let us give offerings to our gods " The villagers said in unison and then repeated it until it became a chant.

This soon became a chant as an old man with whitened eyes slowly walked in front of the group with a large bowl and a knife . He placed the bowl on the ground and the villager stopped chanting. 

Hilda and her children were behind the group . Skadi shook once she saw the knife and Ragnar held her to comfort her. 

" Do not worry , I am here sister " He said. Skadi did not say anything but bury herself further into Ragnar's embrace.

The old man raised the knife to the skies with his feeble hands. 

" Praise the Thalgryn , the god of storms for granting us safe passage on his domain . Praise the goddess Eryssael for showing as the way to these lands . Praise the god Vorukaal for granting us the power to converse and offer our fealty to other gods. " The old man said.

" Praise them , praise them " All the villagers said in unison .

" And now for the offering. " The old man shouted . He lowered his knife to his palm and made a quick motion cutting his palm . Blood dripped to the bowl coating it with his blood. 

Everyone woke up , every family brandished their own knives. A young man walked to the bowl and cut his palm . The blood dripped to the bowl mixing with the old mans. 

" For the gods " He said. 

Another followed him and soon all the villagers from the babies to the old man poured their blood into the bowl. 

Finally it was the chieftains family , The Olsens. 

Hilda was the first . She cut her palm and let her blood drip into the bowl . 

" For the gods " She said. 

Ragnar was next .

He bravely slid the knife to his palm , a sharp pain assaulted him but he gritted his teeth and let his blood drip into the bowl.

" For the gods "

Finally it was Skadi's turn . She was hesitant and afraid. Ragnar reached to her and embraced her with a side hug .

" Look away sister " He whispered. 

Hilda and The chieftain watched with pride as their son took control of the situation .

Ragnar raised Skadi's little arm and cut her palm . He felt her jerk slightly in his embrace.

" For the gods " He said on behalf of Skadi.

After that he released Skadi who looked at her palm with pain etched on her young face.

Hilda took control as she held Skadi's palm . She put her palm next to Skadi. 

" Remember this pain child and embrace it for this world is harsh and cruel " Hilda advised. Skadi bit her lip trying to not let pain control her. She had to act tough . Ragnar watched in slight amusement at her sister. She looked like she was about to cry but her determined gaze was truly a rare sight

Hilda smiled.

This was a culture that raised warriors both male or female and pain was inevitable in a warriors life. 

" Now to offer our sacrifice " The old priest's voice boomed. 

He raised the blood far up high for all to see and then lowered it to the ground . The blood poured to the ground and then it slowly moved to form a circled on the ground. The blood gave a low glow and those with the power to sense energy could feel the ground feel and take the energy of the villagers.