Magic

That night, Thorvald dreamed about fires. People were shouting and no one could stop it. The dream was so real and scary that he woke up in a sudden. Soon he realized that people outside were shouting; fire! He rushed out of bed and to the door. Outside, there was a farmer’s house burning to the ground. Someone shouted; there are still some people in there! But no one dared to enter. Harald came over to Thorvald. He asked; isn’t it Knut’s house? Harald nodded. They watched for a while. The parents had two kids, he added. Then Thorvald turned away. Rumors say that Knut was very sick in several ways and that he suddenly decided to end it all. Do you believe that? Certainly not, Thorvald snarled. He had to sit down to calm down. No offence, he excused. They waited a while until Thorvald said to Harald. I would like to see you and your new recruit tomorrow.

Thorvald asked the recruit the next day at the board meeting; what happened when you went to the Vanir cult yesterday? The youngster was cheerful and started telling. Well, I was very happy about being recruited and having the money. I went over to the Vanirs as told. It is a lovely place. They are so integrated in nature. Their food is good, the beverage too. It did not take long before some nice girls come over, at least when I am wealthy, he added. So I sat down was served and they started small-talking. They were very nice indeed. We must have spent two hours at least at that please, when one of them asked what my plans are. They knew I was not related to anyone, so I guess they were not surprised when I said I don’t know, and that I would like to spend some more time with them.

Come, they said and took my hands. They were singing and laughing their way into the woods. I don’t know why I was so happy, but that berry juice tasted like wine, only ten times stronger. Wait a minute, Thorvald interrupted. What do you mean about berry juice being ten times stronger than wine. Well I have heard about it, but never really believed it. Now I know, he added. It is a wonderful and tasty juice. I guess it is a mixture of strawberries, blueberries and all the sweetest berries you know. It simply makes you want more. After a glass, I was feeling happy and relaxed. Everything I saw was lovely, everything I heard was humorous and everything I thought of became clearer than before. It felt like Heaven, Asgard or whatever that place is called nowadays.

We were dancing through the woods, it was summer and everything flourished. Birds were singing, the sun stood high at the sky, and everything smelled good. Excuse me once more, Thorvald interrupted. You must know that it is getting winter. You could not have experienced such things. Harald, Thorvald said, do you trust this youngster. With my life, he answered. Don’t let me scare you, Thorvald said to the youngster and he continued: Well, I can skip the part with all those sensations. It was like a living dream though.

Finally they led me into to a small cave. It was bright and warm inside. I lay down at the fur with the girls and we were talking about anything. I do not exactly remember about what any more. He thought for a long time. But I do remember a glimpse. There was an elderly woman sitting beside me on the fur. She jumped when I saw her and ran out of the cave. The cave turned out to be cold, wet and dark. But then the beautiful dream started again. It must have lasted for hours. Anyway, I found myself awake on a bench at the eating place. I could not see the beautiful girls anywhere. I could not see my money either, he said shamefully.

That’s all right my boy, Harald said. You have done just fine. Please leave us now. But you must promises one thing. Do not tell anyone about this incident. The boy left. Thorvald asked; what do you make of this? One thing is for certain, the money is gone. Thorvald realized that this man had some humor after all. Thinking about it, being of a warrior clan had to mean certain sacrifices. One of them might be the smile. Harald said; when I think about it, certain associations appear in my mind. There are some imaginations I have made while hearing tales about distant wars. You know my clan have been warriors for centuries and have experienced the greatest wars of all. What the civilians hear is just some heroic stories to put the civilians at rest. What we are hearing is everything, and we analyze and investigate every detail in order to be better the next time.  We are talking about the worst unthinkable things humans can do to each others. That is war and that is what my clan live and die for. Understand me right, he added, our objective is to minimize wars.

Thorvald let him wait a little to continue. A battle is merely a final outcome of failed investigation and diplomacy. The scenes of soldiers fighting at a field is merely one kind of battle. That is what we are good at. But I must admit that we are not very good at other kinds of battles. It is the kind of battles when you cannot see you enemy or you do not know who they are. It is the kind of battles prior to the battles, where suddenly the leader is substituted with a madman. It is the kind of battle when good and bad is altered so swift that you do not who to fight. It is the kind of battle when you are in a spell and fight illusions. He took a pause. I think you are about to realize that this peaceful colony is in the middle of such battles and we haven’t even made a defense.

The first thought that occurred to Thorvald was, oh no, not again, not another Oluf. However, when he thought about it, Oluf was not entirely wrong. Iceland was on fire, he saw it himself. Oluf merely interpreted that reality to common terms. Thorvald had witnessed several events that could have been considering acts of war if they were not so candid. He took a good look at Harald and wondered. Is it entirely a coincident that he is here. He tells me that he is one of the finest warriors in the world. Yet he stays at this trivial colony and intent to stay. Certainly a warrior would not be expelled like Thorvald himself did from Iceland. Thorvald was beginning to believe that this journey was about much more than just staying alive. He was beginning to suspect that Harald was related to some larger organization, and that there was a Plan B, if this colony failed. He was certain now, that he had to figure out what was really going on, or else he would loose control and finally loose it all.

You tell me about battles with invincible enemies, mad leaders, altering sides and illusions. Can you please make this understandable for me? Yes I suppose some elaboration is required, although I do not quite understand it myself. You should listen more to George, I think. He seems to have some important information about what is going on in the subcultures. But let me make it clear, I do not share their religious beliefs. As a warrior I trust logic and instincts. My explanation is based on that. If you want religion, seek the religious. Fine with me, Thorvald replied; give me a logical explanation of invisibility, illusions, madmen, and alternating values.

There were some noise and shouting outside. They did not bother about petty disputes now. Well the first ingredient is drugs, Harald said. Drugs are more powerful than ale and wine. There are several kinds. Some come from mushrooms, leaves or flowers. Prepared in the right fashion it can be inhaled, smoked or drunk. Dependent on the kind of drug, it can make you emotional, strong or weak, hallucinating, sick or even dead. Remember Knut, he was drugged to illness and his farm’s soil was poisoned. Remember the recruit; he was drugged with the juice. Harald hesitated, but that is not the worst. There is something far worse going on here.

There is a kind of mental control called hypnosis. This is the hard part to believe, but listen. Some people are able to make other people enter a state of sleep, yet awake. It is like the prey is asleep while predator can talk to it or make it execute orders. Thorvald looked skeptical. In this state, it is possible for a skilled person to tap the memory by asking any question and getting true answers. For even more skilled persons, it is possible to plant memories, so the person remember things he has not even experienced. In the same way it is possible to plant sympathy or antipathy and phobia or mania. Sometimes this is mistaken for true love and hate. Remember the recruit told you that he experienced the pleasures of spring in this chilly autumn. Remember he told you about the person standing beside him and run away. Well there you have your hypnotizer.

Let’s get her, Thorvald said. No wait a minute, Harald responded. We know who it is, but unfortunately these are skilled persons that know how to respond in order to stay in power. Let me give you an example. Have Peter told you about the Whore of Babylon? Never mind his version, here is the warrior one. There was a great warrior called Alexander. He had a single task. Behead the Babylonian king and thereby conquer the empire. With great preparations, skilled warriors and genius planning, the Babylonian empire was concurred at minimal loss. Once the capital was taken, the Whore of Babylon started working. Suddenly the army was sent to a numerous pathetic wars with one single outcome, the army suffered. When the soldiers finally had enough and forced Alexander to understand that the only way was back, they were ordered through a killing desert. Once they were back they were ordered to marry Babylonians, even though they had Greek spouses. All they ever wanted was to go home to our families. Finally at his conquered thrown, Alexander was poisoned and died. The Whore of Babylon manipulated the greatest army of all time and left them to misery. Do you want names of these worshippers of the snake? There are many, such as Olympias, Cleopatra and Herodias. These names might not tell you so much, but I am certain you can add one now.

Harald made a pause. There was only one way to get rid of her. She was promised a land of her own. It was a nice land near the river Nile, close by the pyramid builders. Off she went. Peace was regained and everyone happy, they thought. There was only one catch to it all. The pyramid builders disagreed. Their tribe were captured and made thralls. There is some irony to this though, and I sometimes wonder if it was a part of the plan. But the Egyptians could not possibly know what they enslaved, the Whore of Babylon. Hell broke loose and finally they escaped. Ever since then, she has ridden any empire to get the Promised Land. Now after a thousand year I wonder if she ever will settle with the sorry truth. She is forever screwed herself.

The board did not seem to be much interested in Harald’s stories about some distant hex. Harald looked them over and understood that he had to release the greatest embarrassment of his kind. He hesitated, looked down and said, I suppose you all have heard of the attempt to invade Scotland. The board caught interest. He looked up with anger in his eyes. The whore blew it, he roared. He waited a little and then told the story as he had heard it. The Scots and the Danes had friendly relations for a long time. Especially the Danes flourished and expanded. At a point of time the Danes wanted a part of the Scotland to build a trade colony there. The negotiations went fine for a while until it suddenly stopped. Instead of diplomatic dialog, insults were received. Instead of precious gifts, disgusting objects were received. In the end, the brave Danes understood that the times of fine diplomacy was over, and that it was time to dig up the axe of war. A thousand warriors in forty ships sailed over to Scotland. At land, a patrol of ten scouts were sent to in front of the army, when heading for the highlands. The patrol returned every evening and reported. However, one evening they did not return. Instead, in the night they could hear the most dreadful music coming from the castle, which was at the top of the hill by a great lake. The warriors were getting worried.

In the morning, ten large women seemed to come down the hillside. The warriors were puzzled and not at guard. However, at close range, they were recognized. The men saw that their scouts were dressed up as women and acted lovesick. At first, the warriors were joking about it, but soon they had enough of the sexual insults. Some men were actually about to be raped. Then they were getting violent. The killing started. The scouts did not hesitate to kill the warriors even thought the warriors did not want to kill their friends at first. The slaughter ended with a hundred to ten. The men were confused and could not understand what kind of spell was able to turn men into lovesick and violent hags. That night, the awful music played again. The men scared themselves even more about speculation of Asgard Reia, the parade of the dreadful dead ones.

Suddenly, a line of hundreds of men in drag appeared at the top of the hillside. They appeared merely as shadows because of the evening light. However, the Danes knew very well what they looked like, and what their intentions were. The officers tried to gather their men into battle-positions and almost managed. But the panic took hold of them, when the drag-army attacked. The horrible instruments played, the soldiers were screaming, while fearlessly running down the hillside. Arrows were raining over the Danes and killed hundreds. It was a slaughter. Merely a few Danes survived only to go back and tell the story, after being treated by the hexes of Scotland. They were psychotic, full of belief in ghosts, monsters and powerful hexes. Harald concluded the story. A thousand brave warriors were dead, the Danes were demoralised and considerably setback as a land managed by women. They never really recovered, Harald added shamefully

The board was terrified by the story. Harald continued, now, if we are facing some heritage of that hex cult, we better think twice before acting. They are so traumatized with their own mischief through the millenniums that the reaction is likely to be hysteric mass-psychoses. The outcome can be fatal. Remember Knut’s farm? Quit frankly, I think the overall best for the colony will be not to make aggressive acts, but to reach a diplomatic settlement and send her over to another promised land. Thorvald thought about it. If so, she could have a part of Greenland or maybe we could find some land here she would be pleased with. There is that noise again, he said irritated. Isn’t it possible to get some silence for thinking? He opened the door and clearly heard a crowd shouting, burn the hex, burn. Much too late he saw the girl tied to a pole, standing on a pile of burning wood. Basically Vanirs were trying to free her and Christians tried to hinder them. However, the fire was burning intensely and the girl seemed to be dead already. Soon she was all in flames and no one was fighting. They were only staring at the fire. Some were sobbing others were frowning. However, it was commonly understood that it was a kind of revenge for the burning of Knut’s house and family.