The Son Of Ragnar

Chapter 353 Human Sacrifice

Tyr was happy to see that his words were taken seriously, and that very night, an elaborate ceremony was held but the gods would only accept a sacrifice if the person was willing to do so.

A temple was set up with Tyr having runic white paint plastered across his skin, but Tyr did not have a sacrifice, not yet. 

A crowd gathered as the temple behind him burnt, the Vikings remained quiet but Tyr was not the one carrying out the proceedings seeing as he had no experience regarding this. 

He did not know much about it as he has never experienced it first hand so it was left to Estrid. 

Estrid looked like a goddess, Estrid wore a loose white dress, and each step she took made her look like she was gliding. 

This was not her first time experiencing sacrificing a human and this idea excited the warriors around them. 

They found this honorable and anyone that would go to Valhalla today welcomed it. 

"People of Rogaland!" Estrid shouted as she stood In front of her husband and the warriors that were expected to go on this expedition.

"The gods shall receive one of you in Valhalla today and Valkyries shall carry you in their loving arms but I ask, which one of you wants that honour?" Estrid asked and to Tyr's surprise, multiple raised their hands.

It was almost like they were fighting to be sacrificed and Tyr was amazed, it was clearly because of Estrid. 

They rarely heard her speak and now she was asking them to die for the gods; not to mention the beautiful dress she had on made her presence especially godlike tonight. 

The fire burnt behind her but there was one volunteer that no one could have predicted, Estrid knew that it had to be a great warrior.

Vegard had volunteered and Tyr immediately wanted to call it off, he expected the others to be panicked yet all he saw were smiles on their faces. It reminded him of Kahina and he began to understand that what they did in the past was no different from this, the only difference was because it was someone he loved, Tyr knew he would not have cared if it was anyone else and he realized this as an adult. 

This was an honour, dying as a sacrifice for the gods was the most honourable way a person could go.

Tyr realized at that moment that the Gardsson did not put their lives above any others, just like his biological father. 

"A brave warrior wants to sacrifice himself!" Estrid praised Vegard but everyone there knew that Vegard was not qualified to be a sacrifice but they understood at that moment that he was braver than most men were. Vegard, however, lacked any accomplishments. 

Heck, he has not even killed a man yet.

"I am sorry, little guy but I will have to take this one," A man with quite the forgettable face uttered, walking towards Estrid and co. 

The Vikings began beating their shield as they hummed in rhythm

"My name is Skar and I offer my life to the gods," Skar said as he got on his knees. 

Estrid nodded, she accepted him as the sacrifice, there was a wood, untouched by the flames, behind her. 

She gestured for Skar to go there, he did so without any protest as she bound his hands behind it. 

"Oh All-Father, tonight we offer you a warrior, a man that is ready to dine in the halls of Valhalla. We offer you a human in exchange for your protection! Thor! We ask that you guide our men with your lightning in the skies! Light the path to their destination! Njord! God of the sea! Let your waves carry their ships like Valkyries! We offer you this sacrifice!" Estrid said, she was speaking like she was in a trance, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. 

She began to dance and the humming got louder, it was almost like she was speaking a language that no one knew about.

The dancing got more intense as a cup wooden bowl was brought forth with a knife, given to Estrid. 

Rugalf watched the ceremony, it was magnificent and he was surprised that she had established a link with the gods themselves as she was speaking to them directly, that was how everyone interpreted it. 

Estrid took the knife and bowl from the person that had brought it to her.

She walked up to Skar, and Skar had a broad smile, he looked at Estrid then his wife and kids. 

They all looked so proud of him and they should be. 

"Are you ready?" Estrid asked him and Skar nodded.

Without hesitation, Estrid slit his throat and blood gushed out of it. Skar gasped for air as the life slowly left his body but not once did he show any hint of fear.

This was where the bowl came in, Estrid allowed the bowl to fill up with his blood as she kept muttering gibberish.

Estrid took the bowl and gave it to Tyr to take a sip out of, Tyr took a deep breath and took a sip out of the bowl, staining his lips with blood. 

The bowl was passed around as Thorgard did the same alongside Vegard.

The moment they all took a sip, Skar died like his life had been absorbed by the warriors. 

Estrid dipped her fingers in the bowl and ran it down her lips. 

"The gods have accepted the sacrifice," Estrid said as the humming continued. If Skar died before they could finish ingesting his blood then that would have meant that the gods rejected their sacrifice and were against their expedition but this was not the case. 

Tyr was fascinated, this was a lot more empowering than he thought it would be, he felt a sudden rush of energy course through his veins as impossible just seemed like a word with the way he was feeling yet he could not help but feel guilty that he condemned a man to death.