Under the dark night sky, there was only a bright moon hanging high, spreading light towards the world, but under the light, next to the altar full of bull corpses, dark red blood stains were scattered all over the ground, which looked particularly strange.
The prophetess solemnly placed the tenth bull's heart on the altar, and kept reciting those complex and obscure words in her mouth without stopping. As for the corpses of the bulls on the side, she did not touch them at all.
Pay attention.
Ten big, strong bulls, ten hearts that were forcibly taken out of the bulls before they died, ten wailing souls full of fear and despair...
Blood sacrifice.
There is no doubt that this is the method of sacrifice chosen by the prophetess after repeated consideration.
Different from the sacrifices offered to gods and elves, which are delicious and fatty meats, the sacrifices of blood sacrifices are fear, despair, cruelty, and are the reflections of living souls on this world before leaving this world after struggling.
curse.
These twisted souls will be offered as sacrifices to satisfy those tyrannical beings with special tendencies...
But, can it succeed?
Even the prophetess herself is not sure about this, and what will be the consequences of failure? She also doesn't know.
Looking at the dark night sky, the prophetess stood in front of the blood-stained altar, opening her arms as if to embrace some invisible existence.
She slowly closed her eyes, letting her soul fall into deep tranquility, trying to feel those mysterious calls.
"Listen, please listen to the call of your humble servant. Your servant would like to offer you a sacrifice with his tortured soul..."
murmured the prophetess.
In front of her, ten bull hearts were placed on the altar, but there was no movement.
Behind her, everyone stayed away from the altar in awe, not daring to take a step beyond her reach, and no one dared to interfere with the prophetess' summoning ceremony.
Time passed like this little by little...
However, until the moon set, there was no movement.
The prophetess opened her eyes and murmured.
"Failed."
…
Failed.
The powerful being that swallowed the sun did not respond to the prophetess' call, as if it had completely ignored the sacrifice.
fail.
It's not that the prophetess didn't expect this situation, and she didn't feel frustrated at all.
The probability of failure of the sacrifice is very high. It may be because the other party is not satisfied with the sacrifice, or it may be because the other party is not interested at all. Anything is possible. If the sacrifice fails, it is also very common to start the next sacrifice again.
matter.
But during this sacrifice, the prophetess didn't feel even the slightest hint of communication. She couldn't feel any breath of the other party, just like an ant waving its tentacles desperately in front of humans, but the other party ignored it.
"Is the sacrifice not enough?"
The prophetess who returned to the house was meditating. Beside her, the strong man and the leaders of several other nearby clans were sitting around the fire, waiting respectfully to listen to instructions.
After pondering for a moment, she spoke.
"Since animal sacrifices cannot interest that being, then let's try using slaves as sacrifices."
Several clan leaders looked at each other and then nodded.
…
The tenth moon rises after the sun disappears.
There is no doubt that slaves are still very popular in the world at this moment. Even the daily life of the Norse people is to go out to sea to fish, and by the way to go to sea to rob and become pirates, plunder people, and buy and sell slaves. Therefore, if we talk about slaves, these clan leaders
There is absolutely no shortage of it.
However, it was not easy to gather slaves from the nearby villages within a dozen miles. In addition, since there was no sun, the journey became even more troublesome, so it took several days to complete.
However, no matter how difficult it was, the slaves still gathered together.
"Kneel down!"
Accompanied by the scolding of the Norse warriors with blue tattoos on their bodies, the slave whose hands were tied back was kicked violently in the crook of his leg. The slave who was caught off guard knelt on the ground involuntarily.
The same fate as him was the dozen or so people kneeling in a row beside him. All of them were completely naked. They didn't even have clothes to cover their shame or protect themselves from the cold. Their bodies were all skinny during their long-term slave life.
In front of them, the old prophetess knelt down in front of the blood-stained altar, closed her eyes, and murmured a prayer.
After a long time, the prophetess stood up calmly, turned around, glanced at the dozen slaves in front of her, and then pointed at one of them casually, while the North warrior behind the slaves made a knowing gesture.
Pick up this slave and then tie him to the altar.
The ignorant slave tried to resist in panic, but his thin body made him unable to resist the violent restraint of the North warriors.
"no no……"
The slave's face was full of fear. He screamed, cried, and struggled with his hands and feet. His hands, which were bound by the rope, were even choked with blood.
As a Norse, of course he knew what the prophetess wanted to do, but it was precisely because he knew that he was so afraid...
But in front of him, whether it was the North warrior with blue tattoos all over his body, or the old prophetess, their faces remained calm, as if they were used to it.
After the slave was tied to the altar with his back facing up, the prophetess pulled out her gold-inlaid knife, then stood solemnly in front of the altar, and gently landed the knife on the slave's naked back.
The cold blade touched the slave's skin, making his breathing become more and more rapid, and despair and fear filled his pupils.
With his head down, he couldn't see the face of the prophetess, but because of this, he could feel the coolness coming from his back with more concentration.
The prophetess began to murmur.
"The eagle sleeps inside you..."
The gold-encrusted knife began to outline the slave's back, scratching the slave's skin, and using the oozing blood to outline rough patterns on the slave's spine.
Eagle claws, eagle head...
A lifelike eagle appeared, but strangely, this eagle had no wings, only a body, head and talons.
“But the eagle longs to soar…”
A voice like a murmur in a dream echoed in the slave's ears.
The slave's eyes became more and more desperate, and he muttered something, as if there were still a lot of regrets and regrets that he had not finished.
The gold-encrusted knife was aimed at the slave's back, and then it was cut hard!
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!"
The slave's wails and screams spread around the altar. The slave tried to struggle, but the extremely tight ropes prevented him from moving.
However, the prophetess did not pay attention, but used a knife to cut open the slave's back muscles, exposing the place where the ribs and the spine were connected.
"It needs wings..."
The prophetess chanted slowly, and the gold-inlaid knife in her hand cut off the connection between the ribs and the spine. This naturally caused the slave so much pain that she could hardly scream, but she didn't care, and chanted slowly.
Reciting:
"When the eagle breaks free..."
Stretch out your hand, grab the rib, and lift it out hard!
"Kacha!"
With a crisp sound, the ribs on the back were opened directly.
One...
Two...
Three...
As the prophetess chanted, almost all the ribs on the slave's back were lifted up with hands and opened outwards, exposing the kidneys inside. But even so, the slave was not dead yet. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the ceremony
, the prophetess would still pour salt water on him from time to time during the process to prevent the sacrifice from fainting.
However, the slave was still gasping for breath at this moment. He could only breathe out, not in. He could only vaguely hear a gurgling sound coming from his throat.
On the altar, black blood filled the entire altar, making the entire ceremony full of blood and horror.
"It will carry the soul of the sacrifice..."
While chanting the sacrificial words, he continued to lift the ribs. When the last two ribs were lifted, the lungs also turned outwards.
The slave's vitality began to stop, and his eyes became lifeless and cold.
On his back, twenty-four ribs turned outward, like outstretched wings, and together with the eagle's body on the spine, they formed a strange blood eagle.
"Fly to the far away place..."
Looking at the dead slave in front of her and the blood eagle flying high on her back, the prophetess prayed in a low tone.
(PS: The "Blood Eagle Ceremony" in this chapter is derived from one of the sacrificial rituals of the ancient Vikings. If you are interested, you can check it out...if you really have such a strong taste.)