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Ragnor found hiain to the ued by the abbot there, the books, and the es the monks could speak He returned his share of the silver reliquaries they had taken

"And what do you want for these?" the lean, sharp-nosed abbot asked hies, as you speak them The Latin hich you write, the Gaelic I hear in the villages, the English of the lower countries Then French and?"

"One by one, lad One by one," the abbot told hiular visitor

As ti, and with each season that passed, he becas, ht of a particular battle "Dublin is a town founded by a Viking Now the king asks us to fight against interlopers froood fight And he discovered, when he was convinced of the valor of a fight, he could be savage There were tieance, and yet, he always remembered the way he had felt when Olaf died, and he refused to alloanton ed in any place where he fought Revenge, he had noted, could make , he had discovered, when their force had won the day for a threatened people, just how quickly those people could turn, ready to cut out the hearts of their foes, once they had power

They fought for the king of an isle off the western coast of Scotland, a battle they fought against a group of Danes, veryof the isle rewarded thereealthy, and others joined the, and soht riches with theone, hisa different way, and though he felt a deep loss at his h respected and awed, he had not been in Ragnor’s life enough for hireatly miss his presence

He was sorry forever, for the void he felt in ht have asked

His uncle, however, was still the jarl He assured Ragnor that histheir people many years, and had been loved, and had been honored with the greatest of funerals; her byre had burned brightly on the fjord throughout a long, ht have told nor said

"Perhaps there is not as much to tell as there is to learn, and only time and life can be the teachers we really need," his uncle told hinor returned with Hagan and their many men to their isle off the western coast of Scotland

By his thirtieth year, he had his own home, cattle, sheep, and horses He had not married, but neither was he lonely There were ers in faraway places, captives ere eager to please, and house to serve His brother and he had fore arether

That year, they were called upon by the rich chieftain two days south of thean to speak with the chieftain

Their people were being taken and killed Not far away, foreign enee They were dark invaders, fierce, with sht; darkness hen they wished to strike

The people were terrified of theh the defenses at night, with no one knowing, and one

The nor But on their return trip, they stopped at the nor wasn’t sure why, but he was keen to talk to the old abbot he had so strangely defended, athem He had soup and bread ready, and he listened avidly to everything Ragnor and Hagan said

"The evil has coners? cowards, as Ragnor would say, who only fight the unar us not to go?" Ragnor queried, for his friend seeo And you must not just kill these infidels You must destroy them, utterly They will use any weapon: hands, fists, teeth Yes, teeth, you must beware in battle They are an ancient enemy I think they are the la not just death but infection They are everything against God"

"If your one great God were so powerful, he would destroy them"

"God has created ood or for evil" Hagan was aggravated "A nored hinor "Beware"

"We will destroy theather our ships, and go to the chieftain, and there, build and create his defenses for him Then we’ll rout his enemies!" Teeks later, they had h the river pass, they could see ahead As they neared the village, where so recently Hagan and Ragnor had been welco but burned-out farboats in, and the e in silence Gudric, the Rune Sayer, shook his head "Turn back!" he told Hagan

Hagan would not be persuaded "We go in We see if any are living; we pronor felt a hesitance as they stepped ashore He knew that his brother felt it, but Hagan didn’t believe in allowing cowardice to rule a one ashore and seen the death, and the flies, when Eric, left behind to guard the ships, called out to thenor saw that a ship of ainst the wind as the ship followed theirs

The reet the iven up God’s way of peace and taken to the sword?" Hagan deainst those ould steal the dead, not the living"

"Monk, you nor turned to start to the center of the village The place held an eerie cals and farhtered huingly, he indicated Peter "As the ods would fear to tread here"

The Norsenor turned to see that Peter was industriously engaged in re the head of a fallen man

"Peter!" he reer

"We will cremate them with prayers," Peter said, as if that explained his actions

"Let’s look to the living," Hagan said

They kept walking and cae church As they stood there, the door creaked ajar The brothers looked at one another Hagan shrugged his shoulders "Who wants to live forever?" he queried lightly