XXII

                                    

                                          
- I beg you! Believe me! I would never deceive you! I am not crazy! I did not free them! I didn't kill our friends! I beg you!!!
            With these words, Noa greeted all those gathered, being led by three of Rainer's men straight into the forest, which, surrounded by the fairy-tale aura of the ongoing winter, was to become the place where the black fox would die.
            Although Rainer was aware that Noa was telling the truth, his behavior and panic before the bloody ritual was performed on him did not indicate his full mental strength. On the other hand, how was a man whose bones were about to be plucked out alive supposed to behave? Especially if he really was innocent of what he was about to die for.
            If Rainer was afraid of anything in his life, it was three things. The first was religious fanaticism, which Noa had recently exhibited in what one might almost say a textbook fashion. Wolf, although a believer in the Norse gods, was a Viking, he never approved of blindly carrying out the uncertain and vague will of the gods. Therefore, getting rid of the black fox should, in a sense, satisfy the man. It should, but it did not satisfy. On the contrary, Rainer continued to feel remorse for making Noa a blood sacrifice to the gods. Despite what the man had done, the wolf could not look on without a shadow of regret at what was about to happen. Until now, he had considered Christians to be religious fanatics, believing in a god who let himself be killed. Rainer did not understand how one could worship someone who let himself be killed without a fight. That's why, among other things, he now considered Noa a fanatic in the likeness of Christians. Agape almost killed him, yet he continued to worship her.
            The second thing that could give Rainer the creeps was magic. Although the rebel leader did not believe in sorcery and was its chief critic, somewhere in the back of his mind there were always thoughts of what if some kind of sorcery could exist? After all, the blood eagle ritual was one of the activities widely understood to be magical. After all, no man could be sure of getting Valhalla after death unless he died with a weapon in his hand. The blood eagle was the only exception to this rule, which in a way always made a man fearful. After all, how were people performing rituals supposed to change the will of the gods themselves? It was common knowledge that this type of execution works in just such a way. It bends the divine laws established by the forefather Odin himself. Rainer was not convinced that the gods could be played with so much, especially since such an important rite would be performed by none other than a Christian woman. At the very thought of it, the man really had chills on his skin.
            His third and final fear, however, was much stronger than the fear of magical rituals and religious fanaticism. This thing had appeared in his mind relatively recently, but that didn't stop it from spending sleep in the wolf's mind. The thing Rainer feared most was that Colin could die. The prospect was so cruelly unbearable to the man that he was able to participate in a magical rite whose recipient was to be a religious fanatic. If Rainer, along with today, was to stop fearing the death of another person close to him, he was able to pay the price.
            When Noa was brought under two trees with sizable and thick branches, the man was momentarily silent. From among the white smoke of the suspicious-smelling bonfires burning all around, Agape emerged. This one also looked terrifying, despite her attractive appearance of her completely naked body. 
            The woman had her entire body painted in colors of black and white. Ancient runic patterns were arranged on her body, and her dark makeup on her frighteningly pale face brought to mind the scariest night       terrors. Agape held in her hands a knife sharpened to the limit and on her head rested antlers adorned with bird bones.
            - I hope Agape gets cold feet and wants to finish this as soon as possible. - Whispered Rainer nervously into the ear of Colin, who was standing next to him.