The trip back to Hungary with Keve.

Four ships. All that was going with them to escort Keve, son of Bors, back to his homeland. Him, of course traveling on the same ship as Fenrir. Anything else would be silly, really.
The men aboard said close to nothing to Keve, except perhaps Leif, and of course, the always so chatty Fenrir. They had traveled for quite a few weeks now, and with a good wind as help, they had come quite a bit. Not anywhere close to their goal, but atleast on the way. Almost everyone busy with something, and Leif and Fenrir leaning over a map, close to where Völundr, first navigating officer, was, to try and plan some parts of the trip. Atleast as long as possible.

Keve was feeling rather weary from the travel. Seafare was definitely not made for a nomad like him.
He spent the last few weeks trying to read a copy of the Bible. He just got through the story of Noah, who spent forty days in a ship he built when the world was flooded. "Forty days!" he thought. "I wonder if I also have to spend that many days on this cockle..."
Noah's ship was full of animals. On this ship, the only animal was Ráró, Keve's loyal horse. Keve went down to the ship's hold to see how Ráró was. The horse was even more weary than his master, whinnying nervously when Keve entered the hold. Keve gave him a handful of hay, which Ráró sniffed, then hesitantly accepted. "He needs fresh grass" Keve though. "I should ask Fenrir to stop and let Ráró graze a bit."
Walked up to the deck, Keve spotted the viking tradesman leaning over the map with his companion Leif. Keve approached them to explain his problem.

Fenrir spotted Keve, more or less struggling to walk over to them, so he thought he would do him a favour and meet him halfway. Said and done.

- Ah! Keve! Got any sealegs yet? Or haven't you stoped hanging over the railing yet? Last few times Fenrir seen Keve, he didn't look to well. Neither did the horse he had brought. Not to odd, really. Even men used to the sea sometimes had troubles with the ships the vikings used. Fenrir himself loved them! Not so odd, perhaps.

- Anything on your mind or just wanted some normal conversation? Afterall, the men had told Fenrir that they didn't trust the stranger, but that was quite normal, really. On the other hand, what could he ever do to harm them on sea? Probably nothing. Fenrir would be surprised if Keve even could swim.

- I am all right, I am all right... - Keve said, although it was quite obvious he wasn't telling the truth. His face looked very pale, slightly green, and he had difficulties with walking straight. He was too proud to admit he wasn't feeling well, but he secretly admired the vikings who had no problem with spending months on something as shaky as a ship.
- I just was down in the hold to see Ráró - Keve explained. - He's a great horse, the best if you want to roam the plains, but he's not used to seafare. He needs solid ground under his hooves, and fresh grass to graze on. So I am wondering if we are going to dock anytime soon.
"I could do with solid ground under my boots and fresh meat to eat, too" he thought, but he did his best to hide his discomfort.

- Ah! Great! Thought we were loosing you there for a while! I've seen worse, and none actually made it to the end with their mental health intact. Cheering poor Keve up? Well, trying atleast, but in his own odd way. It's the thought that counts, right?

- So the horse isn't feeling all too well? That's not good. He frowned slightly, trying to compare the problem with his feelings for his ships, to understand what Keve meant. And yeah, he probably figured that the hungarian would do well with some solid ground under his feet soon as well.

- Well, if I understood Leif right, we're going to restock soon, and get some fresh fruit and such onboard. Might take a few days, depending on how happy people are to deal with us. Yes, it did depend a lot on if people wanted to trade or not. Hopefully they would. Afterall, it was much nicer that way, for almost everyone.

"None actually made it to the end with their mental health intact?" Keve thought. "If we don't get on land soon, I might go insane too."
He felt really relieved when Fenrir told him they are going to restock soon.
- What country are we going to visit? - he asked the viking. Although he was only in his mid-twenties, Keve had visited many countries - but those visits were rarely friendly. Hungarians often raided the neighbouring counties, mostly Germany and Italy, and Keve joined these raids since his late teens, but those were certainly not the best way to learn about different cultures. - Can we look at the map, maybe?

- What country? That was really a good question. Fenrir rarely bothered about countries. Land was land, and sea was sea. Atleast down here. And if he was gonna guess?

- Southern France, perhaps. Not to sure, to be honest. But sure. A map is possible to look at. Not that he would be to much of a help there though, but Leif might be, or Völundr.

- Why do you want to know that, anyway? I mean, which country we're landing on? Afterall, it's just another piece of land.

Why does he want to know? Keve pondered that for a little bit.
Fenrir's attitude was not unfamiliar to him. His family, his tribe, almost everyone at his home thought of the rest of the world as "just another piece of land". A piece of land full of goods to gather, beasts to hunt and treasure to hoard. And people who might get in the way of gathering, hunting and hoarding that need to be slain.
In his teens, Keve did not question this kind of thinking for a moment. However, as he joined the raids, he noticed the differences in the buildings they burned down and the objects they took. He became more and more interested in the culture of foreign countries. That's why he did not hesitate to accept the Seven Chiefs' request to attend the feast at King Coneall's court.
He took a deep breath to explain all this to Fenrir, but then he thought the viking would not understand it anyway. So instead, he simply said: - Well, it is always good to know where you are, isn't it?

- More or less, I suppose. Depends on in which purpose you need to know, really. After all.. We all have diffrent reasons to everything. And how did you find the bible? Interesting? He had read it himself, but never understood how people could belive in it. On the other hand. People needed things to belive in, otherwise they'd go balistic. It wouldn't surprise him if people belived in other things in the future. After all, everything changed, he noticed. Even some of his own kind, the men of north, started to abandon the old gods, to look to new ones. Heretics, but what could he do to change their minds? Nothing, more or less.

- The Bible? Oh yes, it's very interesting. Very different from the stories that our elders tell. - Keve said. He didn't get too far with the book yet, since latin letters were fairly new to him - Hungarians wrote with a runic alphabet. But he has already been through the first few chapters of the Book of Genesis. - Some parts of it are pretty confusing, though. Like, if the Sun was created only on the fourth day, what was giving light on the previous three? I our elders' stories it was Father Sun himself who created all life, like the Lord did in this book.
- Do you believe in these stories, Fenrir? - he asked.

- Ah, good, good. Reading might help keeping your brain intact. Maybe not always the most cheering person, or helping, but who cared? He didn't!
He did listen to what Keve said though, tilted his head a bit to the side. He did have a point.

- I suppose he didn't need light the three first days? I don't know. And no, I don't belive in that, at all. It's a nice storybook though. Might read it to my sisters kids if she ever gets any. Yes, he had a lot of them himself, but no, he wasn't planning on putting any effort into them. They were mostly annoying when he actually met them.

- Tell me about your religion?

Keve was surprised by Fenrir's question. During his journey, nobody really asked what his religion was like. The people he met were too obsessed with their own beliefs to ask about his. What aspects would a viking like Fenrir find interesting?
- Our religious leaders are called táltos. They are born with the power to visit the spirit world, and contact the spirits. They are marked at birth with an extra finger or an extra rib or tooth or something. To contact the spirits, the táltos falls in a trance while chanting and beating a horseskin drum. The drum becomes his horse in the spirit world that will take him there and back.
If you look at the sky on a clear night, you can see the road to the spirit world. Some call it the Milky Way, but my people call it the Road of Warriors. The spirits of our ancestors ride their horses there. One day, Ráró and I might join them too. But only a táltos is able to return from there.
Keve paused for a moment, and looked at Fenrir's face to see what the viking thinks about his tale.

Fenrir was listening to the tale. And why shouldn't he ask about other peoples religions? After all, the one he belived in wasn't always the most cheerful one either, and people had wanted to burn him and kill him for beliving what he did belive. He never was that good at hiding his belifs.

- It's a nice tale. I like it. We have something similar, but we call that place Valhall. And we don't really have a spirit world in that sense.

Different people having different beliefs was something that surprised Keve a lot during his journeys. He grew up listening to the tales of the elders, and had no doubt that all is true about the spirit world and the Road of Warriors, and he was shocked to learn that some people say they don't exist. But he never doubted their existence. He saw the Milky Way on the sky a lot of times, after all.
- So Valhall is where your fallen warriors go? What is it like? - he asked Fenrir. He imagined the viking warriors sailing a heavenly sea rather than riding on a starry road in their afterlife. For him, sailing for an eternity would be a punishment, but for the people from the North, it would probably be a pleasure.

- Valhall? It's a place for heroes. Only true vikings are allowed there. Once you've died in battle, and honorble death, the Valkyries comes to bring you there. You get to eat, drink and fight for the rest of your life. I do hope they've got a ship there as well. I think I would be fairly bored otherwise.
Fenrir shrugged before rolling hos shoulders. They always got tense when he was sailing. Probably more awake on what was happening on and in the water than he might seem.
- If they don't have a ship... I might as well go visit Hel instead. Atleast I would have my brother and father to annoy there.

- Your brother and father? - Keve asked. He knew that Aldriona was Fenrir's sister, but he never heard about the rest of his family. - Why do you think they are in Hell? If you don't mind the question, of course - he added, realising that his question might have been a little bit tactless. He wasn't getting along well with his family after all, either. But he was certain that his father and his brothers will ride on the Road of Warriors once too, instead of facing the wrath of the Eternal Darkness (the side of the spirit world that no táltos dares to enter, home of demons and malign spirits).

- Hel, not hell. And no bother about asking. They're probably going there, since..well, my father is to old and weak to lift a sword and fight.. And my brother hardly even know if he should use the sharp or the blunt side on a sword or an axe. Not really warriors in that way. Hopefully Aldriona will go to Valhall, atleast. She deserves it most of all of us.

No, he didn't have any higher thoughts about his brother or father, which probably was noticble in the tone of his voice. He never really bothered to hush his opinions down.

Keve got confused a little bit. "Hel" and "hell", both foreign words with similar meanings, sounded the same to him. Still, he did not bother to ask. On the other hand, the mention of Fenrir's sister raised another question.
- So you can only enter Valhall if you're a warrior? Does that mean Aldriona is a warrior too? - he asked, since he remembered the viking woman as being rather ladylike, and couldn't imagine her carrying an axe. In Hungary, women usually did not join the raids, although they were still good at riding horses and using knives in combat - but maybe vikings were different.

- Not yet a warrior, but at some point she will be. She has it in her, even if she doesn't understand it. Besides.. Battles nowadays aren't always won with an axe or a sword.. They are won with a good, thrustworthy leader and a great mind, and she is both smart and trustworthy. So I belive the gods might let her up anyway when she dies. Would be wrong of them otherwise, to be fair.

Fenrir shrugged, but sounded more like he would make sure she would come there, even if it meant that he would have to get in a fight with the gods himself. A childish, but crazy man.

Such blasphemy would have made any religious person upset, but not Keve. In his belief, the spirits were never powerful but not almighty.
What Fenrir said about battles won by mind rather than weapons made Keve think. He felt that the world was changing since his childhood. Back in Attila's time, a large mace or a swift bow was enough for victory. Nowadays, a lot more mattered on a fast tongue and diplomatic skills.
A gust of wind shook the ship, and this made Keve realise that quite a bit of time passed since he started talking to Fenrir.
- Shall we take a look at the map? - he asked.

Fenrir tilted his head slightly back, breathing in the salt air. Land wasn't far off. Question was how far away was it, and what? Time would tell, of Leif. More likely Leif than time, actually. A slight nod at the question.
- Sounds like a good idea. I belive land isn't far off, and I want to know what part before actually stopping there.

No, he did not want a battle just because they had met him before. That would most likely be a waste of time. Hopefully it would be a bigger town or something close-by. Would make his life slightly easier just now.
Steady steps started to take him back to the map.

Keve followed the viking in excitement. Wherever they will dock, be it southern France, Spain or Portugal, it will be a new place for him.
He did most of his trip from Hungary on horseback, through Germany and northern France, by himself or in the company of merchants. He had been mistaken as a scout for a raiding party several times, and barely escaped the arrows fired at him. "Fortunately, Germans are awful archers compared to us" he thought. "They can miss an ox from a dozen yards."
When he finally reached Normandy, he took a ship to Ireland. They only had a brief stop in Cornwall, where he took a look at the legendary Castle of Tintagel, birthplace of King Arthur (whom he later met at the banquet). There he met no violence, since Hungarian raiders never got that far, and were basically unheard of in England.
- Fenrir, do you reckon the people will be hostile to us where we stop? - he asked. - Should we prepare weapons, maybe?

Fenrir stopped next to Leif, exchanged a few words with him, nodding and muttering. A look at the hungarian person, and a slight smile came up.

- Ready our weapons? We are vikings, we are always ready. Just not always visibly so. But it shouldn't be to much trouble here. It should be some part of northern Spain, and as far as I know, I've never made any good enemies there. So we're just gonna land and fix the things we need, before we head on. You'll know how long it takes once we get there. Make sure to see that your horse gets what it needs while on land.

- I suppose bringing taking my bow with me cannot do any harm - Keve said. - Just in case.
Being raiding nomads, Hungarians normally walked around fully armed. However, Keve learned that sometimes it is better to keep your weapons hidden, to maintain a friendly appearance.
- So northern Spain it is? - Keve went on. - Sounds interesting, I have never been that far to the West. I hope there will be meadows with fine grass, my horse really needs fresh food.
He then turned to Leif. - Shall we see the map?

- it's a good idea to bring your bow. It never harm.
You never knew when an attack could come. Bandits and raiders always roamed the land as well as the sea. Keve was lucky though, sailing under the flag of the vikings. Rumours were almost always true, atleast on this ship, and even if they weren't, it made the travel for the vikings a lot more pleasant, atleast according to Fenrir. He had fought on the sea a few to many times to enjoy it still.

Leif nodded, moving his pipe from one corner of his mouth to the other, pointing at the map with a huge finger.
- Here is were we will land. There should be grass, and only a small village here, but it's out best bet, since we can't land in Portugal. Leif said.

- Right, the ongoing war there is not something we want to be a part of. It is always messy and hard to get a hold of any good food. Fenrir crossed his arms over his chest, looking at the map.
- So, Keve, think that will do? You'll have atleast a day there.