Bone tired but happy Aegir and Buri joined the chieftain's family around the fire. The dishes Kester's mother had prepared to celebrate the day of the spring equinox were nearly eaten up. Hermo gave a big yawn. Crouched down between Aegir and his father, poked the latter secretly in the ribs. "Father you have to tell our guest where they will sleep tonight. Tell Aegir he is to sleep at our house and Buri at Ver's!" When the chieftain looked surprised, "Cantu and I have thrown dice to decide and he won. He chose Buri!"
"Didn't he cheat as usual?"
"I guess yes, but I like Aegir more! He is my big friend and has healed the hind-leg of my doggy! Cantu is keen on Buri!"
Hermo's yawning was contagious. Soon everybody was yawning, and Kester's father announced, "Time for sleeping!"
When Aegir and Buri made a move to wish the villagers a goodnight and set out to the boat at the jetty, Kester's father bowed respectfully, "No, no! You are our guests and guests are entitled to the most comfortable sleeping places! You must stay with us! It's traditional in our clan that our guests are treated like members of the family."
At the moment neither Aegir nor Buri knew the implications of this invitation and were surprised when Kester told them with a grin, "Ver and I have already discussed the arrangement for the night." First, he turned to Buri, "Curlyhead!" he winked at him, "Ver and Molis are happy to spend the night with you!" Then he put his arm across Aegir's shoulder, "And you are welcome in our room!" Ailis blushed and casting down her eyes she added, "Aegir, our soft bed is big enough to accommodate three! Please do us the favour and accept!" Both knew they could not decline these invitations without offending the hosts and accepted with a bow.
At the time the living quarters of Kester and Ailis were just a small room at the back of Kester's father's longhouse. It was windowless and contained just a big bed and some chests to hold Ailis' dowry. The room was dimly lit by the wavering light of a tallow candle. Being kind of shy around women, Aegir curled up in the furthest corner of the soft bedstead as far away as possible from Ailis and Kester. Suddenly Aegir felt warm arms around his chest and breathed the sweet smell of a young woman. The red-head shrunk back even more and tried to wiggle out of the embrace. Kester sensing Aegir's uneasiness encouraged him, "Don't you like having Allis hug you?" and while she began to fondle Aegir, Kester added softly, chuckling encouragingly, "My darling Ailis is a perfect lover! Trust me! I have enjoyed her love every night since our marriage!"
"But, but..." Aegir stuttered, "Ailis is your wife! Why should I make love to her!" and a little irritated, "Aren't you jealous?"
"Sure, but just a little bit! I am not allowed to be jealous! I even have to be proud of the honour you give to me and my family, by accepting Ailis as your lover tonight?"
"Why oh why?" When Aegir articulated his confusion, showing his reluctance in his voice, Ailis kissed him softly, "The tradition of our clan requires that a guest of honour is given the same right as the head of the house. He has the right to make love to the wife of his host."
Kester completed, "You are my guest and my dear Ailis is your wife also as long you stay here!"
"And Ver's wife will be Buri's!" Ailis giggled, caressing Aegir.
"Don't be chicken, kiss her back! She likes you! She wants you inside her!"
This revelation made Aegir even more nervous. He shrunk back even more. But with a woman's instinct, Ailis guessed Aegir's problem, "Have you ever made love to a woman!"
In the faint light of the room his relief that he didn't have to confess was tangible and made Kester and Ailis chuckle, and Kester dared to ask, "And to a boy?" and the young couple chuckled at Aegir's embarrassment and Ailis breathed "We love you both! We are both hot for you! We will teach you!" And they did!
Ailis laid back, spread her legs wide and Kester pushed Aegir in the right position. Despite his shyness, Aegir was already hard and Ailis had no problem to insert his wood in her wet honey pot.
Once inside Aegir's dick knew what to do and his lower body began a hot dance. Kester feeling Aegir's excitement became hot also. He began to fondle Aegir's butt, to trace his cleft, play with his butt-hole and finally couldn't help but to put his forefinger in Aegir's arse. The fingering excited Aegir even more. He came with a loud growl drowning out Ailis' excited groaning.
"You did great!" was the first remark of the exhausted young woman.
"Yeah great! I could feel it! But now it's my turn!" Kester pushed Aegir out of the way and mounted his wife.
Aegir needed just a moment to relax. He got hard again and still feeling the tingle in his butt hole, he mounted Kester as he often had done with Buri. This doubled the weight on Ailis and pushed Kester's dick even deeper into his wife's body. She was young and strong, and her groaning proved that she enjoyed every moment. Afterwards, they slept curled up like puppies.
Ailis' moaning, Kester's groaning and Aegir's growling had awakened Hermo. For a moment he was worried, but then realised what was going on. Prying into the dim room he got excited too. His pecker sprang up and didn't go down till he had jacked off three times imagining himself in the centre of the hot action.
Next morning Aegir's first question to Buri was, "Did you also enjoy the rights of the guest of honour?"
Buri blushed and even his dark complexion could not hide his burning cheeks. "Yes, I did! I am sure Molis enjoyed what I had to offer."
"And Ver? What about him?"
"Look here he is coming! Look his big grin!"
"He sure had a hard time last night! Look at his walk!"
"He was tight, very tight, tighter than Molis. But he appreciated my efforts!"
When Ver arrived, he hugged Buri for a long time. Smiling at Aegir he whispered something to his new friend. Buri laughed out loud, "You can tell Aegir. We are friends and he had a hot time last night also. Believe me, he likes this special piece too." pointing to his crotch, "But his' isn't bad either. You can ask Molis if she still stays to her suggestion to play tag tonight."
Ver's face went crimson, "I'm sure she does! She still is hot for it!" scratching his crotch and wiggling his butt, "Molis has talked to Ailis already and the girls have hatched a weird plot!" Turning even more crimson and averting his eyes, "The girls suggest we all should spend the night together and have fun, two girls and four boys!"
Loud shouts from down at the landing stage cut short their conversation. Boats loaded with young and old persons put in at the jetty; the passengers got out and started to run uphill to the village green. At the same time, a mixed group of animated chatting people coming from the hills in the backcountry arrived at the linden tree. Greeting the fishermen and the others the visitors closed in around Aegir and Buri and a grey-haired man addressed the travellers, "In the name of my peers, the chieftains of this county, I bid you a hearty welcome! Your presence has ennobled these days! Your participation in the spring celebration promises prosperity to the whole country, a good harvest, good hunting, good trade and healthy offspring! I am here on behalf of all the clans living near and far, dwelling and hunting in the hills and mountains, fishing and tending the rivers and waters. I am appointed to repay these benefits and provide you with travelling fare and tarpaulin for your boat." Drawing a breath, "Down at the jetty, our best boat-builders are already improving your dugout for your bold journey. And here at the linden-tree our hunters and farmers offer you a fair supply of dried meat, roasted hazelnuts and preserved fruit. Accept our offers and convey our veneration to our father the Sun when you arrive in Ta-Seti at the rim of the world!"
Aegir and Buri were taken aback by this praise. They never ever had assumed that their presence would impress these people in such a way. After a long moment, Aegir bowed, "We are just humble sun seekers on our way to Ta-seti! Neither Buri nor I are messengers from the eternal beings!" Buri clasped his hands before his chest, "We are just humble earthlings. We do not deserve your generosity because all that has happened is predetermined by Urd, Verdani and Skuld, the sisters of destiny. They spin the threads of fate at the foot of Yggdrasil, the tree of the world." Then both bowed deeply and went down to the landing stage.
Down at the river the boat-builders had taken the sun seekers dugout out of the water, turned it upside down and were going to smooth the hulk with flint scrapers and to make it watertight with a coat of birch tar. After the coat was dry the boat would be watertight
Three boxes of birch-bark were to be installed in the middle part of the boat, one for food, another for beakers, pots and tinder for fire making and other necessary supplies while the third one was intended for blankets and clothes. Finally, the boat-builders attached a tarpaulin cover to the boat to keep out spray from waves and rain. Aegir and Buri were surprised by the skill of the craftsmen and praised the improvements.
Before midday other groups of visitors from the villages around arrived, bringing along more supplies for the travellers and even more foodstuff for the feast scheduled for noon. When the sun was high in the sky the High Shaman arrived with other priests and novices to honour the guests. After a generous meal under the linden tree the chieftains, shamans and the men and women gathered around Aegir and Buri who had to provide information concerning their origin and the purpose of their journey in full detail over and over again. While Aegir informed the eager audience about the dark land in the north and his crossing of the icy sea and the windy plains in the north Buri briefly recounted his father's adventures and explained their intended route on their quest to the sun.
All the time Cantu and Hermo were sitting at Aegir's and Buri's feet, listening eagerly and asking question after question. The two friends just wanted to know every detail of the intended journey, not only about the route itself but also about the people living in the different countries along the way, the dangerous beasts lying in wait for careless travellers and even about the deities to be asked for a safe outcome of the voyage. When Aegir finally gave up in exhaustion because of the number of questions, he remarked unguardedly, "I can't answer all your questions my boys. You just have to come along and see for yourself!" Hearing this Cantu and Hermo vanished in the crowd immediately and were not seen again the whole afternoon.
At nightfall and after the exhilaration of the afternoon had passed, Ver ambushed Aegir and Buri on their way back from the village green, "You haven't forgotten our plans for tonight, have you? Molis and Ailis are excited like cats in heat! They would be heartbroken if their plot didn't work out." He led them away from the farmhouses further down along the riverside to a log cabin overlooking the access to the hamlet. There Ver opened a small hidden door and the warmth of a fire in the smokestack welcomed them.
At first glance, nothing seemed to be inside of the hut beside a wide bed occupying more than half of the room. At a second glance, two man-sized shapes seemed to be hiding under the furs, at a third glance Aegir and Buri discovered Kester hiding and naked behind a screen.
"Welcome to our little private festivity! Welcome to Freya's paradise!" he burst out laughing, jumped out of his hide-out and embraced Aegir and Buri as if they had been separated for years. "Get out of your clothes, it's warm in here now and soon it will be really hot."
Ver had stepped out of his breeches already. Covered with a loincloth only, he impatiently began to undress the guests. Suddenly loud calls stopped his efforts, "Kester! Ver! Where are you?" Kester's mother called in worried tones. "Are you up there in the outlook? Hermo and Cantu are missing! Our guests are missing also! Are you boys up there and what about Ailis and Molis?"
"Mother we are up here and our guests also!" Ver called back, dressing in a hurry, "We don't know about Cantu and Hermo! They are bound to be playing a prank on us! Don't worry!"
"They are nowhere around! We have looked all over the place!" Kester's mother called back.
"The boys certainly are not here, and I haven't seen the pair of them for the whole evening. Have you looked for the boys in the forest?" Ver asked back, "Ask some men to check there! We will go down to the river and check the banks!"
All four young men got dressed in a hurry and went down to the river. Carefully they searched the possible hideouts along the banks between the old outlook fore-post and the landing stage.
Ailis and Molis took a little while to get dressed again. Then the young women walked back to the village searching every place along the trail known to be used by kids for secret games.
Kester and Ver didn't find a single trace of the two youngsters along the riverside. However, when they counted the boats moored to the landing stage, they missed Cantu's dugout. "Is blue-eye around, Mother?" Kester called up to the village.
"No son, the dog is missing also and the two have taken their hunting and fishing gear along!"
Instantly Aegir recalled Hermo and Cantu's nagging questions about the planned route. "This afternoon the two wanted to know every single step of our expedition to Ta-seti, they wanted to know just everything about our gear, our weapons and provisions, just everything. After a while, their questions became a real pain in the neck and I told them Just come along you two and see for yourselves." shaking his head, "That was probably a big mistake!"
"Yes, that was a big mistake! They have probably decided to become your fellow travellers!" Ver stated, "I know my brother Cantu too well, he is a blockhead!"
"And Hermo will go along with Cantu, whatever happens!" Kester added, "They always stay together, thick as thieves!"
Now Cantu's mother lost control. Furious as a wild sow defending their piglets she attacked Buri, "You black bastard, you and this red-haired devil from Niflheimr! You arrived at Midgard and everything has gone wrong! Your arrival put the whole county in a flurry. You made the High Shaman breathless with excitement when the sun stood still in the sky in honour of you! Your arrival turned our sons and daughter-in-laws' heads and now Cantu and Hermo, our pride and joy have vanished! You have lured the boys into the land of fog. May you be punished by the Almightiest!"
Ver's father tried to calm her down, but he was unable to allay her mind. So, he took her home. Kester's father, the village elders and the other men discussed what to do for the best. As it was dark already they decided to postpone the search till daybreak and left for their homes.
Aegir, Buri, Kester and Ver stayed at the landing stage. "It's our fault," Aegir expressed his concern, while Buri suggested; "Let's search for them on the river! I guess the two took off by the boat down the stream!"
"Yes, we should start now, we can't wait till dawn. I hope our boats are fast enough to catch the two before they reach the rapids! Help us! Oh Freya, oh Wuitan, help us!" Kester burst out nervously.
"You are right Kester, we need to start immediately." Ver gave him support "The boys are not stupid and know how to handle a boat, but they are not experienced enough to get through the rapids safely!"
"Let's start as soon the boats are ready. Our gear and provisions are loaded already! We can start now. And you?" Aegir asked Kester
"We just have to get our weapons and then we are ready too!" Kester answered.
"Let's take my father's boat, Kester, it's the fastest." Ver bowed to the East, "With your help Oh Sol we will find Cantu and Hermo before they reach the dangerous rapids!"
I would like to express my special thanks to my friend Anthony for improving my writing.
Comments, reviews, questions, and complaints are welcomed. Please send them to Ruwen Rouhs
Last, but not least I would like to add thanks for reading.