Chapter 2

Erik woke to the sounds of the sea, the smell of the ocean and the feel of the breeze on his skin. He rose, stretched and dressed as he looked out over the water. He was feeling a little hungry but nothing he couldn't ignore it until he got back from his first look. He had decided to look at the cliffs to the north of his current location. They weren't that far and he figured he would be back by lunch.

He loaded the canoe with a sword, a medium axe, the bow and quiver of arrows and the shield; he didn't want to take any chances. He pushed the canoe into the water and climbed in, setting off at a comfortable pace and heading north.

The weather was good and the current didn't hinder his journey and by mid-morning he found himself nearing the cliffs. Erik ran his boat ashore and climbed out. After pulling his boat further up the beach, he turned and looked up at the cliffs in awe.

At least 300ft high, more in places, and running right into the water, the cliffs were like a natural wall. Examining the cliff face in front of him, he noticed a ledge with a large opening behind it. Curiosity getting the better of him, he belted on his sword and searched around for a way up, eventually finding a narrow, winding path up to the ledge.

The ledge was about half way to the top, and commanded a view of the whole of the land before it for several miles. It would be impossible to sneak up on. And even if someone did, the path to the ledge wouldn't let more then 2 up at a time.

Turning away from the view, Erik stared at the cave entrance, trying to decide if it was worth the time to have a look inside. Deciding that he had all the time in the world, he stepped inside.

The cave was big, very big. Erik thought it would have been about 100ft across and who knew how deep; he couldn't see past the entrance for lack of light. He walked as far as the light allowed and still didn't feel the cave getting any smaller or ending. With a sigh, he turned back to the entrance.

Outside, the light hurt his eyes after being in the cave but they quickly adjusted. Erik took a last look from the ledge before descending to the beach and his canoe. He unbelted his sword, laid it in the canoe and pushed it into the water, quickly climbing into it once it was free of the shore.

The paddle back to his camp was uneventful and he was pushing his canoe back ashore there just after noon. He took his bow and walked out onto the plain, searching for lunch.

He headed for where he had left the remains of the boar from the previous day and planned to start his search from there. As he drew near the area of where he had killed the boar, he noticed there were many more tracks then yesterday. Looking around, he noticed the remains of the boar were gone; some scavenger had taken its fill.

Erik spent an hour looking around for something to eat but as time passed, he realised he wasn't going to find anything here on the plain. He would try his luck in the trees to the south. With a last look west, he turned and returned to the beach.

After ensuring that his chests were sealed and moving them around to the far side of the rowboat, Erik pushed his canoe into the water, climbed in and started to paddle south. The afternoon passed and the trees got slowly closer.

About an hour before sunset, Erik turned into a stream that entered the sea. It wasn't particularly wide or deep; in places it was barely deep enough to paddle through and easily deep enough to run through.

He travelled upstream for half a mile before he noticed a fire up ahead. Moving to the opposite side of the river, Erik continued on until he could see the camp. To his eye, it wasn't the largest he had seen; though that perspective came from his naval years when he saw camps to house hundreds.

This camp had about 20 buildings in it from what Erik could see. He ran his canoe ashore on the opposite bank, got out and pulled it up and out of sight. Picking a comfortable spot, he sat and watched the camp.

As the sun was setting, people gathered around fires and food was passed out. Erik was able to count the people in the camp, at least the ones he could see. He counted 21 men, 26 women and 5 children; the oldest a girl of no more then 14. Erik watched as they ate and then retired to their lodges, leaving the fires to die down naturally. Taking his cue from them, Erik laid down and went to sleep, his knife gripped in his hand.