Chapter 4

"Anyone else object?" Erik asked the group of men that had stood with Kolya. None of them said anything and a few of the younger ones were stunned at how easy it was for Erik to defeat Kolya. With no responses, Erik tugged his axe free from Kolya's back and spoke to the whole group. "Since I'm the new leader, here is what I say to do. Search the bodies of the Marauders and bring anything that looks useful here so we can look it over. Galt, stay here so that I can ask some questions."

The camp scattered and Erik saw a small group of men walking off towards the edge of camp. Galt walked over and looked at Erik.

"You planned that didn't you?" he asked.

"Yes. If he was angry, he would make a mistake. He was too dangerous a man to leave alive and defeated in this camp," Erik explained.

"I suppose, but I still can't believe the ease with which you defeated him," Galt proclaimed.

"I had a good teacher," Erik stated simply, ignoring the feeling that this was closer to the truth then he realised. "How many people are still alive in the group?"

"16 men, 17 women and 3 children, all boys," Galt said.

"Thanks. Can you make sure those men deliver everything useful to here?" Erik asked.

"Consider it done," Galt said and walked off. As he was walking back to his lodge, he realised what Galt had said. He had said 3 children, all boys, yet Erik knew that he had saved a girl. He entered his lodge and found Wren working on a fur.

"Wren, Galt just said that only 3 children survived the attack yet I know that a girl survived. Her attacker was the first one I killed as I came out of the stream. What became of her?" Erik asked, concern in his voice. Wren, who had stopped her work when he had entered, looked at him.

"You mean Lily. She is no girl, she is a woman," Wren said firmly but with a smile.

"I don't understand, she can't be more then 14 years old," Erik said.

"She is 13 summers old and she had her first bleed almost 2 moons ago so she is a woman. In fact, she is quite taken with you and hopes that you will ask her to be your mate before someone else does and she has to accept them," Wren explained.

"Why would she have to accept them?" Erik asked, completely confused.

"How else will she get meat? She can't hunt so you make her beg?" Wren asked.

"I didn't realise. It is different from where I come from," Erik said, feeling sorry.

"That's ok, I forgot too," Wren said, going back to her work. "What are we going to do now?"

"I'm not sure, but I think we should move this camp to a place a found. It has a large cave and you can see great herds of animals from it so we would have plenty of food," Erik explained.

"Sounds like a good spot. When did you want to move?" Wren asked.

"As soon as possible. The Marauders that escaped may return with more men and I don't want to be here if they do," Erik said. "How soon do you think everyone could be ready to leave?"

"This camp could be moved in 2 or 3 days, depending on how much we're taking with us. Since it's a cave, we can leave the lodges here and be gone in 2 days. If we take the lodges with us, then at least 3 days, maybe 4," Wren explained.

"I want to take everything we can; the rest is getting left behind. We are not coming back for it," Erik said with a tone of finality. He looked down at his blood-stained axe before he grabbed a rag and went to the stream to clean it.

On his way back from the stream, he noticed the group of men standing in the centre of the camp with a pile of weapons in front of them.

"Is this all the useful items they had?" Erik asked, walking up.

"Yes, they only carried weapons on them. Knives, clubs, axes and these really long knives made of something harder then flint," one of the men explained.

"There called swords and they're made of some kind of metal, like my own sword and axe," Erik said as picked up and examined one of the swords. The sword was shorter than his own, both overall and in the length of the blade. It was single-handed and reminded him of the roman gladius. The blade was only about 24" long.

"What are we going to do with them?" asked the man that had spoken earlier.

"Have every man in the village take a sword, axe or club as a weapon along with a spear. Give the knives to the women. I'll show the men how to use the weapons effectively after we have moved," Erik explained.

"Moved?" the man asked.