The large ship neared. Its sides were decorated with holes and the muzzles of cannons. Aboard its deck stood more than a dozen sailors, one of them, a man with a fancy hat, waved at Erend and his comrades with his entire arm. He shouted something that Erend couldn’t understand and gestured to his sailors.

Erend made an educated guess and surmised that the would-be captain of the foreign ship had ordered his sailors to board them. It wouldn’t make any sense for them to start pulling closer by the help of ropes otherwise. They lowered a large gangplank down to the caravel and started to move across.

“Hello!” the captain said in Erend’s native tongue. He dared not answer, neither did the others. It would give away where they were from, and that was something they didn’t want unless absolutely necessary.

Bernard stepped up to the captain and spoke in the foreign language. The captain seemed surprised at the fact that Bernard could understand him. Perhaps they had foreseen a few boats to escape Exodus and had prepared accordingly.

The two spoke for a bit, Bernard gestured at the others and spoke derisively, that much was clear from the tone in his voice.nErend didn’t like it, but he placed his trust in the old man.

Before they were boarded, they had assumed that they could fight their way out of this, if need be. Now that the sailors were pouring aboard the ship it was made apparent that any sort of confrontation would be more than costly. They had eight able bodied fighters aboard, while the enemies had dozens of sailors.

Of course, all of them didn’t have to be fighters, they could just strictly be sailors, but even if they were only sailors, the numbers outweighed Erend and his groups by a large margin.

The captain walked up to Cordelia and grabbed her chin, he peered into her eyes with his. He turned her face a in every direction, inspecting her thoroughly, then he asked Bernard something in the strange language. Bernard answered with a shake of his head and a shrug of his shoulders. The captain practically flinched away from Cordelia at that.

Bernard bowed with an embarrassed look. Erend had to admit, the old man was a skilled actor. If he didn’t know the truth he would have believed the man, whatever he was saying.

The two men went into the captain’s quarters for a few minutes while the sailors mean mugged the group. When they returned to the deck, they laughed and joked with each other. Erend couldn’t help but notice that the foreign captain wore a new purse on his belt when they left the cabin. It looked heavy, and clattered satisfyingly with each step the man took. With a shake of their hands the captain barked something at the sailors, who climbed aboard their large ship again with an annoyed murmur.

Once the sailors had all left, Bernard walked up to Erend and gave him a kick on his ass. He barked something at him in the foreign language and pointed at the sails.

He wants me to set the sails?

Erend figured as much, and started working on getting the boat sailing again, the others caught on quickly and helped him out. As they hoisted up the anchor and began to sail away, they were all completely quiet, except for Bernard who kept yelling at them with words they didn’t understand.

The foreign captain stared them down as they sailed past the large ship. He stood at the bow, watching them, even as they had sailed hundreds of meters away, until he finally relented and turned away.

“Well. That worked out better than expected,” Bernard breathed out in a sigh of relief.

“What did he want?” Anya wondered.

“He was a Hillsman. They were out here patrolling the area looking for any escapees.”

“What did you tell him?”

“That I was a smuggler and that you were to be slaves on Arkanno. He didn’t like that very much, but I figured that would be better than pretending we were fishermen, especially since we have no damn fish on board.”

“Didn’t think of that detail. Nice save,” Erend commented.

“Neither did I until they were boarding us. I swear I almost burst a vessel right then. Anyway, I paid him some gold to look the other way, and it seems like he did. We best find land and hide the boat soon though. It would be a shame if he changed his mind and found us again.”

“Why did he look at me like that?” Cordelia asked with a puzzled look.

“He was inquiring about your price. I told him that you were a whore and that you have the clap. Worked like a charm.”

Cordelia looked aghast at that. Her lips trembled, she was about to say something, but swallowed the words before they left her mouth.

“What now?” Erend inquired.

“He said there was land just a further bit south. Furthest reaches of the federation he called it, said it wasn’t very controlled. Probably teeming with Greenskins.”

“That could be a good spot to set up camp for now. We could rebuild, maybe sail a few trips to Exodus to look for survivors who want off the island. If it’s not under watch we’ll likely be left alone until we are stable enough to branch out and contact other factions,” Anya thought aloud.

“Sounds good to me. Any objections?” Johann asked the group.

“Good, then let’s go with that. Everyone, stay vigilant for a few hours more. If we don’t spot the ship again in that time we go about our normal business.”

Erend did as told and sat down at the stern together with Charles and Cordelia, the others had become quite adept at sailing while the youths and Thomas were busy training themselves. Thomas went below deck to check on Elle and to check the ship for any wear and tear.

“So, how are you getting on?” Erend asked the two.

“Shouldn’t we be asking you that? Everyone talks of how Anya trains you to close to death,” Cordelia replied with a worried look.

“It’s not that bad. She’s a great teacher. Sure, she’s strict and all but it’s not like she doesn’t have a good reason.”

“That being?” Charles asked, still a little sullen.

“That I’m a sorcerer,” he responded flatly. “We all need to be as strong as we can for this to work out. I don’t want to die, not yet.”

“You’re right about that... Anyway, Johann has taught me a few nasty grappling tricks. Next time we fight it won’t be so easy for you. I’ll tie you up like a pretzel!”

“I’ll believe you when I see it, just don’t forget that I'm growing stronger as well,” Erend shot back with a confident smirk. “How about you Cordelia, had time to learn anything useful?”

“A little bit of this and a little bit of that... Jack is good to me, he’s kind. He’s begun teaching me how to utilize miracles so I can act as the second healer of the group.”

“Don’t you need to be blessed to be able to do things like that?” Charles asked, perplexed.

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“He took care of it for me. He’s apparently got some sway with the Mother.”

Erend leaned back against the reeling and enjoyed the ocean breeze. Things aboard the ship were easy. Each day had felt meaningful thanks to his effort. He could practically feel his strength growing each day, but there was still so much room for improvement. As he got stronger, he could see it more clearly than ever before.

“Erend! It’s time!” Anya yelled from the center of the deck.

With a groan Erend got up from his comfortable seat.

“Good luck today. See you for dinner,” Cordelia encouraged him.

“Yeah, see you both,” Erend returned with a smile. He retrieved his sword from a crate where he’d stored it and got up to face his instructor.

“Begin,” she ordered flatly.

He swung an overhead slash, making sure not to step too far. He kept his shoulders loose and used his wrists to amplify the cut. The wind whistled as it made way for his blade.

“Good. Thrust.”

He exploded into a thrust, angling his body sideways to reach as far as possible.

“Underhand.”

He pulled his sword back to his side and swung it upward in a fluid motion.

“Very good. It seems we don’t need to work on the basics much more. Let’s focus on sparring. Come,” she said and gestured at him with her arming sword. She always let Erend attack first.

Erend threw an overhead cut at her. He noticed her shoulder flinch at a slight downward angle.

She’s moving to dodge.

He reigned in his strike mid-air and moved in for a shoulder tackle.

For the first time since he’d begun training, he hit her. Though it wasn’t a very effective attack, as she effortlessly danced away and swept her leg out, using his momentum to sweep him of the ground. He fell on his shoulder with a large crash.

“Good effort. But a tackle will never be very effective without a shield. Again.”

The sparring session continued for hours. The training wasn’t nearly as taxing as it had been the earlier days. The sun was blocked by a thin veil of clouds, only letting a vague haze pass through.

He didn’t manage to hit Anya again. Instead, he was pummeled, more brutally than usual. Her ego must have had taken a hit after being struck by a rookie like him.

As the sun began to set, they heard the familiar cries of seagulls.

“Land a ‘hoy!” Bernard shouted at the top of his lungs.

They still couldn’t make out the land off in the distance, but the birds made it clear enough that they had finally reached their destination.

“We’ll have to anchor here for the night! We can’t risk running the ship aground when it’s dark,” he ordered.

After hoisting up the sails and anchoring, the group gathered in the dining hall for a small celebration. Although what they had to eat was the same as always; dried meats and fruits.

The fruits had begun to go bad so Peter had done the best with them that he could, he’d made jam.

Erend wasn’t a gourmand by any definition of the word, but he wasn’t thrilled at the idea of drenching his dried meats in jam. The scant options left him with little choice, however, as he was starving and his body screamed at him for sustenance.

After forcing himself to finish the meal he went to bed and slept another night of sound sleep, without any visions or dreams.

He awoke to the relentless screaming of gulls.

Everyone seemed eager to leave the ship. Even Bernard who was a sailor through and through was muttering about not enjoying his time as captain. Erend couldn’t blame him, he was, after all, the captain of a group of greenhorns who’d never sailed a boat before. The micromanagement he’d had to go through had taken a toll on him, everyone had noticed.

As they sailed closer, the once seemingly small continent grew. The lands were a stark contrast to how things had looked on Exodus. Lush forests reached as far as they could see. The trees were even taller than the towers in the fort had been.

Bernard steered the boat to a beach by a clearing in the large forest. It looked as good a spot as any to go ashore for Erend. Then again, he didn’t know a thing about sailing.

They anchored the boat behind a cliff in a poor attempt to hide it from any eventual pursuers. Hopefully no one would sail close to the large continent, because if they did, the ship would most certainly be noticed. It was the best they could manage without spending days searching for a good hiding spot, which no one wanted to do, so it would have to do, for now.

“We’ll have to build something to haul the food. Thomas, can you handle that?” Anya asked.

“Yes, if you spare me Erend and Charles as help I’ll have it done in an hour or two,” he answered with his burly voice.

“Good. Grab a couple of axes and bring Carl for extra security. And you three,” she said and pointed to Erend, Thomas and Charles, “Don’t forget to bring your weapons. We don’t know what’s in those woods.”

“Got it boss,” Carls affirmed. “Let’s get going then.”

The four climbed down the ship and boarded one of two small rowing boats that hung attached to its stern. Thomas and Erend manned the oars as Charles and Carl eyed their landing site. Nothing seemed amiss as they dragged the boat up on the beach.

“Stay behind me, stay vigilant. Charles, keep your bow nocked,” Carl ordered as he raised his large shield and led the way to the clearing.

The four walked in a straight row into the forest. The trees were taller than they could have ever imagined. Their trunks looked to be made of multiple, thin trees, intertwining themselves in a spiraling formation. Their crowns almost pierced the clouds.

“Logging this is going to be a damn nightmare,” Carl complained.

“And yet, we still have to do it,” Thomas replied with a long sigh. “We’ll cut off sections at a time. I’ll begin chopping down here, Erend, you’ll have to climb a bit and chop all the way up there,” he said and pointed.

“Alright pops,” there was no point in refusing. The climb would be tough, but it had to be done, one way or another.

He felt for a good foothold and got about climbing the intertwined tree, one bit at a time. The surface was smooth and hard to get a good hold on. Thankfully there were spaces between the trunks that he could use. He shoved his hands inside, and balled them up into fists, making them impossible to pull out the thin crack. It just about made the climb possible, although strenuous, and painful.

When he reached the spot his father had sent him to, his muscles were aching from the effort.

Now how the hell do I chop this...? Do I have to use the axe with one hand?

He did.

He got to work, one chop at a time. The bark splintered and was sent flying as his axe cut into it. If the trunks had been any thicker, there would have been no way for this endeavor to bear fruit. But it did. After an hour of grueling work his axe passed clean through one of the trunks.

“FUCK! Finally. I’m done,” he shouted in relief.

He could barely feel his hands anymore. When he reached the ground again and had a look at them, he could see why. They were both bloodied from his awkward climb, but it had gotten the task done.

“Good job. Let’s get back to the beach. This should be enough to build something for the food. We’ll have to get some more materials if we want a shelter for ourselves though. Thankfully the tree looks easier to climb now that the first trunk has been chopped off.”

“I’m glad my suffering won’t be in vain,” Erend commented, cursing under his breath.

“You’re not done working yet,” Carl cut in. “As soon as the others get here we’ll leave someone to guard the kids, Thomas and Bernard. The rest of us will have to explore the area for a good place to set up camp.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. Let’s just get to it already,” Erend waved him off.

The four hauled the trunk to the beach, where the others stood waiting.

“Good, Thomas you stay here and build something to transport and shelter the food. Erend, Charles, Jack and Johann, you move together that way,” Anya said and pointed them to the east. “Me, Carl and Cordelia will head west. Albert, you stay and stand watch. We’ll gather back here in an hour.”

The forest was eerily silent. The only thing Erend heard was the seagulls that lived on the beach, but the further they got from their cries, the more they faded.

The all-encompassing tapestry of leaves bathed him in a few stray rays of the sun as he climbed through bushes and thickets. All around him there was greenery he’d never seen before. Bushes, trees, flowers, and mushrooms.

The air felt moist, and made his clothes stick to his skin. His sword hung at his waist, securely tightened. He made sure to never let his sword hand stray far from its hilt.

“Stop!” Johann hissed and held up a hand. “Do you hear that?”

Erend listened. Indeed, something made noise in the distance.

“What is it?” he whispered back.

“Sounds like voices...” Charles commented absentmindedly. He focused so much that Erend could swear he saw the man’s ears twitch.

“Jack, you and Erend stay here. I’ll go check things out with Charles.”

“Got it,” Jack responded with a nod.

Johann and Charles crept through the woods without so much as a noise. It was impressive how they could do that even in a forest.

Erend and Jack took a knee. They stayed quiet as they waited.

The longer he sat there, the more noises he could hear coming from the forest. Before it had seemed eerily quiet. Now he heard the leaves rustle in the wind. Flies and insects buzzing through the air.

He saw a few insects he’d never even heard of before – one being a beetle, large as his fist. It had flown clumsily through the air, and almost hit him as it tried to pass by. He’d nearly had a heart attack. He didn’t know if it was poisonous or anything, after all. At least he could find some comfort in having a veteran healer accompanying him.

A bush let out a loud rustle behind Erend. He threw his head around to try and see what had made the noise. Nothing... He returned his gaze to Jack, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Erend stood up and slowly unsheathed his blade. He felt like he could hear bushes rattling in every direction.

He gripped his sword with both hands, reading himself to attack at a moment’s notice.

In the corner of his eye, he saw a bush twitch. He spun to face it and swung his sword without hesitation.