The boat shuddered upon the rough waters, as the long oars pulled deeper along the sea.
With each strong stroke the boat launched ever closer towards the rocky shore, like an oncoming wall. A new energy began to inflict the craft, a wild type of excitement towards the unknown land. A type of hunger to devour the possible future and force it into submission, to shape it with a person’s bare hands.
Morgan’s deep blue eyes glinted with hunger, reflecting his feelings into the world. His axe itched between his shoulder blades begging to be swung. The axe was singing with a song that Morgan could not quite hear, yet felt through his whole being; the song demanded action. The whole ship felt it, a waiting pent up energy ready to explode, begging to be released.
The shores of the oncoming land mass looked like any other land, but Morgan felt something, knew something, rich and plentiful would be farther inland. Like a calling of a wraith, Morgan was determined to pull his people after him towards their glorious future of riches and war.
War was his people's calling; and to slip loose the furies of war and vengeance was their pleasure. In the name of the Six gods, but most importantly in the name of the Goddess of War.
Morgan was the strongest of his clan, set loose from them with a war band to bring home glory and gold. Behind him his men seemed to sense his thirst, they reminded him of dogs gnashing their teeth in anticipation
As the boat made landfall they quickly broke away from their oars and jumped into the water. Although just downstream from the known settlement they were ready for the raiding to begin.
The clansmen swiftly made preparations to bring the vessel onto the land, and as they did so Morgan and his Second broke away from the other thirty men to scout their landfall.
“What do you think of Morgan?” Erik asked.
“I think that we landed about a mile from the native settlement we were told about.” Morgan said. As he spoke Morgan looked into the trees as if a native of the land was going to appear. Not seeing anyone in the trees, Morgan looked to his pack brother and said, “I think we need to get some scouts out there to see if I was correct about our landing.
Turning Erik shouted for three of the younger fighters to come forward. At his words three youths broke away from the group dragging the boat onto the shore. At a sprint the young men ran to their leaders and quickly stopped before them.
“You three are the fastest runners we have right?” Erik said, knowing the answer. As the three youths nodded Erik continued saying, “you are to take some gear with you, but light in case you run into trouble, understood?” Again, the three young men nodded. “Good, get your gear and go look for the settlement.
“Sir,” one of the youths said. Turning Erik looked down his nose at the young pup, yet it was too late to stop now. Lowering his eyes and taking on a sheepish tone the youth said, “what happens if we find the settlement and are spotted?”
It was Morgan, not Erik that answered, “then you had better run like the wind.”
The three youths went about gathering their gear like cowed dogs and then quickly disappeared into the brush of the enclosed woods.
Erik looked to his chosen leader, “what should we do while we wait?”
Not looking at his second Morgan said “prepare for their return.”
The settlement was made from wood and rocks. The houses of the settlement were made from thatch and the pine trees that surrounded the people; the walls were of mortar and rock to protect the people within. The people looked and acted like people anywhere else, they were of mixed races and ethnicities who went about the daily work of trying to improve their town; whether by making bread or preparing wicker baskets in which to carry things, or any number of numerous things to be done daily.
Many people bent their backs to the labours of the day to do their jobs, but the few that held themselves above the others walked about looking down their noses at those who were doing the back breaking work. The officials and financiers walked about the small town like big fish in a small pond; walking with their chest swelled and head held high.
Everyone was frowned upon, if not given power by the ruling Monarch, they were to bend beneath the weight of the plow, or they could die before the sword. Yet, although many of the serfs were looked down upon; none were looked upon lower than the slaves they had taken from them; the natives of the land.
The natives had lived here many years before the coming of the Esquin people. They had moved from place to place; following the herds of animals; such as the proud caribou.
Moving with the herds had kept the native peoples of the land a nomadic tribe: forcing them to learn how to make shelters that quickly assembled as they did to take down, but were strong enough to withstand the weather.
However, that had all come to an end as the Esquin people had come to the new land. Finding people already living on this “new land” was not enough to persuade them to leave, but instead to cultivate the people as they did the land. The nomadic lives the tribes had grown accustomed to quickly ended and they soon became stationary, enticed by the gifts of these new and strange people that had come to their home’s shores.
Soon many of the tribesmen became enticed by the Esquin’s gifts that they decided to try and live amongst them to learn more of their ways. However, a part of the tribe thought that this was the wrong path to choose and closed their lands off from the Esquin.
But, whether the tribesman chose to live amongst them or not the Esquin people soon began to claim the nomadic peoples lands; either by using their own tribesmen to convince them to integrate with the Esquin, or by killing those who sought to keep their traditions.
Much blood was spilt, and many innocent people died from the Esquin’s conquest to take over the New World, ultimately the Esquin integrated the people they conquered into their society and began building over the corpses of their fallen foes. However, even in the new society there was resistance and tension, the natives had been made into slaves, lower than the poor of the Esquin’s home land.
The native slaves were used mainly as the field workers or household servants for the ruling class of the small, yet growing, settlement.
One such group of young men had begun their day, early in the morning before the sun was even starting its rise into the sky, and was just trudging out of the settlement; harshly watched by a group of strict overseers. They were passing the forests that encroached upon the town, when one of the native slaves looked up and was met by a pair of cold blue eyes staring upon them. The young man was so startled by the sudden appearance of a figure cloaked by the surrounding trees that his breath froze in his throat and he stopped dead in his tracks.
The abrupt stillness of a slave enraged the lead overseer would harshly heeled his mount next to the man and shouted at him to continue moving; when the man did not respond to the overseer raised his hand, holding a tightly bound cord, threatening. However, the young slave raised his hand to point out the one who the cold blue eyes belonged to.
At first the slave-driver did not know if he should indulge the slave, thinking about how he may run while his back was turned, but something gnawed at the back of his mind, so the overseer turned and saw the outsider for the first time.
At being spotted by both the slave and his watcher, the blue eyed man sprinted hard in the opposite direction. At first the group of slavers stared in shock, like the young slave, but swiftly recovered and urged their mounts forward by digging their heels into the horse beneath them. However, two slavers stayed back to keep watch over their already captured slaves, while the other five men galloped hard after their new prey.
The outlander ran as hard as his feet allowed, but despite his struggle the horses gained ground on the youth; the small distance he had gained at their shock. The riders began to bear down upon the outlander, their leader letting loose the coiled whip to drop and drag behind them as they rode down the man. However, right as the leader was going to let fly the whip to drag the runner down, the fast outlander sprang into the thicket of trees and bushes and after gaining his feet continued to run hard towards wherever he had been heading.
The riders knew that to pursue on horseback in the tangle of trees and underbrush was likely to result in the maiming of their mount, or death if they were thrown, and instead decided to split up. Two of the men dismounted and ran hard after their prey, while the other three kept riding their mounts on the worn road, keeping the man in their sights.
Still galloping after the man as the other men continued to run after him the slavers quickly realized that their prey was running towards the beach; kicking his mount to greater speed the leader led his other two men towards the shoreline; where they would catch the man and do to the outlander as they had to the native tribesmen.
The two slavers continued to follow the man deeper into the woods, and like their Captain knew he was heading towards the shoreline, and had become unconcerned when their Captain and fellow jailers had disappeared from view; their only concern being the man in front of them.
Very soon the two men felt the ground began to shift from compact earth to the stone shoreline; and saw the light of the sun that had risen sharply cut through the tree line. Their prey had already escaped through the trees and the slavers could almost taste the salt spray on their tongues as they ran hard to capture a new slave.
As soon as the light touched the pair of slaver’s eyes their vicious grins touched their faces as they looked wildly about, half blind. However, there was a quick glint of steel and two solid thunks as twin axes bit through the two men’s necks into the trees they had just passed through.
The men of the axe looked down upon the fallen men like a predator would looking down upon prey, but unlike the predators of the wilderness the men walked away. The men walked back towards the camp, after ensuring the other slavers who had followed their brethren had not followed.
The raiders walked back to the camp to inform their leader of what had happened, and hear from one of their young scouts of what he had found; besides the men who had followed him to their deaths.
However, none of the men saw the bushes move as a young slave, who had followed his masters and the unknown man, make a swift escape back to his people.
