Leiha turned around and looked at me. It was the first time I had noticed that everyone at the encampment had blond hair and blue eyes. She showed me the longhouse, with its dining hall, displaying the hunting trophies and battle spoils on the walls. It was as if I had been whisked back into the Viking era.

"Oi. Dreamer. Enough staring. I need to show you our armoury, and get you training. You can explore the rest of the encampment in your free time." Leiha directed that comment at me. I followed her out of a back exit, still in a daze, and walked into a heavily guarded building, with a chimney, and it seemed that someone was making a fire. As it turned out, the building was both an armoury and a forge, and by the furnace two grumpy, short men with long, straight beards were working the metal. I assumed they were dwarfs.

"We need to get you some armour," Leiha told me, "Come on, follow me."

We walked over to where the two dwarfs were working.

"May I present you Bord and Bodrun, our two resident smiths."

Bord looked over. "What armour does he need then, Jarl?"

I answered that. "Full scaled chain body with scaled chain semi-kilt."

Bodrun came over. "He knows about smithing, and he's only been here for a day? Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't take a project like that for a newbie, but I like him, but I'm willing to do it, cos' I like him."

As we left the forge, Leiha started talking again. "You've made yourself some friends for life in those two. They love people who know about their art. Where did you learn?"

"At the orphanage. I spent all my pocket money on books, and I had a great big guide on armour. Why are they so grumpy, the pair of them?"

"It's in their nature." She replied blankly.

"When do I start training?" I asked trying once again at conversation.

An enormous, gleeful smile broke on Leiha's face. "Not until you've completed your first assignment, to prove you're worthy."

"What assignment?"

"Before you get your armour and furs, you need some fur to make the furs out of. And you need to get it yourself. You can start hunting round about now."

She dropped a sword and a shield and walked off. It was only then that I noticed where she had taken me. I was standing in front of a huge pine tree, and many others of its kind were standing majestically around it, as far as I could see. I picked up the sword and the massive round buckler, as I figured I would need them, especially if I was to fight a wolf or bear and come out alive.

I started trudging into the forest, with the snow melting under my feet. I decided to drag something behind me, so as to get rid of my tracks and make sure I didn't become hunted by some dangerous animal. I had no taste for an ambush. It wasn't long before tracks started appearing in the snow. Deer, rabbits, even boar, but no sign of a bear or wolf.

I realized wolves didn't live in this area, as the herbivores didn't seem to be in a hurry at any time when they moved, and there were no areas which massively lacked snow, as you would expect if a large pack of wolves started moving around. I decided to stop looking for wolves and start going after a bear. I followed the tracks of the deer that had passed by earlier in the day, as I needed food and water, and if it brought me to a frozen lake or something, I could have fresh fish and cold water until I found a bear.

The deer tracks did lead to a lake, in fact, and there were also lots of fallen branches around. Not only that, but there even animal skins with which to build a shelter, and carcasses to use as fishing bait. I started collecting wood and moved to the shelter of a group of rocks I had spotted nearby. Using the rocks as walls, I covered them with the wood, keeping some as firewood for later. I went over to the rotting carcasses, gagging at the smell. I skinned the fallen beasts, and as I cut myself some fishing bait, I noticed a Bear tooth stuck in one of the deer's bones, knowing that the beast would soon come back for more food.

After having covered my makeshift shelter with animal skins to waterproof it, I set out to camouflage in with various leaves. It wasn't very good, but I hoped it would do. As night fell, I curled up and went to sleep.

As morning came, I looked around and contemplated the fresh snowfall. It would be easy to track the bear that way. I went over to the carcass with my makeshift fishing rod and looked for a bone with which to break the ice. I noticed, while doing this, that the bear had visited the deer during the night, and fed on it.

I walked over to the lake and used the deer's skull to crack the ice. I then put my rod in the hole and hoped the fish were carnivorous. A few minutes later, I had a fish on my line. Thankfully, the fish were carnivorous. Within the hour, I had enough fish for three days, despite having been told that fishing necessitated patience.

I headed back to my shelter, picked up my sword and shield, and headed on a bear hunt. Following the tracks wasn't very hard. It was the fight I was most scared about. As I reached a large hill, I saw a small gap in the snow: the den of the bear.

I started climbing the slope, hoping that noise would be enough to dislodge it, and cursing myself for not having brought a torch with which to scare it.

As I reached the lip of the den, I looked inside, to see a mother calmly suckling her cubs. Without letting myself succumb to compassion, I yelled as loudly as I could, to make the bear notice me and leave its den, as I couldn't climb down the little hole which the creature somehow managed to squeeze itself into.

I think my efforts were a little too successful, as the bear jumped out of its den and dived into me, and we both started rolling down the hill, perhaps a little too fast for comfort. As I reached the bottom, I picked my lost sword up and waited for the bear, which was calmly sliding down on its rear.

As it reached the bottom I dived at it, but it easily knocked me over, and as it bore its teeth in my face, I swung the butt of my sword into the side of its head, and it slumped over. Unfortunately, it slumped over onto me.

After the immense effort of having wriggled free, I stood over its dead body in triumph.