"Well, by Gorlog's Beard, what am I supposed to do?!" Erak yelled at Halt. He was cautious to not provoke the little man too much for he might just find an arrow somewhere he didn't want it to be.

"You could just raid again, except now that you've been captured once, you probably don't want to do that again or, you could teach Araluen how to make Wolf ships like your own," Halt replied. He was one for the tactics of future battle, and not one to get mad unless somebody had coffee around.

"I am not teaching all of bloody Arala-whos-its how to make ships like these beauties! If anything, you will get your money Halt, don't you worry," Erak replied, feeling like he was falling into a trap.

"Now, now gentlemen, how about some nice beer and coffee?" Princess Cassandra, more known as Evanlyn, asked.

Halt dismissed her with a wave of his hand to get the drinks and said, "Fine, King Duncan will want his money by the end of one month. You can either do that or teach us how to make ships or if neither one of those tickles your fancy, prepare for battle."

This man means business, Erak thought. We could easily beat them, though. They have no way of getting over to Skandia for a surprise attack, we have men like bears and women like Gorlog himself, and even if they did surprise us, when the ships get on the water, they'll be wishing they never offered the option of war.

"We accept your war challenge. One month, then let the axes swing," Erak decided with an air of suspicion. Something must be going on with this Ranger. He normally wouldn't give the idea of war."

Evanlyn came back with the drinks. "Here you are, boys," she said, sensing the air of uneasiness. "Is everything alright?" she asked.

"Oh everything's fine, Princess," Erak responded.

After the drinks were finished with about seven more cups of both drinks, with Erak cross-eyed and Halt bouncing off the chair like he ate too many of Jenny's apple tarts, Erak finally said, "Drinking is my solution to everything," he said with a grin.