A journey worth to be fought for

The sea

I like the quiet nights here in the steppes, the loneliness of this landscape is very relaxing; even if it feels weird, the first night I was always talking under my breath, I wasn't used to all this silence. I envelop myself in the cuman clothes, they are very warm, and I lay down on the deck of the boat.

Oleg made a new wheel for the boat with the wood he found today, it allowed me to drive the boat more easily. I've been sailing for half of the night, to allow Oleg to get some sleep, now I have a few hours of sleep before the sun rises, Oleg will take the wheel for the rest of the night.

I see the clouds sliding on the sky, even if we are the ones to move and not them, I feel a light cold wind that brushed my hair and my face. I hear the boat cutting through the water, the sun is shining, that makes me smile, I love sunshine. <Good morning warrior> Oleg greets me, he' standing in all his might, holding the wheel, I yawn in reply. <we will travel all day, I'm not looking forward to get caught by these filthy horse riders> he shouts laughing. I smile, he adapts to the situation extremely easily and with enthusiasm.

He didn't criticize me for what I did, he never criticizes people, he once told me that criticize is useless, because it makes people feel useless and demotivates them, I can s it's true. The education provided by him has proved more effective than the one provided by anyone else. Oleg didn't criticize me for my mistakes, he just remembered them and when it was time to try to do a task I failed before he advised that it would have been better to act in another way, thus mentioning how to correct my mistakes. His method gave results, it was very effective and helped me to learn new things, learning things is useful because it gives you the means to do what you want.

We're sailing fast, the wind is blowing strong in the sail. <We'll be in the sea by this evening if the wind keeps blowing this much> Oleg tells me <This means we'll soon be in Constantinople> I reply, <Exactly Harald,> Oleg says. <what are we going to do once we reach Constantinople?> I ask, I'm very curious to know it <I don't really know, we are masters of our fate, we can decide later, first we'll seek refuge there, I've been member of a diplomatic envoy sent there, to the emperor Nicephorus III. He was a cruel and unfair ruler, but there was one of his advisors, Leonidas, who became my friend, he will grant us to be welcomed there> <but father, Nicephorus is a cruel person, why should we serve him?> I ask. <It's only temporary, until we find new opportunities, as far as I know Nicephorus could even be dead> he replies.

<Constantinople is the capital of the big byzantine empire, it is a powerful realm, but the dynasty who's ruling it is corrupt and greedy, so the empire is in a steady decay. You will see all the splendour and the ostentation of the byzantine court, which has preserved all the wealth coming from the vast countries it ruled. Now the emperor rules over a small piece of this vast territory an is a shadow of the former glory of the emperors of the past>. I listen amazed, I didn't think that something so grandious could exist, it reminds me of what I read about Alexander the Great on Oleg's books. I ask Oleg if we can train in the duel, he agrees and says that we can stop when the sun will be at its highest point, so we won't be training in the freezing cold of the morning. He is confident that we'll be able to reach the sea by this evening anyway.

It's midday, Oleg and I agree to stop on the left bank of the river, so we'll be on the opposite side from the warriors of yesterday. We jump of the boat and I quickly knot it to a nearby boat, then I take my axe and stand beside Oleg who's also holding his one. We start training, first with the sequences, hit from above, to the side, a twisting hit, and a strike with the bottom of the axe and repeat, I do it again and again. We move on blocks, he hits and I have to block the hit, and finally we simulate a duel, we won't hurt ourselves, since we use the side of the axe, but it helps my movements to flow, it will help throughout a battle. At the end of the training I'm exhausted, my heart is pounding and I'm panting, drops of sweat are flowing down my arms. <Good work Harald, your sequences are flowing better than before>. It's time to sail again, I detach the rope and jump on the boat, Oleg is setting sails to the sea.

The sun will shortly disappear under the horizon, I still can't see the sea, I really want to, I've never seen it, it should be like the river, but bigger, so big that my eyes won't see the end of it, and it doesn't flow, unlike the river, Oleg told me also that. While taking a glance at the banks I notice the river is not as wide as before <Father, aren't we going in the wrong direction? The river is getting narrow> I ask. <Don't you see it?> he says <The sea is right in front of us, climb on my shoulders so you can see it better>. I do so and look towards the mouth of the river and see it getting very wide, but it's not as I imagined it. <But father, it's not that vast, I can see the shores around>. <It's because this is a bay, we have to round the landmass on the left to get into the open sea, but now we have a problem> he says with disappointment.

<There is a settlement on the right bank of the river, close to the mouth so it can control the access to the sea, its name is Kherson, usually it's inhabited by natives, not by nomads, they're farmers and fishermen, they aren't dangerous and they wouldn't mind allowing us into the sea. But, do you see all those fire pits outside of it?>. <Yes> I reply, screwing up my eyes to see it. <Well, it must be the nomad's camp, there must be something they're looking for here, or maybe they're just resupplying> he reflects. <I thought the cumans were the natives of this region> I tell Oleg <They aren't, they come from a far realm in the east, even more desolate than this region> he replies.

He spends some seconds looking upon the camp, then, all of a sudden, he says: <I have a plan, we'll stop here for the night and get some sleep. You will guard me first, then I'll guard you, I will wake you up shortly before dawn, and we will attack the two guarding outposts, this will allow us to gain enough time to get the boat into the sea >. We exchange glances of complicity, Oleg has always loved bold, risky plans which need extreme bravery and with scarce possibility of success.

We start taking action, Oleg drives the boat to the bank of the river, the left one, so we'll be safer. After docking the boat, we decide all the food left, since we need energy and none has eaten anything for the whole day. We cannot light up a fire, we cannot risk to be spotted, so we eat raw, salty meat and drink river's water while we discuss the rest of the plan.

<We should get as close as possible with the boat before striking> I start. <You're right, look, we're lucky, do you see the meander just before the first guard post? We'll run aground the boat there, jump off, and charge the warriors in the outpost> he proposes. <Yes, and then we can run straight for the second one before they get ready to repel us, then rush back to the boat and sail past the mouth of the river, so we'll get safe> I go on. <We should take some supplies while running away, we need food to deal with the journey in open sea> he wisely says. <Keep in mind all the places, we won't be able to orient in the dark of the night> he adds.

Our plan seems complete, Oleg decides to go to sleep, he lays down on the deck of the boat and the sleep soon took him. I also need to rest, but I cannot sleep right now, so I seat on the bank of the river, gazing upon the village and the sea, I've always loved to lose myself in my thoughts doing this, I could do it for hours. The sun is setting and darkness will fall on us soon.