We caught them by surprise. They tried to flee, but our ship was sleeker, quicker and built to move through the water like a shark. We chased them down and came aboard, our grappling hooks gripping their deck like an eagle holding onto a rabbit. They were brave and fought valiantly. Dozens of men fell to our swords and the sound of clashing blades and dying men filled the air. Its deathly silent now; an eerie calm spreads out over the dark sea and gulls hover, waiting to pick the eyes from the dead. The images of the battle are still fresh in my mind as is the head I cleaved in two with my axe. The look of surprise when my sharp blade sent him to Valhalla will stay with me forever. Men died in horrible ways. They were gutted and cleaved, slashed and stabbed, decapitated and eviscerated. They had things we wanted: food, clothing and livestock. We live in a desolate land, void of fertile soil, our livestock scraggly and bony. We kill to survive and I hold no ill will towards the dead men. If it wasn't them it would be someone else.

I looked at the fallen men; their blood stained my clothing. From their bodies we took our spoils. The lifeless corpses which I had created now belonged to me and I took my reward. A beautiful dagger with a walrus bone handle, a pair of fur lined boots; a good hand axe and a wonderful bearskin coat are now mine. The coat doesn't fit. Its previous owner was much larger than me, but it's warm and will serve me well on the frozen oceans we sail in search of plunder. He almost took my head off with his huge battle axe. I saw it late and it glanced off the top of my helmet, the blow momentarily stunning me. Luckily I gained just enough composure as he was taking a second swing and I thrust my blade, Dragon Breath, into his belly. He screamed like a pig as his guts hit the floor and he died screaming like a woman being ravished. Dozens of dead litter the deck; blood fills the gaps between the decking. My shipmates search the ship for plunder, tearing it apart with blades and axes, tossing the dead over the side as they run about wide eyed and drunk on mead. The men I slew all died in combat holding their weapons. I will see them again, in Valhalla, when it is my turn to return to Odin. We will share mead, boar and wenches and sing songs of our ships and lands. Every night we will die in battle, only to be reborn in the morning, when we will start the day all over again.

I was just about to return to our ship, the Corpse Eater, when I heard whimpering coming from underneath an old tattered sail. Using my new axe I hooked the material, bent down and peered underneath. There was an old man with a long grey straggly beard and tattered clothing cowering underneath. He smelt like rotten mackerel and I covered my nose and mouth with my hand to stop my nostrils from being assaulted by the stench. He was staring at me with terror filled eyes. I was just about to speak to him when Rasmus, my cousin, came over carrying beautiful sword with a jeweled scabbard.

"Look at this beauty, I can sell this and live like a king for the rest of my days."

"Very nice."

"What you got there?"

"An old man, he was under the sail." Rasmus peered under and laughed.

"I find a beautiful sword and you get some smelly old beggar. Hey Olaf come over here look at this, Thorfinn's found treasure." Olaf came over.

"What are you going to do with him Finn? Keep him?" Rasmus taunted.

"Just throw him over the side, he's dead anyway; smells like it too." Olaf chuckled.

The old man was still wild eyed, his eyes darting from side to side. "I won't hurt you. Who are you? Where do you come from?" I asked.

He didn't answer and cowered more and then I realized why. I had an axe in one hand, a bloody sword in the other and I was covered in blood. Standing above him I must have been a terrifying sight. I put my weapons away, held out a hand and helped him up.

"Thank you my son."

"Who are you?"

"I am Atlan."

"Where do you come from?"

"From across the sea; a place where the land is fertile and the sea bountiful. The men you killed took me from my island."

"Why?"

"Because they think that I'm a wizard, that I can turn their frozen lands into paradise."

"Can you?"

"No I can't. I'm just a man."

I was about to ask him another question when I heard Ragnarssen, our captain shout, "Thorfinn, what have you got there?" The captain was a giant man, with thick muscled arms which were heavy with tattoos. Around his wrists were gold bracelets as thick as a sword blade. A thick gold torque around his neck showed his high status. He was a wealthy man, the richest Northman sailing the frozen seas, and he commanded all our loyalties. He was also a ferocious warrior. I had seen him kill dozens upon dozens of men. He strode towards me and a few seconds later he was in my face. "What are you doing? You should be searching the ship for plunder. Who is this beggar?"

"I found him under the sail."

"Well get rid of him, we'll get nothing for him at market."

The thought of selling him never crossed my mind. Ragnarssen stared at me, waiting for me to act. He broke the silence, "You better not be thinking about bringing him with us. Kill him; throw him over the side with the rest of the sea dogs." I didn't want to kill the old man, there was something about him that wasn't right and I wanted to find out what. I didn't move quickly enough and Ragnarssen shouted, "If you won't do it, I will and then I'll kill you."

I didn't want to die, but it was either the old man or me. I believed Ragnarssen's threat and had seen him kill crew members for insubordination before and had no doubt that he would kill me if I didn't do it. I turned around, picked the old man up, looked him in the eye and wished I could say sorry. Gripping the handle of my dagger I raised it to Atlan's throat and saw desperation in his eyes. I started to press the dagger against his throat. I would give him a clean death, a quick death and I would live another day. Just as I was about to slit his throat he looked at Ragnarssen and said.

"If you spare me I will take you to a land filled with riches beyond your wildest desires." I paused for a moment, waiting for the captain's reply. None came so I pressed the blade against his throat again. Atlan spoke again, "I tell the truth captain; the place I speak of is real." I felt a hand on my shoulder and stopped.

"You speak the truth?" Ragnarssen asked.

"Yes."

"Where is this island you speak of?"

"No more than six days away."

"You have charts?"

"No, but don't worry, I know the way there."

How could he know the way? We were in the middle of a vast ocean, with no land for hundreds of miles, no landmarks to guide us and this old man knew the way. Ragnarssen thought for a moment then spoke, "Fine you live, but if I find out that you have lied I'll gut you and feed you to the sharks. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now get him cleaned up. He stinks worse than a corpse."

The rest of the crew stripped the ship of all its useful items and it was set alight. As we sailed away I watched the flames until they became nothing but a small dot on the horizon, lying on the black ocean like a fallen star. Atlan was cleaned up and given fresh clothes and food. He looked much better. The captain spoke with him at length, probing him about the island.

The days dragged on and boredom set in. Atlan sat at the front of the ship, guiding the helmsman with hand signals pointing to what direction to go. We didn't carry much fresh water with us as it was difficult to keep fresh; so we carried barrels full of mead. Most of it had been drunk and food was getting scarce. Some men tried fishing. Fish were caught, but not enough to feed us all and the captain, fearing we would starve, imposed strict rationing. Every free man was ordered to fish.

The Corpse Eater sailed on, cutting through the sea like a blade through a fat English monk, just like the monks we slaughtered on Lindisfarne, England's Holy Isle. I thought of Atlan's island. Was it as great as he said? Our homeland was a barren ice land, with thin soil and frozen rivers. Nothing grew in our soil, so we sailed the sea plundering lands and ships like ocean wolves, leaving nothing but corpses, burnt ships and villages behind us. This was how we survived, by piracy and theft, by the sword and by death. For seven days the Corpse Eater ate the waves. The sea was choppy and the wind strong and a few men got sick. Ragnarssen thought we had been tricked and spoke of killing Atlan for his deception. Atlan never responded and just sat pointing out what direction he wanted Corpse Eater to go.

Finally, one cold frosty morning we sighted land. Atlan smiled and said, "Rikelig."

We had arrived. The whole crew stood in silence on the deck looking towards the land, spellbound by the image. I was amazed too, for here in the middle of the deep, cold dark sea was a land of beauty. As we got closer the more I was amazed. Tall trees laden with colorful fruits, birds, fruit bushes and fields of bright yellow corn were all in front of my eyes and all under a bright sunlight, even although there was no visible sun. Ragnarssen too was wide eyed in disbelief. With the crew silent the Corpse Eater sailed into a natural harbor and berthed on a beach of soft golden sand. On the captain's command the crew jumped ship. I did too and landed in a warm sea. Shoals of small bright fish darted about in between my legs and on the beach bright red crabs scurried about. Rikelig meant 'plenty' in our language and I understood why this land was called that.

The crew, whooping and cheering, ran up the beach. They scrambled up trees and picked fruits of all shapes, colors and sizes. More of the crew scoured the fields, grabbing armfuls of corn, using their bows to shoot rabbits, birds and deer. I could hear someone shouting on the beach and turned to see Atlan with his hands in the air. He was shouting, "Take only what you need."

The crew didn't listen and continued on with their plunder, stuffing their faces and sacks with food. Even the captain was overcome with greed and he stuffed his face with long yellow fruit. I stood on the beach looking at the madness. Atlan strode over to the captain, anger staining his face. He tried to speak to him, but was knocked to the ground. Atlan protested the action. Ragnarssen stopped what he was doing, drew his sword and pointed it at Atlan. Before I could protest he plunged it into him.

I screamed, "No" and I ran over. The captain went back to munching on his stolen fruit; indifferent to his action. I fell to the ground beside Atlan. He was still breathing but it was shallow and laboured. "I'm sorry Atlan" I said through tears. My hand covered his wound and I felt his blood. It felt different, grainy and to my horror I saw sand pouring out of the hole.

"Don't worry, you will be unharmed."

I was confused. What did he mean? Why was he bleeding sand? And then I found out.

He stood up, taller and younger than he was before, his grey hair and bony body replaced by a muscular man with thick black hair. None of the crew saw the transformation because they were all busy plundering. Atlan let out a ferocious roar and the men stopped what they were doing. I scanned their messy faces, stained by fruit juice and covered in pulp for a reaction. There was none, they stood mute, confusion slowly spreading across their faces.

"I told you to take what you need. Now I'll take what I need."

When I woke up the crew were dead. They lay in bits across the beach which was stained red with their blood. I was unharmed and it was my turn to cower. A dark shadow blocked out the sun and I peered through a gap in my fingers.

"If you're going to kill me do it now." I said.

Atlan laughed, "I won't kill you. You were the only one who listened, who cared about my island. You stopped the captain from killing me on the ship. For that
I am grateful."

"Who are you?"

"I am the island, and the island is me. When I am on my island we are one, when I am off the island I am weak. The ship you rescued me from was part of a fleet which discovered my island. I let them live here and they lived well but they wanted more. They wanted me to turn their homeland into paradise. I refused. They worked out my weakness and separated me from the land. I became weak and they kidnapped me, took me from my home, my strength fading with every day which went by. If you hadn't captured me when you did I would have died." I couldn't believe what I was hearing, a man who was an island, by Odin what evil was this? Atlan continued,"Your crewmates have paid the price for their actions. I was happy to share some of this land with them, as a thank you for saving my life and bringing me back here, but their greed killed them. The island will use their blood and bodies to heal itself and more new life will grow here."

"What about me?" I asked.

"Do not worry, you are safe. Your actions have saved you. You didn't want to kill me on. I felt that and for that you will be rewarded." He bent down, picked up a stone and pressed a finger into a wound on my arm. Then he smeared my blood all over it. Finally he bent down, scooped up a handful of sand and rubbed it into the blood. I watched, in disbelief, as the bloody sand was absorbed into the stone. Atlan smiled and said, "This is your reward. Sail out into the ocean and throw this into the sea."

"Why, what'll happen."

"Get into your ship and leave my son, you'll find out later."

"The crew are dead, I can't sail alone."

Atlan pointed at the ship. I trudged off wondering if I could sail it alone. I reached the ship, climbed up to the deck and looked for sailors who weren't there. A strong wind took hold of the sails and the ship took off with lightning speed. I turned around and looked back at the island. Atlan was on the beach blowing the wind into the sails. I gripped onto the rail as the ship sped away and closed my eyes, asking Odin for his help and for him to take away my fear.

I don't know how long my journey lasted because I passed out. When I woke up I was cold. The sea was calm and a low freezing fog covered the ship, chilling me to the bone. I looked around for something to wrap around me but the ship was bare, the items on the deck blown away by the wind. I went down into the hold to look for something to warm me up. There was nothing of much use, just a thin leather jerkin covered with holes made by rat's teeth.

I stayed in the hold for the rest of the day crying like a baby, dreading my dreadful death. There was no hope. I was alone on a ship with no crew or food and I resigned myself to my fate. It was time to end this, time to die and on my own terms. I climbed the ladder to the deck and stood on the wet wood, looking out at the sea. I would use the only weapon I had left, my dagger, the one I took from the sailor I slew. It was in my pocket and I put a cold hand inside to retrieve it. Instead of the dagger I felt something round and remembered the rock which Atlan had given me. Anger descended upon me and I threw the rock into the sea, throwing it as far as I could; wanting to get it as far away from me as I could.

The rock disappeared underneath the waves and I turned away. A few seconds later I heard a sound, like an underground volcano erupting, and the ship rocked on the swell. I ran back over to the side of the ship and watched as the sea seethed and writhed. With wide open eyes I watched as something came up from beneath the waves, a solid dark mass which roared like a dragon. The ship swayed on a huge wave and a cold wall of water swept over the boat, almost sweeping me over the side. I managed to grab hold of the mast and I hung on for dear life. I wanted to die, but not like this. It had to be on my own terms. I heard the sound of wood snapping and something bashed against my head, knocking me into darkness.

When I woke up I was back on the island, my face pressed into soft sand and warm water tickling my toes. My head hurt and I wondered what had happened. Was I really back on Atlan's island? I cried out his name, but there was no answer. On closer inspection I realized that this island was different. The trees were different, their fruits new to my eyes. The landscape was new too. The corn fields were gone, replaced by a crop I had never seen. This must be a different island. Finally I realized what was going on. The rock which Atlan gave me gave birth to this land. My reward my own paradise where I didn't have to worry about food or survival, where I could live out my days with a full belly and warm sun on my face.