Commander Bjorn sat behind his desk inside the command building of Calais.
Julian, Bjorn's clerk, ran in holding a folded paper. "Commander Bjorn!" Julian reported. "A transport boat just arrived from City Titan. The captain handed me this urgent letter from King Ragnar."
Bjorn took the seemingly blank paper, applied a few drops of a chemical solution, and revealed the secret text.
Bjorn read silently. Ragnar wrote that his scouts had discovered Iceland, an island rich with active volcanoes, geothermal steam, and sulfur.
However, it was already occupied by an unknown faction with a fleet of longships. Ragnar was organizing a military expedition to secure it.
The final paragraph made Bjorn's heart race.
"I cannot leave City Titan," Ragnar wrote. "Therefore, I need King Erik to command the fleet. Order Erik to return to City Titan immediately."
Bjorn dropped the paper, furious. The siege of Calais was boring, and Bjorn relied on Erik.
