"Hurry now. This siege is about to get worse. You are only going to get yourself killed if you stay," the trader urged. Something in his voice told me that he knew he would die here in the city, but that it was his choice.

Not wanting to waste the little time we had, I quickly counted out the two hundred and tossed it on the table. Moving quickly through the store we exited the building and spotted a plume of smoke rising from the gate where we had originally entered. Unlike before the docks we full of life as sailors and citizens hurried to ships, hoping to flee the fighting. Already one ship, a tall two masted ship from Africa was making its way out of the harbor.

Hastened by the departure of the ship, we made our way down the steps to the group of canoes. Selecting one out of the group, I held the edge as Kaelyn climbed into it, rocking it ever so gently. Taking off my backpack and handing it to Kaelyn, I gave the craft gentle shove. Jumping lightly into the canoe I settled myself in the back with Kaelyn in the front. I had only used a canoe on a handful of occasions and usually I had been with someone else who knew what they were doing. Now it was my turn to teach Kaelyn, while a siege raged on nearby.

Prepared or not we had to get moving. Calling out, "Paddle on the left, and I will paddle to correct us," I dipped my paddle in, sending us away from the dock. Naturally Kaelyn's strokes though deep were unsteady and poorly timed, much as I had been when I had first learned. Unlike then, we did not have time to make these mistakes if we wanted the best chance of escaping.

Trying to think of a way to get our stokes in sync, I was distracted as a second ship made its way past us and out into the ocean. Over the ocean breeze I could hear the sailors singing some song, which gave me an idea. While I was distracted, Kaelyn cutting a stroke too shallow showered me with cold sea water.

Shouting to be heard over all the noise, "Dip your paddle in to the this tempo," I quickly cleared my throat.

"Beware! Beware! Beware!

Wild weather here we come

To tame a storm no man has seen

And ride the sea until we're free

Beware! Beware! Beware!

Through hail and sleet we sail

No gale to stop our tale

To cottontails and blacktails we hale

It was rough and poorly worded but by the second verse we were in sync. Where any of those words had come from was beyond me, but seeing how it worked and we needed to keep going I sang it again.

"Beware! Beware! Beware!

Wild weather here we come

To tame a storm no man has seen

And ride the sea until we're free

Beware! Beware! Beware!

Through hail and sleet we sail

No gale to stop our tale

To cottontails and blacktails we hale

On the third time Kaelyn joined in with a high clear voice. It was the most perfect noise I had ever heard, and the guards at the sea entrance spotted us and opened up a smaller entry way for us. I had never seen this entry before but it led into a dark crevice that marred the cliffs brhind the wall. Dipping my head at the guards, I watched as Kaelyn and her half of the canoe disappeared into the the gloom.

Continuing to sing our little chant, we made out way down the dark passage.  Surprisingly the passage brightened as we got farther and farther away from the harbor entrance. Curious to know how this was possible as there were no torches to be seen, I noticed that the walls themselves were glowing, or at least they seemed to be glowing.

Curiosity got the better of me, and stating, "Stop Kaelyn," I slowly stood up. Extending my arm, I felt the wall with my fingertips. The light or glow seemed to be coming from an assortment of mosses that were growing on the wall. I had never seen this before and if we had not been in a hurry I would have collected some to see if I could get it to work outside the cavern.

"Z we must keep going. Unless you are bleeding we have to keep paddling. I think I can see the end of this cavern ahead," Kaelyn softly reminded me.

Settling myself back into a sitting position, wincing as my side sent flares of pain into my body, I pushed off the wall. Lowering our voices as the chant had begun to echo off the cavern walls, we continued forward. Soon a spot of light appeared, announcing the end of the cavern.

Unsure where this entrance was going to be relative to the city, I was hesitant to leave the cavern. Yet we could not stay in the cavern forever, so telling Kaelyn to keep her eyes out I steadily guided us out into the sunlight.

Never having been here before, I looked around to try and locate the ocean. We had come out into a creek that was clear all the way to its rocky bottom below. Judging this to be fresh water, I knew that it would take us inland, which was both the direction we needed to go and away from the siege. Judging from the treeline I was certain we were somewhere north of the city.

Before I could ask Kaelyn if she saw anything that I had not, war cries filled the air. Figures shouting at the tops of their lungs appeared from the beach which I had not seen. Covered in hides and wearing odd hats, they were more than likely part of the group besieging Columbia.

"Paddle Kaelyn Paddle!"

Scared for our lives I began to paddle quickly. Having just been shot twice and nearly losing Kaelyn, I was not about to try and fight the approaching figures. We had the advantage of moving through deep water with no current, while they tried to run through the sand.

Focusing my attention on paddling, I ignored the shouting and the burning sensation in my side. Pain would be the least of my problems if the men got to us. It was only a hundred feet to the treeline, where it would be hard for the figures to follow us. Once there we could stop and make plans for further travel. All we had to do was get to the treeline, no more.

Pssh! Splat!

Pssf! Splush!

Apparently having realized they could not catch up with us, the marauders decided to shoot at us instead. Splashes sounded around us in the water as bullets missed and sunk into the water. Whoever had taught them how to shoot had done a poor job. Had there been time I would have shot back, if only to make them scatter for cover.

Ignoring the shots and splashes, I focused on the treeline ahead. Just a few more strokes and we would be safe behind a solid wall of plants and trees. Besides the men were here to capture Columbia, not Kaelyn and I. They would not waste time to cut their way through all the plants just to try and catch us. Kaelyn and I would be safe in the forest.

"Kaelyn!"

Caught up in my thoughts and the work of paddling the canoe I had not even noticed Kaelyn collapse. Now looking I saw that she was lying face down, her head hanging out over the canoe.

Unsure and unable to check her condition, I gritting my teeth paddled the canoe past the tree line. Muttering, "Hang in there Kaelyn," I drove my paddle deeper into the water.

Shots rang out for a few moments before falling silent. No doubt the group had realized they could not chase us and that we were not a threat to them.

Paddling through this silence, I scanned ahead for somewhere to run the canoe aground. Unsure of Kaelyn's condition I needed to stop as soon as I could find a good place to stop.