FireThe midsummer river presented a beautiful and ever-changing view for the travelers in the majestic longboat. The sun smiled down on the rowers, and in the blue sky sailed just a few white strips of clouds. The river was wide at that spot, so wide that a grown man couldn't have thrown a rock from the shore even halfway across. The longboat was like a sight from another world in this peaceful scenery, and it was indeed far from its homeport.
The boat was larger than any of the Kainu's fishing boats, and it made the water foam grandly as it glided slowly up the river. The rowers were longhaired and bearded, sturdy men, each with an oar in hand. Those oars they pulled slowly, forcing the longboat to travel sluggishly upstream. Many of them eyed the surrounding forest suspiciously. These m
