The wind changed. Still it blew fiercely, sending the boats fleeing before it like specks of foam on a flood-swollen stream, yet now there seemed an eerie purpose behind it, for they were driven on a course that veered past small, flat islands and skirted the shores of larger ones where signs of settlement showed in wandering sheep and the smoke from cottage fires. North they were driven, then south, then westward again, and the rain cleared, and it became apparent that this strange intervention of the gods had carried them through broad ocean firths into the very heart of this group of grass-clad isles; they had indeed reached the destination Ulf had intended for them, and now sailed westward into a sheltered bay in whose waters two small islands lifted low, grassy forms above the sea. These islets were fringed by spreading rock shelves, and here rested many seals, watching the visitors with mild, dark eyes. The land beyond the bay was gently sloping, green-clad, and entirely without trees; this was perhaps the biggest island in the group. To the southwest, beyond the rolling hills, there was another isle where twin dark, mysterious peaks loomed in forbidding grandeur. The crew rowed into the bay, the oars obeying them now, and dropped anchor. The Golden Dragon was beached on a narrow strip of pebbly shore; Ulf was the first to spring over the side. He fell to his knees on the wet ground and gave thanks to Odin, and Freyr, and Thor for their safe deliverance.

It was a wondrous place. The waterway across which they had been driven was serene and bright now, and all marveled at the changing colors of sky and sea, the cool, clear light that bathed these low, green hills, the shimmering, pearly water. Birds circled their battered craft, perhaps hoping for fish.

There were dwellings here, low houses of stone with heather-thatch roofs, but if any folk dwelt in them, they had fled at the sight of the two ships coming in to shore. Supplies were unloaded, enough to last a few days, and the women and children settled as comfortably as possible. Ulf left guards; he instructed them that Lady Margaret was in charge. Then he set off inland with his men by him, to determine what kind of place this was, and who might hold sway here.