by Allan Joyal
"What about the land?" I asked.
"The soil I checked appears to be rich. I'm guessing the streams flood every spring, but it’s hard to tell. There are several groves like the ones here, but they mostly grow near the walls of the valley. If this was once a lake, the distribution of the trees makes sense as the seeds for new trees would have to be brought into the valley somehow," Natalie said.
"So plenty of farm and pasture land?" I asked.
"Definitely," Natalie replied. "And I found a couple areas where the granite is exposed. They could probably be used as foundations for homes."
"You knew!" Verval said as he whirled to look at me. "You knew we would find a better location for shelters!"
"I hoped," I said. "And the shelters you have built can still serve the cattle in the future. Nothing will be wasted."
Verval just stared at me. "Fine, you don't want to help or lead, I'll make sure that the people can have a roof over their heads while you continue to play with our lives."
The man whirled and stomped away. Lawus watched him go and then carefully approached me. "He means well," Lawus said. "Please don't do anything to him."
"I don't have time to fight with him," I replied firmly. "But we do need the shelters, and I understand he means well. The wall must be the first priority though."
Lawus nodded. "Anything else?"
"We do have three deer that Krysbain and Lenoir brought in," Heather said. "Do you think Thom could prepare the skins? We will need more leather for clothing eventually."
"He's been doing that just outside the valley," Thom said. "Will he be safe there?"
"He should be, but I can't be sure. The orcs might send another scout or might be closer than Krysbain thinks. Can he do the work on the east side of the meadow?" I asked.
Lawus shrugged. "I can ask, he might need someone to help him move his tools."
"We'll take care of that in the morning. Thank you again," I said holding out my hand.
Lawus stared at my hand for a moment and then took it. We shook hands before he turned and ran off to join Verval.
My circle of friends and companions said nothing more that night as we enjoyed a late meal. I could hear Hencktor and Al groan with pain as fatigued muscles tightened up when the evening chill descended on the valley. Heather and Cimbra clung to me as we finished our meal and then sat and watched the fire burn.
Finally, the sun completed its descent and darkness covered the valley. I stood up and headed for the tent to sleep. My movement started a procession to the tent as the rest of the group joined me in heading off to sleep.
I was pushing aside the hanging skin used to separate the sections of the tent when Kariy touched my arm. "What should I do with the deer?" she asked.
"Can you smoke one? Try to dry out as much of the meat as possible to preserve it and then cook up the other two tomorrow. Everyone is going to need the energy with all the work we have to do. I expect we'll end up looking to slaughter a cow eventually," I replied.
Kariy nodded. "I wish I could help."
"Keep us fed," I replied. "That will allow us to work harder and longer."
Kariy nodded and then headed to the back of the tent. I sighed and sat down on the furs. I had a bit of trouble loosening the laces of the leather vest I wore. I was still trying to get the knot undone when Cimbra sat down next to me and noticed my struggles.
"Your hands are probably tired," she said. "Let me get that."
The woman reached out and carefully took hold of the thongs that held the vest shut. She got the knots undone and then helped me pull the vest over my head. She followed by grabbing the shirt and then looking at my ribs.
"What?" I asked.
"You scared Heather and me," she hissed. "That Orc could have killed you."
I held her hands and looked my lover in the eyes. "He would have killed all of us had I not been willing to fight him."
"Alone?" Cimbra hissed. "I want your children to know you. Don't risk your life so carelessly."
"I want to see you have many children and to see your grandchildren born," I said softly as I pulled Cimbra into an embrace. The dark elf froze for a moment, but then wrapped her arms around me.
"I want that too," Cimbra said softly as she pressed her lips to mine. "And I'm going to make sure you live to see it. Relax a little; the wall will be done in time."
She pulled me down as she lay back on the furs we used as bedding. Our bodies entwined as Heather slipped into the room to join us. As she came up behind me and joined the embrace, I closed my eyes and allowed exhaustion to drag me into dreamland.
Chapter 25: Frantic Preparations
The next morning I woke first. Somehow during the night Heather and Cimbra had ended up in each other's arms. I gazed down on the two women I loved. Their faces were peaceful and relaxed. Once again I was reminded of just how important my family was and how much I needed to get done.
I did not want to disturb the two women, so I found my clothing and slipped out into the small foyer we had created to put it on. I found Hencktor sitting down on a crate and pulling his boots on. The man smiled at me as I began to pull my pants on.
"You have a bit of a bruise," he said pointing to my right side where the orc had struck me with my spear during the fight.
"I know," I said. "But it only looks bad. We don't have time for me to heal."
"Lydia won't like that," Hencktor said firmly.
"She's supposed to worry about you not me," I said with a smile as I finished pulling my pants on and sat down to pull my boots on. "I already have two ladies who look after me."
"Lydia doesn't like or trust Verval. If you were to die, she'd feel obligated to lead most of the group away from this valley," Hencktor said.
I had pulled my boots on. I stood up and stepped outside. Hencktor followed me out of the tent. The air was filled with a foggy mist that cooled everything. I shivered as I pulled my shirt and vest on.
Hencktor had collected two axes as well as my spear. He held the spear out to me once I finished tightening the laces on the vest. "Nice morning," he said.
I took the spear. "We should be able to get a lot done today. Let's get started there isn't much time until the orcs return."
"Will the wall stop them?" Hencktor asked.
"We'll have to defend it, but it should. The only other way into the valley we know of is to walk far to the west and then enter. That's near the dwarf's cave, and I'm sure they'd attack a large party of orcs wandering near there," I said.
"You think the dwarves would get involved?" Hencktor asked as we started to walk around the tent. We could hear a few of our friends shift around in their sleep.
"They wouldn't want the orcs making a camp in the area, and this valley is a perfect place for one," I said. "I expect they'd rouse themselves."
We emerged from the grove. Over by the shelters being built by Verval, we could see a woman working to warm up something over a fire. She waved for us to come over.
Hencktor and I walked over. The woman looked at the shelter carefully and then brought over a couple of pieces of flat biscuit to us. I realized it was Victoria when she added some pieces of cheese to the biscuits.
"Victoria?" I hissed.
She shrugged. "Don't worry, Verval won't wake for at least two hours. He stayed up late into the night talking with Jeff and Borlan. They are still figuring out how to cover the shelters to keep out the rain."
"Not sure I can help there," I said. "The grasslands here are already being grazed. Natalie might have found some tall grasses to the west. I believe she said most of the valley floor is grassland. We might be able to put together some kind of thatched roof."
"I'll talk to Konstanzia," Victoria said. "Thanks for the idea. But you should go. Verval is stressed because he originally believed that by pushing to build the shelters everyone would follow him. That orc head you revealed yesterday definitely ruined that idea."
"We didn't seek out the orcs," Hencktor protested. "I
'd be happier if they never showed up. It's going to be a pain dealing with them."
I nudged Hencktor toward the forest at the mouth of the valley. "Let's get started. If we have the wall up maybe we won't have too big of a fight against them. I'd love an anti-climactic final battle before we settle down in our new home."
"I'd love no battle," Hencktor said. "Every time we fight, I'm sure I'll die."
"I feel that way as well," I said as we entered the trees.
We were silent as we walked the rest of the way to the wall. We were close to the north end of the valley, so we followed the granite face of the cliff until we emerged from the trees. We were about fifteen feet from the wall, and I heard Hencktor whistle softly as we gazed on the eight foot wall standing before us.
"I never realized we had built so much," He said. "And from here it does look like an effective barrier. But what about someone climbing it?"
"We need to build a platform so we can stand and look down from the top of the wall," I said. "That will take the spikes the dwarves are supposed to be bringing."
"Won't we need wool?" Hencktor asked.
I nodded. "I'm leaving that to Gertrilla. She has definitely taken charge of the herding. I think she's been holding off because we have no place to store the wool. We really should have purchased tents at some point. We only have the one."
"Can we make more?" Hencktor asked.
"Probably in the future," I said. "It won't be soon. We just have too much to do. Next year hopefully the sheep will provide enough wool that we can start looking into making some. But if all goes well, we'll have some kind of stone or wooden houses by then."
Hencktor nodded and then started walking south along the wall. He appeared to be inspecting it. "It looks flimsy," he complained. "And a good rain might cause the wall to fall over."
"Another reason we need time. We can add struts to support it, but ideally we'd use spikes to secure them. That won't happen for some time," I said.
Hencktor nodded again. He seemed a bit surprised when we came to the point that the wall changed direction and formed the angled pocket. I noticed that he looked up and down the wall for a moment before continuing the walk. He said nothing, so I kept silent as we finished the walk.
"Guess we start chopping," Hencktor said. "We do have a lot to do."
I nodded as I leaned my spear against the wall. Hencktor handed an axe to me and we separated. He headed to the southeast, clearly looking to clear the trees that blocked the path of the wall. I headed southwest, hoping to continue expanding the clearing we were creating in front of the wall.
Nothing was said as we approached trees. I found one that appeared to be the right size on the edge of the clearing and began making the first cut into the trunk. The sound of another axe cutting into a tree could be heard to the east as Hencktor began chopping his first tree of the day.
Shortly after taking my first swing I fell into a reverie. I would take about a dozen strikes on one side of the tree and then I'd switch sides and chop on the other until the tree cracked and started to fall. Then I'd step away and watch the tree fall to the ground.
Once a tree was felled, I'd move to another spot in the clearing and start again. I always choose a tree far enough away that Heather, Oleiana and the mule team they were working with could come out and drag the tree I just felled away safely.
By the time the sun was closing on its zenith the clearing was filled with the sounds of people cutting wood or leading mules. I had lost count on the number of trees I had cut down. My hands were starting to blister, but I was going to soldier on when I felt a hand on my shoulder as I watched the next tree fall.
The touch was gentle so I turned carefully. Cimbra was standing there. I could see a little pink show through the grey skin of her cheeks as she held up one of the water skins the group had.
"I filled it from the colder water we can find upriver," she told me. "You need a drink and then Kariy brought over some deer steaks. You need to take a break and eat."
"We have a lot to do," I protested.
Cimbra snorted. "You've cut down at least thirty trees so far this morning. Ron, Lydia said you were acting like a robot, whatever that is. We currently have more trees on the ground than we can put up in two days."
"Then I'll help there, so we can build the wall faster," I said.
"It’s not a matter of help. We have plenty of help. We can't build the wall any faster right now. The girls strip each tree you cut down long before we can add it to the wall. Everyone is working as hard as they can," Cimbra said.
I noticed Heather walking towards us. She was holding a wooden bowl and a knife. She thrust the bowl in my direction. It was filled with several still steaming cubes of meat. "Lunch," she said firmly. "And then you need to take a break."
"The wall won't build itself," I pointed out.
Heather grabbed my head. She forced me to look in the direction of the wall. I had to blink my eyes before I could believe what I was seeing.
The wall had grown faster than the tree cutting had cleared the forest. Where the area to the west of the wall had once been cleared for forty feet, there were now only twenty feet between the wall and the trees closest to it. I could see that a second pocket had been built into the wall as well.
I scanned back towards the north, my eyes following the wall. When I got to the first pocket we had built into the wall I stopped. Shaylin was leaning against the top of the wall.
"What is Shaylin doing hanging from the wall?" I asked.
"She's not hanging," Cimbra said. I noticed that there was pride in her tone. When I looked over at her she had an enigmatic smile on her face.
I turned back to look at Heather, but the blond had turned away and was studiously examining the older section of the wall. Finally I looked back at Shaylin. They young woman did not appear to be holding onto the wall as she gazed watchfully to the northeast.
"So how is she not hanging?" I asked.
"Why don't we walk around the wall and see," Heather said. "You need the break."
"The wall needs to be built," I protested.
"Ron," Cimbra said. "We've been allowing Verval and his helpers to take logs because you, Hencktor, and Al are so far ahead on chopping trees. We still have more than thirty logs to add to the wall. A short break won't stop the building. In fact it might help everyone rest a little. We can't keep this pace up forever."
I sighed and then nodded. I began walking to the southwest, heading for the end of the wall. Yveney and Dafalia looked up and waved as I passed them. The two girls were using a small hatchet to removed branches from a downed tree. Just past them I could see Gertrilla using a saw to size a trunk. Oleiana stood nearby watching Gertrilla's progress.
"The girls prepare the trees," Cimbra told me. "Aine usually helps, but she's gathering some vines right now."
I nodded as we continued to walk. I found that the trench for the wall extended six feet past the end of the wall. Lydia was examining the soil as we passed. She waved absently. I noticed a smirk on her face as we turned around and prepared to follow the wall to the north.
The ground on this side of the wall had been smoothed out. I could even see that stumps had been removed and the resulting holes filled in. I looked over at Heather and she shrugged. "We had extra dirt from the trench and a flat area means we can get around faster. Isn't that why you aren't removing the stumps from the other side of the wall?"
"Of course," I said as we continued to walk along the wall. "And it worked. One of those orcs stumbled when they charged."
We had passed the first pocket. I was looking ahead and could see that Shaylin was standing on some kind of platform that was built into the bend in the wall. It looked like thick bamboo poles held it up.
"You built a platform?" I asked. "When did you have time? And what is it made from?"
"Natalie told us she found some reeds upriver. Some of the tributaries slow quite a bit, and I guess there is a marshy area. She took Shaylin a
nd Gertrilla there this morning, and they brought back enough reeds to weave three platforms. They say we can get more."
"We don't have an infinite supply of bamboo," I said worriedly.
"There's more upriver as well," Cimbra said. "Natalie told me where to get it and I took Yveney and Corwar with me. We gave some to Verval. I think he plans on creating a ladder so work on the shelters goes faster."
"Calling those things houses sounds so wrong," Heather said.
"They are what they are," I said as we continued to approach the platform. Shaylin noticed us approaching. She used her right hand to wave while continuing to look out over the clearing on the other side of the wall.
"Nothing," Shaylin said. "It's quiet."
"That has to be boring," I said.
"I thought chopping trees would be boring, but you've done that longer than I've been up here. We rotate regularly," Shaylin said. "And it’s important. I can see further from up here. I can say that right now nothing appears to be moving. I'm not seeing any clouds of birds rising up suddenly."
"That only works if the birds are close to something. And I don't know how many nesting sites are near," I said.
"Gertrilla thinks she spotted two when she was up here. We're passing that information along as we are relieved. It gives us something to watch for," Shaylin replied.
I looked more closely at the assembly holding up the platform. The foundation was four long bamboo poles. Three rested against the wall and the fourth was set opposite the point where the wall bent back towards the valley. A series of vines and what appeared to be wooden corners held together a platform about five feet off the ground.
"How?" I asked.
"Lydia remembered that we had a small keg full of nails. They aren't long enough to attach anything really big to the wall, but Al came up with an idea to use wedges of wood along with the bamboo. We tested it and it’s solid," Heather said.
"And how do they get up?" I asked.
Shaylin reached to her right and shook a rope hanging from the wall. I could see the end dance just a foot above the ground. "We just climb the wall."
