by Eric Vall
“Okay, it’s a start,” I said as I began to walk in the direction of the library. “I want you to make sure everyone is armed with weapons and armor if we have it.”
Everyone followed after me, and I could feel the tension in the air as we silently walked. After a few minutes, we finally reached the library, and I walked inside first, followed by Ruslan and Julia. Nike took up the rear, and everyone else piled inside between us. The library looked the same, except there were now giant walls made of wood that stretched from the floor to the ceiling across each of the tunnels. Thick brambles covered door sized openings in each wall, and I admired the handy work as I walked to the closest table and walked around to stand at the head.
“Valerra,” I began as soon as everyone was inside and seated at the table, “before you help Nike with the material collection in the outskirts, I need your help digging a trench. We need it deep and a decent distance away from the walls. I don’t want the echidnas to climb out and immediately reach the city.”
“I’ve already told you this Evan, but I am not a shovel,” the crimson dragon growled as her eyes narrowed.
“Yeah, I know,” I waved my hand dismissively, “but you and I can get it done faster than anyone else could. And time is of the essence. We can’t waste any time if it can be helped.”
The crimson dragon grumbled something under her breath, but I chose to ignore her.
“Julia,” I said next as I turned to my mother, who sat between Ruslan and Nike, “I’m going to put you in charge of the people. If anyone is unable to fight, or is elderly or a child, take them to the airship. They should be safe there. I’ll make sure a few guards are with you.”
“I’ll keep them safe, don’t worry.” My mother nodded.
“I know you will,” I replied. “Once we’re done here, find Afra as well. I want her to gather as much food as she can and load it into the airship. If something happens to the farms, we will still need food. A city with no food is already dead.”
“I can ask Moskal to help as well,” Julia suggested as she fanned herself. “His knowledge of herbs might prove useful. I’ll also have him find seeds to carry with us so we can replant the fields if things go sour.”
“That’s a good idea, we need to be prepared,” I praised, and then I turned to the rest of the table. “Does anyone else have any ideas?”
“Azra and I can figure out where to add more defenses along the wall,” Raisa chimed in as she tucked a scarlet strand of hair behind her ear. “We could add spikes to the outside to deter the echidnas away from the city. If you want to build a trench to trap them, then I would recommend building a deep moat closer to the walls, too. It will prevent the echidnas from burrowing under the walls and inside the city.”
“Let’s start with the moat first,” I decided with a nod of agreement. “Actually, scratch the trench, the echidnas burrowed into the tribe and caught us by surprise, and I don’t want that to happen here. If we have time, the spikes will come in handy too, so keep that idea as well. Draw up some plans, and we can look at them a little later, okay?”
Raisa and Azra both nodded before they pulled pencils and paper from their spatial storages, and then they began to whisper amongst themselves.
I smiled at the two of them and turned to my father.
“Pops, I want you to help Natalya in the smithy. We need a lot of arrows, and as fast as I know Natalya can be in the forge, the more help she has the better. Nike and Valerra can bring you the materials they find.”
“Sounds good to me, son,” he replied with a confident grin. “I’d be honored to work next to her. She’s brilliant.”
Julia sent him a strange look, and he cleared his throat.
“Not as brilliant as you, of course, my love,” he told her and kissed her hand.
“Of course,” my mother said dryly, but I saw the soft smile she hid behind her fan.
“Okay, sounds like a plan,” I agreed before I turned to the last member of our small group. “Nike, I know I’ve already given you an assignment, but if you have time, can you help with training the able-bodied people of Hatra? Most of them have never even held a sword, let alone killed with one. We thankfully have the Blue Tree Guild warriors, and they’re as skilled as they come, but it’s gonna be all hands on deck here if we’re going to defeat the whole colony.”
“Of course,” Nike smirked, “I’ll make sure they all have perfect form by the time I’m finished with them.”
“Okay, thank you,” I sighed. “Then I can only think of one last thing we need to talk about right now.”
“Which is?” Valerra yawned, like I was boring her.
I ignored her and turned to my parents and other allies.
“I want the people to know what’s going on,” I said, “so let anyone know that you see. They are in danger too, and they need to be prepared.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“So, we all have our jobs to better our defensives,” I continued. “Now, let’s come up with a plan for our offense.”
“What if we tried to ambush them?” Nike offered. “As you said before, we can fly above them and take them down easily.”
“I agree, but I don’t think we have enough airships for everyone,” I replied. “And some echidnas are bound to get past us. We’ll need a plan for the people on the ground as well.”
“Do they have any weaknesses?” Azra asked as he looked away from the blueprints he drew with Raisa.
“Very few,” Valerra responded as she leaned back in her chair. “They are sturdy creatures meant to thrive in the desert. They do not die easily unless you impale them.”
“That gives me an idea,” I said as Valerra finished. “If they are desert creatures, maybe they don’t like water? Their bodies are pretty solid, I bet they’d just sink to the bottom of a body of water.”
As the group considered this, I stood up and walked over to one of the bookshelves behind me.
I scanned the titles of the books before I finally found the one I wanted. Then I pulled it off the shelf and walked back to the table. The tome was bound in brown leather with twine that held the pages inside, and the front cover had the title branded into the soft material.
I carefully tossed the book down onto the table and dust flew into the air. I coughed and waved my hand in front of my face.
“The Inati Bestiary,” Raisa read as she leaned across the table to take a look. “What is that?”
“I remember seeing this title once when I was browsing down here,” I explained. “I just thought it sounded interesting, but it should list any type of creature that lives here, mythological or real. Hopefully, echidnas will be listed, and we can learn more about them.”
I flipped through the pages quickly. The bestiary was alphabetized, so I at least knew where to look. I stopped briefly in the ‘D’ section when I saw a few pages marked for dragons. I’d have to come back to that later. Then I continued on and quickly scanned the pages.
Finally, I found a page marked for echidnas, and I read quietly to myself as I scanned the paper for anything we didn’t already know.
“Here!” I said suddenly, and I jabbed my finger into the page. “It says, ‘Echidnas are known to be very resilient and territorial creatures. They thrive in hot, dry climates and are often found far away from any source of water. They even burrow under the sand when the desert enters into its rainy season and enter a state of hibernation until it is once again dry enough for them to emerge.’”
“So, they don’t like water,” Nike mused. “You were right.”
“Raisa, your moat idea was genius,” I praised with a broad grin, and the architect blushed. “If they can’t survive in water, we just need to make sure we have plenty of it.”
“How do you plan to do that?” Valerra asked with a quirked eyebrow.
“Pops,” I turned to Ruslan, “I heard you want to use the aqueducts for a sewage line, right?”
“Yes,” he nodded, “Julia and I began the actual cons
truction on the line a few days ago.”
“Where?” I asked.
“Just to the south of the main gates.
“Perfect,” I grinned sharply, “if we can build the moat underneath the new line you built, we can fill it with the water from your new aqueduct.”
“Of course,” Ruslan murmured, and his eyes gleamed with delight. “We have a dam set up right now to prevent any loss of water pressure until it’s complete, but we should be able to remove it easily and use it to fill the moat.”
“Great. Valerra, that will be our first job then. We need to dig the moat so we can fill it as soon as possible.”
“If we dig deep enough, we might even hit water to help with the filling process,” Valerra suggested as she examined her nails.
“That’s true, I didn’t think of that,” I replied before I smirked and narrowed my eyes at the other dragon. “You’re actually enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“I do not know what you are talking about.”
“Admit it,” I teased, “you’re having fun protecting the city.”
Valerra snarled and snapped her fangs at me, but I just chuckled and turned back to the bestiary. I quickly finished the page about echidnas, but nothing else was new information, so I closed the book and returned it to the shelf.
“Okay, let’s get out of here and get to work. Does anyone have any questions about their jobs?” I gave them a minute to think, but they all stayed silent. “Good. Let’s go then.”
I led the group from the library back to the outside, and once we were all standing in the light of day, I spoke to them again.
“Everyone can go to their jobs from here. Try and stay in groups if you can. Pops, you and Julia can head over to Natalya and find out what materials she needs. Then you can take Julia to find Afra at the farms. Laika and Nike, you can go find armor and weapons. Find out who already has them and who knows how to use them.”
“Of course, Lord Evan,” Laika said with a slight bow, and Nike nodded in understanding.
Then the wolf Demi-Human and noble walked away toward the weaponry, while Ruslan and Julia trailed behind them toward the smithy.
I watched them go for a moment before I looked back at Raisa and Azra.
“You two are free to go wherever you need to go,” I told them. “Just be careful, alright?”
“Yes, Lord Evan,” Azra replied as he pulled Raisa away by the arm. Then he turned to the other architect. “Let’s go this way! I think there are plenty of places we can add spikes on the east wall.”
“It looks like it’s just us,” I said as I glanced over at Valerra, and she looked at me, unimpressed.
“Let’s get this over with.” She turned on her heel and walked toward the closest gate.
When we reached the gate several minutes later, the guard opened it quickly, and we both stepped outside and shifted into our dragon forms.
“Let’s find the aqueduct Ruslan told us about before we start to dig,” I advised, and we turned to the south.
We flew slowly and silently as we listened for any strange sounds, and soon enough, we found the area Ruslan mentioned. The walls of the city had a large opening that fit the channel snugly, and the aqueduct simply came to an abrupt end where the sewage would have spilled out. A small lip curved off the tip to create a spout to prevent the sewage from spilling everywhere, and this particular aqueduct was slanted down toward the earth and lower than the rest of the aqueducts so the sewage could easily drain out. I guess it was a good thing the echidnas were on their way now and not sometime in the future, when the sewer lines were finished.
“Okay, so here’s the aqueduct.” I gestured with my head to the structure. “So, this is where we can start. I’ll dig around the far side of Hatra while you dig back the way we came. Sound good?”
“Sure,” the other dragon huffed. “Can we start now?”
“Remember, dig as deep as you can,” I told her. “Try to reach water, and if you can’t, let me know. I want the moat to be as even as possible all the way around.”
“I know, Evan,” she drawled with a roll of her huge gold eyes.
“Just making sure,” I sassed back at her.
She ignored me, dug her claws into the earth, and ripped the dirt up and out of the ground. She left a massive hole behind, and then her claws came down a second time.
I turned away and began to dig along my side of the wall.
I could feel the dirt under my claws, and I absently wondered if I could use my magic to make the job easier. I didn’t want to use my power to dig the whole moat, since I didn’t want to magically exhaust myself in the off chance the echidnas arrived sooner, but a little help couldn’t hurt. So, I took a deep breath and reached deep into my spiritual sea.
My stone power reacted instinctively, and I could sense the earth under me shift slightly and then break open. The result wasn’t pretty, it looked more like an uneven scar across the earth, but it was good enough. The hole stretched across the entire section I needed and was wide enough for me to fit inside, and it was about ten feet deep. All I had to do now was to shape the edges of the moat and dig deeper until I reached water.
I used my claws to mold the moat into a shape I was happy with before I jumped down and began to dig deeper. Thirty minutes later, I could hear water gurgle from an underground reservoir maybe five more feet down. I didn’t break into it just yet, and instead started to move laterally at the same depth through the dirt on my left side.
It was hard and tedious work, but between my claws and my stone power, within a few hours I’d circled my half of Hatra. I had dirt caked into my claws and scales, but I grinned victoriously at my work.
“Now, for the fun part,” I said as I jumped and climbed my way out of the steep moat. Once I was back on even ground, I stood on the ledge of the deep trench I had dug, closed my eyes, and reached into my spiritual sea one more time.
Then I sent a spike of my stone power deep into the bottom of the trench, and with a sound like clapping thunder, I broke into the underground reservoir, and water spurted up from the dirt.
“Fuck yeah.” I grinned as I watched more water slowly began to fill the freshly dug moat.
Then I flew to the other side to check on Valerra. She seemed to have dug just as deep as I had, but she was only halfway around her half of the city.
“How are you doing?” I asked when I landed next to her and dodged a pile of dirt as it flew past my head.
“I’m fine, Evan,” she grumbled as she looked up from within her hole. “What happened to you?”
“I’m done.” I grinned at her cheekily as I inspected my mud splattered scales.
“How are you done?” she demanded. “We just started a few hours ago!”
“I have an affinity over stone, remember?” I replied, and she snorted.
“Of course, you cheated,” she grumbled.
“I didn’t cheat,” I corrected her with a cocky grin. “It’s called using your resources.”
“Then help me,” she growled at me and stopped in her tracks.
“Nah, I kind of like seeing you like this,” I teased.
“Evan,” she hissed as she glared daggers at me.
“Okay, you’re no fun,” I snickered and jumped down into the trench with her.
Together, we dug for maybe another hour, but then I stopped and shook some dirt from my snout.
“Alright, I think I can get the rest with my stone power,” I said.
“Finally,” Valerra grumbled as she immediately turned to jump out of the trench.
I followed her back to the surface, and once we were standing on the edge of the moat, I took a deep breath and focused on my magic.
The energy crested through my body like a wave, and I felt the earth shift slightly again, so I widened my stance and prepared myself. Then the earth tore open once more, and a trench spread across the dirt as it curved around the last portion of the city and joined with my half of the moat. A moment later, I heard the gurg
le of water again, and the rest of the trench began to fill with dark and murky fluid.
Valerra hummed in appreciation.
“I guess that talent isn’t so bad,” she said at last.
“Do you still think it’s cheating?”
“No, because I don’t cheat,” she answered quickly.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I laughed. “But come on, let’s head back and open the aqueduct.”
“Alright,” Valerra replied and instantly took off into the sky.
I followed after her, and a few minutes later, we landed on the ground on one side of the aqueduct.
“Ruslan said it was dammed up somewhere,” I muttered as I looked around. “Let’s find it. Once we remove the dam, water should flow out and help fill the moat faster. I just hope it’s fast enough.”
We spent several moments looking around the area, but then I saw the aqueduct continued inside the wall.
“I’m pretty sure the dam is inside the city,” I sighed as I nudged Valerra.
“You go unblock it then,” she replied. “I’ll stay here and let you know when I see the water flow.”
“Are you sure?” I asked her, and she scoffed.
“Yes. I’m sure. Now, stop talking and go.”
“Okay, okay. Yell when you see water, alright?”
She snorted in response and laid down on the dirt as I flew over the wall and followed the line of the aqueduct. It led me toward the heart of the city when I finally saw where it was connected to the main line. I flew closer to the connection point and inspected the area. A bundle of logs and mud formed a pretty solid dam, and I couldn’t help but laugh. It looked as if Ruslan had thrown a beaver up here and let him build away.
Once I stopped chuckling, I reached under the logs and pulled them with my claws. The dam came out with a pop, and the water immediately began to flow down the unblocked path.
I watched the water as it flowed toward Valerra and vanished off the end of the aqueduct.
“We have water!” I heard Valerra roar a moment later.