by Noah Layton
‘Oh,’ Cass replied. ‘I was going to come and ask permission about that.’
‘You don’t have to ask me permission. It’s food. It’s a right. Go grab some from the stores.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Of course. We’ve got an abundance of it. Take all you need.’
‘Thank you so much… I must say that I am not used to this in the slightest.’
‘Don’t worry about it. Actually, I need a little help, if your brothers are up for it.’
‘They’re at your service. I need to get this house in order.’
‘Great,’ I said, looking between them then up to Cass. ‘So…’
‘Just tell them what you need. They’ll oblige.’
‘Great. Have some breakfast and meet me when you’re ready. Oh, and bring your axes.’
I still found the whole situation weird, but after breakfast just a short while later they met up with me at the treehouse.
We headed to the southern side of the land beyond our border, axes at the ready over our shoulders, and moved into the forest.
‘Okay, guys. We need 200 wooden planks, which means taking down more than a few trees. Think you can…?’
Before I could even finish my sentence they began with the work. They separated and moved to the nearest trees, digging the blades into the trunks, measuring their shots and beginning to hack away.
Do I even need to be here? I thought.
Within minutes they had already made their way through several trunks and were slicing them up into units. I joined in, knowing that there was no way I would be able to catch up with them, never mind matching their pace. Even so, more of us working away would get the job done faster.
In no time I had what I needed. They traded their units to me, then stood by waiting for instructions.
‘Uhh… Dismissed, guys. Thanks for your help.’
They both nodded to me and made a start back to the land.
They were a taskmaster’s dream; they did exactly what I asked without question. Any greedy son of a bitch with an unforgiving agenda would have had them working at some manual job 17 hours a day until they keeled over, but after the story Cass had told me about them killing their father I had no intention of doing that.
Mr Alder might have lived in his ivory tower while taking a gigantic cut of their work, but he was at a distance.
I was down here on the ground working with them, and if they wanted me dead one day they would probably do it without considering the consequences.
I couldn’t push them too hard. They were workers just like everybody else, even if they had a little more strength on their sides than the average person.
My intention was to have four lookout posts interspersed evenly around the edges; north, east, south and west. With the gates to the north and south providing the most exposure to outside danger, they would seem to have provided the most threat of intrusion.
The west was also a problem – with the near miss that Santana and I had endured in the caves beyond Ark Point with the goons, there was still a possibility that they would approach from that direction.
We were right under everybody’s collective nose, but I didn’t know how long that would last. We had had more than a few close calls already, and the one yesterday had been the closest of them all.
I decided on developing the northern lookout point first. It was a no-brainer considering the positioning of the gate and how close it was to Tormus and Eri’s house, as well as Eri’s unborn child.
Cass and her brothers were situated to the west, but all three were a little more battle-worn and capable of looking after themselves if anything decided to make its way over the fence in that direction.
I arrived at the Building Totem and hit select on the lookout tower.
The shimmering blue square that represented the base appeared on the ground before me. The moment I moved an inch it turned red.
Unable to build here.
I headed out into the fields, bidding Tormus and Eri good morning on my way over to the northern gate, and positioned the tower just to the left of it.
Pressing accept, the first prompt for wood to be added appeared before me.
I had few doubts that Aden and Oden would give me another hand with constructing the tower, but this was something that I wanted to work on myself. Constructing every part would give me some idea of how the thing was put together.
It came together faster than I anticipated. The base, stretching to a height of around three yards, was structured and strengthened by overlapping boards that interconnected and kept the tower stable. In addition, its base was protected behind the fence so that it couldn’t be taken down unless somebody was inside the perimeter.
In between the beams that supported the platform above I was led by the system to create a series of steps that eventually led me to one final spot. I stood on this single step, and from there constructed the platform where the guard, or whoever was assigned to the tower, would reside.
It was a reasonable space, a square that stood three yards on all sides with a smaller square hole in the centre through which the occupant could climb.
Afterwards I composed the outer fence of the platform, which stood around a yard high, then the corner beams that rose up two yards to support the roof overhead.
The whole process took a little shy of an hour, but once it was completed I felt a genuine sense of accomplishment in finishing the structure on my own. I could easily delegate tasks, but building something like this for the first time was a learning process in and of itself.
‘A fine structure, Jack.’
I almost jumped out of my skin.
I spun to the side and saw Alorion sitting atop the perimeter fence. His hands went up in the air like somebody begging not to be shot. My own shock had surprised him so much that he hopped back, but there was nowhere to go apart from the forest.
He fell out of view and slammed into the ground a second later with a torrent of groaning.
‘Sorry,’ I called out. ‘You need to stop sneaking up on me, bud.’
Alorion clambered up the fence with little difficulty and appeared in his previous spot.
‘Not to worry, Jack. How’s the construction going?’
‘Pretty well, I think. Hopefully this thing won’t fall down on me while somebody’s up there.’
‘It should not. Structures built using the system are designed to be sturdy.’
‘They’re designed that way?’
‘Yes.’
‘It just keeps leading me back to the question of who designed them like that in the first place, and how. I need to stop asking myself questions like that and just get on with it, I guess.’
‘That would probably be for the best. Who are going to be your acting guards?’
‘I’m going to put shifts in place eventually once we have more people, but now that I think about it duties aren’t that heavy right now anyway. Once the farming is done for the day, the inventory is shipped off to the trading post and the horses are looked after, people are pretty much free to look after their own needs and do what they want.’
‘Feeling like you’re not pushing them enough?’
‘No, it’s not that,’ I said. ‘This tribe isn’t just some one-party system. It’s… A town. It’s where people live. A community. That’s what I want to grow it into, anyway.’
‘Well, it seems that you are well on your way. These lookout points represent an awareness of the threats from the outside, though.’
‘I know. Once we expand further I’m going to need to figure out how to bring all of our different lands together under one rule. It’s fine to claim the land, but it’s another thing entirely to govern it.’
‘You could always employ individuals that you trust to run pieces of land. Jeremiah runs the pasture, but you will need others. Your wives, perhaps?’
‘I don’t want to ship my wives off to different lands. I want them here with me. They look after me, and having
them in bed with me every night is the best reward a man could come back to… God, listen to me.’
‘I am.’
‘No, I mean… I’d never talk about this stuff with anybody usually.’
‘But you feel the need to speak about it with me? Not that I am not intrigued, of course. I find your customs fascinating.’
‘Well, I’m glad that I’m at least interesting to you.’
‘Oh, no, I did not mean it like that. Human customs are so different to my own. I seek the companionship of a mate like any creature in this world, but we all do things differently.’
‘I know. It’s not just about customs, though. It’s about what I want, too. What you said before, about creating a dynasty… I don’t think that building a real family with my wives is such a bad idea. There’s just one problem… Back when I was with Katie in my world, we both always said that we wouldn’t have children unless we definitely knew that we could take care of them. My world was safe but it had its dangers, like all worlds I guess. But this world… There are so many things here that can kill people.
‘Tormus and Eri are having their first child in a few months. They are used to the threats of the world, yet they are still happy about it. Do you know why?’
I shook my head.
‘Bringing children into the world always carries dangers, Jack. That is the nature of being a living being in this world. But what would life be if there were no threats to it in the first place? We place value on the things that come to us with great difficulty. Staying alive is something accomplished only with great difficulty in this world, hence it is so much more valuable.
‘Tormus and Eri are not foolish or misguided for looking forward to the birth of their child. They have been through many horrible things together. Good gods, you rescued them from a cage of all things. In light of that, it does not surprise me in the slightest that they are happy about the prospect of a child being born to them.
‘You can live a life of fear and hide somewhere you consider to be safe, creating nothing because you fear it being taken away from you, or you can go about creating things while doing your best to keep them safe, planning accordingly and moving forward with a good head attached to your shoulders. Which is the better life, really?
‘I do not think that you are wrong at all to wish for the safety of any children that you may bring into the world. It makes perfect sense to me. But it is a risk that all who wish to continue their line of life must take.’
I dwelled on Alorion’s speech for a moment, then smiled and shook my head.
‘Does my story amuse you?’ He smiled, sitting down on the fence.
‘No, I’m not laughing at that. I’m laughing because I don’t know how else to respond to how much wisdom you have.’
‘I told you, Jack; while others act, I observe. It is in my nature as a tribal imp. I am exceedingly wisdomous.’
‘Wisdomous? Don’t you mean wise?’
‘Wisdomous is a word.’
‘I really don’t think it is. And even if it was, wise would do the job just fine. They seem like they mean the same thing.’
‘You can believe my comments on the meaning of life but not on vocabulary?’
‘We’ve all got strengths, bud.’
‘Believe what you will. I am only here to advise.’
‘That’s my problem,’ I replied. ‘I know you’re only here to advise, but that doesn’t even seem like half a life. Do you really enjoy living in that tree of yours in the forest?’
‘It is peaceful enough.’
‘Somewhere closer would be much more comfortable, though. You patrol the fence all day, so why not make your home closer?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Here. The lookout post.’
‘You wish for me to live here?’
‘Why not? You can stop off for breaks, make the place your own, and you’re closer to the community rather than leaving every night to sleep in a tree.’
‘I do not know whether the people wish for me to be part of the community…’
‘Of course they do! Everybody here loves you, Alorion. You’re the most helpful person on the land. You monitor any incoming danger all day. You might not do the fighting, but without you we wouldn’t be safe at all. You belong here.’
‘I… I don’t know what to say.’
‘Don’t tear up on me. Just say yes and make the place your own. You can even have a little gold to brighten up the platform with some furniture or something. Just please make sure you leave your faeces in the forest like everybody else.’
‘Of course, of course.’
‘Hey, and one day we might be able to find a lady-imp for you to share the place with. Just because you give advice to everybody else on their love lives doesn’t mean you forfeit the right to have one.’
***
Over the next few days I planned to build the other lookout towers with the help of Aden and Oden, as well as situating lookout duty to others in the tribe. While we spent a few hours a day farming and transporting goods to the trading post, the rest was down to the odd jobs that we had to complete to keep the place running, which left plenty of free time.
After constructing the first lookout post I called a meeting in the Map room, which was now looking more crowded than ever, and after updating it I distributed jobs. Farming work would begin earlier in the day so as to avoid the heat of midday and early afternoon. Lookout duty would switch between my wives, Cass, Aden and Oden. Alorion would have his permanent place at the northern gate while carrying out patrols.
The lookout posts would be transformed into comfortable places. I didn’t believe that a job had to be unpleasant to count as work. They could act as living areas with seats, tables and provisions, as well as a book from Santana’s collection – only the ones she was willing to lend out, of course.
‘We need a process for warning people,’ Ariadne suggested.
‘Right,’ Lara agreed. ‘I can start shooting arrows if it’s one person and they look shifty, but if its more than that I can’t guarantee that I can take them all down, if they need taking down in the first place.’
‘It happened once in my old tribe,’ Ariadne agreed. ‘A spear-happy guard shot an emissary in the neck. It took our master weeks to come to an agreement to stop the other tribe from starting a war.’
‘So we need something in place to act as a siren, a… Warning sound, I guess. Any ideas?’ I looked around at my people.
‘Any noise that is too loud and too unnatural may alert others to our presence,’ Tormus said. ‘The forest is filled with life, but we are used to it. The buzzing of insects, the chirping of birds, twigs snapping. But a bell, or shouting, or anything not typical of the forest? That is the sort of thing that brings unpleasantness our way.’
‘Surely, my husband,’ Eri said, turning to him with a frown, ‘if a bell is being wrung then the unpleasant beings are already upon us. What difference does it make?’
‘It makes all the difference,’ Tormus continued. ‘What if there are others out there? What if more come running? What if a different group come running?’ He turned back to the group. ‘I do not wish to seem like I am dwelling on small matters, but disregarding safety is how my wife and I ended up in a cage in the first place.’
‘I think I have a solution,’ Ariadne said. ‘Red xaveas.’
‘Eating them?’ Santana said. ‘Those things will only turn our stomachs to ash.’
‘What the hell is a red xavea?’ I asked.
‘The asshole of the jungle.’
Almost everyone in the room turned to Santana.
‘What? I can curse once in a while, can I not?’
‘What do the gods say about cursing?’ I asked her.
‘Not a considerable amount.’
‘Then go for it. Why are they the asshole of the jungle?’
‘That is what my father used to call them when they desecrated our crops when I was younger. He thought I wasn’t listening, of course�
�’
‘They’re predatorial birds with a knack for bad behaviour,’ Lara added. ‘They don’t just eat other birds and kill their young, they shit all over their nests so that nothing will ever grow there again. They’re also not very afraid of people, either, and if they couldn’t get any worse there isn’t even any pride in eating them because their meat tastes terrible.’
‘So why do we need them?’
‘The beaks,’ Ariadne said. ‘In my old tribe we used to have a competition to see who could kill the most. We gave their severed beaks to the children to play with. They make a distinctive whistling sound when blown through, after they have been cleaned obviously. It is recognisable, but it blends in with the forest. We could use them at each lookout point.’
‘That sounds great to me. Do we need to go kill a few?’
‘I’ve no doubt there will be a stall at the post that sells them,’ Lara said. ‘We can pick some up when we drop off the crops.’
‘Then let’s get to work.’
With the collective tribe hitting the fields of potatoes, carrots and tomatoes with sickles in hand, we had the crops collected in no time. Santana set up the horses and carts in the meantime.
Working together I realized how sharply we had made it through everything. As always, my mind wandered into thoughts of expansion.
I would pick up more seeds soon and expand the plantation size, moving it in an easterly direction where we had rarely used the land so far. The horses could remain to the south west in a smaller section of the pasture, and we could truly start putting the land in its entirety to use.
With Cass, Aden and Oden around, I knew that they could take care of the land in my absence. Even if they had only been here for a day, I knew that I could trust them; they had risked their lives for a chance at joining a tribe and pissed off the most powerful man in Grayholde in the process.
Before we departed I assigned the west, south and east sections of the fence while Alorion remained in the northern lookout tower.
I had yet to build the remaining three towers, but at least they would be at designated points in an effort to keep the land safe from intruders on all sides.
And this was an event in and of itself – for the first time I could head out with all three of my wives together.