After a not-so-filling early breakfast, Charles gathered most of the people in the hall and started dividing tasks. In the meantime, Alaric rode out on Cinder, accompanied by Sarah, Martin, and Victoria. They headed north, keeping their eyes peeled for the lake and the river that fed it.

  “There’s no way we’re digging a straight waterway through this much foliage.” Martin paused to lightly press his hand against one of the trees.

  The trees were enormous. their leaves created a thick canopy that barely let any sunlight through. Their roots must have stretched far below the surface.

  “We’ll need to cut so many of them just to be able to start digging. Not to mention the elevation, this is barely a slope. You’d need ten… hell, I’d say fifteen meters of height difference to be safe.” The older man continued to explain. “We should collect rainwater instead.”

  “What rain?” Sarah asked. “It rained once, and I’m pretty sure some spiteful god made it rain to make Alaric’s life more difficult.”

  I’m not so sure. The rainclouds had been hanging over their heads for some time before the heavy rain that night. “It’s almost autumn, right?” He absentmindedly asked.

  “Yeah. But we still can’t rely on rainwater.” Sarah shook her head. “Lochlan went down to check the cistern. It’s old, needs repairs, and won’t hold enough water for everyone throughout the summer. We need to bring that freshwater closer to us somehow.”

  “Well, we’ll have months of work then,” Martin kicked one of the roots sticking out of the ground, then grunted with regret. “These trees won’t make it easy on us though. We should cut them. We’ll need firewood anyways.”

  “We can clear a path,” Alaric glanced at the trees. “Not all of them are very healthy anyways, look,” he pointed at one to their left. Its trunk was mostly covered in moss and vines. “This is one… maybe two winters away from falling.”

  “Good to know.” Martin approached the tree, readied his halberd, then swung with all his might, leaving a long, deep cut in the wood. “This should help us remember.” He turned his gaze back to Alaric. “How do you know that anyways?”

  “I worked with wood. Carpentry and such.” He looked around. Even now he could spot a few unhealthy trees. Their wood wasn’t going to be good for particularly fine projects, but if they found a way to protect it even a little, they could easily be used for rough supports. Firewood was a given anyways. “There, and that one too…”

  They arrived at the lake about an hour after they had left. It was a beautiful lake, with clear blue waters. Lily pads floated on the water. Frogs quacked, and several birds floated on the surface of the water, occasionally dipping their heads down below the surface to hunt for fish.

  “Too long to haul the water by hand.” Martin agreed. “But at least there seem to be fish. That’s good. We can eat those.”

  “How big does this waterway have to be?” Victoria knelt by the water and dipped her hand in it.

  Martin scowled as he pondered a while. “I’d say… at least two meters wide. One meter deep. We’ll need to line it with stone or clay, make a small pool near the castle and use it to filter out most of the filth. Then we feed it to the cistern.” He glanced at Alaric. “How many people do you recon we can spare?”

  His lips parted, then he paused when he realised he didn’t have a good answer. “That’s something you should be asking Charles.”

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  “Well he’s not here. Two dozen?”

  Sarah folded her arms. “Surely we can find two dozen. How long?”

  Martin sat down and pursed his lips as he counted with his fingers. “So… it’ll take three… no, five days to survey and stake. Assuming we have enough shovels, I’d say… fifty… maybe fifty-five days of digging. Then there’s the lining, culverts, intake and cistern work should also take about… three weeks, I reckon. Four, maybe.”

  Victoria stared at him wide eyed. “Are you serious?”

  Martin shrugged. “I haven’t even counted the work it’ll take to clear the trees and get rid of their damn roots yet.”

  This is a disaster. Alaric pressed his palm against his forehead. We don’t have months! That’s months!

  “Did you expect me to say it’d take a few days?” Martin asked with a chuckle. “You’re delusional. Look, unless any of you can move earth, then we’re going to have to do this manually. And manual labour takes time.”

  “Yeah… I figured that.” Sarah let out a sigh. “Any better ideas?”

  Victoria shook her head. She still seemed taken aback by Martin’s estimation. “I… ok. So manual labour. How will we handle the water in the meantime? We still need to drink, and this is too far to carry buckets.”

  “Cinder.” Sarah shrugged. “Martin, how long do you reckon it would take to make a cart?”

  “If I have the wood and materials, I’d say ten days, minimum.” Alaric answered. “But I’d need a ton of help. The axle and wheels would take the bulk of time. But a cart needs a path – nothing I make would survive these woods.”

  “A waterway also needs a path cleared, and I reckon it’s about the same amount of time it’ll take to clear it.” Martin smirked. “I’d say we have a plan. Until then, I can ask Laura to fashion some straps to help Cinder carry two large buckets. She’d handle it in a day at most. Should we head back and let Charles know?”

  With a sigh, Alaric agreed.

  If we’ll stay here long term, we’ll need all this. We need to make sure we can survive for more than a few weeks.

  Was it just a pipe dream? He was relying on the mana core to keep protecting them. He was counting on the system to not take away everything they’d build over the coming weeks.

  Please, gods, whatever, let us have this.

  ***

  “Yeah, I can do that.” He heard Avery say as he stepped inside the large hall. This place must have been used as a sort of combination of a throne room and gathering hall in the past.

  “Just the people I wanted to see!” Charles exclaimed as soon as he noticed the group. “Right, what’s the verdict, can we have water?”

  His face dropped and shoulders slouched as Martin and Sarah explained what needed to be done. “That’s unfortunate.” He muttered after listening to everything. “It’s a sound plan though. Alaric, are you alright with using Cinder for carrying water?”

  He shrugged. “I’m in no position to ride anywhere,” he gestured at his back and winced. “Until we find that herb, it’s the best thing Cinder can do for us.”

  “Agreed.” Sarah nodded. “We need to hurry with that herb though. This won’t be the last time we face the Profaned Legion. We need to cure our people and keep some medicine in stock for future fights.”

  “That’s what we were talking about with Avery.” Charles folded his arms. “I put a team together. Elizabeth, Clara, Avery and Lochlan. Victoria, if you wish you can join too. They could use your powers if they ever were attacked.”

  “I’ll go with my sister. It’s for the plant, right?” A fire lit in her eyes. “I’ll help!”

  “Great. Alaric, can you draw copies of the plant on some papers? So they don’t have to lug the book around.”

  “Sure thing.” It was a good idea to send people out. Avery and Lochlan would have been more useful with the waterway project, but protecting the three young women was more important. “I need you to organise the team to cut the trees we marked on the way back. Then give me a few people to help out with the cart. I can make the wheels and axel, but I can’t put it all together without some help.”

  “I’ll show people the trees we marked.” Sarah volunteered.

  “I need people to collect clay and rocks.” Martin piped up. “We’ll need to fix and reinforce the cistern, not to mention the culverts and crossings we’ll need to build. I can turn the rocks into bricks, so that cuts down a lot of work.”

  “I’ll put a few people on that too. How many do you need to dig?”

  “Two dozen, and I can get it done in four months.” Martin raised his chin. “Any less, and we’ll hit winter.”

  His words gave them all pause. Winter. We need to store food! Firewood. Bloody hell, I didn’t even think about that.

  Seeing Alaric’s slowly widening eyes, Charles’ expression grew concerned. “What?”

  “Winter!” Alaric breathed out. “Bloody hell, we have so much work.”