Hudan looked at Kivamus. “I think it might be a good idea to go out and kill the bandits before they attack us. They only seem to be scouting us for now, so maybe we can finish them off before the rest of them arrive.”
Feroy shook his head. “No, it’s too risky this time. For all we know, they are already here. You remember that when we’d attacked Nokozal’s bandits in the northern forests, we had insider information from Calubo that there were eight bandits in total, so it made sense to attack them in superior numbers. But this time we simply don’t know how many men are lying in wait out there. If this is Torhan’s group, and I think it is, they must have brought at least 20 men. Perhaps even more. We simply don’t have enough men to attack them in the forests without risking horrible losses.”
“You’re right…” Hudan exhaled. “Nokozal had attacked us in late autumn, so there were no leaves on the trees, and we could see clearly in the forest. But the trees have gotten new leaves again, so we’d risk being ambushed if we went inside the forest to attack the bandits. It’s not like we have plate armor for the guards…” He clenched his fists. “But I don’t want to keep sitting here idly waiting for them to attack!”
“That’s true,” Kivamus agreed, “but we need to get a better idea of their numbers first. We are also in a fortified position here, so we can afford to wait for a day or so to find out more about them. We will also have a defensive advantage as long as we wait for them to attack so we can have the battle on our terms, so it’s safer to wait for now instead of attacking them in the forest. Our watchtowers can help a lot in thinning out their numbers in that case, and who knows, if Torhan is really smart, maybe he will recognize that Tiranat’s condition is a hell of a lot more different than the time he attacked us last time, so perhaps he’ll decide to run away with his tail between his legs.”
Feroy snorted. “I doubt it, but I agree it would be better to wait for now.” He looked at the guard captain. “Have you decided on the signaling patterns for the horns which we talked about? I didn’t get the chance to ask it from the guards, since until now I was scouting in the nights and sleeping in the days.”
Hudan nodded. “We haven’t practiced it with the horns yet, to prevent the villagers getting scared for no reason, but all the guards being posted on watchtowers, including the older villagers and the women, have memorized the patterns. A single long blast will indicate an attack from wild beasts like wolves or adzees, while a double long blast is for an attack from bandits. Three long blasts are for a very dangerous attack which could threaten the existence of Tiranat, whether from a very large armed force of above 50 men, or an aerial attack from a bakkore, but the third case would be very rare, and I don’t expect that signal to be used anytime soon, but I still added it since you wanted that option too.” He added, “After that the guards will give a few short blasts to indicate the direction. One for the north, two for the east and so on.”
“This is good. It’ll help us in responding to an attack much faster,” Kivamus said. “Let’s just hope we don’t have to use it soon.” He glanced at the rest of the manor for a moment, before looking back at the others. “Well, the watchtower guards are already alert, so let’s see what more information we get by evening. Feroy, you go and take some rest for now. Hudan, send someone to confirm that all the watch towers have a good stock of crossbow bolts kept there.”
Hudan nodded. “The guards are already using that secret compartment to store bolts, which gives enough storage space, but I’ll check anyway.”
With that, both of the guards walked away, while Kivamus looked at everyone going about their tasks. On the surface, it seemed everything was normal, but looking at the faces of the people revealed their nervousness about being raided, especially from someone who had set half the village on fire last time – with the burnt husks of the shacks from that night still present in the village.
For a moment, it made him wonder if Tiranat was even capable of withstanding a raid from a strong bandit group like this…
No! There were still a lot of things he knew which they needed to work on, but everyone had still done their best in the past few months. He just hoped it would be enough…
***
It was the evening now, and Kivamus had just completed the first part of the blueprint he had been working on for a while. He took a step back, and looked at what he had drawn. There were many other parts he needed to draw for this new machine, but the current part looked more or less accurate to him. He would have to talk with Tesyb’s sister Isuha, who lived in Cinran, to ask if there were any other improvements in the design, but that would have to wait. The carpenters already had a lot of things they needed to craft or build, so this new machine could only be built after that.
With all the intricacy involved in this, only Darora had the skills to make it, but he needed to work on assembling more crossbows from the parts his apprentices and the blacksmith gave him, while also working on the first scorpion. Eventually they would need at least six scorpions – one for each watch tower – as well as at least 50 crossbows in total, and they only had a dozen at the time. This new machine could only be built after that, but having the blueprints ready in advance couldn’t hurt.
The outer door of the manor hall opened and the majordomo walked inside along with Feroy and the guard captain.
“Taniok has just finished everything on the sixth watchtower,” Duvas reported as he took a seat.
“Finally!” Hudan grinned. “Now we have a good line of sight in every direction for the very first time!”
Kivamus smiled. “Certainly. How’s it going with the digging of the trench?”
“The clay diggers have already started working on it,” Duvas replied, “but it’s slow going. To dig a ten metres wide trench surrounding the whole length of village walls will mean digging more than… uh, 1000 metres. It will take a while for those diggers to finish it.”
“I know, but at least we have started it. Make sure that the dug out mud is deposited within the village walls. We will use it to reinforce the walls when we have more laborers free for it.”
“Of course,” Duvas nodded. “Taniok was also boasting that he would finally get to start working on the triphammer from tomorrow, so he can show Darora that he can make new things too.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to send our people as far away from the village as the dam site,” Hudan said. “The watchtower guards saw more movement in the forests during the day. It was easy to confirm that they were men and not beasts in the light of the sun, so it means more bandits have moved closer. I think they might even attack tonight.”
“With tonight being a new moon night,” Feroy commented, “it’s certainly possible, although it will make it difficult for the bandits to attack without enough light to guide them. I don’t think they will bring burning torches with them, since it would make them easy targets in the night, so perhaps they might really be thinking of shooting fire arrows on the walls or watch towers. The watchtower guards will also have to be extra alert in the nights so the bandits can’t just sneak to the walls and set them on fire.”
Hudan nodded. “Don’t worry, every guard knows the importance of not letting that happen, and we already have three guards keeping an eye from each watchtower in the night. It won’t be easy for anyone to sneak close enough, although it can still happen…”
“Dammit… I just wish at least one hunting group had returned so we could have gone out to kill them right there…” Kivamus looked at the guard captain. “What’s the status of our remaining guards?”
“They are ready,” Hudan said, “but continuously staying on alert when anticipating a raid certainly takes a toll on one’s mind. Feroy and some others had been staying awake in the night, so they are also not at their best.”
“You’re right…” Kivamus muttered, before he remembered the question about the carpenter going to the dam from tomorrow. “Duvas, tell Taniok that he is not to leave the village walls for now. The coal miners and the farmers move in big enough numbers that they should be safe enough, but Taniok and his apprentices can easily be killed or taken as slaves if they go to the dam site. Until we have dealt with the bandits, tell him that his apprentices should work on making some more wheelbarrows, since even the hunting groups are using them now, while Taniok should work on making the smaller and easily portable parts of the triphammer and the sawmill right here at his workshop in the village. When it gets safe outside again, he can take the parts to the dam site on a wagon and assemble them after making the heavier parts right there.”
The majordomo nodded. “I’ll let him know. Darora is also working on the scorpion, but he doesn’t have to leave the village. It’s the same for the papermakers, while the laborers working on the sawdust press machine can just leave with the farmers, since that machine is located right next to the farms. So they shouldn’t be at any risk.”
“Good. Make sure that the villagers only leave the walls in big enough numbers even during the day,” Kivamus ordered, before glancing at the setting sun through the window. “Have the villagers started returning within the walls yet? The farmers and the coal miners?”
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