Day 100.
The Spring Thaw had turned from a blessing into a monster.
The river behind Fort Blackiron was roaring. The water level had risen three meters overnight. Dark, muddy water churned with ice blocks and uprooted trees, smashing against the riverbanks.
"The Water Wheel!" Grom shouted, his voice barely audible over the crash of the water. "The axle is bending! If a tree hits it, the whole mechanism snaps!"
Rian stood in the rain, soaked to the bone.
If the wheel broke, the Blast Furnace would die. The Lathe would stop. The Mill would stop.
The heart of his industry would stop.
"We need to divert the flow!" Rian commanded.
[Ding! Engineering Challenge: Flash Flood]
Objective: Protect the Industrial Zone.
Solution: Construct a Sluice Gate (Bypass Channel) immediately.
Manpower Required: All Hands.
The War Against the River
"Kagan!" Rian pointed to the raging riverbank upstream. "Take the Barbarians! We need to drive piles here to deflect the debris!"
Kagan stripped off his furs. He and his 30 Shock Troopers waded into the freezing mud.
They held massive logs of Ironwood (from the Orc raid).
"HEAVE!" Kagan roared.
They slammed the logs into the riverbed, creating a debris barrier. The current fought them, trying to sweep them away, but the Barbarians were as stubborn as the rocks.
Meanwhile, Rian and Grom were at the canal intake.
"We need a Guillotine Gate," Rian sketched quickly on a wet slate. "A heavy door that slides down to block the water from hitting the wheel directly."
Grom ran to the workshop. He didn't have time to forge new iron. He grabbed the thickest steel plates they had—the ones meant for armor—and bolted them onto a wooden frame using Rian's new Bolts.
"Lift it!" Rian ordered.
Fifty serfs pulled the ropes. The massive gate hung over the canal.
"DROP!"
CRASH.
The gate slammed down into the mud slots.
The water hit the steel wall with a boom, spraying foam everywhere. But the gate held. The water was forced to divert around the fort, bypassing the fragile Water Wheel.
The wheel slowed down and stopped safely.
Rian wiped the rain from his eyes.
"The heart is safe."
The Glassmaker's Sand
Day 105.
The floodwaters receded after three days. The crisis was over.
But during the cleanup, Rian found something in the river mud.
Fine, White Silica Sand.
The flood had washed it down from the mountains.
Rian picked up a handful. It was pure.
"Sand..." Rian whispered. "And I have Soda Ash (from burning seaweed/plants) and Lime."
Sand + Soda Ash + Lime + Fire = Glass.
He turned to Caelum.
"Caelum, tell the Phantom Wing to land. We are grounding them for a week."
"Why?" Caelum asked.
"Because they are flying blind," Rian said. "I am going to give them Eagle Eyes."
The First Lens
Rian didn't try to make flat window glass (which is hard). He focused on Lenses.
He used a clay mold to create a small, convex disk of molten glass.
When it cooled, it was cloudy and rough.
"Polish it," Rian handed it to his most patient workers (the gem cutters he had found among the refugees).
"Use leather and fine ash. Polish it until it is invisible."
It took three days of scrubbing.
When Rian held the finished lens up, it magnified the lines on his hand.
He made two lenses.
Objective Lens (Large, weak curve).
Eyepiece Lens (Small, strong curve).
He mounted them inside a sliding brass tube Grom had made on the Lathe.
The Spyglass (Telescope).
Rian walked to the ramparts. He pointed the tube at a mountain peak 3 miles away.
He saw a mountain goat chewing grass. He could see its horns clearly.
"System," Rian grinned. "I see you."
The Language of Flags
Day 108.
The Phantom Wing gathered in the courtyard.
Rian handed the Spyglass to Lyra.
"Look at the tower," Rian pointed.
Lyra looked through the tube. She gasped.
"It brings the world closer! It's... magic!"
"It's Optics," Rian corrected. "Now, Lyra, when you are 1,000 feet in the air, you can see the enemy. But how do you tell me?"
Lyra frowned. "We fly down and shout?"
"Too slow," Rian shook his head. "By the time you land, the enemy has moved."
Rian pulled out a set of colored flags. Red and Yellow.
He didn't teach them complex Morse code. He taught them Semaphore (Visual Signaling).
Flags Crossed over Head: "Enemy Sighted."
Red Flag Left: "Enemy West."
Yellow Flag Right: "Safe / Clear."
Both Flags Down: "Returning to Base."
"Every scout carries a Spyglass," Rian ordered. "You spot the Orcs from miles away. You signal the coordinates to the Watchtower. We prepare the trap before they even know we are here."
The Drill
They tested it immediately.
Lyra flew up on her hawk. She circled high, a tiny speck in the sky.
Rian stood on the tower with his own telescope.
Suddenly, Lyra pulled out two red flags.
Slash. Slash. (Enemy North).
Circle. (Large Force).
Rian checked the North.
There was nothing there. Just snow.
But ten minutes later, a pack of wolves (wild ones) appeared over the ridge.
Rian lowered the telescope.
"She saw them ten minutes before I did."
He turned to Varg.
"Varg, drill the men. When the Red Flag waves, the Phalanx forms up. No questions."
[Ding! Technology Unlocked: Long-Range Reconnaissance]
[Unit Upgrade: Phantom Wing (Scout Class)]
[Bonus: Initiative in Battle +100%]**
Rian looked at his city.
He had defeated the Water.
He had conquered the Air.
And now, with the Telescope, he had removed the Fog of War.
"We are ready," Rian said.
Ready for what?
The System answered.
[Ding! Urgent Alert]
[Massive Heat Signature Detected South-East]
[Not Orcs.]
[It is the Imperial Army.]
The Baron hadn't come back. But someone else had.
The Empire was finally looking North.
End of Chapter 41