Four Horsemen Book 5 - Old Histories: Chapter 24

Petor stretched as he stepped out of the warehouse, the early morning light spilling across the island. The air was crisp, carrying the faint scent of salt.

"Feels weird being in civvies." He shifted around in the clothes—they felt so light compared to the armor he was used to.

"Though they look better than the clothes I used to wear. Mya and Desari have an eye for these things at least."

Petor glanced toward Valter's silver-anvil forge, where the man was bent over a glowing piece of Othir armor, as his hammer struck with precision. Valter worked with singular focus, his face set in quiet determination.

His other sets of armor were moving around him in a constant dance.

Petor walked into the forge to the cacophony of noise.

"Your armor is moving a lot smoother than it was before."

"Using them and leveling up made it easier to use them," Valter said, not looking up from his work.

"I thought you were done with the armor?"

"I resized it and warped the enchantments to work for us. I'm finishing up the resizing so they're custom for us each and reforging them with the balance of elements that we use so there's no loss when casting spells. Also I'll recarve the enchantments to make them stronger. This is Othir. I'm going to get the best armor I can out of it."

"Would say don't wear yourself out but I know that you would anyway."

Valter snorted and put the metal he was beating on back into the forge, a set of armor holding up a piece it was working on. It turned a moment later working on it again.

"Looking forward to seeing what you can do," Petor said.

"Good luck with the ships."

"Yeah just need to build up a fleet."

"All in a days work," Valter looked at him and grinned.

Petor scoffed and headed out of the forge. "See you later."

Petor's steps carried him to the edge of the docks overlooking the inland bay. The morning sun cast golden ripples across the water's surface where Desari worked her magic.

Jagged stone pillars jutted from the water like broken teeth, remnants of Osola's violent shift into the Shoals.

Ice grew up around one of the pillars jutting out, there was a deep cracking noise as the pillar tilted and rose, water pouring off of it and unsettling the nearby boats.

The crews waited for the water to settle before they used chain and rope to secure the ice wrapped pillars.

"Desari cracks the pillars, the water mages turn the water into ice and float it," Bedrick said as Petor turned at his voice.

The ice sloughed off the pillars on the beaches before crews broke them up with tools and the undead carried them off to different projects.

"They cleared out a quick path early this morning to let Davos and the fleet out," Bedrick said.

"I was wondering where the ships had gone," Petor said. "They didn't leave many behind."

"Only the ships that were damaged, they wanted to get to Anvil Island as fast as possible to start bringing people back. Still going to take them a long time to bring everyone back to Osola. Got lots of work ahead of us to get ships built and sailors out to sea—right nightmare to deal with when on land—even if that land is home."

Petor turned away from the bay to the shore where several of the pillars were being broken down into smaller versions, then crews sunk them into the water.

"How're the docks coming along?" Petor asked as they walked in that direction.

"They're making progress," Bedrick said. "The waters are deep here. So we're having to fuse the stone with the island itself and pick out stone pillars underwater to fuse to. Got divers down there removing stone where the slips are supposed to be."

"Were you able to find suitable plants?" Petor asked.

"We got some of those mangrove plants you mentioned growing along the stone structures. Farmers are already at it stringing it between the pillars to create a dock."

Petor grinned faintly. "We'll weave their limbs between the different docks to cradle the ships, raising and lowering them as needed. If we press the limbs together, and lower them into the water they can form a drydock for repairs."

"Never thought of using plants that way. We've worked with souled ships before, but nothing like this. Oh, before I forget." He pulled out a rolled tube.

"What's this?" Petor asked, taking it and unfurling it.

Petor unrolled the blueprints, studying the detailed sketches of ship layouts. The parchment crinkled under his fingers as he traced the careful lines showing hull configurations and deck arrangements.

"Ship blueprints," Bedrick said. "Figured it'd make things easier. You direct us, we'll get to work. You check on the projects and pass on your insights. Sound good?"

Petor nodded, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Sure thing." He glanced back at the bay. "Any idea where Mya is?"

"Last I heard, she's with Lianne, Tilla, and the other captains. They're setting up trade routes and trying to get ahead of the locals who know these waters better than we do. With the pirates gone, the area's wide open, and we need to move fast."

"Never ends for a trader," Petor said, his tone wry.

"That's half the fun," Bedrick replied with a grin. "So, what's the plan for the ships?"

"I'm thinking that we use the crystalfall willow as the basis of the ship, combine that with mangrove. The mangrove can drink in the ocean water and keep the ships growing and healthy. Also allows the crew to get fresh water from its roots." Bedrick nodded along. "Then the leaves from the willow we'll use to line the hull of the ship, they're as sharp as cut crystal so they'll reduce the drag of the ship immensely. Also they'll act as good protection, lashing out at boarders and making an exterior layer to catch attacks. Then we can grow trunks for the masts and hang sails upon them to draw the ship forward."

"I heard you made a ship of stormvine before?" Bedrick asked.

"I did, we can copy that too, the stormvine allowed us to capture lightning and protect the crew, as well as use it for the cannons. Though you wouldn't be able to use powder to fire your cannons else it would be liable to exploding," Petor said.

Bedrick scratched his chin. "Spent a lot of work figuring out the alchemical mixes, making those cannons and training our crews on them. I can see what you mean."

"With modified crystalfall willow you'll be able to make much faster ships with the lower drag and stronger masts. Can still have them enchanted as you do already and use the gear you know about."

"All right," Bedrick said, clapping Petor on the shoulder. "You make a good point. Though first we've got to build up this dockyard."

"Traders aren't the only ones that always have something more to do," Petor grinned.

Bedrick shared in it as they reached the edge of the yards that were under construction.