Over the next few days, Akira was very busy. In the morning he oversaw the training and selection of the new warriors that would be added to the army, guards, and naval marines. In the afternoon he managed the construction of the three new forts and the trade plaza.
“Let’s go and inspect the finished product,” said Mileena as she hopped off of the ferry that had transported Akira and his guard to the new docks that had been built for the trade plaza.
Fluffball jumped out of the ship and chased after Mileena after taking a quick glance at Akira who was following them down the dock that already had a few merchant ships moored.
At the end of the docks, there were two small guard huts posted on either side. The guards were in charge of both taking the tariffs and keeping the peace between the merchants and buyers.
Kodria’s import tax was far cheaper than that of Jerora which was a huge positive for newer merchants and those that did not have enough capital to do business at the large trade hub to the north.
“Lord we welcome you!” shouted the guards as they saluted Akira.
Akira returned the salute and then scanned the trade plaza. It was just a wide area that had been plowed of snow and ice and flattened as best as the frozen ground allowed. The snow and ice chunks had been used to create a wooden snow fence around the trade plaza to give the merchants some protection from monsters and the almost constantly blowing wind.
“Are you sure this is the trade plaza?” asked Mileena as she looked around with Fluffball sniffing the heavily trampled ground.
“Yes, this the trade plaza,” said Akira.
“It looks more like a fort with an occupying army,” said Mileena as she pointed at the several tents that the Kamen warriors had set up as they waited for their own merchants to arrive.
There were already several different merchant tents and stalls set up with each of the merchants having their own security force.
The merchants were all shouting out their products trying to lure in the small wandering groups of Werewolves, Goblins, and Orcs who had come to see what was going on.
“Hurry! Let’s go see what everyone has to offer!” said Mileena as she dragged Akira towards one of the stalls.
“Yap!” said Fluffball as he excitedly ran around the two several times.
As they browsed the stalls Akira was surprised at the wide variety of items as well as seeing several food stalls with all kinds of freshly cooked food.
“We are already gaining a large amount of gold from the tariffs, just think about how much it will be as the town grows,” said Akira as he munched on a grilled fish on a stick.
The fish was quite spicy as it had been dipped in a special sauce that the cook said was perfect for warming up the body.
Akira bent over and gave Fluffball a large piece of the fish because he could not take the large pleading puppy eyes that he had been sending him the whole time.
“Yap!” said Fluffball as he ate the piece of meat in two quick bites and began to cough because of the spicy sauce.
“You’ve got to be careful with your eyes and belly making the decision on what to eat since it might not be that pleasant,” said Akira as he rubbed Fluffball’s back.
“Oh if it isn’t the honorable lord!” came the voice of Crulak from the large gathering of tents.
“Crulak, have you been faring well?” asked Akira.
“The weather is nothing. The convenience of having so many merchants gathered in one place sure is amazing. I have already made several successful trades with the merchants with what little items we had to trade.”
“I hope that this place will catch on and not be a short-lived fad,” said Akira as he looked at the merchants selling items.
“I can only see a bright future for this place. I have been meaning to ask you this for the last few days but what was that blue light wave up in the sky? Is it some type of magic, skill, or shaman chant? It surprised all of us including the merchants.”
“Ah… that. Yeah I guess you could call it a type of magic,” said Akira giving a vague answer.
***
When the group finished wandering around the trade plaza they returned to the ferry and traveled to the three forts for a quick inspection.
They were all the same each with temporary snow walls supported by wooden logs and a few wooden cabins inside for the guards and soldiers that were posted there. The lookout tower stood at the center of each of the forts allowing for a high view of the surrounding area.
The three forts were manned by a mixture of werewolf, goblin, and Orc warriors who were to be rotated out every week.
Akira was not looking forward to the warm months. He was fairly busy now but he would be swamped with double or even triple of what he was doing now.
The forts would receive proper stone walls during the warm months after the stone wall was built around Kodria.
“Let’s head back. I still have to help Delgar with upgrading and expanding the Blacksmith shop,” said Akira.
“Already?” asked Mileena, disappointed that their date would be ending.
Akira patted her head before walking to the ferry with Fluffball right next to him.
The basic village blacksmith shop was currently being upgraded to an intermediate town blacksmith shop.
The small shop had become cramped with all the werewolf ‘Apprentices’. There were also several Dwarf blacksmiths arriving to provide their skills to the fledgling town after hearing about it from Burkin.
With the large influx of orders for armor, weapons, and mundane things as well as repairs there was a need for the expansion so they could have enough space to take care of everything faster.
Delgar, Three toes, and Stone deaf each had several new young and ambitious Dwarven apprentices who had traveled to Kodria to learn from the three new master blacksmiths who had skills in blacksmithing that were far different from the elders of their own clan.
In a way, Delgar was finally realizing his long-desired goal of training several apprentices in the skills that his father and grandfather had taught him.
The village barracks had also received an upgrade to a town medium barracks adding several double story cabins to allow enough room for the expanded army.
***
“This is my plan for the future defenses of the town when it grows big enough to require it. I decided that it would be best to have such things ready before it is needed,” said Akira as he handed the grand elders a blueprint.
The grand elders tilted their heads trying to decipher the blueprint that Akira had drawn.
“What are these…squares?” asked Hegir, uncertain if he could call them that.
“They are Arrow towers. There should be two at each gate of the three walls as well as one protecting each of the four corners of the walls.”
“I see… so those three boxes… are supposed to be walls,” said Carl as he looked over the blueprint.
“I added a few notes on the sizes of the three walls. The outer wall (first wall) will be the smallest of the three walls and the one we will be building during the warm months.
The middle wall (second wall) which will be smaller in circumference due to being built farther into the town will be taller and thicker than the first. The inner wall (Third wall) that will protect the castle and most important buildings will be the tallest and thickest of the three. Each will have a number of gates to allow the army to exit out at certain places to meet an enemy force if needed.
The walls will be built so that the higher walls can support the lower ones. If the outer wall is captured the other two walls will still have the height advantage and will be able to see and attack the enemy without a problem.”
“Yes, very well detailed and thought out,” said Àaron as he read the notes.
“I asked for Samuel’s opinion on what the town could look like in the future and with his input, I was able to finalize this blueprint,” said Akira.
“The inner wall will be a big beautiful 30-foot wall,” said Samuel.
“The cost of such a project not only in gold but materials… I do not want to even think of it,” said Seoc as he inspected the blueprint.
“There is no need to worry about the other two walls as I don’t think they will need to be built any time soon. Plus we are already seeing a large increase in funds due to the trade plaza and other taxes,” said Akira.
“You are missing something on this blueprint,” said Àaron as he pulled out a feather pen and dipped it in a jar of ink.
“What?” asked Akira.
“An smaller inner wall around the castle keep,” said Àaron as he drew a smaller box around the castle keep and added a few boxes to represent the arrow towers.
“Well… I thought I could do that later,” said Akira who had been more focused on the bigger picture of protecting the village and its future expansion.
“We may need a 4th wall built on the other shore of the lake surrounding the trade plaza and other buildings that may pop up,” said Hegir.
“True, a small outer village will most likely be formed if things go well for us. We’ll have to make sure that it is properly defended,” said Àaron.
All the things that the grand elders pointed out made Akira see how big Kodria could be in the future.
Right now they were just a small town but with how fast they were growing, who was to say how big it would be within a year or two.
They had to make sure that everything was all planned out before that time arrived so that Kodria would be able to defend itself if anyone took an interest in the fledgling town.
***
Akira stood at one of the castle keep’s windows in his large suite and listened to the howling wind.
He could not see that far as his vision was blocked by the blizzard that was raging outside. He could only see a few yellow flickering dots in the distance signaling the large fires of the forts trying to light up the area and keep the soldiers warm.
The blizzard had started over a day ago and the severity of the wind and massive amount of snow had caused all outside work to be halted.
The majority of merchants had returned to their ships so they could be shielded from the cold winds of the blizzard. The only people that seemed to not be affected by it were the Kamen warriors.
Akira continued to pace back and forth in front of the window worried about the numerous problems that the blizzard could cause. This was Kodria’s first taste of the volatile southern winter weather.
“Do you think that the villagers are all right with such strong wind blowing out there?” asked Akira.
Mileena who had been watching Akira pace back and forth answered him immediately full of confidence, “As long as they stay in the cabins that you and the grand elders built there should be no problem.”
“Stop worrying so much big brother. The large snow walls should be enough to block most of the wind from reaching the cabins. And the cabins themselves were built sturdily enough there should be no problem,” said Azura as she stirred the fish stew that was being cooked over the fireplace.
“It’s fine,” said Maya flippantly as she continued to read one of the new books that she had bought from a dwarf merchant several days ago.
“I sure hope…”
“Awoooo~! Awoooooo~! Awoo-Awoooo~!”
Both Akira and Azura froze in place and listened intently to the muffled howls that seemed to be coming from everywhere.
The same message was repeated over and over.
[Unknown enemy approaching the lake from the south. Not merchants or Kamen tribe.]
Akira transformed and stood in front of the opened window before taking in a large breath and letting out a loud howl of his own.
“Awooooooooo~! Awooo~!” it was a call for the army to form up and for the town guards and the guards at the forts to be on full alert.
“My ears…” complained Maya.
“Is it the demigods?” asked a worried Mileena.
“You three girls stay here. Chack you help with the Castle keeps defenses,” ordered Akira as he rushed out of the room with Fluffball following right behind him.
“Don’t do anything stupid big brother!” shouted Azura.
Akira noticed Fluffball following him and was going to tell him to stay inside the castle due to the blizzard but he remembered that Fluffball was a snow wolf who was born in the snowy wilderness and was well equipped to weather the blizzard.
“Stay close to me and don’t wander off. With this blizzard you can easily get lost and wind up in trouble,” said Akira as they ran through the castle.
“Yap!” said Fluffball in disagreement.
When they exited the castle his bodyguards joined him as together they headed towards the barracks to take command of the army.
The cold blizzard wind pushed at Akira as he ran towards the barracks navigating by memory and not by vision as he could only see a wall flying snow all around him.
If it were not for his thick fur protecting and holding in his body heat he felt that he would not be able to withstand the blizzard conditions for long with only a fur coat, hat, and gloves.
“Listen up!” shouted Akira once he reached the barracks. The soldiers and trainees were already formed up and transformed into their werewolf forms.
“All trainees head to the walls and support the town guards! First and second omega pack, marching formation! You’re all lucky you get to experience your first possible battle in a blizzard!
Double time to the docks were heading to the south fort to provide support to stop the unknown party!”
“We Shaman have arrived!” shouted Klyn as he appeared out of the curtain of blowing snow followed by several shamans who were under his command each of them was already transformed as well.
“Klyn, follow me!” shouted Akira as he began running to the docks with the first and second omega units.
The three hundred trainees split from them and headed towards the town walls.
Before they were half-way to the docks several urgent howls rang out.
“Awooooo~! Awoo~!”
“About face! Double time to the south shore! When we arrive, change to shield line formation!” Akira shouted over the howling wind.
“What did they say? I couldn’t hear it clearly over the wind!” shouted Klyn as they started to run towards the south shore of the island.
“The unknown party is walking across the lake!” shouted Akira.
