Vee and Willis had been drilling with the guards for the past week. Many had gotten skills with several weapons. The two sat in the small area that had been designated for training. Eventually it would be attached to the barracks that would house all of the guards for the village.

One of the Guardsman was practicing with a bow while two others sparred with swords and shields.

“What do you make of the new guys? They seem eager enough.” Vee was gulping from a waterskin. Even in the day it was becoming hotter.

“Yes. I have worked with worse. The trainees especially seem willing to please, even volunteering for more duties.” Willis scratched his chin as he watched the pair spar. He stood and walked over to the fighters. He pointed out some errors in the stances or showed them how to better parry an attack. Vee watched him teach the trainees. He then walked back to sit.

“You’re so patient. Not sure how ya do it. I always get frustrated when I’m fighting with someone and they just don’t catch on,” Vee said, after he sat.

“Mmm. Yes. Years of experience. Better to teach once than to keep having them come back,” he replied, smiling.

She chuckled. “I guess so pal. I need some of that patience to rub off on me.” She stood and patted him on the shoulder. “Time for me to skedaddle. My tour on the wall begins soon. See ya pops.” His eyebrow raised at the comment, but she was already leaving.

She walked to the southern tower, her spot for the afternoon. Only three were manned during the day: the southern, the western most, and the northern.

Vee climbed the tower and relieved a grateful Sara, one of the original guards of the community. Someone had made a stool to sit on for them, so she plopped down and put her feet up. John had told her they expected the caravan today hopefully, so she’d at least keep one eye out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Drew was about two-thirds through the book he had been given from Virgil. As smart as he thought he was, he gained little knowledge of mana as the concept was so completely foreign to him. At least he had his games to draw some knowledge from.

The only real difference, and the reason that Virgil and Saul seemed to focus so much, was that you had to have intent when you cast a spell. Not the easy spells that any average Joe could get, but specialized ones for mages took quite a bit of practice. You had to know what you wanted to achieve. You had to be able to visualize it or it wouldn’t come to fruition.

If you wanted to build a wall, you had to have an understanding of the wall. If a mage wanted to create a flame, they had to understand heat and combustion and how they worked.

Mana, to put it simply, allowed a person to create something from nothing using one’s deep-rooted knowledge, hence all the studying. But what was mana? Just another part of a person’s body; everyone had it, but some never learned to use it. Just another thing that he had to accept in this world.

Drew understood the basics of heat and ice. He knew what water was made of. He knew the soil wasn’t simply made of dirt. So he hoped his previous knowledge would aid him when it came time to actually learn spells from Virgil. But at the moment, he had about another third of the book to read.

Currently, he was sitting on one of the hills that overlooked the ever-growing fields. He was out here to get away from distractions, but he constantly found himself looking at the surroundings in awe of everything. The fields were growing rapidly, far quicker than back home. He’d been told that in the next month, maybe six weeks, they’d have their first crop of potatoes. The wheat would take a little longer.

Shaking his head out of distraction, he began to read again.

He was a few pages in when he heard a horn sound. The sentries had been given them to blow as a warning when something or someone approached.

“One blow. Please let it be just one blow.” Drew waited, tense. He could see the farmers standing still as well with eyes to the village. Another blow would mean to get to the village as fast as possible. But another sound never came. “Friendlies. Or at least not enemies. Probably the trade caravan.”

He closed his book and jogged back to the village. He saw several of the villagers continue to work, but they were visibly nervous at the sound of the horn.

Drew found John and several guards waiting just inside the entrance. “Who is it John?” he hollered.

“The caravan. They finally arrived. Can’t tell how many yet. Still a distance away,” he answered.

Vee leaned over the back of the tower and yelled. “I count four wagons, maybe a few dozen people. I can’t tell if they’re guards or what though.” She stood back up and looked south.

The group waited almost thirty minutes before the first rider entered the village. He dismounted and handed the reins to one of the children who helped with the nearby stable. He walked up to the group. He had a saber on his belt and wore mostly cloth with a leather vest.

“Michael Atwood. I’m in charge of this caravan. I’d like to speak with John Mitchell if he’s available.” The man looked around.

John stepped forward and put out his hand. “I’m John. Welcome to River’s End.” The man shook it and smiled.

“Quite the long journey. Baron Danielson told us it was nothing but wilderness out here, but he didn’t do it justice in his telling.” He waved behind him. A young lady was walking up to them. She curtsied. “My daughter, Melissa.”

John nodded his head and greeted her with a smile. “How do you do. Nice to meet ya.”

“Thank you for having us.” She looked around the growing settlement. “Quite the accomplishment to get this built so quickly. In not even two months.”

John blushed at the compliment. “It’s been a lot of hard work, but we’ve had a lot of people willing to do it. Thank you for noticing.” He was trying to put on his best face.

“Perhaps someone can show me around as you and father meet to talk about the wares we brought with us and what you may have to trade for them.” There was hidden meaning in the last part of her statement, but John let it go.

“Absolutely. But first, Michael and Melissa, please meet Drew. He’s the Town Administrator and has done a lot of work to get us where we are.” He motioned to Drew who stepped forward.

“I’m Drew Cooper. Nice to meet you.” He shook both their hands. “Perhaps Bethany here wouldn’t mind showing you around, Melissa, while we meet.” He looked to Bethany who nodded.

“Sure thing Drew. Anything to keep me out of the warehouse for a bit,” she added. She grabbed Melissa by the hand and went west past the barrack’s foundation to the west.

In the meantime, the wagons and other riders had begun to enter the village. They were led to the east past the stable. There was plenty of room to park them near the wall between the entrances.

The Guardsmen guided them to their spots. Others guided all of the people into the commonhall for the time being.

John, Drew, and Michael also headed to the hall, but they would meet in one of the small rooms that had been built in the back.

In the room that Bethany had been using as an office, there was a small table with chairs around it. There were boxes along the wall. No shelves had been built yet.

John sat, his hands folded. “Before we begin, I’d like to let you know that we’re becoming more self-sufficient out here every day. Soon we won’t be in need of quite a few items. Keep that in mind as we proceed.”

Michael sat back in his chair. “I understand that. But there will always be items you won’t be able to make or obtain here unless this area is absolutely overflowing with resources. And it may very well be. But I know one of which I’d like to talk about.” He had a sly grin.

“The ore,” interrupted Drew. “Which we also need. Maybe not to the extent that Innsbruck does, but right now, we have limited quantities.”

“I understand that too.” He leaned against the table. “I’d like to fill you in on what’s happening out east before we actually begin negotiating.”

Michael told the pair about the Orcs that were raiding villages to the east of Innsbruck; Monty had filled them in prior. None had entered the plateau of yet, but refugees were arriving every day. Innsbruck was now surrounded with hastily built shacks for the hundreds who had arrived, and more people came every day. They needed weapons and armor to defend the people.

John thought about his story before he replied. “Can we have a moment Michael?”

“Absolutely. I’ll be in the hall waiting,” answered Michael. He stood, nodded politely, then left the room.

John let out a long breath. “So what do you think? If what he’s saying is true, Innsbruck, and by extension us, may be having some issues soon.”

Drew frowned. “Well, as I see it, we have two options. We have a lot of leather built up that we don’t really need. We still have 22 bags of ore. We can trade it all to them along with the leather. Or we can trade part of the ore. We meet with the Goblins in a week or so anyway. And we have all those old tools to melt down yet as well.” Drew’s frowned turned up. “They really need it; we can use that to our advantage in these negotiations.”

John chuckled. “Thinking like a businessman. Ok then. We trade them all the ore and leather, and we milk them for what we can. We have the receipt listing all the items the Baron planned to send; that’s not to say it wasn’t changed.”

Drew nodded. “True. They may have a lot of stuff we don’t need, but that’s the risk we’ll have to take this time. Next trade, we make sure we only get what we need. If we have to, they can credit us this time for stuff they bring next time.”

John sat back in his chair and smiled. “Agreed. I’ll get him. We’ll hash out the trade.”

John stood and left to get Michael.

Drew looked at Baron Danielson’s trade agreement that he’d sent along. He really is shrewd. He thought of everything. We’re only going to have to make a few changes. He probably didn’t expect us to be this far along already. Some of these things we don’t need anymore. He proceeded to cross off a few items and increased the amount on others.

John and Michael returned a few minutes later.

Together, they created a new agreement. Michael was surprised at how well Drew was prepared. A few of the items were no longer needed, so they agreed to send more things like oil and salt in their place. Amounts and details followed. The value of ore and leather they were sending far exceeded the goods that were brought along so they would be issued credit on the next trade.

In the end, they agreed that a trade convoy would be sent once every four weeks. That would allow the village two trades with the Goblins to get more ore. River’s End would keep what was needed, and the rest would be traded. Part of the agreement also stipulated that Innsbruck begin to build a road to River’s End. The road was a point of contention, but Michael eventually agreed as it would benefit both in the long run.

John stretched his arms. “I think that about settles it. I’m satisfied with this agreement. Let’s shake on it.” He stood and put out his hand.

Michael stood and shook it. “Pleasure doing business with you. Now, there’s one more issue.” He sat back down. “It’s not an issue with trading, but it goes back to what we talked about earlier, the refugees.”

“Is that who some of these people are? Refugees?” asked John.

“Yes. A few are the family members of your guards. But the majority are people who were willing to come here rather than being around Innsbruck. They were told that there was an opportunity here to start anew. I’d say there’s, oh, maybe 30 or so total that came.”

John looked at Drew then back to Michael. “Well. If they’re willing to work, they’re more than welcome. There’s no free-loading here; everyone helps. If they don’t work out, we’ll send them back with the next trade convoy.”

“I’m sure that can be arranged when the time comes. But many of these people just want safety, and your village is about as far away as they can get right now from the raids.” Michael smiled and made to stand. “Thank you John, Drew. The Baron didn’t jest when he said there was opportunity out west. I think this will be a most worthwhile venture for both of us.” He put out his hand one last time. John and Drew both shook it.

“And thank you Michael. I hope we can continue to prosper with your help. I will get a formal trade agreement written up for your signature before we leave.” John showed him the door but remained in the room. He closed the door.

“Seems like a nice fellow. I think he’s disappointed though he didn’t get one over on us, thanks to you.” John sat next to Drew. There was a knock on the door interrupting their conversation

“Come in!” hollered Drew.

Samuel entered and sat down across from them. “Good afternoon gentlemen. If I could have a moment of your time.”

“Sure. How can we help you?” asked John.

He replied, “My contract is up now that the caravan is here. I wanted to know if you were in need of my services any longer.”

John thought about it for a moment, then answered. “Nope. I think we are all caught up at the moment. You’ve finished all the projects we asked for. If there are more, we can always hire you later to come back and work on them. If that’s ok with you.”

“Yes. Yes.” He stood and bowed. “Thank you for having me.” He opened the door, but turned before leaving. “Surprisingly, it has been nice here; the people are friendly enough even if it is a little rustic out here. It reminded me of when the Baron and I first arrived on the plateau.” He sighed, turned, and left.

Drew smiled. “I was expecting something much different to come out of his mouth. I wonder what he’ll report to Danielson about us and the village. Oh well. It doesn’t matter.” Drew stood to also leave, and John followed.

They entered the hall where all the new arrivals were seated, eating and talking. Bethany and Melissa were also in the room. They walked around, Bethany introducing herself to the new comers. She constantly wrote in her little pad.

John chuckled at the sight. “Look at her. She’s already getting their information. I’m glad she is here. Less work for us.” They made their way to an area by the kitchen where a bar had been set up.

Bert tended it. He gave them two ales, smiling from ear to ear. “Afternoon. I was just told they brought a variety of wines and spirits along this time. We’ll finally have a decent selection out here.”

John took a drink. “Good to know. The ale is kinda getting old.” He hit the mug to Drew’s and drank his fill.

John looked around the room. So many new faces. I wonder what kind of people came. No time better than the present to get to know them. So that’s what he did. He spent quite a while walking around the room introducing himself, taking mental note of who had arrived.

All in all, there were 43 new people, 37 adults and 6 children, who came with the caravan. The people had a wide variety of jobs. There was a cobbler, more farmers, a cook, an actual blacksmith, and a plethora of others like cooper and and brewer.

The number of people would nearly double the total the village already had.

As the night wore on, the villagers returned from their jobs and mingled with the hopeful arrivals. Guards showed them to their apartments to settle in. Unfortunately, there weren’t quite enough, so new construction would have to begin soon.

John saw Drew with a lady who he hadn’t talked to yet. He walked over and sat down, interrupting their conversation.

Drew looked at John, annoyed. “What’s up? Did you get a good take on all the newcomers? They could probably use some help settling in,” he added, trying to give John a hint.

“I sure did, but I didn’t meet you yet,” replied John, looking at the lady. He held out his hand for her to shake.

“Ahem. Well. I’m Katelyn.” She shook his hand. “Drew was just about to show me around the village. I’m a healer.”

John’s eyes got wide.

“Not a mage healer, no. But I can stitch and bandage with the best of them.” She smiled politely. “I have some skills as well, Steady Hands and such. They come in use for sure.”

“That’s awesome! Gert will be relieved. She’s our Herbalist but has been doubling as our Healer.” Through the entire conversation, Drew had been staring at John, who finally caught the hint. “Well then. I’ll leave you two be. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Drew.”

John walked away. Lucky dog. She’s pretty. He sighed. I’ve been so busy that I never settled down, but nor have I wanted to. I’ll leave that for Drew. I have a village to run and adventuring to do!