Across the stream, the triphammers began working one after another.
Widel heard the sound, then walked closer to the stream to see better. Each hammer rose, paused for the smallest moment, then dropped with a heavy thud that made the ground seem to shake. Two of them were striking thick mixtures in large wooden troughs, crushing and pounding something pale and wet.
“Paper pulp,” Isomi said when Widel looked at it too long. “Sawdust and other things. They pound it smooth faster than a dozen men could do by hand.”
The third hammer stood still for the moment. A few blacksmith apprentices were gathered near it, checking tools and speaking to one another while they waited. From the way they moved, Widel guessed that the hammer would be used soon.
“Steel work?” she asked.
Tesyb nodded. “They must be expecting another batch to be ready today.”
Beyond the triphammers, to her right, furnaces stood in a row, each giving off smoke and heat. Even from the western bank, Widel could see shimmering air above them.
Isomi pointed. “Those three are cementation furnaces. They make steel. That one is for coke. The last is for clay tiles for the tenement blocks.”
Widel looked across the whole cleared area around her—the series of sawmills, the two huge water wheels, the paper presses, the mighty axles turning continuously, the triphammers, the furnaces, the log-movers, the wagons, and the workers already moving around all of it.
“So this is why it’s called an industrial area,” she said quietly. “I didn’t even know what industry meant before I came here. Now I understand.”
Widel did not know every machine or how it worked. She did not know why the wheels had to turn the axles in that exact way, or why steel needed those furnaces instead of an ordinary forge. But she understood what this place did.
It made work happen faster.
Tesyb looked toward the reservoir and the open valley south of the dam.
“The baron chose this place well. The reservoir stores a lot of water north of the dam, and south of it the valley widens. There is room here to expand the industrial area many times over.”
Yufim looked around. “I'd say we can double or even triple the number of machines here without running out of space.”
Tesyb shook his head. “Likely more. The space between the hills keeps widening farther south after that bend you see to our south. There may not be a real limit for a long while.”
“That sounds like the sort of thing Lord Kivamus plans for,” Calubo said.
“It is,” Tesyb replied. “I have heard he plans to build some longhouses here later, so workers can stay during harsh weather days. In winter, walking here and back every day will be harder. After that, he may even run a second shift.”
“A second shift here?” Isomi asked. “At night?”
“Eventually.”
“That would need braziers and lanterns everywhere, which will cost a lot,” Calubo said. “And guards. A lot of guards.”
Tesyb gave a small chuckle. “Don’t doubt Lord Kivamus’s plans. I have heard he eventually wants three shifts, so the machines can work all day and all night.”
Widel looked back at the sawmill blade still cutting through the bulky log with a sharp hum. The thought of that thing working in darkness made her uneasy.
“How would he even provide enough light for this place in the night?” she asked. “Fire doesn't seem like a good option—with everything being made of wood here and sawdust spread everywhere on the ground.”
Tesyb spread his hands. “I have no idea. It is not an immediate plan. But if Lord Kivamus says he can do it, then I believe he can. Safety will be the hard part. We will soon need to build a proper palisade and watchtowers here.”
Yufim, who had wandered a few steps away, pointed toward the hills. “A palisade down here won’t be enough.”
Tesyb turned to him.
Yufim gestured toward the slopes overlooking the cleared ground. “An enemy archer could climb one of those hills from the other side and shoot fire arrows down here. Almost everything is wood. Sawmills, roofs, axles, timber piles. It wouldn’t take many tries to start a fire. Four or five archers could burn half this place before anyone could stop them.”
The others fell silent for a moment.
Widel looked at the hills again.
She hated that he was right.
Tesyb studied the slopes with a more serious expression. “You're right. I didn't think of that. I am used to worrying about men coming straight at us.”
“You’re a swordsman,” Yufim said with a smirk. “You only think of a group of other swordsmen coming down the valley. That’s your problem.”
“And you are an archer, so you worry about cowards hiding on hills.”
Yufim grinned. “Smart cowards. Not that they’d last long against me.”
Tesyb did not argue.
“I will tell the captain about it,” he said. “If we build defenses here, the hills will need to be watched too. Though I'm sure Feroy will probably think of it once he inspects the place properly even if you hadn't noticed it.”
That made Widel feel better, though not completely.
She had seen too many places burn in her life before coming here.
The sawmills and furnaces were impressive, but they also looked vulnerable in a way stone walls did not. All that work, all those machines, all those piles of timber could be destroyed by fire if the wrong people reached the wrong position.
Tiranat would need more than walls around the village.
Widel looked back toward the dam, as she thought about something else.
“Where is the fish ladder anyway? I don't see it.”
Everyone turned toward her.
She lifted her chin. “I heard about it. I want to see fish climbing.”
Isomi laughed first. Yufim and Savomi followed, and even Calubo and Tesyb smiled.
“Fish don’t climb like men,” Hyola said with a smirk.
“I know that much!”
“Do you?” the redhead asked, her voice serious but Widel knew she was making fun of her.
She narrowed her eyes at the tall redhead, but didn't give any reply. She really had no idea how fish were supposed to climb.
Savomi touched Hyola’s arm lightly. “We can show her. Come on.”
They climbed up the western side of the dam by the safer path built into the slope. From above, Widel could see farther south along the stream, where it flowed between the hills before turning out of sight. The industrial area looked smaller from up here, though the noise from the sawmills and the triphammers still carried clearly.
The reservoir lay behind them, broad and calm compared to the moving water below.
Tesyb led them toward a cut section near the top of the dam, where water flowed continuously through a controlled opening. On the downstream side, a stepped structure had been built beside the main fall. Each step held water in a shallow pool before spilling into the next one below.
“That is the fish ladder,” Isomi said.
Widel leaned forward, careful not to get too close to the edge.
“At first I thought Lord Kivamus was joking when he gave the order to build the dam and block the stream,” Calubo said. “Then Father Edric said blocking the fish would be wrong unless we gave them a path.”
“And Lord Kivamus agreed?” Widel asked.
Tesyb nodded. “He said the fish had been swimming upstream before we built the dam, so they should still be able to do it after with this idea. It would just take a little more effort for them.”
Widel watched the little pools.
For a while, nothing happened.
Then a fish appeared in the lower water, swimming towards the bottom of the ladder.
It darted near the first step, vanished into the white foam, then jumped. It landed in the water held on the first step, thrashed for a moment, and settled. A short while later, it jumped again, reaching the second pool. The third step was broader and held deeper water, and the fish rested there longer before trying the next jump.
Widel found herself leaning closer.
The fish moved again, fighting upward from pool to pool. It was not climbing exactly, but it was rising step by step through the water. After several jumps, it reached the top channel, struggled against the flow for a few moments, then finally disappeared into the reservoir.
Widel clapped before she realized what she was doing.
The sound made her stop at once.
Yufim looked delighted. Hyola’s grin became dangerous.
Widel pointed at both of them. “Say nothing.”
Hyola raised her hands. “I didn’t.”
“You were about to.”
“I was… thinking about it.”
“Then stop thinking! Not one word!”
Calubo laughed, and Widel felt her face grow warm.
They crossed the top of the dam to the eastern bank after that. Widel looked more closely at the triphammers and furnaces, though she kept her distance from the huge hammers. They looked dangerous. Workers moved around them with practiced care, using long tools, cautious steps, and shouted warnings. She did not understand most of what they were doing, and she did not try to pretend otherwise.
The eastern side was harsher than the western one.
The furnaces made the air heavy, and the smoke drifted too close whenever the wind changed, not that there was much wind here in the valley. After a short time, the group returned to the western bank and settled some distance away from the sawmills, far enough that they could talk without shouting.
They spent the morning on duty after breaking into smaller groups, occasionally walking till the bend in the stream in the south, to take a look ahead for any dangers ahead and then returning.
At first, Widel watched everything with curiosity. The workers feeding logs into the sawmills. The men carrying cut planks away. The triphammers rising and falling. The furnace crews checking their fires. The wagons being loaded. The guards posted near the road and along the cleared edge facing the hills.
After a while, the strangeness became a pattern.
The machines did not become less impressive, but they became part of the place. Workers shouted, levers moved, saws cut, hammers dropped, smoke rose, and the water wheels turned without stopping.
Widel patrolled with Isomi along the western edge for part of the morning. Later, she stood near one of the timber piles while Hyola complained that the line of sight from there was poor.
“It is not poor,” Widel said. “You can see the road.”
“I can see the road till the bend. I can’t see enough beyond it.”
“I would have seen it.”
Hyola looked at her.
Widel knew she had said that too quickly.
“With the scorpion,” she added. “From a watchtower. And I could have shot any enemy before it came close.”
Hyola snorted. “You are getting better, but we don't have a watchtower here, and it’ll still take you years before you can compete with me,” she gloated, as usual. “Even with a crossbow, you still need work.”
Widel bristled. “I know.”
“Good. Then keep practicing.”
It was not an insult. Not from Hyola. Or at least, not only an insult.
Widel nodded once.
By the time the sun reached its peak, the heat had grown much worse. Sweat gathered under her collar and elsewhere, and she wished there was at least some wind here. Or some rain. Or at least some clouds came in the sky to break the sunlight.
They didn’t.
The next shift of guards arrived from the village just as the workers began slowing for their meal break. Because the industrial area only worked from sunrise to sunset for now, the guard shifts were shorter than ordinary wall duty which lasted eight hours.
Seven hours in this heat, near furnaces and sawmills, was enough to make even Kerel admit that guards could never fight at full strength if they were standing here the whole day, which is why two shifts were posted here. She had no idea how the workers worked all day here, but at least they didn't have to stay on their toes for any attack from any beast or other enemies.
The new guards took over the patrolling routes, and Tesyb gave them a short report. Nothing unusual. No movement on the hills. No trouble on the road. The machines were still working properly, though Widel did not know whether guards were expected to report that.
Once they were relieved, they were free to return to the village but Yufim removed his armor almost immediately and headed up toward the reservoir.
“If anyone wants to challenge me, now’s your chance,” he called.
Hyola snorted. “You say that like anyone asked.”
“You will.”
“I might race with you just to shut you up.”
“You can try.”
That was enough to draw the others after them.
The workers had also begun climbing toward the top of the dam with their food boxes. She was told that the workers took breaks in staggered shifts, so that some people would still be operating the machines while others ate. They couldn't afford to stop the machines and waste precious daylight hours.
The air near the reservoir was cooler than the ground below, and many sat at the edge of the water to eat. Others jumped into the reservoir with their own groups to swim and beat the heat. It was large enough that no one had to crowd together.
There were fish in the water, but no one seemed worried about them.
Yufim jumped in first amongst the group of guards.
He surfaced a moment later with a laugh, pushing his wet, blond hair back from his face.
“Far better than standing by the furnaces!” he called out with a grin.
Calubo entered the reservoir more carefully. Tesyb followed, though he stayed near Savomi, who moved with slow confidence but did not go far from the edge. Isomi entered beside her.
Hyola waited only long enough to make sure Yufim was watching, then dove in and came up several body lengths away.
Yufim pointed at her. “Race to the far marker?”
“You lost last time,” Hyola said.
“I let you think that so you wouldn’t cry.”
Hyola smirked. “You drowned half the reservoir with your tears after you lost.”
“You… You…” Yufim spluttered. “Let’s go right now!”
They pushed away from the bank together.