The Special Task

Suthrath led by Lander arrived in a specific portion of the settlement. This was area where the blacksmiths ran their shops and crafted their arts.

The temperature in this part of the settlement was a bit higher than the other parts because around a dozen of forges were working simultaneously. The black soot from the burning woods floated in the area and the sound of strikes of the hammers on the anvils echoed continuously.

"My Lord," said Lander. "Please wait here as I summon two of the most talented blacksmiths of our settlement."

Suthrath nodded and Lander walked away.

The blacksmiths as Lander had said were busy in repairing and creating new weapons. It was clear that the preparation of the upcoming war was going on a war footing.

The councillor returned back in few moments with two men in tow. One man was slightly older, probably in his late fifties while the other was younger in his early fifties.

"Lord," Lander introduced. "They are Barro and Gurung. They are said to be the most talented blacksmith of our settlement."

The two blacksmiths bowed in greeting, "Lord."

Suthrath gave a curt nod and said, "I have a very special task for you."

"You can say that if you are able to do the job up to the level which I am thinking then we will gain an immense advantage in the coming battle."

Hearing this the eyes of three listeners- Lander and the two blacksmiths slightly bulged. 'Immense advantage in the battle' were words which mattered a lot.

The two blacksmiths took deep breath as they processed the 'importance' of the upcoming task and Barro, the senior of the two, took a step forward.

"My lord," he said. "Please tell us. We promise that we will do the job as better as we can."

"The task is simple," Suthrath explained. "You need to craft a long coil of iron… like a rope."

The two blacksmiths, though understood a bit what their lord was demanding of them, they looked confused. They could not understand what purpose an iron rope would serve?

Suthrath continued, "The coil should be as thin as possible so that it should difficult to spot it from some distance away and it should have the ability to cut thought bones and flesh."

"Simply put, it should be tenacious and sharp," Suthrath said.

The two blacksmiths understood few things and they asked few more questions and Suthrath explained his requirements and the purpose quite patiently and in as simple words as he could.

By the end of this conversation, the two blacksmiths and Lander had an increased reverence in their eyes for their lord.

"My lord," Barro said with a serious expression on his face. "We will give all our knowledge and experience to fulfil the responsibility you have bestowed upon us."

"If we succeed," Lander added. "Then we will surely win this battle."

After fulfilling his work with the blacksmiths, Suthrath proceeded towards the eastern side of the settlement where the army of the settlement was to assemble.

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After few minutes of walk, he and Lander arrived near the eastern side. The first thing which Suthrath noticed was the mud wall or the damaged portion of the mud wall. The entire settlement was surrounded by a circular mud wall of 10 feet of height. The diameter of the wall was around 4 kilometres which was also the size of the settlement. Most of the people resided towards the centre of the circle and the outer portions were mostly agricultural fields. Though there was no clear demarcation between the residential area and the agricultural area.

The main purpose of the wall had been to keep the wild animals out of the settlement who sometimes would leave the forest to roam in these lands.

The settlement had 3 exits in total- 2 on the eastern side in the direction of the lake and one on the northern side. Large and sturdy wooden gates had been constructed at these exits and they all the time were manned by 5 men per gate. Different councillors would take turns to deploy their men to the gates.

And now quite a large portion of the wall- around 500 metres of an arc had been damaged in the past two enemy attack.

When Suthrath arrived, quite a few people were doing as best as they could to repair the damaged to the wall.

Even though Suthrath this effort to be fruitless, he did not interrupt them. He did not want to damage their morale or motivation.

According to him, the result of the battle depended on the upcoming confrontation between the two armies and he did not see a 'damaged' mud wall, which could obviously not be repaired fully making a difference.

Also, the men he had ordered to assemble near this area had started to gather just inside the walls and the councillors were trying as best as they could to maintain discipline among them.

"Councillor Lander," said Suthrath while his gaze remained fixed on the assembling army.

"Lord," the councillor replied.

"Send for your most trusted men to take charge of the gates," he said. "No person will exit the settlement until I give further orders."

"Lord…" Lander looked a bit confused at the order.

"We do not know if the eastern settlement has a spy among us," he explained. "I believe that there is a good chance of a spy being present among us."

"I do not want any news of happenings inside our settlement to leak to the enemy," he ordered. "Also, if there are people who choose to desert the settlement at this time… I want to know them."

Lander understood the motive quickly as he nodded, "Yes, lord. I will put my elder son immediately on the task."

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