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Longbows

"Move those logs faster!"

Blake since morning had shouted orders improving the tribe's defenses.

"Bring two barrels of water from the Milkwater River!"

Blake was making two watchtowers at each of the gates in the walls.

During the night, two other tribesmen died of fever.

Blake had ordered the tribal fishermen not to go too far up the Milkwater River, he sent three men to keep watch in case of an attack by the Ice-river clans.

The Ice-river clans were cannibals, they were in the northernmost parts of the Milkwater River, and they fished yes, but if they managed to kill some savage it would be profitable meat.

So far they had not bothered the black axe tribe, as they had enough men to deal with them, and Oswin was already known as a powerful Magnar. But because of that they became overconfident and fell into the ambush.

In addition to the dead, most of the clan's warriors were wounded.

Oswin ran with an arrow stuck in his arm for two days, it was a terrible wound, and the clan healer had said it would take a long time to heal completely. Wymond on the other hand was still very serious and was fighting hour by hour to keep his life, it was not yet known if he would make it.

So Blake's task was to keep the tribe safe until the warriors healed, and then seek revenge against the Ice-river clans, or so Oswin shouted all day.

First Blake would build watchtowers at the four gates of the tribe, they would be very useful to keep the vicinity guarded, plus he would prepare the towers with reinforcements where archers could shoot arrows and take cover.

The food the fishermen obtained from the Milkwater River is indispensable to the tribe, so sooner or later they would need to resume fishing.

Blake needed to use the tribe members efficiently, so he could not send too many warriors to defend the fishermen all day. This led Blake to think of a solution, concluding that the best he could do was to build a watchtower.

This tower would be on the river bank, and they would be the first to know if the Ice-river clans launched an attack. It should also be large enough to house fishermen who could not flee until reinforcements arrived from the tribe.

Blake began carving log joints to make the watchtower as strong as possible, until dusk.

He left the other tribe members to continue working and went to prepare the tribe's dinner.

Blake was in charge of the tribe's meals not just because he liked to cook. He needed to make sure the meals were well prepared, had enough meat, and vegetables, and tasted good.

He also had them break the bones of the prey they hunted to extract the marrow and make glue, although he had used glue with charcoal and natural resin, it was not too strong. And to work the skins and wood crafts he needed something more durable, although he had tried using flour to make glue as well, they always peeled off because of the weather.

Blake finished organizing the tribe's dinner, satisfied.

"Before long I'll be able to drop everything off to them without needing to worry."

Seven women were in charge of helping Blake with all the meals, he had had a hard time instilling in them basic concepts of hygiene such as cleaning the meat and vegetables well, never letting anything touch the ground, cleaning their hands, and cleaning utensils, and it had truly been a headache to make them understand that putting the wooden ladles with which they stirred the stews in their mouths was wrong.

Blake took Ygritte to the workshop where the tribesmen were already leaving for home and began work on making longbows.

He had given Ygritte two options, she could stay and sleep in the workshop in a bed he had prepared, or she could sleep alone in the hut, Ygritte had preferred to sleep in the workshop, to which he nodded.

Blake took one last look at Ygritte playing with the miniature sculptures and began to work.

The bows the tribesmen made were still crude, and could break after a few uses, so he took it upon himself to make sturdy and strong longbows that could shoot arrows at good distances, and thus defend well the settlement or the watchtowers they were building.

The night was long, so Blake managed to make three bows of excellent quality, the arrows also had to be longer than a normal arrow, but Blake did not have time to make any, he would leave it to the tribesmen, as it would not be too difficult.

Blake kept up his routine and before a whole week, the watchtowers were ready.

Blake was pleased, they were the members of the tribe that he had taught woodworking, and who, for the past two years had been tirelessly engaged in making huts that would supply all the needs of the tribe.

The towers were five and a half meters high, low but sturdy, and the top had a window large enough for two archers to take turns shooting.

"Are you planning to make a castle, just like the Southerners?"

Oswin looked next to Blake at the watchtowers.

"If they could make a castle, I would have started construction long ago."

Blake answered his father with a sigh.

Oswin had improved enough to wander around the tribe, but he still couldn't move his arm, let alone fight.

"When I recover, I will take all the warriors and destroy those damned cannibals."

Oswin was still as angry as ever, there wasn't a morning where he didn't think about revenge.

"No, that won't work."

Blake had waited long enough for Oswin to calm down since he'd been back, now he would have to talk some sense into him.

"What?! You don't want to do anything for our fallen brothers?!"

Oswin's face turned red with anger, but Blake replied without looking at him.

"The Ice-river clans have existed for hundreds of years, maybe even longer. If we gather all our warriors and spear-women we can only have about 150 men, and that includes the younger ones who won't be of much use."

Blake rolled his blue eyes and spoke directly to Oswin.

"If you go out against them to find there are thousands of them, what will you do? Do you intend to drive everyone within the tribe to their death because of your rage?"

Oswin sat up again at Blake's cold words.

"I'm not telling you not to seek revenge, but your way will kill us all, myself and Ygritte included, and I will not allow it."

Though Oswin had rallied the Free folk, fought those who sought trouble against the Black Axe tribe, and maintained the trade routes, Blake was always the one who made sure supplies were sufficient, the one who kept the men armed, and the one who did all the work within the tribe in general.

The two work as a team, Oswin was the brawn and Blake was the brains, only then did the tribe stand strong, even now after losing many of its men.

Oswin's anger faded and he felt a cold sensation run through his head. He had almost forgotten that his son was the one thinking.

"You have a plan to get rid of those bastards?"

Blake nodded in response.

"We'll erect a new fortress halfway between their clan and the black axe tribe. When we're done, we'll team up with the best hunters in the tribe, those who can enter the Haunted forest and approach any prey without being seen or heard."

Across Blake's face, a faint smile crept.

"Under the darkness of the forest, we will see the size of your clan, how many people you have, and all the surrounding terrain. Then the hunt will begin."

"Hunt?"

Oswin asked.

"Yes, we will eliminate stragglers and loners, even small teams of a few people, cut off their heads, and mount them on the pikes in the fortress."

Blake showed Oswin the longbow he had made. It was over a meter long, with thick strings made from the sinews of all the hunters' prey.

"When they figure it out and attack the fortress, we'll pay in kind."