Galatea

"A distant Cousin?" Dom asked Hua Tou.

"That is what he said." Lucius stated, looking exhausted, having had the conversation himself earlier.

"Please explain!" Dom asked, wondering where Hua Tou was going with it.

"The insides are very similar to ours, with some slight organ size differences. Their appendix is slightly larger than ours, and from the contents of the creatures insides, it seems to have eaten plenty of cave moss and herbs recently. However their jagged teeth are those of a predator, rather than the molars of a herbivore. So they are omnivorous, but clearly have a different diet to us." Hua Tou stated, "Their ears are more complex, similar to that of a bat, but the points at the top I believe have no further use other than to attract a mate based on the size and point of them. Their eyesight is superior to ours, but their bones are thinner and more fragile. So I suspect they are nocturnal, faster and more agile than us."

"Any weaknesses?" Dom asked, shocked at what he was hearing, the enemies sounded like some form of elf that lived in caves from some fantasy game. Dom looked down at the cut open body of the creature, it's limbs and organs placed around the room, he was interested in capturing one alive and seeing if they could communicate with it.

"I would say that they are physically weaker, and their improved hearing and eyesight is ideal in dark areas, but a weakness in open and light areas." Hua Tou replied. "Honestly, I am in shock at this and need to conduct some further research, this is not something we should be seeing, this shouldn't exist."

"Is there anything else you can think of that would be key?" Dom asked, trying to think up of some defensive plans now that they had further information becoming available.

"This was a male, from it's bones I would say it is around thirty years old." Hua Tou stated, "It could be younger or older, but I am trying to compare it to something I recognise. I am unsure if they are pack hunters or lone, but the fact it had a pack of large wolves with it makes me feel that they are definitely a communal creature."

"At least we can build strategies against them." Lucius commented, "If we clear more of the forest down, we can create an open space which can be our safety net against them."

"We could also create some sound traps, things that create a lot of noise that could disorientate them." Hua Tou added.

"Both are good ideas that we should implement immediately! We also need to continue scouting and see if we can locate their base." Dom replied, "It does however explain how they defeated the creatures in the Underground Ancient City, the darkness and enclosed spaces would have been their strength."

"True, but the bone structures I have seen from those creatures were much thicker, so it would be interesting to see how a creature such as this could defeat a creature much larger." Hua Tou stated, "But this is something that we may never find out."

"We need to come up with a name for them." Dom stated, looking at the creatures dissected head.

"They may have their own names if we can communicate with them." Hua Tou commented, "However let's say that we are Type 1 humans, then those from the Underground Ancient City are Type 2, and these new ones are Type 3, until we find out."

Dom felt this was a bit of a weak choice of names, but agreed with it for the time being. He bid farewell to Hua Tou and headed out of the Doctors Clinic with a tired looking Lucius in tow. As they left the Clinic the bright sun hurt Dom's eyes and he squinted. Lucius did the same and released a loud yawn, which Dom then copied as his body did it naturally.

"It's been an interesting few days." Lucius stated, "What are your plans?"

"I need to meet with Subutai and Himilco at the Shipyard, and then I am going to meet up with Shang Yang and inspect the progress on the Wall." Dom stated, as Gregorios and Trojan appeared and followed them, as Dom headed in the direction of the Docks and the Shipyard.

"Ah yes, both are important meetings." Lucius agreed, "Meritamen has been a god send, we have all been so busy with the defences that she has taken over the meetings and has been managing the none defensive day to day. She is a good find and a great asset, you have a good wife."

"You look exhausted." Dom commented in response, "I need to thank Meritamen properly later."

They soon reached the Docks, where Dom could see the fishermen and women were busy at work as usual. Ophelia was back on a boat and waved at Dom as she saw him. Dom waved back with a big smile, happy to see that she had recovered and was back to doing what she loved, he doubted he would have got back out on the water if he had almost died from drowning. He also saw Atzi who was pulling at a net that was in the water, trying to pull it on to the shore.

"You do, I think she would appreciate it if you showed her some appreciation." Lucius agreed, pulling Dom away from watching those at the Dock. "I am exhausted, I haven't slept much as there is so much going on, I'm not sure I'll be getting any sleep soon either."

"I am sure you will soon!" Dom said as they reached the Dockyards, where Dom was surprised to see that there were plenty of people moving equipment around and continuing construction on the two Trireme that were there. Dom was surprised to see that one of them looked almost complete, as he wasn't expecting that for at least another week.

"With the increased cutting down of the forest, we have had the excess wood shipped here." Lucius stated as they walked past the Trireme to the Schematics Desk where Subutai and Himilco were discussing something. "We were able to increase the available workers for the Docks from the additional Hittites."

Dom wondered why they prioritised building the ships, but felt he would get the answer soon as Subutai waved him over. As he walked, he could see the side of the large Trireme that was beside him, it towered above him and it was made from the same silver wood as the rest of Riverside's wooden structures. Due to it's silver colour, it shined from the sun that shone through and Dom felt it looked majestic, excited to see how it looked when it was finished and unleashed on the Calm River that was on the other side of the Dock.

"Good morning Lord Lazarus!" Himilco stated, noticing that Dom had arrived.

"Good morning both." Dom smiled back as Subutai came and stood beside him.

"Majestic isn't it." Subutai stated, looking up at the towering Trireme beside them. "I've never been on the sea, a horse has always been my home, but this is a beauty."

"I was thinking the same thing." Dom agreed, "I wasn't expecting it to be nearly ready yet."

"Mayor Lucius sent across additional wood and resource whilst the rest of Riverside have been busy with the defences." Himilco started, "We have been working as fast as possible to get the first Trireme built and ready for the water, we understood that it was a priority."

"Why was it a priority?" Dom asked, turning to Lucius questioningly.

"If we die or Riverside falls, it can be rebuilt and we can be replaced." Lucius replied, "If you die, Riverside can not be rebuilt and you can not be replaced. We have prioritised having this built so that in the worst case, you can escape and restart somewhere else."

Dom looked both shocked and hurt at this, he appreciated Lucius's idea, but Riverside was his and he would never abandon it. If Riverside fell, then so would he. Before he could reply, Subutai stepped in, not giving him the chance.

"Lucius didn't agree this alone, we all did." Subutai said, "We decided that we would create a retreat route, we are also building more fishing boats and have the newly built bridge ready to be destroyed so that we can escape to the south."

"We expect to win, and when we do, then this Trireme is our first ship." Lucius continued, "We need the Trireme regardless, so why not rush it."

"Also, the Merchants that arrived yesterday came with two large vessels, and we had nothing to show our strength." Subutai stated, "They were friendly, but having our own navy will reinforce that we are not to be taken lightly."

"Ok fine!" Dom interrupted, "We needed the ship regardless, and we also need a potential escape. This Trireme will not take enough people though, if we wanted to evacuate everyone, we would need at least fifty and we don't have the resources, time or crew. So we fight until the last, the Trireme is for our future. When will it be finished?"

"I want to put it in the water tomorrow." Himilco replied, not having wanted to get involved with the leaders conversation. "We will then finish some tests and raise the mast."

"How about crew?" Dom asked, thinking that they hadn't trained anyone yet.

"We have a selection of Warriors that have joined that will man it, as well as some new citizens that want to see some of the world." Himilco commented, "I will also captain it for now and can train them up and down the River. We can be ready to go within the week if needs be, however if something happens sooner I will be able to at least get us to safety."

The four of them all stood back and looked at the Trireme for a minute, as Himilco explained some things about it that they had built, including the large ram at the front and the locations of where the rowers would sit. They had wanted to go inside, but Himilco explained that it would ruin the surprise for when it had been finished and declared sea worthy.

"What should we call it?" Lucius asked.

"It's a her." Himilco replied seriously.

"What should we name her then?" Lucius asked again.

"Galatea" Dom replied, "The goddess of the calm sea"