Chapter 43: Fortifying Dorsen
After a whole night’s work, the village was somehow fortified. Using felled logs and sharpened stakes, the villagers and Thornefang had erected makeshift palisades in key chokepoints, especially the southern and western points.
The walls weren’t tall, barely chest-height to an adult, but enough to slow a charge and force attackers into predictable angles.
They also placed angled spike barricades made from old fences and wood debris, pointing outward, to deter cavalry or reckless charges. Lucen doubted cavalry would come, but better safe than sorry.
With shovels and brute labor, shallow ditches were dug along the forest edges. Hidden under leaves and thin branches, they were meant to trip or slow the enemy, buying moments that could mean survival.
The watchtower was a crude platform, just three logs high, barely stable. It had been raised at the western edge of the village near the treeline.
It could support one man, and though rickety, it gave a view of the nearby hills and woods. A makeshift ladder led up to it.
To light the field and deny darkness to would-be raiders, fire pits and torches were spaced in a loose perimeter, offering enough visibility without making the defenders too obvious.
By first light, Dorsen was no longer a vulnerable village. Even though it wasn’t a properly built outpost, it was good enough for now.
In each key position was a mage ready to use the first circle spell: detection. It was a simple spell that alerted the user to any living presence within fifty meters away from the user. Each mage would cast it every two hours.
Even though it was a rather simple spell, its mana consumption wasn’t much. The mages of Thonefang were mostly first circle mages, who had a limited mana pool. This is why Lucen compromised and told them to use detection every two hours instead of every half hour.
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