They packed all of the iron in stacks of jute bags which they got from the villagers for free. They were handed to the villagers, who distributed the iron themselves.
Just after breakfast, hundreds of workers set off to the fort, which was about a mile away from their town. They carried many things along, like tools, blankets, hats, and coats, with their donkeys and horses.
After lunch, they started working on the outer walls of the fort. One group mixed cement, gravel, sand, plaster, and water to make a strong adhesive binding mixture. When it was ready, another group started laying blocks which were fitted outside the walls by "masons". It acted as a strong shield against catapults and fire arrows. The battlements were destroyed and new ones were built with the same technique.
Meanwhile, "engineers" were sketching in their notes about the design of cannons, catapults, and towers. Dan, Fayette and Sculp were thinking of a formation of soldiers, which would be useful for them in combat with Aquilla. They included swordsmen, arrow men, spearmen and cavalry.
"Where would we get the soldiers?" asked Fayette. "Isn't it a tough task?"
"Not quite" replied Dan. "I already have a plan for it. We have already decided to get labour from Capricorn, but how about getting soldiers from Cabro?"
"Cabro?"
"Indeed. There are some villages very close nearby. We could ask if they could send some people. And, we will be collecting labour from many villages."
"Sounds good, Dan"
While they were planning about defence, the works were brilliantly carried out by the workers. One group was collecting all of the rocks from the narrow fault leading to the fort. The path was covered with grey, coarse sand. The rocks were piled up in neat, straight lines at the side of the path. Some of them were also collecting minerals from the fault. They got plenty of aluminium there. It would be advantageous in the mending works.
The work was overall doing good. One group, in which Dan took part as well, designed the interiors. They first cleaned the floors and walls, removed the old wood planks and placed new ones. The new wood planks they used came from the wood which Dan has brought the day before.
By evening, the walls were completed. They have to dry, that's all. The walls looked perfect. The workers were allowed to take a rest in the camps just before dinner time. It has been an excellent day for them to kick off with. Dan planned to work on the interiors, cannons, watchtowers and other related stuff.
The workers made a campfire and settled around it. They cooked some fish on that day, which someone has brought from the river nearby. Very soon, Dan would call for the soldiers from the villages of Cabro. Feeling satisfied, everyone slept peacefully that day, only to get disturbed by the chilly winds that blew across the fault.
The sun rose slowly. Everyone was up at dawn. It's January morning, so it was cold in the early morning. Today, Dan is about to collect some resources for designing the interiors of the fort. So, after breakfast, he hopped onto the horse carriage and drove to the forest. Fayette came along as well because she has very good knowledge about decorative items.
They left Sculp and Camb back in the fort. Sculp will supervise the renovation inside, like fitting planks for the floor, and Camb would sleep inside the camp, with nothing to do.
Dan and Fayette reached the woods, where they could find lots of minerals, different types of wood and some fruits as well.
"Let's search for birch trees. They have beautiful barks", said Fayette.
Of course, there were birch trees, but deep inside the spruce forest. On their way, they collected Blackberries, which grew in thorny brambles. They were spread out almost everywhere. Dan took a dagger from his pocket. He scraped the bark from a few trees, which they collected in a box. It would be very useful in decorating the door frames, window frames, furniture and other stuff.
Next, they went in the search of Amethyst. Amethyst is a type of quartz crystal found at the near-surface of the crust in rock geodes. Well, rock geodes and is kind of rare, but in Fantalasia, it is mostly found near the roots of the Red Sandalwood Tree, which is very very rare to be found in a freaking spruce forest with oaks, birches and a family of foxes!
Meanwhile, things have gone wrong inside the fort. They found another family of foxes! Well, Sculp asked three workers to carefully transport the kits or baby foxes in boxes, followed by adults. Sculp helped too, but while catching a fox cub, he mistakenly touched its nose. It let out a big cry.
Furious, the mother of the kit gnashed her teeth, and so did other adults. The mother bit Sculp's leg. He shrieked. The foxes chased many workers. Everyone was panicked. It looks like there was another family of foxes, who joined the chase. Seeing this chaos, Camb howled loud. The foxes thought that the fellow Siberian Husky is a wolf. And so, they ran away, out of the fort, down the valley, maybe to found a new home.