Chương 55: Built In A Day

By the time one month had passed since Drakehaven's official naming, the community had begun running like a smooth operation. Kiana handled the fields. Aurelia helped whenever her healing studies and training allowed it, especially now that Nimbus and Shale were spending most of their time away on the road project. Without Nimbus, watering meant buckets, channels, and significantly more walking than Aurelia had once appreciated. Uncle had claimed the Waystation almost completely.

He cooked there, cleaned there, and welcomed anyone passing through as though the building had belonged to him for twenty years. Most importantly, he had begun preparing one large communal meal each evening and often breakfast as well. His explanation was practical - ten people cooking ten meals wasted ten people's time. Aurelia suspected the real explanation was that Uncle enjoyed feeding people. Nobody objected.

Regina had lasted approximately two weeks before declaring that recovery was a conspiracy designed to kill old women through boredom. Aurelia had disagreed, and their compromise now occupied one corner of the warehouse. A desk, a chair with more padding than Regina had requested, and a footrest she had called unnecessary before using it every day since. Regina kept track of what came in, what went out, and which supplies seemed to vanish without anyone admitting responsibility.

Her old experience helping with her husband's business returned faster than Aurelia expected. There were occasional questions, such as teaching Spark's shipments when crates simply appeared without anyone noting them in advance. Within a few days, however, the warehouse had a proper ledger. Rowan had moved in too. Talia had finally completed whatever paperwork Bellhaven required, and Rowan had arrived with one pack, a weapon, and several changes of clothing.

He was given the starting job of being Kaelu's construction assistant, which Rowan accepted with enough enthusiasm to make Kaelu suspicious. Surprisingly, the enthusiasm lasted. Rowan was not some hidden master craftsman, and Kaelu had to show him which tool was which more often than either man would admit, but Rowan listened. He carried whatever needed carrying, held beams in place, fetched supplies, and repeated simple work without complaining.

Perhaps most importantly, Rowan could be told, Stand there and do not let this move, and actually remain standing there until someone returned. Kaelu had desperately needed exactly that. The warehouse had already begun expanding because of it. New framing stretched from one side of the original structure, doubling the planned storage space before they had even managed to fill the first addition properly.

Right beside it, stakes and foundation trenches marked the beginnings of Kaelu and Kiana's future timberwright workshop and home. A short distance farther stood another rectangle of string and wooden markers denoting Aurelia's healing house. She sometimes stopped beside those markers for no reason. Nothing was built yet, but Aurelia could already picture the waiting area.

Behind it all, closer to the slope where Roy and Kaelu had chosen the ground carefully, sat another set of markers - which denoted today's priority project. Cold storage. Roy, Orion, Shale, and Nimbus had returned late the previous evening. The drakes looked as expected, but both of the boys looked worn down. A month on the road project had apparently consisted of waking early, working until everyone regretted having bodies, eating, sleeping, and repeating the process.

Dorian himself had insisted that workers receive several days away from the site to recover and spend time with their families. That part had surprised Roy - he had apparently spent the entire trip home trying to determine whether Dorian had some financial motive for mandatory rest. Aurelia suspected Roy found it unsettling whenever Dorian behaved like an ordinary human being. Either way, the schedule gave Drakehaven a window.

Shae and Nimbus were home, and several of Kiana's earliest crops would be ready within weeks. The storage could not wait until the next convenient break. So, shortly after Uncle finished serving breakfast, Drakehaven went to work. ─── 🐲🐲 ─── Roy stood beside a circle scratched into the dirt. He looked tired enough that Aurelia wondered whether she should have threatened him with more rest before letting him begin. Fortunately, the moment he unfolded the plans, he came alive.

"Shale starts here." The Burrowback looked toward the circle. Roy pointed down.

"Straight shaft first." Kaelu raised one finger.

"Wide shaft." Roy sighed.

"I drew it."

"You draw optimistic measurements." The two of them stared at each other for a moment, as if the time apart had done nothing for either of their temperaments. Aegis whispered to Orion.

"They're going to fight about holes." Orion nodded.

"They've been doing that all morning." Roy ignored both of them.

"This becomes the access stair." Aurelia looked down at the circle.

"Why spiral?"

"Space," Kaelu answered this time.

"And temperature The cellar itself sits away from direct outside air. Eventually we'll build a small enclosed entrance above this with a door, then another door below."

"Like an airlock?" Rowan asked. Kaelu thought.

"If that is what you want to call two doors, yes." Roy continued before the discussion could grow.

"Shale goes down to the planned depth, then cuts outward." He pointed toward several stakes showing the cellar's footprint underground.

"We gave ourselves more space than Kiana currently needs. That way, we wouldn't have to expand."

"You were going to build enough storage for Bellhaven."

"I was thinking ahead." Kaelu looked toward Aurelia.

"We compromised." Aurelia smiled. Kiana gestured toward the marked space.

"Food first."

"Medicine too," Aurelia said.

"And room to grow." Roy nodded.

"Without digging another cellar next spring." That sounded reasonable, which likely meant Kaelu had reduced Roy's original plan by half. Roy went back to the construction sequence.

"Shale excavates oversized - deliberately." Shale nodded. Aurelia was not entirely certain he understood the difference.

"Nimbus handles seepage and drainage while he's working." Nimbus chirped. Roy pointed toward the lower portion of the drawing.

"Once the earth is exposed, I stabilize the walls and floor into a stone shell." Kaelu added, "Structural shell first."

"Yes."

"Not a finished wall. Because last time—""It worked."

"It cracked."

"It stopped cracking."

"After I fixed it." Roy closed his eyes. Aurelia suspected the cold storage might take all day simply because Roy and Kaelu enjoyed disagreeing too much. Roy tapped the drawing more forcefully." Structural stone shell." Kaelu nodded.

"Good."

"Nimbus identifies any remaining wet points so we can seal those. Then we can add a waterproof layer over the exterior-facing stone."

"Then Mulchweave," Kaelu said. Aurelia glanced at the stacked rolls nearby. Clover had produced more than she expected - the dense fibrous material had been compressed into broad panels for insulation.

"Then interior lining," Roy finished.

"Stone again where it matters. Wood fittings and shelving later." Kiana frowned.

"Not today?"

"Some," Kaelu answered.

"Not everything."

"We need the room closed and stable first," Roy added.

"Then shelving can be built without everyone standing in a hole." Kiana accepted this.

"And cooling?" Kaelu pointed toward a section along one wall.

"Stable underground temperature first," then another smaller compartment.

"Future ice chamber here."

"And eventually the shared cooling equipment near Aurelia's clinic. This gives us connection space without having to cut through everything again." Aurelia appreciated that part. Some medicines merely needed cool storage, but others would eventually need better. They did not yet have every answer, but at least they were leaving room for them. Roy rolled the plan halfway closed.

"Questions?" Aegis raised one clawed hand. Roy stared.

"Yes?"

"When do I lift heavy things?" Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work! Kaelu pointed toward a stack of stone and timber.

"Constantly." Aegis smiled.

"Excellent." Orion sighed.

"Of course that's the part you're excited about."

"Some of us enjoy being useful."

"You carried a wagon yesterday because you were too impatient to wait."

"It was faster." Roy clapped his hands.

"Good! Everyone understands." Aurelia looked toward the hole that did not yet exist.

"Probably." Everyone backed away a bit in unison as Shale stepped forward. He looked to Roy, looked to the marked hole, then disappeared into the ground. ─── 🐲🐲 ─── Aurelia had seen Shale dig before, but that never made it less impressive. His broad forelimbs tore downward while his body compressed through soil and stone with impossible ease. Loose material came upward behind him, which was initially moved by shovels and buckets.

That lasted approximately five minutes before Aegis began carrying entire loads at once. Kaelu pointed, Aegis moved, Orion moved whatever Aegis could not reach easily, and Rowan and Kiana handled smaller loads. Aurelia spent most of her time carrying water, supplies, and whatever Kaelu shouted for next. The shaft deepened as Shale vanished completely. Then dirt began erupting upward from below.

"Bucket!" Someone lowered one.

"Not that bucket!"

"Why not?"

"That was drinking water!" Aurelia sighed.

"New bucket." Another went down. By midmorning, the cylindrical shaft was deep enough that Aurelia could stand at the edge and no longer see Shale directly - only flashes of his armored back. Then his digging changed direction. No longer directly beneath them, but outward. Very quickly, the cellar itself began to take shape. Nimbus descended next, shrinking herself small enough to navigate the shaft comfortably, carrying only enough water to remain mobile.

A few minutes later, thin streams began rising along the wall as Nimbus pulled moisture out of the exposed ground. She gathered it around herself, then sent it upward in controlled spirals where workers redirected it into barrels. Aurelia watched one floating stream pass.

"Show-off." Nimbus chirped from below.

"She heard you," Kiana said.

"I intended for her to." By the time Uncle brought out the first round of midday food, Shale had excavated most of the main chamber. Nobody stopped long enough to properly eat, which he responded to by walking around and placing food directly into people's hands. Orion ended up carrying a timber brace with one hand and a piece of bread with the other. Aegis, in human form for the moment, somehow obtained three portions.

"No." Aurelia took one away. Aegis stared.

"You are abusing authority."

"You already ate."

"I am large."

"You are currently exactly the same size as Orion." Aurelia handed the food to Rowan leaving Aegis looking betrayed. Work continued. Once Shale finished the excavation, Roy descended. That was when the cavern truly began becoming a room. He pressed both hands against raw earth as Golden Weave crawled outward. The surface changed as loose soil compacted and stone formed. Nothing decorative or polished - just thick structural material spread across the walls in broad sections.

Roy worked slowly compared to Shale, but steadily. Every completed stretch gave Kaelu somewhere stable to begin inspecting. He tapped walls and marked sections for reinforcement. Nimbus followed behind both of them, gathering moisture. Whenever a seam remained damp, she pointed it out through increasingly impatient chirps until Roy addressed it. Aboveground, the supply line never stopped: Mulchweave panels; sealant; stone; timber; tools; rope; water; more tools because the first tools were apparently wrong.

Regina remained in the warehouse throughout most of it, recording everything disappearing through the door. At one point, she caught Aurelia carrying a stack of hardware.

"How many?" Aurelia looked down.

"Some." Regina stared.

"Twenty-four."

"Good."

"Do I need to sign something?"

"Not yet." The " yet" concerned her. By afternoon, the cellar had walls. Insulation existed shortly after that, and then the Mulchweave came next. Kaelu fitted the fibrous layer against the sealed shell while Rowan held pieces in place and Roy fixed the joins. Once enclosed, the chamber became noticeably quieter. On top of that, the temperature seemed different. It wasn't yet cold, but it felt notably separated from the hot afternoon above. Aurelia stood at the bottom of the shaft and looked into the growing room.

"This is strange." Kaelu glanced over.

"What?"

"We started this after breakfast."

"Yes."

"Now we're standing inside it." Kaelu smiled.

"That is generally how construction works."

"You know what I mean."

"I do." The stairwell took longer than Aurelia expected. Shale could create the space and Roy could shape the stone, but neither could make people comfortably walk up and down a vertical hole. Kaelu had planned a broad spiral stair hugging the inside of the shaft with stone supports. Eventually, the entire entrance would sit beneath a proper ground-floor structure with doors at both ends to limit warm-air exchange. Today, they just needed functional access. Orion and Aegis handled the heavy work.

"Hold." Orion held.

"Higher." Orion raised it.

"Not that high." Orion lowered it as Aegis laughed… Then it became his turn.

"Left." Aegis moved left.

"Your other left."

"I have only one left."

"You moved right."

"Then your instructions were incorrect." Kaelu closed his eyes. Aurelia decided builders either possessed unusual patience or unusual suffering. By late afternoon, even Aegis had stopped joking. Dust coated everyone, Roy's hair was gray with stone powder, and Orion had lost his shirt somewhere around the fourth major timber support. Kaelu had a smear of sealant across one cheek, and Rowan looked as though someone had rolled him through the warehouse. Aurelia suspected she looked no better.

The final interior stone lining went into place, then the floor, then drainage channels because Kaelu refused to build an underground room that assumed water would never enter. The channels sloped toward a small collection sump at the lowest point, which Nimbus inspected personally. Roy looked toward her.

"Approved?" Nimbus chirped.

"Good." Kiana stepped into the finished chamber. Everyone watched her as she walked slowly along one wall. She looked toward the future ice chamber, then toward the entrance.

"How many shelves?" Kaelu groaned.

"Tomorrow." She smiled. Roy leaned against the wall.

"We're done." No one moved - it took several seconds for the statement to reach them. Then the group collectively exhaled. A voice came from above.

"If you are done destroying yourselves, dinner is ready." Uncle stood at the top of the stair shaft. Aurelia smiled.

"Perfect timing."

"I have been checking every ten minutes for the last hour."

"That is less impressive."

"I prefer accuracy to mystique." Aegis looked upward.

"I prefer dinner." Everyone began gathering tools. Aurelia stretched her back to relieve the forming soreness. It was just enough to remind her that carrying buckets and materials all day was apparently different from healing people.

"I am going to wash before I eat." Aegis looked at himself.

"So am I."

"No." He frowned. Aurelia pointed.

"You're not using the cottage washroom in dragon form."

"I wasn't going to."

"I wanted that established." Orion laughed as Aurelia started up the stairs. Behind her, Kiana remained in the cellar with Roy and Kaelu. She looked around once more.

"This will hold the harvest." Roy nodded.

"And next year's." Kiana looked at him.

"Reasonably." Kaelu ran one hand along the finished wall.

"The shell is solid." Kiana smiled.

"Then I am happy." Roy looked around the room. For once, no one found something else to add. As they reached aboveground after climbing the stairs, the entrance looked significantly less impressive. A circular stone stairwell descended into the earth beneath a temporary timber shelter. Kaelu had described it as intentionally ugly so Roy would not become attached to it and decide they no longer needed a proper entrance building. If rain came tonight, the cellar would remain dry. That was enough for today.

─── 🐲🐲 ─── Dinner smelled better than anything had the right to after twelve hours of work. The communal fire pit burned beside the Waystation with benches and mismatched chairs surrounding it. Someone had dragged out two tables so that people didn't have to hold their bowls. Uncle stood beside an enormous pot, serving stew as people approached. Aurelia had washed, changed clothes, and tied her hair back. She still felt dust somewhere on her body, but she had accepted it for now.

Roy sat with his shoulders hunched over his bowl. Rowan stared at him.

"You look dead." Roy lifted one spoonful.

"I feel dead." Orion sat beside him.

"You spent half the day touching walls." Roy looked over.

"You carried wood."

"Yes."

"Do you understand how much Weave it takes to turn raw earth into stable structural stone?"

"No."

"Then be quiet." Kiana sat near Kaelu.

"You could both simply admit you're tired." Neither brother responded. Regina laughed from across the fire.

"Young men." Orion looked toward her.

"You spent all day sitting."

"Doing your paperwork." Orion's expression changed. Regina smiled.

"Would you like to discuss the seventeen items removed from storage without being properly recorded?" Orion looked toward Roy; Roy immediately looked away.

"I hate this settlement." Regina looked pleased. Nearby, Shale lay flat on the ground. His head rested near the warmth of the fire despite the rest of his body extending well beyond the gathering. Aegis sat beside him in human form.

"You have become wider." Shale blinked.

"That was not an insult." Shale blinked again. Aegis frowned.

"Do you understand me?" Shale closed his eyes. Nimbus floated beside Uncle, clearly attempting to convince him she needed stew.

"You do not eat stew," Uncle told her. Nimbus chirped.

"You have never eaten stew." Another chirp.

"That does not strengthen your argument." He eventually gave her a tiny bowl. Aurelia watched from her seat.

"Uncle." He looked over.

"You give in too easily."

"I am old."

"That is not an explanation."

"I have limited time remaining to resist adorable creatures." Aegis looked at him.

"You cheated me at cards yesterday." Uncle smiled.

"Limited time for that too." Rowan laughed as Aegis narrowed his eyes. It still felt slightly strange seeing him there - not wrong, just new. He had integrated quickly: Working beside Kaelu, eating with everyone, and helping Kiana when needed. He occasionally disappeared back toward Bellhaven for guard obligations or to see Garrick, but he always returned. Drakehaven had apparently decided people could become ordinary very quickly. Kaelu nudged him.

"You're with me tomorrow." Rowan's expression fell.

"I thought today was the big project."

"It was."

"So tomorrow is easier?"

"No." Rowan stared. Kaelu drank from his cup.

"Warehouse extension."

"I was hoping it had become someone else's problem."

"It has." Rowan brightened.

"Yours." The conversation drifted from there. Road progress, food, how much Shale had dug, and whether Nimbus had behaved while away. She objected loudly to that question. Orion claimed she had nearly started a war with wolves. Nimbus immediately drooped, and Orion corrected himself so quickly that Roy nearly choked laughing. Nobody was planning. Nobody was discussing Velkaryn. Nobody was asking what the System intended. They were just eating, arguing, and laughing like normal people.

Aurelia finished half her bowl, then something tugged at her attention. Nothing dramatic; just a faint awareness stemming from the cottage. Aurelia stood without notice and made her way towards the home. At first it was a slow pace, but she instinctively began to move quicker. Something had changed - she could feel it now. Aurelia pushed through the door to find the five gray-scaled eggs resting where they had been kept safely since their arrival. For weeks, they had done nothing. No movement, no sound, no clues.

Now— Her eyes widened. She turned and ran - the cottage door slamming open behind her.

"Orion!" Conversation stopped.

"Roy!" Both brothers stood as everyone turned. Aurelia barely noticed; her heart hammered with equal parts fear and excitement.

"One of the eggs is hatching!"