Chapter 365 - The Moonshadow Trading Company Short Stories: 8 - The Coven City of Lyserna (IV) (2/2)

Thanks to the setting in of the winter, the wall froze just as quickly as she and Sel could put it into place. A concerted effort was needed from the both of them to not only place the stone correctly, but also to ensure that it was stable so that in the warmer months, the wall would not crumble if one knocked into it too hard.

Lyserna was situated on the North-Eastern side of the Mountain in which they had found the Sun Stones. There, a deep valley dipped towards the north, Lyserna situated at the Eastern end on a slightly elevated plateau. This Plateau had been gradually expanded and flattened by Rassa, Iah and Sel as they created the foundations of the city they were building.

The wall was step two. It circled an area of approximately 10,000 square kilometres, the enormous mountains and plunging valleys making it an expansive beacon. The area inside the wall, on the plateau, looked to be a barren wasteland at this moment.

”Exactly how many people are you hoping to house in this city?” Iah had asked when she'd realised the scale at which Rassa was building.

”When it is fully active and at capacity, I wouldn't be surprised if it could house at least 10 million,” Rassa had replied.

Iah had only felt shock at that number, ”That's only slightly less than the entire population of Eldovia. Where do you suggest we get all these people from?”

”Once they are happy, safe and provided for, humans tend to breed quite freely,” Rassa replied, ”It will take a shorter time to reach such a population than you might think”.

”Oh, with just making sure they are safe and provided for?”

Rassa sighed, ”Let's imagine that we start with a population of 20,000. We need to assume a few things, first that there is an equal distribution of the population between birth and 70. Second, that only those between a certain age will reproduce, let's say 18 and 35. It will take 18 years for maturity, and finally we'll assume there are, say, 2,000 deaths a year. Obviously, if there are no changes, for the first 18 years, the population will only increase by a very small increment every day, a few hundred maybe. But by the time the first birthed here started to have children of their own, there'll be some changes. Of course, assuming that the death rate remains the same, a quarter of a century after that next generation reaches maturity, the population would have grown by nearly 5 times. In other words, in less than half a century we could be looking at 100,000 people rather than the initial 20,000, and that number is from birth rates alone, not from migration. What's more, the higher the population gets, the faster it will increase”.

Iah had had to pause to wrap her head around the thought.

”Can we really create such an environment in such a cold and desolate place though?” asked Iah.

Rassa had smiled, ”That's were the Sun Stones come in. Not only do they filter light, they filter weather, too. The Sun Stones, when connected and functioning, will create a barrier that is set to emit a 12-hour cycle of light and darkness. With that comes heat. Light in general generates heat. Of course, it's not a God, in can't generate a stable environment consistently forever, but it will certainly be a lot better than outside of the barrier they create”.

At this stage, Iah was beginning to question if Rassa would ever run out of these insane ideas. After the memories he had shown her and Sel of the old Covenant City Walls and designs, Iah wasn't sure he would. With so many lost things, surely he could recreate and improve upon them for centuries to come.

The walls that Iah and Sel had been building from the stone they had carved from nearby quarries, were fifteen metres thick at the base, and five metres thick at the top for the majority of the wall. The walls were on an incline mainly to mirror the mountain itself, but also to ensure that any snow that landed on them slid off easily. The wall was thirty metres tall, and the internal structure housed multiple tunnels and guard stations as well as room for sanitation pipes and pipes for the distribution of clean water.

At six equally distributed points around the perimeter was an even wider section of the wall known as the sun towers. These were mostly hollow, and built so that they would house the sun stones when Rassa returned and was able to put them into place.

”Well, if anyone needs to build a wall in the future they know who to come to,” Iah huffed, ”It's got to be the new year by now, don't you think?”

The constant darkness made it hard to tell. Iah and Sel had not seen the sun in several weeks.

”I'm sure he will return soon, Iah,” Sel replied, sensing the worry in her tone, ”Come, we'll return to the castle”.

Aye, Castle. They'd built that first, it put Moonshadow to shame. It reached many times further into the sky and was built both into and out of the side of the mountain. The home of the Moonshadow Coven. Thanks to the structure being largely carved from the mountain side, there were many Evanine veins still within it's structure. It made the castle glitter when the sun hit it, for however briefly that was. In the darkness though it appeared the looming shadow that Rassa had no doubt wanted it to be.

From habit, Iah found herself not just returning to the castle, but checking the communication crystal in the southernmost tower. Sel followed behind, ever vigilant. They'd been the only company the other had for the last month and had reached a sort of tacit understanding and routine.

To their surprise, the crystal was not dormant.

Iah rushed forward and activated it, she found herself staring at two familiar faces.

”Ebony?” asked Iah with a smile, ”And Neva?”

The two women smiled back, ”Oh good, we were starting to wonder if we were too far out”.

Iah quickly lost her smile, ”Where is Rassa?”

”He is monitoring construction of the first outpost along the railway from Toulle. Mathius and Layton are with him,” Neva replied.

”He sent the two of us on ahead along with a multitude of materials in order to begin construction of the city itself,” Ebony replied, ”Halfway through our supplies you two are to return, and Rassa will come to Lyserna with Layton. We've worked out a rotation process in order to monitor construction at both ends as well as the transportation of supplies and the management of Moonshadow itself”.

”He has paired us?” asked Iah.

”Yes, Talo and his band will handle supply transportation to the first outpost, Kit and Ollie are managing Moonshadow for the time being, and the remaining six of us will rotate between Lyserna and the Outposts. Ebony and I are currently at what Rassa told us was the halfway point. He built a Communication Outpost here to ensure faster communication between Eldovia and Lyserna,” explained Neva.

”So, you're on your way to us now?” asked Iah.

”From what we understand, we're 3 days out,” Ebony replied, ”What should we look out for when we arrive, and are the days always this short this far north?”

Iah smiled, ”Sel and I haven't seen the sun in weeks, Ebony, there isn't day at all where we are. As for what you should look for, it's the only structure here, you won't miss it”.

Neva and Ebony looked at each other before turning back to Iah and Sel, ”If you say so, we'll be with you shortly”.

”Can't wait to welcome you,” Iah smiled, then the communication crystal dimmed.

Iah spun to face Sel, ”What do you think? Yeti for dinner?”

Sel chuckled at her suddenly lighter attitude, ”Lead the way”.

*The First Vampire will continue in The Ruin of Eldovia*