January 9, 1913 AC

The following day, Lis sat on a bench in the cavern as Gottfryd delegated tasks to his men. He divided his men into six groups: one group would observe the city and surrounding areas for any signs of approaching enemies, a second group would guard the city, a third group would produce food and supplies, and the remaining three groups would replace the first group when night falls. 

As Lis listened to his words, she thought of what she could do to provide aid. She couldn't think of anything. Andre whispered "are you alright Lis?" 

"I'm fine," she replied. "I was just worried about the days to come and wondered what I could do to help." 

"If Gottfryd has something, I'm sure he'd tell you," said Andre. 

"Of course," Lis replied. 

Andre smiled before returning his attention to Gottfryd's words. He stood up and left the cavern alongside Crozius when they were given the tasks of scouting the neighbouring areas for any signs of invasion. Lis decided to go with them. Andre nodded and Crozius said nothing. The trio left the mines and leapt over the rooftops of the city to the walls. Andre landed on the wall first and gazed back at the others. Lis landed beside him and Crozius to his other side. The trio leapt off the wall in unison and dashed through the pine forests nearby. 

Lis inhaled and smelled the air. There were no signs of other people although she could smell the tangy scent of pine needles and the musky scent of squirrels. She could hear the chirping of birds and snow being scraped away. It might have been rabbits burrowing into the snow or perhaps it was a squirrel digging for its hidden nuts. She could hear no sounds of footsteps that might indicate an approaching army and there were also no visual signs of them either. They were safe for the moment. 

As they headed deeper into the forest, they came upon the banks of the Kryzat river. The immense river spanned a hundred metres in width and its glistening blue waters were partially obscured with glistening white ice. The swirling sounds of water beneath the ice was soothing and Lis paused to listen before turning her attention to her mission. She turned her head and observed a pair of deer in the distance. They drank from patches without ice and hurriedly drank before leaping back into the forest. 

"Water is so important for life huh?" whispered Lis. 

"Indeed," said Andre. "Without it, we wouldn't have life." 

"Some animals control the water," said Crozius. "Like beavers. They build dams so that they can have a tranquil pool of water where they then build their homes." 

"Dams huh?" whispered Lis. 

"Is something wrong?" asked Andre. 

"No, nothing's wrong," Lis replied. 

She followed Andre deeper into the forest. Again, they found no signs of an approaching invasion. It was then that they returned to the mines. Inside the caverns, Radek greeted them with three bowls of bean stew. Lis and Andre thanked him as did Crozius. "I see you've remembered your manners brother," said Andre. 

"Come now," said Crozius. "I may have committed atrocious mistakes but I'm not one to forget such simple gestures." 

"Radek, do you happen to have a map of Vryland?" asked Lis. 

"I do. Why do you ask?" 

"May I see it?" 

Radek disappeared down a hallway before returning with the map in hand. He gave it to Lis. She examined it. The Kryzat river was the only large river in Vryland. She noted its many forks, which travelled to other large cities such as Zoltz. And then, she said "I didn't think a river would diverge so much. I thought that rivers were supposed to combine as they flow towards the sea." 

"They generally do," replied Andre. "However, Vrylanders have built ditches, canals, and dykes to divert the water to where it needs to be. That is how other large cities, like Zoltz, obtain water even though they are not on the natural path of the river." 

"The Kryzat river is the lifeline of Vryland huh?" said Lis. 

"It is," said Crozius. "The river does more than just deliver water. It was also a path for riverboats to deliver, food, mail, and other supplies to their destinations before the advent of railways. Even now, riverboats still make up a third of deliveries throughout the country, although the rail industry is rapidly growing and gaining more of a hold on the profits." 

"What if the lifeline of Vryland was to suddenly dry up?" 

"Well, then the country may perish. We have no means to purify salt water to such an extent to make up for the flow of the river." 

"Lis, are you thinking..." whispered Andre. 

"What if we were to build a dam or some other structure to divert the flow of water?" asked Lis. "Is it possible to divert the river away from its natural course?" 

"That is not possible," said Crozius. "Such a project is immense in scope. When the path to Zoltz was built, it took two months to build with thousands of workers contributing. I cannot imagine the Nocswehr building such a thing when the threat of civil war is upon them." 

"We don't need to diver the entire river. What if we diverted just a portion of it?" 

"The water levels might grow low enough that riverboats could no longer traverse it!" exclaimed Andre. "If that happens, cities unable to produce their own food would not gain the supplies they require and they would not longer wish for war." 

"But can such a project be done in what little time is left?" asked Crozius. 

"I don't know, but perhaps we should consult with Gottfryd," said Andre. 

"You wish to build a dam and divert part of the Kryzat river?" exclaimed Gottfryd. "That is such a monumental project... We lack the manpower and the time to do it." 

"What about the karzeletoads?" asked Lis. "We could build tunnels instead." 

"Indeed," said Andre. "The distance  to the sea is not that far. It is perhaps sixty nine kilometres to the sea from Kryzat River. Could the karzeletoads build tunnels that long?" 

"They can," said Gottfryd. "This cavern was carved out of the rock by them. Digging into soil is a much easier task for them. Still, that is quite the ambitious project you are proposing." 

"What if we created more karzeletoads?" asked Lis. "The more there are, the quicker they should finish." 

"Indeed, we could," said Gottfryd. "Still, there is the matter of the dam..." 

"What if we created a dam that built itself?" asked Andre. "If we animate the nearby trees, could we move them right into the river to block it? Beavers build wooden dams and their constructs survive just fine under the crushing pressure of the water." 

Lis was relieved when Gottfryd nodded. "Yes, that might work. Ordinarily, manipulating such a large plant would result in it being very short-lived. However, if it's only to fall a short distance into the Kryzat, then perhaps that is feasible." 

He immediately gathered two hundred men to create more karzeletoads and the dam. Twenty men implanted germination energy into ten toads they'd recently captured. The toads grew ever-larger until, by the end of the day, they had become true karzeletoads. They were then fused with fish to grant them gills. The chimeric karzeletoads followed the men out of the city. As they leapt through the city streets, onlookers dashed back into the buildings in fright. The toads leapt over the wall and followed their masters deeper into the forest. When they arrived at the Kryzat river, they leapt into the water and began to dig tunnels towards the sea. 

January 11, 1913 AC

In two days, the toads had dug tunnels all the way to the sea. As sun set on the eleventh, the men exhaled swirling light into the nearby trees. The trees slowly inched towards the river. When they were over the top of the water, the trees fell into the water. One by one, the trees fell into the water until a dam had been constructed. The water levels slowly began to rise, but never breached the dam. The men sighed in relief, the heads coated with veils of sweat. They had finished the task. 

They were then greeted with frightening news. An army of men were approaching the location of the dam. Lis cursed. If they discovered the dam, they would destroy it and then their plan would fall to ruins. Gottfryd then turned to his men and said "I understand that you are all exhausted. However, we must hold out until reinforcements arrive." 

"Yes sir!" they said in unison. 

They scattered amongst the trees as they listened for the approaching army. Lis and Andre hid with them. They nestled amongst the branches of the pines trees surrounding the river. They listened for the footsteps that would signal the approach of their enemies. Andre slowly exhaled onto a nearby branch. The branch twisted into the shape of an arch. And then, he exhaled upon the needles of the branch he sat on. The needles merged into a single strand, the tips of which he merged with the ends of the arch. He had crafted a makeshift bow. 

Lis meanwhile, exhaled on pieces of her own branch. The wood twisted and morphed into arrows. She gave them to Andre, who carefully placed one arrow against the pine needle bowstring. It was then that he saw the first man. He was surrounded by two chimeras. They slowly dashed from bush to bush, utilizing the shrubs as cover. The chimeras sniffed the air and growled. 

It was then that Andre fired an arrow at the chimera. The beast screamed as the arrowed pierced its neck. And then, he fired again, this time at the man. The man too collapsed. The final chimera rushed towards, hurtling towards their location. Andre fired a third arrow and struck the chimera through the centre of one eye. The beast halted and Andre fired a fourth arrow, this one piercing the chimera's chest. As crimson leaked through the fleshy openings, the chimera collapsed, dead. 

In the distance, Andre could hear gunfire as other Nocswehr members fought against the noble army. He leapt into another tree, and then another and another until he could see the massacre. Three Nocswehr men lay on the ground along with the twenty noble soldiers that they had slain. Dozens more soldiers were firing at nearby trees whilst ducking behind their own trees to avoid arrow-fire. The soldiers had not noticed Andre. It was then that Andre exhaled onto their trees. The branches rushed downwards towards the soldiers. The leapt away from the branches and one soldier exhaled. Swirling light filled the branches, some of which rushed towards the Nocswehr men. 

It was too late and the man was quickly felled by three arrows. His other men then rushed towards the trees, firing as they ran. Nine Nocswehr men fell from the branches before the soldiers were slain with arrows. Andre reunited with the Nocswehr men and they leapt from tree to tree to other noises in the forest. One by one, they eliminated as many noble soldiers as they could. They approached from behind the soldiers when possible and then distracted them with germinated trees or arrows. When the last rays of the sun dipped below the horizon, the stars appeared in the dark blue sky. The forest fell silent. They had won.