And so the long toil began.
Sylviana's plan, which he modified only slightly, was to build a
three-sided barrier of interlocking logs, like an open letter C. Its
ends would rest just inside the arch, gradually narrowing as they rose,
nearly flush, against the inner walls of the entrance. It was to be
reinforced from within by stout beams, and by the strength of these, as
well as by its own girth and weight, to form an impenetrable barrier
against both the elements, and the fiercest predators. A single,
windowless door would pierce the forward wall, and the entire structure
be sealed inside and out with mortar, and at the edges, with bricks of
stone. Sylviana had read a book as a child in which a family of
pioneers had built a log cabin, using only the materials provided by
Nature. And now the memory of it served her well.
So Kalus cut, and they both carried, till she thought her back would
break and Kalus die, where he stood, of exertion. She could not know
that what pained him far more than the ceaseless labor (he had worked as
hard before) was the fact that he was using all his spiritual, as well
as physical reserves.
Because a man can work as hard and diligently as he must, to the extreme
limits that mind and body will endure, so long as he has a reason, and a
need to do so.
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