ADAD Chapter 13: Gorgon

 What greeted them in the main city of Gorgon, were shacks, closely placed together, and dirt streets. 

"I know someone who was going to get a failing grade," Prisila said, as she smirked at her brother. 

"Well, getting water to this city is a nightmare. I can't wait for the oases to be done and populated," Anastasios said, as he walked around. "Man, this place looks depressing." 

"I bet you can turn it around. Was it your idea to get the city built in the dunes?" Darius asked, but Anastasios shook his head. 

"It was an assignment. In it, we needed to build a huge capital city. This place had the room for one, so..." Anastasios let his words trail off. He had been ten, back then, and hadn't thought about the people all that much. They had been just a number on a population census sheet, and the occasional report. Now, he felt shame. 

People stared at them from behind windows, that didn't even have glass, despite the city being in the desert. Anastasios hadn't known that he would need to get the people to get glassmaking workshops.

He now felt ill at ease, knowing that he would be staying at the best building in the city. Something he had designed as a vacation home. 

"Well, we still have twenty-eight years," Harvey said, and then looked around. "But the people can't stay here for long. With two runesmiths working on the oases, it will go fast. We have to travel to the nearest one in all haste." 

"We do," Darius agreed. "Do we go on foot?"

"I got caravans in the city, and a couple of ships," Anastasios said. Most of his allowance, that had come with the project, had gone towards the purchase of something he now knew was useless. "I messed up big time." 

"Don't say that," Darius said, moving closer to his soulmate. "Come on, let us go to your house, and change into robes. Then we can take a caravan and get to the spot of the next city." 

They walked through the deserted streets, and Anastasios couldn't bear to rise his head. He stared at his feet. When he felt Darius's arm wrap around his middle, he allowed the demon to pull him close. No words were needed. The two knew that Anastasios could have done a million things better, but had not. 

They changed into robes, when they got in the house, and then Anastasios led them to the site of the caravans. Unlike the shacks, the caravans looked pristine. There were Pegasuses tied to one carriage, and the friends piled up in it. Prisila went to the driver's seat, as the only one that knew anything about the flying creatures, and looked at her brother. 

"So, where are we going?" She asked, and Anastasios pointed further east. 

"Keep going north-east, sis. We will see the water soon enough. It is not that far away. I usually get the caravans to make water runs. The ships are anchored in the water," Anastasios said, and all eyes looked at him. 

"Wait, the oasis is so big, you got ships inside it?" Darius asked, and Anastasios sighed. 

"There is a river going out of it, but the land around the river is too rocky. Otherwise, I would have gotten the city built there," Anastasios said with a sight, and Darius became thoughtful. 

"We can do terraforming," the demon said, already knowing which runes to use. "It will be tough, but with enough beast blood, we won't even need to use our own blood."

"So, I can help make the runes?" Harvey asked, and Darius nodded. 

"Seeing as we will have to bury the runes, and maybe add a preservation rune on the paper, I don't see why it should be a problem for you," Darius said, and Harvey gave him a blinding smile. 

"Ok, that sounds great," the Fey said, glad that he could show off his rune knowledge. Sometimes, it was a damper on his enthusiasm to be the roommate of such a natural like Darius. Darius could make runes that were good enough to be turned into tattoos, while Harvey had to use the blood of others, or risk death. 

"Hey, we are here," Prisila said, and they landed by an oasis. The water cooled the air, and there was even grass around it, and kelp growing inside the water. 

"We will need water filtering runes for this," Harvey said, already in healer mode. 

"Yes, well, I think that making the dimensional pockets is the priority," Noah suggested, and all turned to stare at him. "Just think, the people in the city are suffering, living the way that they are. We need to make certain that the water here is enough, and make at least two cities as quickly as possible, to get the ships moving and trading between them." 

"Yes, it is a loss of resources, if we leave the ships in here," Prisila agreed, and then looked at the river that snaked out of the oasis. "Oh, that really is rocky." 

"We will need pixies to place the runes," Anastasios said, and then he shifted through his folder, the bottomless one that Darius had made him, and pulled out his allowance balance. "Sis, how many do you think we can hire with this? I will get new funds next year." 

"Your priority should be food and water. Don't expect the people to just sit idle and twiddle their thumbs. How many people do you have?" Prisila asked, and Anastasios pulled out a different status report. This one, from the last counting, which happened five years ago. 

"I have about 100,000, but that was five years ago. Some of them might have left," Anastasios murmured, and Prisila nodded. 

"Then call them here, and make them work placing the runes. Offer them a good pay, in food, if they don't want gold," Prisila suggested, and then looked at Darius. "Dari, can you fund the project a little? I need to get more jobs in the job market, and fast." 

"Sure, my gold is your gold," Darius said, and Prisila nodded. 

"Well, team, let us see what we have to work with," Prisila said, and then they all went to check out the oasis.