Over the next day, he hunted and cleansed. He tore up and transmuted patches of ground to erase the nearest tainted areas. He and others kept on the lookout for any sign of the monster having a brood, but they found only an empty pit for its lair.

The islanders didn't outright ask what that thing was. They took it as some kind of incomprehensible misfortune from the sea. Arlen wondered if the Builders were somehow to blame. For now, he was glad to see there was only the one. Probably. He and the more knowledgeable spellcasters and farmers judged that over time, the worst taint would fade. He could come back and continue terraforming later.

Having won the people's trust, he explained the idea of a "Western style" fighting party. On the shore he raised a tower forty feet tall as a bastion and lookout point. "Your families and treasure can be hidden here too. If it really bothers you, I can remove the tower later."

They accepted it for now, since he'd shown the value of even a small fort. He also got people using some iron arms and armor. He kept the design simple, partly because he didn't think he was creating proper steel and couldn't tell how pure or well-tempered his creations were. He went with a Roman gladius style of straight sword, iron-headed spears, shields with metal rims, and whatever bits of armor and helmets people wanted. Some men favored arm and leg guards. He wasn't able to make a knightly suit of plates yet; too complicated to do all the joints by magic. He also tried a brigandine of small plates riveted to the inside of a jacket, giving it a look misleadingly described as "studded leather".

For himself, he had his recovered gun, along with a sword and shield.

He set out for Opaline again with Meadow and a witness, one of his archers. Meadow's new talent with wind helped them sail swiftly.

They found Opaline's people still worried about battle any day. It was bad enough that the crops here had been damaged, forcing the people to rely more heavily on fishing and on gathering fallen wild fruit. The fishers were serving double duty as sentries.

So when Arlen's group arrived, a fisherman was trailing him as if he'd brought an army, despite all the friendly waving. Arlen waded ashore to explain to anyone who'd listen, "We killed the beast of Gull Island!"

The townsfolk gathered to hear the tale. Arlen emphasized the heroism of the islanders themselves and their reverence for the past chiefs and other heroes. Then he got into the meeting with the spirits, and Meadow's new blessing from them.

The chief reluctantly admitted, "You seem to have their support, and enough strength to fight in new ways. All right, then; what do you have in mind for when Thoko organizes well enough for a serious battle?"

Stolen novel; please report.

Arlen explained. Arms and armor, walls and towers, traps and tactics. The people listened. Especially after he created a stone extension for the chieftain's home, that more than doubled its size and grew it to four stories, possibly the tallest structure in all the islands.

The complex, grand rock-shaping was a lot of fun. He learned to lift himself up on a pillar as it grew, and to swirl walls and gateways into being, and to conjure simple furniture and braziers and decorations to his clients' taste. Another bedroom? Certainly; give me a few minutes!

Besides making a few houses and storerooms, he focused on military preparations. That presented a tricky problem that he spent long hours going over with the chief, the clever doctor, and other key figures. "The Mirefolk were our 'free' easy battle. Thoko will know better. He won't attack at the most well-defended spot."

"Where, then?" asked the doctor.

The chief frowned at Arlen's sketched map of Opaline Island. He still wasn't that familiar with maps in general. "What I'd try is to come around the far side of your island with a stealthy, swimming team to attack the other main village, much like our fire-starting squad during the rescue job. He'd risk being spotted by sentry boats, though."

"I can't easily ask someone to sit in a boat all day and night."

"How about on a tiny island?"

A shrug. "We have many, but not well placed for this... are you suggesting you can make one?"

"Let's find out."

They adjourned from the upgraded palace and took a boat a little ways out to sea. The water here was only around thirty feet deep, shallow like most of the archepelago. Arlen dived. He grinned, discovering that his eyes no longer blurred like they ought to while underwater. He'd become a true aquatic. He didn't have to hold his breath for long; he spotted the seabed in the sparkling depths. And mentally grabbed it. And lifted a chunk of it.

The ocean rumbled. Sand and silt billowed out from the spell's impact. Arlen rose, breathed, and returned to pull again. Soon his magic could grip it from the surface. He rode it up until his stone pillar broke the water and climbed ten feet above it. He made a little wall, and a canopy, and took a bow to the stunned Opaline observers. "Where else would you like a little island?"

He ended up making this one twice as big, and tall enough to spot a war fleet from many miles off. Even if the enemy tried to be stealthy, Thoko's men would take boats most of the way and expect to swim only the last stretch. They'd be spotted. Or at least see this thing, fear being spotted, and be thrown into confusion. Either way helped.

Arlen consulted again with the planners. "Until the battle happens, I'd like someone to spend time in each tower if possible, at least the ones nearest to your villages and the best landing sites. If the sentries see trouble, they can light a fire and blow a horn."

"Strange," said the chief.

"And each village should have a safe place for your valuables and non-fighters. That's easy. If possible we'll keep a fire burning atop your home, too. We can try to lure Thoko into attacking the one building bigger than his own palace."

The Opaline leaders and Arlen the war-chief kept busy. Parties went back and forth between the rebellious islands including, now, Stormhowl which wanted the new "magic" training and equipment. Their privileged isolation had let them hang back but they'd now grown bolder, more willing to lend warriors.