The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 331: We’ll need a pulley system

"We need to get down there and take a look," I said, squinting at the lower ledge where the limestone shelf seemed to dive deep into the mountainside. I was already calculating the slope, wondering if I’d have to scramble down the jagged rock face on my backside.

Before I could even pick a path, I felt a sudden, cool strength wrap around me. Thalor swept me into his arms with a fluid motion that caught my breath in my throat.

"I’ll take you down," he said, his voice a low, melodic vibration against my chest.

I didn’t even have time to complain—or to tell him that my feet were perfectly capable of trekking—before he stepped off the edge. My stomach did a somersault as we plummeted, but there was no fear. It wasn’t a fall; it was a controlled, graceful descent.

He didn’t scramble or slip. He dived through the air like he was cutting through a current, and when he hit the soil underneath us, his legs landed with a powerful, solid thud.

He didn’t even stagger.

For someone who had only transitioned from a tail to legs a few days ago, he was using them dangerously well. He held me for a second longer than necessary, his gaze lingering on my face before he slowly set me on my feet.

"Your legs," I murmured, brushing the dust from my tunic as I tried to ignore the way my heart was racing. "You’re getting the hang of gravity pretty fast."

"The earth is just a different kind of pressure," Thalor replied, his violet eyes scanning the rock face we were now standing beneath. "It does not shift like the tides, but it has a pulse. Here, the pulse is steady."

I turned my attention to the stone. Up close, the ’spine’ was even more impressive. It wasn’t just limestone; it was a dense, high-quality deposit, bleached white by age and pressure.

I reached out, my fingers tracing a natural hairline fracture in the rock.

These beastmen don’t know the kind of resource that has been rotting away in their land. This is pure mineral.

Even as an art student, I know the value of this rock. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"If we hammer wedges in here," I muttered, more to myself than to him, "and use the weight of the beavers’ mallets, we can split these into uniform blocks. We’re going to build walls that can withstand a siege."

I looked up at the height of the cliff.

"We’ll need a pulley system. Ropes, wooden frames, and a lot of sleds to drag these back to the village."

Thalor watched me, his expression one of quiet fascination. He did not understand most of what I was saying, but he somehow knew what I was getting at.

"You talk of the stone as if it is a servant you are training to obey."

"It’s not a servant, Thalor. It’s a legacy," I corrected, my mind already racing toward the village and all the improvements we could do with this. "If I do this right, my children—and yours, one day—won’t just have a hut. They’ll have a fortress."

The mention of ’his children’ made his breath hitch, a flicker of raw hope crossing his face, but I quickly turned away, heading back toward the path that led to the main settlement.

I couldn’t go there—not yet. Even if the topic of having mixed babies of a fish and a cub was kind of tempting to think about, I had to stay focused on the stone.

"Let’s go," I said, my voice firm. "I need to find Oryn. We’re moving the quarrying team here by sunset."

"Okay,"

As we hiked back, the silence was heavy with the heat of the afternoon. But it didn’t take long before we spotted the gates I had walked past to get to that ridge.

Fenric was standing by the corner while waiting for me to return with Lyra perched comfortably on his shoulders. He wasn’t moving; he was just watching the treeline with a calm and quiet expression on his face.

His nose twitched as we approached, his red eyes narrowing as they locked onto the merman walking a step behind me.

Thalor’s posture shifted, his shoulders squaring as he met Fenric’s gaze. He didn’t look afraid, but he didn’t look friendly either.

"Arinya," Fenric called out, his voice a low rumble but felt like a playful tease. "You were gone a long time. The cubs were starting to wonder if the mountain had swallowed their mother."

I didn’t wait for the low, territorial growl I knew was vibrating in Fenric’s chest to break out.

I marched straight up to him, my feet caked in white dust, and reached up to take Lyra from his shoulders. She squealed, her tiny paws immediately tangling in my hair as I settled her against my hip.

"Well, I’m here now, and guess what, Fenric?" I said, my voice crisp and professional as a grin tugged up my lips. "We’ve found it. The spine of the ridge is solid limestone,"

"So quickly?" he asked and I tilted my head. "I mean, I don’t doubt you of course, but the land is so vast I thought it would take longer to find."

"Yeah, it would’ve definitely taken longer given where I found it but luckily for me, Thalor happens to be able to ’hear’ where the stone is hollow and where it’s strong enough to hold a palace." I explained. "With his help, I found what I was looking for,"

Fenric’s eyes flickered from me to the merman, his nostrils flaring as he processed the information. The suspicion didn’t vanish, but the edge of his aggression softened into a wary curiosity.

"He can hear the stone?"

"He can feel the water in the earth," I explained further, and then noticed Oryn coming this way. I quickly turned to him. He was just the beast I needed right now.

Oryn was approaching from the workshop with a heavy mallet slung over his shoulder and had no idea I had devised a plan to overwork his old bones, muhahaha.

"Oryn! Come here for a bit. I have something amazing that will change the structure of this kingdom, strengthen and solidify the foundations."

"Queen, may I ask what it is?"