39 returning home

Blake climbed up to one of the watchtowers of the outpost fortress, from there, he saw the second settlement of the black axe tribe in its entirety.

The huts had been completed, and everyone in the settlement had a place to live.

With the help of Benton and the other builders, they managed to make another large water wheel, and water channels made of wood that ran throughout the settlement.

There were 5 workshops, which distributed the different tasks necessary for the functioning of the tribe.

The main sources of food were hunting and fishing, but Blake had already created farms of chickens and rabbits brought from the first settlement, which would grow to supply the entire tribe.

Of course, he also sent out several hunting parties to trap wild goats in the Frostfangs, the number of goats in the stables was not very large, a couple of dozen, but it was a satisfactory number for such a short time, soon there would be enough eggs, milk, and rabbit meat to keep his tribesmen alive even in winter.

Cooking, on the other hand, was somewhat more difficult for him, as there were too many people in the tribe.

He finally solved it by dividing the tribe's population into 4 areas, numbering them. Thus, area 1 would have its kitchen, storehouse, and cooks, as would areas 2, 3, and 4, all being administered by the advance fortress, which would oversee that the food was distributed properly.

The workshops, on the other hand, were divided so that each would specialize in a task.

There was the builders' workshop, the saddlers' workshop, the wool workshop, and the resin and maple honey workshop, which Blake had separated from the builders along with the clay workshop.

The reason was simple, the builders needed much more practice and knowledge than the resiners and those who handled clay or made the pitch, so he needed to specialize the work.

All this is to make the second settlement a sustainable and self-sufficient place.

Benton had been left in charge of the builders' workshop, which was the most important, as they needed to make crafts to sell to the Night's Watch.

"Blake, Major Wren is looking for you."

Graham, who was on guard duty in the fortress, shouted to Blake in one of the towers.

"Well, where is he."

"He didn't find him in the workshop, so he's in the training area."

Blake nodded coming down from the tower.

Just like the first settlement, he had built a school and a place to train the children, hunters, and warriors in how phalanxes were composed.

The second settlement of the black axe tribe had twice the population of the first settlement, so the army they could form was larger.

Blake had finally decided to integrate the 150 warriors he initially used to conquer the Ice-river clans into the structure of the second settlement. These warriors since they were trusted, would take the leadership positions within the second settlement, allowing the black axe tribe to maintain complete control, making these people finally part of the black axe tribe safely.

This move may not have been necessary, as, with the formation of the settlement, improved housing, and all the necessities, be it water, food, clothing, and health among other benefits Blake integrated into this society, these people had become much more submissive, following his orders to the letter.

I could understand this behavior, their clan had been completely crushed, and when only death loomed over them, the black axe tribe had spared them, giving them better places to live and fulfilling their needs, slowly becoming dependent on the black axe tribe, gaining their identity.

Blake walked to the training area, where there were 6 teams of 50 men practicing phalanx formation.

"Raise shields!"

"Hold!"

"Charge!"

"Spears!"

Cam was the one leading the training, while Wren watched from the side.

"It's the hunters' turn."

Blake walked over to Wren, watching the training as well.

"We don't have that many warriors, hunters are a priority."

Blake nodded, despite their numbers, the second settlement didn't have many good warriors.

"The phalanxes are indispensable, but remember to keep up the melee training I teach them, I want all the warriors to be proficient in this area as well."

The training Blake taught them was mixed martial arts. He didn't do it because he was an expert, he only did it because in reviewing his memories, he concluded that it was the one he knew best. And his teachings proved to be useful, an educated tribal warrior could defeat up to 3 men who fought without this knowledge.

Wren turned his head to look at Blake.

"You're finally leaving?"

Blake nodded.

"This place can stand on its own now, I need to get back to the tribe, I've been away too long."

Blake replied. This year was already the 286th year after the conquest, thinking about it for a long time, Blake concluded that the best window of opportunity he could use to cross the wall would be in Greyjoy's Rebellion.

Blake did not know when exactly the Greyjoy's Rebellion would take place, but he estimated that it should happen between the years 288 and 290, so he did not have much time to prepare.

He came up with the plan thanks to the help of one of the elders of the Ice-river clans, this man was the leader of the northernmost settlement among the Ice-river clans, according to the elder, his clan was the last human settlement to the north, then everything was the territory of the giants, and further north you would reach the lands of eternal winter.

(They appear during storms, moving through the snow and trees of the Haunted forest. They are very hard to see, but you can feel them, as they are always on the prowl, looking for the dead and carrying them away. My father died in the middle of a storm, and I could see them take him away).

Blake came to a wild conclusion, what if the walkers were always active? What if they were always gathering the dead from the lands beyond the wall? If for 8000 years, they were gathering wraiths?

That alone would explain the creation of the great wall, an evil so terrible that it was impossible to destroy, only being able to stop them.

A small drop of crisis seeped into Blake's heart after hearing the elder's words.

"When I return to the tribe, I will send Dean back to assist you, he has taken over the tribe's duties on his own, so he will do a good job here."

Wren looked back at the training.

"When you said my brother could walk again I didn't believe you, but in the end you made it happen, I'll trust you again and take care of this place, take care of what you're so worried about."

Blake patted Wren's shoulder before turning and walking away.

Blake took one last walk in the middle of the settlement. He had written detailed instructions on how to improve the infrastructure to make the settlement more productive. Dean and Wren would be busy for at least a couple of years.

"Blake!"

Ygritte was playing with several tribal children when he saw her.

"Remember, we leave tomorrow at dawn, have you said goodbye yet?"

Ygritte heard Blake's words and her face darkened a little.

"Yes, I already said goodbye to everyone, I will leave you all my toys too, in the tribe I have more."

Blake looked at Ygritte with a skeptical look, he doubted she had any toys left in the tribe, but he didn't question her. She had spent a lot of time with these children, so it was only natural that she would want to leave them a gift to remember her by.

"Well, come on."

Ygritte raised her arms and Blake carried her on his shoulders.

"After we get back, can we visit from time to time?"

"Only if we have to."

Both siblings walked to their hut, soon they would return home.