Whether it was Steen’s doing or just dogged determination by the townsfolk, the earthen dam began to yield to their efforts. And once they got down to the waterline, they got some real results. They were able to tear big pieces out of the dam with their picks, and soon water began running down the face of the dam.

“Get out of the gap!” Vance ordered, and they hurried to obey him. He watched the water flowing down the improvised spillway for a while, then directed two, and only two, of the pickax men to dig a bit more at the spillway—and do so from perches they carved out above the waterline.

“I’m watching for things to get to the point where the water will do the work,” he told Abi, as the water carried rocks and clods that had been chipped out of the soil down to the base of the dam. “Any moment now—there! Jump away, fellows, the lake will do the work now!”

Sure enough, there was mud in the water even after the last of the work the pickax men had done had been carried away.

As sunset neared, Vance stood watching the water flowing, deep in thought. Finally he gestured to Bret. “Would you and your brother be willing to stand watch here at night?” he asked.

“Aye, if the chief’ll bring us food and our bedrolls,” Bret replied. “Why?”

“I’m not expecting the dam to suddenly wash out and collapse, nor for the spillway to enlarge so fast it will create a downstream flood . . . but that’s a possibility,” Vance said, and he looked at Abi.

Abi shrugged. “All I can tell is the whole dam is under strain, there’s a weak spot where we know the drainage is, and another where we put the spillway.”

He nodded. “So, you see, if the spillway shows signs of suddenly getting bigger in an out of control fashion, or if the seepage at the bottom of the dam turns into a stream, someone needs to be here to see it and run to warn the town.”

“Aye, we can do that,” Bret agreed.

Steen sighed. “I should stay. If that starts to happen, I can make an ice dam and slow it down to a safe level again. Plus, I need to keep an eye on that blockage I did underneath.” The wizard shook his head. “This is more work in one day than I’ve done in a moon.”

“Well, I hope it won’t be necessary, but that is a noble offer on your part,” Vance replied, clearly warming up to the sorcerer.