Chapter 6 "On The Border"

Majesty was exhausted by this time.  We could both see the Sun for the first time in our existence and we watch the night begin to gather.  We could tell the Sun was about to make a grand exit behind the eastern horizon.

There was very little daylight left and we had a decision to make. We could either choose to stay where we were within the kingdom boundaries or we could venture out towards the fields of green grass. 

Despite the constant fear of War's hoof beats, we both showed no reluctance to head straight for what appeared to be green gold.  As we made our way towards the fields of green, we noticed to our left flank some very majestic mountains.  Nothing like these could be found inside my father's kingdom.

We therefore set our headings in the direction of these glorious peaks.  As we drew closer, the mountains grew taller and alas they appeared to touch the heavens.  We found a beautiful stream at the base of this range and we both knew that we had reached the place where we could finally get a solid night's sleep.

We both had our fill of the cool crisp water and we then settled down as a blanket of starlight moved over us.  This was peaceful slumber for us. Not even in the depths of The Bleak Forest had we ever found such a monumental respite.

A brilliant golden sun awakened us the next morning, and we awoke refreshed and ready to begin our task of building The Eastern Gate.  We retreated to our initial work zone and commenced to drawing our plans on the gray soil of my father's kingdom.

Majesty simply watched as I began my drawings. I started with a sketchy outline of the entire gate. I only needed to draw one post at this time which I could replicate for the entire length of the structure. The grand entrance and exit portion of the gate would take quite some time and for now I just wanted to get started.

Dimensions were always a friend to me.  I could easily visualize almost anything be it a large building block for a fortified structure or a tiny circuit as one might see only under a microscope.  

There were numbers which were special to me.  I knew which numbers were sacred and those which were not and even my father had no rhyme or reason to question or justify. I assigned 13 to the length of my first post.

The thickness of each post was to be three inches while the distance between each post would be 30 inches. Based upon my calculation of 150 miles to the north end and 150 miles to the south, I by my calculations would need enough posts to cover 1,585,200 feet or 190,022,400 inches. The total number of posts per my calculations at this time amounted to 6,334,080. I made not allowance for the exit gate at this time.

I remembered how my father had informed me look towards what I had learned from him during my construction of the gate when I had a question.  There was really no question as to what material I would use for the gate.  It would not be wood, or plastic, or copper or steel.  It wood be a formidable Iron Gate.

I had seen several construction projects in my father's kingdom  including the palace so I knew how to dig beneath the gray soil where I could eventually find the iron ore element that I needed.

Extracting this element for The Eastern Gate would be a joint task shared by Majesty and I.  I thus began to dig with my hands in what appeared to be an area of soft soil.  The further down I dug, the more difficult and hardened the ground beneath the surface became. 

I dug until my hands began to bleed profusely. Majesty had been biding his time just waiting for his chance to join the party and he took his mighty front legs and promptly showed me just how one might dig for gold.

We spotted another miracle in the sky during our first night after we began digging.  Although the Sun had been dismissed from the sky, a very bright object appeared which allowed us to dig for three straight nights and days. This companion to the Sun was a bold yellow color when it rose from the horizon and became brighter as the nights progressed.

It was Majesty who first discovered the Iron Ore element and he let me know by beginning to circle the area with an erratic pace.  I went directly to the spot and he had indeed found what we were looking for.

Majesty would extract the Iron Ore and I would take it and fashion it into the shape of a post.  I would make each one 13' in length and three inches thick.  I would then place each one in a chemical bath that I had prepared to remove the sulfur and oxygen from the Iron Ore.

The iron posts that I had available to me at this point had as still pliable.  I needed to either create a new furnace which would take an inordinate amount of time or travel back to the deep forest and use the one where the Dark Angels lived.

Since it had been several days since Majesty and I had seen the Dark Angels, we decided it best if we were to pay them a visit. By now we had almost 100 posts ready for the furnace.  Not wishing to place to big a burden on Majesty I created a leather satchel to transport 60 of them to the deep forest.

The satchel was sturdy and strong and could easily handle most any amount straddled upon Majesty's back.  Once I placed the satchel on Majesty, I began to load the posts one per side until the total amount was 60...30 per side. 

I then mounted Majesty and off we went headed west toward the city limits of my father's territory. While Majesty could easily handle the additional weight on his back, it seemed prudent and compassionate that we kept a determined and steady gate.e

Once again, when we reached the black cobblestone streets of my father's kingdom I dismounted Majesty and walked with him beside until we reached the The Bleak Forest.  Not wishing at this point to awake the curiosity of my father or brother, Majesty and I attempted to be as quiet as we possibly could be. There was no fanfare and we did not stir the Angels with any marching song or songs.