Hassan was picking his way through the trees when the green glow hit him. "My shoulder's healed," said the assassin who had taken a star wound. Bronn said, "I see movement, to me." They all moved in the direction of Bronn's voice, and one of them spotted the enemy. "On him," he said.
The man had chosen a spot with a boulder behind him to make his stand. He slapped his horse in the rump, and it moved away. He began to vibrate, and he moved from side to side, as if he were in 4 places at once. Stars spewed out at the approaching sandkin. They knocked them down and away. Bronn rushed at him with a swipe that caught the man's shoulder, but a blow from that golden sword broke two of Bronn's ribs and knocked him to the ground. Bronn flashed a fire spell at him from the ground, and it just hung in the air on one side as the man vibrated back and forth. The sandkin peppered the area he was moving through with blades, and one just bounced off of him. One of the sandkin shadows walked towards the man, and that sword struck right where the assassin appeared. The assassin dodged it but had to roll away to avoid being struck. Hassan stepped into the man, and the golden sword flashed at him from different angles. He was nearly struck, and then a strong crunch sound could be heard. Nymeria had the man by the shoulder from up on the boulder and lifted him bodily from the ground. She had broken his collarbone in two and shook him hard. The man screeched and then started convulsing as he had taken some poison that ended his own life.
Yéye showed the group how to polish and grind glass. When they had a small convex circle and a large one, they began setting them in a frame at different distances apart. They finally got it to work, but the image was upside down. The younger Mangana said, "If two makes it upside down, will three make it right side up again?" So they cut and polished another, and when they finished it, they tried more configurations. Finally, they got it right, but they couldn't keep it in focus. One of the stonekin forge masters said, "What if we set the eyepiece in a tube that will move in and out to focus?" So they hammered out a tube of bronze, and they rolled the frame that held the others into a thick piece of leather, and it worked. They ran up on the nearly complete front wall and started looking all around. Thomas said, "I can clearly see people on Bear Island, out in the bay."
They made 20 over the next few days, and their design improved steadily. They would be passed out to each fort and city along the coast and used in the city's towers. The last one they made was beautiful in bronze, so they boxed it up and shipped it with a trader to Bran.
Hassan and his group came back three days after capturing the enemy. They deposited him in Ming's intelligence building, and Arya came to look him over. She went through his things and found a coin that told her this man was an assassin for the Many-Faced God. He had some magical items and a golden sword. She gave these to Hassan to honor the deed. One of the items was a small locket with four faces. The locket was returned to the assassin's buildings, and the elders examined it without success. The treekin said the magic people called it a highly charged magical item, but they couldn't tell what kind of magic it was or how to use it. Hassan took it back to Ming, and he had the telepath send the image to the telepath in King's Landing so that they might answer what it was. The telepath had an apartment in the Intelligence building, as did Ming.
Nymeria had come in when they brought in the Many-Faced God's assassin; she spent that night with Arya and Thomas. The next morning, she was restless, and Arya butted heads with her, thanking her again for saving her life. Nymeria licked her face and woofed at her. Arya said, "Go guard Calancy girl." Nymeria ran to the door of the great hall and went out the east gate as it opened. She looked back once, to see Arya, and she was gone.
As fall came to an end, the ten main buildings in the city were finished, and the wall was done. The Great Hall sat on the eastern side, and on either side were smaller apartment buildings occupied by the treekin and sandkin. On the north side was a large warehouse that fronted the main road as it entered the west gate. It was here that city provisions were stored. The road ran all the way around the square in the middle of the city, then went out the south gate, too. Next against the northern wall was the forge with Gendry's, the younger Mangana, and Yéye's rooms. Next were the mill and shipyard buildings. The carpenters and shipyard workers had rooms in it. A road connected to the main road, and went out the western gate to the wharf, and out the north gate to the shipbuilding yards. South of that building was the Merchant Hall, where merchants and traders did business and stayed. Next was the soldiers' station where gear and troops were stored, and stayed. Next was the workers' hall, which housed those from the city or those staying in the city to work. Along the south wall was the hall for visiting dignitaries, and the Intelligence Hall was next. The last of the nine buildings that were connected by underground passages was the Infirmary, where all the healers stayed. The older Mangana had a large lab there as well.