Finally the day of the test had arrived and they were outdoors for the sake of safety. The dynamic duo, which was the way Dáin called the youngest twin daughters of his trusted advisors Féren and Séla, had come to him a couple months ago with a new project of theirs. It wasn't always that he would take the time to look at something like this. Not that he didn't believe in the girls' skills, he did. Being a prodigy in his own fields of expertise, Dáin could recognize in them the same prodigious skill in theirs. The truth was that he was always busy with managing trade routes and agreements as those were the main source of wealth for the Dwarves of the Iron Hills under his leadership as their mountain range lacked precious metals in its interior. Their gold had to come from elsewhere.

What had changed then to call his attention to this particular project of the young Dwarf duo? First, it looked very interesting on paper as the design seemed to his more experienced eyes very well thought out. Second, he could see its obvious advantage in the battlefield if it worked. The strength of his army to protect his people was the second source of preoccupation that most inhabited his mind just after trade. Dáin knew that Kéra and Dúra were still too young and didn't have any of the military experience necessary to devise a useful weapon, but he wouldn't hold it against them. He hoped to be surprised. He nodded to the girls and then to their parents. "Everything ready? Can we start?" He asked grinning to the inventors.

His only reply was an affirmative nod from each Dwarf twin as they separated and went towards the end of two ropes nearby, pulling them with all their strength and the help of a parent as the girls needed the extra strength of an adult to make the remote mechanism they had devised to make the test safe work. Many yards away from any living being, he could see a hail of forty arrows leave their unmanned rigged bows and fly from left to right as a spear, fired from an equally unmanned rigged ballista, flew in the opposite direction. Midway, in his direct line of sight, all flying projectiles met midair, just after the spinning mechanism attached to the spear had opened itself due to its speed and gained enough rotational speed. In seconds the crushed pieces of the arrows fells to the ground and the spear pierced the earth just after the rigged line of bows, its tip going a few feet deep into the ground.

Dáin's smile was now broad. The test was a major success. The twins had created a very effective counter measure against archers of any level of skill and he would surely put it to good use when the need presented itself, but now to the subject at hand. He waved the family to come closer to him and as they did, he addressed the girls. "Kéra and Dúra, I'm sure you just made your parents very proud. I want to offer you both a place in my army's armory as weapons developers." He offered and then added. "Does this invention of yours already have a name? I don't remember seeing one in the blueprints you showed me."

For no apparent reason his thoughts went to his conversation with his cousin Thorin Oakenshield a few months ago when he had come to the Iron Hills to ask for his help in his quest to reclaim Erebor. Dáin advised him against the attempt as the risks vastly outweighed the benefits in his estimation, but Thorin was stubborn as a mule and he knew he hadn't dissuaded his cousin from his will to either do it or die trying. He decided to order several of those new war devices and leave them on standby if the need arose later. "How many of these devices you can make within an year?" He asked after calculating in his mind more or less how long Thorin might take to gather a seizable enough group and reach the Lonely Mountain. It would likely be about an year from now, but he hoped to have his army ready and in standby for any reinforcement calls that might come his way before then.