“Papa…” Lanarot called, adorned within the Iyr’s typical attire. She wore a tunic with a sash around her waist, a set of trousers, and thick boots. Her mother had dabbed the girl’s forehead with the vague shapes of her family’s tattoos for the day.

“Okay, okay,” Adam replied, dropping down to embrace her within his strong arms. He held the back of her head, gently running his fingers through her hair. “Happy birthday, my Lanababy.”

“Hehe,” the girl giggled, her arms wrapping around her brother, feeling his large back. Once he allowed her to escape, she rushed to her other brother, hugging him tight too.

“Happy birthday,” Jurot said, holding the girl within his arms. He thought of how small she had been even the previous year, and yet now her arms could swallow more of his body.

“I can’t believe you’re turning three today,” Adam said.

“Nooo.” Lanarot smiled coyly towards her brother.

“Four?” Adam asked.

“Nooo!” Lanarot giggled wildly. “I am five!”

“Five?”

“Five!” The girl held out her hand, revealing all five digits, still giggling wildly.

“Five…” Adam blinked. “Isn’t that older than Katool?”

“What?” Katool called, furrowing her brows towards the half elf.

“What do you mean, what?” Adam asked, his eyes falling upon the girl. For a moment, he saw the small girl who used to cry whenever he bullied her, and even when he didn’t. Then he saw the girl, so much taller, her voice far more confident and clear. “Aren’t you only four years old?”

“I am nine!” Katool replied, sitting up taller.

“Right, I’m sure,” Adam stated, quickly reaching down to brush his sister’s hair, ruining her hair. ‘Oops.’ He brushed it down with his hands, awkwardly. “What is it that you want for your birthday this year, Lanababy?”

“I want Sky.”

“You want me to fly you around?” Adam asked.

“No. I want Sky. My puppy, Sky.”

“I…” Adam could feel the expectant gaze pierce through his heart. “I’m sorry, Lanababy.”

Lanarot pouted, before her mother quickly scooped her up, brushing her hair gently with her brush, fixing her hair. The girl allowed her mother to distract her.

“I’ll ask Elder Zijin for one of Sky’s puppies, and they can grow with you, okay?”

“Okay…” Lanarot continued to pout, holding her mother’s collar, leaning in to hide within her bosom.

“Papa will beat up a Reaver for you, okay?”

“Okay…”

“Lanarot,” Jurot called, holding out his hands for the girl. She reached over and allowed him to hold her. “Do you see Damrot?”

“Yes?” The girl looked down at the little baby, who was within his mother’s arms, relaxing after his meal.

“He is your nephew, like Karot and Jarot. You must be strong for them.”

“I am so strong!” Lanarot replied, pulling back slightly to puff out her chest, holding up her arms. “You see? I am so strong, like you.”

Jurot reached up to rub her ear gently, before sitting down with her, allowing the others to hand their gifts. ‘A pup during these turbulent times? It will be difficult.’

“Lanarot!” Taygak called, her voice firm, clear, like water rushing against a rock. “You are growing up well.”

“Speak in the Aldish tongue,” Kaygak said, glancing aside towards Pam and Vonda.

“Lanarot. Growing well.” Taygak embraced the girl tight within her arms. She, as the oldest of the children, had watched over Lanarot since her birth. She, who was going to become a teen soon, understood her responsibilities increased as she grew older. The oldest of the children reached down, undoing the furs beneath her chair, revealing a shield. “Look.”

Lanarot smiled at the shield, which was large and round, allowing her to hide beneath it with ease. “Thank you.”

Taygak planted a firm kiss on the girl’s cheek. “Lanarot, good.” She hugged the girl tight once more, a little too hard, before letting the girl go. “Taygak, go. Working hard.”

“Goodbye, cousin Taygak,” Lanarot called after, before the rest of the children handed her their gifts, mostly bits and pieces they had received from others. Her cousins, Turot and Asorot, made their way to the extended family estate, wanting to hand their gifts there. Adam also decided to wait for them heading to the extended family estate.

First, the group made their way to a particular section of the Main Iyr.

“Do you wish to hold her?” Vonda asked.

“You can hold her,” Adam said, though he peeked down at his youngest daughter, who sucked her hand while relaxing her head against her mother’s shoulder.

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Sonarot sat upon the chair with Lanarot and Larot upon her lap, while Jirot and Jarot climbed up onto their father’s lap. Karot sat upon his mother’s lap, but then glanced away towards his elder siblings. He looked to his side, seeing his father’s lap was taken by Jirot and Jarot.

“Hmm…” Adam glanced down at the children. “Jirot, Jarot, go sit on your uncle’s lap. Konarot and Kirot want to sit with Karot.”

“I am sitting here, daddy!”

“Jirot, please.” Adam planted a kiss on her forehead. “Look, your papo’s all lonely. Obviously our Jirot needs to make sure he’s comfortable, right?”

“Papo has baby?”

“He doesn’t have…” Adam paused, upon realising what she was truly asking him. “You smelly girl, how can papo have a baby when he has you?”

Jirot smirked. “Yes.”

“Jirot, Jarot, will you sit with your uncle?” Sonarot asked.

“I sitting, I sitting,” Jirot said, climbing off her father, rushing up to her uncle, with Jarot waiting for Jurot to hoist him up with ease. “Papo, you see? Is because I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Jurot said, holding the pair within his arms, feeling his heart beat a little quicker, before calming himself. He sat a little taller, feeling their adoring gazes upon him.

Pam glanced at the children beside her, seeing the way they beamed up at her husband. She then sat Damrot upon her lap, holding the back of his head, making sure the old Iyrman could sketch the boy’s face.

Karot’s tail hung to the side, the boy holding his eldest sister’s hand, who sat right beside him. Virot sat towards the end, with most of Vonda’s attention, the woman holding her head up, though the girl constantly looked towards her mother, and let out small cries when Vonda tried to have her look ahead.

“She’s definitely your sister, Jirot,” Adam joked, causing Sonarot to crack a smile.

“Of coas,” Jirot agreed.

The old Iyrman quickly sketched the family together, taking longer than typical, mostly because of the babies who needed to be taken care of by the mothers and the artist, before he finished up the sketch with his charcoal, and allowed them to go, waiting for the next family.

“It is no longer required to take our portrait on this date,” Sonarot said, holding her daughter and Larot within her arms as they made their way to the family estate.

“How come?” Adam asked.

“It is required upon the tenth of the tenth,” Sonarot said. “Damrot is considered the youngest of the main family in the eyes of the Iyr, so it is upon his birthday. We must take them at least once a year, twice a year if a new child has their first birthday.”

“So does that mean we will all come along during Damrot’s?” Adam asked.

Sonarot thought for a moment. “Yes.”

Adam noted the pause but said nothing of it. He understood that his relationship with the Rot family was weird, and allowed the Family Head to tell him if anything was wrong, since she was his Aunt, and the grandmother of his children. The group made their way through the roads of the Iyr, the mountains forming the walls around them, slipping through the network of tunnels within the mountains.

They eventually came upon a wider, larger section within the Iyr. There were the same large estates as he expected, and a large number of Iyrmen about, mostly children, who all ran around as they pleased, with a handful of adults keeping an eye on them.

The ground of the area around the estates were stamped with various symbols, each the tattoos of the families which lived in the estates.

Jirot squealed, eagerly rushing forward, though they were still far from the estate. Iyrmen waved at the group, though didn’t approach, giving them their space. About twenty or so minutes later, the group finally found a familiar pattern upon the floor. The estates were equally as imposing as the estate he was used to, with many more Iyrmen living within each estate.

“Aunt Sonarot!” the children exclaimed, many of them as young as Lanarot, some slightly younger, but many were also about Turot’s age too. One major difference between the extended estates and the shared estates was that almost everyone here, especially the children, all wore necklaces with small black gems.

The older Iyrmen all greeted the group with nods of their head, though a pair of twins charged a particular older Iyrman. “Nano! Nano!”

Mulrot smiled, the old woman scooping each of the children up within her arms, while the triplets rushed over to greet her too. “Have you come to greet me?”

“Is kako’s birthday,” Jirot explained, hugging the old woman close.

“Did you not bring babo?”

“Babo?” Jirot looked around, her eyes scanning the area.

Konarot sniffed the air. “Babo, not here?”

“That old fool, how could he not return?” Mulrot asked. “When he returns, you must tell him off.”

“Okay!” Jirot exclaimed gleefully.

Mirot and her children all returned from visiting the other family estates, having heard the commotion from the nearby estate. Turot and Asorot rushed over to their cousin, holding within their arms a large, round bundled within heavy furs.

“Papa?” Lanarot glanced towards Adam, her hands upon the red shield.

“Why are you looking at me like that? It was Turot who gave me this shield. Now it’s yours.”

“Mine?”

“It’s yours,” Adam assured. “We’re gifting it together.”

“Baba give kaza. Kaza give papa. Papa give me?”

“That’s right. Your baba wielded this shield, and your brother managed to place first place because of it, and now… it’s yours.”

Lanarot stared down at the shield, seeing all the dents within, feeling the great tingle of magic within. She smiled bashfully, tiny dimples forming to one side. “Hehe.”

‘If I can’t stop them from corrupting you, then I have to at least make sure you’re safe.’ “Now that your cousins and I have given our gifts, I think it’s time you get your gift from papa Jurot and your nieces and nephews.”

Jurot undid Phantom, and held it near its blade, offering the handle to his sister. “Phantom is yours.”

“We give it!” Jirot said, smiling wide towards her aunt.

“Yes, it is our gift,” Jurot confirmed.

Lanarot looked to her mother for support, who bowed her head, and the girl threw a suspicious look to her brother, who hung around with Jaygak, who would sometimes place peppers within her bread. “Mine?”

“Yes.”

“We giving it,” Jirot said confidently, as though she had done anything but to tease her uncle to hand it over.

‘I give my papa food all day and you cannot give axe?’ she had asked, smirking at her uncle.

Lanarot reached out to it, grabbing the handle with her small hands. She held it tight, while her elder brother assisted her in holding it. The girl could feel the tingle within her hands.

Jurot had been unsure of whether to give the blade to his son or to his sister. However, it made sense to give her the axe since she was older, and his son would have his shield, since the boy needed the shield more than the axe.

No, it made no sense at all, but he was an Iyrman, so it made sense.

The girl had inherited not just one of the best shields Adam had enchanted, a Greater shield, but also one of the best, if not the best, Greater Enhanced weapons he had enchanted. Sonarot watched her daughter show off the axe and shield to all the other children, while the tales of the weapons were spoken.

Her eyes fell to Adam and Jurot, the half elf smirking towards his brother, while beaming with pride. He had gotten away with managing to gift his sister two extremely powerful items, and no one had called him out for it. She glanced towards Adam’s side, noting the axe at his side.

Jurot was gifting away both his axe and his shield.

Adam retired his axe and gifted away his shield.

Within her heart, Sonarot hoped their era was not over. It was when the sun had passed its zenith, and was making its way towards the horizon, that the woman understood there was still an ember burning between the pair yet.

“What do you mean, you old geezer?” Adam growled back. “Do I need Wraith to beat you?”

“Even with that shield of mine, you could not beat me?” the crippled Iyrman grinned wide, holding the twins against his chest, which had sparked Adam’s annoyance.

“You didn’t even bring Lanarot a gift!”

“I did not bring her a gift?” The old Iyrman grinned wider. “I have brought the best gift!”