“Are you okay?” Kitool asked, assisting Adam with butchering the large White Dragon.

“I’m fine,” Adam said, realising quickly he was no good, and so left it to the others.

Jurot and the rest were also assisting him in butchering the White Dragon, parting it into four different piles, one for Paul, one for Lanban, one for Aizaban, and one for him.

There was also a pile of Aurochs and Dusk Hawk parts too, Sir Harvey having thrown the items out of his magical storage.

The tension in the air was still palpable, and the High Alchemist and the Knights remained in their own corner, with Paul between the Iyrmen and the Nobles.

Paul understood why Sir Harvey let Adam speak so much, it was to allow the boy to hang himself with a noose of his own making. However, Paul had noted just how Adam had played the game, poorly, but with just enough skill that he himself had to act.

‘How did I get myself into this position?’

“Adam,” called the woman in breastplate. “Will you come speak with us?”

“Only if you don’t kill me,” Adam said, chuckling as he and the others slipped away.

“Will you tell us the truth about how you know us?” she asked, staring at the Half Elf.

“Well, I don’t know you two,” Adam said, motioning to the other woman. “Though, like I said, I know you because of Fate.”

“Yes, but…” The woman threw a look to the other, before sighing.

“How’s the Princess? Is she well?” Adam asked, glancing towards Rojer.

“She is fine,” the man replied, bowing his head slowly.

“If you need any help, let me know. I can brew potions and such, and can also…” Adam glanced around. “Nothing.”

“You can brew potions?” Rojer asked.

Adam smiled knowingly. “I was going to have Sir Harvey help you at first, but I don’t think I can assist. I’m not as good as him, I don’t think, but I believe in Fate. If I study the potion and wait for a good day, I can help you.”

The group glanced between one another. This random guy who appeared in their journey was too suspicious. How did he know so much? How was it that he understood so much about them.

“Who are you?”

“Adam, son of Fate,” Adam repeated.

The woman narrowed her eyes. “Why are you helping us?” Since Adam refused to state who he was, she decided against prying further.

“Hmm…” Adam rubbed his chin, falling deep in thought. “I think that she should live a happy, carefree life, frolicking under the ocean as she pleases.” Adam smiled.

They stared at him.

“I have a little sister,” Adam said. “She’s the cutest little sister in the whole world. She was lucky to be born in the Iyr, so she can live fairly freely, and she’ll be raised well. I think it’s a shame that, due to circumstance, that your little Princess is suffering.”

Adam swallowed, wondering what else he should say. “Let’s say that I don’t want to feel guilty about things I can easily change, especially since I’ve involved myself before.”

“Before?”

“For the four of you, this is the first time you’ve met me. For me, this isn’t our first meeting. I…” Adam paused. “I had a dream. A dream I awoke from. It was a dream which left me with many regrets, but it was a dream where I accomplished much. I just want to make sure that I’ve managed to complete what I had done in that dream after I awoke too.”

“You’re rather weird, aren’t you?” the woman said, though her lips formed the softed of smiles.

Adam smiled in return. “I get that a lot.”

She wasn’t sure if she should trust him, but since he was with Vice Master Paul, and with that group of people, perhaps he wasn’t terrible.

“What kind of reward would you like for your assistance?” she asked.

“Reward?” Adam said, blinking.

“You came all this way to help, so what would you like?”

“Oh. Uh…” Adam rubbed his chin. “I don’t know.”

“What?” the woman asked, blinking at him in surprise.

“Well, I just came here to make sure you guys were okay. Outside of that, I didn’t really care.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“What?” she asked.

“What?” Adam said.

“You came all this way, risking your life to a Dragon, not just any Dragon, but Vandra the Vile…” She blinked. “Just to make sure we were okay?”

“Yeah,” Adam said.

The four stared at him. He was an enigma they couldn’t quite understand, and his words were utterly ridiculous. They had never met a weirdo like him, and so they were shocked, unable to comprehend him, or understand how they should respond.

“Oh!” Adam gasped. “You’re going to meet Prince Aksak, aren’t you?”

“Yes?” the woman replied, staring at him. ‘He even knows the Prince’s name?’

“Then, actually, I know what I want!” Adam said, smiling wide.

Suddenly, the woman let out a sigh of relief. This was something she understood, people working for a reward. Perhaps he was being coy in order to seem like a better person than he really was, but considering how he came to assist them with the White Dragon, she could at least listen to his request.

“There’s a great danger coming,” Adam began. “A danger which you cannot comprehend. This is a danger which even makes me fear for the Iyrmen, for it’s something which cannot be defeated so simply. It corrupts the area around it and the minds of those it meets. Its many servants have great powers, some which the power to rival even Dragons.”

“I am uncertain if it will come,” the Half Elf admitted. “Last time, I mean, in my dreams, it had appeared before I even met you. I have met you now, and I believe that it may come into the world one day. Even if it doesn’t, just the knowledge of it will be beneficial.”

Adam spent the next short while speaking of what he knew about this great danger, including how it even almost caused Sozain to stand from his chair, which had caused the four to stare up at him in shock.

“Sorry, I meant Lord Sozain,” he said, though it wasn’t what they were shocked about.

Here a young Half Elf stood, speaking about the Time of Death so casually.

“My reward is not that you tell him, I would hope you will do so, but that you believe my words.” Adam bowed his head. “I have already sent another friend of mine to speak with him, but they weren’t on the best of terms last I recalled.”

“Who else did you send?” the woman asked.

“Entalia,” Adam said.

The woman coughed, hiding her face for a moment. ‘Did he just say…’

“Sorry, did you say Entalia?” the Archer asked, staring at Adam.

“Yes.”

“The Silver Dragon?”

“Oh, you know of her?”

“She’s your friend?” the Archer asked, staring at him with more worrisome eyes.

“Well, perhaps she isn’t my friend in this life of mine, but I hope she will be.” Adam chuckled. “She seemed to believe me well enough because I knew things about her that I shouldn’t have. Now that I think about it, that’s pretty much how I buddied up with the Iyrmen, and I’ve displayed that with you.”

“That’s all you want as your reward?” the woman in breastplate finally asked.

“Yes,” Adam said. “That’s it. I know it’s unbelievable, but I need you to treat it seriously.”

“Very well,” the woman said, nodding her head. “I will do as you ask, son of Fate.”

“Thank you,” Adam said, smiling. “That’s a great weight off my shoulders.”

‘This guy is crazy,’ the woman thought, but he knew things he shouldn’t have. “You should return home now that your business is done.”

“Yeah,” Adam said. “I miss little Lanarot so much. I hope she doesn’t grow up too fast.” Adam frowned.

“Lanarot?”

“Yeah,” Adam said.

The woman paused for a long moment. ‘He mentioned the Iyrmen, didn’t he?’

“You have an Iyrman sister?” Rojer asked.

“I do.”

“She lives in your home?”

“No,” Adam said. “She lives in her mother’s home, and I sort of live there for now.”

Rojer narrowed his eyes. “What of your home, back in the Elvish lands?”

“Elvish lands?” Adam said, blinking at Rojer. “I don’t have a home there.”

“What?” Rojer asked. “You were exiled?”

“No,” Adam said. “I live in the Iyr for now, and I cannot return back to my original home.”

“Was your home destroyed?” Rojer asked, his eyes flashing with seriousness, catching the women’s eyes.

“No,” Adam said. “You shouldn’t think too hard on it, but my home no longer exists.”

“This is a serious matter,” Rojer said. “We must know what happened to your homeland. We haven’t heard of an Elvish land being destroyed for… well, for as long as any Elf has been alive.”

“No, no,” Adam said, sighing. “Look, there are some things that I can and cannot talk about. Let’s say that only…”

Adam paused for a long moment, falling deep into thought.

‘Hold on, Belle is missing, isn’t he? So I probably can’t mention him, I don’t think he even exists any more. So how the hell am I meant to explain this?’

The four stared at him with a serious expression on their faces, full of worry.

“Let’s just say that my home is not a place even the Gods can find,” he said.

The Dwarf stared up at him in utter shock, beginning to shake as he filled with rage. Rojer and the Archer quickly placed a hand on his shoulders to try and calm him down.

“You should be careful with your words,” Rojer said. “Speaking ill of the Gods in front of a Dwarf…”

“You’re not the first person to say that to me!” Adam laughed. “No, no, I wasn’t speaking ill of them. It’s just that…” Adam rubbed his chin. “Don’t worry about it. You can imagine that I was born into this world with no mother or father, and that Fate gave birth to me. I’m a wanderer with no home. Though, I suppose my home is now the Iyr.”

The group stared at him once again. He continued to surprise them, and they weren’t sure if he was trustworthy.

“I need to head up north to complete another matter, but I’m too weak for that,” Adam said, sighing. “So I’ll have to wait until I’m stronger. Plus, Lucy is going to be mad at me for letting go of the Dragon’s heart…”

“I’m sorry, but we cannot hand the heart,” the woman said.

“I know, I know,” Adam said, sighing. “I’ll try and explain it to her. I’m sure she’ll understand, since I already told her about you guys.”

“What?” the Dwarf gasped.

“What?”

“You have told others about us?” The Dwarf stared at him in shock.

“Well, yeah,” Adam said. “Lucy is…”

Adam paused again. ‘Man, there’s so much I can’t say. Should I just tell them everything? No, no. Lady Elowen and Ylra aren’t here, so I should keep my mouth shut.’

“Let’s say that she’s like me.”

“Like you?” the Dwarf asked. “Queer?”

“Hey now, she’s not-“ Adam thought about how she behaved around Iyrmen. “Yeah, she’s even weirder than me.”

The four left Adam be, with some of their questions answered, though full of new questions which would only lead to even more questions, which they couldn’t deal with at the time.

The Dragon was eventually butchered completely, and they cooked the meat of the creature, which was delicious. Paul had used his portion to allow the Knights and the others to eat.

The Iyrmen were currently making a wooden box to carry the Dragon parts within, though White’s Grace had offered to carry the meat and such within their Bag of Holding.

“We’ll be heading to Jaghi in the morning,” Paul said.

“Where’s that?” Adam asked.

“It’s north of us, and should take a few days. It may be dangerous, but with the Knights and the Iyrmen, it should be fine.”

“I thought we were splitting up?” Adam asked, raising his brow as he ate the dragon meat, which was fatty and chewy.

“We’ll split up at Jaghi,” Paul said.

Adam wanted to cause some trouble, but he could see the stress on Paul’s face, so he nodded.