Omen: 11, 14

“Hey,” Adam said, staring down at Lanarot. “What are you doing?”

Lanarot squirmed in his grasp. Adam held her up by her arm pits, letting her stand, though she was trying to squat to drop down onto her bottom.

“What did I say?”

“Oboobooboo,” Lanarot replied, squealing with utter joy.

“I will change her,” Sonarot said, taking the girl from him.

Adam took off his clothes, which were hot and wet from Lanarot soiling herself while she slept on him. Usually it was fine, since the clothy was good enough to deal with it, but tonight she had been determined to surpass her limits.

Adam scrubbed himself off, using some hot water which had been heated over a fire nearby. “Kids these days, I swear.” He shook his head, though he smiled slightly.

“I should create a nappy company or something. Don’t leave your children’s mess to Fate, leave it to Neverleak.” The more he thought about it, the more he liked his idea. ‘Damn, how can I be so smart?’

Eventually it was time to play, and as Jogak cooked, Adam stared at some of the fruits and the nuts. “Where’s the spice?”

Jogak revealed a large pepper he had kept to the side. “It will be in the stew.”

“So what’s with the fruit and nuts?” Adam asked.

“Some of the fruit is for your sister, the rest are for the other children,” Jogak replied.

Adam stared at the fruits and nuts. ‘Lanarot has teeth now, so it should be okay, right?’ “Can I cook something too?”

“What will it be?” Jogak asked, stopping his preparations for the moment. From the man who invented pizza, Jogak didn’t mind listening to what he had in mind.

“It will be something for Lanarot. I’m still figuring out other stuff I want to introduce to the Iyr, but I need to taste more spices. However, I have figured out a few things which Lanarot might like.”

Jogak nodded. Though he was wary that Adam was making something for a child, it was also his little sister, and he was in no place to deny a matter within the Rot family.

Adam found a fruit which he figures was the closest approximation to a banana, and started to mush it down with a spoon. The wet squelching caused Jogak to glance over towards him, a curious look in his eyes, though he didn’t dare to ask Adam was he was doing.

It was at times like this Jogak understood that Adam was Adam.

Once that was done, he grabbed an egg, and cracked it into the banana, before mixing them together for a short while, until it was smooth. Adam fried the mixture, pouring out four small pancakes. Once they were cooked, he cut them thrice each way.

“There,” Adam said.

Jogak had been watching, entirely confused. ‘He mushed the salya and egg together?’ He had never heard of anyone making such food before.

Adam took a bite just to check how it tasted. “Yep. Tastes just like a banana and an egg.” He wasn’t sure what else he was expecting.

When it was finally time to eat, Lanarot sat down behind a small table. She slapped the table gleefully and squealed, before Adam placed down one of the small pieces for her.

“Will it be okay?” Jogak asked.

“She is old enough to eat salya and eggs, so it should be fine,” Sonarot replied.

Lanarot put the piece into her mouth and began to nibble it with her tiny teeth, before she swallowed it. Adam kept placing down a piece as she ate, eating the scrambled eggs which Jogak had made.

“Good girl,” Adam said, his voice soft and approving. “Make sure you eat a lot and grow up strong.”

Lanarot continued to eat the food, though some of it had fallen down on her lap, and he had thrown a few pieces, as expected of her.

“Nice throw,” Adam said, though he quickly pinched her cheek. “Don’t waste food, you silly little girl.”

Lanarot just smiled at him as she ate, before finishing her meal.

Once they had all finished eating, Adam picked the girl up and kissed her cheek. “What a good girl. You’re going to be such a strong little warrior, aren’t you?”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Adam, will you come and assist me today?” Shikan asked. “We have Stormwood to cut.”

“Stormwood?” Adam asked.

“There will be some which will be gifted to you as part of the work,” Shikan said.

“I get paid for working?” Adam asked.

“No,” Shikan said, firmly. “We assist the Iyr to better it, and the Iyr takes care of you.”

“What’s the difference?”

“We do not work the same as the Aldish,” Shikan stated. “You should understand that since you have lived here for long.”

“It seems we all get paid with food and stuff for the work we do.”

Shikan shook his head. “There is no need to think about it so deeply.”

“Thinking? Me?” Adam scoffed. “I wouldn’t dare.”

As much as Adam pretended to be an idiot as a joke, Shikan understood that Adam was far more terrifying than he let on.

‘Could I have defeated mother with that blade? Somehow he had become an Expert after he faced mother, but he could have been so beforehand…’ Shikan thought about the fire the young man had lit in his son. No, it wasn’t that he had lit the fire, he had added so much fuel that even Shikan could no longer deal with it.

Shikan sighed.

‘If you had arrived a few years ago, would you have been able to change her Fate?’

Shikan led Adam through a number of tunnels, which Adam dared not to keep track of. As they continued, Adam realised he was reaching the deepest he had ever reached the Iyr.

The tunnels would sometimes open up, revealing they were up the mountain, which Adam had expected considering the burn in his calves. From the vantage point he could see the Iyr from above, seeing the various family estates, as well as the various buildings which he hadn’t seen or recognised.

“What is that place with the dome?” Adam asked.

“The baths,” Shikan said.

“Baths?”

“There are some who prefer the hot water to the cold of the stream,” he said.

“Yeah,” Adam said. “You know what we call them back home?”

Shikan glanced back towards Adam, who was finally revealing something from his previous life.

“Sane people.”

Shikan wondered what he should have expected. “Do you prefer hot baths?”

“Yeah,” Adam said. “I’m stupid, not crazy.”

“We thought you preferred the cold water due to how strong you are,” Shikan admitted.

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“We use the cold to train our bodies and mind,” Shikan said.

“I use the water to clean myself. If I want to train my body and mind, I’ll do it another way!” Adam threw up his fists, shaking them violently. “Are you telling me I could have had a proper bath without having been pissed on?”

“Yes,” Shikan said. “You should explore the Iyr.”

Adam glared at Shikan. “What do you mean explore the Iyr? I thought I wasn’t allowed to?”

“You are allowed to walk through the Iyr up to the walls,” Shikan said, motioning to the walls of the mountains which protected the Iyr’s people. “You may not step through a tunnel.”

“Oh,” Adam said. “That does make sense. Next time I take Lanarot out, I’ll explore more of it.”

“You may be interested in the library,” Shikan said, motioning to a building which looked like a family estate, though only held a small courtyard, though it was full of greenery.

“There’s a library too?” Adam asked.

“It is full of stories of the Iyr.”

“Oh,” Adam replied.

“There are some books about the history of the realm, medicine, sciences, and so on.”

“Oh,” Adam replied, more eagerly. “Cool.”

Perception Check

D20 + 3 = 14 (11)

Adam managed to spot something from the corner of his eye. “What’s that?” Adam asked, pointing to another set of walls which he could barely spy.

“That is another domain within the Iyr,” Shikan said. “For more families.”

“More families?” Adam asked. “Ah, well that does make sense. I was wondering why the buildings were so large considering how small the area was for fifty thousand people.”

Shikan almost smiled upon hearing the number of Iyrmen Adam thought lived within the Iyr. “Come.”

They continued through the various tunnels, where Adam saw small sections of the Iyr he hadn’t seen before. Usually there were a handful of Iyrmen in each section, and many of them were various Iyrmen who were training in all manners of undress. He even spied a section full of women who were adorned in black robes, wielding large spears.

“I ask that you keep your eyes down for the next section,” Shikan said. “Do not look around.”

Adam did as he was asked, and followed Shikan through another tunnel, which opened up for a short while. Adam could hear low growling from nearby. The growling came from all around, from below, from beside, and even from above him. A shadow swallowed him for a short while, before they continued to step into the tunnels.

“Did you see?” Shikan asked.

“No?” Adam replied. “Was I meant to see anything?”

“No.”

Eventually they came across a large area, full of trees. Adam had no idea how deep it went, but it was easily miles long, with trees of varying shapes and sizes, but the pattern along the wood was the same.

“Damn,” Adam said, staring at the forest ahead of him. The wood was dark, not quite black or brown, but between the colours. Within the wood were small flecks of blue, which crackled. “What the hell is that?”

“Stormwood,” Shikan said, grabbing a pair of gloves, and extending out an axe to Adam.

Adam could feel the magic of the axe even through the gloves. “What kind of axe is this?” It was huge, and thick. The metal was a dark blue, with silver runes engraved along the blade.

Arcane Lore Check

D20 + 5 = 11 (6)

Adam had no idea just how powerful this axe was, nor what kind of enchantments could lay within it.

“The kind you should not ask about, nor the kind you should try to glean,” Shikan replied, simply. “I have vouched for this forest to be revealed to you.”

“Does that mean you trust me?” Adam smiled.

“I trust Sister Sonarot.”

Adam decided against asking about the trees, since they had trusted him enough to allow him this sight. ‘I wonder what it’s good for, though.’

As he began to cut down the wood, he felt how resistant it was to cutting.

Athletics Check

D20 + 6 = 11 (6)

Even as he attacked the tree, he could not manage to leave much of a dent within it after an hour.

“What the hell?” Adam panted, resting from the side. The tree he was trying to hack was barely a fist thick.

“Do not swing with your strength,” Shikan said, having cut down a tree which was easily as thick as he was. “Cut with the axe, not your muscles.”

“What does that mean?” Adam stretched out his arms, and then bend backwards to try and stretch out his back.

“The axe will cut it by itself over time.”

Adam watched as Shikan went back to work. He wasn’t quite cutting the tree, but sawing it. Adam did the same, placing the axe against the wood, and then slowly shifted it from side to side. It had taken a short while before he saw that the axe had sunk into it.