Eventually Adam checked his gear, and changed into his armour. Lucy tickled Lanarot, trying to ease her guilt.

“Don’t you worry, little Lanarot, I will return your brothers to you safely,” Lucy assured. “I’m very reliable, trust me.”

“It’s not good to lie in the Iyr,” Adam said, pulling on his boots.

“I’m not lying. I’ll return you both safely.”

“Not what I was pointing out,” Adam said.

Lucy narrowed her eyes. “I will let it slide this time because I feel guilty.”

“Eh? You can be self aware?”

“Says you!”

Sonarot placed the heavy coats on each of them. “You must return,” she said to each of them, “safely.”

“We will,” Adam replied.

“Yes, mother.”

“We’re not going on a picnic,” Lucy said.

Adam glared at her.

“We’ll do our best.”

Sonarot hugged each of them tightly. “I will pray to Baktu that you are successful in your adventures.”

They were each also given a blanket with the Rot family’s symbol, and she also handed Adam a shield with the same pattern.

“Since your other shield had been ruined by the fight with Wahruv,” she said.

“It’s a nice shield,” Adam said. It was round, with a slight curve to it, the circle of the Rot family pattern was the buckle, which was made of metal which had been forged to look blue.

As they stepped out, Adam noted the children were all gone. He smiled, following Jurot out towards the huge gates.

There he found the children, as well as Dunes and the others, who had been waiting patiently.

“Are you going to miss me?” Adam asked, shaking their forearms.

“Perhaps,” Dunes said. “My heart will feel safe with you gone.”

Adam laughed. “I hope to hear you’re working hard for the Iyr.”

Dunes nodded.

“Make sure Brittany trains properly,” Adam said, shaking Jonn’s forearm.

“Yes,” Jonn replied, simply.

“Make sure you train well,” Adam said. “Even if you are a little star after your adventure.”

“I will,” Brittany assured.

“I’m sorry for leaving you alone with Jaygak,” Adam said.

“I am used to it,” Kitool replied.

“Hey,” Jaygak grumbled.

“I’ve also left the rest of the party fund back with Aunt Sonarot, so if we don’t return and you want to adventure, you can ask for it,” Adam said.

Kitool bowed her head. As much as Adam pretended to be an idiot, he was more than wise when it came to doing things properly.

“And you, Jaygak,” Adam said, staring at her.

“Are you going to miss me?”

Adam wondered what he should say. “Probably. It’s a good thing that I took the one with the better horns with me.”

Jaygak narrowed her eyes. “There are things you can and cannot joke about, Adam.”

“No,” Adam said. “There are things you can and cannot joke about, but I can do whatever I want.” He stuck out his tongue.

“Even if you had horns, I wouldn’t want to be with you!” Jaygak declared.

Adam laughed.

Jurot, too, said his goodbyes.

The children all gathered around the three, saying their own goodbyes.

“Cousin Adam, Cousin Jurot, good luck,” they said.

Taygak looked up to Lucy. “You. Be safe.”

“Of course,” Lucy said, smiling down at her.

“Good,” Raygak said. “If you die, then how can I kill you?”

Lucy blinked. “Are you going to kill me?”

“After you become the Demon Lord,” Raygak said.

Lucy looked to Adam. “They’re joking, aren’t they?”

“Iyrmen do not lie,” Adam replied.

“You can’t kill me,” Lucy said.

“I can!” Raygak declared. “When I am big like Jurot I will be strong!”

“Aren’t we friends?” Lucy asked.

Raygak narrowed his eyes at her. “No.”

“What? Why not?”

“You do not play with us,” Kitool said. “Adam plays with us, so he’s our friend.”

“He’s our Cousin, so he’s our friend,” Raygak said. “He is really nice to us.”

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“I’m nice too,” Lucy said. “I…”

Lucy recalled how she had spent the entire time training hard.

“Stop bullying the Demon,” Adam said. “When Lucy returns, she’ll be sure to play with you more.”

The children narrowed their eyes at her.

Adam squatted down and whispered. “She doesn’t know how to play the games, so you can just bully her then.”

“Okay,” Raygak said, nodding his head at her.

Damokan and Kalokan exchanged a look, their eyes still somewhat suspicious of the Demon.

“We should head out,” Adam said, looking towards the gate, which had opened to allow them to leave.

They were the only group leaving, but there had been quite a large gathering from the Iyrmen, who were wondering which group had the gall to leave the comforts of the Iyr during Nightval.

“Come,” Elder Zijin said. “I will guide you.”

“We’re not children,” Adam said.

“No,” he replied. “You’re not.” He turned and led them through the gates.

The trio followed him, and soon the children were shouting out towards the them.

“Come home safely!” the group shouted, at first it was only the children of the four families, but soon the other children joined them, their chorus echoing.

They continued to shout, long after their voices could not reach them.

“He has gone,” Kitool said.

“He’s going to leave us behind,” Jaygak grumbled. “When he returns, he’ll probably be able to cast Fifth Gate spells.”

“Fifth Gate spells are not so easy to cast,” Dunes said.

“Are we talking about the same guy?” Jaygak asked.

Dunes sighed. “We need to make sure we grow stronger too.” Dunes looked out towards the gate and the walls, the very same which made him feel so protected.

The afternoon sun passed by, and soon the evening sun fell across their backs.

Adam sighed. He reached up towards his chest, feeling how heavy it had become. ‘Damn.’

“We will return safely,” Jurot said, patting Adam’s back.

“We have to be careful,” Lucy said. “I can’t die before I meet Mara, and you can’t die before returning to your little sister.”

“Yeah,” Adam replied, simply.

Jurot and Lucy stared at the Half Elf, who they hadn’t seen so depressed before.

Soon the walls of the Front Iyr welcomed them in.

“To think you’d actually leave the Iyr during Nighval,” Elder Lykan said, his eyes focused on Jurot.

“I am needed,” he said.

“Are you?”

“Yes.”

Elder Lykan nodded. “Come, we’ve made a feast for the young, brave adventurers.”

Adam sighed, before dropping down on a log.

The smell of roasted boar filled the air, though there was plenty of fruit of vegetables on offer too.

“It’s the Half Elf,” a child said.

“You are leaving?”

“Where are you going?”

Elder Lykan waved the children away. “Leave them be. You can play with them when they return.”

The children scattered away to their family to eat.

“I did not expect you to be so dour,” Lykan said.

Adam chewed on the roasted boar. “Why wouldn’t I be? I have to leave this place, and I won’t be able to eat delicious food or see my family.”

“You are going to expand your story,” Lykan said. “Are you not looking forward to it?”

Adam just chewed his food, not in the mood for the Iyr’s nonsense.

“Where are you headed?” Lykan asked.

“Red Oak,” Jurot replied. “From there, we will pick where to adventure next.”

“Most likely north, right?” Lucy asked. “Or east?”

Jurot nodded. “Most likely.”

“North…” Lykan rubbed his chin. “If you are headed north, then will you pass on a message?”

Jurot nodded.

“Then we will speak later tonight,” the Elder said, keeping the letter for Iyrmen ears only.

“The north is dangerous, right?” Adam asked.

“It is,” Jurot said.

“We should be careful and head east then.”

“If we head north, we could face a Vulfaire,” Jurot said, barely able to contain his excitement.

“Our goal isn’t to have fun, it’s to train hard, but safely,” Adam said.

“We can bring back some Vulfaire fur for mother and sister,” Jurot said.

Adam narrowed his eyes. ‘You’re really going to exploit my weakness?’ Adam groaned quietly, but did not refuse it.

Soon the group finished their meal and headed to their beds. Adam decided to stay out for a little while longer, gazing at the stars. Though it was chilly, he wrapped the blanket around himself.

“Adam,” Elder Zijin called. “Good luck on your adventure.”

“Thanks, Elder,” Adam said, waving at the Elder, who had guided them this way, before leaving.

Adam returned back to looking at the sky, seeing all the stars, all the streaks of colours of mysterious space phenomena.

“Leaving during Nightval,” Elder Gold said, appearing out of the shadows beside him. “It is just like you.”

Adam’s heart pounded wildly. “Is it?” He wasn’t impressed by all these Iyrmen sneaking up on him.

“It is,” she said. “A Vulfaire is a powerful creature, but I think it should prove a valuable experience for you.”

“I wonder why it is that Elder Gold felt the need to stalk me all the way here?” Adam asked. “Don’t tell me, you’ve finally fallen for my Elvish wiles?”

Elder Gold sat down, bringing out a clay bottle of wine, pouring them into two cups. “Your imagination runs wilder than a child’s.” She offered a cup of wine to him.

Adam accepted the cup, raising it to her for a moment before sipping it. It was sweet, in a gentle, motherly way. “Still, I don’t think you have come to chit chat, have you?”

Elder Gold smiled, placing down two diamonds before him. “For your spell,” she said.

“My spell?” Adam asked.

“You know spells of the Third Gate. The Fireball spell you cast was a spell you learnt from the scroll. You most likely have two other spells, and one of them no doubt requires these diamonds.”

Adam stared at her for a long moment. “Yeah,” Adam said. “So what’s the catch?”

“They are gifts from myself to you,” Elder Gold said. “I do wish to speak to you about another, separate, matter.”

“Dragon scales?”

She nodded.

“What about them?”

Elder Gold poured more wine for them. “I thought you would make a joke about poison.”

“Changing the topic?” Adam asked, sipping more of the wine.

Elder Gold smiled. “Would you be willing to part with them?”

“Willing? I’m sure.”

“What is your price?”

“I don’t know,” Adam said. “I believe that you Iyrmen are fair and won’t rip me off, so you can see how many scales you want, leave me the rest which you don’t require, and pay me accordingly.”

“You trust us so much?” Elder Gold asked.

“Yes,” Adam said.

“Even me?”

“Yes.”

Elder Gold nodded slowly. “We’re not so different, you and I.”

“Yeah?”

“You want to protect them, Jurot and Lucy,” she said. “I, too, have people I want to protect.”

“The Iyr?”

“Yes.”

“Which is why a set or two of Dragon breastplate would be extremely useful,” he said.

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll trade you the Dragon scales for a favour,” Adam said.

“What is that favour?”

“You can have the Dragon scales, and if it comes to be that Jurot and I don’t make it back, I want you to look after Sonarot and Lanarot. If either of them die, I want you to-“

“Adam,” Elder Gold interrupted. “Be mindful who I am.”

“Elder Gold, who possesses access to all manner of diamonds, worth three hundred gold and more,” Adam said. “I know who you are, and I’m sure you know what I was going to ask.”

“There are rules in the Iyr, Adam,” Elder Gold said.

“Is there a rule against what I was about to ask?”

Elder Gold sighed, pouring more alcohol for them. “Speak your wish.”

“If either of them die, regardless of their age, bring them back.”

“I cannot do that.”

“I don’t know where Jurot’s dad is, and there’s no one in this world that loves Lanarot as much as Sonarot. If it’s too much to ask for, then at least until she turns eighteen, make sure Sonarot remains alive.” Adam sipped the alcohol. “Then, after Lanarot turns eighteen, no matter what, you have to bring her back until she dies of old age. Do that, and you can have the Dragon scales. You can even lay claim to my weapon, my armour, my spellbook, though you’ll have to get them yourself since, you know.”

Elder Gold sighed. “There are times I wonder if you aggravate me on purpose.”

Adam smiled.

“I cannot do it.”

Adam sipped the rest of the alcohol. “You know, Elder Zijin warned me. He said that sometimes I say things which are terrible. However, he doesn’t pay much attention to it. He said that he’ll watch what I do, for the Iyr pays more attention to one’s actions than their words. I think he’s right.”

Adam placed down the cup. “It’s easy to pay lip service to gain the favour of others, but it’s much harder to actually do it.”

“What you’re asking of me, it may go against their wishes,” Elder Gold said.

“I don’t care,” Adam said. “Tell them it’s my gift to them, as her Nephew, and as her brother.”

Elder Gold narrowed her eyes. “You sure have some guts, Adam. Are you not afraid that I will take it as a threat against the Iyr?”

“A fair trade if I’ve ever heard of one. You get the thorn out of your side, and I guarantee my sister lives a happy life until she dies in bed, surrounded by her loved ones, just like how I wanted to go.”

Elder Gold shook her head. “I heard you wanted to quit joking.”

“I have,” Adam replied. He hoisted himself up onto his feet, wrapping the blanket around himself tighter, until he looked as though he were a croissant. “Good night, Elder Gold.”

“Good night, Adam.”