While Adam went to teach Churot, the children of the shared family estate were sent to the Gak main family estate. It was hastily executed, but the Iyrmen were used to executing plans quickly and efficiently, and the children enjoyed playing with their distant relatives so they were happy to leave.

All save for Lanarot, who remained with the adults and the teens.

The little girl stared up at her family, from her mother to her aunts and uncles, before leaning her head back to look at her older brother, the handsome young man who held the same symbols on his forehead as her mother.

His mother had made sure Lanarot and Jurot were together, so the young man could build a greater relationship with his sister.

Jurot felt the girl’s head on his chest, so looked down to meet her gaze. Lanarot smiled, before squealing and giggling as she clapped her hands together. Jurot placed a hand on her head, and gently brushed her hair, as his mother would do, regardless of if he was a boy or a man.

Lanarot started to giggle wildly, hiding her face into his chest, before she looked up at him, catching his gaze, causing her to giggle once more, hiding again into his chest.

‘Small,’ came the thought to Jurot.

Lanarot was allowed to stay with them because she was still young, too young to remember the stories which would be said. The children knew that the Iyrmen left during the Twilight Month, and it was to fight various creatures, but that was all they knew.

As the drinks were brought out, and the meat was beginning to roast, the story began. Jaygak and Kitool spoke their tale, telling the Iyrmen of what they had done during the Twilight Month.

Their parents listened intently. They hadn’t known they were going to hear the story so soon. They never would have expected that the pair would have gone to represent their family so quickly. The pair had spent less than a year adventuring, and had managed to become Experts, something which was only in their wildest dreams.

The pair spoke of what had happened, from the slaying of all manner of creatures, to the fact that there was seemingly someone else who had appeared too. They all had their suspicions about who it could have been, but they all worked on a need to know basis, and so let their suspicions rest.

“Bloodseeker did so well,” Jaygak said, hugging her sword.

“Isn’t that Stormdrake?” Jogak asked, raising his brow at his daughter.

“It’s Bloodseeker in spirit,” Jaygak replied still holding her new sword. She hadn’t meditated with it yet, but had trusted Adam’s words on how amazing it was.

“It was a most fortunate encounter,” Kitool said. After the month, she had more than just stabilised her strength. She was confident in her abilities, and understood that soon she’d be able to gain greater strength, as long as she followed Adam.

“You never know, I might be stronger than you by the end of the year,” Jaygak said, chuckling at her aunt.

“You’re still ten years too early to think about fighting me,” Kaygak replied, reaching over to pet her niece’s head.

Jurot had remained silent throughout the story, doing his best to keep his sister quiet. At first she giggled as she played with her brother, but eventually she quietened down to rest against his chest, sucking her thumb. At one point she was so bored that she shuffled away from her brother and played with her blocks and the ball nearby, with Jurot keeping an eye on her.

His family would hear the tale of what he had done as the Vanguard. That was how it was always done. During the month, they had formed a group of ten, and were responsible for keeping one another alive. Then, at the end of the month, the Vanguard would leave to another place.

Jurot had been blindfolded, and he had meditated on the way to that place, wherever it was. He would tell his family what he had done during the first week of dawnval, where he had seen a new land, one so different to his own. The only thing he knew was that they were definitely not in the Iyr during that time, though that was not something he could confirm, due to the nature of all the secrets in the Iyr.

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The date to arrive back to their families was during the third week of the first month of dawnval. It was a surprise to the families either way. They would assume the Experts of their families would return, or they died a good death, or had been chosen a member of the Vanguard, and that would only be found out during the day they returned, and not a moment before.

Once the tale was told, and the food and drink had been mostly eaten, Jurot and the rest of the Rot family returned back to their home, so that Jurot could speak his own tale. He had to keep his secrets, as a member of the Vanguard, but they could at least be shared with those who had raised him. He held Lanarot in his lap, embracing her close to his chest as he told the tale.

She listened intently, sometimes squealing and giggling at his tone of voice, and other times remaining silent. Her mother took her to feed her during the story, as he talked about what he had seen, the creatures which were not native to this land, and the creatures he had personally slain. It was the first time he would go and fight for his family during the Twilight Month, and the last.

“One day you will go too,” Jurot said, looking at his baby sister, who was slowly closing her eyes. She had interrupted the story once, when she had begun to cry due to soiling herself, and Jurot had waited patiently.

It was still so surprising to him. One day, far in the future, but perhaps too soon, this little girl, who was no taller than his knee, would one day go and participate as a member of their family. She, whose hand could only hold one of his fingers, would hold an axe, and a shield, and would slay all manner of creatures.

She was so much bigger now. Her hair had grown out, her smile had become so toothy, and she could waddle about on her own two feet. He had spoken to Adam before, about the regret of not paying attention to her as she grew so quickly. It was only yesterday she had crawled, and now she was walking.

“You have done well,” Sonarot said, placing a hand on Jurot’s head. She gently brushed her boy’s hair, smiling up at him.

“Yes, mother,” Jurot replied, filled with a great pride. As long as his mother praised him, he didn’t care about much else.

“I’m sure you have brought back much to the vault,” Sonarot said.

“It was a Great Twilight,” Jurot replied, simply. A Great Twilight was the best time to fill the family vault with all manner of creatures and their parts. Everything which had been collected by the small forts would be totalled together, and the Iyr would take roughly a half, and then the rest would be split evenly among all the participants of the fort.

When Jurot had become a member of the Vanguard, he had the chance to obtain so much more for his family. The Iyr would take roughly a half, but they were items which were rare to find, and so the Rot family vault would house rare and exotic creature parts, from hides, to scales, to materials, and even cores.

Jurot sighed. “I cannot tell Adam,” he said, understanding that he had to keep it a secret from his brother.

“The rules must be followed,” Sonarot said, brushing her boy’s hair still. “One day he may grow closer to the Iyr, and we will be able to speak more freely with him.”

“Yes, mother,” Jurot replied. Yet, he wasn’t so sure. Adam purposefully kept some distance with the Iyr, and had even stated he didn’t wish to know its secrets. He was sure that Adam would love to hear his stories, and would love to work with the materials he had brought back, some of which could be used to smith, others which would be good for enchanting.

It was late in the evening when Adam returned, the young Half Elf having been invited to eat with the extended Rot family, giving the young Iyrmen time to speak with their families about their adventure.

“Did you miss me?” Adam asked, rubbing his cheek against his sister’s, tickling her with his beard. Lanarot clapped her hands and squealed in response, and Adam peppered her with his kisses. The way he had been invited suggested that something was happening at the shared family estate, but he didn’t notice anything different.

Once the families each returned to their homes, preparing to sleep, Adam brought Jurot up. He unwrapped a blanket, which held a small sack. “Look,” Adam said, revealing the treasures which had been given to him. “These are the scales the children gave me for my birthday.”

Jurot noted that they were scales which were from dangerous monsters and made of rare metal of the Iyr.

“Katool gave me this picture she drew.” Adam revealed the picture to the Iyrman, chuffed to bits. “She’s so cute. You’re never going to believe what she did!”

“What did she do?” Jurot asked.

“Hold on, look,” Adam said, picking up the shield. “Turot gifted me the shield.”

“Grandfather’s shield,” Jurot said, nodding his head. “It was gifted to Turot when he was young.”

“I had to give up the axe, but Turot gave me his shield,” Adam said delighted.

Jurot nodded. “Turot is a good boy.”

“Isn’t he?” Adam chuckled. “You should have seen Katool. She tried to get me killed.”

Jurot raised his brow, and Adam began to explain what had happened. He listened to Adam’s tale, but all the while he couldn’t help but think about how happy Adam was about receiving the items from the children. He had kept all the items safe, with the picture in its own little box, and the scales in a pouch, wrapped in paper.

‘These small trinkets mean so much to him,’ Jurot thought.

“She was so cute when she was crying,” Adam said, laughing. “She’s such a good little girl. You think Lanababy will say that sort of thing about me?” Adam reached up to his heart, gently rubbing it. “I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

Jurot smiled. “It would mean I was her favourite brother.”

Adam blinked. It was rare to see Jurot smile like that, and it was rarer to hear him wanting to be close with their sister. “It’s treason, then.”