At the village, Tazwyn stitched Balrog’s shoulder together. Jurot held it in place, remaining focused on the body parts. The woman had burnt the flesh together, something she had to practise after years of travelling with Argon, and she had mastered it once Dargon joined the party. As much as Argon and Dargon loved to fight, like the foolish brothers they were, Argon still liked to have his younger brother around.

‘He’s to bring back our last tale, should anything happen to us,’ is what he had told her. Tazwyn was still not fooled by Argon’s words. Though they were true, she knew it was because Argon wanted to groom his younger brother into a greater warrior than even himself, and he trusted the three of them to assist, each with a different virtue.

“Tazwyn?” Jurot asked, suddenly.

“Yes?” Tazwyn replied, coming back to her senses.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes.” Tazwyn noted how she was sewing over the last stitch several times. “I was just lost in thought.”

Jurot nodded, not that he understood how that felt. When Jurot thought beyond a certain point, he’s lose the thought, rather than allowing him to get lost in thought.

Tazwyn checked once more to see if Balrog was dead, but it seemed he was tougher than even she expected. She cut the switch and pulled away to admire her handiwork. Even Jurot spent a few moments to see what she did, in order to keep the information stored away for a time when he may require it.

Adam collapsed down beside them, stretching his entire body, which pulled taut like an arrow, before he fell on the floor. “Oof. Today was one hell of a day, huh?”

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Tazwyn said, looking to the half elf beside her. She hadn’t been sure how to approach the matter, but considering Argon had been seconds away from swinging his blade at the half elf, she decided she could be slightly tactless.

“Should have done what?” Adam replied, throwing her an innocent look.

“You shouldn’t have forced a fight.” Tazwyn’s eyes narrowed at he half elf, who seemed comfortable to display his ears for the world to see after Entalia had assisted the village.

“It ended up alright in the end, didn’t it?” Adam crossed his arms behind his head and lay against them.

“It did, but you still shouldn’t have done that. We had guaranteed the protection of the village, and you almost caused us to fail it.”

“You guaranteed the village, but you didn’t guarantee the village.” Adam shook his head. “What use is protecting a village when we can’t protect children?”

“What children?” Tazwyn’s voice remained even, though she wanted to burst. “Your madness should have its limits, son of Fate.”

“Madness?” Adam asked, incredulously. He paused to think about it for a moment. “I suppose it does seem like madness, doesn’t it?”

“You said you’d be willing to bet your life on whether the children were kidnapped.”

“Yes,” Adam said, staring into her eyes. “I did.”

“If we find out that there are no children, will you take your life?” Tazwyn continued to meet his gaze.

Adam inhaled deeply, before sighing. He tilted his head, trying to think about how he could appease her. “If there are no children, I’ll go with you to the Iyr. Once I meet with Sonarot and the Chief, you can take me prisoner. If you choose to kill me, then you can kill me.” He stared up at the early evening sky.

‘Sonarot and the Chief? Why did he mention her name first? Is she more important than even the Chief?’ Tazwyn narrowed her eyes, trying to get a read on the half elf. He didn’t appear to be lying, and even if he was, could he stop the five of them pinning him down?

“Why do you want to meet mother?” Jurot asked, rubbing his thumb along the block of wood, trying to visualise what he wanted to carve.

“I need to see something with my eyes,” Adam said, glancing at Jurot for a moment, before looking back at the sky.

“What do you want to see?”

“Something which will declare me innocent,” Adam said, a small smile creeping on his face. He closed his eyes, just in case they teared up at the thought.

Tazwyn narrowed her eyes further, trying to piece together what he said. ‘Did Sonarot do something to his family? Was he framed for something? I don’t recall the Rot family declaring a hunt against any half elves.’

“That sounds suspicious,” Jurot said, squinting his eyes towards his wooden block, before beginning to glide his knife against the wood, shaving a little wood off.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“If you think I’ll bring any harm to Sonarot, you’d be sorely mistaken. I’d never draw my sword against her. In fact, I need to meet your Chief so that no harm comes to Sonarot, or the rest of the Iyr.” His lips formed a frown. Sonarot had taken such good care of him in his last life. He wondered if she’d be the same in this life. He swallowed his nerves, trying to force the thought away. ‘It’ll be alright, Adam, relax.’

“What do you believe threatens the Iyr that you feel the need to take a trip to it?” Tazwyn asked. There had been a number of people who wished to visit the Iyr for all manner of reasons. Adam was only allowed to visit after their group had been assigned to check what kind of person he was.

“That’s for the Chief’s ears only,” Adam said. “If he wants to tell you, then that’s on him. I don’t want to be blamed in case it’s something which needs to be buried. Though, I’m only going to tell him after I meet with Sonarot. There’s something I need to confirm.”

Tazwyn narrowed her eyes even further, barely able to see him through her lashes. “If you do try to harm her within the Iyr, you’ll be cut down before you can draw your blade.” After all, Sonarot was currently with child. Anyone who would dare slay a child of the Iyr. ‘No, we still haven’t told him.’ Tazwyn recalled how Adam had mentioned he wanted to see the baby. ‘Sonarot’s child?’ Her mind was beginning to hurt after all the thinking.

“I’m not stupid enough to harm anyone within the Iyr,” Adam said, raising his brow towards her. “Like I said, I want to live a lovely, long life, full of joy. I’m not sure if anyone could live a life like that if they made enemies with the Iyr.”

“You’re stupid enough to start a fight with Balrog the Bane,” Tazwyn pointed out.

“No.” Adam smiled. “I’m smart enough to end a fight with Balrog the Bane.” His eyes fell on the bandit nearby who had been patched up by Tazwyn, who was currently tied to the other bandit who had soiled himself.

“He spoke of peace,” Tazwyn said. “There are rules we follow, son of Fate. We Iyrmen look for peace to avoid senseless bloodshed.”

“That’s your mistake,” Adam said, leaning in. “We’re not in the Iyr, and I’m no Iyrman.”

“You fight like one, though,” Jurot complimented, nodding his head. He wasn’t sure who would win between them, which was a high compliment.

Tazwyn exhaled through her nostrils, understanding why Argon wanted to beat some sense into him, after beating the life out of him. “We shall wait for Argon’s return. We will see if you were right in your prophecy, son of Fate.”

Adam smirked. “So, if there are no children, I’ve already said I’d give myself to the Iyr for punishment.” He rolled onto his side, resting his cheek against his fist. “So if there are children, what happens then?”

“You are to be rewarded,” she said, “obviously.” To ask an Iyrman such a question, just how little did he think of them?

“It’s not quite so obvious, but hearing the words come from an Iyrman, it calms my mind.” Adam chuckled. “Jurot, did you hear? Tazwyn said I am to be rewarded if there are children found and saved, all because I broke the Iyrmen’s rules.”

“I have heard, Adam.” Jurot blew on the wooden block, going back to carve into it carefully.

“Good.” Adam lay back against his arms once more. “If you go back on your word, I’ll be telling Sonarot all about it! Then she’ll pass on my words that Tazwyn, daughter of the Wyn family, lied to an outsider who helped Jurot get his revenge against Balrog the Bane, all the while saving children.” Adam laughed, though it turned into a cough. Mentioning Balrog reminded him that Jurot was excited to tell his mother and father about the tale. One day he’d find out that Adam had kept something important from him a secret. He swallowed, wondering how Jurot would react.

“You are one of the few people I can’t understand,” Tazwyn said, noting how sombre he had become out of the blue.

“Yeah, no doubt.” Adam shook his head, sighing. “You-“ Adam turned to look at Jurot. “What are you doing?”

“I’m carving,” he said, simply. ‘What a silly question, you can see me carving wood.’

“Right now?” Adam raised his brow.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

“We’re meant to be on watch to protect the people,” the half elf said, still laying back on his arms.

“I must carve something today to show mother and father,” he said. “I managed to draw blood from Balrog the Bane.” Jurot’s lips formed the widest smile as he stopped carving the wood. “Hehehe.” He returned to carving the wood, which would soon take shape as a scale mail which had been cut in a specific place at the side.

‘Did he just…’ Adam blinked.

“I hope you are willing to give up your weapons if we find out there were no children,” Tazwyn said, growing more with unease as she stared at the half elf. ‘He’s too smart for us and crazy,’ she finally thought.

Adam squinted his eyes towards her, but if the Iyrmen wanted to take away his weapons, how would he even resist? “Fine.”

“Your die, too.” There was little use of forcing him to relinquish his weapons if he could also cast spells.

“Sure, though I don’t want to be welcomed into the Iyr as a prisoner.” Adam narrowed his eyes at her. “I don’t want Sonarot to see me walk into the Iyr like a prisoner. If you marr my first meeting with her, even Sozain won’t save your soul.” Adam glared at Tazwyn.

“Okay,” Tazwyn replied, seeing the glare. ‘Seems like you are crazy enough to start something.’ The Iyrman wasn’t sure what Sonarot meant to him. ‘Perhaps she had met the half elf during her adventure? Did he fall in love with her?’ She glanced between the boys. ‘No, they’re roughly the same age, so he probably didn’t meet with her.’

“However, if there are children, I want you to apologise to me,” he grumbled. ““No, actually, I don’t care about an apology. If there are children, I hope you can speak of my heroicness in front of Sonarot and the other Rot family members. Speak truthfully, obviously, but I want you to emphasise how manly I was.” Adam’s lips twitched into a smile at the thought.

“You should ask Kandal for that.”

“I feel like it’d be better if it came from you,” Adam said. “After all, you’re the babysitter. Dargon may have been the one to look after us during our travels, but you were the one who was left behind to look after us today, and you are the second in command, and the most clear headed.”

“Fine,” she said, “I’ll talk about how manly you were.”

“Great, great!” Adam grinned wide, chuckling. “I hope you mention how I warped Fate in order to help Jurot, otherwise he would have been cleaved by Balrog the Bane.”

“One hit,” Jurot said, giggling to himself as he continued to carve the block of wood.

Tazwyn sighed, rubbing her pulsing forehead. “We’ll talk about it if the children exist.”

Hours later, a shout cut through the air. “Iyrmen! The Iyrmen have returned!”

Adam slurped up the last of the soup and turned to look at Tazwyn. She stood, motioning a hand for him to walk up ahead. Adam sauntered his way towards the wall. Something twinged at the back of his skull.

‘What if there are no children?’