Omen: 16, 18

“I can’t believe the Iyr is going to steal away my little babies,” Adam said, cuddling with Jirot, peppering her forehead with kisses, causing her to squeal and giggle. He did the same with Jarot too, cuddling them both tenderly.

Elder Zijin smiled, though there was an awkwardness which clung in the air between himself and Jarot, who was within arm’s reach of the twins.

Adam donned his armour, and grabbed the pack which had been prepared for him. Once his preparations were made, he cuddled with his five children once more, before noticing the other Iyrmen who had been tasked to assist.

“Ah,” Adam said, looking to his Iyrmen companions. He should have guessed that it would have been Jurot, Jaygak, and Kitool who would support him. ‘Of course.’

“It will be dangerous, but you I believe in your abilities,” Zijin said, nodding his head towards the four. He waited another moment to allow Adam to give his third goodbyes to his children.

“Papa?” Lanarot asked, holding onto Jurot’s trousers, staring up at him with her tiny, curious eyes.

“I must go now.”

“Ooooh?” Lanarot groaned, clutching at his trousers harder, pouting up at him. “No.”

“I must go now.”

“No!” The girl burst into tears, though her mother swiftly picked her up. She pointed at her brother. “No!”

Jurot reached up to her finger, holding it gently. “I will return soon, Lanarot.”

Adam decided against spoiling his sister in the moment, allowing Jurot and Lanarot to have their tiny moment together. ‘I want to say goodbye too.’

It was in the late afternoon when they arrived at the Front Iyr, which was blanketed white from the gentle snowfall. They approached the centre where familiar forms seemed to be relaxing together. There was the form of Lord Morkarai, as well as the two who Adam assumed to be Dragons, as well as a fourth figure. The fourth figure was a Drakken with white scales, and Adam assumed they were a Dragon too.

‘Lots of Dragons in the Iyr…’

Lord Morkarai and Burgwing, the bronze scaled Drakken man, were sharing drinks and talking with one another, while Wingburg, the black scaled Drakken woman, relaxed nearby, humming to herself quietly. The older white scaled Drakken remained some ways away from the fire, though he perked up on the arrival of the new group, his eyes falling to the foreigner with a familiar scent.

Adam caught his eyes, bowing his head to the figure, who narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the Half Elf. ‘He must not like me very much,’ Adam thought. ‘Is he an Aldishman?’

“Adam, come and join us,” Lord Morkarai called, raising a drink to the Half Elf.

Adam threw a look to Elder Zijin, who had led them the entire way here, before joining the pair. “Good afternoon,” Adam greeted, nodding his head to the pair. “How do you do?”

“I am well,” Morkarai said, picking up a gourd and offering it to Adam.

“I am well as well,” Burgwing said, his eyes piercing deep into Adam with a knowing look. “I have heard that you have five children, Adam.”

“That’s right.”

“Half Dragons, I have heard.”

Adam narrowed his eyes. “They’re very cute.”

“Silver scales?”

“Beautiful scales.”

“I am certain,” Burgwing said, wiggling his brows at Adam, before leaning back. “It seems we have something in common.”

“Which is?”

“We have Half Dragon children,” Burgwing said.

“Yes, but mine are the cutest,” Adam replied, unashamedly. “Isn’t that right, Lord Morkarai?”

“They are cute,” Lord Morkarai said, though not confirming Adam’s words. He realised he needed to be careful, especially since the Dragon beside him was a Wing, and that woman’s brother.

“I’m not sure about cute, but mine are certainly strong,” Burgwing said.

“Big and strong?”

“Yes.” Burgwing smirked.

“My children are cute and small,” Adam replied, flashing his own smirk.

‘Ah,’ Burgwing thought, realising the kind of father Adam was.

“It’s a little lonely with you two strong fellows, mind if I invite my brother and friends?” Adam asked.

“I won’t refuse an Iyrmen in their home,” Burgwing said. “The more the merrier, I say.”

Adam packed away his things quickly before returning with Jurot and the others, wearing only a breastplate, though he carried his magical shield and his axe at his side.

“I have heard that you were able to beat the young Prince,” Burgwing said, his eyes glancing towards Morkarai for a moment.

“Who?” Adam asked.

“Prince Morkarai.”

“Oh,” Adam said. “Right, right. Well, I hear there were no Princes in the Iyr, so I forgot.” Adam cleared his throat. “I was very fortunate to beat you, Lord Morkarai, and I don’t want anyone to think I’m actually stronger than the good Lord.”

“If you say that, it will hurt my pride as a warrior,” Morkarai said.

“Whether it hurts your pride or not, it’s true,” Adam said. “I had a one in ten chance of beating you or so, and that’s what happened that day.”

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“I hear you refused the offer to be a Hill Lord too,” Burgwing said. “Though, since you’re in the Iyr…”

Adam smiled. “My brother here takes good care of me and my family, so I can’t betray him, you know? Plus I have a business to deal with in the future that the Iyr is helping me with. I hear the Empire is threatening the Confederacy too, so…” Adam looked to Morkarai.

“The Empire has begun to encroach within the eastern territories of the Confederacy, though there is also instability to the west, with the breaking of Aswadasad taking away some of the attention away,” Morkarai said, though much of what he said was conjecture. He was not within the court, and therefore he could only guess as to the response of his people, those of Greater Voodur.

“Lots of war happening,” Adam said, thinking about what he knew of the Confederacy. “I hear it’ll be a bad time for the seventeen states.”

“Three have been overwhelmed quickly, but it will require much greater effort to beat the rest of the Confederacy,” Morkarai said. "The volcanoes of Voodur will be troublesome for the Empire, and soon warriors will be gathered to take back the lost territories of the Confederacy.”

“How come the Empire took over three states so quickly anyway?” Adam asked.

“There was a famine within the region to the east,” Morkarai explained. “We sent supplies to the east, but as we had, the Empire swallowed the three regions in rapid succession. The supplies were seized, and the escorts dealt with.” Morkarai’s tone of voice was factual, without a hint of emotion. “With the instability to the west, I am certain that soldiers will be sent westward first, to secure the border, and then preparations will continue to deal with the Empire.”

“Why prepare against Aswadasad first?” Adam asked. “Surely the Empire is a more immediate threat.”

“The Empire is new, and though Aswadasad has split in two, it has remained a great force for over a thousand years, though it is ruled by Humans. There are very few regions which have held such a long tradition with the short lived races, with the same family ruling for over a thousand years, it is unheard of. Aldland has done so, with the support of the Iyr, but Aswadasad? Their faith in Noor is great, and their traditions have held for this long due to their zeal, and their great military might. Even in the western territories of the Confederacy, there is a similar tradition of faith and strength, though they would not rejoin Aswadasad.”

“Why not?” Adam asked.

“Those within the Confederacy believe in Noor, as those within Aswadasad, but they believe in a different interpretation of the God,” Morkarai said. “I believe it is that they believe that Noor can take an Avatar form and that Khan was the form of the Noor as man, but those within Aswadasad believe that Noor is Noor, and Khan was merely a worshipper.”

“Isn’t it easy to find out the truth?” Adam asked. “You just need a decent enough spell and you could probably find out the truth.”

Morkarai shook his head. “Even within our lands, the Law of Fifth Gate, holds.”

“Law of Fifth Gate?”

“Only Head Priests of the various faiths can learn Fifth Gate spells, and those who have learnt Fourth Gate spells are also restricted. If there is anyone who learns spells of Fifth Gate or higher without permission, there is a coalition of warriors sent to deal with the offending party. It is usually made up of at least ten Masters from each region or state, from Aldland to the Confederacy.”

“Yo,” Adam said, raising his brows. “So even the Confederacy would send, what, one hundred and seventy Masters?”

Morkarai nodded. “Typically, Aldland and Aswadasad send at least ten Grandmasters. It has not been invoked within the last two centuries at least.”

Adam whistled. “I better not learn Fourth Gate spells then.” Adam exchanged a look with Jurot, who bowed his head.

Morkarai also looked to Jurot, and bowed his head. He knew that the Iyr had broken these laws, though technically they were not a part of the agreement of the lands which formed the Laws of Fifth Gate, which had suppressed the magic of the land and its people. Such a suppression reached from Aldland through to the Confederacy. There were small pockets of Tribesfolk which may have possessed great Mages too, though they were kept in check, no doubt thanks to the Iyr too.

Though there have been times Iyrmen have caused trouble within the lands, with a not insignificant number of warlords, who went around destabilising regions, holding Iyrman heritage. However, not once had it been any kind of Mage.

“Will the Giants call a warmoot?” Jurot asked, almost hopefully to Morkarai.

“If the Empire takes half of the Confederacy, the chances are likely,” Morkarai said.

“What’s a warmoot?” Adam asked.

“There Giant Chiefs will come together and vote to war,” Morkarai said. “Typically, we Giants do not send many of our kin to war, though we supply many arms and equipments, many of which hold magics for a year or two, before the magics fade. We prefer to keep to our own lands, though we do send a small number of our kin to war. The Confederacy does not mind our lack of kin on the battlefield due to the number of magical items we hand out to the Confederacy.”

“How many do you send out?” Adam asked, interested in how the Giants did business, making a mental note of it for his business.

“The deal is to provide a thousand Basic weapons in the first one hundred days, as well as a further hundred monthly. We will also send at least a unit of Giants to war, typically a bloodthirsty Chief and their retinue.”

“How many is that?”

“Anywhere between five to ten,” Morkarai said.

“That doesn’t seem like a lot.”

Burgwing sat up straighter. “You do not know the strength of the Giants?”

“I mean…” Adam began, shrugging his shoulders. “I… I guess I do, but still.”

“One Giant is annoying enough to deal with,” Burgwing said. “Two Giants will keep most Dragons away, and three? Three Giants would make even the eldest Dragon think twice.”

“Damn,” Adam said. “How many Giants could face Strom in his prime?”

“Enough with the talk of war,” Stokmar said, dropping down near the group, causing the Drakken to sit up taller. “We are in the Iyr, and there is enough talk about fighting and war already.”

Adam opened his mouth to say something, but instantly realised whatever he was about to say was going to be extremely stupid, and he didn’t want to offend the Lord of Earth. ‘Wow. I can’t believe I stopped myself from saying something dumb.’

Jurot nodded his head at Adam, understand what had happened, and Adam smiled proudly.

Lord Stokmar had changed the vibe of the area around them, though it quickly calmed again when Jaygak and Kitool spoke with the white scaled Drakken, trying to figure out who he was.

“So…” Adam said, sipping the gourd full of alcohol. “How’s enchanting?”

“I am creating many Basic weapons for the Iyr, and armours and trinkets too.”

“Trinkets?”

“I can create jewellery which can hold resistance to the elements, so that one isn’t too cold or too warm in certain climates,” Morkarai said.

‘Ah,’ Adam thought, realising what he should have been enchanting this entire time. ‘Once I’m done with the Iyr, I should make those kinds of enchantments too.’ “What about those which protect oneself from blows?”

“Rings of Protections?”

“Yep.”

“I have made many of them too,” he admitted. “I change what I enchant weekly.”

“Nice,” Adam whispered, nodding his head.

Morkarai was about to ask Adam about his own enchanting, but stopped himself in time. “I can create many enchantments, but my speciality is within weapons with fire enchantments.”

“I wouldn’t have lost that bet,” Adam joked.

‘A warmoot,’ Jurot thought. He wished to talk more about the issues of the Confederacy, but especially the warmoot. A warmoot would excite even the Iyr into action. A warmoot against the Iyr would have been one of the greatest stories to be told, but such a thing would end up with many grave losses on either side.

‘Those who could threaten the Iyr are the Giants and Dragons,’ Jurot thought, glancing around the area. He noted the white scaled Drakken, wondering if he was a Raith. ‘The Iyr is home to three Lords, a Prince of the Fire Giants, and three Dragons…’

Jurot tried to recall the last time the Iyr had called in favours. He was sure there were other favours called, but in the past, only one or two Dragons were ever called. Technically, the three Lords hadn’t been called, but to call a Giant as well as Dragons? It was all but unheard of. There was one time a Giant and a Dragon were called, but a Giant and more than one Dragon?

Jurot sighed, letting the thoughts fall away. What was the point of thinking when it came to the Iyr? He would do as he was told.

“He’s a Raith,” Jaygak eventually whispered to Jurot in the evening, when they were about to sleep.

Jurot nodded.

“Wiseraith,” Jaygak said.

Jurot furrowed his brows, looking to Jaygak with a curious look. “You are certain?”

“Yes. Kitool thinks so too.”

Jurot didn’t ask why, since both Kitool and Jaygak thought so. If it was Jaygak alone, he would only mostly believe it, but if Kitool believed it too, then there was no need to doubt it. ‘Wiseraith?’ His heart began to pound wildly.

Why did the Iyr call in a being who could match Jaeryael, the Golden Empress?

Then another thought crossed his mind.

When could the Iyr call in a being who could match Jaeryael, the Golden Empress?