Adam made the necessary preparations for the payment to Nobby’s family. He had given Nobby ten gold coins to hand to his parents for that month, but he’d need to set up the payments for the ninth month onwards.

‘Oh, right, Sir Landon also paid money to Nobby too,’ Adam recalled, trying to figure out how he should split that coin to the family. ‘I’ll give them another ten gold for this month, and then fifteen gold each month for two years? I’ll make it start from next year.’

The group spent a few days in Red Oak, allowing everyone to relax. Adam thought about going to visit the porters and the farmers, but decided against it. Instead, he set up an additional payment of ten gold each month for them, starting from the ninth month, up until the end of the year.

Adam spent more money on gifts for the children, buying daggers for each of the children, from his own children, to the other babies, to even the older children. Once he had spent a princely sum within Red Oak for the gifts, the group readied themselves to return back to the Iyr, with a cart full of all the souvenirs the group had bought, most of which were bought by a singular Half Elf.

Mana: 21 -> 18

Spell: Sending

“Chief. In Red Oak. Returning soon. Can I bring back the group? Also more guests. Oh! Very important guest! Very very important guest! Chief, very-”

The spell cut off.

‘Oops,’ Adam thought, having completely forgotten about Umbra. He wasn’t sure how to talk about her through the spell either.

“Okay.”

Omen 6, 15

Adam stared at the cart, which had been covered by a large tarp, though Adam wasn’t sure if it was enough to protect the gifts. ‘Hmmm…’ He eyed up Zeus too, wondering if this was too much for the elk to pull along.

Nobby also returned, bringing with him two small sacks, which he held out to Adam.

“What is it?” Adam asked, reaching for the sacks.

“Ma finished your task.”

“Oh!” Adam smiled, peeking into one of the sacks, before seeing the fresh vegetables. ‘Eh?’ He checked the other, which was full of bits. “Nice!”

Once the group were ready, having secured the crate of food, and the barrels of ale, near the back and side of the cart, they stepped out of Red Oak, making their way back to the Iyr.

‘A shame I couldn’t meet with Paul, but I guess he was busy, what with the war and all…’

Other than the soldiers which had passed through Red Oak, they had barely recalled there was an ongoing war. Adam thought little of it, since it was, apparently, going to end before the year’s end.

Adam eyed up the barrels of ale, half of which Jaygak had bought with her. ‘I didn’t expect her to bring back so much…’ They had fought lightly about the ale, since they had so many things to bring back, but she was adamant that they needed to bring the barrels.

Jurot and Lucy rode the Awakened Wolves, while Jonn rode on his elk. Mara rode Cloud, though Adam had offered Vonda the wolf, but she was heavily armoured and therefore would have placed a heavy strain on the Awakened Wolf.

Dunes, Korin, Amira, and Lady Sara all gathered as a group together, standing behind the pair who were leading the wagon, Jaygak and Kitool. Adam remained near the back with the teen Iyrmen, Nobby, and Fred. Umbra lay on the wagon’s seat, staring up at the sky.

Adam remained tense, but within the walls of his puthral armour, he felt safe. Mostly safe. There was still the fact that they had met two random fellows, each who were such a great threat that they could, by themselves, sway a war in the favour of their allies.

‘Home stretch, but we gotta be careful…’

They trekked through the forest, with Adam creating two towers to protect them in the evening. The group used a small outpost that they had made previously, though it had taken a short while to reclaim it from nature.

Omen: 2, 16

“A storm is coming,” Umbra said, still relaxing on the driver’s seat of the cart.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“A storm?”

“A terrible storm,” Umbra said.

“What is it?”

“A storm.”

“Yeah, but who is it?”

“Who?”

“It’s a… oh, you mean like lightning and thunder?”

“Yes.”

“Oh…” Adam blinked. “I thought you meant in a metaphorical sense.”

Umbra just let out a soft sigh. She didn’t help as the group began to cut down the nearby trees to make a fence. Jurot and the others couldn’t sense the storm, but as the hour passed, they could see the clouds in the distance.

“Adam, you should make more towers,” Jurot said.

“How many?”

“As many as you wish,” Jurot stated.

Adam counted how many of them there were. He would need to make six towers for them all to be comfortable, though five made more sense. He summoned out six towers, splitting the group into six different groups. Umbra remained with Jurot, Kitool, and Adam.

Adam looked to the cart, and the two steeds.

“…”

Mana: 3 -> 0

Spell: Tower of Adam

Hades and Zeus kept an eye out, while the Awakened Wolves relaxed with Lucy and Mara in their tower. By the time evening approached, the rain began to fall across the land, first as a pitter patter, but eventually into a shower, before they could no longer hear themselves think, and could no longer see even the trees around them.

The sky flashed. A moment passed. Two moments. Three moments. Thunder rumbled.

Umbra remained atop the tower, relaxing as the water fell across the land, threatening to flood the nearby river. She hummed quietly, a tune that her father would often hum to her.

“That’s a lot of rain,” Adam said, staring out, but barely being able to see anything.

“It will not be over soon,” Jurot said, eyeing up the river, which even his Iyrman eyes could barely spot. Luckily they had formed the outpost some ways away, on slightly higher ground. If the river did flood, it would flood away from them.

“If we left the day after Nobby’s party, we could have been back at the Iyr by the time of this storm…” Adam sighed. “No, maybe this storm is for us?”

“It could be.” Jurot stared out into the distance. “It does not storm like this often.”

“The giants must be fighting,” Jaygak said. “The Storm Giants may be warring in the sky.”

“Is that a thing?” Adam asked.

“A thing?” Jaygak asked.

“I mean, does that really happen?”

“Often,” Jaygak confirmed. “Typically in the mountains, but many times in the sky.”

“…” Adam furrowed his brows. ‘Did Storm Giants fly?’ Adam recalled back to his previous life. ‘The bridge, maybe?’

“You should be careful, Adam,” Jaygak said, almost beginning to whisper, though loudly due to the storm. “In these realms, you may be strong, but in the Higher Realms, you would be considered an ant, like me.”

“You’re not an ant,” Adam said, frowning. “Don’t be like that, Jaygak.”

“I’m an ant compared to you, Adam.”

“I’m not sure about that.”

“I am certain.”

“Stop it, Jaygak!” Adam growled. “Why are you here, anyway? You should be looking after the others!”

“I wanted to be here because I was bored,” Jaygak said, taking out her wineskin. “Let’s drink a little.”

“We should keep on edge, otherwise-,”

“Otherwise you’ll kill me from how tense you are,” Jaygak stated, pouring him a small cup of wine. “Now drink it, you monster.”

“Monster? I’m not a monster!”

“If you’re not a monster, what are you?”

“An ant!”

“An ant? An ant? If you’re an ant, what am I?”

“Jaygak, daughter of Lavgak!”

“You and your glib tongue,” Jaygak grumbled, before sipping some wine too. She continued to pour Adam some cups of wine, every so often doing the same for Jurot and Kitool, but she knew they wanted to be alert in case anything happened.

“Anyway, don’t say that type of thing,” Adam stated. “You’re not some ant, Jaygak. Aren’t you pretty damn strong?”

“Am I?”

“Fred fears you.”

“Fred fears his own shadow.”

“That’s not true. He’s an Expert, like you, but he’s still scared of you. Jaygak, the Devilkin. Wait until you’re a Master, then we’ll see who will call you an ant.”

“I’m not the one whose going to bring the name of Gak to the continent,” Jaygak said. “This generation will not belong to me.”

“If not you, then who?”

“Taygak,” Jaygak said. “Raygak, Saygak too.”

“Hmm.” Adam thought about the young Taygak, who was always so stern, and the pair of boys. Raygak, who was often bullied by Jaygak, and Saygak, who Adam had corrupted into becoming a Blood Mage. “I guess that’s true.”

“I’ll just clear the path,” Jaygak said. “Then you’ll have to carry them up.”

“Of course I will,” Adam said, sipping more of the wine. He stared at Jaygak. “Jaygak, you know I think you’re cool, right?”

“Cool? I’m hot!” She reached out with her hands, but decided against spraying out fire, in case they really did need to fight.

“Hot means something else,” Adam said.

“What does it mean?”

“Something like beautiful.”

“I am hot,” Jaygak stated, motioning to her horns.

Adam shook his head, smiling slightly. Then he thought about the other Devilkin. “Hey, uh, Amira doesn’t have horns. Should I avoid talking about them?” Adam’s words were a whisper, almost drowned out by the rain and thunder, but Jaygak was still an Iyrman, and her keen ears picked up on the whisper.

“I don’t know why they were cut off, but that’s probably a good idea,” she admitted.

“Hmm…” Adam thought for a long moment. “You think their kids will be cute?”

“Probably.”

“Not as cute as mine,” he retorted, firmly.

“They might be as cute as yours,” Jaygak said. “They’ll have horns.”

“You’re right,” Adam said, nodding his head slowly. “They’ll have horns.” ‘Since I helped save her, that means I can dote on them too, right? They won’t complain if I gift them a few magical items, will they? Just, two or three for each of them, it’s more than I spent on their mother…’

‘Jaygak knows him so well,’ Jurot thought, noting how Adam’s shoulders were no longer so stiff.

“You have a visitor,” Umbra’s voice called, carrying through the whipping winds and the heavy rain.

Adam’s shoulders tensed up once more as he stood, making his way down to the bottom floor, before stepping out into the rain, which crashed against him and his armour, splattering into tiny pieces. He couldn’t see anything past the fence they had made, but cutting through the thick rain was a cane.

“Oh no,” Adam whispered, staring at the cane. ‘Gods damn it.’