Omen: 6, 11

“Stop it,” Adam said, picking up Jarot to embrace him tightly, showering him with affection. “Don’t you know it’s illegal to be this cute?”

Adam’s five children were all adorned in the attire of the Iyr, with all those within the Rot family wearing identical outfits. They wore grey clothing, the Rot family symbol of a blue circle and diamonds embroidered along the shoulders where the outer shirt cut off at an angle. They also wore a deep blue sash around their waists, which kept their outer shirt contained together, rather than with buttons.

“Jurot,” Adam said, kissing Jarot’s neck, causing the boy to squirm and smile within his father’s arms.

“Yes, they are,” Jurot confirmed, his eyes staring down at the triplets. They were staring up at their father, wanting more affection for themselves. Konarot noted Jurot was staring at him, and she stared back at him. During the last duskval festival, they hid behind their father, but now they looked at him so defiantly.

“Papa! I am cute!” Lanarot shouted, pointing up at her brother.

“Quietly,” Adam whispered, before lifting his sister up, hugging her tight, planting a firm kiss on her forehead too. “Yes, you are.”

Lanarot smiled, her eyes narrowing with satisfaction, before she grabbed Adam’s head and kissed his cheek. “Papa is cute.”

“I am?”

“Yes.”

“If you say so, then it must be true,” Adam ruffled her hair, before realising it had been brushed to look so neat. ‘Oops.’ Adam spent a short while brushing her hair to fix her hair.

Jurot and Lanarot explored the festival with Adam, who was mostly trying to rein in his youngest daughter, who was marching off randomly through the festival. Adam held her in one arm and fed her with the other, realising it was the best way to keep her out of trouble. Luckily for him, Konarot kept the other children in line, whereas Jurot watched over their little sister.

“Thanks,” Adam said, chewing the food Jurot offered to him, holding it towards Adam’s lips so he could eat too. The wraps contained long strips of meat and thinly cut vegetables. The bread itself was also lathered in hot butter and herbs, adding a little kick of flavour with every bite.

“No, I feeding,” Lanarot said, holding out her food towards her older brother. Adam leaned in to eat from her hand, though some of the vegetables spilled on the floor. “Oh no.” The girl gasped.

“Papa Jurot will feed me, okay?”

“No, I feeding.”

“We can’t waste food, it’s not good.”

“No good,” Lanarot confirmed, huffing slightly, before pulling the wrap together and devouring it like she had been starving for generations.

Eventually they found the area where the children could toss small filled bags into circles which were made of ropes. Lanarot was eager to start, tossing the bags eagerly. Adam and Jurot watched the children as they played. The soft music in the distance echoing around.

“Look at ‘em,” Adam whispered, watching Jirot and Jarot tossing the bags too, both managing to land them within the various circles. “They could only crawl when we left, and now…”

“They are growing up well.”

“Yeah…” Adam smiled slightly, his lips pulled taut as he thought about what he needed to do for them. ‘I spent so long enchanting, so I should make sure to hug them a lot this week.’

The pair continued to explore the festival with the children, watching the fights, in which Lanarot squealed so eagerly, but Karot and Jarot shirked way from the sight. Adam fed each of them, before finding the Iyrmen who were cooking pizza.

“You should eat this,” Adam said, excitedly, offering slices to the children.

Jirot and Jarot seemed to enjoy eating all of the pizza, while the triplets offered Lanarot their crusts. Lanarot, being a bread fiend, happily accepted every bit of crust, dipping them into a small pot of sauce they had been offered.

Jarot yawned, rubbing his eye with the back of his hand. He looked up at his father with his sleepy eyes, and Adam picked the boy up. He was still so small, shorter than all of his triplets, and he was a little chubby. Adam recalled that Gurot had finally managed to grow taller than the pair, who were once the size of pears within his hands.

“Let’s go take a nap,” Adam said, leading them out to find a small section to the side.

A few Iyrmen were already watching over young children who were snoozing aware in the courtyard of a shared family estate. They eyed up Adam suspiciously, but said nothing as Jurot placed down a basket of food for them, before carrying a smaller basket so Adam and he could snack in peace as they watched over the children. Jurot sometimes threw Adam a glance, noting the satisfaction on the young Half Elf’s face.

‘…’

Adam had killed a hydra, something which only a few people could claim, but he was far happier handing Asorot the scale tunic. Adam had killed two Dragons, but he preferred to talk about his children than such a great feat. Yet, though Adam loved his children so much, he still went to work for twelve days, to enchant a pair of flaming swords. Jurot wasn’t entirely certain how to connect those thoughts together.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Once night fell, they returned back to the shared family estate. Adam helped his children clean up for the night, allowing Jirot and Jarot to cuddle up within his arms as he read, while his triplets lay all around him.

“Did you have a nice time at the festival?” Adam asked.

“No,” Jirot replied, before cackling up at him.

“Silly girl.” Adam poked her nose gently, before speaking with each of his children. Eventually, he picked out a book and read it to them, before they turned in for the night.

As the festival progressed, Adam spent time with the others, allowing his children to explore with others.

“I can’t believe you’re stealing my children like this,” Adam said.

“They are my grandchildren,” Sonarot replied, simply, before picking up Konarot, brushing her hair. Mirot picked the twins up, holding them close to her. Gurot stared up at her in shock. How could they do this to him? That was where he should be.

Konarot pouted slightly towards her grandmother, but she didn’t complain. She waved towards her father, and Adam waved back. His heart sank watching the children go, but he supposed he should spend some time with Jurot, Kitool, and Jaygak.

Adam sipped the wine in a quiet corner alongside his closest companions. “Man, it’s only been, what, almost three years since we’ve known each other?”

“Yes,” Jurot replied.

“Time flies, huh?” Adam let out a long, tired sigh. “This wasn’t exactly how I thought things would go?”

“How did you think it would go?”

“I don’t know. I guess I thought we’d go out and adventure, more than now, and more… freely.” Adam thought back to his first few years in the Iyr. He had spent so much time enchanting, and though certainly it had helped him in his adventures, it had taken a lot of time out of him. Yet, his plans were always to spend the time enchanting first so he could adventure freely, but then…

“Your children are growing well,” Jurot said, pouring Adam some more wine.

“Yeah…” Adam sipped more wine.

“Don’t worry, Adam, you’re still an idiot,” Jaygak said, patting his shoulder.

“Since you’ve decided to fight, I think my debt has been repaid,” Adam replied, smirking slightly.

“You’ve been working too hard not to spend up all that frustration trying to bully me.”

“Trying?” Adam narrowed his eyes at the young woman’s smirk. “You’re lucky you’re my best friend, otherwise I’d take offence to that.”

“Best friend?”

“Yeah, best friend,” Adam replied, wondering if she’d deny him.

“What does that mean?”

“It means from all my friends, you’re the one I’m closest to.”

“What of Jurot?”

“Jurot doesn’t count, he’s my brother.”

“What of Kitool?”

“Kitool is more like…” Adam thought. “Kitool is more like the big sister that looks after her idiot younger brother.”

Kitool bowed her head, accepting the words gratefully.

“Out of everyone in this world, you’re the people I trust the most,” Adam said, pouring them all wine, before sipping more of his own.

“An Iyrman’s trust is harder to earn,” Jaygak said.

“I don’t know, I feel like Jurot trusts me pretty good.”

“I do,” Jurot confirmed.

“See.”

“He doesn’t count, he’s your brother,” Jaygak grumbled quietly.

“I guess you’re right.” Adam smiled, drinking into the night with his companions. Fortunately for him, they stopped him before he became too much of a fool, not wanting him to act up in front of his children.

The festival continued to pass, with Tarot and Zirot also stealing his children from him, though it allowed Adam to meet with Dunes and the others. Adam noted that Dunes was spending a lot of time with Amira, and Sara and Korin remained a pair glued together too.

Dunes held out an extra kebab for Adam, eating some of the grilled vegetables. “Thank you again, Adam.”

“Any time,” Adam replied, accepting the kebab, unsure why Dunes was thanking him. “What are you thanking me for, exactly?”

“For your assistance with finding Amira.”

“It’s not like I did much,” Adam said, before realising he had spend a few thousand gold. “I mean, it’s not like I helped find her, I just paid the bribes.”

“It is more than I could do.”

“Yeah, well, now you’ll be doing things I can’t do, right?” Adam winked, rubbing his elbow against Dunes’ side. Dunes furrowed his brows curiously, before he understood what Adam was getting at.

‘I should leave him to his friends and family.’ Fred thought, exploring the festival himself. He glanced around towards the Iyrmen women, wondering if he’d be able to catch any of their attention. Then he noted the other Iyrmen nearby, their steel and silver tokens, and he realised that there would be no way he could do so, not when he was considered average in the Iyr, even as an Expert.

Adam was able to spend one day with all the children, taking the teen Iyrmen with him. “Yes, good job, Gurot, high five!” he said, allowing the boy to high five him when he managed to throw the bag well. He missed the landing, but it was a mighty throw.

“Inakan, no!” Adam picked her up as she almost walked into the way of other Iyrmen. They had stopped, but hadn’t realised that she wouldn’t stop. “What are you doing, you silly girl?” Adam stared at the girl, who twitched and looked his way, squinting her eyes towards him. “I can’t be mad at you, though, my Inakan.”

“He keeps calling them his,” Nirot said, throwing a look to Naqokan.

“When we marry, she will be his little sister,” Naqokan replied, simply.

“…” Nirot couldn’t refute that.

Adam excitedly played with the children, before going to nap with them, Nirot and Naqokan remaining with him to watch over the children. Eventually they returned back to the shared estate, where they saw a set of familiar faces, those they hadn’t seen in almost a year.

“My my, who are these strange faces?” Adam said, approaching the trio, holding Inakan in his arms. “So you finally show your faces now? After you missed our beautiful babies birth-,” Adam joked, before he froze in place, shocked.

He hadn’t expected the older Iyrmen to return. One was an older woman, with red skin and a set of horns which grew out the side of her forehead. She was Gangak, the Family Elder of the Gak family, who had forced her way to fight, leaving her duties to another Gak. She carried a blade at her side, a blade of deep blue, the Gak’s family’s most prized possession.

The other was Otkan, who was tall and strong, and would have been a beautiful woman if it wasn’t for the huge scar across her left eye and down the side of her neck. Adam had fought her once, and she had held back against him, giving him just enough of an edge to beat her with his luck. She carried a greatsword against her back, but it was a weapon she could no longer use, for where her arm should have been, was the inner shirt that was tied around the stub which formed at her elbow.

The same Otkan which had gone to kill Forgryn and survived?

The last was the one Adam’s youngest son was named after.

The Jarot, whose name was still well known among the older generation.

The Jarot, who went out to the north to make a mess.

The Jarot, who had defeated Seasword in his youth.

The Jarot who had gone to kill Forgryn, and had given up his arm in shame afterwards, and retired.

The Jarot who, even with his one arm, had been the first figure to beat Adam handily in this life, even though the old man had used a mundane axe. Adam had been wielding one of the greatest weapons he had created even to that day, and he had still lost against the terriying old man.

Adam grew hot with shame for a moment, and his heart pounded wildly in his heart. Jarot sat beside Otkan, whose missing arm was more obvious. Jarot’s hand remained on his knee, and had almost hidden the fact that he now had a wooden leg.

‘What happened?’