“Robert?” the boy asked, staring up at the half elf.

“That’s your name now.”

“The name’s Bobby, sir.”

“That the name your pa gave you?”

“Yes…”

“You want to keep that name, or do you want to be Robert?” Adam asked. “Robert is more refined, and you’re going to need it.”

“Fined?”

“Refined. More… noble.” Adam smiled.

Robert narrowed his eyes towards the half elf, though squirmed under the man’s gaze, before he pulled up his blanket and made to sleep. The boy remained thinking about what Adam had done for him. He had fought against nobles for him. Nobles! How can he do such a thing?

Adam went back to napping too, before he was awoken by Jurot, and the four of them made their way with the Baron to the shrine. A knight and a pair of guards followed them to the top of the hill nearby, still within the walls of the castle, where a tiny ruined shack hidden within the woods lay.

Once Adam stepped within the musky shack, dust kicking up all around them, illuminated by the moon. He noted the markings on the floor, glowing from the moonlight flooding through the broken ceiling.

“Not going to lie, thought it was going to look fancier than this,” Adam admitted.

“The shrine was always quaint,” Baron Moonglow admitted, awkwardly. His eyes scanned the four who seemed to be almost wide awake.

“Alright, so, I’ll figure out how to enchant, and then I’ll try to teach you another time,” Adam said, his eyes falling across the shack. “About, uh… you know. Earlier in the day. I was hot headed, and got a little…” Adam cleared his throat. “Hitting kids around me is a bad idea.”

“You are more idealistic than I thought.”

“Yeah, well…” Adam sighed. “Either way. I’m sorry, Lord Moonglow.”

“Understood, Sir Adam.”

Adam could still see the displeasure in the Baron’s eyes. ‘He’s probably pretty close to betraying me.’ “I’ll be sure to work hard on enchanting this sword.”

“As you say.” The Baron left, taking his entourage with him. He was too tired to deal with Adam, especially since there were so many moves to be made.

Enchanting Check (Intelligence)(Moon Shrine)

D20 + 9 = 8 (17)

Omen: 6, 20 -> 6

20 + 7 = 27 (20)

Adam plucked a Thread of Fate, a crow fluttering over the shack, a bloodstone within her beak, and thus Fate was forever changed.

The half elf held onto blade the Baron had offered to him, sitting under the warm moonlight. He remained silent and still as he felt the moon’s glow, which caused his entire body to tingle. He opened his eyes to see the moon’s light had all but disappeared from within the room.

Runes faintly glowed on the blade’s steel.

‘What?’ Adam blinked, glancing around, confused. ‘Did I fall asleep?’

“Okay?” Jurot asked.

“Okay,” Adam replied.

“I will sleep.”

Adam nodded, allowing Jurot to sleep, while Kitool awoke Jaygak, and the pair with the ability to see in the dark took watch together, silent as death.

As dawn peeked through the shack, Jurot and Kitool awoke, noting the half elf had fallen asleep while hugging the blade. A single pair of steps made their way to the shack, but settled outside. Adam awoke a few moments later, rubbing his eyes. He nodded to his companions, before he yawned and got up.

“Sir Adam?” called Sir Gerald.

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“Yeah?”

“Have you completed your task?”

“I need to enchant it for a few more days,” Adam said, hopping onto his feet. “Thankfully, the enchanting has taken hold.”

“May I enter?”

“We’ll come out to you,” Adam said, nodding his head to his companions, before opening the door. He had half expected crossbows to point at him, but he only saw the lone knight. “Here.” Adam handed the blade to the knight. “I need a bath after all that hard work.”

Sir Gerald took the blade silently.

As they made their way back, Adam noted the dozens of warriors who had gathered together. Many wore very little in regards to armour, but most wore helmets and carried shields, each with a spear or blade at the ready.

‘There’s no way he expects them to handle us.’ Adam noted the same amount of people at the ready nearby, those who weren’t armed quite as heavily, but were ready to oxen and carts, each filled with sacks. ‘Oh?’

“Sir Adam,” Baron Moonglow greeted, eyeing up the four. “Do you wish to sleep?”

“Lord Moonglow,” Adam replied, glancing around at all the soldiers nearby. “Perhaps, though I see that you’re ready to work.”

“I plan on marching south to extend my reach,” the Baron stated.

“Alright, well, let me bathe and I’ll be happy to support you.”

“You do not wish to rest for the day?” Lord Matteas asked, hoping Adam would take the hint.

“I said I’d make you king, and it’ll be better to do that by helping you expand your influence. No point in getting all these peasants killed, I can probably get most barons to surrender within a minute or two.”

Matteas felt a bead of sweat begin to drip down the side of his face, noting how casual Adam was when speaking about it, as though he could truly do such a thing. “How did the enchanting go?”

“Good, but I need more time.”

“Would you prefer to remain behind to enchant?”

“I’ll be more useful at your side to make sure you don’t get killed, and to make sure you still have subjects to rule over.” Adam winced, feeling sick to the stomach at his words. ‘Damn it.’ “Plus, this first barony is going to be ours, isn’t it, count?”

“…”

Adam headed to the castle to bathe, and assisted Robert in getting ready too. ‘Damn, I don’t really have anything for him right now…’

Matteas relented to Adam’s request, and the boy was outfitted with a helmet, a chain shirt, which was far too large for him, and a spear and shield. “Is he your squire?”

“Yep.” Adam flashed the baron a smile. “He’s one of the keys to make sure you keep your power.”

“…” Matteas blinked.

The army marched south, following the trail out towards the next town. The soldiers and labourers were split into quarters, alternating between each grouping so they were spread out evenly. The baron led with his knights, surrounded by four heavily armoured warriors, while Adam and his companions trailed behind.

They had returned back to the village where they had procured their current horses, swapping out their previous horses while gaining some coin since they had a spare horse to trade at the time. The chief of the village came to meet with the Baron, glancing at Adam and the others.

“How can I help you, lordship?” the chief asked. He was a young man, no older than twenty, but he wore his ancestor’s armour with pride, and carried a spear in hand. He stared up at the Baron with the confidence only a foolish youth could hold.

“I have come to assist your village,” Lord Moonglow stated. “I have heard that your lord was recently killed, and I have come to extend my offer.”

The chief glanced across all the soldiers, and raised his brows. “Your offer?”

“You will swear yourself to me. Nothing will change, save that you will have someone living to lord over you, rather than a foolish baron who got himself killed by extending himself too far.”

“Heard the young lady took over.”

“She will be relieved of her duties.”

The chief threw a look to Adam, slowly chewing on his thoughts. “That the killer?”

“That is Sir Adam, who indeed had killed the Baron for his betrayal.”

“Don’t know about no betrayal, but heard he killed the Night Terror.”

“So he claims.”

“Suppose you have to be that strong to kill a bunch of knights,” the chief said, planting his spear into the earth. “You’ll need to speak with the baroness, but you can stay the night.”

“Will you guarantee us?”

“Aye, I will.”

Adam, in his near exhaustion, passed out almost immediately with Robert. The others took their watches, with Zee and Jurot’s steed also keeping watch. Somehow, the Baron hadn’t decided to betray them so far, but things always changed when darkness came.

Omen: 1, 15

“Looks like they were prepared,” Adam said, noting the soldiers who had stepped out to meet them halfway between the village and the town. There were easily a hundred soldiers, each as hastily brought together as Moonglow’s forces.

“It seems that way.” The Baron stared at his opponents, almost outnumbered two to one. He rode up to meet with the enemy lord, each of them flanked by their entourage. Adam followed on his horse too, too curious to stay behind. “Only my knights are to escort me.”

“I’m more than your knight, Baron,” Adam replied, almost chuckling.

“You bring to me my father’s murderer,” the young woman said, wearing her grand armour. Full plate, intricately detailed, certainly made to fit her rather than being passed down through the generations. “Not in chains, but on a steed?”

“Sir Adam is my knight,” Lord Moonglow said.

“He’s a wicked fiend, a Night Lord!” the young Baroness snarled.

“He is no Night Lord, and though he may be wicked, he is no fiend,” the Baron stated, firmly. “I ask that you surrender to my authority, so that-,”

“Surrender to your authority? You, who surrounds himself along with my father’s murderer?” She undid her visor to reveal her tan skin and angry green eyes. She spat on the floor between them. “Curse on you! Curse on your father! Curse on your son! Surrender under my authority, and perhaps I will show you mercy!”

“Then it’s to blades.”

“It’s to blades,” the young woman confirmed, raising her sword, which seemed to be made of earth.

‘Damn, that’s a nice sword.’