A silence of a thousand words fell across the pair, the old one armed Iyrman pouring his companion a drink. The trickle of the wine sung a tune which caused the pair to smile. Jarot and Rajin raised their cups, paused, before sipping the wine, their lips tingling, their tongues numbing.

“Gah!” Jarot snarled, wincing as the sourness shot through his throat, the fire of the wine burning harshly. “This cup of wine is the most delicious.”

“It is fine,” Rajin said.

Jarot smiled wide, staring down at the cup for a long while. His eyes slipped to the side, towards the Iyrman who was pouring them more wine. “How many years has it been since you fought Thunder Falcon?”

“Too many years,” Rajin replied, closing his eyes as he reminisced about his youth. He felt the crackle of lightning against his neck and cheek, the rumble of thunder through his arm when their blades clashed. She had been ten years his senior, and had been one of the few who had shown such rapid growth, which had only been surpassed by the Iyrman opposite him. When he left the Iyr as a young man, around the same time as Jarot, he had made quite the name for himself. He had clashed against so many great names, some of whom had defeated Jarot early in their time away, but once Jarot retired to the Iyr and Rajin, the Bearded Dragon, continued to adventure, he found Jarot had long defeated them.

“So few legends from our time still roam,” Jarot said, almost sadly.

“Blue Sword has sat down once more.”

Jarot let out a long sigh. “They will not know it. The people of our time, they were so… different.”

“We have grown old…” Rajin joked.

Jarot chuckled, sipping away at his wine. “I sometimes think I should have returned to adventuring. I should have continued, to fight Thunder Falcon myself.” Jarot recalled her stories when he was a boy. He had listened to his uncle speak of the woman, she had defeated him when he was out adventuring.

“It is enough that she beat me, she did not need to beat you,” Rajin stated simply.

Jarot smirked, bringing the alcohol to his lips. The pair continued to sip and reminisce of their past together, speaking of their fights, their tales. They spoke of old legends, whose names were known only by a few these days, with their own names nestled in the corners of libraries, covered in dust.

“Do you regret it?” Rajin asked.

“There are few things I regret. Retiring early is not one of them.”

Rajin slowly nodded his head. The pair had spoken of their regrets a few times before, and so far, they hadn’t changed their minds.

“Will you regret this?”

“Regret what?”

“Giving up your title?”

“I am too old, too weak, to remain as the Family Elder,” Rajin said, the corners of his lips turned upwards.

Jarot cackled, doing his best not to burst out into laughter. It was a cackle he had adopted from another troublemaker. ‘If you are too weak, then what am I?’

Morning came to the fort, and while the carriages were prepared, Adam made his rounds. He spotted more Iyrmen who he hadn’t seen the previous evening, his eyes scanning the group that was preparing to leave the fort.

Kamrot ruffled the children’s hair, saying goodbye to Lanarot, as well as the other Rot children. “I should go with them.”

“I was assigned,” Tarukan replied. He understood Kamrot’s annoyance, since he was a member of the Rot family, and should have been the one to go. He must have made quite the complaint to be sent here to the fort to watch them go.

Kamrot peeked towards the other Iyrmen, from Shasen to Shagek. Kamrot himself was considered a Master, but comparing himself to any of them was futile. He let out a sigh. ‘I should have trained harder.’

“I will watch over them well,” Gangak assured, clasping forearms with her friend who she had grown up beside.

“If it is Flame Brand, I do not need to worry.”

Gangak smiled, and as she turned to leave, she felt Kamrot’s hand against her shoulder. Kamrot bowed his head, for a long moment, before letting her go. Gangak accepted his appreciation, unsure what she had done to receive such gratitude from the Iyrman.

“Who are these adorable children?” Adam asked, staring down at the triplets, each with deep red skin, tiny nubs on their head. He could imagine the way the children’s tails fell, their lips pouting up towards their father.

“It is best to hide their appearance,” Jurot said.

‘How cute!’ Lucy thought, though she kept to the side, her arms crossed.

Mara, too, remained beside Lucy, her eyes glued to the triplets, also seeing their still disapproving tails within her mind.

“I didn’t give you permission to be this cute,” Adam said, punishing them with his affection. As he held them, he could feel their invisible tails against his arms. ‘Why didn’t they let you keep your adorable tails? I know it’s a better idea to hide it, but won’t everyone already be distracted by how cute you are? Seriously!’

“You must remember to wear your necklaces at all times,” Jurot stated, his words firm. “You must not remove them.”

“Nano! I want necklace!” Jirot said, pointing at her eldest sister’s chest. Konarot wore two necklaces, one a chain with a tiny black gem, just like all the other children wore, but the triplets, and the youngest, also wore an additional necklace with a ring slipped between.

“It is not theirs, and this is not yours, but you must wear them,” Gangak said, holding the girl to her bosom. “You must always wear them, okay?”

“Okay,” the girl replied, clutching at the woman’s collar. “You do not have necklace?”

“I do not.”

Jirot reached for her necklace and began to remove it. She froze when Gangak grabbed her nose, before she giggled wildly.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I told you you cannot remove it and you remove it right away?”

“I not moving it, I sharing, nano,” Jirot said, taking it off.

“You cannot take it off,” Gangak said.

“No! I sharing!” Jirot complained.

“Jirot, you must wear it.”

“No!” Jirot huffed, but upon seeing the stern face of her nano, she pouted.

Gangak pulled the girl to her bosom once more. “You cannot remove the necklace. Once we return, it will be my turn, okay?”

“Okay…” The girl was quickly distracted by her nano’s tight embrace.

“I know you will not remove it,” the one armed Jarot said to the little boy named after him, ruffling his hair.

Little Jarot smiled bashfully, leaning in to hug his babo, before he was shifted to the side, his sister joining him. The stub of his greatfather’s lost arm kept the boy pinned, while his sister was held by the old man’s whole arm, for he knew the trouble she could get herself in if he dared to underestimate her.

“Sky?” Lanarot asked.

“He cannot come,” Jurot replied.

“Why?”

“It is difficult to take the wolf.”

“No…”

Jurot reached down to tickle the girl’s cheek. “We can take him next time.”

“Okay…” Lanarot pouted.

Fred pat George’s shoulder. “I’ll be back soon, so don’t cause too much trouble, alright?”

George’s eyes were full of offence, though the boy nodded. He held up his hands, clasping and opening them.

“Alright, I’ll see if I can buy you one when I can.”

George smiled.

“Aw!” Copper frowned. “Why do ya have ta leave again?”

“We’ve got to work,” Rook said, smiling warmly at the disappointed children. “Our work here is done, and once we’re at the town, we’ll need to find more work.”

“I can pay you.”

“How much?”

“Um. Three silver.”

“We charge a hundred gold each month.”

Copper gasped. “One hundred gold?”

“Yes.”

“That’s more than a hundred silver!”

“It is, ten times as much.”

“It’s a hundred!”

Rook chuckled, glancing aside to Vasera, whose eyes were glued to a particular set of children, and the Iyrmen surrounding them.

“Do not covet my greatdaughter,” Jarot warned.

“I will not,” Rajin said. “Jijin, you should come sit beside me, your greatfather.”

Jirot tilted her head. “I not Jin! I Rot!”

Rajin blinked. “So you are.”

“Smelly boy!” Jirot cackled.

“Yes, smelly boy,” the one armed Jarot grinned wide.

“Do not encourage her that way,” Gangak warned. “Jirot, you must not bully Rajin.”

Jirot gasped. “No?”

“No.”

The girl bowed her head lightly, pouting, but the old woman did not give in. “Okay.”

Gangak brushed her hair, planting a kiss on her forehead, before doing the same to little Jarot. The old woman retreated to Kirot, who stared at her missing tail, feeling it rubbing against the floor.

“Chess?” Konarot asked.

“Okay,” Shasen replied.

“…” Karot stared up at Shagek. He recognised the old man’s tattoos as his granduncle’s family, the same granduncle who would often play with them.

“…” Shagek stared down at the boy, wondering what he was thinking about.

Vasera remained focused on the older Iyrman who had no idea what to say to the boy. ‘Silver Sword…’

‘More Iyrmen are coming with us?’ Adam thought, noting the appearance of Cirot and Sirot, as well as a few other members of the other families. He had half expected to see Ilyakan, but they were different Iyrmen from the extended family estates, each in their mid teens.

The large group, which numbered more than four dozen, took their places in the many carriages, while the magical steeds drove away, from the fort, through the village, and beyond.

“Kaka, so beautiful!” Jirot said.

“Yes? Do you like her red skin?” the old Jarot asked.

“I love it!”

“Do you prefer the red or the silver?”

“I like red and silver.”

“Is she now Gangak’s greatdaughter?”

“No! She is daddy’s dohta!”

“She is red now?”

“You smelly boy. Looking?” Jirot reached up to her leaf shaped ears. “Is my kaka.”

Jarot smiled, pulling the girl close to him. “You are right.”

Bloodblade, who held Larot upon his lap, glanced down at the boy. His ears were also leaf shaped. Shasen gently rubbed the boy’s head.

Jasmine watched them go, standing beside Morkarai, who stared at the carriages, deep in thought. ‘What are you thinking so deeply about, Prince?’

‘Should I have insisted on going?’

Adam sat with Lucy, Mara, and Rick, their carriage pulled by Zeus, trailing behind the rest. The Golden Savages rode their steeds around the entire caravan.

“I can’t believe they’ve done this.”

“Adam, it’s too early for it to begin.”

“…” Adam sighed, staring out of the carriage. “I hope everything is peaceful.”

“I hope we get to fight some…” Lucy glanced outside, noting the glare from Adam’s eye. “I hope everything is peaceful too.”

With the carriages pulled by the steeds, the group continued through the villages, somehow peacefully. Some of those who had been assigned to Adam’s children instead drove the carriages forward, leaving the children to those they were more familiar with. With the magical steeds, the group managed to clear many miles.

“Are you okay?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Adam said, before noticing he was gritting his teeth. He inhaled deeply and exhaled.

When they finally took a break for lunch, the teen Iyrmen fanned around the group, keeping an eye out. Adam forced his way to his children, dropping down beside his sister, who eagerly waited for the bread her mother was baking.

“How can you do this to me? This is our first time out as a family, but I’m stuck without you all!” Adam pulled Lanarot to his lap. “Even you, Lanababy! How could you betray me like this? You already left once before and I had to work hard, and now you won’t even stay with me?”

“Papa, I stay with you,” Lanarot said, reaching up to gently stroke her brother’s cheek, patting it gently.

“What a sweet little sister you are.” Adam kissed her cheek and blew raspberries against her neck.

“…” Rajin recalled the warning Elder Zijin had given to him. ‘I see.’

“Is village, daddy?” Jirot asked, looking all around.

“It is,” Adam confirmed, before realising where they were. “You know, it wasn’t too far away from here that…” Adam froze.

Jurot glanced aside to his brother, who had fallen silent. ‘…’

Jirot waited for her father to continue, her tiny leaf shaped ears twitching.

Adam lifted his sister up and handed her to Jurot. “Come to your daddy you smelly girl and smelly boy!” Adam held out his arms, and Jirot cackled, clutching at her greatfather.

The old Jarot grinned wide, but upon seeing his grandson’s eyes, his grin dropped. “Jirot, Jarot, go to your father.”

“No!”

“Jirot,” Sonarot said, and the girl jolted upwards, before slipping away from her greatfather, rushing to her father.

Adam embraced the pair, holding them close to his chest. He fought away the tears in his eyes, and held them tighter, gently swaying from side to side. It had been almost three years ago when he had found them. Their mother had been half eaten, each had been covered in mud. They had been so tiny, each no larger than a pair, their breaths so weak.

Jurot also thought back to when he first saw the children, having no idea at the time they would be his niece and nephew.

“You two. Even though you’re both such trouble, you are my greatest treasures.” Adam planted firm kisses on their foreheads. “Your father has brought so much coin with him, so once we get to town, tell me what you want to buy, and I’ll buy it.”

“How much did you bring?” Jaygak asked.

“A hundred gold,” Adam replied.

Jaygak noted the smirk on his lips. ‘That doesn’t sound like a lot…’ “What about the business fund?”

“That has enough…” Adam’s lips twitched slightly.

‘How much did he bring in the business fund?’

‘Do you think I’m talking about the fund? Oh, my dear Jaygak, you’re not thinking big enough.’

Once lunch passed, and the Iyrmen changed the children’s clothies, they all entered the carriages.

“Adam, I’ll ride in the carriage, and you can ride on the horse,” Rook offered. “You’ll be able to ride along whichever carriage you want.”

“Rook, how much?” Adam said, clasping the man’s hands.

“What?”

“How much for you to stay with us?”

“You can’t afford it.”

Adam hugged Rook and pat his back. “I should have prepared you all a tip before we left.”

“Buy us drinks the next time we meet.”

“Alright,” Adam promised.

With Adam free to ride along the carriages, the group were able to contain his cringe.

“Why were you so solemn earlier,” Vasera asked, riding beside him.

Adam glanced towards the carriage for a moment, veering away to the side, motioning with his head. Once they were quite far away from the carriage, Adam inhaled deeply, and let a long moment pass.

“Between the last two villages, I found two treasures worth more to me than this world.”

Vasera bowed her head simply, the pair returning back to the carriage. Her heart beat swiftly. She could sense something within Adam’s words. Though he had spoken around it, she understood what he meant, and she understood that it was wholly true.