“What?” Adam gasped, quickly rushing out from Jaygak’s home, the young woman darting after him. Adam circled around the group had gathered together, but he stopped, taking the moment to pick up the children one by one.
“Kavgak, did you think I forget about you?”
“Tavgak, what a cute little ribbon.”
“Ah! Gurot! So chonky!”
“Danagek, have you forgotten me already?”
Adam made sure to embrace them one by one, but he quickly barged his way to the side, into one of the estates which had been requisitioned for that, passing the statuesque Bilal on the way in.
Amira lay within the bed, holding a small bundle within her arms, the devilkin woman’s eyes half open from exhaustion. Dunes remained at her side, annoyed that he wasn’t the one able to assist at the time, and even now his wife refused to let go.
“Who is this adorable little girl?” Adam whispered, peeking into the bundle to see the red skinned girl, with tiny nubs around her temples. “Huh? Dunes, I thought it was your daughter, but how could you have such a cute kid?”
“It’s all because of me,” Amira said, smiling weakly.
Adam looked towards the Priest, smirking slightly. “Of course, she’s right.”
“Of course,” Dunes replied, allowing her to pick a fight with him, today of all days.
“Have you thought of a name?”
“Ranya,” Amira said.
“It means victor, or one who triumphs,” Dunes said, wanting to hold his daughter so bad, but he remained at bay.
“You didn’t want to call her Ramir?” Adam asked.
“Ramir is…” Dunes paused, understanding Adam’s joke. “Ramir is a boy’s name, and I don’t want to name my daughter after the Bloody Viper.”
“Who?”
“He’s one of the most wanted criminals across the entirety of Aswadasad,” Dunes explained. “It would be a misfortune to name our daughter after him.”
“Oh? Yeah I guess so. I wouldn’t want to name my kid Adolfrot.”
“What?”
“You have no idea how hilarious that joke is, Dunes.”
“I will take your word for it.”
“No, I swear, if you come from the Greylands, that joke is top tier.”
“I am sure.”
“Why are you saying it like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you don’t believe me!” Adam whispered loudly, not wanting to disturb the baby.
While Adam fought with Dunes, Bilal remained still and tense. His eyes slowly veered to the door, in which Dunes and Adam had spoken of a particular individual by the name of Ramir, also known as the Bloody Viper, a man who was wanted by so many authorities, and by almost every Order within Aswadasad. His eyes fell to Omer, the oldest of all the children, whose birthday was up soon, and was the oldest child since he and his companions implemented their own removals from the world.
For a moment, Bilal’s heart throbbed. ‘Do you think you are still human enough to feel guilt?’
Bilal tensed up once more, returning a bow of the head towards the Iyrman, who stepped into the shared estate with the Managers. He remained tense for a long moment.
“Relax,” Jaygak said, reaching over to pat his shoulder. “You don’t need to worry.” She smiled a reassuring, knowing smile, and walked in, carrying the sword against her shoulder.
“Anyway, I was racking my brain on a gift for your daughter, but I wasn’t sure what to get,” Adam admitted.
“It’s fine,” Dunes replied, already feeling awkward since he hadn’t been able to do much for Adam’s children, especially the twins. “It’s not like…” Dunes watched as Adam accepted the blade from Jaygak’s hand, and the pair stared into each other’s eyes. ‘He didn’t.’
“So I thought, ah, wouldn’t a sword be a nice gift for a child of a pair who were raised in Black Mountain?”
“Adam…”
“I thought, hmm, a mundane sword? Is that good enough? For two of our Managers to have their first child, wouldn’t a mundane sword seem a little, well, mundane?”
“Adam…”
“Of course, it has to be a little better than a mundane sword right? A Basic sword?”
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“Adam…”
“No, that would be ridiculous, how can it be a simple Basic sword?”
‘Adam…’ Dunes gave up trying to call for him, and allowed the half elf his fun.
“So it should be a Greater sword, right?”
“A Greater sword…” Dunes slumped in his chair, too shocked. He reached up to his eyes, rubbing the sides of his eyes, already feeling his wrinkles come in.
“Yeah, so it’s a Greater,” Adam coughed lightly, “sword.”
“What?”
“What?”
“…” Dunes stared into Adam’s eyes.
Amira’s eyes fell to Jaygak, who beamed innocently back to the woman, and she closed her eyes, done with their nonsense.
“What did you say?” Dunes asked cautiously.
“I said… you know… Greater…” Adam coughed lightly. “Sword.”
“Greater… what?”
Adam held Dunes’ gaze. Then he smiled.
Dunes wasn’t sure who had it more difficult, Amira with the birth, or him, with Adam. Amira understood she had it more difficult, because she had to deal with both.
Adam wondered if he should bully them more. He wanted to pretend to hold Ranya first, but decided against it. “Just take it.”
“Can I refuse?”
“It’s a privilege that comes with staying here, even though you’re going to get into trouble with your Order,” Adam negotiated.
Dunes, thinking about the pain he was going to receive when he met the Priest Commander, sighed. He accepted the sword, feeling the tingle of the sword against his fingertips. He recalled his own weapon, which was identical to his wife’s blade.
Dunes’ Strength
Requires Attunement
You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this weapon.
Deals 2D6 slashing damage.
Three time per day, on a hit, choose to Critical Hit instead.
On a Critical Hit, regain 2D6 Health.
“What does it do?” Dunes asked, hoping it wasn’t going to be ridiculous.
“It’s basically just the same as your weapon, except instead of healing, it strikes with lightning or thunder.”
Dunes held the sword against his chest like it was his daughter, and he slumped back in his chair, as though he had given birth to it.
“Don’t worry, the Enchanter made an identical weapon for Karza,” Adam said, not understanding what he said was so ridiculous.
‘Adam!’ A tear ran down Dunes’ cheek, giving up any hope of trying to temper Adam.
“I also thought it would be cool if it was called Stormdrake, but then I realised we already have a weapon called that, and since that one is so much better, it’d be awkward. So why not…” Adam stopped, realising his name for it was terrible.
“Thunder’s Triumph?” Jaygak said, finally breaking the silence.
“Honestly, that’s so much better than mine.”
“Maelstromdrake does sound awful.”
“The worst part is, Maelstromdrake sounds so much better than what I had in mind,” Adam admitted. ‘Stormwyvern is so crap.’
‘Thunder’s Triumph?’ Dunes eyed up the sword, then his daughter, Ranya. “Is this why you’re an Executive?”
“I’m an Executive because Adam and I shore up each other’s weaknesses. He’s strong and stupid. I’m less strong and less stupid.”
Thunder’s Triumph
Requires Attunement
You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this weapon.
Deals 2D6 slashing damage.
Three time per day, on a hit, choose to Critical Hit instead.
On a Critical Hit, deal an additional 2D6 lightning or thunder damage.
‘It’s not that insanely overpowered, I think…’ Adam was in two minds about the ability to choose to Critical Hit, but even though it was for Karza, it was still or Ranya, so he couldn’t have made it weaker. ‘No, it should be at least this strong, that way none of them can complain. If the Iyr chooses to make an issue about it, that’s fine, I’ll try and make it up to them.’
Dunes noted Adam’s face, and realised that the half elf was in more trouble than he realised. ‘Should I refuse?’
“It’s not that bad,” Jaygak said. “Even if it’s not as strong as Stormdrake, you shouldn’t feel so bad.”
“Not that bad? It’s an amazing weapon.”
“It’s fine,” Jaygak replied. “I don’t think you should complain that it’s too weak, or too strong, it’s perfectly fine.”
“Perfectly fine?”
“Perfectly fine,” Jaygak said, smiling knowingly to the men. She bowed her head and turned to leave. “Congratulations, Manager Amira, Manager Dunes.”
“Yeah,” Adam said, reaching out to pat Dunes’ shoulder. “Congratulations.”
“I need a drink,” Dunes admitted.
“Me too,” Amira said.
“Me three,” Adam said, letting out a breath. “Pretending to be this stupid takes a lot of work.”
“It seems to come so naturally,” Amira said, unable to control her smile.
“Thanks.”
Bilal’s eyes followed Adam’s back as the half elf went to spoil his cousins properly. ‘What kind of fool gifts a child a Greater Enhanced blade, one which he also gifts to a dragon?’
Bilal was still getting used to how much Adam could shock him, especially since they would arrive, and he needed to hide himself.
The village was abuzz as they appeared. The woman was adorned in full plate, nearly pure black, except for the years of wear and tear painted all across it, and a helmet with an avian design. She wore a longsword, shortsword, and a warhammer at her sides. Her companions, a pair of young women and men, wore breastplate over chain which was grey, with a bird’s face printed on the front, their helmets plain in design.
“Sir Magpie,” Adam called, reaching out to shake the woman’s forearm. “A pleasure to see you again.”
“You as well,” Magpie replied, recalling Adam’s face, and the positive feelings she associated with it, though she couldn’t remember why. “How do you do?”
“I’m doing wonderful,” Adam said, flashing a smile towards the woman. “I know I called you to the fort, but we’re currently in the midst of preparing something, so if it would please you, would you mind staying in the village today? I’m sure Chief Merl would be happy to put you up.” Adam tapped his chin with a tiger eye, tossing it to the Chief, winking at her.
“You didn’t have to pay,” Merl said, pocketing the gem. “The Order of the Wings always done right by us.”
“We can wait,” Sir Magpie assured, taking off her helmet, revealing her tan skin, brown eyes, and short red hair, sprinkled with more grey.
“Again, I’m very sorry. I should have everything sorted tomorrow, and we can discuss how much we can donate to your cause then.” Adam had planned for them to come into the fort tomorrow regardless of when they had arrived. If they had appeared too late, he would have punished them, not that they would have known he had punished them considering what he had planned.
“Of course.” Sir Magpie smiled, bowing her head lightly. In the back of her mind, she wondered if Adam had planned to scam them, though all that would have happened was that they ended up wasting a few days at most.
“Nobby, why don’t you remain at the village while the Order of the Wings is around?” Adam reached over and pat his shoulder.
“Yes, mister boss.”
“Adam,” Jurot called. “May I stay and speak of our tales.”
“How about you tell the tales tomorrow?”
‘Tomorrow…’ “Okay.”
‘Tomorrow?’ Sir Magpie thought. ‘What is the significance of tomorrow?’
Adam returned back to the fort, only to find a carriage making its way to the fort. He had not come with Murot. He had not come with Gurot. Instead, he came with Gangak.
“What are you doing here, you old geezer?” Adam asked, pretending to huff.
“Do I need a reason to come and see my greatchildren today?” Jarot asked, hearing the squealing and crying of his greatchildren, dropping to a knee to embrace them.
Adam bowed his head to Gangak. “It’s always a pleasure to see you.”
“Have you been well?”
“Yes.”
Everyone in the fort could feel it. It was the calm before the storm.