‘It’s so much easier than I expected.’ Adam made the wise decision to keep his thoughts to himself. They were a few days into the Twilight Month, and though though the aura before the season had turned had been tense, the first days of the month, still a touch awkward, was far lighter than he expected. ‘Should I really be killing this many animals?’
‘I expected more,’ Lucy thought, her heart not quite into the month any longer. Her blade had cut through so many bears, she had lost count. Once per day, a large skirmish would ensue, as though the world had turned against them, but outside of that skirmish, there was little to do.
“The sixth and seventh days of each week hold greater threats,” Jurot informed. “Sometimes the day before or the day after.”
“I hope…” Lucy stared down at her soup, feeling all the glares. A bead of sweat trickled down the contour of her cheek. “I hope we can return home safely.”
While the group were assisting the North with the slaying, the businessfolk were also busy with their work.
Fred wiped his blade clean, nodding his head to Aria, Theo, Thomas, and Alfie, each of whom had come with him to assist the village. “Good work.”
“Yes, Leader,” the four replied, causing Fred to smile slightly.
Fred allowed the Iyrmen to claim the creatures on their behalf. ‘Since the Manager said we should let the village claim the creatures too…’ Fred also thought back to when Dunes had informed the group to state the titles clearly, making sure the lines had been drawn between he and the other workers.
‘If we are too oppressive, they will hate us, but if we are too friendly, they will not respect us,’ Dunes had informed Fred. ‘They need to trust us, so we can’t trek harshly into either path.’
‘How difficult,’ Fred thought, returning back to the business, where he found that man sitting near the fire. His silver hair was long, his beard thick, and he seemed almost entirely relaxed. His forehead was held no tattoos, but the man had married into the Iyr, and his dark skin betrayed his heritage from Aswadasad.
‘I guess it’s fine,’ Ashmir thought, noting the little girl to the side, who lay upon her mother’s chest, cooing lightly.
Freddie eyed up the dark skinned Aswadian, eyeing up the long spear upon his back. ‘He’s the Lion King?’
“Should we kick him out?” Korin joked, eyeing up the Lion King from the gate, biting into a hard vegetable. It was bland, but the salt brought out a depth from the vegetable. He held it out to Dunes.
“No,” Dunes replied, to both offers. He kept an eye on the Lion King, whose eyes sometimes peered towards his daughter. The complicated emotions brewed within him. He had decided against forcing a distance between his daughter and the Lion King, since he was quite a monster, and if he ended up taking a liking to the girl, then it was only a boon. He let out a defeated sigh. ‘Is this what he meant by daughters being the scariest?’
It was during this month he had decided to step out to assist with the clean up.
“Must you come to ruin our fun?” Jarot asked, huffing slightly as he swung his axe, warming himself up.
“Shall I return and spoil them without you?” Gangak asked, the smirk upon her lips outmatched by the smirk within her eyes.
“Hmph.”
Otkan stretched out her arm, feeling the blade’s magic tingle against her hand. She missed the feeling of wielding a heavier blade with both hands, and though she longed for such a day, she pushed away the thought.
“We should return,” Gangak said, pressing her blade through the skulls of the various beasts, making sure they were sent to Baktu.
Jarot followed the heavily armoured woman alongside Otkan, able to match her pace with his metal leg. ‘Should I return home? My greatchildren, they must miss their greatfather so much.’
Gangak kept an eye out through the hilly forested area of the Iyr, though for a moment, her thoughts fell to the slaughter she had witnessed from the old man limping after her. ‘Is he waking up from his slumber?’
As the weeks of the month passed by, the land continued to fight against the people. In the North, the people grew further on edge.
‘Why were they so worried?’ Adda thought, sitting beside both Kitool and Jaygak, with Sir Wick settled nearby, each resting within the fort. It was the first day of the third week, the twenty second day of the month, and since it was the first day of a week, the group had been forced to rest. She glanced to the side, towards Jaygak, then to Kitool. Kitool, who had claimed first in the tournament, in a greater segment than her own.
A horn blew in the distance, causing a silence to befall the fort.
Adam threw a look to Jurot. In the last three weeks, the horn had not been blown, or rather, it hadn’t been blown in such a way, low and long.
“Fate’s Golden” Black Blood shouted, charging through the fort to the party. “Bone dragons.”
“That sounds bad,” Adam said, standing up from his seat, stretching out his body. “I was feeling bad that I was resting here more than I rested at work.”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Lucy said, hopping to her feet, flexing her muscles. “Bone dragons!”
“Should we grab Jaygak and Kitool?” Adam asked, sending a mental note to Zeus.
Jurot thought for a moment. “I will trade places with Kitool.”
“Kitool?”
“She will face a bone dragon with greater might than any of us.”
“Yeah, but, we should take the glory for ourselves,” Adam joked.
“I will trade my place with her.”
“No, no, you should come, since we need to bring back the best story for our children.”
“…” Jurot slowly nodded.
“You’re going with just the four of you?” Eddard asked, raising his brow.
“No, no, we’re not that stupid,” Adam replied, while Jurot blew his whistle, three wolves howling in the distance. “There’ll be seven of us.”
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“You shouldn’t underestimate…” Eddard closed his eyes, sighing. “Good fortune to you.”
“You too.” Adam reached out a hand. “One gold?”
“One gold?”
“A bet to see which one of us slays our bone dragon quicker.”
“It will be too hard to keep in mind,” Eddard replied. “Your bone dragon is rightward, we’ll head leftward.”
The group rode through the thick snow, three upon the backs of the wolves, the last upon his mighty warhorse, adorned in his puthral armour.
“Adam,” Jurot said.
“Gotcha,” Adam replied, riding further ahead, pulling away from the group. The white mist ahead made it difficult to see too far ahead, but the land was near empty. It was then the half elf noticed the two glowing eyes, and the creature emerged, forcing the mist aside. The bones rattled near silently as the skeletal wings beat in the air.
‘Alright, come on, I can take you,’ Adam thought, confident in his armour. The entire month, he and his brother, each of whom held a greater Defence than even full plate, had been ravaging the beasts as they came. One in twenty blows might have caught Adam especially terribly, but his normal Defence was fairly high, almost too high. ‘Bring it on!’
The eyes of the creature glowed, and it opened its maw, which could have swallowed Adam whole, while its thrown began to glow as blue as its eyes.
‘Oh.’
Constitution Save
D20 + 7 = 20 (13)
Health: 112 -> 96
Fighting Spirit: 3 -> 2
Health: 96 -> 101
Attack - Wraith (Advantage)
D20 + 10 = 18 (8)
D20 + 10 = 27 (17)
Hit!
Mana: 25 -> 24
Ability: Divine Smite
2D6 + 3D6 + 9 = 24 (4)(11)
24 damage!
Attack - Wraith (Advantage)
D20 + 10 = 28 (18)
D20 + 10 = 29 (19)
Critical hit!
Wraith: 3 -> 0
Mana: 24 -> 20
4D6 + 6D6 + 12D6 + 9 = 107 (16)(28)(54)
Damage resisted!
93 damage!
Onward Soar: 1 -> 0
Attack - Wraith (Advantage)
D20 + 10 = 21 (11)
D20 + 10 = 21 (11)
Hit!
Mana: 20 -> 19
Ability: Divine Smite
2D6 + 3D6 + 9 = 26 (5)(12)
26 damage!
Attack - Wraith (Advantage)
D20 + 10 = 28 (8)
D20 + 10 = 27 (17)
Hit!
Mana: 19 -> 18
Ability: Divine Smite
2D6 + 3D6 + 9 = 20 (4)(7)
20 damage!
Adam raised his shield, and though he managed to block much of the ice shards which spat down towards him, Zeus disappeared under him, causing the half elf to drop. “Ack!”
A giant claw bounced off his shield, before the half elf leapt aside, feeling the air around him shift from the sheer mass of the creature’s tail cutting through the air. He inhaled deeply, feeling the cool air invade his lungs once more, though he had partly become used to it. He exhaled, his breath floating in front of him, flowing into the darkened sky.
Wraith struck the creature, clattering shards of bones, flashing white hot with divine magic. It slipped through the creature’s joints, cutting the creature down to size, one swing at a time. Even with as much damage as Wraith could manage, with its cold and its holy might, the creature let out a shriek, which came not from its vocal cords, but from its wickedness.
‘Weird,’ Adam thought, his mind daring to wander. ‘Why do I feel so calm?’
Even if he had used his Fighting Spirit to focus on the dragon, there was something else about how relaxed he was. Even after losing Zeus, an annoyance to be sure, and even though he was face to face with a mighty creature like that of a bone dragon, which was surely terrifyingly strong, there was something about the situation which did not chill his heart, even with shadow overwhelming him. Though it was focused upon him as the bait, since it was attracted to the magics of the half elf, taking the bait when Adam pulled away from the others, Adam’s heart did not shrink.
It was when the fire exploded around him when Adam realised why he was so relaxed, a giant axe tearing through the bone dragon, while another axe crashed against its neck, threatening to behead it. A third axe, smaller than the others, exploded with terrifying force against it, causing another shriek. The trio of wolves clawed and bit the creature, snarling with delight at the large plaything.
Adam held his shield up, and as he stared at the bone dragon, now focused upon Jurot, who also wore magical items, and had given himself for the creature to strike him, Adam let out a soft breath.
Action: Dodge
Adam raised his shield, watching as the group cut down the dragon, smashing it to bits with their axes, the half elf, narrowing his eyes slightly. He thought back to all those he had faced in the past few years, and how his opponents had escalated at an alarming pace.
Victory!
XP Gained: +1000
XP: 21 200 -> 22 200
“You paused?” Jurot asked.
“I just thought you all wanted to have some fun without me ruining it,” Adam said.
Lucy smiled, nodding her head lightly towards the half elf. “You’re not as stupid as you look.”
“To fight beside you is part of the fun, even if you silence them swiftly,” Jurot stated.
“Yeah, well…” Adam smiled. “I ended up hitting it quite hard, so…” Adam shrugged his shoulders.
‘Is he getting cocky?’ Mara thought, before glancing aside to Lucy and Jurot. ‘Or does he have that much faith in us?’
“Guess we gotta drag it back, eh?” Adam said, glancing up to the sky. “Any others?”
“This is the one we have been tasked to return with,” Jurot said, taking out his rope, ready to tie the bone dragon to the wolves, and himself.
“I now realise why you told me to hop off Zeus,” Adam said. “Sorry. I was thinking a lot while it came at me and forgot.”
“It is okay,” Jurot said.
Adam inhaled deeply, his eyes darting between the trio, and then the wolves. He looked up to the sky once more. His entire body felt light, almost as light as his heart, as though he had been awake for far too long. A thousand thoughts and no thoughts all clashed at once, the half elf then beginning to follow his companions, who noted how quiet Adam had become.
The Princess stared from the gates as the group returned with the bone dragon, the Iyrman and the demons pulling it along, while the half elf led them. ‘They all look fine?’
“Huh?” Adam replied, upon noticing he had returned back to the fort, meeting the Princess’ eyes. “Sorry, what was that?”
“How did you defeat it so easily.”
“Is a bone dragon that strong?” Adam asked.
“…” The Princess blinked. She turned to face Kitool and Jaygak, who returned a look.
‘Adam is Adam.’
“I would like to face a dragon myself,” the Princess admitted.
“One day maybe we could fight one together,” Adam offered, only realising after that it was a good idea to make such an offer.
“…”
As the night came to them, Adam stared at the ceiling, trapped under his blanket.
“Okay?” Jurot asked.
“I wish I could have a warm…” Adam fell silent, stopping his stupid joke. “Jurot?”
“Yes?”
“Aren’t I strong?”
“Yes.”
Adam blinked. “Yeah.” Adam closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
‘…’ Jurot closed his eyes and also fell asleep.
The morale of the North increased, the blood lust growing within the region. Unfortunately for them, the undead began to rise. Defeating the undead proved to be little trouble for the likes of the figures which had come to assist North Amber, however.
‘The Grand Duchess probably made a bunch of moves to make sure the Princess wasn’t in danger,’ Adam thought, throwing a look to Sir Wick for a moment. ‘That’s fine by me, since I’m just farming XP.’
As the last day of the month approached, Adam thought of casting a spell, but he decided against it, since it was the Twilight Month. ‘Konarot…’
It was the last day of the year, when the little girl rushed up towards the Ray before breakfast. “Mummy! Mummy!” Konarot called, holding up a letter to her mother, placing a hand on the woman’s knee gently.
“What is this?” Vonda asked, plucking the letter from the girl.
“Daddy write the letter.”
“Mm?” Vonda undid the seal and began to read the letter, taking in the sight of each word and how it had been written, memorising her husband’s handwriting. She smiled as she read the letter. She reached down to brush her daughter’s hair and cheek gently. “What will your father say when he returns?”
“Daddy coming?”
“It seems your father might return in noonval instead,” Vonda replied, still rubbing the girl’s cheek. She recalled when the girl first had come to her, bringing her a glass of water, and calling her mummy out of the blue. Somehow, the girl had accepted the woman into her heart.
“Is my turn to read?” Jirot asked, holding up her hand for the letter.
“This letter was for mummy,” Vonda said, brushing the girl’s hair tenderly. “Do you wish to read to Virot?”
Jirot smiled. “Yes! I will read!” The girl shuffled down from her seat, rushing out to find a book to read, her brother darting after her.
“Mummy,” Konarot called, rubbing her mother’s knee gently. “Comfortable?”
“I am comfortable,” Vonda replied.
Konarot smiled, before she shuffled her way to her aunt, and asked the same question to her.
Vonda leaned back in her chair, looking down at the letter. ‘Should I tease you for working too hard when you return?’
Vonda had no idea whether Adam had won or not, but she was certain he was still alive. She thought about whether to send word to him, but it was the Twilight Month. She caught Pam’s eye, the young woman smiling lightly, while Konarot went to bring her a cup of water, since she needed to make sure the pair were comfortable, as her father had taught her.