The creatures did not slow, for they leapt towards the fort, skewering themselves against the stakes in front of the pit, arrows and javelins slaying many more. They finally reached the wooden walls, scrambling up towards the fresh warriors who began to pierce them with their mighty weapons.

As Adam prepared to attack, Jurot growled out from beside him, slamming his shield against the duabear. “Step back, Adam,” Jurot said, keeping the duabear at bay. “Protect the priests.”

“The priests are already protected,” Adam replied, though his body was already stepping backwards, his body growing lighter with relief.

“Nobby, come,” Jurot called, his clear and stern, causing the young Nobby to step forward. The young man, built like an auroch, almost didn’t obey his mentor, for he was a young man in Adam’s employ, but Jurot’s words were also Adam’s.

Adam pulled back towards Brittany, taking Nobby’s place, holding up his shield in front of him. An arrow whipped through the air from behind him, far too close to his head for his liking, so he dropped to a knee and aimed his axe out.

Fire engulfed the last few birdcats, the young Gaks killing them with their innate magic, before their blades cut through the beasts in front of them.

Trick: Flame Bolt

D20 + 6 = 19 (13)

Hit!

2D6 = 7 (2, 5)

7 damage!

“Fire,” Adam called out, holding out his fist, shooting a flaming fist towards one of the duabears to the side, assisting his companions with what little magic he could. ‘I should have prepared Spiritual Weapon.

While Adam blasted out flame from his fist towards the beasts, he thought of the walls of the Iyr, which were so safe for all within.

“The shamans believe the boy is reincarnated, though they do not know who,” Sonarot said.

Tonagek couldn’t hide the surprise on his face. “A relic…”

“The Demon Lord also confirmed the matter.”

“The girl?”

Sonarot nodded, gently stirring the pot as she brewed the tea. It was as though they were talking about enjoying baked goods rather than the revelation the young boy was a relic.

“If the boy is a relic, why has he not been taken?” Tonagek asked, his eyes glued to his sister, feeling the warmth of the demon boy within his arms. He had come to check up on the children and speak with his sister about nothing in particular, but to hear the boy within his arms was a relic…

“How can he be taken when he is ours?” Sonarot asked, smiling politely towards her younger brother. It was that kind of smile, the kind of smile a Family Head could use against the Elder and Great Elders.

Tonagek’s eyes remained glued to his sister. The relic being Adam’s son was difficult enough, but for the Iyr to make moves on a child which was considered to be in the Rot family, it was another thing entirely. “What of your mother? Does the Family Elder think the same?”

“Mother thinks the same.”

Tonagek thought back to the audacity of the Family Elder, when she had denied the goblins their rights. It seemed as though the Rot family wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice, even if it meant inviting trouble into their family.

“It is this way,” Tonagek said.

“It is this way,” Sonarot replied, pouring her brother tea.

Tonagek looked down to the sleeping form the demon boy, a relic, and wondered how much trouble he would make. There was only one way the Iyr would allow this boy to live and it seemed the boy had lucked into it, being the son of Adam, and adopted by the Rot family.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

In the over two millennia of the Iyr’s existence, there had never been something like this. Back when even the Divine’s children dared to cause trouble within the land, during a time present day Iyrmen could only dream of, something like this didn’t happen. How many Iyrmen had gone to slay demigods? Even the children of the main pantheon knew no peace from the Iyrmen’s blade. Yet, even at that time, the Iyr hadn’t adopted a demon.

When the Demonic Devastation came upon the land, it was a time filled with death and strife. When the nearby lands banded together to deal with the demons, which land had matched the Iyr’s kill count? The price had been high for the Iyrmen, but the Iyr did not forget just how well it had dealt with the Demonic Devastation, and then the ensuing diplomacy between the nearby lands.

“Sister, do you recall the time after the Demonic Devastation?” Tonagek asked. “The matter of the Wizards of Skool.”

Sonarot understood how her brother’s thoughts had landed there. “It was a time when the Wizards of Skool had dared to believe this land to be their playground, trying to force the hand of the Aldish.”

“When the Chief had gone to negotiate, they were killed, and the Iyr called forth a limited war,” Tonagek added, slowly nodding his head. “It was in that century the fear of the Iyrmen was nailed within the wizards.”

“By blood and steel,” Sonarot confirmed. It was also one of the stories of the Iyr, perhaps one of the top five stories taught to the children.

“By blood and steel,” Tonagek whispered, still holding the sleeping babe within his arms. ‘A relic…’

Mana: 10 -> 8

Spell: Spiritual Weapon

Attack: Spiritual Weapon (Flanking)

D20 + 7 = 19 (12)

Hit!

1D6 + 1D3 + 3 = 7 (2)(2)

Attack: Flame Bolt

D20 + 6 = 7 (1)

Critical miss!

Adam called forth his magic, having only just remembered he did indeed have Spiritual Weapon prepared. He waved his hand and chanted out his magic, before a large sword made of divine light coalesced beside Laygak, striking into the duabear, while the young Gak also cut into it with his blade, the blade moving through the air with surgical precision.

Laygak, who was nineteen this year, moved as well as many of his elders, those who had children even half his age. His skill with a blade was greater than even the one hundred Iyrmen who had been plucked in childhood to form the One Hundred, not to be confused with the One Hundred Grandmasters, a confusing enough name since the Iyr had many more Grandmasters who were not part of the group.

Laygak raised his shield, grunting slightly as he deflected a blow from a duabear. ‘When did I start thinking of such matters during a fight?’ Laygak, who was considered one of the weakest within his group, had gained the luxury of casually thinking of other nonsense during his fray with several duabears.

Faool jabbed a duabear in one of its throats, exhaling for a moment as the creatures body seized up. There was a moment of hesitation as he expected Laygak to strike it, before he drove his staff into the ground before drop kicking the beast back towards the stakes, skewering the beast upon them. He squatted to dodge another duabear as its mighty paw tried to crush him.

‘Did I kill a duabear alone?’ Faool thought, bringing his staff up to defend himself from a pair of bites, bringing a finger up to jab at one of the bear’s heads to freeze it into place. The action felt so unnaturally natural, his body understanding he had the ability to do things he would have dreamt of earning by thirty, and yet he could do so before he was twenty? Something his cousin, Kitool, was able to do. She was someone who had been dubbed as one of the golden children in her generation, like Jurot, Shikan, and Timojin. ‘No, the priest’s magics are also assisting.’

Naqokan’s attacked viciously, with reckless abandon, her greatsword slicing through the spine of the duabear as though it were made of hot butter. Beside her, Uwajin also bisected a duabear in half, though vertically, blood splattering all across her as another took its place. Though the duabears themselves were clawing at the pair as they disregarded their own defence, their bodies were still forged through years of training, and the terrifying claws which could tear any normal Aldishman apart, merely scratched against the raging savages known as the Iyrmen.

The pair roared with joy as they enjoyed the fight, even as they were slowly being torn apart by the mass of duabears who climbed up towards their death.

‘Is this how Shikan and Timojin feel?’ Naqokan thought as she fought side by side with Uwajin.

‘Our tale will spread through the Iyr!’ Uwajin thought, her lips wide as she formed a wild grin on her face.

While the teen Iyrmen enjoyed their time slaughtering the creatures, their aunt and uncle enjoyed their time drinking tea within the Iyr.

“You do not have to be so hesitant to speak to me,” Sonarot said, seeing the look on her brother’s face. He had always been like that with her, even when they were children.

“Adam’s children have a vague relationship with the Iyr,” Tonagek said, holding the baby within his arms, allowing him to remain asleep within his arms.

“Is the relationship so vague?”

“Is it not?”

“It is not vague to the Rot family,” Sonarot replied. “They are my grandchildren.”

“…” Tonagek noted the look on Sonarot’s face, telling him to speak his mind. “If something were to happen to the boy, the Iyr may not act.”

“The Rot family will act, even if the Iyr will not,” Sonarot replied, her neck pulsing slightly, her lips forming a wide smile, but it was that kind of Iyrman’s smile.