Omen: 6, 7

Adam awoke early that morning. Regardless of what he had rolled, he had planned the day in a particular way, and he was going to follow it through.

He trained hard that morning. He ran ten laps around the courtyard, before completing fifty push ups and fifty squats, having Nobby follow him. Once his warm up was complete, he lifted a heavy sack around, completely a full body routine using the weight of the sack, resting as Nobby took the sack to copy him.

‘I hope they finish the dumbbells soon,’ he thought, finding the sack awkward to manoeuvre.

“Alright,” Adam said, finishing his routine. “Good work, Nobby. I’ll see you around, okay?”

“Yes, mister boss,” Nobby replied, watching as Adam picked up his sister, a pack filled with fresh food and more, and left them.

Adam walked around the Iyr, trying to recall where it was.

Then he saw it.

The domed roof.

He approached the building, feeling the warmth radiating from the air.

“What are you doing?” an Iyrman asked. She was a young Human Iyrman, and she stared at Adam with a suspicious look.

“I’m about to take my sister for a bath,” Adam said, motioning down to Lanarot, who looked up at the woman.

“You must be guided by an Iyrman,” she said.

“I am,” Adam said, motioning down to the girl, who was hiding in his chest.

“The child?”

“It’s Lanarot, daughter of Sonarot,” Adam said.

The young Iyrman stared at Adam, trying to understand what he was saying. “She is your sister?”

“Yes. Her mother is my Aunt, and her brother is my brother,” Adam explained. “I am Adam Fateson, Nephew of the Rot family.”

“Who is your Elder?” she asked.

“My Elder? You mean Elder Zijin?”

“Yes,” she replied simply. “We must confirm you are who you say you are.”

“Will this do?” Adam asked, pulling out the wooden token, revealing it to the woman.

“How do you have Elder Gold’s token?” she asked.

“Elder Zijin gave it to me. I use is to trade things in the warehouse without a guarantor to sign for me.”

“Your identity has been confirmed,” the young Iyrman said, nodding her head to him.

With that, Adam entered the building, the first floor of which was made out of stone. He tried to remember the path Sonarot had told him, having advised him to take the token just in case.

Finally, Adam approached the shared bathing area, and he stripped down to his shorts, taking his sister into the stream with him, before he took her to one of the individual baths, which were still fairly open as they were set into the earth, but they were to the sides.

Adam ignored all the naked Iyrmen about, and placed Lanarot in her own little tub beside the baths, and washed her more properly. “Close your eyes, Lanababy.” Lanarot giggled as he wiped the water across her face, soaping around her face before wiping her face clean with his hand.

Adam slipped into the bath, still wearing his underwear, feeling far too awkward to expose himself to anyone, especially not beside his sister. He sighed, feeling the heat of the water. Usually he had to warm up the water in the tub in a separate room, but now he could enjoy the water which had been warmed up by…

‘What is warming this place up?’ Adam wondered. ‘No, no, it doesn’t matter.’

He enjoyed himself in the bath, soaping himself up multiple times. He allowed Lanarot to splash about in her own little tub beside him, keeping an eye out to make sure she wasn’t going to drown herself in the tiny bit of water.

Once the pair were clean, Adam dried them off with a towel, before placing a clothy on the girl. ‘Thank you, Baktu,’ Adam prayed, glad that she hadn’t soiled herself. Sonarot had changed her right before they had come, but he had still been anxious about the matter.

Once they were changed into their clothes, he placed their old clothes in a separate sack. He dropped the sack off into a room in the baths to be washed and dried, before being placed in storage for them to pick up in a few days time.

Adam strapped his sister in the contraption, letting her see the Iyr in front of them, before making his way to that place.

That place was a place Jurot had taken him to see the Iyr while it was under snow, where Vonda and he had departed on their first date. He sat down, Lanarot against his lap, and wrapped a towel around the girl. He pulled out some bread, which was cool now, and broke it apart.

Lanarot held the smaller piece in her hands and bit into it, humming quietly as she ate. He gave her the little cup, full of water, and let her sip it up.

“Want some fruit?” Adam asked, revealing the soft salya, feeding some of the Iyr banana to the girl.

Adam smiled, brushing her hair back and to the side. “You’re such a chubby baby. Who keeps feeding you too much?” Adam chuckled. “Oops.”

Lanarot continued eating her food, sometimes looking up at Adam, smiling with pieces of bread and salya around her mouth.

“You’re growing up so well, Lanababy.” He kept brushing her hair as she ate, causing her to look up at him constantly. He recalled how she had been so small and light not long ago.

“Look,” Adam said, pointing out towards the Iyr, towards all the buildings ahead. “This is the Iyr. Iyr,” he said, wondering if she’d speak back. “This is your home. It’s your papa’s home too, and your mama’s.”

Lanarot bit into some more bread, before looking up at Adam when he mentioned her mother, before looking around to try and find her.

“Look, it’s me, papa,” Adam said, rubbing her hair gently, before she returned back to eating her bread, no longer interested as she could not see her mother.

“The Iyr will keep you safe, Lanarot.” Adam looked down into her eyes, as she looked up at him upon hearing her name. She babbled a question up at him, pointing up before grabbing his beard with her hand, before letting him go.

“Yeah, it will.” He rested his cheek against her head, before kissing her forehead. “The Iyr will make sure you grow up healthy and happy.”

Adam looked out to the Iyr again. This was the Iyr, filled with thousands upon thousands of the craziest people he knew. There were times he was more ridiculous than Iyrmen, but he was nowhere near at the level of the Iyrmen

Lanarot sipped her water, sighing from how good it was, before babbling quietly. She looked at his bread, seeing how Adam had yet to take a bite, before leaning in to bite it.

“Hey,” Adam grumbled. “Do you like papa more or do you like bread more?”

Lanarot chewed the bread happily, sipping some more of her water, before leaning in to take another bite of the soft bread. Adam pulled it away from her, eating some of the bread himself. ‘It is some good bread.’

“You are going to grow up big and strong, Lanababy. The Iyr will make sure you do so. You’ll grow up, and you can do whatever you like.” Adam motioned a hand out in front of him. “If you want to be the Chief, I’ll make sure you become the Chief. If you want to become the Queen of Aldland, I’ll try my best to make sure you’re able to become the Queen.” Adam brushed her hair again, as she leaned back and looked up at him, finishing off her salya.

The Iyrman in the shadow nearby listening intently to Adam’s words. ‘He really does speak dangerously.’

“If you want to rule the world, then I’m going to have to inform your mama that you’re an idiot and there’s nothing I can do to help you.” Adam kissed her forehead. “If you want to do nothing and just kick it for the rest of your life, I’ll make sure you can do that. No one will be able to force you to do anything, not when I’m your brother.”

Lanarot giggled in response, sticking some bread into her mouth, chewing it noisily, before laughing up at him, almost choking on the bread.

Adam wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a tighter hug. “The Iyr will protect you well. It has so many great warriors, some of them unmatched. If it doesn’t protect you, then I will, no matter what, my little Lanarot. I’ll make sure you grow up well. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Not any Human, Dwarf, Devilkin, whatever. No Eldritch bas-“ Adam cleared his throat, trying not to curse. “No Eldritch baddies either.”

Lanarot grabbed at his collar and pulled herself up, staring up at his face. She squealed and babbled at him noisily, wanting to play with him now that she had finished her food. Adam bit into the bread, before taking out the sandwich he had made for himself.

As Adam brought the sandwich in for a bite, a shadow formed over him. He looked up to see a familiar form, one he hadn’t expected, especially not alone. “What are yo-“ Lanarot slapped Adam across his cheek, before leaning in to bite into his sandwich.