Omen: 4, 4

‘What is with these Omens?’

Adam continued to enchant, wanting to finish the Greater enchantment. When he felt lucky, he enchanted a weapon for the Iyr, and when he was unfortunate, continued the Greater enchantment to stabilise it.

Omen: 4, 7

It had been a few days and he was still rolling poorly. ‘Is it because I wasted all the luck?’

As Adam fed his triplets, he heard some panting from behind him, and two forms assaulted the Half Elf with their tongues. “Oh ho! Who are these cute little girls?” Adam asked, ruffling the dire wolves’ fur. “Look at you, look at you! So lively, aren’t you?”

Jay’a and Kit’a continued to assault Adam with their affection, all the while he embraced the pair. The dire wolves had been found the year previous by them, their mother slain by the Blue Dragon which they had dealt with. Jaygak and Kitool had claimed them using their frivolous logic, and Adam relented. He had assisted in raising them when they were young, but he could see that their love for him had grown.

“You two have to eat to become big and strong for your babies, okay?” Adam said, ruffling their hair.

The wolves panted towards him, before noting the appearance of the triplets, who were staring at the wolves. The wolves tilted their heads, causing the triplets to tilt their heads too.

‘I should let them meet the puppies,’ Adam thought. ‘I should also play with Sky too…’

“Woof!” Lanarot said, pointing at the pair of wolves. “Woof!”

The pair of dire wolves barked, causing the babies to twitch and stir, before they cried. The pressure of the Iyrmen silenced them as they crouched, their tails falling to the floor.

“You silly wolves,” Adam said, before using his Tricks to clean himself before he picked up Jirot to soothe her, gently rocking her in his arms. “However, you guys shouldn’t bully them, since they are new mothers too.”

Soon the puppies were brought to the shared family estate, carried within baskets by several young teens who had earned the pleasure. Elder Zijin was leading them, with a gentle smile on his face. Jarot remained in the corner, refusing to acknowledge the Elder as the other Iyrmen did.

“Doing the rounds?” Adam asked, looking at he wolf pups who were looking up out of the basket towards all the new faces. Kit’a and Jay’a remained near their eleven pups, making sure they did not cry in distress.

“We wished to show the wolves to the nearby estates,” Zijin said, before sitting down opposite Adam. His eyes fell down to Jirot, who was resting her head against her father’s shoulder, all the while Adam pat her against her back gently to soothe her.

The triplets sat near Adam, eating their bread and fish happily, breaking apart the fish meat before eating it from their fingers. They looked up at Elder Zijin, their mouths a mess from the spices on the fish, though they seemed not to care.

“I see you are close with your children.”

“Elder Zijin, you can’t-,”

“I will not steal them because they are so cute,” Zijin assured.

Adam paused, wondering if he had become so predictable. “Then why will you steal them?”

“I will not steal them.”

Upon the Elder’s words, Jurot noted that his grandfather flashed red, his shoulders and neck tensing up. Sonarot remained near him, making sure the old man didn’t pop his neck.

“Are you saying my children aren’t good enough to steal?”

Elder Zijin remained silent, trying to understand what Adam was doing. He stopped thinking about what Adam had asked very quickly, realising that Adam was Adam. He almost reached for one of the children to ruffle their hair, but his entire body froze, having recalled the conversation with Jarot a few days prior.

“Have you been feeling unlucky recently?” Zijin asked.

“Unfortunately so,” Adam said. “I promised to enchant only when my luck was at least okay, but recently it’s been quite unfortunate.”

“It is good to see you taking time off to speak with your companions,” Zijin admitted. “You have spent too much time with your children.”

“There’s no such thing,” Adam said, bringing a cloth to his children’s face, rubbing it mostly clean, before using his magic to clean them properly. “I understand where you’re coming from, though.” Adam paused. “No, nevermind.”

“A joke?”

“Yes.”

Elder Zijin nodded, allowing Adam’s his peace, understanding that it was probably something stupid, or offensive, or both. ‘If my children were as cute as his I would give up being an Elder?’ He was certain that was the joke, but decided against bringing it up.

Adam allowed his children to stroke the wolf pups once they were done with breakfast. Jay’a and Kit’a nuzzled against the triplet’s necks and cheeks, licking their faces lightly, causing them to retreat to their father.

The other children also stroked the wolf pups, eagerly chatting away with one another about the wolf pups.

“What are your plans for the wolf pups?” Zijin asked.

Adam raised his brow. He remained quiet for a long moment, wondering what Zijin was talking about. The wolf pups were the children of the dire wolves which belonged to Jaygak and Kitool, so wouldn’t they… ‘Oh.’

“Where’s Sky?” Adam asked, cautiously.

“We allowed him to remain within the Front Iyr,” Zijin said. “We have noticed that you do not care for him.”

“It’s not that I don’t care for him, it’s just that…” Adam paused, thinking about how many times he had played with Sky, and how many times he had told the Awakened Wolf off. ‘Damn. I’ve been really mean, haven’t I?’

Adam crossed his arms and fell into thought. ‘I don’t really need him either, though. I have my magic to summon Zeus, but it is a nice idea to have another, right? No, no, that’s not efficient. Since I have Zeus, shouldn’t I give Sky to someone? Though, then again, having an Awakened Wolf is cool…’

“Jurot?” Adam called.

“Yes?”

“Do you want Sky?”

“Your Awakened Wolf?”

“Yes.”

Jurot blinked. “Why?”

“I have Zeus, and I haven’t really been looking after Sky much, so it’s probably best for him to be yours.”

“You were the one to defeat him.”

“It’s not like you can’t beat him up,” Adam said, shrugging his shoulders. “You should have him, though I hope that some of the wolves he makes will be handed to me. I’d like my children to have a few wolves they could ride, especially if they’re part Awakened Wolf.”

‘Politics?’ Jurot thought, wondering why Adam gave up Sky so easily, considering what a great honour and pride having an Awakened Wolf was. “Okay. Thank you, Adam.”

Adam nodded his head. “As long as we remember that I was there too that helped gain these dire wolves and an Awakened Wolf, now you have a bunch of cute little wolf pups, who I hope you will treat well for a while. I understand you want them for the Iyr, but I hope that the Rot, Ool, Gak, and Kan families each have greater access to the wolves. Also, you know, my kids too.” Adam raised his brows towards the Elder.

Zijin bowed his head, taking Adam’s words to heart. There was a lot of faith Adam showed the Iyr constantly, something which he hoped the Iyr would show in return. Zijin realised he had only a short while before Jarot would burst. “Thank you, Adam.” Zijin excused himself and left.

The wolves were soon taken away to the next shared family estate, and Adam used his magic to clean the children, though they were taken away to clean up once more after playing with the wolves.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get to play with the wolves when they are older,” Adam assured Gurot, who was squinting up at Adam suspiciously, his chubby cheeks puffed out as though he was annoyed.

Adam spent some of the day playing with the children, playing Warriors and Wanderers. Dunes appeared during the afternoon, sitting opposite the triplets, who stared up at him, their eyes blinking questioningly towards him.

“I have heard that you have started taking breaks,” Dunes said.

“Have you come to bully me too?”

Dunes smiled. “Yes.”

“You know, Dunes, I can still beat you up,” Adam said, crossing his arms. “You’re lucky I’m a dad now. I can’t go around being an idiot or beating people up any more.”

“Did you beat people up?”

“There was that one kid. John, was it?” Adam thought. “The racist punk.”

Dunes nodded, recalling the boy. “Yes, that is true. You usually beat up small men, but I am not a small man.”

“No, no, you’re a man of the Gods, Lady Arya, yeah?” Adam replied, smirking wide. “With a really nice sword.”

Dunes narrowed his eyes, but his lips formed a wider smile. “You are always so free with your jokes.”

“Not so much any more. You know, I’ve stopped myself a few times now.” Adam said, sitting up taller.

“Well done, Adam.”

“Have you come to see my cute children?” Adam asked, lifting Konarot up towards Dunes, showing her off. “Look! Her horns are so big now!”

Dunes was certain that her horns had not grown, but decided to keep that to himself. Adam was still as cringe as ever, especially as a father. “They are growing up well.”

“They are, they are,” Adam said, nodding his head.

Dunes and Adam remained together, talking about nothing in particular. They drank tea together, ate some snacks, and even played with the triplets, who were eventually pulled away by Sonarot, who let them doodle beside her.

“Now that I think about it, aren’t you an Expert too?” Adam asked.

“Yes.”

“Does that mean you’re going to retire soon?”

“In the next few years,” Dunes stated, nodding his head. “I may be able to learn Fourth Gate spells, though that might be dangerous while I’m still in Aldland. It would be dangerous within Aswadasad too.”

“Why?”

“I am from Black Mountain, which holds the oldest temple of Wahtu,” Dunes said, before pausing, wondering if he should mention what the Easterners say.

“Wasn’t there something about your temple which technically didn’t make it the oldest?”

“Our temple is the oldest temple which was designed for prayer towards Lady Arya,” Dunes stated.

“Right, right, and those from the west say that their temple is the oldest, but it was technically for another God?”

“The east, but yes.”

Adam nodded, recalling one of their first conversations. “Did you say that the first time we met?”

“Yes.” Dunes smiled. “I believe I said something unfortunate about Elves.”

“Your friend, Lightsomething, had something to say about us?”

“No,” Dunes began, smiling wider, “he had something to say about half of you.”

Adam chuckled lightly. “You’re a funny guy, Dunes.”

Dunes nodded. “Though I come from Black Mountain, praying to Lady Arya, the main God within Aswadasad is Noor, the God of Light. We are tolerated, but most Aswadians pray to Noor. During wars, that changes slightly, but Noor is more typical than Lady Arya.”

“They call him Noor and not Lord Noor or anything?” Adam asked.

“Aalinooralakbar,” Dunes said, stating the full name of the God. “However, Noor is mentioned quite often in prayers and in daily life, so simplifying the name became a topic of discussion many years ago. There are still those who do not simplify the name, though they are more extreme than even those who call him Noor.”

“Extremists, eh? So you’re treated worse in Aswadasad because of your religion, and in Aldland because you’re Aswadian?”

“Yes.”

“Damn.”

“I plan to retire soon. Someone has offered me a job at their business, and I would hope to marry in the next few years.”

Adam’s face contorted this way and that as his mind mind processed what Dunes had told him. He wasn’t surprised at Dunes’ retirement, since Sir Vonda had planned to retire too, but he was surprised that someone had offered Dunes a position in their business, and then hearing that Dunes wanted to marry had struck Adam’s mind.

Dunes read Adam’s expressions, and heard the noises the Half Elf made, each time broken by a new thought, all the while the Aswadian smiled, sipping his tea. He understood everything from Adam’s expressions and noises, knowing that Adam had almost forgotten who had offered the Priest a job.

Adam rubbed his chin, thinking about what to say. “Is the missing friend of yours the one you want to marry?”

“She is a good friend,” Dunes said, seeing that Adam had realised what the Priest had said. “I do not know who I will marry, though.”

Adam slowly nodded his head, thinking about what Dunes had told him. “I’m going to work you hard, Dunes.”

“I’m sure you will.”