“Are you really not going to tell me the next part of the story?” Adam grumbled, staring up at Dargon. He had been waiting for the continuation of the Blackwater Crisis for a while now, and he couldn’t help but feel they were going to do the same thing when it finally reached the ending. 

Dargon just smiled. “There’s no need to rush, Adam, son of Fate.” It was rare that someone was so enticed by the stories of the Iyrmen in this way. Many others liked the stories, though some no doubt believed them to be fairy tales, but Adam seemed so eager to learn more about the Iyr. The sweet sensation of denying him sweet release filled his soul.

“The more you wait, the greater it will feel,” Tazwyn said, noting the look in Dargon’s eyes. ‘Have we been bullying Dargon too much? He’s finding too much pleasure in denying the boy.’

“What if the mood passes?” Adam asked, glancing away, obviously annoyed by their refusal to continue the story. 

“Is there ever a time where you won’t have a mood for a good story?” Tazwyn asked, glancing back towards Adam.

“If I was on death’s door,” Adam replied, simply. “I don’t want to hear a story when I’m dying, probably.”

“What would you like at that time?” Argon asked, having not expected Adam to speak about his death so easily. Most preferred not to talk about dying or death, especially their own, but Adam was quite open. ‘Did you really die so many times?’

“I want to hear the voices of my family,” Adam said, nodding is head to himself. “I want them to tell me that they’ll live happy and healthy without me, so I can die in peace.”

The Iyrmen hadn’t expected it to be so awkward and sappy.

Kandal threw a quick glance to Adam. ‘How manly.’ He nodded his head slowly, understanding the want for a large family. ‘A hundred grandchildren…’ Kandal wondered how many children he would need to sire for so many grandchildren. ‘If I have ten, and they have ten…’

“How will your family tell you to live happily and healthily if they are in danger?” Dargon asked, shaking his head. 

“Do you not want to go down in a fight?” Argon asked, throwing a look to his brother, wondering why he brother would ask such a stupid question.

“Why would I want to go down in a fight?” Adam’s voice was full of confusion. “Do you think I’m an Iyrman? We’re not all as manly as you guys!”

“Then how do you wish to die?” Tazwyn asked, wondering if that was meant to be a compliment.

“I want to go peacefully, after living a wonderful and long life, surrounded by all of my family. I want to see at least a hundred grandchildren before I die.” Adam paused for a moment to think. “No, I want a thousand great, great, great grandchildren!” Adam looked up to the sky, pointing up towards it. “You hear that, Sozain? If I die too young, I’ll come and haunt you!” 

The Iyrmen stared at Adam, blinking at him. They could only imagine someone being so drakkenhearted. Even the Iyrmen dared not provoke the wrath of the gods. 

“You are a dangerous young man,” Dargon said. 

“If you bring down the gods’ ire, even we won’t help you,” Tazwyn said, shaking her head. 

“Even though you’re the Iyrmen? Isn’t that what you’re mean to do?” Adam smirked at his terrible joke.

Charisma Check
D20 + 3 = 17 (14)

The Iyrmen just shook their heads. “If it isn’t the God of Death or the Goddess of War, we would be willing to fight by your side.”

“Really? It just so happens that I quite like the God of Death and the Goddess of War.” There was something wrong about the statement he had just made, but he didn’t catch it. “I like the Goddess of Balance too.” 

“The Goddess of Balance as well?” Tazwyn asked. “Why?” She wasn’t one of the Divines the Iyrmen prayed to typically. 

“She’s the reason why I died last time,” Adam said.

The Iyrmen blinked. “You died because of her and so you like her?” 

“Ah, well…” Adam looked up for a moment. “Not quite. I think she was quite nice to talk to when I spoke with her. Her father asked me to die for her sake, and…” Adam glanced to Jurot and then looked away. “I wasn’t able to keep a promise of mine. Still, I think it’s fine.”

‘He always says such impossible things,’ Tazwyn thought. ‘He doesn’t seem to be lying. Is there something wrong with his mind?’

Dargon noticed the look in Tazwyn’s eyes and nodded his head. He would need to keep a closer eye on Adam, who spoke such wondrous words full of mystery.

Eshva drew her warhammers quickly, causing Argon to raise a hand. The Iyrman growled something in their language. Tazwyn, having heard the growl, drew her sword, moving to the side, and Kandal grabbed his mighty greataxe and swung it twice, warming up his muscles. Argon remained up ahead, not yet reaching for his greatsword.

“Looks like Baktu has some issue with your words,” Argon said, motioning with his hand. 

Dragon stepped in front of Adam and Jurot. “We need to leave,” he said, pointing away from the Iyrmen and the unseen terrors which had caused them to take action. 

“What? What is it?” Adam asked as he followed Jurot, who hadn’t even thought to disobey the Iyrman.

“Danger,” Dargon said simply, following them from behind.

“Danger?” Adam asked, turning to look back past the Iyrman towards the other four. 

Perception Check
D20 + 2 = 8 (6)

He couldn’t see through the trees or brushes, but after a few moments, he could feel the ground beneath them shake slightly. ‘What the hell?’

Jurot swiftly led the way away, understanding that they needed to move at least for a minute away, so that the Iyrmen could deal with the threat.

“How dangerous is it?” Adam asked, following Jurot’s swift form. He didn’t pay too much attention to the surrounding area, snapping twigs and cutting through bushes on the way out.

“It could kill either of you too quickly for us to save you,” Dargon said, bringing up the rear. 

Adam frowned, wondering what kind of beast could slay Jurot and he so quickly. “What is it?” 

“Trikro,” Dargon said, fingers twitching. He wanted to face the creature too, as any Iyrman would, but he couldn’t. He glanced at Adam, and then Jurot’s smiling face as the boy glanced back.

“A trikro?” Jurot asked, his eyes beaming with excitement. He had heard of the creature before, and his grandmother had slain one not half a century ago.  

“What the hell is that?” Adam asked, slowing down to match pace with Jurot.

“A dragon with three heads, but no wings,” Dargon said, simply. “It is a powerful creature, as powerful as its winged cousin, the wyvern.”

“Will they be alright?” Adam asked. A wyvern was quite powerful, and he and Jurot would certainly die too quickly against it. ‘Was it really because of Sozain? If it is because of you, I’ll make sure to give you a good talking to!’

“My brother and I would be enough to deal with one.” Dargon’s voice was full of confidence.

“Then why do we need to run?” Adam asked. A trikro would have quite some difficulty cutting through five Iyrmen to get to Jurot and he, though that was only if it didn’t have some kind of breath attack.

“There are two.”

“Two?” Jurot asked, stopping once he had felt as though they were far enough away. “Here?” He almost didn’t believe the situation, and he wouldn’t have if the words hadn’t come out the mouth of an Iyrman.

“It’s unlikely that two should be here,” Dargon said, agreeing with Jurot’s tone of voice. “We took the safe route, so we wouldn’t have faced a single one. They usually remain a few days away, north east of Deadwood.”

“They are many miles away from their lairs,” Jurot said, thinking about the matter for a moment. ‘Why? They shouldn’t be here.’ 

“If there are two, isn’t that dangerous?” Adam asked. “We should go help.”

“No.” Dargon shook his head, crossing his arms. “We must remain here.”

“Why not? Jurot and I will remain far enough away so that you can help.”

A terrifying screech filled the forest, echoing into the distance, followed by a second, teeth chattering screech. Adam could feel his body grow cold with sweat, and he avoided Dargon’s gaze, not wanting to reveal the fear on his body.

“Our task is to keep you two safe on the way to the Iyr,” Dargon said. He recalled how Jurot had gone down due to his own negligence. “We are not confident that we can stop either of them from attacking and killing you, so we must remain here.”

“What happens if the others get hurt?” Adam asked. “What happens if they die?”

“A death to a trikro is not a terrible death,” Dargon said, leaning back against a tree. He was confident that they would be able to deal with the two trikro, though it may be quite difficult.

“We’ll stay here!” Adam urged. “You can go and help.”

“My role is to protect the two of you.” Dargon remained casually leaning up against the tree, as though he had no worries in the world.

“We’ll be safe here,” Adam said. “Your brother is in danger!”

Dargon shook his head again. “My role, given to me by my brother, is to protect you two. I will do so, even if it means that Argon, Tazwyn, Eshva, or Kandal die.”

Adam stared up at Dargon. “What? What are you talking about? How can you-“ He reached up to his face and shook his head. ‘Right, he’s an Iyrman.’ Adam sighed. “So if I run towards the trikro, you’ll chase me?”

Dargon smirked, letting out the softest of scoffs. “Do you think you could run past me?” He raised his brows, lips quivering as he tried to hold onto his laugh.

Adam could feel the pressure emanating from the Iyrman, who was trying to hold back his laughter. Even now, Dargon could beat Adam without much trouble, no matter what tricks he could pull out.

 Jurot looked to Adam, blinking at him. ‘What are you thinking, Adam? Do you think you could go against someone like Dargon?’

Adam sighed. “Whatever.” He waited with the two Iyrmen, crossing his arms as well. His fingers tapped along his arms. Sometimes they could hear the sounds of the combat, screeching, growls, roars of both beast and man. 

“Thank you for healing me, Adam.” Jurot eventually said, feeling the thick tension coating the air. 

“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Adam replied. “You aren’t allowed to die yet, not until we face a dragon.” 

“That would be a good story to tell.” Jurot couldn’t help but smile.

“Is that why you want to face the trikro?” Dargon asked. “To die a decent death?” The Iyrman understood that feeling, though they had just had a conversation about how Adam wanted to die. Did he say that as a joke?

“I don’t want to face it!” Adam grumbled. “Well, I mean…” He looked up at the sky and closed his eyes. “I wouldn’t mind the experience…” Adam though about how much experience he would earn from assisting in defeating the two trikro. It seemed the system counted any effort to assist, so if he attacked with earnestness, he’d gain some experience from the fight. 

“Once they’re back, I’ll continue telling you about the Blackwater Crisis,” Dargon said, feeling bad for the half elf.

Adam frowned. “I just don’t want anyone to die. I was the one who wanted to go to the Iyr.” He could feel the guilt slowly eat at his heart. 

“No one could have expected this,” Dargon said, trying to relieve the boy’s worries.

Adam grit his teeth, looking down at the floor. “I shouldn’t have come so soon…” It was his selfish desire to take Jurot back to the Iyr to see Sonarot. At the same time, he wanted to make sure they were okay. He shook his head again, trying to get rid of the terrible thoughts which were plaguing him. 

“You should have more faith in we Iyrmen,” Dargon said. “We aren’t as weak as you think.”

Before Adam could reply, a horn was blown in the distance. It was carried along a breeze, from where they had fled from. 

Dargon pulled away from the tree. “Come,” he said, leading the way back.

The scene was carnage.

Trees had been uprooted, the earth beneath displaced. Bushes had been burnt to bits, and another area had a pool of black ooze, which still bubbled. 

Two large creatures lay dead. 

They were giant lizards, but with three heads, scales which were black as starless night covered their bodies, though some had been cut and blasted apart, and a few had been crushed. They were about as tall as Adam, but twice as long as he was tall. Each head was almost the exact same, though Adam couldn’t see too well since they had been cleanly cut and were bunched together.

The Iyrmen were injured, as one would expect if they heard that four Iyrmen had gone against two trikro. They were covered in burn marks, melted flesh, and deep cuts through their bodies. Tazwyn looked the best out of all of them, though her armour had taken a harsh battering from the fight, with deep cuts in her armour, and there were some bits which had holes through it from acid.

“It’s good to see you’re all well,” Adam said, sighing with relief. He rushed towards them. “I can heal those with melted skin.” He reached in to grab his die. 

The Iyrmen allowed him to heal them, since they didn’t believe he would try anything against them. Though they were wounded, and quite heavily so, they were still powerful enough to slaughter him like he were a sheep.

Mana: 3 -> 0
Spell
Cure Wounds
1D6 + 3 = 7 (4)
1D6 + 3 = 4 (1)
1D6 + 3 = 4 (1)

The Iyrmen gave their thanks as he healed the three who were unarmoured.

“We don’t mind our skin being marked,” Argon said. “Though we prefer blade marks and such against marks from the elements. The skin becomes too tender, and it becomes difficult to move.”

“I’m not sure I can patch you up that well,” Adam said. “I do have a healing potion for anyone who still needs it.”

“Healing potions are expensive to those who are new to adventuring,” Tazwyn said. “Keep it.”

“It’s only fifty gold,” Adam said. “Well, it cost me about five gold or so.” 

“You made it?” Tazwyn asked.

“Yeah,” Adam replied back.

Tazwyn exchanged another look with Dargon, who shrugged his shoulders. 

 

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Blackwater Crisis continuation confirmed?