“Why did you fight?” Jurot asked.

“We’ll talk about it another time,” Adam said, smiling slightly. He had been keeping it a secret for no reason in particular, testing whether or not he’d find out by himself.

Jurot looked to his mother, but she just smiled. Of course, it was Adam’s right to speak of the tale, so he just needed to wait. It didn’t seem their relationship was bad.

“I wish to face grandfather too,” Jurot said, his face stone cold again. There was a hint of a pout, but he did not let it slip further.

“I’m sure he will be willing if you ask,” Sonarot said. “Shall I go speak with him?”

“I will ask him,” Jurot said.

Lanarot shook and began to groan in Adam’s arms.

“Oh? Is it that time already?” Adam asked, before handing her over to her mother.

“You do not want to?” Sonarot joked, taking her daughter away from him.

“I’ll nap with her when it’s time, but I don’t want to do this part.”

Sonarot just smiled as she took her daughter away to clean her and change her.

“Why did you fight them?” Jurot asked.

“That old geezer attacked me,” Adam said.

“Grandfather attacked you?”

“Yeah. He said something about your mother, and I called him a…” Adam glanced around, noting the number of Iyrmen. “Anyway, he attacked me and I tried to defend myself. He’s one hell of a monster, your grandfather.”

“Yes,” Jurot said, standing taller. “Grandfather is powerful.”

“Apparently, he really liked the fight with me, and bragged about my skills to Grandaunt. We came to fight the day after, and… now that I think about it, she owes me a reward.”

“A reward?”

“Yeah, she promised me a reward, and I still haven’t received anything.”

“If Grandaunt has promised you a reward, she will grant you something amazing,” Jurot said, nodding his head. “The Kan family does not reward lightly.”

“That’s good to know,” Adam said. “If she rips me off, I’m going tell the twins to tell her off.”

Jurot placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder. “Work hard, Adam,” he said. “It will be difficult for you to stop such jokes, but I will support you.”

“I can’t even make jokes like that?” Adam asked.

Eventually, Sonarot returned with her daughter, whose eyes were half closed. “She will need to sleep soon.”

“I’ll take her to nap,” Adam said.

“There is an area nearby for babies to sleep,” Sonarot said, guiding Adam away to a quiet area where there were dozens of babies, and a handful of Iyrmen about, waiting for their children to awaken, and others who were keeping an eye on the sleeping babies.

Sonarot handed Lanarot to Adam in front of the Iyrmen. “You will lay with her?”

“I might as well,” Adam said. “I need to rest after those fights too.”

Adam crept up to a corner and lay down, Lanarot laying on his chest. He noted the Iyrmen keeping an eye on him, but he paid them no mind. Lanarot fell asleep, drooling on his chest, and Adam remained under her, his own eye lids growing heavy.

The first day of the festival ended quickly for Adam, who had napped with Lanarot and had taken her home.

“I heard that you had retired early,” Jarot said, carrying the breastplate in his good arm. Beside him was Churot, who Adam had never seen apart from the old man.

Adam stood to take it from him, not wanting an old man to carry his stuff for him. “Yeah, I thought I may as well.”

“You have no told Jurot yet about our fight?” Jarot chuckled.

“Not yet,” Adam said, smiling. “He doesn’t even know about the results between me and Otkan.”

Jarot laughed, which boomed through the courtyard.

Lanarot, who had been playing with her blocks, jolted upright and looked over to him. As expected, she began to cry.

“Oh, sorry my little girl,” Jarot said, picking her up and gently rocked her in his arm.

“Evening, Churot. Enjoying the festival?”

Churot remained staring at Adam, his eyes cold.

“Do not mind Churot,” Jarot said. “He is a quiet boy.”

“I notice he’s always with you,” Adam said.

“I dote on him,” Jarot replied.

“Why is that?”

“It is my responsibility, and my right,” Jarot said. “Can I not dote on my grandson?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Adam said.

Jarot nodded his head slowly. “Churot receives most of our affection, my wife’s and my own, because we must also take the role of his parents.”

Adam slowly nodded his head. “Right.”

When Lanarot was quiet, he placed her down with her blocks, and Churot sat beside her, staring at her.

Jarot walked away from the pair, taking a seat on Sonarot’s rocking chair. “I doted on my son, Farot, the most. He was the youngest of the three. Surot, Mirot, and Farot. I named him after my own generation, for he was a small boy, and his birth was complicated.”

Jarot looked to the corner of the courtyard, and nodded his head towards it. “When he was a boy, there was a tree there. He enjoyed eating from the fruit it bore, though it would often upset his stomach. Wait until it was red, I would tell him, but he liked the sourness of when the fruit was green.”

Jarot smiled. “He grew up well, though. He practised harder than Surot and Mirot, and he grew at half their rate. Still, he did well enough. He married his childhood sweetheart and travelled with her, fighting a great many beasts.”

Jarot leaned back in his chair. “It was raining that day. I found out that Farot and Chayrot had been killed on their return. “Forgryn, the Azure Terror. He was well known in Aswadasad, living deep within it’s vast desert.” Jarot almost scoffed, shaking his head. “It was a twisted fate that it was he who had realised who the pair were. He showed little mercy to the two, due to the blood flowing in their veins.”

Adam remained silent, staring at the old man.

“They fought well, but…” He shook his head. “It was a good death, no doubt, but it was a death. How could I allow him to die? He was not like Surot and Mirot, who had grown up healthy and well. He was my little boy, who had not become an Expert though he trained harder than any who lay claim to that title.” Jarot clenched his fist, his veins nearly popping out, his entire body growing red.

“I set out, against the Chief’s wishes. He was going to send someone else to find the bones and return them, but I would not allow anyone else to take that right from me. Otkan came with me, and so did Tangak. She would not allow the Azure Terror off so lightly, not after what he had done. Then there was Zaool, who had come to stop us, but he eventually came with us.”

Jarot grit his teeth for a moment. “It was after we left that the Chief had received word. The Iyr had dispatched many more, and when they caught up, they told me the news. During their journey, Chirot had fallen pregnant.”

‘Oh shit.’

“I used the issue to press my claim, and so the four of us continued to find Forgryn. We found the bodies first. They were in the bastard’s lair, kept apart. I tore him apart, though it cost us dearly. Forgryn was beyond our abilities, and during the fight, Tangak and Zaool fell. We knew the risks, but I was blinded by my rage at that time, and because I pressed my claim in that way...”

Adam remained silent, unsure of what to say.

“I returned, with the bones of the three. I paid the price for my mistake. I gave up my position and my arm, and retired to look after little Churot, who was brought back thanks to Baktu’s grace.”

“Your arm?” Adam asked.

“It was because I was unable to defend them, that my Brother and Sister died,” Jarot said. “So I gave up my arm which should have shielded them.”

‘Damn.’

“One day I will tell you the tale properly, but you will have to accept this for the moment,” Jarot said. “I’m just a foolish old man who didn’t deserve to be the Family Elder.”

“What is the title of Family Elder in comparison to the title of father?” Adam asked.

Jarot smiled, but he shook his head. “I should not have let him go. I knew that he was born weak of body. I should have stopped him from training. I should have stopped him from Ranging. I should have stopped him from leaving the Iyr. He should have stayed here, to live with the extended family in peace.”

“Do you regret it?”

“Every day.”

Adam slowly nodded his head.

“If I had accepted the help of those who had come along with us, my Brother and Sister would still be here, at least,” Jarot said. “They died a good death, and the stories will continue to be passed from generation to generation. I’m sure that all of the children in this courtyard will know the tale by the time they are ten. Laygak, Nirot, Naqokan, Faool, they know of it.”

“I’m sorry about your son,” Adam said.

Jarot nodded his head slowly. “Churot is growing well. He takes after his mother, who could fall every hour, and still get back up. He is quiet, though, unlike either of them.”

Adam looked to Churot, who was holding Lanarot up as she grabbed his horns. “He’s a good kid.”

Jarot smiled. “Would you have done the same?”

“Would I have been prepared to throw away my life for vengeance?” Adam asked.

“If Lanarot was killed by a great foe, greater than something you and Jurot could take with your own abilities, would you go and take revenge by your own hands?” Jarot asked.

Adam stared at the girl. “I’d have the Iyr bring her back,” Adam said.

Jarot slowly nodded his head. “A wise decision.”

“Once they had brought her back, I’d make sure she was happy. I’d stay in the Iyr, for years, and I’d sell as many weapons as it requires. Then, I’d make a weapon that was designed to kill only the thing which killed her.” Adam narrowed his eyes. “I’d make it a slow and painful death. Even if I died during the encounter, and even if it lives, I’d make it wish it was dead. If I did die before killing it, then I’d leave the rest to Jurot.”

Jarot leaned back in the rocking chair and closed his eyes. His lips formed a small smile. “Are you sure you do not want to marry Cirot and Sirot?”

“Would you like to see Phantom more clearly?”

“I thought you were not going to joke any longer?”

“Who said it was a joke?”

 

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