Atha woke to see the table in the kitchen set with a healthy breakfast of eggs, green onions, and the doe meat. Bog had dressed the doe and had cut it up into portions. It was nice of him to make breakfast, too.

The Naga continued on his way to the bathroom, his things in his hands. He knocked this time. And he heard a:

"Taken," from inside.

Atha sighed. Norrix liked to take long baths. The Naga had woken up at the crack of dawn, once, and Norrix was in the bathroom. Soaking up in the water.

"Sorry to bother you," Atha slithered back to the kitchen. He placed his things in a basket, that usually was used for the dirty clothes, but had been empty now.

Atha sat and began to eat. The eggs were just the right among of salty and the doe meat was tender, just as Atha had suspected the day before. 

The green onions added a fresh feeling to the breakfast, and the freshly squeezed apple juice was just sweet enough to make Atha get that pleasant boost to his mood that came with eating sweet things.

He heard footsteps and turned to stare at Bog, who looked half-asleep.

"Atha, you didn't have to make breakfast. It was my turn," Bog spoke, and Atha blinked.

"I didn't make it. Do you think it was Kraedor?" Who else could it be? The adventurers were out on a quest. They had said something about a lion boss mob down in the savanna that has developed the taste for human meat.

"He would black out a minute in and leave the stove on, or something. Seeing as we weren't awakened by flames, I think it was Norrix," Bog dug into his breakfast. Kraedor came soon after him.

That was the strange thing about the Ice Priest. He had no idea of the layout of the farmhouse. But he could still make his way to the rooms, when he needed something from them.

"Good morning, father," Atha spoke, his glass of apple juice in his hand.

"Good morning, partner," Bog greeted, after swallowing some deer meat.

"Good morning, family," Kraedor sat down and looked at the meal before him. He smiled and turned to Atha.

"Son, did you make this? I am lucky to have a son who can cook. I never got the hang of it," Kraedor took his fork and got some meat on it.

"No, Norrix did. You know, the vampire that helps you guard the farm?" Their excuse for Norrix leaving with them was, that, he was a retired adventurer who had an accident, but still had keen eyes and could help Kraedor guard the house.

"Norrix is a good boy, then," Kraedor began to eat. About five minutes in, he blinked, looked around, and then saw that he was sitting at the kitchen table, and he looked down at his half-eaten food.

"Son, why is my portion so small?" Kraedor sounded hurt. Atha was quick to fix that.

"We were attacked by some animated mushrooms yesterday, and they hit you with a forgetfulness spell. You had as big of a plate as Bog and I, it is just that you ate some of it," Kraedor nodded and smiled. So, his son was not slighting him, then.

What a good boy his Atha was. But his son was lonely. Kraedor could see it in how Atha put himself like a man possessed into his work. If Atha had someone, he would take things easy.

Kraedor got a flash of something in his brain. Of a stubborn memory that was fighting tooth and nail with his condition. Of golden eyes, that looked hurt, but with longing at Atha.

Yes, Norrix was indeed a good boy, providing them with meat and all. And he didn't attack them. Kraedor had been attacked by vampires once or twice, and Norrix was tame in comparison to them.

"Atha, where is Norrix? Why can't he come in here to keep us company?" Kraedor asked, and Atha shifted in his chair uncomfortably.

"He is in the bathroom. I don't want to bother him," Kraedor hummed and stood up. His legs took him to the bathroom, despite his brain trying to tell him that this place was unfamiliar to him.

What nasty mushrooms were those that lived in the forest? Confusing him, making him forget. Why, yesterday, Kraedor had gotten in front of a mirror. He did not look thirty-eight!

 But his son was a civilian. He needed protection. And, Kraedor did not mind forgetting a couple of things, if it meant he could spend his twilight years with such a good son.

Kraedor knocked on the door and he heard a:

"Taken," from inside.

"Norrix, my boy, you have to come down for breakfast. Keep us company, please. We are a family and families have breakfast together," Kraedor then walked back to the kitchen.

Inside the bathroom, Norrix was staring at the ceiling. A family, huh? With two of its members being afraid of him? Should he still try to give out the olive branch to the Naga and the goblin?

Oh, why not? They had all the right to be afraid. He was a killer. Nothing will ever sugar coat that. Maybe, if he worked hard, he would be able to get them to fear him less.

Norrix got out of the cold water and dressed. As he did so, he watched the water getting sucked out of the bathtub and the runes on it clean the inside of it.

Mana was a wonderful thing. How he wished he could use it still. But what he wished for were impossible, or so the healer, Valerie, had told him.

Still, he was going to approach the guild master and tell him to fix him. Because, a fresh mind, one that has not toiled under the word no their entire career could do the impossible. Or so, Norrix believed.

Norrix went to the kitchen and sat on an empty chair, with no food in front of him.

"It is perfect, Norrix," Bog commented, giving him the thumbs up.

"Did Norrix make this?" Kraedor spoke. Norrix sighed. The mage was going in longer periods of remembering, but he still blacked out, from time to time.

"I did, Kraedor. How do you feel about guarding the farm today?" Norrix asked, looking at the old mage.

"Oh, we are going to show those mushrooms, my boy. But, beware of the spores. Least they hit you with forgetfulness spells. Like they did me," Kraedor warned, and Norrix nodded.

"Thank you for the breakfast, Norrix. You...don't have to hunt. If you'd like, you can take some of my blood," Atha suggested, and Norrix blinked.

"I don't want you to kill unnecessarily. The doe meat will last us for days. There is no sense in killing again," at Atha's clarifications, Norrix smiled softly. Yes, he didn't want to kill without a cause, either.

"Finish your breakfast and I will feed from your wrist," something told Norrix that, if he suggested the neck, Atha would panic. But the wrist was an impersonal spot. And, when Atha nodded and began to eat again, Norrix knew he had done the right call.