36. Walls of the Iyr

36. Walls of the Iyr

Omen: 2, 15

The morning was full of life and cheer, as the villagers thanked the Iyrmen profusely. There was more dancing, drinking, and singing. Even the young were getting in the mood, with parents slipping the tiniest amount of alcohol to the noisy brats.

Even Adam, who the villagers remained weary of, had been thanked by several people.

“I’ve never thought elves were so bad,” one lied.

“Aye to that! I always says you leaf ears are pretty as you are good,” another lied.

Eventually, the Chief appeared, an innocent smile on her face. She grabbed onto Adam’s large hands and shook them. “Even when you fought, you thought to look after us wee folk,” she said, before pulling his hands towards a building. “Allow me to introduce you to-“

“Oh?” Adam called, looking over his shoulder. He dug his feet into the ground to stop the woman from pulling him along. “I think that was Jurot,” Adam said, pointing over his shoulder to the Iyrman who was currently talking to the boys. “I should really go, I don’t want to make an Iyrman wait.”

“Are you sure?” Chief Merl began, holding onto his hands tight. “I’m sure he can wait while you meet my-“

“What was that?” Adam called out behind him. “I really should be going. Thank you so much for the food, and I hope that you can get the walls sorted out. I’ll try and swing by some day to check up on the village and make sure there aren’t any bandits about.” Adam smiled and quickly retreated from the woman, saving his chastity.

“What a shame,” the Chief said, sighing as she watched him go. “Merl had just started to feel better.” She shook her head, walking in to the building to see her recovering granddaughter. “I’m sorry dear, but it looks like the Iyrmen needed him.”

“It’s alright, grandmother,” the beautiful young woman said. “We’ll meet again, if the Lord of Fate allows it.”

“Is the elf man really going to join us?” a boy said, cautiously eyeing up Adam as he approached before looking up at Jurot.

“Adam is a good man,” Jurot said. “He bet his life to save you.”

“He did?”

“Haven’t you been paying attention?” another boy said. The story had been told several times, but the boys were more eager to hear the actual fight, rather than what happened before it. “Of course you’re a Baron’s son.” He rolled his eyes.

The boy frowned. “Our Knights are still highly valued in East Aldland.”

“Everyone knows we up north have the best Knights,” the Count’s son replied.

“Nu uh.”

“Yes we do.”

“What about King’s Sword?”

“King’s Sword doesn’t count. He’s the King’s Sword!” The Count’s son shook his head. “Don’t forget, we have the Knight of Death.”

“Well, he doesn’t count either.”

Adam watched as they quickly went from complaining about him joining them to power ranking the various Knights of the Region, from the Knight of Death, to the Knight of Flowers, to the Mountain Knight.

Once they were ready to leave, the Iyrmen took their positions. Argon at the front, the children behind him. Eshva covered the left flank, Kandal the right. Tazwyn brought up the rear of the children. The prisoners remained behind Tazwyn some ways, followed by Jurot and Adam, and finally Dargon.

They walked along the bridge above the river, before stepping onto the land of the Iyrmen. The moment they passed the river, Adam felt a fuzziness within him. Even the children, who had been discussing how the Mountain Knight could obviously defeat the Knight of Flowers, since the Knight of Flowers was still quite young, stopped talking. They glanced around, trying to find why they were sensing a fuzziness.

Adam glanced around too, trying to get a sense of things. ‘What is that?’

Wisdom Check

D20 + 1 = 3 (2)

“What’s wrong?” Dargon asked, smiling to himself. ‘How does it feel, stepping on our lands?’

“I don’t know,” Adam admitted, not understanding the fuzziness within him. It was like he was being tickled through his navel, but there was also a feeling of the gentlest feather crossing along the back of his neck. “But I don’t like it.”

“You don’t need to worry,” Dargon said, patting Adam’s shoulder. “We’re in our Iyrlands now.” He, like Kandal, enjoyed the company of the half elf. He was as queer as he was enjoyable to be around. It wasn’t a boring journey, partly due to the half elf’s eccentricity.

“Don’t worry,” came a sweet, soft, tender voice. “I won’t kill you, yet.”

Adam shuddered, unsure of whether he should feel glad she was taking Balrog away, or if he should be terrified he might be taken away with her. The bald woman turned to look at him, smiling warmly, like a sweet aunt. Adam quickly glanced aside. ‘If I can’t see her, she can’t see me.’

Mattias had remained still, having noticed both women were much older than Kandal and Argon, who had already instilled a deep rooted fear within his heart of the Iyrmen. ‘If Argon says they’re stronger, then I’ll just have to believe it...’

“Thank you,” Argon said, bowing his head towards the women, who disappeared with the bandits as quickly as they had appeared.

Adam threw a glance towards Jurot, whose brow was covered with sweat, his eyes beaming brightly. He was still staring at where they had disappeared too, trying to keep them within his sight for even a sliver of a second longer.

“Who were they?” Adam asked, unsure of whether he should have asked.

“They,” Jurot began excitedly, before noting Dargon’s look, “are those who patrol the borders of the Iyr.” His voice had gone from excited, to a practised calm, though it was filled with reverence.

Adam glanced between the pair of Iyrmen, seeing how Dargon was smiling innocently. “Alright,” he said, understanding that he should press further. ‘The aunt probably used her body as a weapon, and the other one...’ The savage woman had somehow exuded no murderous intent, but Adam had noted the look in her eye. ‘No, she probably was just directing it towards the other two.’

The boys glanced between one another, before beginning to try and rank them between all the Knights.

As they continued their journey, the road began to dip slightly, following the sun. The forest, which had grown light for the past hour, soon became sparse, with small bundles of trees a stone’s throw away from one another.

In the distance, they could see it. A giant wall, which stretched from one horizon to the next, following the curves of the hills. The bottom of the wall was made of earth and rock, and was about as tall as Adam. At the top of each hill was a tower, though it was covered by cloth, coloured similarly to the walls.

Spell

Guidance

1D3 = 2

Perception Check

D20 + 2 + 2 = 15 (11)

Unfortunately for Adam, he couldn’t spot whether each tower was manned, as the cloth hid that from him, though no doubt if there was someone manning the towers, they would easily be able to see him, along with miles of the Iyrlands.

The wall reminded Adam of a certain great wall, though he wondered how many miles this wall went on for. “Nice wall.”

Jurot smiled, proudly, nodding his head. “It’s the East Wall, or the Front Wall. Made generations ago, when the Iyr was gifted these lands. It took an entire generation to make it.” He glanced at Dargon, hoping he hadn’t made a mistake.

“With a wall like this, I don’t think anyone would dare to fight the Iyr,” Adam said, glancing along it. “How long is it?”

“Long,” Jurot said, still glancing at Dargon.

“The wall runs all along the hills,” Dargon said. “From coast to coast. Our lands extend beyond the wall, but the wall protects all our people behind it.” He stopped to admire it. Even after all these years, and the countless times he had seen it, he could only feel jitters in his stomach. These were the very walls which had protected him as a child, before he could protect himself with his sword. It wasn’t just these walls which protected him, but those who roamed along the borders of the Iyr too. He wouldn’t dare to claim he had become a shield for the Iyr, not like them, but he was an Iyrman, and he’d spill blood once anyone breached the walls.

“It represents the Front Iyr,” Jurot said. “Beyond these walls, we will see the Iyr. My home.” He shared the same feelings as Dargon and the other Iyrmen. He hadn’t seen the wall from this side often, having only left the Iyr a handful of times when he was younger. The first time he had come by, he had been sleeping on his father’s back, so he hadn’t seen it. He had cried and screamed to his father, who had taken him outside to see it, where he had admired it for hours.

“Front Iyr?” Adam asked, his lips twitching slightly. “Is it because it’s the frontier?”

“It is Front Iyr because it is the front of the Iyr,” Dargon said, but he smiled at the joke too. “Every visitor who comes to meet with we Iyrmen sees this first. Every approaching army which wishes to invade our lands, must first come to pass the wall.” Dargon knew of only a handful of beings who would be able to surpass the wall, but none would dare come. ‘No,’ he thought, thinking about a few days ago. ‘There is one.’

“Didn’t you affirm that no one would be stupid enough to war with the Iyr?” Adam asked, staring at the wall. Unless someone came from the heavens above, none would be able to manage these walls. The Iyr would see the armies coming from miles away from the outposts.

‘No, wait...’ Adam narrowed his eyes. ‘Those two Iyrmen from before, how did they...’

“The current King wouldn’t dare to war with the Iyr,” Dargon said. “Those from distant lands may decide to, though they would need to first rush through the Kingdom, or try to land along the coast before they march up to our walls.” ‘Or they’d have to come from the sky.’

“Speaking of which, you still haven’t finished that story.” Adam squinted at him, crossing his arms like a petulant child. “You promised...”

Dargon chuckled, glancing towards Kandal, sharing a look with him. “Once we’re in Front Iyr, proper.”

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Okay, Blackwater Crisis next chapter? Maybe?

Also I want to post up multiple chapters, but I keep writing so many words. Even this chapter was becoming too long, so I had to split it up!

I hope you guys like hearing the thoughts of other characters to contextualise stuff!