361. Danger and Outbreak II

361. Danger and Outbreak II

“We’ll keep two people on watch at all times,” Adam said over dinner. “There are seventeen of us, so we can take one hour watches during the night. Nobby and Brittany will take watch along with someone else too. Technically, there will be at least four on watch at all times but, you know, two of them aren’t people.” Adam motioned his head to Hades, his owl familiar, and Zeus, his giant elk steed.

The farmers looked at the familiar and the steed. They hadn’t seen the creatures eat even once. Whereas the mules, which were kept by the other group, required a great amount of feed, Zeus did not. Yet, the giant elk could move all night long if required, and had certainly been a great help in keeping a great pace.

“Adam?” Rick called.

“Yes?”

“Pardon me asking, but why did you make the outpost so large?”

Adam had noted that their outpost was much larger than the other group's, and that had been by his request. “Well, I was under the assumption that the Outbreaks wouldn’t occur daily.”

“Yes?” Rick replied.

“So it would get pretty boring on the days the Outbreaks don’t happen. This way we can have enough space to do what we like in camp, right?”

“Right...” Rick stared at Adam for a long moment. That’s when he realised it. Adam was a Half Elf.

“Since you’ve asked me a question, could I ask you some too?” Adam asked.

“Yes.”

“How come you became an adventurer?”

Rick paused for a moment, taken aback that Adam was interested in his past. “We’re farmers by birth. We became adventurers about five years ago. We wanted to make more money for our families, so we pooled our money to buy helmets, and we made our own shields out of wood and hide. We grabbed what weapons we had, axes mostly, and we adventured out during noonval and nightval.”

“Nightval?” Adam asked.

Rick nodded. “Dangerous work, but it paid well. As the months and years passed, we bought greater weapons, and armour too.” Rick pulled down his collar to reveal the chain shirt beneath. It was thin, but the man wore hide under it.

“Must be a killer during noonval,” Adam said. His nightval bear leather tunic had kept him quite cool, and he could only imagine how they were sweltering in their chain and hide.

“We drink a lot of water,” Rick said, throwing a look to Jurot. “Thank you for that.”

Jurot nodded in return, biting into his cheese and cracker. The cheese had matured over the time they had spent moving, and if he had left it for a few more days, it would have gone bad.

“We started off hunting bears first. There were seven of us, but...” He looked into the fire.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“We make sure their families are taken care of.”

Adam bowed his head slowly. “Farming doesn’t make enough?”

“We’ll be able to drink every few days with our friends and family, but we can’t do more than that. If we want to watch a tournament, we could stretch our coin, if we prepare for it months in advance, or if we pool our money and take turns.”

“We make enough money to pay for the Gods too,” John added.

Rick nodded. “We pay our monthly dues well enough.”

“How much are the monthly dues?” Adam asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”RêAd lateSt chapters at novelhall.com Only

“A copper for each person, but we try to pay a silver for one person too,” Rick said. “It’s good to have the Gods’ blessings.”

“True enough,” Adam said, glancing between Dunes and Vonda. “I seem to be overpaying for my visits at the temple, but I suppose I rarely go.”

“How much are your dues?”

“I usually drop a gem for each of the Gods I follow. Lady Elaveil, Lady Arya, and Lord Sozain.”

Sir Vonda’s eyes piercing his cheek with their heat.

Adam cleared his throat. “I don’t have much connection to the other Gods, but I suppose I should pay my dues to them from now on too.”

“The Gods of Balance, War, and Death?” Rick asked, furrowing his brows. “Don’t you pray to Elvish Gods?”

“I’m only half an Elf,” Adam stated, before smiling. “I pray to those three because I have a connection with them.”

“A connection?”

Adam nodded. “They’ve helped me out before.”

“What did they do?”

“Lord Sozain granted me his powers, and then Lady Arya did,” Adam said. “Lady Elaveil, well... I feel a little guilty, so I try to send her my prayers too.”

“Guilty?” Rick asked, intrigued.

“No,” Jurot said. “She fought back the Sea Azai.”

Jaygak squinted her eyes harder, before looking to Kitool, who nodded her head. “Then who fought back the Dragon Turtle?”

Jurot and Kitool stared at her for a moment.

“I meant from the Southern Sea.”

The pair continued to stare.

“I meant in the last twenty...” Jaygak thought about how to word it. “Almost twenty years ago.”

“Ten years ago?” Jurot asked.

“Was it ten years ago?”

“Redblade?”

“Oh,” Jaygak said. “Yes.”

Adam glanced between the Iyrmen, who were having their own conversation. “Anyway, Vezar.”

John nodded. “She was old, then. In her fifties, I think. Is she...”

“She is alive,” Jurot confirmed.

“I’m glad to hear it,” John said, smiling. “I’d love to meet her again to thank her.”

“I will send your request to meet her,” Jurot said.

“Oh, no, that’s fine,” John said, chuckling nervously. “I don’t want to bother such a great warrior.”

“She saved your life, it is good to make such a request,” Jurot said.

John wasn’t sure how that worked, but he continued to smile nervously. “If it isn’t a bother.”

“You know...” Adam said, quietly. “I mean, you guys can come by one day when we go back. It’s not far from Red Oak, and you could stay a few days.”

“We will consider the offer,” Rick said, glaring at John.

John chuckled again, glancing aside.

“Everyone in Red Oak knows the strength of the Iyrmen,” Rick stated.

“Red Oak and the Iyr work closely together,” Jurot confirmed.

“We’ve no issues with the Iyr, and we’ve no issues with others because the Iyr’s nearby,” Rick said.

“It’s a shame that the other towns and cities have forgotten,” Adam said. “People from Central Aldland are terrible about that sort of thing.”

“They say those from Central Aldland don’t like Iyrmen,” Rick said, looking to Jurot. “Is that really true?”

“Some do not,” Jurot said. “They do not teach them the stories of their past.”

“Which stories?” Rick asked.

“The Blackwater Crisis.”

Rick nodded.

“Have you heard it?” Adam asked.

“Aye,” Rick said. “The only story I know.”

“It’s a story most people have heard in Red Oak,” John said. “We gather around a fire during nightval, and they sometimes speak the story.”

“They say the Iyrmen were outnumbered two to one,” Rick said. “Is that true?”

“No,” Jurot said. “It was four or five to one.”

“Is that right?” Rick asked, doubt in his eyes.

Adam and the Iyrmen smiled.

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