377. Strangers On The Trail II

377. Strangers On The Trail II

“Yes,” Jaygak said, standing taller with great pride.

“May I hold it?” Morkarai asked, respectfully.

Jaygak’s lips twitched at Jurot and Kitool, handing over the great weapon, enjoying the fact he wanted to admire her weapon.

Morkarai, whose Giantsfire was now the second greatest weapon between them, admired Stormdrake. His entire body tingled in delight as he held such a great weapon. It was the same feeling Jurot had when he was holding Giantsfire, a great blade of the Fire Giants. Once, an Iyrman wielded it to slay a great foe, but they had returned it for the weapon did not belong to them.

‘Stormdrake...’ Morkarai thought, his eyes glued to the weapon. A blade like this, made from the-

His thoughts froze.

“How did you come to possess Stormdrake?” Morkarai asked. A blade like this couldn’t simply come into the hands of a young Iyrman who was probably just beginning their adventure in life. Something was strange about the situation.

“Adam gifted it to me,” Jaygak said, before motioning her hand towards Adam, who was still admiring Giantsfire.

‘What?’ Morkarai thought, taken aback. “It was gifted? To you?”

“Yes.”

Morkarai’s eyes snapped to Adam, who stared up at the Giant. “Young man, did you gift Stormdrake to the young Iyrman?”

“It’s Adam Fateson, and yes, I did.”

“Why?”

“I don’t use swords,” Adam said, motioning to his side, where his Dwarven made warhammer hung. “Oh.” He summoned his axe into his hand. “I use axes.”

Morkarai ignored the fact that Adam pointed to his warhammer, his eyes snapping to the axe, and then back to Adam. “Do you know what this blade is?”

“Stormdrake,” Adam replied, simply.

“You gave away Stormdrake, knowing what it is?” Morkarai asked again.

Fate’s Golden stared at the large fellow, basking in the sentiment.

Morkarai was meeting the force of nature which was Adam.

The Fire Giant wasn’t sure what to say. “How did you come to possess it?”

“I won it in a bet.”

Morkarai’s heart pounded wildly, doing its best to continue pumping blood to his mind, though it was aching. “You won it in a bet. Against who?”

“Just some old guy,” Adam replied, casually. “He says he’s really strong, and that he was some kind of Emperor who ruled a bunch of places.”

“Lord Strom is what we call him,” Jurot said.

‘An Emperor? Named Strom?’ Morkarai tried to gather his bearings. ‘It couldn’t be...’ He swallowed. “You... really gave it away?”

“Yep.”

“Why?”

Adam wrapped an arm around Jurot’s shoulders. “This here’s my brother, Jurot. I’m a Nephew of the Rot family, and the Rot family uses axes.”

“And you know of its capabilities?” Morkarai needed to ask again, since his mind had gone blank at the ridiculousness of it all.

“Actually, not really. I hear it’s a legendary weapon and that it can do all sorts, but we’re not strong enough to wield it.”

“Adam...” Jaygak began in the Iyrman’s tongue. “I can’t accept a weapon like this.”

Adam laughed, patting her against her back. “Jaygak! Diamond Rank, here we come!” He continued to laugh.

‘Diamond Rank?’ Morkarai thought, before his eyes fell back to the blade. ‘Should I trade this blade for Giantsfire? If she grows stronger, she should be able to wield it, and it possesses a great bonus that will assist her immediately, and it is a blade which utilises fire, which should be more favourable to her disposition. She would be able to gain the ability to walk through fire harmlessly, and...’

Morkarai forced those thoughts away. ‘No. I don’t have the gall to do that!’ Even he could not dare to even think about coveting this blade. ‘I will just have to admire it while I am in the Iyr.’

Morkarai continued to admire the weapons, seeing how each was enchanted, though Phantom was truly the greatest. “Was it an Ezi who enchanted your weapons?” Morkarai was still trying to piece together how they came to possess such great weapons when they should not have been able to wield them. He also noted that Wizard’s Axe was forged recently.

“I don’t think enchanting is easy,” Adam joked, shaking his head with a smile on his face, before remembering that Morkarai was an honoured Guest. He cleared this throat. “Excuse me.”

“It was not,” Jurot replied, not wishing to lie to the Giant, but he wasn’t going to reveal much more.

“Oh? Not even this Phantom of yours?” Morkarai asked.

“No,” Jurot confirmed.

“Are they not your best enchanters?” Morkarai asked, wondering if that had changed. ‘Did the Iyrmen gain more great enchanters?’

“The Ezi family are still our greatest enchanters,” Jurot informed.

“Interesting.”

Morkarai’s eyes fell onto Adam’s puthral, which he admired deeply. Puthral was a wonderful material, like the Elves’ mithril.

Morkarai’s thoughts froze.

His eyes fell onto the man in puthral, who had not taken off his helmet since he had arrived in the village. He had assumed that he was an Iyrman, but there were things which did not make sense.

He was a Nephew of the Rot family. He also did not take off his helmet, but if he was an Iyrman, he would have.

“May I see your helmet?” Morkarai asked, innocently.

Adam took it off reluctantly, revealing his leaf shaped ears, and the lack of the Rot family’s tattoo.

“Thank you,” Morkarai said, staring at the helmet, but he was deep in thought.

Adam was a Half Elf, one who was close to the Iyrmen, close enough to call of them his brother, and he was Nephew of the Rot family, which afforded him great benefits. Not only that, but he was in puthral, which wouldn’t be handed to him for being a mere Nephew, meaning the Iyr no doubt valued him greatly.

Then there was the matter with Stormdrake. Did he really bet against that man? He mentioned Phantom during the bet. Did that mean Phantom had belonged to him originally? Then he gifted Stormdrake to Jaygak, and Phantom to his brother. If he was capable of gifting a weapon like Stormdrake freely, then it wasn’t unreasonable that he would gift Phantom to the one he called his brother.

“Lord Morkarai,” Adam called.

“Yes?” Morkarai asked.

Adam pointed to his helmet, which had been dented by Morkarai’s sheer strength.

“Ah, my apologies,” Morkarai said, awkwardly. “I was just so excited.”

“It’s alright, I’ll fix it when we get back into the Iyr.” Adam smiled, trying to get along with the Lord since he had probably offended him earlier. He didn’t want to cause more trouble.

‘You will fix it?’ Morkarai thought. ‘You know how to work puthral?’ He managed to not stare at Adam, falling deep in thought.

‘Hmm?’ Adam thought, feeling a tingle on the back of his neck, not realising it was Morkarai’s interest.

Morkarai, too, felt the tingle on the back of his neck, not realising it was Lucy’s interest.

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You know it's serious when Jaygak stops messing around.