“Adam son of Fate,” Adam said, extending a hand to formally introduce himself to the Iyrmen. Each was tall and strong, built either like an ox, or like a panther, but each so powerful in their ht.

  “Argon,” the leader of the Iyrman group said. He was tall and broad, with long bck hair which fell to his shoulders. He looked to be the oldest, in his te thirties or early forties. The greatsword at his back was almost as big as he, with a long grip that was about as long as Adam’s wrist to forearm, and the bde itself was as wide as the crossbar, a ft, solid thing that was sharpe the edges. The entire hilt was ed in bandages, which hid how the grip met the crossbar.

  ‘Cool.’

  “Tazwyn,” she said. “I heard that you are det at sying boars.” The woman smiled. She was one of the few who had ginger hair rather than dark hair, and she had freckles all over her face. She wielded a sword and shield, and was adorned in pte mail rather than the furs of the Iyrmen.

  “I’m not bad,” Adam admitted. “It’s only thanks to all those who assisted me.”

  “Eshva.” She was much shorter than Argon and Tazwyn, but built just as wide. She had dark hair, cut short. At her side were two warhammers, each of which looked just as amazing as his own, but there was something else about them, though he wasn’t able to gather as the person introduced themselves.

  “Kandal.” Kandal was built like a typical Iyrman, though his eyes seemed dead. He had a rge greataxe on his back.

  “Dargon,” the st Iyrman said. He looked just like Argon, but slightly younger, and slightly thinner. His greatsword was much more normal, not quite as long, but the bck gem whied the pommel seemed to give out an ominous energy.

  The order that we were introduced denotes our ranks, so if I’m not around, Tazwyn is in charge and so on.” Argon gowards Dargon, grunting something. “My you brother is tasked with your safety, however, so stay with him.”

  “I’m still strohah of you together,” Dargon said, gng at Jurot first, and then Adam.

  “I tell,” Adam said, gng at them all. They each were Steel Rank adventurers, with a number of stamps. Argon had the most, with Tazwyn having the seost, and the rest all had a simir amount of stamps, about fifteen to twenty.

  “Since we are fag undead, it is best y a blunt on.” Argon g Jurot, who had fotten to buy one due to the fact he heard Adam speak dwarven. “The majority of the undead will be skeletons of some kind. If there is aype of undead, we will deal with it.”

  “We’ll stay out of your way when that time es.” Adam chuckled.

  “Do not stress yourselves. oal is to protect the people by vanquishing the undead, not by dying to the undead.”

  Adam g Jurot for a moment. “I uand. I’ll definitely live, you bet on that.”

  “Good. We shall leave soon. Tazwyn, we will need a blunt on for Jurot.” Argon pced a hand on Jurot’s shoulder. “You are too inexperieo fight such beings with your family’s on.”

  “I uand.” Jurot nodded his head, accepting the fact that he was too weak. It wasn’t a dishonour to fight with another on, but he did want t honour to his family’s on.

  Kandal pced a hand on Jurot’s shoulder. “Aime.”

  The two shared their bond through their ons. Axes were their favoured ons. Jurot’s fighting style was that of an axe and shield, though sometimes he did fo the shield. He was sure his parents would be annoyed by the fact, but sometimes he needed his other hand free for something else.

  Ohe warhammer had been bought for Jurot, one which was made from a local smith, and had been appraised by Tazwyn to be det, they set out from the town. They took the main road westward, which was what Adam remembered from his st life too.

  QuestDefend the Three VilgesReward300XP

  ‘The Iyr seems to be in the same pce.’ However, with everything being so different, he wasn’t sure if he should pletely it to that thought yet.

  Argon took the lead, with Tazwyn at the rear. Kandal and Eshva remai the sides, with Dargon remainihe young pair. They had moved into position wordlessly, with a practised discipline.

  ‘Damn, these Iyrmeoo cool!’

  They followed the main road for a long while, with some of the Iyrmen leaving silently to a patch of grass here and there, or to a nearby tree, grabbing a few things, before they returned. Hours passed before they could see a carriage up ahead, making its way to Red Oak. There were six armoured riders, two in front, two a the side, two behind. The two armoured riders at the side started to ride forward, towards the group of Iyrmen, who stepped to the side of the road.

  However, as the riders hey stopped a short ways away, within a javelin’s throwing rahey wore heavy pte, with a spear in their grip, and a sword at their side. Their spears gave an unnatural sheen, catg the sun and refleg it like they were pierg through the rays of light. Their armour was stamped with a lion’s head.

  The armoured riders caugh Argon’s gaze, and they heir heads slowly at the Iyrmen, with Argon nodding his head iurn. The riders waited for the carriage, before taking their pce at the side, and they tinued on. The carriage stopped before it would pass the group of Iyrmen. The symbol on the side of the carriage was a shield of red, with a golden lion painted on it.

  The doors opened and a heavily armoured man, who was in his mid fifties, stepped out. He was a handsome man, as one would have expected, with sun kissed hair, and o blue eyes. “Greetings to the Iyrmen,” the man said.

  “Greetings to you, Duke Lio. I am Argon, of the Iyr.”

  The Duke g the man’s tags quickly to check his rank. “Argon of the Iyr, it seems it was good fortuhat we meet this day. Are you Iyrmen on a quest currently?”

  “Yes.”

  The Duke remaianding, his eyes sing across the group of Iyrmen. Tazwyn had removed her helmet upon the Duke’s arrival out of the carriage, but there was one who hadn’t. “Who is this stranger in your midst?”

  “A Copper Rank adventurer.”

  “I see that.” The Duke’s lips twisted into a smile. ‘It seems they’re hiding something. Iyrmen, hiding something?’ “State your name.”

  “Adam son of Fate,” Adam replied. Though, looking at the Duke, he couldn’t help but feel he was familiar.

  “Are you afraid of removing your helmet, Adam?”

  “Yes.”

  The Duke raised his brow. “Why is that?”

  “I find that removing my helmet causes me some trouble,” Adam replied. He was acutely aware of the differen raween he and the Duke.

  “I tell you’re not from around here either, otherwise you would have greeted me appropriately.”

  “I see that the Lio family is as intelligent as they are powerful,” Adam replied.

  “Remove your helmet,” the Duke said. “I’m sure you uand that a Duke’s order is not oo be ignored.”

  Adam sighed. “Yeah, yeah.” He took off his helmet to reveal his face, which suddenly caused the tension in the air to grow thick.

  The riders each reached for their ons, but as they did, Tezwyn put on her helmet. The Iyrmen did not reach for their ons, but that did not mean they would not act.

  The Duke raised his hand quickly, stopping his knights from taking any more hostile a. “I did not expee of your kind to be here,” the Duke said. If he had allowed his knights to draw their ons, it could have been too te to stop the bloody sughter.

  “I get that a lot,” Adam replied back with a smile, gng between the riders. “I heard that my kind weren’t wele in this nd, but it seems that it was rather uated.”

  “You’re more than wele, it’s just that our people have had bad blood between one another for some time.” The Duke stared at the half elf for a long while.

  “I would prefer not to correct you, but I’m the first of my people to have stepped on this nd. I hear that your people have an issue with certain elves, elves who I have never met before.”

  The Duke smiled wider. “That is true. Though, it is a surprise to see that the Iyrmeravelling with a fey blood.” His eyes fell ton. “What would the King say if he knew of such a thing?”

  Argon’s brow twitched. “The King is free to speak whatever words he wishes. Iyrme restricted from walking alongside elves, or dwarves, or orcs, or devilkin, or beastfolk, or humans, iants, ons, or any other kind. It has been so sihe beginning of the Iyr, and it will be so at the end of the Iyr.”

  The Duke wondered just how much he could curry favour with the King after hearing such words from the Iyrman.

  Argon, of course, knew how his response sounded. However, his words were true as well. Yet, the matter of the elves burned deep into his mind. ‘I will o speak with Chief Iromin.’

  Even though the Duke had the upper hand, with his powerful knights, and he himself being a great warrior, he had no doubt that he could bring the Iyrmen group of Steel Rank down. However, even if the Iyrman had stated to his face that they were pnning on beheading the King, he was at a disadvantage. He could no doubt corral all the soldiers at the fort nearby, and whatever knights the local ruling family had in possession, but he was certain that by the end of the month, his head would be on a pike, and his name would go down forever as the foolish Duke who had raised his swainst an Iyrman.

  “I have taken enough of your time,” the Duke said, realising the state of affairs before him. “Good lu your adventure.” He turned a, stepping bato his carriage, and tinued on.

  “That was rough, huh?” Adam said, putting his helmet ba. “I felt as though we were about to fight.”

  “We wouldn’t have fought,” Argon said. “Duke Lio is not a stupid man.”

  “Well, if he wao kill me, I’m sure he could have.”

  “Yes, we would have had difficulty defending you against his knights.”

  “Defending me?” Adam asked, staring at the Iyrman.

  “We are t you to the Iyr,” Argon said. “No one will stop us, not without a fight.”

  Adam raised his brows in surprise. “Well, thank you.” Adam gnced back at the gradually smaller carriage. “A Duke moving along with only six knights? Isn’t that-“

  “There are things we shouldn’t say,” Argon said. “Let us move on.”

  “A Duke, huh?” Adam said, w how much he could say. “Just how high of a rank is a Duke anyway?”

  “It is lower than the King and Queen,” he said. “Higher than the Prince.”

  Adam whistled. “Whoa, so he wasn’t just anybody?”

  “He is Duke Lio, Warden of the West Fort.”

  “West Fort, huh? Where’s that?”

  “To the West.”

  Adam blinked. ‘I swear, is this guy British too?’ He smirked. “How close is that to the Iyr?”

  “It is slightly north of our nds.”

  Seeing how vague the Iyrman was being, Adam chuckled. “Do you have much business with the Lios?”

  “We have defeheir fort in previous geions, but the st few geions of Lios have distahemselves. During the war with the elves, they were the loudest propos to fight.”

  “So he doesn’t like elves?”

  “I don’t believe he has any opinions about elves. He merely wishes to write his name down in history. He fought well against the elves, but that is all. The war did not st long enough for him to t himself.”

  “I get the feeling that he and I will not be getting along.”

  “He will no doubt speak of yhting, though it will be with the aim to criticise the Iyr.”

  “Ah, well, sorry about that.”

  “You did nothing wrong.” Argon couldn’t help but shake the dark feeling within his gut. “I do not believe anything will e of it. The King now, though greedy to also write his name in history, will not dare to point his sword towards the Iyr.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Have you ever heard the Tale of the Bckwater Crisis?”

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  What is a Duke doing so many miles away with only six knights at his side?

  Hmmmmmmmmmm.