“Last year, Jurot pced first iour,” Fred said, nibbling the cheese the soldier offered to him. It was a few days away from going off pletely, the sourness dang all across his tongue. “He pced first in his segment. He fought against Sir Logan, who wielded a on from ba the old times, one of those the ives to their heirs. Third Ice, I think it was called.”

  “So he beat one of those from the Order of Ice Bdes, eh?” Phil replied, no longer pig at his food or drinking, instead keeping a keen eye on the young man before him, and an even keener ear.

  “Yeah, that’s right,” Fred said, keeping the old man’s gaze. “He fought against Sir Gordan too, who was trained by the Grand ander of his order.”

  “Which order?”

  “The Order of the Thousand Hunts.”

  “He was trained by Sir James Greatwood?” Phil asked, sitting up taller, and suddenly the rest of the soldiers turheir attention to Fred. Sir James Greatwood was a Florian, though unfortunately had been found outside of the nd when chaos erupted.

  From what the captain recalled, the Grand ander had remained withi Port, uhe excuse he was going to keep any Aswadian assault from the sea at bay. His presence alone wouldn’t have done such a thing, but it was i year when Sir James Greatwood had revealed something to the world.

  He aragon.

  Fred, the young Florian man, was an Expert, a respectable position.

  The knights defending the ander were Masters, some of the greatest warriors one could ask for.

  Jarot, the Mad Dog, was yet to bee a Grand Master, but this would pce him among legends of the nd.

  Then there was the realm of Paragons. From the tens of millions of people across all of Aldnd and Floria, the number of Paragons could be ted upon the hand.

  King Merryweather aragon. He was widely sidered to be the stro across all the nd, the old Guardian who had been the King’s Sword for the st three kings of Aldnd. He was also sidered the stro King’s Sword to date.

  Then there was Lord Marshall Royce, the previous Knight of Death, King Merryweather’s porary, who was one of the few who could csh with the old King as an equal.

  Then there was Sir Robin, the leader of the Order of Wings. It was the lo standing order to date, save perhaps those from Aswadasad. Uher orders, the entire order numbered barely in the couple of dozens officially, and those which held the avian titles, o.

  Sir James Greatwood numbered among such figures now, the Grand ander of the Order of the Thousand Hunts, a prestigious order which came from Florian nds. Two of the Paragons were natives to Florian nds, a great achievement for the once duchy, now kingdom.

  “Kitool, the woman with the staff also faced against the likes of such great warriors,” Fred said. “She also beat them. She not only beat them, but like Jurot, she beat the Iyrman who had pced third too.”

  “The de-,” the captain began, before clearing his throat. “The woman ie?”

  “No. She dropped out of the tour after the first few stages. If she joined again, I’d have no doubt she’d be able to p the top ten, but the one who pced third was the cousin of the Iyrman with the greatsword, Naqokan.”

  “She fought well,” Phil said, nodding his head slowly. “Cousins?”

  “Cousins,” Fred firmed. “There was another Iyrman who should have pced fourth, but he had e across Kitool too.” Fred’s lips refrained from twitg. “Those two with the greatsword, their cousins are aiming for the title of Chief in the Iyr.”

  Phil’s brows raised in surprise. “They must be two of many to aim for the title.”

  “I would bet a lot of moher one of them bees the Chief,” Fred said. “I’d bet my life on it.”

  Phil had no idea the group was full of so many great Iyrmen. To think so many of them were reted to great figures, or future great figures in the Iyr. He wasn’t sure what was so impressive, that they were reted to such great figures, or that Fred spoke with such vi.

  “Kitool fought them, both of the future Chief ditates, and won.”

  “The girl with the staff?”

  “She pced sed iour,” Fred said. “Sed only to Jurot.”

  “Makes sense…” Phil’s eyes fell to the side, looking through the tents to see Fate’s Golden off to the side.

  “She would have pced first but she held back,” Fred said.

  “What?”

  “The staff she has is a magical staff, but she didn’t use that staff, she used a different staff, ohat wasn’t suited for battle, not as much as this one is anyhow,” Fred said. “She held bad almost beat Jurot, even though he wields the best on among us all.”

  “…”

  “They say her grandaunt is a Paragon too.”

  Phil’s brows raised in arm once more, his eyes glued to Fred. ‘A Paragon?’ His eyes so the side as he spied the young Iyrman who was talking with her cousin. “Her grandaunt’s a Paragon?”

  “That’s what I heard.”

  “…” Phil wasn’t sure if he should believe that.

  “The other Iyrman, in the armour, Jaygak, who dropped out from the tour, they say her grandaunt’s retty famous ba the day. Fme Brand, I think?”

  “I ’t say I’ve heard of her.”

  “She was more active in Aswadasad,” Fred said. “They say she’s a Grandmaster too.”

  ‘Are they all reted to monsters?’ Phil thought, feeling a chill enter him.

  “She fought against Lord Asa too, and made out better than Mad Dog,” Fred said, trying to hammer in the point, though the older man’s heart couldn’t handle any more. “I re she could fay Viander of any order with a good showing, and that’s me being generous.”

  “I’ll keep an ear out for their future stories,” the Captain said. “I might not live long enough to hear them all, but I at least listen and pass them along.”

  Fred led out a long sigh. He paused for a long moment. He had said quite a bit, but nothing the Iyrmen themselves wouldn’t have said, he was sure of that. “You see that big d? Not the Iyrman, the other one. Nobby. Used to be a porter a few years ago. He was a big d, but not a somebody. Boy was barely seventeen when he was trained by Mad Dog’s grandson.”

  Phil whistled. “Lucky kid.”

  “Lucky kid came first iour against all the other Iyrmealked about,” Fred said. “Naqokan and all them, not the older ones. He fought all of them a even Mad Dog’s granddaughter.”

  The soldiers remained silent as they listeo every word the young Florian man was saying.

  “Then there’s the d,” Fred said. “He’s the grandson of the previous Elder Wrath.”

  “The previous Elder Wrath?”

  “Wildheart.”

  Phil leaned back, his eyes falling to the group once more. He had never heard of such a party travelling the nd before. These kids, whoever they were, were no doubt somebodies in the Iyr, and would end up rog the world with their stories. Every fibre of his being had e to that clusion. ‘Mother take me.’

  “I’m below average,” Fred said. “I’m not sad about it. I’m not dreaming for anything big. I don’t want to be a Gold Rank adventurer like Jurot. I don’t want to be Silver like the other two. I don’t want to be no Chief of the Iyr either. I just want to get married, have my own kids, have a few drinks in the evenings, that’s all.”

  Phil could see the look in Fred’s eyes. He was a man who had found a purpose in his life, but he knew his limits. No, it wasn’t that he knew his limits, it was that he had limited himself, because he knew not to fly too close to the sun.

  “All these Iyrmen,” Fred began, almost whispering. “They’re all so… prestigious. They’re all amazing. They’re all… they’re all following the same guy, same as me. The half elf in purple. He’s Jurot’s brother, but he’s no Iyrman. He might not be an Iyrman, but…” Fred shook his head. “I’ve only seen him be beat twice, and I’ve heard him beeen three times. Mad Dog beat him first. The third time, I heard it took the three Iyrmen, Jurot, Kitool, and Jaygak.”

  “The sed?”

  “…” Fred swallowed. He wasn’t sure what he should say. It wasn’t that he couldn’t say it, but rather, he didn’t want to say it. To speak suames, it was dangerous. “When I first met Adam, I was dying. I… I thought about Rock Hill. Roundmund. Gunthers. The Aswadian merts that would e by aheir jewellery.”

  “I thought about the fields I used to py in when I was a boy, and the mud that used to get stuy boots. Ma’d get mad when I came back with all that mud, and Pa’d spank me. I used to curse at them when I was a boy, but then I’d eat the pe, sad I could a peach. Didn’t track mud much after that…” Fred smiled at the thought, but it passed within a moment.

  “I thought about how I couldn’t…” Fred sipped some of his ale, Phil nodding his head in uanding. “I was half dying. Adam rushed over to me, let me sip water from his skin. Within the week we met some… thing. It’s name was Lord Stokmar. You know the stories about the moving mound?”

  “Earthe, aye,” Phil replied, nodding his head slowly.

  “I met it.”

  Phil’s head sunk slightly, his eyes narrowing. “It’s just a story to put kids ta bed. I used to…” Phil swallowed, recalling the memories of telling the tale to his own children whenever he could return.

  “Lord Stokmar, they call ‘em.” Fred remained silent for a long while. “I hear Lord Stokmar’s apparently about as strong as Lord Asa. We…” Fred remained silent for a long moment ter. “I met… someoed to Lord Asa. Apparently, just as strong. I saw him…” Fred shook his head lightly, recalling the memory. “A being like Lord Asa beat him. I don’t mean he surrendered, like how he surreo Sir Roseia and Sir Karra. I meaen. He was… he was half dying. When he fought Sir Roseia, he almost killed her with a single blow. He tried to fight a man who spat on the gods, and he was almost killed. He probably didn’t want to. He probably didn’t even have to, he could have-,”

  A horhrew the fort and quickly the soldiers shot to attention, even Captain Phil, who had been so engrossed by Fred’s words, and the intense look of terror within the boy’s eyes. He was almost gd to be pulled away from the tale, unsure if his heart could ha.

  Yet, Fred remained seated. He sipped the ale slowly, w what Adam had dohis time.

  Adam stared up at the sky. “Jurot…”

  “Yes,” Jurot replied.

  “Is that a…”

  “Yes.”

  Is that a...

  What could it be?