A storm passed through the Iyr’s nds. A storm of chaos, a chaos which could only be born within the lineage of those two in particur, as well as a third figure which poured tinder onto the fmes.

  “Jirot!” the expected voice called, calling out the name of the expected chaos.

  The tiny green skinned leaf eared girl squealed with menace as she charged towards the young woman who held a hornless red skinned babe within her arms, humming a geuhe tune brought much displeasure to the babe, whose face was full of sourness, a deeper sourhan typical.

  Jirot cackled as she grabbed onto the woman’s trousers, rge amber eyes beaming up towards the woman, full of wiess only the tiny girl could show. The cheeky grin on her face revealing her set of double es, which were quickly hidden as the girl pressed her face against the woman’s leg to hide her against the world while her father dove beside her, ing the girl with the towel.

  “You punk, why are you causing such a mess? It’s too early in the year, you should ease daddy into it!” Adam ed his arms around the girl and pulled her in close, kissing her forehead all over, before the pair rubbed their cheeks against one another.

  The older Jarot let out a sigh, gng towards the girl’s twin brother, named after himself. Little Jarot gnced up towards his greatfather and smiled coyly. The older Jarot reached down to rub the boy’s curly hair. ‘How is it that you cause such little trouble when you are named after me?’

  “This is all Jaygak’s fault! I knew I shouldn’t have surrendered you to her st night.” Adam’s barrage of kisses caused the girl to giggle wildly, before she tried to squirm out of his grasp. Adam refused to surrehe girl this m, not until he had slipped on her shorts, before threatening a spank, but his body frozen, not even allowing him to spank his child gently as a joke.

  Jirot buried herself within Vonda’s side, giggling wildly into her. Her twitg body eventually calmed, before she peeked out to see Vonda’s curious eyes staring down at her, the girl returning back tgles as the fully clothed little Jarot joined her, climbing up to Vonda’s other side. The boy’s amber eyes took in the sight of the woman, her burn marks across her lower fad neck, and then down towards his you sibling. The hornless boy who had yet to turn one, with his blood red skin, and his annoyed eyes, filled with an intelligence which was far too much for his minuscule form. The shimmering amulet then distracted the green skinned boy.

  “Do you see?” Jaygak asked, p warm milk into her little sister’s mouth, the toddler sipping from the cup with a gre, as though daring the milk to refuse entering her mouth. “You o learn to keep Adam in check like that.”

  “You took them from me and now you cause so much trouble?” the older Jarot asked, letting out a huff.

  “It was your fault for allowio take them away,” Gangak replied simply. She, like Jaygak, was red of skin and horned.

  “If she slept with her babo, she would not have misbehaved this way.”

  “Will you say our Jirot would not misbehave?”

  “She should misbehave since she is my greatdaughter!” Jarot inhaled deeply, puffing out his chest with pride.

  Gangak smiled, sipping away at her own warm milk this dawnval m, before little Tavgak’s eyes gnced up towards her grandaunt. Gangak reached down to brush her hair gently, before feeding the girl her own milk. While the pair of older Iyrmen chatted away, their awareness spread out further than their versation, towards all the outsiders in the distance, even more acutely aware of the presence of their precious children.

  Within the walls of the fortress, which the United Kindom made its headquarters, dozens upon dozens of business members rested. Many of them, not yet used to the Iyrmen, whose nd the business y upon, remained cautious around the Iyrmen about. The Iyrmen carried ons about themselves, and many traversed the nearby nd and the walls, f a around the business, even upon the King’s nd.

  Among the great names of the Iyrmen around them, the business folk kept keen attention on one particur figure, even as he left the gates of the busiowards the nearby Aldish vilge. He was shaven, with a strong jaw, a wide, ft nose, and small eyes. He was fairly lean for an older man, dressed in deep grey pin silks. At his side y a longsword, made of a fusion of bone aal. The tattoo upon his forehead, a pair of golden circles joined vertically within the tre, with three crimson six poiars fnking oher side, matched the other Iyrman who had returned during the Twilight Month but a couple of weeks ago.

  “We will leave a few of our warriors for the undead,” Chief Iromin assured, the gra his voily matched by the grace within his stride, like a butterfly floating through the air.

  “As always, thank you, Chief Iromin,” Chief Merl replied. She was short, barely reag Iromin’s chest with the top of her head. She wore thick furs around her body, as well as a set of scale around her chest, which fell down towards her waist, with a belt ed around her front to keep her armour pio her. An axe hung against her belt, though her trusty spear rested beside her.

  Chief Merl watched the Chief of the Iyr leave, taking with him his several aides, along with the beardless dwarf and the figure who held the same tattoos. No doubt there were other Iyrmen, unseen and unheard, who slipped away with the Chief of the Iyr. ‘As ever, gd the Iyr watches over we vilgefolk.’

  Iromin’s attention remained upon the Lord of Earth, who marched beside him in their beardless dwarf form. Though he also o watch out for the rge number of children of the Iyr nearby, his highest priority on the Lord of Earth.

  Sthe gazes of the Iyrmen all about them, having no iion of pig any bother with the Iyr, especially when a red sched them from a distance. ‘I should leave to the dwarven nds.’ Stokmar narrowed their eyes, a sudden sense of disgust filling them. ‘I should stay here sihe Iyr still has drinks for me.’ Deep within Stokmar’s heart, the grudge of the dwarves refusing their oaths burned greater than even Shama’s fmes.

  “He’s gone?” Adam asked, beside the rest of his friends and family. ‘Didn’t he want to speak to me or anything? Did he really e just for our wedding?’

  “The Chief has much work to do,” Jurot replied, biting into his hot potato, before tearing a small piece for his niece, who had caused so much bother that m.

  “Nana, soht please,” the definitely i Jirot requested, holding up the plum sized piece of hot potato.

  Sonarot sprinkled salt upon her granddaughter’s potato, raising her brows expetly.

  “Thank you,” the girl replied, tapping her before motioning her hand towards her grandmother. She bit into the potato, holding it out to her twin brother, who bit into it from her hands.

  ‘My kids are the cutest,’ Adam thought, his heart eating the dessert that was their ess. “Jurot, when are you going to have kids so I spoil them?”

  “It is too soon in the year to ask.”

  “Too soon? Do you hear that, old man? How he be so unfilial?”

  The older Jarot replied with a grunt. “You should hurry and-,”

  Mulrot whacked her husband upside the back of his head. “Jirot, how yreatfather speak this way?”

  Jirot threw her greatfather a look, inhaling deeply. “How you say it?” She tutted towards the old man, her hair boung as she shook her head. Little Jarot also looked up at his grandfather with a gentle disappoi.

  “You should take your time so they are born stout and strong,” Jarot stated, before his lips formed a wild grin. Unfortunately for him, his wife pinched his side. Even thehought to tinue, but upon seeing his wife’s gre, he decided to drop it.

  “Yeah, it’s a bad look for you to talk like that when you’re you,” Adam teased. “You’ll scare Pam away.”

  “ you say so?”

  Adam’s cheeks flushed. “Well, that’s different. It’s not like I went around killing a bunch of nobles during my youth. Not in this nd, specifically…”

  “If they did not wish to die, they should not have drawn their bdes.”

  “How you say that in front of a Ray?”

  Jarot flushed slightly, pg his hand upon his knee, feeling the metal leg against his fiips. “Baktu watches over them well.”

  Jaygak held a small smirk upon her lips, seeing hoardly the Mad Dog was being pushed back. She wondered if she should put Adam in his pce, but decided against it sioday was that day.

  The expectation hung upon the air.

  It was no doubt time for Adam to do that.

  “Hold on,” Adam began, causing the other Iyrmen around him to feign ignorao what he was about to do. “Who are these handsome fellows?”

  The small girl’s silver eyes darted up to meet Adam’s, her scar creasing as she pouted. She bowed her head slightly, her thumbsized horns peeking through her long silver hair. “Daddy.”

  “What? This powerful voice! That harsh look! It could only be my Konarht? Those adorable dutiful eyes, and that sweet i smile, aren’t you my Kirot and Karot?”

  Konarot huffed, but she leaned in towards her father, burying her face within his chest. Kirot and Karot bowed their heads for their father to rub their heads, the half elf taking the opportunity to spoil them.

  “How you expect me them when they’re so big now?” Adam asked. “You’re all so big now. How old are you? Six? Seven?”

  Konarot shut her eyes tight, deep in thought. She held up her entire hand, before putting g her fist, undoihumb, then her index fihen her middle finger. “Three.”

  “Wow! My daughter is so good at maths!” Adam gasped, before pausing for a moment. ‘I ’t make that joke yet, probably.’ “Of course, since you’re Jirot’s eldest sister, you have to be this smart.”

  “No!” Jirot gasped. “What ah you saying, daddy?”

  “What do you mean no? It’s a good thing!”

  Jirot blinked. She gowards her grandmother, who nodded. “Okay.” She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her father for a long moment.

  “Happy birthday,” Adam finally said, before embrag his triplets.

  “Happy birthday, daddy,” Konarot replied, following by her younger siblings.

  “Ock!” Jirot gasped, her head snapping towards her grandmother. “Is daddy’s birthday?”

  “How could you fet?” Adam replied, as though he hadn’t fotten himself. “It’s your uncle’s birthday too, you little punk, and your mother’s too!”

  Jirot stared up to Vonda, blinking towards her. “Mommy?”

  “Yes?”

  Jirot flushed slightly, filling with embarrassment. “Is your birthday?”

  “It is.”

  “Is my birthday too,” the goblin said with so much fidence evewin brother almost believed it.

  “Is it?” Vonda asked.

  Jirot smirked. “No.” She cackled with delight, gng towards her grandmother to see if she was in trouble, before cag louder when she was in the clear.

  “She just wants to double dip os,” Adam said, with far too much pride in his voice. “You smelly girl, you ’t say it’s your birthday when it isn’t.”

  Even so, everyone uood Adam couldn’t do anything against the likes of the two year old, who was one of the few who had defeated him.

  “Happy birthday, Vonda,” Adam said, reag out to hold her hand.

  “Happy birthday, Adam,” Vonda said, before she smiled down towards the triplets. “Happy birthday, Konarot, Kirot, Karot.”

  “Happy birthday, mommy,” Kirot and Karot replied, while Konarot mumbled something vague under her breath.

  ‘Konarot…’ Adam reached up to rub his triplet’s heads. “Happy birthday to you too, Jurot.”

  “Happy birthday,” Jurot replied. “Happy birthday, Pam.”

  “Happy birthday to you too, Jurot,” Pam replied, tearing a piece of bread for her husband.

  “It’s your birthday too?” Adam asked, before furrowing his brows. ‘I feel like I khat already.’ “There are too many birthdays on this day. We should all ge our birthdays tomorrow so we focus on spoiling my babies today. Vonda, you keep your birthday as today too, you too Pam.”

  “You wish to ge your birthday away from your children?” Jurot asked.

  “Absolutely not. I’ll keep my birthday as today, since my kids will feel lonely without it, and you should keep your birthday as today sihat’s cool if we both have the same birthday.”

  “Okay.”

  “Shall we give gifts?” Vonda asked.

  “Of course.”

  “Will you give magical items again?” Jaygak teased.

  “Magical items to children? What am I, a fool?” Adam asked, reag into his pocket, passing his holy symbol made of obsidian, revealing three silver tokens stamped with his childrens’ names. “Here you go. This is a token that you give to daddy, and he’ll grant you a wish. It’s silver, so I won’t decre war with Aldnd, probably.”

  “Do they okens for that?”

  “No, but I’ve given all the other kids silver tokens already. I ended up missing their birthday st year since…” Adam could feel the gaze of the Iyrmen against his skin, a cold chill filling him. “Since I was so busy doing important things, you know?” Adam reached into his robes to reveal three more tokens, these bronze. “You five daddy, don’t you?”

  Jaygak decided against teasing him more. Though Adam’s voice held a light tone, since he was such a fool of a father, she could sense his soul ached from missing their birthday the previous year.

  Adam peppered his triplets with his affe, pulling them close. As the gifts were passed, from bits of pottery, to tiny ribbons, a horn bsted in the distance.

  “Killing?” Adam asked.

  “Yes,” Jurot replied.

  “I suppose it’s time to show off might as well go show off sineone dared to interrupt my adorable childrens’ birthday.”

  “Will you go kill on the first day of the year?” Vonda asked, smiling politely. The symbol of her holy order, that of Life’s Rose, gleamed brightly.

  Adam, who wore a bck holy symbol of the God of Death, particurly of the Iyr’s variety, froze awkwardly. “No?”

  Vonda smiled more warmly towards her husband, who had decided to step back for her.

  “You know, even though there are two Demon Lords, and a bunch of Iyrmen, I’m more scared of you,” Adam admitted.

  ‘There are what?’ Pam thought, her eyes wide, before a distant explosion distracted her.

  "A storm of chaos, a chaos which could only be born within the lineage of those two in particur, as well as a third figure which poured tinder onto the fmes."