Beyond Chaos – A DiceRPG

It was upon this morning when a whirlwind of Chaos fell through the Front Iyr.

“I know my rights!” the girl screamed, daring to face against her father. “I am an Iyrman! You cannot do this!”

“Dear…” Adam replied, his heart aching. However, he couldn’t blame his daughter, as she had only been informed this morning, with only an hour’s notice. Though he made to speak, shame choked his words.

“You are an Iyrman,” Sonarot said, her eyes falling upon the girl, whose eyes were glistening lightly, but a fury remained within them. “You promised you would go, and you are an Iyrman, so you must keep your promise.”

The girl trembled, and blinked, as though she had been slapped in the face, but as the chill invaded her heart, the warmth of her father’s embrace filled her, and the girl sobbed against his chest. She held her brother’s hand within her own, refusing to let it go, as the boy also made to cry within their father’s chest.

Adam remained on his knees, holding his twins, threatening to cry himself, though the simmering rage filled him. He knew that Sonarot’s words would hurt the children, and he couldn’t allow them to build up resentment against their grandmother for using such manipulation, instead hugging the pair of them until they calmed.

“Are you scared?”

“No! I am not scared!” the girl half cried against his chest, clutching her father’s collar tightly.

“It’s not a sin to be scared, it’s okay,” Adam whispered, feeling their thick hair tickle his face. “I’m scared too, but I know, with everyone who is going, that it’ll be okay. We’ll go together, with mummy and daddy, your kakos and papos, your babas and nanas, your babos and nanos, and I know that we’ll be okay. We’ll go see the Faro, the Amira, and-,”

“No!” Jirot cried, hiding her face deeper against his chest. “I will not forgive you!”

“Do you know why we must go?” Adam asked, for though her words hurt, he knew they had to go, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to heal the wounds within their hearts.

“I do not want to!”

“We have to go.”

“Daddy! Please, daddy! I will be good!” the girl said, sobbing into his chest once more.

“I don’t mind if you trouble me, you know that, my lovely,” Adam said, planting a kiss on the top of her head, and then pressed his cheek against his son’s. “We have to go because we have to show you that we are able to protect you.”

Vonda was surprised Adam was speaking so earnestly to the children, though she gathered why. As much as Jirot was quite the brat of a child, she was still far wiser beyond her years, and she would understand.

Wouldn’t she?

“How will you conquer the world if you don’t lose your fear?” Adam joked.

“I will not do it, daddy! I will not!” Though her father continued to bully her, the girl clutched his collar tight in hand. It was this father of hers, this foolish father, who always troubled her so, who she had said she hated, who continued to upset her even now, but she refused to let him go, this father of hers whose embrace was the warmest.

Another child cried and screamed, though she rushed up to her father, smacking his arm. “Kaka! Huu! Kaka!”

The half elf let go of his twins, wincing slightly, but seeing the pair hug their younger sister, his heart fell to ease.

“Who is it?” called a figure as a pair of shadows slipped into the estate, in which a great many had gathered, sombreness keeping them company. “Who has made my liege cry?”

The beautiful woman’s skin was purple, tinged with grey, thin, but stable, her horns curling back over the sides of her head, and upon her back she wore a large greataxe. Her eyes were like a particular Mad Dog, though they were, in most respects, unrelated. Another stood beside her, equally as beautiful, slightly rounder, also carrying a greataxe upon her back, and a smile duty bound, but full of warmth.

“Kako!”

“To think your father would trouble you before we stepped out to conquer Aswadasad this year,” Lucy tutted, the woman hoisting the girl up within her arms, narrowing her eyes slightly as she stared into apprehensive amber, but she grinned wide, almost tossing the girl up, but thinking better of it because of all the people of death around her.

Mara plucked Jarot from the earth too, smiling warmly towards the boy, who flushed slightly, glancing aside as the woman dried his tears with a cloth, and wiped his nose clean.

Virot stood between the demons, blinking, turning to look towards her mother for a moment, before threatening to cry, only for Adam to pick the girl up. She glared at her father, but rested her head against his chest.

“Kako, you are leaving too?” Jirot asked, sniffling.

“How can I allow you to step out without me?”

“It is too dangerous!” Jirot said, grabbing onto the woman’s collar, her eyes glistening with worry. “You cannot!”

“Dangerous? I am the Demon Lord!” Lucy replied, though blinked rapidly for a moment. “The Demon Lord’s General! If I cannot handle this little danger, then what is the point of my title?”

Jirot pouted, though Lucy’s tight hug distracted her for a moment. The demon woman’s heart ached, for she had already died once, though to a figure that was among the greatest across the Realms, but at the very least, she had not been a child, nor was she as powerful as she was now, nor surrounded by so many monsters of the Iyr.

They had been asked to train from the beginning of the year, but it was not normal training. Zirot, the Rot Family Elder, had informed them they would be needed if Jirot and Jarot were to leave. In exchange for their presence, to ease the hearts of their children, the Iyr had offered her a great treasure, for the Iyr was not cheap when it came to their children.

“The last time left, we had to cut our journey short. Mara and I couldn’t step into Aswadasad last year either, but this time we can explore it together!” Lucy smiled wide, pulling the girl close to her chest. “You have to trust in the Iyr, for it will not make the same mistake.”

Jirot, though she was just a tiny girl, understood how dangerous Lucy’s words were, and though she pouted, she rested her head against Lucy’s shoulder.

The old man stared at the supposed Demon Lord, and as the girl calmed, the annoyance rose within his heart. If only he had remained at that time, then who would have dared to harm his greatchildren? Indeed, even Kris would have stepped back, out of respect for him, if not out right fear. No, shouldn’t he have kept his steel sheathed? After all, how much had he praised his greatchildren to him?

‘You were too merciful to grant him a clean death,’ the old Jarot thought, worrying for his grandson, whose heart was too meek. However, his thoughts fell away as Vonda approached him with a smile upon her face.

“Grandfather, I have brought you a gift,” the Ray of Hope said, holding up a shield, that which held a rose etched upon its surface, not quite the rose of the Life’s Rose, but it was a rose that was familiar to the old man, for Karot had drawn such a beautiful rose and had shown it off to him, the boy who was even meeker than his father. “I hope you are willing to accept.”

“Since my granddaughter has brought a gift, I shall accept it with…” Jarot paused, for as he touched the steel, he could feel the tingle of magic within it, not unlike the shield he currently wore, a gift from his grandson. However, what could he do? Since his grandchildren wished to spoil him, he could not refuse. He held his granddaughter’s gaze for a long moment, the old man letting out a soft sigh, though he smiled tenderly towards her, and with his wooden hand, rubbed the top of her head. It seemed as though he would only be allowed to kill one or two when he stepped out.

As Adam was about to step away to change, a hand at his shoulder stopped him, and as he turned, he found Vonda staring into his eyes. “Darling?”

“I have a gift for you too.”

‘Huh?’

Adam stared down at the armour, which was engraved with the symbol of a rose upon its chest, a rose he recognised, for it was one of many his son had drawn, if Adam recalled correctly, that particular drawing was within the third box within the third crate. Though it was not formed of puthral, it had been finely made, and as he reached out to brush along the steel, he felt the powerful tingle of magic.

Adam was about to say something, but paused, and as he considered the gift, the half elf smiled innocently. “Thank you, darling.”

Vonda blinked. She had assisted her husband in enchanting over the last few months, enchanting a set of plate mail for herself, and she understood a Basic set of plate for her husband would not be too suitable, considering his special ability, but a Greater was more than decent enough. However, she could not think of that, for his smile was…

“I’ll have to gift the other magical weapons out, though I’m ashamed to say I don’t have something for you, so I suppose I’ll have to bring a pouch of gems to spoil you properly.”

Vonda wondered if perhaps she had made a mistake in making her husband, who was already so wickedly hard to deal with, even harder to deal with.