Chapter Thirteen

**The Saga of Adamaxus Part II**

When Jon left the hall Byron stayed a few more minutes to ensure Jason and Vanna had everything they would need for the night. He showed them the woodpile to feed the hearth logs from throughout the night and ensured them he would wake them before dawn to meet Jon.

Jason tried to offer the man a few coins as recompense for his hospitality, but he would not accept. “You’ll repay us in time if you return with what we need,” he said. Then he said his goodnight and left them to sleep.

When the sun set, all but near the hearth was dimly lit and Jason and Vanna set up where they would sleep near the fire. Jason noticed unlit sconces on the walls and assumed the hall was normally more well-lit. Vanna let out a loud yawn, “well Honey, I’m going to lay down. Goodnight.”

Jason told her goodnight then turned and stared into the fire. The flames flicked the air and he thought of his book. He didn’t feel tired enough yet to sleep and the light from the hearth was just enough to read by so he took his book out and continued the story.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

“Mother who was that man?” Adamaxus cried. Tears were streaming down his face and he could no longer control his emotions. He lost control of the stone for a moment and the earth below began to shake. Adamaxus wished with all his heart to throw away the stone, but it was draw to him like a magnet and he did not possess the will to get rid of it.

“My child, you must always stay in control of the power gem. The man was an apparition of Hentos, the fire god. He was drawn by your display of power.”

“Mother I do not understand.”

Tears began to pour from Rease’s face as well. “Yelen was your father, but not your sire,” she admitted. She continued to tell Adamaxus the truth of his parentage. Adamaxus was stunned by the revelation but he controlled himself. “I am sorry my son, you shall never be safe again. The only thing the gods hate more than each other are children of other gods for they possess near as much power as their parents. Spawns of mortal and immortal are the reasons for the great wars and monsters spawned to fight those wars.”

“But what of my real father, Jord? Surely he can protect me?”

“He left us before you were born, I would not depend on the gods for much. I am sorry my son,” Rease’s voice took a sharp turn for the worse, “I feel my time is near.”

“Mother,” Adamaxus cried, “don’t leave me, what am I to do?”

“The other gods will try to destroy you, travel to the home of my father, the lands of the Tumlini. Some love for me stay live there even though I’ve been exiled. I am sorry son,” Rease’s eyes shut but her life was not done yet, “I have failed to protect you from this world.” Her body slumped and Adamaxus knew she was gone.

The boy cried until his eyes were chaffed from the minerals in his tears. When he could cry no more he cleaned the bodies of his parent with water and oil and shrouded them in cloth. He took whatever he could salvage from the home. Adamaxus willed his power gem to swallow the house and bodies, everything he ever knew, into the earth. Nothing was left of his past life but the mountain.

Even though it was still night, Adamaxus began the journey down the mountain. The beast of the night called and hissed, but the boy had no fear. The gods had taken everything he loved and he vowed to destroy them. Wolves and their fangs could not make him cower, nor lions and their claws make him weep.

Adamaxus wandered from village to village asking for directions to the land of ancestors, Tumlini. The journey was long but the boy survived off the wild as he always had. After several weeks of walking, Adamaxus arrived in the chief village of the Tumlini.

Kane, chief of the Tumlini, was now an old man, but still held control of his tribe. Adamaxus begged before his grandfather for acceptance into the tribe, but Kane, in his mercilessness would not allow it. Kane still remembered the great shame inflicted by his daughter. Adrius, the eldest son of the chief, himself a man in middle age, stepped forward and beg for his father to admit Adamaxus. Adrius remembered his exiled sister and still harbored love for his sibling.

It was well known that Adrius was next to lead the Tumlini but it was a matter of before or after his father’s death. Adrius carried great weight in the tribe and Kane decided to make an offer to Adamaxus. To become part of the Tumlini Adamaxus would have to travel to the far west to the land of Draccia and return with the heart of a wyvern. Adrius protested this impossible quest on behalf of Adamaxus, but the youth accepted fearlessly. All present balked at the ignorance of the boy. All knew the monsters of Draccia were the oldest and strongest in all of Titan.

In his haste, Adamaxus threw his spear at the feet of Kane and announced he would go weaponless to prove his prowess.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Jason flipped the page and found the next section to be illegible. He groaned in frustration and closed the book.

History of the Middle Kingdoms (Progress: 9%)

Experience Gain +40 Exp. (40*1.01)

It looks like the experience boost was rounded down, Jason noticed. The book had worked to tire Jason. He threw another log into the hearth then wrapped his blanket around himself and drifted off to sleep.

*****

Day 5

“Jason, Jason,” a soft voice called.

Jason opened his eyes and saw Byron standing near him. The man held a wooden bowl and handed it to Jason. The bowl contained a bland oatmeal, Jason looked around and saw that Vanna was also up and eating.

“Sorry to make you wake up so early,” Jason groaned then began to eat his oatmeal.

“Don’t worry son. I wake this time every morning to feed the hens, which I still need to do. Meet me at the stable in a few minutes when you’re ready. It’s just behind the hall,” Byron said then walked out of the building.

Jason and Vanna ate their breakfast quietly, both were learning that they were not morning people. Jason was desperately missing coffee and promised himself he would look for some when they arrived in Laxtar. When they were done eating they returned their bowls to Jule in her cottage and thanked her.

Outside it was still dark but they could see a thin line of light on the horizon. In the weak lighting they found the stable easy enough. Inside they found Skippy snoring next to a fat goat. Jason bent down and patted the donkey in an attempt to wake him up. Skippy’s eyes poked open and he snorted at Jason. “Come on buddy time to go,” Jason said.

Skippy whined then closed his eyes again. Jason sighed then started pushing on the donkey. Skippy slowly sat up and when he was fully up he nipped at Jason.

“Hey, I’m sorry Mr. Sleepyhead,” Jason said. He grabbed some prunes from his bag and held them out to Skippy. The donkey instantly brightened and chomped on the dried fruit happily.

“Are we all ready?” Byron asked as he walked into the stable. He bent down and patted the goat then stood back up.

“Yeah, I just need to strap Skippy’s bags on,” Jason replied.

When they were actually ready, the group walked to the north of town and stopped in front of a large barn. Byron knocked on the barndoor and a moment later Jon came out followed by a black bog. The canine’s tail wagged happily and it went to Skippy and started to smell the donkey.

“Morning Jon,” Byron called.

The group all exchanged greeting then Jason handed over two silvers. Jon helped them strap the extra bags onto Skippy then Byron led them out of town. Jason had noticed Skippy buckle slightly when the extra two bags were added to his load and Jason decided that four bags was probably the donkey’s carrying limit. I’m going to need to find a way to carry more stuff. Yet another thing to add to the things I need to do, Jason thought.

“It’s a straight path from here,” Bryon commented as they were approaching the edge of town. “There aren’t usually many bandits and they typically only attack lone travelers so you should be safe.” The sun had risen above the trees in the distance and they could see a few miles down the road. “Whenever you come to a split always take the north path otherwise your one day trip will turn into a two day trip.”

“Thank you Byron,” Vanna said, she placed a hand on her sword hilt as if to reassure them they would be safe.

“Thank you,” Jason agreed. “We hope to be back tomorrow night.”

Byron nodded, “safe travels my friends. We in Finchead will be happy to welcome your return.” Jason nudged Skippy forward and they began to walk. Byron stood and watched them for a minute then turned and returned to the town.

The weather showed signs of another nice day. It was still slightly cool, but the sun was warm on their faces. Dew hung from the grass and trees along the road and birds flew over their heads from tree to tree singing their morning song. Jason was fully awake by then and the excitement of seeing a new place was setting into his system. Jason wished he had a map so he would be able to tell how far along they were in the journey, but was also happy it was a straightforward hike.

A few miles ahead Jason could see their road would enter a forest. “Have you ever been to Laxtar, Vanna?” Jason asked trying to start up a conversation.

“No,” she responded. “I started the game in West Tumlohn and ended up in Exton. This is all new to me too Honey.”

Jason nodded. “Vanna I was thinking of something. You mention only being in the second tier for your combat skill but you’ve been in the game for a while. What have you been doing with your level up skill boosts?”

“Oh those,” she said as if the answer was obvious, “I’m saving those. When I become a monster hunter there is an important skill called monster tracking that I’m going to use them on.”

That makes sense, Jason thought, I guess I should also save my boosts until I find what skill I want to specialize in. “How do you know so much about that the monster hunter class?”

“Remember that group of players I told you I met, well their leader was one. Their party was set up to support her class. Well she was nice enough to tell me a little about the class and how tough it was to get it.”

Jason nodded. “What was West Tumlohn like?”

Vanna shrugged her shoulders, “about the same as here. They fight more over there; sending raiding parties on their neighbors or sieging rival’s castles. The kings of East and West Tumlohn are brothers if you didn’t know. They were one country years ago but when the last king died they split in two. Seems like the king of West Tumlohn doesn’t like his brother over here but he is too afraid to attack him.”

That’s slightly worrying, Jason thought. He never played a game where you had to constantly worry about whether the country you were in was about to go to war.

“If war breaks out, I’m sure we can find a way to make some money,” Vanna commented.

They stopped at the edge of the forest for a break. Jason ate some of his jerky and gave some to Vanna while Skippy grazed the grass on the side of the road. Vanna’s lack of food worried Jason and he checked to make sure he had enough to feed the two of them. “We should have enough food to get us there,” he said. He wanted to save his last bag of fruit for Skippy so he and Vanna would have to make due on only jerky. “I’m going to need to stock up when we get to Laxtar though and look for some way to expand Skippy’s carrying capacity.”

“Like a cart?” Vanna asked.

“Yeah,” Jason said, “or even another donkey or pack horse. I’m expecting to profit four silver off our wool and if we take into account the food and lodging we need to buy and it takes two days of travel we will barely be breaking even on our efforts.”

+1 INT You have noticed a future problem and are identifying ways to prevent it.

Looks like the game agrees with me, I’m not sure if that is a good sign or not, Jason thought.

“Well we better get moving then honey. We need to get to Laxtar while the shops are still open,” Vanna said. Jason put away their food, they entered the forest.