Before I begin, it is important that you understand that this story belongs to Nomius more than I. I am simply telling you this, so that you understand why that… creature… cannot be allowed to live. Allowing him to go on breathing nearly killed Nomius the last time. Nomius may not be here for this encounter, but I carry his rage with me and I will see it sated.

  We lizardmen age very slowly when compared with humans, and certainly goblins. A lizard man of seventy is of the same physical maturity as a human of twenty. So, when I say that Nomius’ sister died at twenty… to us, she was but a child. She was a sweet girl, with beautiful amaranthine scales, just like her mother. Nomius doted on her from the day she was born.

  She became ill with rarkash disease. Worst thing is, if I knew then what I know now, I could have cured her. All it would have taken would have been some varkai root mixed with some grynthar blood and she would have healed. At the time however, there was no known cure. Nomius and his mother watched her die… slowly… and painfully. It is a truly awful condition.

  Nomius’ mother, she did not handle the death well. She sunk into a deep depression, she stopped eating, she just lay in bed, all day, every day. Nomius tried, he desperately tried to cheer her up and get her to eat. He tried everything.

  As he slept one night, she slit her wrists open. My mother was always fond of her. She had been popping in every day to check on her and make sure Nomius was alright. She discovered Nomius trying to wake her. She tried to move him away, but he would not leave her. He stayed by her side for days before he would accept that she was gone.

  My mother took Nomius in after that. He is a good ten years older than I, and he became somewhat of an elder brother to me. Losing his sister had made him very protective of children and he took it upon himself to keep me safe, even though he was still a child himself. He wasn’t always the stoic quiet type that he is now. He was always talking, making jokes, making sure those around him were happy. I did not realise until I was older… the sadness in his eyes.

  Nomius has loved precisely three people in his life. The first being his mother, Mithdia. The second was his sister, Vala. And the third was a white lizard by the name of Auraelius. White lizardmen are incredibly rare, they can be born to any colour of lizardman, but the chances are exceedingly low. Their ability to nullify all magic around them panics most of the clans, as a result they are normally killed at birth. My clan is the only clan that does not indulge in this practice. That being said, we still cannot allow them to leave the village. If other clans see them, they kill them on sight.

  It is a solitary life that they lead, as even within the village they must be careful. Our clan is made up of those who have abandoned their original clans for one reason or another. Of course, we are several generations deep now, so many of us were born within the clan. But we still take in those from elsewhere when the situation arises. As a result, when these new families see a white lizardman they do sometimes attack them. Due to this, they spend their days at the Luna Temple.

  When Nomius was forty-eight, he won the under-fifties caber tossing competition. He was always very athletic. For doing so, he got to attend the awards ceremony at the Temple of Luna. It was there that he met Auraelius for the first time.

  Auraelius was what many would describe as a gentle giant. Even at the age of fifty he would tower above most of the adults. However, he would not hurt a fly. He lacked confidence, likely due to the fact he struggled to speak properly. There was something wrong with the top half of his jaw, looked like somebody had stolen the middle of his lip and half of his top teeth.

  I mentioned earlier that we age slower than most species. Well, I should probably mention that puberty for us generally starts at forty-five and last roughly fifteen years. It is an awkward time for most, never mind somebody like Auraelius. People avoid white lizardmen at the best of times, but Auraelius’ face really set others on edge. But not Nomius. Nomius just saw another person. Straight away he made an effort to speak to him. Took the time to let him respond. Went to find him some chalk and some slate so that he could write instead of speaking. Spent the whole night with him. They just… bonded.

  Nomius went to the Luna temple every day for weeks. Eventually, he started dragging Aurealius out of the temple, taking him around the village. They started doing fitness training together. They actually hold the record for being the youngest pair to win the under sixties combat duo tournament.

  That’s where the whole signing thing started. So that they could communicate during combat. Nomius created a whole language to make it easier for Auraelius to communicate. Others did not understand, but Auraelius would sign to Nomius and Nomius would say what he meant to others. They had a system and it worked.

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  When Auraelius started spending more time at our house than the temple, I started to pick up on the signs too. They are not complicated, you can guess most of them. You and your companions picked up on them quickly when we were travelling. I guess it mostly just depends on whether people are motivated to learn… most are not.

  Auraelius was not allowed to leave the village, for obvious reasons. Nomius disagreed with this. He believed that he and Auraelius could take on anything. They used to sneak out of the village, climb up Antlion Rock and stare out at the great sand sea together… as well as do… other things. For the first time in his life, since his family died, I saw the sadness leave Nomius’ eyes. For the ten years that they spent together, Nomius was happy, he was finally happy.

  The lizard that you met at the Uddin Empire was Alterius. Alterius also lived at the Temple of Luna. He shared their belief that the white lizardmen should be able to leave the village. However, whilst Nomius and Auraelius both wanted Auraelius to be able to leave the village, neither of them wanted him to leave it forever. They knew the village offered safety and they always returned after sneaking out. Alterius simply wanted to leave.

  Alterius deduced that they had been sneaking out. He befriended them. He talked them into taking him with them. They agreed, as long as he never told anybody about their secret way out.

  They had not long left the village on their way to Antlion Rock. Auraelius had stopped to urinate. Nomius and Alterius were talking. Alterius grabbed Nomius and bit right into his throat. Tore the whole thing open. It caught Nomius completely by surprise. He trusted Alterius. He thought they were friends. Alterius had simply used them to get out of the village.

  And do you know what that odious piece of detritus said to Nomius after he bit his throat open? He told him that he talked too much. That psychopath enjoyed it. He took pleasure in it. I cannot express the rage and anger that I feel towards him. Just thinking about him makes me sick to my stomach.

  Nomius fell to the ground, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. He looked up to see Alterius moving towards Auraelius. He wanted to stop him, but the blood loss had made him weak. Luckily, Nomius was carrying the supplies that they had brought with them. He removed the torch from his belt and lit it. He jammed that torch to his throat, cauterising the area. It stopped the blood flow but the pain almost caused him to pass out.

  Even though the pain was catastrophic, he pulled himself round to see Alterius standing over Auraelius’ body. He drew one of his throwing axes and threw it into the back of Alterius’ head. Alterius fell to the ground, but managed to stand up and run away. It was then that Nomius passed out from the pain.

  When Nomius eventually woke up, he crawled over to Auraelius. Alterius had stabbed him thirty-seven times. We suspect that Alterius was trying to make it look like one of the other clans had happened upon them and killed them in an exceedingly violent panic.

  Nomius dragged Auraelius all the way back to the village. He tried to explain to people what had happened but, due to his throat, he had lost his ability to speak. He tried to write it down but he passed out before he could finish.

  After his throat had been treated and he regained consciousness he wrote it down properly. A party was dispatched to track Alterius down. But a lot of time had passed, and the wind had erased the tracks in the sand. Everybody assumed that he wouldn’t have been able to get far with an axe in his skull and that he must have died somewhere along the way and been eaten by one of the sandworms.

  Nomius never recovered from that. He blamed himself. When he recovered physically, he went out hunting for Alterius. Never found a trace of him. It never occurred to any of us that he would have allied himself with the Uddin Empire.

  I tried to help Nomius. I tried telling him the silly jokes that he used to tell me. I learned all the signs so that I could understand him. I tried cooking him pleasant foods to cheer him up. He always smiled at me. He was always jovial. But I could see that sadness was in his eyes again. No matter what I did, the sadness remained. He always vowed that he would never do what his mother did. But that brought me little solace. I wanted so much to see him happy again… like he was with Auraelius.

  Time went by, and with no sightings of Alterius ever happening, we all just kind of… moved on. I am pretty sure that Nomius spent his entire tal voshak looking for him… but he does not speak of it. First time that I have seen Nomius even remotely enjoy himself since then is after we joined with your party. Playing in that lake with the human boy… it was like he had found a purpose again.

  Then we find out that that piece of shit is still alive. It must have brought it all back to him. So much pain… rushing through him at once. I am sure that had the boy not been present, Nomius would not have been so easily dissuaded from violence. Nomius hides his emotions well, and he will do so for the sake of the boy. But I can tell. I can see the rage bubbling away underneath his skin. But Nomius’ desire to protect children will always win out over his desire for vengeance. He even chose to stay by the boy’s side rather than return here to seek the vengeance that he craves.

  I do not possess Nomius’ restraint. This time the boy is not present. We have no children in our care. I have no reason to hold back. So, for Nomius… my brother… who lost the one thing in his life that he truly loved because of that… monster. If I see that pathetic excuse for a lizardman again… I will kill him. Then, when we return, I can finally tell Nomius that he is dead. Then maybe, finally, Nomius can begin to move forward. Maybe even find true happiness again.

  As much as I value our friendship, Dwynfel… do not stand in my way.