It didn’t take us long to find the boys. Turns out that Keith had been put in charge of watching them in our absence. Which makes sense… he’s the only person here that actually knows any of them.

  They were all sat round one of the smaller bonfires, eating their crocodile steaks. They were all dressed in goblin armour. It was Keith’s idea apparently. To distract them by getting them to play dress up and play fight at being warriors. Which to be fair, looked like it had worked on most of them… except Grant, who looked exactly the same as when we left. Him and Alexi were the only ones without armour on. They were just wrapped in a blanket together.

  Grant still looked stunned. He was still clinging to Tadwick’s hat. Alexi was trying to feed him pieces of the crocodile steak that they were sharing. But Grant was just gazing into the distance. Gods… how on earth are we going to tell him about his dad.

  Olmo was the first to notice us… I could tell from his face that he knew things weren’t right. He saw me and his smile just disappeared. Then Alexi looked over… he cast his eyes across the entire group. He looked at Tadwick… then he looked at me and signed “thank you.” Then he returned to looking after Grant.

  The rest of the boys were clearly not so observant. They all ran over in an excited manner… asking what had happened to Charlie’s arm… asking about the crocodile.

  Oscar was the first to mention Isaac. Which makes sense… Isaac was his older brother. Olmo had seen this coming, he lowered himself down to Oscar’s level and broke the news that Isaac wasn’t coming back. We all decided that that would suffice… Oscar is only six, he does not need to know the details.

  The excitement left the rest of the boys at that point. Especially when they noticed that Mr. Thistlewood was also not present. Kiyui elected to be the one to break the news to Grant. He didn’t react… he just continued to stare off into the distance. He’s clearly in shock.

  What really bewildered me was Tadwick and Charlie. Literally the second we got to the other boys, the two of them separated. They had been so close before… sure, they spent the whole time we were in that cave arguing. But even though they were arguing, they were cuddled up together… keeping each other warm… looking after each other. When we left the cave they held hands, comforted each other, and fell asleep together. They were still holding hands as we walked from the dock to the fort courtyard. But he second the other boys were in sight they stopped holding hands and moved away from each other.

  I say that like they were trying to hide that they had been friendly with each other… they weren’t. Or at least it didn’t seem that way to me. Their hands just kind of separated and they moved towards the boys in the group that they were closer to. Charlie moved towards Olmo and Oscar. Tadwick towards Johnny, Grant, and Alexi. There was a sudden distance between them… which they just kind of… slipped into naturally.

  Which is why I don’t get it. I don’t get how they can be so argumentative and be so distant with each other ninety-nine percent of the time… then, seemingly out of nowhere… be so close to each other… work so well together… then without even a second thought… return to the distance that they had before. It is a strange relationship.

  Keith informed us that Nomius was being kept inside. He was being looked after by their best healer. Unfortunately, none of these Bracken seem to possess healing magic. Magical ability is rare in the Bracken… which is similar to the Grim. So, their healing mostly takes the form of potions and poultices. Agaroth did heal Nomius to the point that he was out of danger but he purposely saved his mana in case it was needed later… and it very much was. Alexander was not in a good way and definitely needed all the healing that he could get.

  After everybody had eaten… well… except Grant… the poor kid didn’t eat or move all night… the boys returned the armour they had been wearing and we all went to sleep. Gideon was nice enough to grant us a room within the fort. Not that sleeping outside would have been so bad… but we did not have the energy to put up the tents. Alexander and Agaroth stayed in the room with Nomius, so that in the morning Agaroth could heal them some more, as his mana would be restored.

  It wasn’t long after we retired that the sun came up. But everybody was so tired that we didn’t get up for several hours yet. Once we did, the boys all got their original clothes back on. And my clothes were finally dry, so I did not have to return to Isaac’s clothes. Wearing his clothes felt… wrong. Grant was still not responding to anyone or even moving by himself, so Alexi dressed him and stayed with him.

  After the morning’s healing, Nomius was finally awake… with a rather sorry looking bandage all around his head… which he half concealed with his hat. Fortunately, we were able to borrow a cart to make our way back. Nomius still didn’t have the energy to walk and to be honest… walking back with all of the kids would have taken way too long.

  Keith agreed to return the boys’ rowing boat once they had swept the river properly, to make one hundred percent sure that there are definitely no more crocodiles. Gideon thanked us all profusely for killing the things and even Sir Zafar thanked us… which Alexander said was very out of character. I’m guessing that since Zafar is effectively in charge of maintaining this alliance, then we just helped him out massively.

  I’m glad we seem to have got him on our side… cause the guy looks quite imposing. Definitely the kind of man that you don’t want to get on the wrong side of. Very tall… well groomed, thick black moustache and an incredibly stern look on his face. Smells of ash… which is odd. He’s a mage who specialises in fire… much like Phoenix. Which I suppose would explain the ashy smell… but Phoenix has never smelt like that… it’s weird.

  It’s also odd for a mage to be in charge of a unit of knights. I mean… it does make more sense than having the frontliner in charge. The mage can maintain distance, assess the bigger picture, and guide everyone more efficiently. I don’t know why we have such a tendency for it to be frontliners that take control. Probably something to do with their personality types… who knows… I’m getting sidetracked again.

  With the exception of Grant and Oscar, the boys seemed in a slightly less terrible mood when we set off. Which is understandable. That being said, I don’t really think Oscar grasps the situation fully… he probably doesn’t really understand death… like Tadwick, way back when his orphanage was attacked. Oscar is upset… but distractable.

  Grant however, he fully understands… which I think is why it has hit him so hard, he’s basically out of it. He has just spent the entire cart ride cuddled up to Alexi… in fact he spent all of last night and this morning doing the same. It is sweet of Alexi to look after him so intently… then again… he always looks after all of them… he’s always so concerned with the needs of others. I would say that it is a lovely thing… but I wish he was concerned with his own needs a bit more often.

  Olmo has taken to looking after Oscar, and he looked after the entire group in the boat when they were trying to get Nomius back to the fort. He did that out of love and care for his friends… but he is clearly aware of his own needs and wants. He will do dumb shit simply because it makes him happy. Alexi just doesn’t do that kind of thing. I know people say that you shouldn’t compare your kids to others… but I can’t help myself.

  Asking for me to bring Tadwick back was a massive step forward for him. Making a request for something that he wanted… it was huge. I just wish that he would ask for things more often… that he would do things impulsively for his own amusement… that he would play games for fun… rather than because others have told him to and he wishes to make them happy. I know it is weird to wish that your child was a bit less considerate of others and actually acted in a more selfish manner from time to time… but gods I just wish Alexi would do stuff like that.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Anyway… in what I believe was an attempt to lighten the mood, Olmo asked how the second crocodile was killed. Tadwick and Charlie both launched into ridiculous stories about how they killed it. They both vaguely stuck to the real events, but both embellished and expanded their role in the whole situation. Fortunately, both of them had the sense to omit the part about using Grant’s dad’s corpse as bait. They are not entirely tactless it would seem.

  At one-point Tadwick was claiming that he was stabbing the crocodile so intently that he actively crawled inside its open wound to stab it harder. And Charlie allegedly performed several flips whilst diving into the water after stabbing the crocodile in the neck.

  I could tell from Olmo’s face that he didn’t believe a word of all that nonsense… but he was amused enough to let it slide. The rest of the boys were amazed and enthralled. And of course, this led to Tadwick and Charlie arguing about who did more damage… who’s blow actually killed it … whose plan it was… etc. I spent most of my time just rolling my eyes. The two of them definitely tell a better and more interesting story than Alexi… but at least when Alexi tells you something, you know that it is factually accurate.

  While all of this was going on, Kiyui and Agaroth were sat at the front of the carriage with Agaroth holding the reins. Kiyui decided to take the opportunity to harass Agaroth about why we hadn’t seen him much over the past few years.

  Kiyui: “But you’ve been taking on way more quests than we used to do when we were a party. It’s like you’re trying to avoid us or something.”

  Agaroth: “Fuck’s sake, Twinky. Isnae that fuckin’ obvious?”

  Kiyui: “Clearly not.”

  Agaroth:” Cuz, when we was a party we was doin’ much grander shite, earned a lot more money, didnae have tae do as much.”

  Kiyui: “Oh, nice try. But you forget, I worked at Madame Lauren’t when I was thirteen. I knew you for a year before you joined that party. And you were never away doing quests anywhere near as much as you are now.”

  Agaroth: “Who the fuck are you? Ma fuckin’ mother?”

  Kiyui: “So, it isn’t about the money. You’re avoiding somebody.”

  Agaroth: “No, am fuckin’ not.”

  Kiyui: “Yes you are, I can tell. Who are you afraid of?”

  Agaroth: “Am no afraid of any fucker, alright.”

  Kiyui developed a massive smirk on his face and a glint in his eye.

  Kiyui: “I know who it is… it’s Cathy isn’t it?”

  Agaroth’s face went red. I wouldn’t have noticed had he not turned his head towards Kiyui with an angry expression.

  Agaroth: “It’s got nowt tae do wi’ her.”

  Kiyui: “Ha! Yes it does, it’s her isn’t it, why are you avoiding her?”

  Agaroth: “Am not!”

  Kiyui: “Look, I’m not gonna drop it, so you may as well just tell me. You were all over her when we first brought her back here. Went massively out of your way to get her set up here. Got her a nice house, nice job… then you just disappeared and stopped seeing her. Why?”

  Agaroth: “Because she doesnae need me around, alright.”

  Kiyui: “Was that your decision, or hers?”

  Agaroth: “Look! In case ya havenae noticed, I’m no a great catch. I’m an alcoholic who goes tae brothels every fuckin’ day. Who gets kicked outae parties for upsettin’ people. Am unreliable, and the lassie has a wee bairn who needs consistency… stability… you think I can provide that? You think I’m fuckin’ stable? You’re havin’ a laugh.”

  Kiyui looked taken aback by that. I don’t think he expected his incessant prodding to actually work.

  Kiyui: “Excuse the language here, but fuck off, Agaroth.”

  Oh… he’s pissed off now… he doesn’t normally talk like that. Well… apart from when he’s saying naughty bedroom things.

  Agaroth: “Excuse me?”

  Kiyui: “You heard me. Since when did any of that stuff bother you?”

  Agaroth: “It doesnae bother me. People can take me or leave me. I don’t give two shits. But am no gonnae impose this shit on those two. Am no a good man to be datin’ and am certainly no a good parent.”

  Kiyui: “Are you being serious right now?”

  Agaroth: “I’ve spent most a ma life chasin’ whoores. When ma bairn’s ma died, what did I do? I paid those whoores to raise him. No because it were right for ‘im, but because it was the only place I went to on the regular. I could have looked for a nice wee home with some nice wee parents… fuck, I coulda given up the adventuring shite and got a normal job tae look after him. But a didnae do any a that, did a? No… I palmed him off on a bunch a whoores and carried on doing whatever the fuck a liked. As a said before… am no inflicted this shite on them.”

  Oh shit… Kiyui’s eyes… oh he’s really annoyed… it’s like I can see fire in his eyes. Fucking hell… he just slapped Agaroth across the back of the head. Shit… now all the kids are staring at them.

  Agaroth: “The fuck d’ya do that for?”

  Kiyui: “Because that was the biggest pile of shit that I’ve ever heard. You are not a bad parent. You knew your own limitations and you picked the option that was best for you and Jonty at the time. And you know what, that option has worked out incredibly well.”

  Agaroth: “A don’t think…”

  Kiyui: “Shut up, I’m not finished! Giving up adventuring would have been a bad move for you. You could have been a temple healer, but we all know you’d be kicked out of that for your manners. Which would leave you with learning an entirely new skill. Which takes time. Time that you didn’t have. Jonty needed consistency and routine. Something that you would not have been able to provide whether you quit adventuring or not.”

  Agaroth looks genuinely stunned… I don’t think Kiyui has ever talked back to him like this before. And Kiyui is not holding back.

  Kiyui: “The whores that you keep referring to, may have been an unconventional choice, but it was a stable environment. Jonty was able to have routine, he was able to have the support that he needed, he was able to learn how to perform little jobs, he feels like he has a place. He gets to explore things that most men like him are never given the chance to. Hell, Olly and Dolly have managed to teach him some sign language. I know he can only grasp a few words, but it’s a massive step forward for him. That boy is thriving because of that choice that you are, for some reason, beating yourself up for.”

  That’s true… since Olly and Dolly learned sign language, they started trying to teach some of it to Jonty so that he doesn’t need to rely by tapping those pictures. He can only sign more, stop, yes, no, fast, slow, and orange. No idea why he picked up orange… bit random… but still. The other six are incredibly useful for him.

  Kiyui: “When we were travelling back from the Uddin Port it was you who was able to calm Verity down. You who knew about that rocking thing. And how did you know about that… because you used to do those things with Jonty when he was little. None of us knew about that shit. None of us had the slightest idea how to help her, but you did. Why? Because you are a good parent. You have done way more for that boy than you give yourself credit for. Just because you aren’t looking after him as often as you feel you should, it doesn’t make you a bad parent.”

  Agaroth isn’t saying anything back… he’s genuinely silent… I’ve never seen him lost for words before.

  Kiyui: “Cathy likes you. She relocated to this city because you told her to. She came here because you convinced her that it would be best for her and her daughter. You arranged for her to have a job and a place to live… a safe place, where her daughter can have freedom without risk. Yes, I know that lots of people find you offensive and you have a rather abrasive personality. But you do so much for other people without so much as a second thought. It doesn’t even occur to you that you are doing something that most others wouldn’t. You talk like an arsehole, but your heart is bigger than anyone’s. So, don’t you dare sit there and act like you aren’t worthy of anyone!”

  Well… fucking hell. That told him.

  Agaroth: “Even if what you say is true… it would disrupt the life that they have now. They have a good thing going with Damecus. I’m no gonna ruin that.”

  Dwynfel: “I thought they were just pretending to be a family so that Cathy and Verity could get the free accommodation?”

  Agaroth: “You’ve seen them together. They’re like a proper family. I cannae throw off the balance.”

  Kiyui: “How? How would you throw off the balance? Damecus leaves to do quests and stuff. Hell, he’s been gone for months visiting his clan. They can handle change better than you think. You like Cathy… Cathy likes you. You are good with Verity. I’m not saying that you whisk her away and turn her life upside down. Just ask her out. Take her somewhere nice. Enjoy her company.”

  Agaroth: “Look… I just don’t think…”

  Kiyui: “No! This is happening. When we get back, you’re doing this. You’re asking her out. You can’t keep avoiding the entire city that she lives in, its fucking ridiculous.”

  Kiyui crossed his arms and turned his back to Agaroth. Agaroth looked like he was going to try and argue… but he decided against it. It would seem that Kiyui can be very forceful when it comes to those that he cares about.