Yuri Was a Portal Away

After the cheering, Dhaz got a quieter version of his father.

Backstage, Dhaz told Yuri he wanted to improve his own skills and learn to craft armor someday. That mattered more than the crowd's number. It was Dhaz trying to name a future that did not simply inherit the colors, armor, weapons, or public story of Yuri Pelosh.

Yuri answered with history.

He admitted he had spent years away saving the world, rescuing Mother Madrigal, and being trapped by merfolk at the monastery south of Aleklot's Rest. His absence became more specific, which made it both easier and harder to hold. Yuri had reasons. Yuri had adventures. Yuri had missed things anyway.

Then he spoke like an old adventurer again.

He warned Dhaz about the illegal scroll vendor, casually confirming that the off-book dungeon scrolls were not a secret to people like him. They were part of the old shortcut economy, knowingly tolerated, risky, useful, and dangerous.

Yuri offered money for the night. Dhaz refused.

Yuri said he was always a booming yell and a portal away.

That was love, probably. It was also the exact shape of his absence.