They were still in the shadow of Mount Tanji a week later. The low foothills of the mountains to the south were covered in foliage, where Barret spent a full day hunting. He came back carrying a wild boar that had a single wound, right through the head where the arrow had been. Every night, he and Natani would try to train with magic, though there was no progress. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't call forth the power in his blood.

Keith was bored, but studied the maps with a tactical eye, trying to figure out how the war would be playing out. Hundreds of variations he came up with, some favored the Wolves, more the Templars, and still more ended with a stalemate where neither side could gain the advantage. Trace often stole the map from him to make sure they were on the right path, much to Keith's frustration, who kept telling him "Mountain range stays on the left, so we are obviously going the right way."

Zen was actually rather happy to be doing nothing for once. Not chasing down a target, not running away from immediate danger, he was quite content to lay in the cart during the day and watch the world go by. Flora ran out of fabric to sew with, and was slowly becoming more fidgety, and everyone but her seemed to realize how often her hand was drifting to her stomach, to where she had once felt life.

Barret climbed to the front of the cart where Trace was. "She's doing it again."

"I know. She has every day since she lost the baby. Her hands aren't busy anymore, and I don't know what to do. There's not any merchants nearby, and we can't exactly conjure up fabric out of nothing."

"I actually might have a solution, but I wanted to run it by you first…" He told Trace his plan quietly. Trace was quiet for a few minutes as he thought.

"I suppose that could work, but I'm not sure if she'd do it. It's not her nature."

"I know that, but if I can try to learn magic, she can learn this." That evening, they stopped off the side of the road near a cluster of trees. Setting up tents, tying Angela down, and lighting a fire, they made camp. "Flora, can you come with me for just a minute?"

Zen, Natani, and Keith looked over, confused, but Trace held up his hand. "Uh, sure. What's up?"

Barret pulled out his longbow, and handed it to her. "I'd like to teach you archery."

"What? Why?" She didn't take the bow, and took a step back.

"Because you've been fidgeting, and you may not have noticed, but you keep trying to feel your belly. You're not staying busy and I want to help you focus you energy. I know you aren't the most… aggressive person, but if you start learning archery, you can stay active, stay busy, and learn a skill that could save your life. Please, let me teach you."

Flora was silent for a minute. She hadn't even realized her hand was on her belly while she was listening, but she looked at the bow. "OK." She reached out to take the bow, but Barret pulled it back.

"You will be tired after this. I want to do this, but only if you really, truly want to learn."

"I want to learn. If- when- I become a mother, I should be able to protect my children. I want to learn. I will learn." Barret smiled, holding out the bow. Taking it, the bow was far too large for her lithe frame, and she struggled to pull the drawstring back.

"We won't worry about an actual arrow yet. We'll start with just learning how to hold the bow." For the next hour, he moved her around like she was a toy, shifting her stance slowly. "Remember: front arm straight, back elbow up, feet below the shoulders. Now, hold it." She was already sweating, even as the night grew colder. For several minutes she held that pose, just standing. Slowly, she began to shake, and Barret walked over, pulling her arm down. "It's tough, but I wanted you to get used to the position quickly. Without knowing how to hold it, you could fall into a bad stance, which could hurt you."

"How do you do this every day?!" Flora panted, handing the bow back.

"Years of practice, constant use, and diligent training. Come on, let's go see what Zen's done with that boar."

Dinner was a carving of boar flank with some veggies they had, well seasoned and cooked to perfection. Flora rubbed her sore arms, and smiled. She realized just how much Barret cared for her, how much he truly considered them family. He had let her use his bow, the weapon that was his livelihood, the tool that kept him alive. She walked over to him, and gave him a hug. Trace stood up, and stretched with a yawn. "Well, I'm off to sleep. We'll get a move on at first light, so don't stay up too late." He turned to go to the tent, but suddenly stopped, staring into the night. "Did anyone else see that?"

Heads turned to follow his gaze. The wide, open plains were just that: wide, open, and plain. Mount Tanji loomed in the distance and blocked the stars, but nothing moved. "What did you see?" Keith said, reaching for his sword.

"I thought I saw some… thing. Too big to be a person, but maybe an Ishtaer?" Barret stood up and put his back to the fire, scanning the night. For several minutes, there was nothing. Then, they heard it. Thud. Thud. Thud. Heavy footsteps approached, slow, but powerful. Keith drew his sword, Zen pulled out a pair of daggers, Natani pushed Flora back as she armed herself with a mana crystal, Barret knocked an arrow in his bow, and Trace drew a dagger.

The footsteps approached slowly, and a black shape appeared in the shadow of the mountain. Shadowy, but they could see that whatever it was, it was taller than Barret. A long stick was on it's right side, and then they saw it. Embedded in the left hand of the clay soldier was a ruby that glowed like fire. Barret shouted "Sentinel!" and loosed an arrow.

With a whiz and a hollow clank, the arrow lodged itself in the left shoulder of the soldier, which was undeterred. Slowly it marched forward, hand outstretched toward the group. A bolt of fire shot from the palm, which Natani deflected with a quick shield. Zen shouted and ran forward with Keith right behind him. The soldier grasped it's pike with both hands, moving mechanically and methodically. It blocked Zen's blow to the top, then parried Keith so hard he was thrown to the side.

Flora gasped as the soldier locked eyes with her, past everyone else. Stepping to block it's view, Trace and Barret scowled. Another arrow was stuck into it's right knee, and Zen slipped past the pike, putting a dagger in it's chest. The soldier was not slowed down by any of this, and picked Zen up, tossing him aside like a sack of potatoes. Turning once again toward Flora, it took one step forward, only to stop as a sword cleaved it's arm off with a loud crash. Keith didn't stop moving, whirling around and smashing clean through the hardened clay chest, before spinning one last time and cutting the head as it fell.

Keith stood there, panting, bits of clay on his fur. Natani rushed over to Zen to pick him up, and Barret walked over to the Sentinel. It was hard to tell, but Trace was right: it did look like an Ishtaer. There was no tail on it and no color to it, but the scale pattern was very clear. "Why did it attack us? We're so far from the mountain!"

"It… it looked at me. I think it was after me!" Flora said, fear in her voice.

"They won't hurt you. Not while we're here." Trace pulled her close.

"Ugh, nice sword work. I'd offer to keep watch, but my head hurts." Zen was uneasy on his feet, and leaned heavily on Natani.

"You rest. I'll take first watch. Trace, I'll wake you up when I need sleep." Barret said, staring down at the clay soldier, wondering about it.