The frost had officially begun to set in as Trace woke up. They had officially been on the road for 25 days now, and were just about to the halfway point. Last night Keith had shown that they were near another small town, but Barret was skeptical. "I have no need to go into town for a very long time. I'd rather stay as far away as I could in fact." he had said. "You can go if you want, but I am quite happy to stay outside." It wasn't that he wanted to leave Barret, in fact quite the opposite. But even Barret couldn't deny that they needed a few things like more fabric for Flora and a new tent for Natani and Keith, since theirs had a hole rip in it during a very strong gust of wind two nights ago.

"Besides," Zen continued "we might catch word of what's been going on with the war. After we saw siege weapons being mobilized, I'm rather curious to know if any cities have fallen yet, or if it's still a war on just the fringes of civilization."

Shaking his head, Trace shivered and pulled his coat a bit tighter. The town wasn't even named on the map, just marked with a dot like so many other small towns. Barret was awake already, as was his usual. Though, today, no food cooked over the fire. There was no fire to cook on. "Don't want to risk lighting a fire today because we're so close to a town?"

"No." Barret shivered. "I can't light a fire. The wood might look dry on the outside, but beneath the bark it's moist and damp. Unless you want a smoke signal twelve kilometers high, I'm not going to even bother with this. The plan is still to split up?"

"We need a new tent. We can't even begin to try and repair the broken one, half of the side is torn, and the other half is probably halfway up the mountain if that wind was any indication." Barret chuckled.

"Of all the skills I wish I had, I wish I knew how to make fabric. Even if it was just for bandages, I could do so much with it. But alas, my survival skills, though great, are not perfect."

"Never thought I'd say this, but I wish I had a cloak like yours." Zen said, teeth chattering as he walked toward the cold fire pit. "Not only would it keep me warm in this blasted cold, but I hear cloaks are coming into style." A wry smile elicited a chuckle from Trace and Flora, who was the only one not shivering.

"I think I'm going to stay with Barret today." Eyes suddenly flew to Flora. "I'm not really needed in town, Trace knows what sort of fabric to buy, and I'd only draw the eyes of everyone."

"You don't have to stay on my account. You should go with them."

"Actually, I'm going to sit this out too." Eyes suddenly flew to Zen. "We're too close to Wolf territory, and I've got a lot of enemies who know what I look like. It would be all too easy for someone to talk, and suddenly we're running from the Brotherhood again. Natani should go though. They would recognize my brother. No one here would recognize my sister though." Natani blushed and Barret raised an inquisitive scale (as Ishtaer to not have eyebrows, or hair on any part of them). "I'll explain later." Zen responded.

"Alright. Flora, Barret, and Zen are staying outside of town, while Keith, Nat, and I are getting supplies. We'll meet past the northeastern gate at dusk. Agreed?" Everyone nodded, and quickly, with much shivering, packed up the camp.

…

"Halt! State your business!" A wolf Keidran with a spear stood in front of the gate into town. The entire village was surrounded by wooden logs, roughly carved and stuck into the ground as a wall. The 'gate' was little more than a gap in the oversized fence.

"Gathering supplies. My companions and I are traveling eastward to get away from the fighting, and need to pick up some much needed materials after the wind and rain ruined our tent." Natani said, approaching without fear.

"You speak for this motley crew?" He looked past at Trace, then at Keith with an odd look. "Quite the strange group of folks to travel with."

"By chance. We met on the road and happened to be traveling the same way. Figured it was easier to share the load and travel in a group." Keith said.

"I'm glad we met. I didn't realize how poorly prepared I was." Trace said. The 'guard' looked him over, and seemed pretty convinced. They were all covered in mud and muck, and Trace's shirt was torn in a few places.

"Well, alright. I guess I can let you in. Just don't be causing any trouble, or I'll never hear the end of it." Stepping aside, the wolf watched as the three entered the village. "Oh, and if you're trying to avoid the war, don't stick around too long. There's been talk of recruiting from even our little town. Seems like every body on the front lines is needed."

"Thank you." Natani said with a smile. "So far so good, no one recognized us."

"That was one person." Keith rolled his eyes. "If we get through the whole town without being recognized, then I'll be happy."

"Come on you two, let's just find what we need and get going."

…

"So this link was severed and now Natani thinks she's a girl again?"

"Kinda, but not quite." Barret was still trying to wrap his head around the whole story.

"This is one seriously messed up bunch of folks. I guess I really do fit in… Tragedies attract apparently. So if Natani is so good with magic, why haven't I seen her use any? Seemed like the way you put it, she'd look for any excuse to show off her power."

"I'm not sure. Probably she just doesn't have enough mana crystals in reserve, so she's saving it for the right moment."

"Barret? Can Ishtaer use magic?" The question from Flora seemed innocent enough, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she knew something was wrong. Barret was silent for several minutes.

"Yes. Every single Ishtaer can use magic. We are the descendants of dragons. We are creatures of magic, just like they are. Every one has access to a wellspring of power that is tied directly to our life force. Our vitality determines how much magic we can access at any given point. The older an Ishtaer, the more magic they can pull from, and the more powerful magic they can pull off. It's one of the reasons so many people are scared of us. We can use magic, we are magic, and what's more is that we can resist certain kinds of magic. Most notably, all Ishtaer are effectively immune to control magic, like what humans use when enslaving. It makes people afraid, because we could decide that we just don't like you anymore, and have the potential to use our magic with few restrictions. Once we use our magic, all we have to do is wait. It comes back over time, just like a mana crystal recharges."

Zen was quiet, and looked to ponder the potential of Ishtaer magic. Flora, however, seemed to listen between the lines. "You can't use magic, can you?"

"No. It's not a skill I've learned. Sometimes, I think that I should try and figure it out, and have even attempted to tap into my wellspring, but to no avail. I have never used magic. I was never taught how. I sometimes even forgot about it."

"I'll talk to Natani about it if you would like. She'd prob-"

"Don't. Ishtaer can't use magic like you. Keidrans can use crystals, humans can use tower, but Ishtaer can't use either. We must use our wellspring, and only our wellspring. Around other Ishtaer, we can bolster each other, but we are still severely limited." The trio was quiet, reflecting for a bit on the sudden revelations.

"Maybe someday your magic will just, you know… boom!" Flora said cheerfully. "Just wait. Your life isn't done yet, and if magic is really in your blood, then it will happen. Just you wait."

Barret chuckled. "How can you stay so optimistic all the time?"

"It's just a talent!"

…

"Can't you go any lower?"

"Not really, fabric is hard to make out here. We have to rely on traveling merchants for supplies out here too."

"Alright, fine." Trace sighed and handed over a stack of gold coins. "We really can't go without it. But that still seems like a really steep price for such a small amount."

"Pleasure doing business with you too." the wolf vendor said dryly, pocketing the coins. Trace took the fabric and put it in the backpack. Keith and Natani stood nearby, already done finding a new tent.

"You've grown to expect the prices of towns that have connections to the outside world. You won't find low prices on anything out here unless it's something we could get ourselves."

"I know Nat, but it just felt like a lot, even for out here."

"Consider what the war is doing to the supply chains then." Keith reminded him. "Merchants are going to be slowed, people delayed, and some might even be pressed into combat or killed. This isn't going to just wreak havoc with the military, it's going to affect everyone."

"Speaking of the war, did you hear anything of note?"

"Not much. Seems like there's been a stalemate with the front lines. No one has gained any ground, no one has lost any. Not for lack of trying though. One of the wolves tried to recruit me to be a spy, told me I would be able to slip behind and cause untold mayhem. From most people, that would be weird, but from him it somehow seemed like a compliment?" Trace chuckled.

"Do you think he knew who you were?"

"No. But I'm glad Zen stayed out. I've heard several people mention him by name, attributing him to several key picks and takedowns along the western flank. Obviously I couldn't correct them, but what if someone else is using his name to make themselves seem, I don't know, better than they are? He's a well trained assassin, and someone using his name while still being an assassin could cause problems for us."

"Hopefully it won't come to that, and we can put this all behind us." Outside town, the two groups met back up at dusk, before traveling a short distance and camping for the night.