The next morning Jak and Alya met up with Tim in the common room, thanked the inn keeper, and set out for the journey. They didn't get far, the village was still visible behind them when three men stepped out from behind some trees onto the path in front of them. Jak recognized two of them, they were the merchants in the inn the night before. The third was a muscular man holding a spear that looked worn and well-used. They did not look friendly.

"Hello my good men," Tim said, trying to disarm them with a winning smile. This had always worked for him back at the palace. It didn't work here.

"Hello lad," one of the merchants said, rubbing his hands together, "we saw you had a crafted item last night. Lovely little stick that lights up. See now, that would be worth a pretty coin I would think, and unfortunately for you I am quite desperate for coin these days. My guard Bill here is quite the fighter, but don't worry, there's no need for violence if you can hand over your bags." The third man, who Jak didn't recognize from the inn, stepped forward and held out his hand for the bags. Jak wouldn't have minded handing over his bag, there was barely anything in it. But something about this situation rubbed him the wrong way. Tim had shown them kindness, given them a direction to go in. Could Jak leave him to be robbed like this? Jak was never one to think slowly, and before he knew it he had stepped in front of the others, holding up his club he had taken from the mountain troll.

"Come now," the merchant said looking a bit worried, "there's no need for that. Let's keep things civil, what do you say?"

"I say you leave us alone before I gut you like I did the mountain troll yesterday." Jak said, staring at the guardsman. He had no idea if he could follow through with his threat, but it seemed like the right thing to say. There was a brief pause as the guard looked at the merchants.

"Come on Bill, they are just children! Do you really think he fought a mountain troll and lived? If they want a fight, give them a fight." The second merchant said angrily. The guard nodded once, thinking how ridiculous Jak's claim was. Then he lunged abruptly toward Jak. The spear shot out, and only just in time Jak managed to push it aside with his club. He charged past the spear and shouldered the man in the stomach. The man grunted as the air went out of him. Jak followed with his elbow shooting up into the man's jaw. He had never learned any fighting technique, he just did whatever seemed good at the time. He kept hitting the man, trying to keep him down, but eventually he was pushed away. The guard pulled out a knife and slashed wildly, cutting a line across Jak's cheek. Jak fell back, and saw his club lying on the ground. He had dropped it while fighting up close. He reached over, picked it up, jumped and swung. The guard smoothly stepped into a blocking position, holding his spear. With a crack, the weapons met, and the guard twisted into a new position, that let him slash the spear's blade across Jak's neck. It was a powerful move, the guard's favorite. He had killed many men before with the exact same blow. But then he saw the spear tip barely leave a thin scratch along Jak's neck. As his eyes widened with shock, Jak's skin flashed briefly with the image of stone, before fading back to normal.

"He wasn't lying." The guard stammered to the merchants. Then he ran, as fast as he could, into the forest.

The merchants themselves grew very pale. Jak, Tim, and Alya didn't know what to do, so they simply watched as the merchants backed away before turning and running into the forest as well.

"That," Tim said, "was terrifying, amazing, scary, and very cool."

"Yeughiou" Jak replied with a shrug, trying to sound calm and brave, and forgetting to form actual words. He could feel the sting of the cut along his neck. That was closer to death than he ever wanted to be. Maybe running headfirst into danger every time wasn't the smartest idea.

They started walking again. "It's going to be five day's travel to get to Wild River," Tim said, "and then two day's boat ride into Makers Town. After that a day's walk through the forest and we'll arrive at Elwind."

"what's it like?" Alya asked, "the school I mean."

Tim laughed. "I have no idea actually. Never been. My father told me I should go, said it would help me grow and be strong. That was before-" Tim faltered, and kept walking. "That was before." He said softly to himself. Sensing a sensitive subject, Jak redirected the conversation.

"Auras. You said you would tell us about them."

"I did, didn't I? Well, your aura is your presence and your power. A merchant might convince you to buy something, not just with his words or his smile, but something else, something a little more mystical. Warriors can do the same, winning a fight with more than just strength and cunning." Tim looked at Jak sideways. "Something you seem to be doing without even realising."

Jak thought about the two fights he'd had recently. Both times it felt like he was unmatched, yet here he was, still alive. Something did seem a little mysterious about that.

"Back at the inn," Jak said, "you said Alyas aura was very dim. What did you mean by that? Can you see people's auras?"

"Yea, once you learn to see your own, you can start to pick up others. The variation of the guard back at the-- back where I'm from, he taught me about auras." Tim stopped walking to face the other two. "Here, try this. Imagine there is a very faint cloud around you. It contains the bits of your soul that's leaking into the world, touching and influencing it. Just like you can touch a fires heat before you touch the fire itself, the world will come in contact with your aura before touching your physical body."

Jak and Alya sat down under the shade of a tree, as meditative as possible, and tried to see their auras as Tim walked them through it. Knowing what to look for, it only took Jak a few minutes before he saw faint wisps of grey rising up from his body, a bit like flames but made of shadow. He stayed still, watching the little flames, trying to understand what they were. Tim noticed the smile that had crept over Jak's face, and let it a whoop. Alya frowned slightly as she concentrated even harder, trying to see her aura.

"Don't worry Alya," Tim said reassuringly, "your aura is much smaller than Jak's, barely there at all, so it will be much harder to see. But you're young, and that affinity to fire you showed last night? Wow. You're doing to do great things, I'm sure." Alya smiled at the praise, but didn't stop meditating. She was determined to find something. All her life she wanted to be something, to have something. She had often felt that there was something calling to her in the air, some kind of magic that could be hers if only she could reach out and touch it. But nobody had told her how. Now she was more sure than ever that it was within her grasp.