It was raining when Mary and Rian got to the little town of Hestia, the closest populated to where he had sensed the Tengu and the mysterious other presence.

The closer he got to the town, the more he wanted to slam his head into a wall. There was something very wrong about the way he “saw” the Magic here. The town was so small and pressed right up against the Maiden’s Forest, which, for lack of a better word, was a Magical sink. It was like a supernova, and the fact that there was little Magic in Hestia compared to the Forest wouldn’t be surprising.

The problem was that there was no Magic reading in Hestia. If The Forest was a supernova, then Hestia was a tiny black hole.

And that was simply impossible.

Magic was simply excess energy that was concentrated that could manipulate the world around it. For there to be no Magic would mean that there was no energy, meaning that everything was dead.

And considering that, by all records, Hestia was a thriving town, that was impossible.

So, what was the deal? Why was Hestia a blemish on his mental sensory map?

The Tengu’s presence and the mysterious other’s nearby couldn’t be a coincidence.

When they go there, both Mary and he were wearing their hoods up. They didn’t need them, they both had such fine control over their respective water Forms that they could simply remove the water from their person whenever they pleased. But it wouldn’t do to enter a town full of vivilians completely dry in such weather.

Plus, at least in Rian’s case, the rain was a comforting presence on his skin.

“Remember,” he told Mary, “we’re merchant scouts. We’re looking to expand our trading route.”

“Yes, Rian.”

“And if you see a group of children your age, try to slip in with them, yes?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Yes.” She sounded significantly less enthused about that. He just sighed.

“Hopefully you won’t have to dumb yourself down too much. Anyways. Here’s some money. Off you get. I’ll bring our horses to some stables.”

“Thanks!” She dismounted and scurried off, hood immediately coming off to enjoy the rain. He snorted and led her mare and his own horse to a stable.

After paying the stable hand, he asked about where to get some food and a place to stay.

“Ah, that’d be the Songbird Tavern. It also doubles as an inn. If the bartender snaps at ya, don’t mind her. She’s always cranky and she’s been in a real bad mood today.”

“Oh? Any idea why?”

“Eh, you know how them wolves are. We try to take care of ‘er, but she don’t got a pack and it makes her antsy. Plus, Ms. Xenia brought in that new boy from the Forest. It’s bound to get anyone as protective as Iskra in a twist. Hells, I’m a bit worried for that girl. Smart as a whip, but still got no thoughts in that head of hers.”

The word ‘pack’ was certainly an interesting choice. There was a Shifter type Bloodline member here.

‘Ms. Xenia’ and the ‘new boy.’ According to Darrogh, the Tengu was around nineteen years old, certainly a boy in the eyes of this old man. Now, Ms. Xenia, who could that be?

“That’s an Old Tongue name, if I’m not mistaken.” He drawled.

“Eh?”

“Xenia.”

“Oh.” The man shrugged. “Mayhaps.”

Not helpful at all.

“Thank you for your help. I have a ward, a girl of 12. She’s easy to recognize, half white-half brown hair, blue-gray eyes. Usually looks like she wants to murder you. If she comes for the horses, please allow her.”

The old stablehand laughed. “Roger that, sir. Your daughter?”

“…Niece.”

“Yes sir, yes sir. Enjoy your stay in Hestia. Business of pleasure?”

“Business first, but we shall see.” He shrugged and smiled.

----------------------------------------

Soon the temperature dropped to more appropriate fall levels, which unfortunately meant that Rian had to seek shelter. His breath was coming out in wheezes as he circulated Magic into his lungs, causing his vision to become blurry; he couldn’t control Magic in such delicate places more than one at a time.

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The Singing Bird was at the edge of town, with the Maiden’s Forest looming ominously in the now-misty distance. He imagined when it wasn’t raining it was in clear view, which he found even more disturbing, to be quite honest.

He wasn’t sure if it was because it was so close to the border of the Forest, but he was pretty sure it had the strongest Magical presence in town. It was hard to tell thanks to the Forest’s interference.

Walking into the tavern was like walking into a kitchen of colors, his senses immediately going into overdrive as he tried to process everything.

His eyes immediately met the golden-brown eyes of the petite woman tending the bar. With black hair with streaks of white and gray despite her unwrinkled and pale skin, he frantically gathered his Magical signature up as tight as he could as he clocked her as a Volkodlak. A rather familiar one at that, perhaps he had fought her before?

She squinted her eyes at him for a second before shrugging. “Welcome to the Singing Bird, if you’re here for a drink or shelter from the rain, welcome.”

A few other “welcomes!” chorused from the other patrons, and he nodded lightly. “Water, please,” he ordered as he walked up to the bar.

“Nothing in it?”

“Nope.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Oh Hells.” She shuddered, but went about getting him a glass.

“Never thought I’d see someone insisting on giving alcohol.” Rian turned to the voice, a young man sitting two seats away. He looked exhausted, with bags under his eyes. An ill-fitting jacket was tossed around his shoulders.

“Are you quite alright?” Rian asked.

“Mm? Yeah, just a bit homesick, I suppose.” The man shrugged. “A bit overwhelmed, was supposed to go home today but I’m feeling ill and the rain is supposed to turn into a storm tonight.”

“Water,” the Volkodlak woman slid an icy glass over to him and he nodded in thanks.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“’T’s nothing, sorry for the word vomit.” The young man held up his glass, filled with a dark liquid. “It’s apparently apple season here, and the apple cider is a bit addictive, I’m afraid. I’ve got a bit of a loose tongue.”

“Fair enough.” Rian glanced at the Volkodlak woman, who was currently distracted by another patron, and loosened the hold on his Magic a bit to let a tendril “taste” the man’s Magic.

Heat.

Just heat. Like holding your hands over a fire during winter. Soothing for a moment, and then it became a bit too much, so you had to retreat, only to be bitten by the cold again. And the cycle continues.

Rian gulped and folded his Magic back in on itself. There was just something about Fire Form users. By all means, as someone who primarily used a Water Form, he should dislike them, and he did on some level. But they were also addicting.

He would know.

Sweet smoke and dying embers.

“I seem to remember you ordering water.” The barkeep made her way back to him. “No need to look so flushed.”

Oh dear. He felt his apparent flush deepen in embarrassment.

“Bit of a chill outside is all.”

“Ah. Tends to… nip at you, here.” She very purposefully did not look at the man besides him.

“Go away, you mangy wolf.” The man muttered, looking away. Rian would be willing to be blood was rushing to his own face, though it was hard to tell between the dim lighting and the man’s dark skin.

“Sure,” she dragged the word out and Rian wanted to bang his head against a wall. Thankfully though, she left, though not without wiggling her eyebrows at the both of them. The man groaned, and folded over the bar counter, resting his cheek against the dark stone.

They made eye contact. Rian immediately looked away.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the man sit back upright with a sigh, then drained his mug of cider. “The name’s Katsurou. She’s Iskra and she’s horrible.”

“You don’t say.” Rian muttered, staring diligently at his glass of water. He squinted, letting a bit of Magic squeeze out of him and into the glass, making his ice melt quicker. “A friend of yours?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Known her for a while, then.”

“Nope. Just met her today.” Katsurou tried to take a sip from his mug, re-realized it was empty, and set it down with a thunk and an annoyed sigh.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“So you’re not a local, then?”

He chuffed. “Uh, no. Honestly, the town kind of freaks me out. Everyone is too nice. Too comfortable.”

“A soldier, then.”

Katsurou turned to stare at him blankly, then he laughed. “Sure, let’s go with that.”

He was part of a Bloodline. A Calavera, perhaps? Rian had heard a while ago that they were seeking audience with the Crown. Most likely for a Naming ceremony.

He leaned back, subtly as he could, trying to take in his attire, trying to glean any information from Katsurou’s clothing.

It was very plain. Brown cloth pants and a grayish tunic. Said tunic was a size or two too big on him, but the collar was wide and the size made for a good view of his chest. With what he could see, the man was mostly lean, compact muscle despite the slight frame the over sized clothes gave him.

He suddenly became aware of a growing grin on the raven-haired man’s face. “Perhaps Iskra was onto something?” Katsurou drawled. Heat rushed into Rian’s face.

“Your clothes are too big.” He blurted out, instead of something normal. What normal entailed, he had no idea at the moment.

The grin froze. “Oh. Yeah.” Katsurou rubbed at his forehead, sighing again. “It kind of got torn to shreds.”

Rian blinked. “How?”

“Crazy lady with scissors.”

“Uh…”

“Yeah.”

“Oi, birdy!” Both of them glanced up to see Iskra leaning over them. “Or should I say birdies? Anyways, got a message from Xenia.”

Xenia? He flexed his fingers against his glass. That was the name the stable hand had mentioned.

“She’s going to be late because she got sidetracked.”

Katsurou scowled. “Seriously?”

“Relax, she doesn’t stay in town for very long on the odd days she does come down from the Hells-forsaken Forest.”

The Forest? Surely not the Maiden’s Forest—

But wait. He thought back to his conversation with the stablehand. Ms. Xenia brought in a new boy from the Forest.

His head snapped to Katsurou.

“…And she knows a whole lot for someone so dumb. Or, at least, she’s good at telling convincing stories.” Iskra continued, unaware of Rian’s whole perspective of the town recalibrating. “The kids love her, and she loves the kids. Hell, all the adults like her stories. Go on down to the town center to see her, she’ll help plan with you once the kids get their grubby paws off of her.”

“Ugh.” Katsurou stood up, “alright.”

“I’ll come with you.”

Both Iskra and Katsurou stared at him.

“I’m assuming you meant the Maiden’s Forest?”

Iskra nodded slowly. Rian huffed out a disbelieving chuckle. “Well, I must see this woman who apparently spends a lot of her time in there.”

Katsurou rolled his eyes. “She doesn’t just spend a lot of her time there, the crazy woman lives in there.”

“She what?”

“Right?!”