3 Days of exhausting travel passed. As I walked along the river my stomach growled loudly, and hunger pain ripped through me. It felt as if my stomach was eating through my spine.

I was so fatigued that I didn't even bother to practice my magic anymore. It was becoming more difficult to drag myself out of whatever bush I decided to sleep under. Try as I might, I could find no sources of food. No animals, no fish in the stream and I was too hesitant to eat the random berries I saw.

There was no way I could verify if they were safe to eat, but I'll have to resort to risking it if I become truly desperate. Since my battle with the wolf the days have constantly been overcast. And of course, this made my nights a combination of freezing cold and pitchback darkness. Fortunately, today there wasn't a cloud in the sky so I might have some light from the moon to accompany me.

The stream had eventually widened into a larger river, around 20 feet across. The banks were mostly a flat expanse of gravel, much easier to walk along than the dense thicket of the forest.

What kind of accursed forest must this have been to have so little animal life. I found the occasional pile of dung close to the river but never ran into animals to speak of.

Unsure of whether or not that was a blessing, I took stock of the sun. It would be at least an hour before sunset. Since there were no clouds, I figured I could make a few more miles before I set down to rest.

When the last of the sun dipped below the horizon I could see the moon for the first time. It was unexpectedly large in the sky and the light it produced was enough to give the forest a soft white glow. The moon was surrounded by an ocean of stars which made for a beautiful sight. I stood there for long moments admiring the view. A small smile came to my lips for the first time in days.

There weren't any convenient places to bed down for the night. Since the light of the moon was enough for me to navigate without tripping, I opted to travel a bit further along the river for a better location to rest. After about 10 minutes of walking by moonlight I spotted something in the corner of my eye.

In the distance across the river, I could see a small orange light that looked like it could be a fire. Hope swelled in my chest if there was fire that could mean people. Resolving to cross the river I took a step in. It was waist deep at this point and it chilled me to my bones. Once I crossed, I made my way towards the light. It was much further than I thought it was, but after 10 minutes I could finally see the source.

Around 200 feet away, was a small clearing. I could just make out people idling around a fire. Carefully closing the distance to around 100 feet, I hid behind some brushes. This allowed me a better view of the camp's inhabitants.

There were about 10 people, each focusing on some specific task. There were 7 men and 4 women. What looked to be bedrolls along with several large packs, were scattered around the fire. One man was tending to a pot that hung above it. Others were either tending to the random assortments of weapons or armor they wore. Some had swords, others had hammers. One of the human women was wielding a spear and was practicing stabbing.

Another was sitting on her bed roll and reading a book. She was dressed in dark red leather and covered herself with a cloak an even darker red. She had bright blonde hair tied into a bun.

The last two women however were the strangest among them. One looked to be a brown-haired woman with large ears who wore more form fitting armor. It was of a higher quality than the other humans, with the exception of the woman in red and a man in full plate.

The final woman was the strangest. She was large, taller even than the man in plate armor. Her skin was a pale green and her black hair was short cropped around her shoulders. While the woman reading, and the long-eared woman could be called beautiful. The green skinned woman would charitably be called handsome. Her arms were massive and covered in scars, that I could see even at this distance. Everyone wore some full body protection, so I found it strange that she would leave her arms bare and wear a chain mail vest.

These people were clearly dangerous. I was puzzling over how to verify If it was safe to reveal myself, when the long-eared woman who was seemingly scanning the forest lingered on my location for a moment. I was beginning to get worried that she saw me, until she continued her scan.

She walked over to the heavily armored man and had a short conversation. He nodded then she returned to her scan. Relieved that I wasn't detected. I continued to monitor the others in the camp, still unsure of what I should do. I realized I couldn't see the long-eared woman anymore. Looking around the camp and the nearby area, I couldn't find her, it was as if she had vanished.

Surely, she couldn't have walked off without me noticing. Deciding that it probably wasn't for the best if I approached them in the dead of night. I resolved to sneak away a small distance and see if I could approach them in the morning.

"Don't move a muscle." A stern female voice behind me said.

I felt a blade press against the back of my neck. I was so startled that I dropped my axe.

"Stand up and turn around slowly. And keep your hands up." she ordered.

Part of me realized that she was speaking a different language and I responded in the same language as if I had spoken it all my life.

'Something to think about later", I thought.

"Ok" I replied. I slowly stood up and turned around wondering how she could have snuck up behind me so easily. These big ears were quite sensitive to sound after all.

Finally, our eyes met. She looked almost as startled as I must have. "Su Venan?" she seemed to ask.

"What?" I responded.

"Von no cri Elvaian?". She seemed to ask another question, but as before I had no idea what she was saying.

"I, I don't understand", I said, far more focused on the blade pointed and my throat.

Strangely, she started to look me over, checking my neck, ankles, and wrists. I was quite unsure what she was looking for, but just in case she decided that I needed to die, I decided to prepare daylight. I figured I could just blast her in the face with it and run away. Hopefully, I will be able to lose the rest of her group in the forest.

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I began to gather power. Instantly she grabbed my head, and I could feel the blade pressed against my throat almost drawing blood. She was so fast I couldn't even see her move. In my shock I lost concentration, and the power dissipated.

"You try to cast something again and you die, am I clear", she said with barely contained fury.

"Crystal.” I meekly responded.

I was confused; There were no outward signs when I gathered power, but somehow, she was able to instantly detect when I did. Can anyone do that or is it some kind of skill? I had no idea. I can't afford to make mistakes like this. Fortunately, she decided not to kill me at that moment.

Removing the blade from my neck she asked, "Why are you walking around nude in this forest?" she asked.

"I don't know, I just woke up in some random clearing and wondered for a few days until I stumbled onto your camp." I tried to sound as sincere as possible.

"Ok then." She sounded dubious.

"Who are you? Are you from Braken? And how did you learn to shape the Ether." Each question was more confusing than the last. Again, I responded to each of her questions with sincerity.

"Well first off I don't know who I am, as I have no memories."

"I don't know what or where Barken is, and I'm not entirely sure what you mean by shaping the ether or what the ether even is. I think you're referring to the power I tried to use, but I just stumbled upon that by accident a few days ago". I Responded to each of her questions in quick succession.

None of these answers seemed to please her, but fortunately she seemed to not be getting angrier. She took a piercing look into my eyes, and I could see my own face reflected in her own green orbs. Up close I noticed she didn't have eyes quite as oversized as mine.

"You don't seem to be lying?" she released a sigh.

"I'll have Sten deal with you. Turn around and head towards the camp." she ordered.

"Can I at least cover my privates?" I asked. She looked down for a moment then said "Fine".

We walked towards the camp with me taking the lead. She no doubt had a blade pointed at the back of my head. As we got closer a few people started to notice our approach.

"STEN", She shouted "I caught our trespasser".

The large man in plate armor came over to us with an amused expression. He was at least a head taller than me, with a neat trim to his graying beard.

At one time he might have been a handsome man, but age and what was likely a hard life made its stamp on his face.

"Honestly Lilian, when you said someone was spying on us, this is not what I expected." Sten said.

"Nor did I." Lilian replied.

At this point we were in the middle of camp, and I was becoming a bit self-conscious with so many eyes looking at me in the nude.

"So, tell me, what’s an elf doing wandering around naked in the middle of the highlands." Sten asked.

So, the long-eared woman was Lilian, and I was apparently an elf.

"As I told Lilian, I woke up in the middle of a clearing like this with no clothes and no memories of who I am. Not even my name." I replied.

"Hmmmm."he mused.

Lilian walked over, handed him my axe, and spent a few moments whispering to him.

"Why are you carrying around gear made by gobbs." The entire camp had gathered around to listen to my interrogation.

"By gobbs, are you referring to the small green creatures roughly half my height."

"Yes", he confirmed.

"Well, I stumbled into one after I woke up. After a fight, I managed to kill it. Since I had nothing else on me, I took its belongings."

Sten was about to ask another question, but the spear wielding woman spoke up before him.

"I don't see how a chicken bone thing like you could kill a gobb. let alone naked and unarmed" she said suspiciously.

Sten gave me a look and said "Well?"

"Long story short, when I ran into it, it started chasing me, so I ran. Eventually it threw that axe at me and missed. I decided to stand my ground at that moment."

Everyone seemed to be interested in that point. "I got a good swing in with a stick and opened up its eye. Eventually it got on top of me and in a panic, I accidentally summoned light hot enough to burn its face. That gave me enough time to grab the axe and kill it.".

"Lilian referred to that power as shaping the Ether. Though I don't know what the Ether is, or what exactly it means to shape it ".

Lilian seemed to have already figured out that I had abilities so hiding that fact was of no use to me. Besides, I needed these people to trust me.

"So, you're a mage then?" he said to himself while rubbing his chin.

Some of the men bristled at his statement. Was being a mage a bad thing? I wondered.

"Perhaps… Does the mere fact that I can cast light mean that I am a mage?".

"No". The woman in dark red leathers said. She barely reacted to anything I said, but for some reason this caused her to speak up.

Sten looked over at the woman and she continued. "He's just able to shape the Ether. You don't get the title of mage until you're certified by the institute".

"I've explained this to you before." she said with exasperation.

Sten rolled his eyes. "Yeah, next you're going to say that Lilian isn't a mage, your order's titles make no sense."

She rolled her eyes in annoyance "Regardless of what you think, he's not a mage, people shaping the Ether while in distress is not uncommon.".

Lilian, who was quite up to this point, said. "He can do it on command Sarah".

"What?" She said in surprise.

"No, that’s impossible...…unless ". She trailed off.

I was a bit shocked by the strange direction that my interrogation was going but I answered.

"Yes, I can". I said, but Sarah looked doubtful.

Sten, who was watching the exchange, had an amused look on his face. He turned to Sarah and said, "How about we let him prove himself, that should clear up any doubts".

"Very well," Sarah tersely replied.

"Before we do that" I piped up." Could someone please spare me a pair of trousers?"

Sten looked at me with a small chuckle and said. "Sure, since Lilian was the one that brought the stray home, I'm sure she can loan you a set of clothes.". Lilian did not look pleased but headed for what I assumed to be her pack.