"People like us are Wyverns. And Wyverns concern themselves not with the opinions of its prey."

***

Aero's squeaky voice calling him immediately caught the boy's attention. She was standing at a trading stall with beautifully crafted silk cloth of various colours. "Wow this is amazing!" She exclaimed. "How much for this red scarf?" She asked the elderly tsukia behind the stall.

"Aero, we don't have any money. Shade has it and she's....I don't know where she is," Casey told the female who whined and apologised to the woman. "Sorry, my sister has our money. Can you reserve this scarf? I'll pick it up later!"

The woman nodded and kindly removed the scarf from the small hook on her stall and placed it on a shelf underneath the counter. "Come back soon, dear."

"I will!" Aero called to her as she was walking away. She suddenly stopped and Casey almost crashed into the feline. "Wait! Casey! We still need to get you an outfit for the journey and get food and camping supplies and scrolls and a map and maybe even an enchanted compass if they have one and-"

"Calm down, Aero!" The boy exclaimed, waving his arms in front of her. "Remember, we cant pack much. We have a limited amount of money and space."

Aero huffed. Even though she didn't want to admit it, he was right. Money especially was a problem. Trading was rare and slow, therefore expensive. The economy around the entire world was struggling and many cities and villages were suffering from poverty. Aasmyr was on the brink of it. If one wanted supplies like food, they'd need to go hunt for it.

"Fine..." she murmured in displeasure, "but we still need to get you some new clothes. Trekking through Ayachi in thick coats and furs isn't exactly smart," she said, motioning to his long coat lined with fluffy, white fur, then went back to complaining, "I'm hot already! I'm gonna start shedding like crazy!"

Casey laughed and pet her head only to get his hand covered with her fur. The grey fluff stuck to him like glue. He sighed and wiped his hand on his coat. "Ok, but I doubt there'll be clothes for a teenage human boy," he said nervously, "and I don't wanna walk around naked or half naked either."

"There should be a tailor's nearby," Ryo pointed out. He was getting irritated at the time-consuming discussions. The sun was already at its highest and they hadn't even left the capital.

"There's one on the other side of the market. It's a hut for travellers. Good quality clothes are made there for anyone who needs them."

Even though Casey was human, all the hair on his body stood on edge like Aero's. She looked like a round, spiky ball with paws sticking out and a face.
Ryo recognised the face behind the two spooked friends.

Towering behind them was Suntak, Ylevtir's general and Chief Orion's right-hand man. He was a tall tsukia, far larger than average with strong legs and spiralling horns around his shorter ears. His mane gave him a lion-like appearance so he looked like a spiky, yellow dandelion. He stood on his hind legs, his weight supported by his spear. Like this, he was slightly taller than the human boy. "I can take you there," he said.

Ryo dipped his head. He'd only seen the male a few times in the past during international meetings. "We'd appreciate that very much, thank you."

Aero had lowered herself to the ground out of fear. She didn't like how tall and big this tsukia was. Normally a tsukia on hind legs was about her height and she was already smaller than the average mekur, so compared to Suntak she felt even smaller.

Ryo tapped her gently, his cheek brushing against hers. Aero snorted, her mind clearly still on Suntak, and she got up and away from the male wolf. Once again he was forced to watch her leave his side and walk beside Casey.

***

It took Casey quite a while to find what suited him. The poor Tsukian tailor ran back and forth, bringing materials from the storeroom and showing them to the boy and Aero.

"What about this? Silk from the Northern Skylands." The tailor held up a beautiful cloth in a cloud grey colour and golden embroidery. "It's very soft and light like the clouds."

"That material puffs out in hot and moist climates," Aero pointed out as she felt the fabric between her fingers (she shifted to human form shortly before entering).

Casey didn't think it would be too good if halfway through the journey she started looking like a marshmallow. "Could we try a different fabric, please?"

The tailor bowed, racing back to his storeroom and coming out with a wine red fabric this time. "Cloth from the Western Shadowlands in the fourth Region."

Aero took one look at the material and already shook her head. "Too red and unnatural for the jungle."

"Aero...don't nit-pick..." Ryo sighed heavily, watching her look through the fabrics with a determined look on her face. While Casey was observing the laid out materials by the tailor, Aero snuck past them and into the storeroom. Just as Ryo was about to start barking at her to get out of there, her excited yowl exploded from the room. A moment later and she was jogging out of there to Casey with a light cloth yet sturdy cloth.

"Ah, I see found a rare cloth indeed," commented the tailor upon seeing it. He watched the female glowing with pride as she showed it to Casey.

"It's Seraian, isn't it?" she asked, a certain giddiness in her high-pitched voice.

"What's Ser..Ser...Sair...uh that thing you called it?" the boy asked, giving up on the pronunciation of the word. Miränaen was a difficult language to pronounce.

Aero blinked in surprise. "Bro, it's only the greatest place ever!"

"I thought you said Kazga was the greatest place ev-"

"Shush!" Aero snapped before he could finish the sentence. "Sure, Kazga is great and all, but Serayi is so much better. Oh, the food! The clothes! The buildings! The markets!"

Ryo decide it was his turn to cut in this time before Aero started naming random things found in Serayi. "Not to mention their army is quite impressive. Serayi has the most elite training of soldiers in the world."

"They're a neutral country though," Aero groaned.

"And for good reason." This time it was the older tsukia tailor that spoke. "Serayi has closed themselves off, but they help many survivors who have lost their homes to the war. When a city needs resource, they provide. When a people needs shelter and treatment, they offer. When a region needs assistance, they send a part of their advanced army. I think Serayi has helped all the regions at one point."

Aero took a moment to think. She'd never seen Seraïans helping Kazga with the war. Maybe they were secretly helping, because there weren't many attacks on the land despite the obvious migration of many creatures seeking shelter there.

"This cloth was a gift from a Seraïan trader that was attacked by human army soldiers on his way here. I found him during my military times with my patrol. We fought them off and since then no soldiers returned. A Seraïan is deemed good luck since that day now. You should have it, Saviour. Let it bring you much luck on your journey," he insisted, holding the delicate fabric between small paws.

"Can you make something out of it?" Casey asked softly, feeling the smooth cloth between his fingers. He scratched at it with a nail and felt resistance in the cloth. It felt durable, like it could survive a trek through the entire jungle and back and come out without a tear.

The tailor bowed, his head low. "Of course. I already have your measurements. It will be done in a couple hours, so I must ask you to be patient."

The boy was rather surprised to see the small fox-like creature use magic to make his clothes. "You know magic?"

"The art of levitation through air magic," Aero mumbled as she watched. "I didn't know you could levitate. You seemed like a-"

"A Nekijis?" The tailor finished, his voice blank but questioning. Seeing the confusion in Casey's eyes, he repeated in English, "someone who doesn't know magic. Well, both my parents were Nekijis*. I was gifted with air magic from my ancestors with the power of Gaia's breath."

Casey didn't seem to understand how that was possible, though he tried his best. He'd ask Aero later on the subject if she's up to explaining it. "So...magic isn't just divided into elements? There's more?"

"Of course there's more! There's so much! There's-"

"I'm going outside," Ryo announced, pushing the thin twig door open with his muzzle.

"Yeah yeah, wait outside, sour lump." Aero grunted at him with her tail tip twitching. She was getting annoyed at him always cutting in.

Ryo rolled his eyes and stepped outside, the door swinging closed after him. Once out of the hut, he sighed and gazed up. The sun was already on its journey back down to the horizon.

A small stone hit Ryo and he whipped his head around to see who it was. Shade stood in front of him, her shadow tall from the light. "I've been looking all over for you. Where's Aero and the human?"

Ryo motioned to the hut entrance. The dark mekur dipped her head in understanding.

"How unpleasant..." her words were quiet. "I've gotten all the supplies while you were off skedaddling like butterflies."

Ryo noticed the leaf bag attached to the mekur's back. Its straps wrapped around her shoulders and connected tightly to the bag. There was also a scroll holder tied to her foreleg containing a map of Ayachi.

"What's in the bag?" Ryo asked now genuinely curious as to why it was so big.

"Survival items for the boy. Sleeping items, water bottles with purifiers, snacks of all sorts and the hunting permit from Chief Orian so we all don't starve out here. I picked up some healing aids as well. The Chief warned me that he jungle is dangerous terrain. There are many traps and poisonous creatures out there along with human military camps.

Ryo groaned. "Great. A poisonous Lazuru* is the last thing I need."

"Oh, there's not just Lazurus out there...."

***

Can we take a break now?" Aero whined, her long tail dragging behind her and collecting leaves and dust. Every now and then she flicked it to shake off the debris and the drag-collect-flick-repeat process happened once more. Of course the mekur has forgotten that she had wanted to get a scarf from the stall back in Ylevtir, but it was too late to go back now.

Casey was lagging behind as well, fatigued and hungry. They'd been walking for hours and even though the sun had gone down quite a while ago, they had stubbornly continued using only torches to guide them. Although his new Seraïan robes were extremely comfortable, his boots were not made for the jungle mud and terrain. His feet were figuratively killing him.

Ryo paused from up ahead and looked behind him. Aside from Shade who would still soldier through the darkness, the other two looked like they could barely make another step. Looking back at the unknown and unexplored darkness up the path, he realised it would be smarter to make camp here.
"Fine. We rest here for the night."

The relief flooded through Casey and Aero like a cold wave as soon as the cool ground met their exhausted bodies.

"Set up camp, you two. Me and Shade will look around for food," the wolf announced and nodded to Shade. The feline scoffed, dropped her leaf back and headed her own way making Ryo wonder whether she would even hunt for the group.
"Don't let a Lazuru grab you. You'll die from blowing up," she had teased as she was swallowed by the shadow.
Huffing, Ryo went down his own path.

Casey watched the two set off. He couldn't help but notice the tense atmosphere around the two and an even tenser one when Ryo was around Aero. A flash of dim light caught his attention. The hair on his body stood on edge, then he relaxed when he recognised Rae's starred pelt. The mekur had been watching out for Casey since the beginning of the journey.

Rae waved with his tail then held it over his mouth.
Casey nodded and pretended not to have seen his furry Guardian skulking nearby and escape into the cover of the jungle.

"So..." he muttered as he tried to set up a conversation with Aero. The grey bear-cat was unpacking the leaf-bag and took out something that strongly resembled a sleeping bag. Most likely it was for Casey. "What's up with you and Beta Ryo? It looks...awkward..."

"That's cos it is," Aero retorted with a grunt and poked around the nearby area for dry twigs and vines. "You probably don't know this, but me and Ryo used to be together."

"What happened?"

Aero whipped around to face him. "Can we not talk about my awkward love life right now? Look, obviously it didn't go well. I've tried moving on, I think he's also trying, but it's hard. We can never go back to being friends after all we've done together."

Casey flinched at her tone. Aero apologised and took a step back. "Sorry....didn't mean to snap...it's just awkward, ok?"

The boy nodded quickly and looked at how Aero was attempting to build a campfire. He decided to help out. "So back in Ylevtir, you seemed surprised at the levitation thing from the tsukia. Why was that?"

Aero blinked thoughtfully. "Tsukias aren't that well known for their lack in producing magic. Dzhak*- I mean, Nekijis, are very rare among tsukias. They're normally magic beings and most commonly show up as mages. Did you notice that some of them had wings on their back? Yeah, that's pure magic. The tailor didn't have those wings or magical aura so I assumed he was a Nekijis. Could be he has some conceal magic."

"Can you levitate things? You have the air element too."

"No, I can't. I can do other things though! You see, the elements alone isn't where magic stops. There are groups as I mentioned before Ryo interrupted me so rudely. Like air for example can be further divided into wind and electricity. I have the electricity, but my speed comes from wind. Then you can divide those groups into many more."

"Wow, really? Ok, I didn't expect magic to be this easy, but it's a bit more complicated than I thought too."

Aero chuckled at that. She yelled all of a sudden. He realised the cone of firewood they had built collapsed in on itself. Aero whined as she started rebuilding it.

"It's ok, it happens," Casey said as he tried to soothe the mekur.

A moment of silence passed until Aero asked something that took Casey aback. "I never asked, but what's your magic power?"

"The power of friendship!" Casey joked and shook his head. "I already told you, I don't have one."

"Are you sure? I swear your aura said like you-"

"Aero!"

The poor mekur female launched in the air at Ryo's slightly muffled commanding tone. "Why's the fire still not done? Stop babbling and get it started." The wolf grumbled and dropped two limp bodies of some kind of large chicken with colourful feathers beside the makeshift campfire model. Shade dropped another two chickens near Ryo's and went to set up whatever was in the 'sleeping bag'.

Aero mimicked Ryo in a mocking way as she successfully rebuilt and sparked a flame at the campfire. "What a grump..."

Casey couldn't help but laugh and watch.

——————

Nekijis - a non-magical creature, mostly a term used in Ayachi for tsukias

Dzhak - an impolite way of calling someone a no-mag

Lazuru - a type of small blue bird deemed relatively harmless, here used as a joke for being poisonous although it's absolutely harmless (the jungle is assumed to be all poisonous).