After leaving Ziya behind at the sanctuary, Azreal took the first merchant caravan that he could find in an attempt to get to Zakia as quickly as possible without flying. The young mage could have brought any of the animals from the sanctuary with him but he also didn’t want to expose his raptrix to the miserable heat that surely awaited them in Jahaur. Midnight was far too impulsive for such a dangerous place and Azreal doubted that his raptrix with his black and blue tinted fur would enjoy the desert sun either as he planned on crossing through Oba towards the border of Neued where he could hopefully find Zakia. Now that he was out in the desert though the mage wished that he had thought to bring Midnight along for the ride. After all, within a few days of traveling into Oba nature apparently had decided to play a joke on him with a bitter cold storm coming through that brought snow to the desert country and made the nights nearly impossible to survive without some sort of warmth to fight against the freezing temperatures. It made him wish that the raptrix was there as a companion so that he could rely upon his thick fur for warmth where instead he had to focus on keeping a fire going and laying on heated blankets to keep himself from turning into an ice sculpture by morning. Others were enjoying the scene though with local Obans in the caravan shouting as they ran through the foreign snows and Azreal saw a few of the peddler’s youngest making a hybrid snowman of snow and sand…something he truly never expected to see when crossing along this path towards Jahaur. It did make him worry though that such a storm would make its way towards Jahaur and he couldn’t help but to worry about Zakia. Would she be alright? Well, she would be since she had spent so much of her life and recent years in Zena. It was a silly thought to even worry about her. Azreal made a face as he sat around the bonfire, watching the children running about in the distance and accepting another mug of ale to warm his own body as he simply relaxed while the rest chatted and played about the camp. They had stopped for the afternoon to try to wait out the rest of the snow squalls as they continued to randomly whip around the caravan as they tried to make their way towards Neued. More than likely they would just spend the night here even if it delayed their arrival by another day. Better safe than sorry. Quipped one of the elderly merchants traveling with the group, the older Shifter looking over the horizon as the winds continued howling in the distance. “We’re lucky enough that it’s snowing as well as bein’ windy else we might have had quite the sandstorm. Nature is messing with us but at least the stuff is weighing down against the desert sands. Still so strange though to see snow out here of all places.”

Azreal could only shake his head as he simply sat down on the heavy blanket that he had chosen to relax on. At least he could listen to the crackling of the fire as he didn’t truly contribute to the conversation, the mage as reserved as ever and not prone to providing his own jokes or crazy tales like some of the others who sat nearby. Eventually though he did find himself listening to a few of the stories, Azreal picking up tidbits about those traveling with them and the local tales that they brought from countries like Oba and Jahaur. It made him realize that he truly knew so little about the world outside of the northern countries that he had once traveled as a teen before settling in at the academy in Zena. Did it maybe entice him to want to try to travel more? Or was it simply the ale talking as he continued drinking from his mug, the mage not as accustomed to the heavier brews that the traveling peddlers enjoyed. Maybe though the spirits of nature were trying to give him a sign since he was stuck here listening to stories instead of rushing into Jahaur. Not that Azreal could truly believe in such things, but the cold weather did force him to sit here and listen for once instead of simply going his own way and not mingling with the strangers that were traveling along with the caravan.

[750]