"True, but the keepers know more about the magic arts than us commoners. They say the magic signatures are too close to be different beings," he said, "They seem to think it has something to do with the very foundation of the forest. Some of the magics they could detect seemed to be almost the same as those found in natural wonders."

"Hmmm.  That sounds strange...  You mean like nature itself or a being of nature used a spell for the barrier?" she said, acting as if she was thinking about it.

"Possibly, I myself wouldn't know uch on the subject. My cousin is one of the keepers, and her tells me this kind of stuff. I just take what is useful for my line of business, and leave the rest to be recalled for another time,' he said, giving a shrug, "Whatever it is,they plan to try capturing it to study. They just can't seem to get through the barrier when they try."

This shocked Goldenscale greatly, though she betrayed no emotions.  "Why would they want to capture it?  Couldn't they just go to the barrier and ask to be let in to study it in its own habitat?" she asked.  " Just to be on the safe side.  If this creature is powerful enough to create a barrier, then wouldn't it be considered dangerous?"

"That's why they want to capture it. If they can capture the creature,they can tame it with enough effort. With a creature of such power in their arsenal, they would never need to wprry about such any of the other beastkeeper groups attacking them. That, and I think they're all a little power hungry," he said, "I doubt anyone could talk them out of t, those wildlife activists have been trying to stop their actions for close to fourty years now. As I see it, they protect the city, why would you want them to stop doing so?"

"Good point.  If you think about it, maybe the creature is doing the same thing." she said with a shrug.

"At any rate, neither side seems to e going anywhere. Recent checks on the barrier seems to indicate that it has actually gotten stronger rather than weaker despite their attempts to break it," he said, nodding to a guard at the city gate when they arived, "If anything, it is keeping the keepers out of everyone else's business."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" she asked.

"Depends on who you asked. I say it's a good thing because they don't go messing with my work animals," he said as they passed through he gate, "The less they interfere with me, the more crops I can bring into town to sell or use for myself."

"Makes sense.  Thank you for the ride, Zach." she said with a nod.

"No problem, we both had the same destination anyways," he said, tipping his hat to Goldenscale and Ahnah as they got off.

She nodded her appreciation.  "Where to now, Ahnah?" she asked.

"I suggest the nearest inn. It may not be the best place to stay the night, but we can work on finding a better place tomorrow. It's starting to get dark as it is," Ahnah said, climbing out after Golldenscale, "We'll just need to watch ourselves around the drunkards. The seem to like swarming around these inns."

"Good idea." she said.  "Will it have a sign saying inn?" 

"In some for or another, yes. It'll probably have a name before the 'inn' though," she said, look around at the signs, "It'll most likely be towards the center of town."