The Wielder and the Source

Chapter 33

Worry was bad for the mind, and the things that damaged the mind eventually damaged the body attached to it. So, when the sun winked away, and the shadows bled into one another, Kitaya quitted fretting. She wanted blood; she wanted answers, and she wanted her magician back. Ashes coated her boots as she walked alone along the charred ground of the ruins, armed with only her dagger. Jayer, Jetei and Fukami were nearby, hidden. If this ambush was to work the Vidaldi needed to think her alone, helpless.

The heavens offered her the light of a half moon to guide her way, but she was relying more on her ears than her eyes. Occasionally a breeze would ruffle the treeline and kick the ashes up into swirls, but the night remained otherwise silent.

Kitaya bit down on her thumbnail. Aldeheid, where are you? As strong as the bond was, it couldn't lead her to him. Unless he died. Her heart sank at the thought. It was a cape's job to protect their magician. He'd only been her magician for a week and she'd already failed him.

This was her fault. He wasn't ready. He'd told her and showed her over and over, but she was too stubborn, too caught up in what she wanted. As always. And she forced him into this despite his reservations. She'd never live this down.

Kitaya reached the edge of the tree line and gaze at the night sky. The moon had inched closer to the west, slanting the faint shadows of the trees. They'd been out here for hours. Perhaps it was time Just as she was about to turn back, a rattling of chains reached her ear. At last. She spun to deflect the attack, but a whistle of wind dashed the chain away before it could reach her.

Fukami descended from the sky like an apparition, green tattoos glowing and hair whipping about his face. "Allow me."

Vidaldi scrambled from the tree line like a hive of ants. Kitaya moved beside a cluster of fallen trees and stumps, while Fukami jumped into the fray like a rabid predator. She toyed with her dagger, ignoring the occasional gust of wind that blast wind that tossed her braids and screams that echoed across the ruins.

Her thoughts turned to Aldeheid again, hands curling around her dagger as she thought of what those masked degenerates were doing to him. He'd given her his sword and left himself defenseless. Sure, his magic leeching had gotten better, but it only worked in unpredictable bursts and spasms.

"Kitaya?" Jayer's voice pulled her from her thoughts.

She must have been in a fog, because she didn't know when he'd gotten to her side or how long he'd been trying to get her attention. Jetei sat on his shoulders in cape form. Normally, it would be Aldeheid who'd get lost inside his own head. Is this what he felt like all the time? she wondered. Plagued with worry?

"Apologies." Kitaya loosened her grip on her dagger. "Is something the matter?"

"Fukami seems to have a personal vendetta against these people," Jayer said, his raspy voice just loud enough to be heard over the noise. "Have you any idea why?"

Kitaya shrugged. "He's said nothing to me about."

"I'm just worried. He was never interested in our cause before the Vidaldi showed up." He lowered himself onto a charred stump, wincing along the way. "I'm not saying I don't trust him but..."

"I understand." She tried not to read to deeply into anything Fukami did or said because, as he'd told her before, gods were fickle beings. But there was not harm in allaying Jayer's fears. Fukami was a powerful being, and his involvement presented implications they weren't entirely prepared for. Such as other gods getting involved out of spite or curiosity.

Kitaya took a step back as a Vidaldi hit the ground at her feet with neck bent at an awkward angle. Perhaps Jayer's fears weren't as misplaced as she thought. She looked at Fukami, standing amid unmoving bodies, with one squirming and flailing Vidaldi held aloft by one leg.