What can I do?

Aldheid rubbed his face and stared at the tower of belongings in front of him. There wasn't much he could carry on his back, so the rest would stay with Berard and Anha. But that was the least of his worries. It was his last day at the Bastion, and he had nowhere to go. Kitaya was right, there was no way he was making it all the way to Kon with no cape. Heck, even with a cape the journey would be grueling.

He couldn't return to his home in the realm of Magika. The thought of it made him reach up and brush his left cheek. What lied there was a reminder of what he'd left behind, and would never go back to, no matter how desperate he was.

Perhaps he could beg Gallitel to let him stay a little. But why would he even want to do that?

The Etheria Bastion had been his home since Mellidius had found him, but it had ceased being a home shortly after he left. The other magicians and their capes had turned their backs on him. The looks of scorn and smugness, the snide comments. They'd only pretended to like him because of Mellidius, and since he'd left, they'd made Aldeheid an other.

Only Berard and Anha had remained his friends through it all, but they had not the power to help him. Nor to keep him there. The Etheria Bastion was barren land for him. If he planted his roots there, he would wither and die.

Despite that, Aldeheid wasn't completely hopeless. He knew of one last thing he could do to set himself on a better path. With that in mind, he rolled out of bed, the book he'd been reading falling off his chest with a thump. It was one of his mentor's old journals. He'd scoured through them to find any shred of information on Kitaya the Unwanted.

Though she didn't seem to care for Mellidius, he had mostly good things to say about her. He wrote of her headstrong nature, her constant need to better herself, and her frequent disappearances.

How she'd managed to survive without a magician was beyond Aldeheid. Capes had to keep the magic within them at a manageable level, or they died a most painful death. And so, magicianless capes had to be serviced regularly. His mentor had said nothing about Kitaya having or even training with a magician. But he did mention that she was a wanderer.

And that was just perfect.

Most of his decisions over the past two days had been born of desperation. It hadn't gone as well as he wanted, but he saw no reason to stop. So, he clasped his remaining ether stones in his fist and sent a prayer up to the gods before whispering the teleportation spell.

A howling sound filled his ears like storm winds and the ground was ripped from beneath his feet. The falling sensation that followed made his stomach churn, but he swallowed hard to fight off the nausea. Finally, blessedly, solid ground was beneath his feet again.

Aldeheid opened his eyes, the change in light making him blink rapidly. Kitaya's cottage came into focus, looking every bit as charming as it had the day before.

His strides were long and sure as he walked up the steps to the front door and knocked. It made no sense prolonging things. Even if she rejected him, he would be in no better or no worse position than he was in that moment.

Noises came from inside the cottage before the door clicked and swung open.

Kitaya stood on the other side, dressed in white tunic that fell to her knees. She had one hand on her hip while the other held the door open. Her mouth was pressed into a thin line and her gaze piercing. "You're just determined to be a thorn in my side, aren't you?"

"Good Morning, uhh... are you feeling better?" He tried his best to maintain eye contact but his instincts kept telling him to look away lest he drop dead. "I apologize for intruding again."

She sighed. "I suppose it saves me the trouble of having to find you." She turned to grab something from out of his line of vision.

A book. One of the journals he brought with him the previous day.  

"I don't believe in keeping other people's belongings. Your handwriting is pretty, by the way."

Her words fell over him like ice water. It was one of his journals. How could he have been so stupid? His hands shook a bit as he took it, and his stomach tied itself into knots. "Did you..."

"Read it? Of course." She tilted her head at him. "That look of shame you're wearing seems quite comfortable on your face." There was no malice or scorn in her voice, making it sound almost alien to him. "Cape killer hm? Should I run for the hills?"

His grip tightened on the book. "I... It's not like that."

"So it seems." She nodded towards the porch steps. "Sit."

It took his brain a moment to register what she said, and the odd request made him hesitate. This was normally the part where he was told to get out or stay away. "Why?"

"There's more to your being here than you're telling me. The first time you were just curious. The second time you wanted information, but you didn't say why. And now here you are again. I'd like to know why you keep bothering me."

"I'm—"

"Sorry. I know." She rolled her eyes. "You're also an insufferable oaf. Have a seat." She eased the door shut but not before he got a glimpse inside.

Her small living room was cluttered, unlike the day before. A squat trunk twice the size of his sat opened in the back of the room. The table was laden with books and clothing was folded on the chair.

She's leaving, he thought, as he planted his butt on the top step. Which meant now was his one and only chance to ask for her help again. And she already knew his dirty little secret.

Kitaya chose to lean against the porch's wooden post. "Is Gallitel putting you up to this?"

"No." Well, if he was going to ask for her help, then she deserved to know the truth. "I was kicked out of the Bastion. And given three days to pack up and leave. I thought I would search for Mellidius, but you've made it abundantly clear that I can't make it to Kon on my own."

"You got kicked out for killing a cape?" Kitaya asked.

He nodded. "It wasn't intentional." Silence descended upon them and goosebumps rose on his skin. He knew what question was coming next. And the dread it brought made his stomach ill.

"Just how many capes have you killed?"

Aldeheid looked away from her to stare at the wildflowers dancing in the breeze. "Fifty-one."

"I see..." she breathed. Her eyes held no malice, no judgement, no scorn. Instead, she seemed curious. "All those names in the book, they're the capes you've killed?"

He nodded and flipped open the book in question. "I never forgot any of them." His thumb trailed down the page. "Lilian wanted to make a better life for her family, even if that meant sacrificing her own. Maren was one of the few people who beat me in a game of Tactica. And..." His words trailed off as he remembered his latest failure. "I actually have another name to add to the list. Gwen. She liked a challenge."

Kitaya raised her eyebrows. "Well surely enough, she got one."

Aldeheid winced at the bluntness of her tone. "Listen Kitaya—"

"Save it. Why are you here? Is it because you need a place to stay? This isn't an inn."

"I read in Melidius' journal that you are a wanderer and..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I would like to travel with you, if it's not too much trouble." When she remained silent, he babbled on, unable to contain his words. "I have nowhere else to go. And seeing that finding Mellidius would be a lost cause, I believe it would be best if I try to find my place elsewhere."

Kitaya breathed a laugh. "Let me get this straight. You want to travel with the person who threatened to carve your eyes out with a sword? You must be extremely desperate. Or extremely stupid."

Aldeheid shrugged. "Both?"

"And what use are you to me? Can you hunt? Build shelter? Navigate?"

"No..." What use was he to anyone? For most of his life he'd been nothing but a burden on other people. The only thing he could do was destroy everything he touched.

"Will you please stop that?" Kitaya asked with a sigh.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Stop looking so pathetic." She bit down on the fingernail of her thumb and stared off into the trees. For a while they stood there, only the sounds of the horses in the back filling the silence.

Kitaya turned away from him to pace the length of the porch, stopping by the edge and tucking her hands behind her back.

Aldeheid, clasped his hands together, hoping the inevitable rejection would at least be gentle. He could hear her footfalls against the wood as she walked back towards him, feel her eyes burning his skull.

Was she even even considering it? he wondered. No, she was probably thinking of a way to get rid of him for good. After all, he'd been nothing but a bother, a pestilence that deserved to be swatted.

"Alright," she finally said. "You can come with me."

For a moment Aldeheid wasn't sure he'd heard her right.

"Meet me here at dusk and pack light. We're—" Her words were cut off when Aldeheid locked her into a hug.

He couldn't help himself. She had no reason to be kind to him, yet there she was, being kind to him. "Thank you, Kitaya. I promise you won't regret this."

She gave his back a few awkward pats. "I'm regretting it a little bit right now."

"Apologies." He set her down, his face growing hot. "So where are we going?"

"To the Aiisha Bastion in the desert region. You should hurry up and pack." Kitaya turned away from him to go back inside, a slight limp in her stride.

"Wait, I need your help again," he said. "I used the last of my ether stones to get here and it's a long walk back to the Bastion."

"Of course you did." Her shoulders rose and fell as she sighed.  "Wait here." She stalked back into the house and disappeared from sight. A moment later, she returned with a small, metal jar. "Here you are." She shoved it into his hands and retreated into the house before shutting the door.

Aldeheid popped the rubber stopper and ether stones glittered from inside. "Where did you—"

"Get out of my orchard, Aldeheid!" Her voice was loud enough to shake the door, and terrifying enough to send him scrambling down the steps.