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.

".For you, Kitaya." He tossed them at her feet like an offering.

"Thank you." Getting information from the Vidaldi hadn't worked in the past, but she was willing to try anything to find her magician. She kicked the mask from their face, before grabbing a handful of baggy clothing and bringing their face close to hers. "Where is he?"

The Vidaldi only smiled, a trickle of blood running down their chin.

"I asked you a question." She drove the pommel of her dagger into their ribs and a notable crack rang into the night, promptly drowned out by their scream of agony. "Where. Is. He."

The Vidaldi gritted their teeth, shallow breath coming out in hisses. They glared at Kitaya before saying something in their thick, guttural tongue.

She looked over her shoulder at Fukami, who sat cross-legged atop his bag, hunched with hands under his chin and a small smile on his face. "Do you speak their language?"

"Indeed. They said 'the light of the goddess will waste you away.'"

"Not before I paint Magika red with the blood of your brethren." She flipped the knife around and drove the blade into the soft flesh of Vidaldi's thigh, a warm gush of blood coating her hand. "Where is my magician?" The question was lost the screams followed it. She twisted the knife and they intensified.

"Kitaya." A hand landed on her shoulder, and she looked up at Jayer. "They won't be able to give you any information if they're dead."

She clenched her jaw and slowly released the knife, leaving the blade in to staunch the bleeding. The Vidaldi's screams quieted to sobs and hitching breaths. Their skin glistened with sweat and their body shook with small spasms.

"On your knees, outsiders!"

Kitaya whipped her head around to see a group of uniformed people emerge from the tree line. Each was armed with a crossbow loaded with silver bolts that winked in the moonlight. White war paint criss-crossed their faces. There were at least two score in total, not counting the capes that hung from some of their shoulders.

She swore out loud. They didn't have time for this.

"Do you want me to take care of them?" Fukami asked.

Kitaya opened her mouth to give him the go-ahead but Jayer spoke before she could.

"They're from the bounty hunting guild Kitaya. I was told by the townsfolk it's likely they have information on the Vidaldi that we don't. We should see where this goes."

"I said on your knees!" The order came with a bolt that pierced the ground at Kitaya's feet.

As bloodthirsty as she was, making enemies in the backlands wouldn't serve her purpose. So long as Aldeheid was missing, she would be in their territory. And the Vidaldi were enough of a nuisance.

She nodded to Jayer and got on her knees. "You too Fukami."

He rolled eyes. "Fine, I'll play your little game, but if things get out of hand..." He needn't say more than that.

Footfalls sounded behind them as the bounty hunters closed in. Kitaya had to bite her lip to stop herself from fighting back when they took the necklace Aldeheid had gifted her. They were quick and efficient, tying the hands of her and her companion and lining them up like swine for the slaughter.

"How bold of you all totry to poach on our territory." A woman stepped in front of them, wielding a sword instead of a crossbow. Her cape was a silvery as her dreadlocks and her countenance as fiery as the bright hides she wore. One by one, she scrutinized them, her eyes lingering on Kitaya.

"Oh, dear." She gave a tittering laugh. "Could it be, a Konian royal out here in the backlands? A ray of good fortune shines upon us tonight. His Lordship will pay his weight in gold for your head."

The woman turned away to watch her minions inspect their haul.

"Don't open that," Fukami said as one bounty hunter picked up his bag. His warning went ignored and a small smile of amusement played on his lips as the unsuspecting fool opened the bag, anyway.

A blast of air shot from the bag, strong enough to send the bounty hunter flying. He shot so high, that he became naught but a speck against the stars. Kitaya had nearly made the same mistake in the past, but Fukami had been there to stop her.

The bounty hunters jumped away as the wind swirled into a cyclone that sucked up ashes and debris. Fukami snapped his finger, the sound carrying despite the noise, and the bag close up, quieting the ruins once more.

"Leave that here," the woman ordered. "Scout team, search the area, The rest of will go straight to the Town Hall. Meet us back within the hour." The bounty hunters stood in formation around them. She ducked her head and chanting filled the air, and a moment later, the ground was ripped from under her feet.

Wind screamed in her ears as she fell through nothingness. When her knees were on solid ground again, she was no longer on warm soot coated ground, but the solid packed dirt road of the town. Beyond the wall of bounty hunters in front of her was a three-story building of dull grey stone. Only darkness sat in its windows at this hour of the night.

A lone guard sat half asleep in a wooden stool near the door. He pitched up at the sight of them, nigh losing his grip on his spear. "Guildmaster." He shifted glances between the woman and her prisoners. "You're aware his lordship has retired for the night."

"Then wake him up," the woman – the guildmaster – said. "This is important."

His jaw ticked, but he led the way into the Hall. Behind the double-doored entrance lied a large foyer decorated with animal pelt rugs and stone statues. Wooden furniture took upwhatever wall space was left behind from the corridors radiating from the room.

The guard sauntered off down one such hall while the bounty hunters milled about, poking fun at one another and discussing how they'd spend their share of gold. They stuffed Kitaya and her companions in one corner of the room, and two bounty hunters stood watch over them, their hands never leaving their crossbows.

Kitaya kept her head ducked and thought of their next move. If worse came to worse, Fukami wouldn't hesitate to tear the town down. But that would make them more enemies, when what they needed were more allies. People who knew about the Vidaldi.

The foyer quieted as heavy footfalls came though the corridor the guard had disappeared through a moment earlier.

"Oshun, I don't appreciate you asserting your way into my domain at this hour." The booming voice carried a steely edge.

"But my lord, I brought you something special. Outsiders dabbling in affairs that don't concern them. And amongst them, a Konian royal."

"Is that so?" The heavy footfalls sounded again, accepted by creaks of the wooden floors.

Kitaya kept her head down as a shadow fell over her, bracing for the inevitable moment when Fukami would rip the building to shreds. Hopefully, he'd be mindful, as there was nothing in her immediate vicinity to hold on to.

"Release them," the man ordered.

Silence that fell over the room like a bolt of lightning on a clear day, sharp, fast and unexpected.

The guildmaster was the first to regain her voice. "M-my Lord, you can't be—"

"I said release them." The words were more like a growl this time, and they sent an icy chill through the room that raised gooseflesh and made breath fog.

The bounty hunters scrambled to loosen the bonds. Kitaya sighed with relief as blood flowed back into her fingers. As she looked up at their saviour to thank him, her breath caught in her throat.

He was familiar to her, yet not at the same time. The bright eyes and lopsided smile were recognizable, but the height and bulging muscles were not. He stood before her, arms like tree trunks folded over a wide chest. "Ade?"

"Kitaya?" He said her name haltingly, as though it were a foreign word to him.

She stood and looked him up and down, her mind still not comprehending what her eyes were seeing. "Ade?!"

"Kitaya!" He threw his arms around her and spun her around the room. "Ah, it's been an eternity." He grinned like a giddy child. "Look at you."

She laughed in spite of herself, not sure of what to say. "Me? Look at you. How... are you?"

"Exhausted. A bit peeved to have been dragged from my bed at this ungodly hour." He cast an icy look over his shoulder, and the bounty hunters shifted on their feet. "I'd ask what you're doing all the way out here, but I have a feeling it's quite the story."

"Indeed, it is. I..." Kitaya let the words trail off, not knowing where to start.

Ade tilted his head at her. "You look even more tired than I feel. I think we'll all benefit from some rest." He turned to the guard. "Wake the attendants, have them prepare rooms for my guests, please."

The guildmaster swore out loud. "My lord, you can't possibly—"

"Can't possibly what?" Ade asked, his breath fogging despite the warm temperature of the room. "First, you barge into my home at this hour, now you're giving me orders. I believe you're mistaking me for one your lowly subordinates."

Oshun pressed her lips to a slit and her shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath. "I meant no disrespect."

"That's what I thought. Surely you won't mind returning the belongings of these fine people, would you?" Ade stuffed his hands in his pockets assuming a more casual stance.

"Of course I wouldn't." Her gaze shifted from Ade to Kitaya, conveying a silent, but haunting message.

Kitaya hadn't wanted to make new enemies in the backlands. But it seemed some things couldn't be helped.

[A/N]: I made the mistake of numbering the last chapter 33. Didn't realize my blunder until just now. Sorry for the mix up.