2

“Shit, really?” I muttered under my breath. Another bird decided to shit all over my gear that I was polishing. I poured some more water onto the rag that I was using and rubbed vigorously onto the dirt. I looked back up. There were at least half a dozen birds in the trees above us. I looked back down onto the chest piece that I was polishing. The intricate patterns were most definitely designed to be more for ceremonies, the rings and eyes dotting the entire piece had far too many groves in it, more than any scrap piece of fabric could really pick up. I’d need a brush and one of those really fine ones like they got back at the chapel. I stopped scrubbing the stain, it looked, fine enough. I took out a small vial of oil and began running it onto the freshly cleaned area.

Even though cleaning this armor is a lot of work, it’s all worth it in the end. I can’t begin to tell just how many times this saved my ass, all the swords, clubs, spears, even claws. None of them broke through it, sure it got scratched, and some gems fell off if it, but it never broke. Vestus told me that this armor was special, that each Aspect of Faith before me died within it, and a piece of their soul lives on through it, and through me. I know that should make me feel proud, and feel so much safer. So why does it make me feel so damn scared?

My hand started to feel like it was burning. The headaches were getting worse. I bought the rag up from my armor. Shiny, it was all shiny again, at least as good as I could get it. I laid the chest piece down back onto the rock beside me, and stood back up. I grabbed my cloak, that red satin fabric glistening, and laid it over the armor, praying that the birds would finally leave it alone. I looked back over behind me.

Kaje was still sitting down on the toppled log, I would have thought that he would have stood up by now. It’s been hours since Alarotha told us to sit put, guess he took it pretty literally. But, knowing him, there was something else going on. I looked back down at the rocks, maybe my mace could use a little waxing itself, wouldn’t hurt to make sure it can’t rust. I took the mace, the rag, and the oil, and walked over to Kaje.

I stepped on a branch, which inevitably made a large cracking noise, Kaje bolted his eyes toward me, eyes wide with shock. He quickly looked back down onto whatever he was playing with in his hands. I sat alongside Kaje. He was playing with his rusty knife that he kept on him. He never really kept it waxed, and cleaned, but I couldn’t really blame him. Fighting was never really his strong suit, and he never even liked it, it was always a necessity to him, rather than something to hone. But, we’ve all got to fight in this world now, we can’t afford not to.

“You want to know something interesting?” I asked Kaje, he looked over at me. “I never really got out in nature much before all of this, I kept myself just within the city, and my own little social groups never thought I’d end up here with you in the end,” I told him. He raised his eyebrows. All of that was true, I knew Kaje a bit before all of this, but I’d never interacted too much with him. Maybe we grew closer because we had no other choice, but maybe we would have talked more regardless. Hard to believe my grandmother had anything to do with him, with those gems, I looked back down at my hand. That amber topaz embedded deep within, the one thing that everybody saw me as. I looked back over at Kaje, he kept looking down on the ground.

“What’s going on right now Kaje?” I asked him. “Is, everything alright?” Everything was definitely not alright, but I couldn’t take the silence anymore. He looked back over at me, his face contorted in pain.

“It’s nothing, really,” he started, then took a deep breath, “there’s just a lot on my mind, especially with the past few days and everything.” I leaned in more towards Kaje, he turned his face away from me.

“Kaje, I need you to be straight with me, or else I can’t really help you with anything,” I said.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Why do you think I need your help at all.” He shot back at me. “Hell, what makes you think you can even help at all?” He turned his face towards me, His face was full of rage, and anger. Then, his face soon softened. His eyes widened, and looked right into me, begging, pleading with me, but for what? He looked back at the ground.

“Sorry.” He said.

I leaned back a bit, trying to give Kaje his space, the space that he absolutely needed. It’s true, I don’t know exactly what Kaje went through out there, and with Tyrannus, and Winrad. But, well, maybe I could at least listen to him, see what was going on inside his mind.

Kaje opened his mouth, then soon shut it. But then tried speaking again. “It’s hard to, drop that guard, to be able to open up, even with you Raldnech.” He stated.

“I get it.” I interjected, “I understand how hard it can be to drop that guard sometimes.” I told him. I pointed towards the dagger that he had, he grabbed the dagger and carefully handed it to me. “I remember when I found out that I was the Aspect of Faith, I felt the whole world on my shoulders, like everybody was watching me, looking to me like I had all the answers in the world.” I told him, he cocked an eyebrow towards me. “Sometimes that pressure causes you to create that mask, become what they think you are, and sometimes you gotta keep it going, for as long as you need,” I said. I looked back at Kaje, he was looking away from me now. All of it, what I said was true. That pressure, it feels like it’s killing me sometimes. But you just got to keep pushing through, There’s people always relying on you, you have to make sure that you’re that rock. I wanted to tell Kaje that, but, I’m not sure if he could handle that, if I couldn’t be there for him, hell if I couldn’t be there for everybody…

“I’m…” His voice trailed off.

“What Kaje, what is it?” I asked him. He seemed, deep in thought.

He paused for a moment, his voice chittering softly. “I… I appreciate everything that you’ve said so far, really, but, I’m not sure if any of that applies to me.” He said.

Kaje stood up and took the dagger back from my hands. “Look, I… I’m still alive because of people like you.” He said. He looked back down at the dagger in his hands and rolled it through his hands thoughtfully. “People like Winrad.” He said.

I stood up alongside him. There were tears welling in his eyes, but he soon beat them back. “You know what Alarotha told me, about being the Aspect of Death.” He said, putting the dagger back into his scabbard. “Wouldn’t it have just been better if I died back there?”

How could you even say that Kaje? This world would be far worse if you were just, gone. I don’t know what exactly you heard about your fate, but you can’t just blindly believe that, have faith in yourself. I noticed a faint glow enveloping me, a warmth.“Kaje you can’t just-” He put his hand on my shoulder.

“Raldnech, answer me honestly,” he said. I looked back into his face and kept staring and staring. For the first time since I’ve met him, I couldn’t read him. It was like his face was just plastered on, inanimate.

“Kaje, I.” I took a deep breath. “You know what, I don’t think it would have been better if you just died back there Kaje.” I grabbed his arm and brushed it off. “Kaje I know you, I’ve seen who you really are, you’re a good guy!” His expression relaxed a little and raised his eyebrows. “I don’t care what your predecessors have done, nor do I care, I have faith in you,” I said, he looked back up at me, and that expression again, I couldn’t read it. “It’s up to you now to decide exactly what type of person you’re going to be.” I started walking over to the armor that I was polishing originally. But then, a hand caught my shoulder. I turned towards Kaje.

“Raldnech,” he said. “Do you have my back?” Again, I couldn’t read him. Why would he ask me this now? Why wouldn’t I have his back now?

“Always Kaje, I’ll always watch out for you.”

Kaje stared at me for a few moments, again, there it was again, that same exact stare, the same one that I couldn’t quite read. He nodded and sat back down on the log. I walked back over to my gear, mace still in hand. I took a moment to catch my breath. I really hoped I meant every word I said there. To be completely honest, I’m not sure if fate is operating here or not, especially with Kaje’s fate, being the Aspect of Death. For Kaje’s sake, hell, for the world’s sake, I’ve got to believe that that’s just a bunch of bullshit. I grabbed the armor and turned back towards Kaje, he was sitting back down on the log again.

“Hey!” I shouted over at him, he turned towards me. “If you’re so worried about nearly going down again, why don’t I teach you some combat tricks I’ve picked up!”

“Yeah, alright!” He shouted back. In truth, I didn’t think there was really much more I could do to help him.