I cough lightly, holding my cap out in hopes that one of the nicer folks will give me something, anything really.

A passing merchant drops a coin into the hat. 

“Thank you sir,” I call out quietly, my body weak from the heatwave that had been passing through the city. 

The man ignores my thanks and continues on his way. My haul today is barely a few coins, no one walking in the blistering heat from the sun. 

I look down the empty market. Soon it will be bustling with the nightlife that is so prominent in the city of Elton, but I don’t dare beg at night. Gangs and worse claim the area as their own to beg and trick the common folk out of their money during the night. 

I sigh as I pull the three coins out of my hat and hide them in my socks. There’s no point begging now with how empty everything is. 

I carefully slip into an alleyway, walking slowly and in the shade. 

Eventually I make my way to an older courtyard, the stone buildings cracked and covered in moss. At the center of the courtyard lies my reason for coming, a stone well. An older tough leans against the well, rolling a coin between his knuckles. His arms are covered in hair, with the occasional scar showing through, marking him as someone who’s gone through more than his fair share of street fights. His nose is twisted from having been broken and never fixed properly, while a scar over his right eye marks him as part of the gang that rules most of the city.

I step out of the shadows, startling the tough as he nearly drops his coin. “If it ain't the quiet one. Glad to see ye aint been snagged by the traders or the coppers.” 

I smile slightly, Aren, the tough standing guard over the well  is one of the nicer toughs in the city, meaning he doesn’t beat us for our coins or sell us to the traders. 

I hold out a coin and my most prized possession, an old leather flask. The tough deftly grabs both objects, dipping my flask into the well to fill it up and keeping the coin for himself. 

“The traders’ve been in the eastside, and the coppers ain’t doin anythin about it.” Aren says idly as he hands me back my flask. 

I nod as thanks for the warning and hide my flask under my shirt. I take one glance around at the curious and greedy eyes of more street rats looking for their water. 

I walk out of Aren’s sight and book it.

At least two other rats chase after me as I weave in and out of alleyways. Eventually I climb up onto the roof of a house and hunker down. The two rats pass by my hiding spot and I wait a few minutes before climbing back down.

I pant from the heat and the exertion, and I can’t stop myself from taking a small sip of my water. 

I only allow myself that much before carefully walking through the shadows towards my next location. 

A seedy stall owner leans back in his chair using a fan to help with the heat. Rats and mice cook over his grill. 

I step out of the shade, catching the man’s attention. He leans forward, his smile revealing a mouth full of rotting teeth. 

I hold up two fingers and the man grabs a rat and a mouse skewer. We silently exchange my last two copper for the meat and I slink back into the shadows.

My small home lies on the second floor of an old building on the eastside. Most people leave me alone thanks to the fact that they believe it’s haunted… which it might be. At night, I’ll sometimes see a young woman, blood flowing from the wound in her neck as she walks the house alone. For a while I convinced myself that I only saw her in my dreams, but Wolf sees her too. She never bothers me, so I leave her alone. 

I avoid the rickety staircase and instead climb in through the second story window, holding my two skewers in my mouth.

Thankfully, everything of mine is undisturbed. 

I take the skewers out of my mouth, and call out into the house. “Wolf. Come here Wolf.”

A few moments later, a mangy black dog almost up to my chest in height slowly walks over to me, ever cautious despite having known me for the better part of a year. 

I pull his wooden bowl out and pour half of my precious water into it. I then set one of the skewers down next to it. 

Wolf happily goes to his water first, lapping it up. The heat isn’t usually this bad in Elton, but I suspect that this year Wolf would’ve died without me. I pat his back, and his tail wags slightly. 

“At least you need me.” I whisper to the dog. 

I grab him and hug him. He growls slightly, having just started on his grilled rat. 

I squeeze him once, then let him go. 

Then I just lay down on my bedding, taking another sip of my water. At least when night comes, the heat will go away. 

My eyelids slowly fall closed and sleep takes me.

***

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

A light growl from beside me wakes me up. I look over to Wolf, who has his eyes on something downstairs. 

I get up slowly, making sure I have my water flask, and a piece of metal wrapped in rope that is as close to a knife as I can get. 

I briefly consider just leaving, but this has been my home, the one place I could get away from everything. Maybe it’s just the bleeding lady again. Maybe…

My fist clenches around my knife as I carefully walk to where Wolf is standing. Wolf glances back at me and we both carefully walk down the stairs, both of us know which steps are broken and rotting, so we easily avoid them. 

I keep to the shadows, Wolf a step behind me as I walk through the house filled with evening light from the setting sun. 

I slip into the living room and I see her again. Blonde hair flows over her shoulders, turning blood red below her neck, her eyes a vacant gray. She wears a dress of moth-eaten white silk, and she floats slightly off the ground.

Across from her a man stands confidently, his cloak a vibrant blue. His eyes are focused on her, not noticing me and Wolf. Something in me makes me step further into the room. I care about the ghost. She’s the person who has protected me from the true evils of the world for the last year. She never hurt me. 

The man pulls something from his pocket, an opaque orb with clouds floating inside of it. I don’t know what it is, but I know it’s magic, and I know it’s going to hurt her. 

“Stop!” I yell, without thinking. 

The man spins around, his cold brown eyes locking onto me. He has a close cut beard and a sword at his waist. His clothes are expensively made and dyed a flamboyant shade of blue and red. 

His eyes widen as he takes me in. He turns back to the lady, whose eyes are now focused on me. 

“So you did this? Impressive.” He says, rolling the opaque orb between his fingers. 

“Please, don’t hurt her.” My voice betrays me as I plead to the strange man.

The man turns back to me and hesitates for a moment, before inclining his head slightly. “I won’t. Do you know her name?”

I shake my head. 

“You keep her here without knowing her name?” The man raises an eyebrow in surprise.

I shake my head furiously. “I don’t keep her here, she was here when I came.” I hurry to explain myself, some part of me knowing that the orb in his hand would be dangerous to her. 

The man shakes his head sadly. The room suddenly fills with pressure as I find it hard to breathe. Before I can say anything, the ghost is between me and the man. The pressure lessens as the man smiles. The orb in the man’s hand activates and her body is pulled into the orb. 

“No!” I yell, running towards the man.

He easily grabs my wrist, forcing my makeshift knife out of my hand. Wolf growls and leaps at the man, his teeth aiming for the man’s throat. 

Pressure fills the room as Wolf stops midair, held there by glowing green vines that sprouted from the floor. I bite down on the arm holding me, only for my teeth to not even break the strange fabric that his clothes are made of.

“Calm down! She’s fine!” The man yells as I try to chew through his sleeve. 

I pause, loosening my bite on the man’s arm. 

“I’m sorry kid, I should’ve asked first. I- I’m just bad at dealing with kids sometimes, y’know?” 

I glare at him. “Where is she?”

He holds up the orb in his hand. “She’s in here. I thought it would be easier to bring her with us if I-, just hold on, let me explain.” 

Wolf growls from beside me. “Put Wolf down and let me go.”

The man lets go of my wrist and I back away from him. Then he slowly sets Wolf on the floor. 

Wolf starts to lunge forward, but I stop him with a simple “Wolf, Sit.” 

The dog follows my order, but keeps his teeth bared towards the strange man. 

The man runs his hand through his hair, glancing between me and the large dog. “Look, you’re incredibly talented, but keeping an unchained death spirit out like that is incredibly dangerous, she could easily hurt you, even if by accident.” the man pauses, considering something as he looks me up and down. “If-if you come with me, I’ll teach you how to strengthen your bond with her and then you are free to do whatever you want.”

I frown, stepping closer to Wolf. “What do you get out of it?”

“I promised you I wouldn’t hurt her, but I can’t leave a death spirit around if it’s improperly bonded. This way I get to keep my promise, and you, well, you are less likely to die.” The man gives me a half hearted smile. 

I glare at the man, then look at the orb. Really I should just run now. I know better than to trust a strange man, especially one that is a mage. I should’ve left before he even noticed I was here. 

But she- she protected me.

I put my hand on Wolf’s head. “Wolf comes too.”

The man’s smile falters slightly, but he nods. “Of course.” He pauses and the room is silent for a moment as I just stare at him. He seems to realize something and bows his head slightly. “Forgive me, I’ve yet to introduce myself. My name is Maximus Leverton. You can call me Mr. Leverton.” 

Silence fills the room again as he seems to wait for something. 

He clears his throat, “and your name is…?”

“Keo.”

“Wonderful to finally meet you Keo.” Mr.Leverton glances around the dilapidated house, “Do you have anything you need to grab before we set off?” 

I hesitate before nodding. “Wait for me Wolf.” 

Wolf growls slightly, still looking at Mr.Leverton. The man clears his throat, still looking at the angry dog. 

I hurry back up the stairs. My bedding is easily gathered, being a simple thin blanket. I quickly move over to the loose floorboard that hides all of my most valuable possessions. A pretty black rock that was given to me by a friend long gone. An old set of dice, the markings on them so worn that they're practically invisible and finally a copper coin depicting two crows fighting over a crown.  

I carefully walk back down the stairs, half expecting Mr.Leverton to be gone. Instead I find him crouching down next to Wolf, slowly reaching over to pet him. 

“He’ll bite you.” I tell him, causing him to jump slightly and pull back his hand. “He doesn’t like you.” Wolf bears his teeth to prove my point. 

“Hopefully something that can be fixed with time.” The man says, standing back up to his full height. “Are you ready to go?”

I hesitate one final time, some part of me knowing that this would be my last chance to refuse, my last chance to just run with Wolf. Finally, I nod.

“Wonderful!” Pressure gathers around the man as he lifts his hand into the air and snaps his fingers. 

The world distorts as space ceases to exist for a moment.