Nate’s new nemesis had planned her strike well.

  She had waited until after dinner so that she wouldn’t be sent to bed without eating, and because at that hour mother Dana regularly used her skill on everyone so they didn’t have to bathe – something Nate found fascinating despite his purpling eye, his injuries didn’t last ten minutes, so it was easier for her to avoid a harsher punishment.

  In the end she got away with a slap on the wrist and a couple days helping in the kitchen, which Nate suspected was exactly what the devious ginger wanted all along; A.K.A. getting to spend more time with Amanda, her favorite nun.

  On the other hand, Nate got confirmation that mother Dana’s golden light could not only clean but also potentially heal anything; from injuries to the common cold. Unfortunately, he couldn’t question the nuns directly about the specifics because that would count as skills related information, thus falling outside his deal with Dana.

  No, he was relegated to asking the other children. Sadly, these efforts would be cut short too when little Laura, his only willing informant, ran away screaming.

  Nate cursed these flighty kids. Why would no one give him straight answers…?! Then again, he shouldn't have asked about regrowing limbs and unconventional food sources to five-year-old…

  This last episode had won him a stern talk with Mother Olga that not only sent him to bed far later than everyone else, but also finished dilapidating any good will or pity he might have garner after being repeatedly punched in the face.

  “Dammit! Maybe Dana’s deal wasn’t worth it…” a slumped shoulder Nate dragged his feet up the stairway, “I should have believed what people said about gingers… they can’t be trusted…”

  “Nutjob!” someone whispered to his side, startling him.

  “Who…?”

  “What took you so long!?” Zoly stepped from behind a curtain, “I been waiting here for hours…! No, never mind that. Put this on and follow me. We don’t have much time before the mothers start their rounds.”

  He tossed Nate a small cloth bundle and retreated back into his hiding spot.

  Nate, odded, looked to both sides before stretching the cloth between his hands.

  “A blanket…?”

  “It’s a cloak, idiot! Hurry up and put it on!”

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  “Did you have Dana disinfect this beforehand…?”

  “Nutjob!”

  “Fine! Fine! Sheesh…! But I am blaming you if it has fleas or something.”

  Nate dressed the cloak, shivered a little with disgust, then pulled aside the curtains with one finger, and frowned when he found Zoly’s face peeking through a small round window.

  “Step over there. Carefully!” following the instruction, he ducked under the window vault to step into a tiled rooftop.

  “Brat, what is this? What are we doing here…?”

  “You said you’ll do whatever I ask and without question.” He reminded, “And stop calling me brat, I am clearly older than you!”

  On those words he shut the window closed and marched into the misty night, easily negotiating the tilted, wet tiles. The fog was thicker near the ground, making their exact height hard to guess.

  “Shit, maybe Uric had a point… this seems like way more than I bargain for...”

  “Quit mumbling to yourself! What if mother Olga hears you!?” he hushed, “And come along already!”

  “Keep it together Nate. You are the adult. Whatever he throws your way you can handle...”

  Gingerly, Nate followed along the other kid. It was fortunate he wasn’t afraid of heights, if anything he always like how clean and neat things look from above, as if the perspective lent some order to the madness. There was none of that here though. They threaded through a field of dark clouds, dodging gargoyles and spires by the light of a few distant windows.

  When they reached the end of the roof, Zoly simply stepped off it. Nate had to strangled a scream of horror, but exhaled in relief when he saw the other kid was standing on a flying buttress.

  “Come on!” Zoly urged when he saw Nate wasn’t following anymore, “Are you gonna quit now?! You made a promise, remember?”

  Nate took a look at the narrow stone arch, surely damp and slippery, then back at the other boy. Even in the dark, apprehension must have shone plainly on his face, because after a moment, Zoly sighed.

  “Alright, alright! Just… wait there for a second.”

  “W-wait, you can’t leav… aaand, he is gone. Way to go Nate. You sure are awesome with kids… Ah, man… What am I even doing here?”

  Nate carefully tucked the lower part of his cloak under his legs and sat on the cornice to glare at the spot of mist where Zoly had disappeared. When minutes came and went with no sign of him, the cold and darkness started to press on him.

  “I used to read fantasy novels, you know?” he told a nearby gargoyle, trying to take some of the edge off the situation, “I used to daydream about becoming a brave, noble hero and do even better than the protagonists of those stories did. Now that I am here, I realize how over qualified most heroes are for their jobs; unbreakable will, uncompromising morals, over power abilities, those are always a given for that sort… I wonder if it is too late for a guy like that to change places with me so that I can go home to my pc…”

  “I also would like it if a brave hero changed places with you…” for a moment Nate blinked at the gargoyle, then recognized Zoly’s voiced as he huffed, pushing the top end of a ladder near the cornice beside him, “… I even settle for a mollusk, those have more spine than you.”

  “Hey! That’s uncalled for!”

  “Hurry and come down. We need to put this back in the cottage before anyone notice.”

  “You… ugh…! who does this brat thinks he is…? Says I don’t have a spine… ha…! how many ten-year-olds has he seen following a near stranger through a spooky rooftop like this…? All so that the guy accepts an apology for an honest mistake… he should be the one apologizing, dammit…! leaving someone in a place like this and then eavesdropping on them… I’ll show him…” he muttered angrily as he climbed down the ladder.