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Thadus felt his mood sour at the criticism. He was immaculate! Always!

The devil turned to the array, facing it, but the hood obscured their eyes. They tilted their head to the side as if listening to something, but then straightened their head.

The wind swept by and circled in the crossing of alleys, making Thadus’ coat flutter; the mortal’s sash got tugged, and they once again raised their hand to keep the hood on, apparently without conscious thought.

Thadus wanted the wind to just pull it off—

The wind increased and began tugging at Linden’s hood. When the winds couldn’t disrupt the mortal, the wind sprite began circling them before it pulled at it directly, causing Linden to lose the grip of the fabric and the hood fell back.

They turned their gaze up, while touching their hair, earrings catching light from the array.

“Hm?” they noised in evident confusion.

Thadus huffed and looked down an empty alley. The wind spirit undoubtedly did not like the devil—

“The winds are truly capricious today. Do you not think so too, Lord Thadus?” he heard them say softly. “Are you deliberately making life hard or just playing games? It is impossible for a mortal to tell what your intention is. I pray for good weather and helpful winds, so please spare me a little.”

“Why are you speaking to the wind?” Thadus had to ask as he glanced back at the little fiend. It made no sense that a mortal would speak to the spirits.

Linden sat there and let the gentle breeze rustle their hair, doing no attempts to pull their hood up. The expression they wore was serene, perhaps a bit nostalgic. They turned to Thadus, offering a smile.

“Lord Sage once told me, when I was rather young, that all that exists in nature has a spirit of its own, from the brilliant human to the hard-working mice, from fragrant flowers to mighty mountains. With such a belief offered to me in my formative years, how could I not believe that the wind, too, has its own spirit?”

“Not everything has spirits; only the elements do.”

“Lord Thadus is free to believe whatever offers him the greatest amount of comfort.”

This frustrated Thadus. He expressed truth, not belief. This was the truth that spellcasters had confirmed a long time ago!

“And you are free to believe claims from those who have lesser knowledge.”

“Lord Thadus is indeed correct. I am free to believe lesser knowledge if what is considered superior knowledge does not explain my experiences with the world around me.”

Thadus clenched his fist. “You…”

They bowed their head. “I have been impolite. I thought Lord Thadus was willing to partake in a peaceful, intellectual discussion, as spellcasters are wont to often do. I am to blame for this indiscretion.”

Thadus swallowed his anger before he spat out, “Spellcasters begin any discussion with a ritual.”

“And what may that be?” Linden asked.

The spellcaster remained silent. He refused to speak, in fact.

“You seek an answer to a question that cannot be easily answered,” Linden answered themselves. “So when you ask a mortal why they speak to the wind, it is a question that cannot be easily answered. Every mortal has their own reasons to do such. You asked, and I answered. That is the ritual.”

Why did this mortal know so much about spellcasters? Locations, habits, and even names?

Thadus could not understand this. It made little sense to him.

“Why do you know this?” he demanded. “All of this.” He motioned to the glowing array. “How do you know that? Who taught you? Why are you a mortal? Where is your apprenticeship?”

The devil hummed softly.

“Why I would know many things is difficult to answer, Lord Thadus. I do not say this as a way to avoid to answer, but rather to clarify that the explanation is not an easy one to understand or to listen to. But I am mortal.”

They tilted their head, being quiet, closing their eyes for a long while. Thadus decided to leave. Debt or no debt, this—

“Mortality is deeply human. This I have been taught.”

“Casting is deeply human too,” Thadus argued despite himself.

“It is. So is fear of death,” Linden agreed amicably. “However, spellcaster communes with nature. You speak with spirits and they respond to you. You nurture the land and dance with the winds in ways only you are able to. I can release an arrow, but I cannot release a gust. You may grow sustenance for a deer, while I shall hunt it. I am deeply mortal. I do not hear the whispers of seas and giggles of the wind. I see bodies of water to fish in and winds to dry my clothes, liquid that can drown me, and storms that ruin my home.”

Linden pulled out their long braid, that had been hidden within their collar, before they jumped off of the barrel and approached Thadus.

“You asking me why I am a mortal does not differ from me asking about why you are a spellcaster. You went through apprenticeship, Lord Thadus; you command and commune with nature itself. The spirits that I cannot perceive, you sense and have always sensed.”

They stopped before him, tilting their head back slightly. With their back facing the glowing array, their face was completely in shadow.

Thadus looked down upon them, tried to study their expression.

“I am merely mortal, because I cannot do what you can. I cannot tell a spirit from the breeze. To me, Lord Thadus, they are all the same.”

“You are, without doubt, merely defining mortals. However, that is not answering my question,” Thadus said, feeling his patience drain. “What about this? This! It is not mortal knowledge. Who taught you?!”

He once more motioned to the array.

They looked back and shrugged. “That? No one taught me. I learnt it by myself through trial and error. It is extremely situational. It can only be used to reveal dust.”

“But why would you want some dust? It’s everywhere in this filthy city! Can you not simply pick it up from any street?”

“No, not just any dust. Its name is Dust.”

First Dart and now Dust? Thadus must have turned mad from being around mortals all day. That is what this was. insanity.

It could not be explained any other way.

“That…” Linden fell silent before they continued, “…scribble is to reveal Dust. That is all it is.”

The wind spirit tugged at Thadus’ hair.

“I am retiring for today. I am not remaining here any longer. This is lunacy.”

“Lord Thadus still owes me.”

“So be it! I have had enough! Enough of you, enough of your games, enough of trickstery. I am a spellcaster. I need not even remember this day.”

Linden was quiet. Then they softly asked, “Will you find your way out, Lord Thadus?”

“Yes!”

Linden nodded. “Then you may leave, Lord Thadus. If you return, would you mind going past the night market down at the Western Road and buy me a skewer?”

Thadus wanted to be further angered. He couldn’t. He was instead simply tired. “Why?”

“I am beginning to feel a bit peckish.”

The spellcaster summoned a small flame into his palm and strode off, the wind spirit showing him the way back.