"What's that job you want me to do?" Kade asked, voice flat. "Name it."
A slow smile spread across the vendor's face. "That's what I wanted to hear. My name's Allorio, by the way."
"Kade."
Allorio extended his hand. Kade stared at it.
"Of course not…" Allorio chuckled. "Good. Trust is a luxury you can't afford here."
"Get to the point."
"I need you to bring me three items," Allorio said.
"Sounds easy."
"Not quite. They're called the Three Impossible Things. If you actually manage to get them, you'll benefit from it too." His smile lingered a shade too long.
"Fine. I'll do it. But first — let's get the lady we spoke about into safe hands."
Allorio nodded once, as if a contract had been signed. He pulled the stall door shut behind them; the lock clicked soft. Kade set off without looking back. His steps were measured, the kind that close distance efficiently. Allorio fell in beside him at a practiced gap — never so close that a fist could reach him, never so far that he lost the thread.
People made way. A dog lifted its head and went back to sleep. A boy peered from behind a crate and ducked as they passed. The walk took no time worth telling; Kade kept his head down.
He stopped at the crooked door and knocked once. The hinges complained. The door opened to dim light.
She lay propped on thin pillows, pale beneath a frayed blanket. Her breath was slow, rationed as if time itself were scarce.
Kade crouched. "Time to go."
Her lids fluttered. "My… my sewing box. Don't leave it. It's on the shelf—"
Kade made a short, impatient noise. "Really?"
Allorio stepped forward, palms flat and easy. "We'll get it to you, ma'am. I promise."
Kade turned his back to her and crouched lower, offering a steady shoulder. "Up you go."
With a stubborn lift she hauled herself up and wrapped thin arms around his neck. He stood and felt the familiar shift of weight — less burden than history, the way a life hangs on a frame. He adjusted the blanket, shoved the door with his foot, and moved.
"You're heavier than you look," he muttered, more fact than complaint.
"You're weaker than you look," she murmured back, half-tease, half-worry.
Allorio fell into step, voice low. "I'll lead the way. Keep close."
They took a side passage — narrow, oddly familiar and strangely new at the same time — until Allorio stopped before a squat two-story house wedged between a shuttered apothecary and a locked gambling den.
"This is my side house," he said. "Safer than what you've got. Come in."
Inside smelled of stew and wood smoke. It wasn't luxury, but it was a bed that didn't groan and a roof that didn't leak.
"You're lucky," Allorio added with a casual smile. "Today's meat day in the mansion."
"Meat?" The word made Kade's mother bright for a heartbeat. "Last time I had meat was too long ago."
They passed through a rusted gate and a plain door into a small common room — two tables, a line of chairs, a short stair to the rooms above. A lively sound came from the kitchen.
Someone laid out plates. Kade settled his mother into a chair; the food came, rich and hot. She ate with a hunger that made her look younger for a moment.
While she ate, Kade and Allorio moved aside.
"What is her sickness?" Allorio asked, voice casual, eyes narrowing. "I have an idea, but name it for me."
Kade's face tightened, colder than usual. "The Waning."
Allorio's expression shifted. "…That's bad. You know there's no cure for that here, right?"
Kade nodded. "Is there no one who might know something? Anything?"
"All the formal records say the same," Allorio replied. "If anyone has answers, it's either the nobles in the far north of Nocturnum or merchants in the Maw Markets to the west — vast stalls, information for the right price. But getting there isn't simple."
"How did she get it in the first place?" Allorio asked, quietly. "It's rare."
Kade went silent. His gaze dropped to the floor; guilt nibbled at him like a burr.
Allorio watched him, then shrugged. "Doesn't change the fact you need transport. Maw Markets move on schedules. They don't open for walkers. If you want in, you'll need something to carry you — something that can cross the passes."
"And you can provide that?" Kade asked.
"If you bring me those three items." Allorio pulled a folded map from beneath his coat and spread it on the table. He tapped the worn paper. "We're here." His finger rested on a scrawl south of the city. "First — the Breathing. That's in the Ashen Warrens to the west. Second — the Thinking, found in the Hollow Bazaar, northwest. Third — the Dying, down in the Glass Mire, north by the marshes. Routes change; the realm likes to move its hands. Bring them to me, and I'll give you transport, and something that will get you through the Maw Gates."
Kade lost himself for a moment in thought. The guilt at the back of his throat flared, then went dull. He gave a small, slow nod.
"All right," Allorio said. "Deal?"
Kade nodded again. "Deal."
"All right. Food's being prepared, as we talked. You'll be ready to leave in a moment."Kade used the pause to crouch by his mother's chair. "I'm going on a short trip. You'll be safer here."
"Okay," she said, gaze half worry, half trust. "Be careful."
A voice called from the kitchen. "Provisions are ready — should last a few days." A heavy sack thumped onto the counter.
Allorio folded the map and slid it back under his coat. "There you go. Take it." Kade took it without looking.
"Then go. The ways shift with the tides. Don't waste time," Allorio added.
Kade looked at his mother, then at Allorio. The room tilted — a small, private world reduced to a list of tasks and one brittle hope.
He paused in the doorway, half in shadow, half in light, and turned back once. "If something happens to her… it won't be pretty. For either of us."
"All the more reason to hurry, boy," Allorio said, taking note of the threat without flinching.
Kade slung the provisions over his shoulder and ran.