The Grand Weave

The more I traveled to the elemental planes, the more I started to adjust to the abrupt change in scenery. Áine was from a forest filled with nature and life. Zharia brought me to a lake of fire amidst massive volcanos. This time? It couldn't have been more different.

I stood inside a circle of black stone. At least, that was what I thought it was until I looked around. On the edge of the ring, five massive pillars jutted out from the grey soil, surrounding me in a semicircle. As my eyes trailed upwards, I noticed green glyphs etched into the pillars. When I finally saw the tip of the pillar beside me, I had to pause. My brain didn't want to accept what I was seeing, but eventually, I forced it to comply and accept the reality.

The five pillars were not pillars, and the black stone was not stone. Spinning in a circle, I examined each pillar until I found one was shorter than the other. It was thicker and only had a single groove. There was now no doubt about what I was standing on.

The ground beneath me was made of bone, blackened bone the colour of charcoal. And the five pillars? They were fingers and a lone thumb that reached dozens of meters into the sky.

I stopped focusing on the pillars and turned my attention back to my surroundings.

For miles, there was nothing but grey dirt, void of all colour. There was no wind, no smell, only a bleak, empty landscape. The sky itself was a muted grey without a cloud in sight.

For some reason, I had a bad feeling in my stomach. I couldn't tell what exactly was giving me this sense of dread, but it was there. Still, I took comfort in the knowledge that the circle protected me. Zhuyin's warning blared in the back of my mind, so I took a minute to prepare myself.

I sat down and crossed my legs underneath me. I tried to feel the material underneath with both hands touching the floor. But, no matter how I ran my hands across the cold surface, the bones felt like stone.

Ignoring the fact I was standing on some giant skeleton hand, I closed my eyes and delved into my soulspace. After seeing nothing but endless grey, the lake of mana was a beautiful sight. The three wisps were there floating along slowly. The newest wisp, the one that was my new skill, hovered above the center of the lake. It did not move, and it remained dull compared to its kind.

Soon, little one. Soon you can join the others.

I wasn't entirely sure why I thought those words, but it felt right.

As I mentally grabbed a strand of mana, I pushed it through and guided it out of my palms and into the circle. I focused entirely on regulating the flow of mana and ignored what was happening in the physical world. From instincts I could not place, I knew that the more mana I put into the circle, the better my chances of impressing the guardian. The Weave bound them to help me complete the ritual, but I knew they had some leeway in how much they helped.

Since I was monitoring my mana more closely this time, I wasn't surprised by the effects of mana fatigue. The familiar sense of deep cold affected me even in my soulspace, but the results were more muted than they were if my senses were focused in the real world.

Soon, mana fatigue turned into mana shock, and I had to clench my teeth to stop them from shaking. Two of the wisps floated over and hovered next to my shoulders. No words were said, but I knew Áine and Zharia were silently encouraging me.

Once my body started to feel like I was floating, I tapered off the flow and stopped it. The two wisps bobbed up and down, and I smiled. After I mentally prepared myself, I drew my senses out of the soulspace and plunged back into the outside world.

Instantly, I was hit by a piercing cold as my veins filled with ice. I felt slow, and my mind was sluggish, so it took me a while to notice the changes in my surroundings.

The runes etched onto the giant bones were blazing with an eldritch glow. Black smoke trailed into the now crimson sky, where a massive cloud was starting to form. And above me, only just visible, was a floating black skull. It was roughly human in its shape and size, but that's where the similarities ended.

There were three eye sockets, two on each side of the face and one in the middle of the forehead. In each socket, it blazed a deep violet, a small, flickering flame that flared inside a void of absolute black. And along the jaw was another set of fangs next to sharp canines.

I stared at the skull, waiting in complete silence for something to happen. The skull did not come closer, but it followed my movements, tracking my position as I shuffled side to side.

There was no indication if this was the guardian or a random spirit. So, I tried calling out to it. "Greeting's spiri-"

I was cut off by a distinct cracking sound coming from my left. Before my eyes flickered over to where the sound came from, I saw the purple fire flash brighter for a moment. Soon, more and more cracking sounds started to sound off from all around me.

When a white, skeletal hand pushed through the earth and clawed at the empty air, I sucked in a deep breath and held it. As the bleached skeleton slowly emerged through the earth, it was followed by an endless tide of limbs doing the same. And not every limb was that of a human. From bladed appendages to massive limbs that ended in giant, clawed bones, they tore through the ashen soil.

From the multitude of cracks where the skeletons exited the earth, I saw a mass of shadowy wraiths and ghosts fly into the sky. Some twitched as if their bodies were rejected by reality, and others let out a grey smoke that blurred the edges of their limbs and faces. They darkened the sky like a large flock of birds while thousands and thousands of skeletons stood in an eerie stillness.

The only thing keeping me from freaking out was the barely visible green barrier that protected the circle. It felt like I just entered a plane of hell, and I fully expected the dark clouds to start raining blood.

Crack!

This time, I could see the world rumble. The silent apparitions let out a blood-draining screech as they flew away from where a massive crack had formed. Even the skeletons clacked their jaws and fled.

A giant limb made from blackened bone rose into the sky. Etched into the stone-like material were glyphs that shined a dim violet, the same colour as the flames inside the floating skull. And around its wrist was a copper manacle whose chain extended deep into the earth.

Dragging itself out from the crack, a titan-sized, headless, one-armed skeleton slowly stood up. There were copper cuffs around both legs and the neck despite there being no head. The chains dangled with loose, grey dirt, but there was not a single scratch on the metal itself.

By now, all the undead creatures were freaking out. Jaws were crunching on air, gnashing their teeth, while others flailed their limbs and lashed at the ground. The flying shades swirled around in a maelstrom of screams and spasming appendages.

A few undead started to back away while others crawled closer to the mountain-sized skeleton. When a spirit whose skull was that of a wolf and had arms three times longer than its body pressed itself against the barrier, a bright flash of green light flared, and the creature screeched in pain.

It stepped back and turned to face my way. It tentatively reached out a claw-tipped toe and pushed into the barrier, only for another flash of green to cause the creature pain. It looked at me with its eyeless skull and let out a roar.

This thing shouldn't even be able to make noise! How the fuck is it roaring!

With a running start, it rushed forward, and I felt myself reaching for my spear, only to grasp nothing but air. Instead of launching into the air like I thought, the spirit stopped and flung its extended limbs forward. They traveled through the air like whips and smashed into the barrier, only to be met with the same flare of green light. The arms were thrown back with force and caused the skeleton to stumble into another spirit directly behind it. Like dominoes, this started a chain reaction of spirits bumping into each other.

As one, this caused the horde of bones to turn toward me. This was the tipping point as they all began to run at the barrier. The flashes of light were so frequent and numerous that I was forced to close my eyes and look away. Even after using my hands to blunt the emerald flares, I was left seeing bright spots in my vision.

I forced my eyes open, only managing to squint narrowly against the light. Despite the obvious pain the barrier inflicted, the creatures kept attacking the circle. And whenever one tried to turn away, they were forced into the barrier by the mass of bodies behind it. The screams and screeches were enough to haunt my scariest nightmares.

With no room to escape, the spirits that were in constant contact with the barrier began to smoke and char. The glyphs along the finger pillars blazed with actual fire. And for a second, they dimmed to nothing before searing my eyes in a wave of green flames.

I wasn't physically hurt, but I felt a hammering headache beginning to form. Clutching my head in my hands, I stood up again and slowly peeled open my eyes.

The grey soil was untouched, but the thousands of spirits that just moments before were clawing their way at me in a frenzy were lying on the ground, several dozen feet away. Several of the spirit's bones were nothing but black charcoal, and more than a couple of shades were reduced to burning piles of goop.

I massaged my temples and watched the spirits slowly get up. Glancing at where the giant skeleton stood, I saw it standing completely still, not having moved an inch since it got up.

This time, a large spirit approached. It had two extra sets of arms and a tail with a bladed bonespike notched at the end. Like before, it picked up speed and ran at me. I prepared for another flash of green light, but it never came. When I opened my eyes, I found the floating obsidian skull hovering above the spirit.

The skull lowered itself onto the head of the spirit. As it landed with a muted clack, a wave of black tendrils sprouted from the bottom of the black skull. They carved into the spirit's body and spread until the entire skeleton was covered from head to toe. As the tendrils stopped moving, purple glyphs slowly appeared along the bones. The skull's flames flashed, and the glyphs blazed with violet light.

"..."

There were no words spoken, but I felt a thrum of power spread out. It was only after I noticed my heart started to race. There was silence.

Behind the hijacked spirit, the rest of the horde of bone monsters stood still; some looked like they were stuck in a silent scream, but not a single sound or movement was made.

All at once, a thousand voices spoke. One deep, masculine voice led, while the others trailed behind with only a half-second delay. "Life. Alive. Mortal. Foolish Stripling."

The headache in my head worsened, and I collapsed onto the floor. Blood slowly began to leak from my nose as I struggled to hold my head up and look at the spirit.

"Weak. Young. Marked. Thrice Branded." It continued.

I felt my throat fill with liquid, and I vomited onto the floor. When I looked down, I saw a pool of blood as I hacked up the coppery fluid. Gritting my teeth, I dug my claws into the ground but couldn't even leave a scratch. "Greetings, Great Guardian. I am... Cyrus. I've come to make a contract." I sputtered.

Every instinct in me told me that if I were to make the wrong move, I would die. I wasn't even sure how I was taking damage. The circle was supposed to protect me, and it did. The spirits from before couldn't breach the barrier, and I know from what Zhuyin told me that it protected me from the environment. Still, somehow, in some way, this thing destroyed my body by only speaking.

The guardian cocked its head. "Young Monarch. Fragile. Flawed. Scarred and Broken."

His words resonated something within my chest, and I felt a thump of pain reverberate across my body. My anger flared, and I scratched at the floor till one of my nails cracked. This thing has no right to call me that! I was not broken!

The part of me that wanted to rage and burn everything in my way tried to crawl its way out of the corner of my mind. But, one look around at the thousands of living statues along with the skeleton big enough to wrestle skyscrapers was enough to leash the beast back in its cage.

I watched as a blackened chip of bone flaked off the spirit's body. The purple glyph next to its right elbow sputtered and then died. The glyph faded away, leaving a splotch of black ash behind. If the guardian cared, then it did not show it. Not that I was able to tell with the spirit lacking any facial muscles.

"Oh Guardian, I have... come to offer my skill. For a contract with me, I am offering The Dead Will Provide," I declared.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"I See... That Skill... Yet Exists"

The voices' cacophony set my nerves on edge, and I clenched my teeth.

"Tell me, young Stripling. How did one such as you acquire such a thing? "

I swallowed the lump in my throat, but the reflex nearly caused me to cough. The guardian may have posed it as a question, but every instinct inside me told me it was a command. A command that I could not afford to ignore. Still, a small part of me defiantly rebelled, making me pause. Not for long, but long enough to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

"I used a skillstone called The Spoils of the Fallen. My mark evolved the skill to fit me better. And so my skill is now called The Dead Will Provide."

"..."

Every time the guardian spoke, I could feel each wave of power push into my head. It scratched behind my eyes and pushed against my eardrums. No words, not a single sentence, but intent. And what I felt? I felt anger.

I caught the briefest movements at the very corner of my eye, only for the world to explode in a torrent of emerald heat. This time, I felt a wave of force knock me down into the palm of the skeleton hand. It felt like the air was forcefully pushed out of me, squeezed like a balloon.

My ears rang, and blood poured out of my face. The small puddle turned into a pool that seeped into my clothing. Slowly, I pushed off the ground and raised my head to where I smelled smoke. Looming above me was the massive obsidian skeleton. Its lone arm was outstretched, pulling taunt the copper chains.

Pushing into the barrier were the very tips of its claws. It only managed to reach the barrier, but each tip was longer than my body. The green barrier blazed with an eldritch fire that crackled angrily at the intrusion. Below it, the glyphs along the pillars were flashing in and out, with several of them snuffed of their light.

The damn monster's thrust was a meteor, and I could feel my legs shake underneath me. Turning my head carefully, I looked for the guardian and found it standing in the same place as before. However, along its body, wisps of green flames ate away at the shadowy tendrils. The original spirit's body was half ash, while the rest was held together by the strands of energy that dug into its bones.

"L̸I̴A̴R̶!̷ ̵B̵E̸T̷R̸A̷Y̴E̴R̵!̵ ̸A̷R̴R̴O̴G̸A̶N̸T̷ ̸R̸U̶N̶T̷!̵I̸ ̴W̴I̶L̵L̸ ̶S̸T̵R̴I̶P̶ ̸Y̵O̷U̸R̵ ̸F̸L̸E̷S̶H̵ ̶A̴N̵D̴ ̵W̶E̷A̴R̶ ̸Y̶O̷U̸R̴ ̸B̵O̷N̵E̷S̴!̵" The guardian's voice rang across the realm, the dark clouds crackling with red lightning.

It pointed a finger at me, its limb flaking away into the air. "TO CLAIM MY SKILL AS YOUR OWN! I WILL Ŵ̷̤̟͝Ě̷̼͆̚A̴̖̘̐R̵̨̜͘ ̴̩̈́͜Y̷̩͉̯̍̒̉́O̴̖̜̒U̸̦̫̅́̃R̸̝̥̙̜̄̌̈́̈ ̶͚̄̇C̵̻̋̈́̑̚O̵̱̞͝R̴̳͚̖͝P̴̧̧̰̉́̐S̷̡̛̗È̵̥̏̋͗ AS MY COAT!

CRUSH THE PRETENDER! E̴͚̯͆̚Ṿ̴͋̀I̶̻͘Ṡ̵̲C̸̝̃Ĕ̶͎Ȑ̷̟A̷͈͌Ṭ̴̭̂Ë̵̹́͠ THE CHILD! SUFFER! D̷I̷E̷!"

This was worse, worse than whatever Arz'odral ever managed to do. Even within my nightmares, they didn't inspire such a soul-chilling fear. Yet, a strange emotion bubbled inside me. My nerves were shot, and I coughed up more blood, but I spit out the liquid and cleared my throat. This time, I let my defiant little heart run wild in the face of absolute death.

"All talk, and despite your bite, you yap like a dog in the end. Claim my soul if you want, but I know, I know that you will never do anything else, ever again. Those chains? They'll drag you even deeper, forever shackling you away as the Weave erases your name. The great lich, king of Ȓ̶̞̝̹̝͇͆̃̂̄̒̓̑̂̿̊̇̾̊͘̚̚͠e̵̢̡̨͚̭̬̮͙̰͍̟̒̇͛̐̾͆͐͜l̶̛̛̩̉̋̏̃͐͆̆̊̉̅̋͂͌̕̚͝t̵̘̻̤̣̳̪̝̼̺͚̞͋̐̉ǫ̵̝͈̰̙̗̟̟̳̍̈̄͂̉̍͂z̷͈͖̙̜̥͉͚̘̯̻̘̦̓̒̒̓̏̾̄̅͝a̴̢̡͖̳̮̞̲̮̹̹̯̠̱̹͚͔̼̖̩͐͆̈́̌͊̓̾̂̈͝s̸̛̳̘̞͂̈́̾̋̆͋̿͊̐͆̕͘u̴̢̢̡͍̳͈̳͓̥͇͉̥̤̯̼͍̙̓̓̿̉̏̆̌͒̂̕͘, will be nothing but a piece of ash on the ground. Until even that tiny speck fades away into the endless void." I had no idea what was coming over me, but my mind knew; my soul understood the name of this guardian. And the tale of how the grandest lich in existence became jailor of this fallen realm, forced into servitude under the guise of a guardian for would-be-summoners. And amidst the promise of painful death, I could only laugh.

A single tear ran down my face, blending with the trail of drying blood. "So quit your yapping, A̴͓̼͉̤̮̍̏͒̑̒́̈́́͑̑̀̈́̀̓ŗ̷̱͉̣̖̘͇̜̞̜͕̀̂͜ţ̷̢͈̺̠̟̪͇̠̟̩̜͉̰͋̾͗̽̆͆͜h̴͎̥̘͎̩͚̖̗̟͎̫̺̥̠̾̑̈̋̔͑̃͛͗͑u̸̡̨͉͈̟̰͚̹̺͑͋̇̓̑̓̈́̚̚r̵͙͙̍̀͒͌̾̄̉̇̓̍̈́̆͛̕͘͝ ̸̟̙͍̼̫̜̪̟͎̠͇̅̋͛̈́̔͝Ḡ̴̱̲͎͔̰̙̠͒͐̓̌͋r̷̜̭͔͛̋̃̽̈́̏̑̾̊̆̑̂̓̄͑͋͝i̸̘̬͕͙͇͉͎̗̹͌̎̀͐̅̊̄̍̊͐̚̚ņ̸̛̛̇̎̿̓͆͂̅͒͑̀̄̋̕̚͝w̴̡̘͎̋̇͐̔̌̑̑̂͐͑̚͘ŭ̴̺̝͍͙̯̙̭́͒̓̊̈͆̐̕͝l̵̯̙͖͊̈̅͑̾̀͛̊̍̀̒̿̓͑͛͝͝d̷̟̽̊̐̇̂̉̀̇̈́̾͐̔͒̔! Fulfill your duty or disappear. For not even Death will accept you into its flock."

"..."

I waited as my strength slowly faded. Right then and there, I was prepared to die. But I was also ready to watch the Grand Weave deliver its sentence.

A loud ding sounded out, coming from nowhere and everywhere simultaneously. The eldritch flames ate away at the last of the tendrils holding the spirit's bones together, and it finally collapsed into a pile. The obsidian skull detached from the tendrils, and the purple flames behind its eyes vanished. The remaining skeletons who survived the blast from before followed the guardian and collapsed into piles of bones.

I looked up into the sky and saw the clouds crackle with unreleased power. No matter how much I waited, the rain never came. Eventually, all that was left was the giant skeleton, still being eaten away by the barrier, and me.

I closed my eyes and waited for my death to come. Whatever power that transported me here when I was to contract a new familiar, it didn't let me return. I remained lying on the stone floor despite trying to flush my channels with mana several times.

Before I could fade into unconsciousness, I heard another crack sound out. Utilizing the last of my strength and will, I sat up and looked around. The giant skeleton had retracted its limb and was now standing still. And the obsidian skull was floating once more. The purple flames in its eyes have been replaced with an ice-blue fire. And below it, a small crack had spread out from underneath it, barely wider than my hand.

The pulse of energy snapped my head towards the guardian. "Apologies. The Stripling is right. Under my oath to the Weave, I will fulfill my duty. With it, Compensation."

Out of the crack, a little spider crawled out. It was made of white chitin and had eight glowing purple eyes. It was about the size of my hand and had on its back a fanged skull with no lower jaw protecting its body, almost like a crab. The weirdest part was that I felt it was alive. Being in an elemental plane of death, the life was like a beacon. I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the oddity.

"What is this?" I asked.

The guardian flared the fire behind its eyes. Its lower jaw opened, and a small, almost liquid-like ball of fire dripped down and floated into an orb beside the spider. "Fear of erasure. Fear of Death. I have forgotten my fear. Wish not to be Destroyed. I have erased the previous personality matrix. Several million years before Resurgence."

I nodded my head even though I could only vaguely understand. "I understand the spider is to be my familiar, but what is that ball of fire? There's no way I will trust you."

"Redundant. Wasteful mistrust. I have given my word. I do not lie. I mean you no further harm. On this, I swear to the Grand Weave."

Another ding sounded out from the realm, and the knowledge of the guardian's truth came with it. To break his promise now would be impossible and would lead to its oblivion.

"Very well, what is the orb?"

"Remuneration. Investment. A part of my power. I believe you call this a Perk. Make the contract, then leave. You would not survive once an Arbiter appears."

I hesitated, but ultimately, with the seal from the Weave in place, I was not going to turn down free power.

With great effort, I managed to get on my feet and approached the circle's edge. The spider skittered closer, and from it, I felt curiousness. With a smile, I extended my arms and grasped the air with my left hand. A black athame appeared. I used the ceremonial blade to prick my finger on my right hand. Extending it carefully, I reached out to the spider.

"I will call you Erebus." As I completed the ritual and watched the spider sip on my blood, the little orb of fire lowered itself into the back of my hand. And as the connection with my new familiar solidified, my soul shuddered at the sudden onset of power.

"Take your leave, lordling. The Arbiter is arriving. Remember what you can from this experience. Do not believe in the false lies of safety. Heed my words if you ever desire to ascend. NOW BEGONE!"

Erebus disappeared with a pop, and I found myself falling. The ground that was supposed to be beneath me was gone, and the cloudy red skies shrank. Before I could teleport from the plane, an imposing force of absolute authority halted me.

"Sorry, my young ascendant. I cannot let you leave with those memories. That is not knowledge to be known. And besides, it would have crushed the frail seal on your soul. Do take this as a gift in return for the memories. And don't forget, my dear Legacy Bearer. My sisters and I are watching. Ascend soon and join us, alright? I placed all my bets on you, after all."

A small, smooth object was placed in my hand, and the speaker closed my fingers into a fist. The absolute hold on my body disappeared, and I teleported out of the spirit plane.