The Grand Weave

The Den, the Market, Soluve's hidden cove. It was described as many things, known by a decent majority of people, despite being underground. It was the same as the city underneath Solunaria's capital. A place that shouldn't exist but does in an unofficial capacity.

In truth, the guards and the adventuring guild knew about it. From what Sereza learned, it was even accepted to a degree. All because it was easier to track the rats in a known hole than it was to track the rodents through a dozen hidden tunnels.

So when I slipped inside and was hit by a wall of muted whispers, it wasn't surprising. The central tunnel was spacious, featuring many booths and other smaller constructs filled with people either selling or buying. Branching tunnels stretched out to the left and right, leading into different sections of the underground organization.

It wasn't anything spectacular. Nothing like the organized Pit, but it had its charms. For one, ropes and colorful sheets lined the ceiling, leading into smaller nooks and alcoves. Signs were everywhere with simple enchantments to advertise their goods.

Taking a stroll through the center tunnel, I noted all the merchandise being sold. Not everything down here was black market. Food vendors existed, as did drinks and entertainment. One large stage even had a quartet of aquatic beastkin putting on an elaborate dance for the masked spectators to enjoy.

However, I did quickly note some of the more shadier sides of the business. One particular stall had samples of powders in small bags. Two muscular humans stood guard next to the merchant sporting half-masks, a sign of belonging to the Den.

It reminded me of Khrem's stall, except, of course, the apothecarist hawked an assortment of illegal drugs rather than remedies and balms.

Moving past the stall, I continued my way through. People watched me, but nobody propositioned. The merchants without a prospective customer simply waited, as if content to sell when they sold rather than be forced to meet a quota.

The ones with half-masked thugs were especially content to lay back and wait for their prey.

Now where would I go if I was the Lady of Chains?

Rigger's memories of the captain were tinted through his obsessed lens, but I could still glean the captain's habits. While outwardly being the kind to be expressively neutral, her business always leads her to a few specific spots in the den.

Along the way, my tail dipped low and accidentally tapped the ground. Taking a right, I dipped for a smaller branch tunnel but was stopped when a shadow flickered in the corner of my vision. I spun around and found a half mask. An elf, slim build and female.

"Hello," I offered.

Mana activated. I could see the bright blue wave of mana reach down her arm and spread evenly across the back of her clothes.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"Sparrow."

Her eyes flicked to my waist and her fingers tightened. "Where did you get those?"

I tensed, letting out a small, nervous chuckle. "I traded for them. Although I'm starting to suspect that I shouldn't have."

Her next words were cold, and she waved to the right using her pinky. In the tent nearby, two more masked individuals stood up.

"Those belong to Tannus. They are property of the boss. Now you either tell the truth as to how you acquired them, or we'll have to take you in."

Funny, you sound like guards.

Rubbing the back of my head, I slowly unhooked the caster and let it drop onto the ground. The woman's mana flared but stayed in a waiting state at the sight. My other hand clutched onto the decorated chest, covering the royal emblem that the doorman recognized. It drew her attention, like I wanted.

"Listen. I'm new here, but the man at the door cut me a deal. I was supposed to be escorted by him to your uh, boss."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Explain."

I shook my head. "He went off on his own. Part of the deal was showing him some of my goods. He communicated with that boss of yours, and I was supposed to go to him directly. I even sold a few things, and we made a deal. Some upgrades, he said it was fine."

By now, the other goons had surrounded me. Other passerbys vacated the area as soon as they noticed us. It was funny, watching how the mice scurried from danger.

Seeing the elf get ready to attack, I scanned through the chunk of processed memories stolen by Galarion and cleared my throat.

"Look. He was escorting me, but some woman spotted us. Red hair, curvy. She came over and took him away while they started making out passionately. I was left on my own." I paused and added heat to my voice. "But I don't care about this. I was here to make a few trades. If I knew that this was all some scam to take my money, I would have left. Take the damn things, I'll find business elsewhere."

There was a long pause, but the tell-tale feeling of mental mana shot outward from the back of her head. She raised her chin as if listening to something while her lips thinned. Eventually she sighed and motioned one of the bigger goons to come closer.

"Find Tannus," she commanded.

He left quickly while she tsked. Her eyes scanned the crowd and sent the bravest of the rats away with her glare before she nudged her chin toward the tent. "Follow me. I'll have an escort come pick you up. Until then, you're to wait here."

"And if I say no? From what I understand, I am a guest. I don't take kindly to imprisonment," I warned, letting my tail unfurl but kept my mana in check.

The women paused. She eyed me up and down before shaking her head and snapping her finger. The remaining goon pressed into my back and grunted.

"You are a guest. But you will not leave until the boss is done with you. Now either come and sit and I'll even pour you a drink, or we can do this the hard way," she warned.

Perfect.

I shrugged and gave in. Following the woman to the tent, she let the goon inside before closing the curtain. Enchantments activated and the curtain became see-through while a noise-cancelling rune came to life.

She headed for a small cabinet and started pulling out a drink while the goon behind me pushed me forward.

"What's your poison?" she asked while grabbing a shot glass.

Another shove, more firm this time, sent me stumbling forward. I caught myself as I stopped behind her and chuckled.

"Mmmm, I like something fresh. With a kick to it."

"Redrock's Cant then," she said. "Now sit or–"

The glass in her hand tumbled to the ground and shattered. Her mana bubbled and water started to form around her shoulders before it collapsed and dispersed. Her eyes widened as my hand moved to her jaw and yanked her down. Behind me, the goon was already on his knees, mouth slack.

I pulled her close and smiled. "Sorry, but I'm more hungry than thirsty right now."

Sending two more trauma spikes into both of them, they collapsed. The moment of surprise, the second after parsing through the initial shock and trying to react, had the most impact. Inside, Galarion bubbled, and he guided the process of separating the relevant information by searching through their minds.

Honestly, it tasted rather nice.

Licking my lips, I stared at the cabinet filled with expensive drinks and then down at the woman and the goon. They had already picked up the caster from the doorman, so I flicked it into my hand with my tail and started poking around.

The guild said nothing about looting on the job. As long as I didn't grab anything illegal.

With a snap, Chomperz appeared and he came to a stop next to my shoulder. I glanced over but he had his arms crossed.

"What?" I asked.

He pointed to the man who ended up with his ass in the air, and his face buried in the carpet.

"Don't judge me," I said. "They are criminals, I don't have to treat them gently."

Chomp!

He extended his jaws and created a vortex that sucked in the small pile of items. There really wasn't much, only a second caster and a reinforced glove, but the plush carpet and the cabinet of liquor shrank and disappeared down my familiar's stomach.

Without another word, he slipped into my chest before I could grab him.

I clicked my fangs together. A few months later and he was still being weird. Surprise, surprise, my familiars could be stubborn.

Staring at the unconscious and twitching mercenaries on the ground, I grabbed the nearest chair along with the decorated chest and hauled it toward the front of the tent. The elf had already called for an escort.

All I had to do was wait for my food to be delivered.

***

I patted the escort on the cheek and waited for him to carry out my instructions. He did so in a daze and I released his head, letting him join the others.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Nudging the man by the tent flap to the side, I stepped past and closed it behind me. Nearly an hour ago, the female elf had pulled me aside. I had to hand it to the so-called boss. He had enough hired help to be stationed in every tunnel, adding security and eyes to every corner of the underground den.

Unfortunately, almost nobody had mental protection. For all the muscle, steel and other enchanted items, nobody thought about warding their head.

Not that I thought Galarion would accept some measly item blocking his feast. The mind squid was resting comfortably in the back of my head, enjoying the stream of information as I processed it and separated them in packets.

I wanted to try something different this time, based on a suggestion from Khrem a few weeks ago.

Whistling softly, I turned down a final tunnel, one narrowed and alone, branching off several winding passageways. I still hadn't seen my target, not a single guard knew where the captain of chains was lingering.

But if I continued to wait around and explore, there was a good chance the den would go on high alert. Already, the atmosphere was changing. The lack of the half-masked guard's presence meant more people were getting comfortable hanging around. Bigger crowds were forming, ones usually scared away by the implied threats.

What was curious was that despite consuming more than a dozen sets of memories, I still had no idea what the big honcho looked like. He was known for wearing a plain white mask and robes that obscured his body. Even the man's voice was regulated, likely artificial.

The man was cautious to an extreme. A healthy trait considering his profession.

My steps were silent as I approached a large door at the end of the tunnel. The sounds of people mingling around were left behind, leaving only a deafening silence. I could almost hear my own breathing.

Looking to the right of the door, I sent mana into my tail and slammed the tip against a rune. The spiralling circles lit up, revealing the enchantments connected deep throughout the wall and tunnel before it flashed once and shifted colors.

It was hard to describe, but the light blue buried in the stone turned pink while outwardly maintaining its original mana. I knew from experience that if I stopped to look close enough, I'd see the pink mana phasing in and out of the rune itself.

With a thought, the rune activated and the stone surrounding the doorframe loosened. With an audible click, the door slid into the ground and I stepped into the room.

It was smaller than I expected. The space was minimally furnished. A rug of a beast I didn't recognize took up most of the room, with three chairs around the middle. A wall on the right glowed softly casting the room in blue. It was big enough to comfortably fit an adventuring party, but nothing like the grand boss room I was prepared for.

Three people were inside besides me. A cloaked man in a robe sat behind a desk holding a cup in his right hand. The shadows stretched beneath him and over the walls, perfectly reflecting off well-placed decorations to make the shadows end in jagged lines. It gave the impression of a monster waiting in the dark, jaws opened wide.

In two of the chairs by the glowing wall was a woman wearing a silver mask and nondescript brown clothes. In the other chair was a muscular oni wearing a similar mask to the first woman. Upon entering, she stood up and summoned a bearded axe into her hands.

Memory checks out, there's the brute. And if she's here, that means that the other one is…

When I shifted my gaze towards the silver mask, the oni woman roared and slashed her axe forward. I jumped to the side, feeling the breeze tear through the air as a chunk of stone was obliterated in a jagged line.

Two more came out as she activated a movement skill and rocketed toward me. I ducked low and rolled, dodging the attacks, but opened myself up to a wide swing from the brute.

Thwip!

The axe missed my neck by an inch. She slammed her foot in a blast of wind that threatened to crush my chest, but I snaked my tail around her leg and stabbed into her thigh. The impact nearly threatened to destabilize the rune on the tip, but I cleanly cut through and hooked the meat to pull her forward.

When she tried to chop my arm, she stumbled and I slammed my fist into her chin. The hit rocked her back, but I grabbed her collar and pulled her in, shoving my palm over her eyes.

"Aaaaagh!" she screamed.

I tore my tail through her thigh and commanded her to release the axe. It dropped with a sharp clang and I kicked it to the wall.

I sent another spike into the oni and looked up, finding the other two still sitting.

"That was rude," I said.

"If you don't mind. I'd rather you didn't kill my first mate," silver mask said.

"Why should I do that?"

"If you do, I won't interfere."

"Oh?"

I left the oni foaming at the mouth and summoned a low-grade health potion. Smashing it against her horn, the liquid flowed down and the hole in her leg started to close. Blue-green blood coated the floor staining the beautiful rug.

"Move and I'll take out your legs," I warned. Releasing the oni, I adjusted my jacket and moved closer to the masked man in the back. "The boss, I assume?"

His eyes were hidden underneath the hood but I could sense his gaze shift to my hip where Tannus's weapons rested.

"Did you kill them?" he asked.

His voice was not deep, nor was it the same monotone in all the employees' memories. If anything, it sounded normal and forgettable.

"Does it matter?" I replied.

"No, I suppose it does not. What is this? An assassination contract? If so, I can pay you more than they can, I assure you."

I shifted my mask and set it to default, leaving three eyes and a vague smile made of ink. "No, not a contract."

"Personal then?"

His arm twitched, the mana underneath he desk blazing to life underneath a well-hidden enchantment. Without my sensitivity, I doubt many would have been able to feel the activation. It was that well done.

I shrugged while preparing mana through a different channel, allowing Galarion to guide me in a different usage of his skills. "Not really."

The man cocked his head and looked past me. "Lady of Chains. Subdue him and I'll give you what you want. Free of charge."

I braced, but the captain shook her head.

"I've given my word to remain out of this for sparing my crew. My apologies, Daniel."

The boss snarled.

The table fractured as a beam of burning light shattered the wood and tore through the air. I leaned away in time and moved to the right.

With a laugh the man jumped back and slammed a glowing palm into the wall beside him. Enchantments lit up the ceiling, bathing the room in purple and orange.

"Only an idiot doesn't prepare themselves," he scolded. He stood tall, cocky up until he noticed the runes in the rune shift in hue. Pink overtook the lines and a new rune formed featuring two crescents with a diamond connecting the center.

He raised his hand and activated an item but a blur of silver embedded itself into the wall. The man roared in pain as slammed his head into the stone from the kinetic force. He had enough time to raise his free arm and release a second beam of molten light before my tail wrapped around his wrist.

I jumped forward and grabbed it then twisted it.

Craaaack!

A palm to the face took care of the rest as his head rolled forward. His body dropped, limp, and I pulled out the semi-physical tendrils from his skull.

Clapping from behind drew my attention as I dusted myself off. The woman in the silver mask lowered her hands and bowed.

"That was impressive," she said casually.

"Is that so?" I asked.

"Indeed." She stood up straight. Her eyes flicked to the glowing rune in the ceiling and I caught a frown. "I do not recognize the script."

"I'd be surprised if you did, Ellena."

Her mouth thinned, the first sign of real emotions hidden underneath the guise of neutrality. "What now, now that you have acquired your target?"

I chuckled, earning a frown from the frigid captain. I held up a hand and apologized, catching myself. All the memories had filled Galarion good, and feeding off his emotions, it gave me a sort of high.

"Sorry, it's just you have the wrong idea."

The captain sobered as she waited for me to settle. When she did, her voice was tight and controlled. "And why is that?"

"Why?" I asked as I expanded the grin on my mask. "Well, it's simple. I didn't even know this guy's name."

"Then–"

"Yeah, see the funny thing is… I'm here for you."