The Grand Weave

I lowered my spear enough that it wasn't pointed directly at her. She visibly relaxed but maintained a ready posture. There were two daggers sheathed around her waist, and her fingers hovered near them.

"That's a convenient mask of yours. I wasn't expecting that."

I frowned and reached up to slowly remove my mask. The felkin tensed, and her fingers drifted closer to her blades. I held my other hand up to show her I wasn't doing anything nefarious. With my mask off, I tucked it into my belt and stared at her directly.

"Master? She looks like you," Magnus mentioned, slightly confused.

"She looks nothing like him! And she smells different," Zharia chirped back.

I ignored my spirits' comments and continued to stare till she frowned and lowered her hands. I raised an eyebrow, but she shrugged in response. "If you were going to attack me, you could have. Just don't do anything funny."

I crossed my arms. "Hillarious, considering I'm the one who just got kidnapped. "

She had the decency to look a little guilty but also crossed her arms. "Yeah, and that's why you are alive right now. Come on, follow me."

She started moving down the passage, and I followed. My foot paused as I finally noticed the thin, fleshy tail flicking in the air. It was the same colour as her skin and ended with a pointed tip. The end had a hardened, dark-green bone tip sharpened to a needlepoint.

The tail was a surprise, and I was curious about what it felt like. I never questioned it when a beastkin had a tail, but seeing another felkin have one made me feel almost, jealous. Even Cal said I might acquire a tail in my evolution, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

While secretly observing her, I kept pace behind her with my familiars in tow.

Magnus kept his skill active while Zharia let the flames die out as she resettled back on my shoulder. And then there was Áine, who remained silent as she kicked her legs.

At least one of us is having a relaxing time.

It wasn't a long walk; barely ten seconds later, we stopped before a metal door. There were enchantments along the edges of the frame, but I could only assume it was some locking system.

"So, are you what I think you are?"

She glanced back and smirked. "I'm pretty sure I know all the felkins in the kingdom. So imagine my surprise when I arrive on the island and see you on the beach. My first thought was wondering who you were, where you come from, and what family you belonged to."

I frowned and crossed my arms again. She didn't answer my question directly, but the answer was obvious. Still, if she wanted to play a game of secrets, I was willing to oblige. However, one thing finally clicked, and I slipped my mask back on my face.

"That strange feeling of being watched, the brief pulses of mana I felt, that was you. Did you enjoy playing Stalker? I don't know if it's common where you come from, but we call that creepy from where I'm from."

Her eye twitched, but she kept an impressive grasp on her facial expression. Again, she didn't answer me directly, but it was all the information I needed. In a way, it was relieving to find out I wasn't going crazy at the time.

I would have to throw Isaac an apology the next time I saw him. When he didn't show up for at least a couple of hours during the first night of the festival, I assumed it was him keeping tabs on me. The asshole was a suspicious jerk, but I should have trusted him more. Teddy and the others did, and they would willingly put their lives in his hands; I owed the rogue some confidence.

To my surprise, the woman pouted and then sighed. "Yeah, that was me, sorry. There are so few of our kind in Solunaria, probably less than a hundred in all of Inoria. You were too interesting to leave alone, and I tried to find out who you were. So, sorry, but also not."

I raised an eyebrow at the not-so-apologetic apology. Being spied on was not a nice feeling, but it wasn't like she did anything harmful. In her position, I would have done the same thing.

Before I could reply, she placed her hand on a hidden indent on the wall. I felt mana running through the door's enchantments. When the stone slid away, revealing a wide room, I wasn't surprised.

She walked in, and I followed, keeping my spear close in case this was an elaborate setup for an ambush. I doubted it was true, but it didn't hurt to be ready.

I was about to look around as I entered the room when a voice came shouting from the left.

"Sereza! You're back!" The owner of the voice belonged to a little girl no older than seven.

Her hair was dirty, and there was dirt lining her clothes. A few holes and rips could be seen lining the hem of her dress, and her shoes had seen better days. However, despite the outfit fit for street urchins, her skin was healthy and vibrant. She also had some meat on her bones, her cheeks chubby rather than sunken in.

The felkin named Sereza let out a soft groan, but she turned and smiled as the little human missile impacted her legs. When she tried to wrap her arms around Sereza's waist, the felkin instead bent down and placed a hand on her head. "Hey, what did I tell you about being loud?"

The little girl looked up with a guilty expression, and she looked almost ready to cry. "I... I'm supposed to be quiet. That if we're not careful, big bad monsters could hear us and find us." She paused, holding back a sob. "But, Sereza, it's so scary down here. Mr. Ruggard is still sleeping, and Ms. Neila passed out. She said her head was hurting."

Sereza placed a hand under the girl's chin and forced her to look up. "Is Ms. Neila asleep? How long ago was this?"

"Uhm, well, nine minutes ago? She started complaining about her head a couple of minutes after you left. Why? Is something wrong?"

"Áine, be ready. It looks like we're dealing with a head injury. Might need more mana than usual."

Áine stopped kicking her legs and nodded. As Sereza was busy trying to untangle herself from the child's vice-grip, I stepped forward, which caused the girl to let out a short scream. She immediately clamped a hand over her mouth while hiding behind Sereza.

I ignored the girl and tapped my spear on the ground to grab Sereza's attention. "Where're the people at? We might not have much time if Neila is suffering from a head injury."

Sereza's face grew serious, and she pointed to a stack of boxes piled up across the room. "Behind there, this place was probably a smuggling facility, so I figured everyone would be safer if we remained out of sight, just in case. Lots of crates to hide behind."

I nodded and started walking deeper into the room. Magnus informed me the woman and the girl were following behind, the former frowning while the latter looked nearly terrified.

I put them out of my mind and sent Áine ahead. She took off from my shoulder and flew over the mountain of crates. By the time I rounded the corner, I already knew what to expect.

I stopped at the small cot where a large beastkin was sleeping. His body was in rough shape, with multiple wounds covering his skin. It seemed Sereza had bandaged what she could, but fresh blood soaked more than a few of the bandages.

And to the man's right, lying curled up on a large crate, was the body of an elven woman. Áine stood near her neck, looked up at me, and shook her head. She tried pushing mana into the woman's body, and it managed to enter. But the healing energy didn't flow and pooled around the spot Áine was sending it in.

Sereza and the little girl joined me as they finally rounded the corner. When Sereza glanced over, I subtly shook my head, and her eyes widened. Her mouth morphed into a frown, and she quickly covered the little girl's eyes before shuffling her back behind the crates.

I could hear the little girl questioning what was happening, but Sereza waited until they were far enough away before she whispered back.

With a sigh, I picked up Áine and sat her next to the beastkin on the cot. Luckily, he was still breathing, so he was, at the very least, alive.

Áine looked up, and I nodded, and she began using her skill. She focused on his head; the wounds, while numerous, weren't life-threatening.

Closing my eyes, I crouched and placed my hand on the otherside of the man's head. Sinking into my soulspace, I focused on the connection between my spirit and me and tried to sense what Áine's healing did to his body.

It was hard, and I was rusty. Admittedly, I had other things to practice and focus on during the time leading up to the festival. And it was too late to complain about my lack of skill.

I let the world fall away and pushed through Áine's thoughts. The information her skill gave her was incredible, and it never ceased to amaze me how lucky I was for Cal to provide me with her skillstone.

As her skill spread, it was quick to see what was causing the man to sleep. He was actually in a bit of a coma due to severe blood loss. Thankfully, his head was fine, and most of the problems were due to the amount of internal hemorrhaging he had.

Sereza must have cleaned up a lot more blood than I thought. I wonder if she used any healing potions on him.

Áine removed her hand, cutting off the connection to his body, then flew to his chest, where she landed and placed her hands on a patch of exposed skin uncovered by the missing clump of fur.

I injected more mana into his body and reestablished the connection with Áine's memories. Slowly, she used a quarter to fix all the internal injuries and quickly fixed the wounds near the surface level. She restitched the flesh and produced blood.

She briefly paused so I could help reset one of the man's arms in place, his bone having broken in place above the elbow. I did what she asked, and she finished the rest of the treatment before pulling away.

I opened my eyes and gave the fairy a bright smile. When I picked Áine up, she pointed to his face, and I rolled my eyes as she booped his snout. With all said and done I placed her back on her usual spot on my shoulder and stood up.

Sereza was behind me with her arms crossed with an impressed expression. "I've seen healing skills before, and that's rather impressive. How much mana did you use? Your familiar, she pulls from your mana pool when she empties, right?"

I made my mask show three question marks, and I crossed my arms. "That information is a little personal, don't you think?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. I was just curious. Most healing skills are mana-hogs, completely inefficient. Didn't want to have to worry about you suffering mana fatigue."

I uncrossed my arms and returned my mask to its blank state. "Ah, fuck it. It used up a good chunk of her mana, but no, she didn't have to draw from my mana pool. His injuries weren't bad, but he lost too much blood and was in a coma." Her eyes widened, and she started to scowl, but I continued speaking before she could get the wrong idea. "Not blaming you; you did well on cleaning his wounds. There was a lot of internal bleeding, though, so it wouldn't have meant much. Your bandages are probably the only reason he is alive. So don't take it as me accusing you. Although, I have one question."

"What?"

"Why are you taking care of them? The girl, the woman, him, why? And why didn't you use a healing potion?"

She gritted her teeth, and I saw four sharp fangs, thinner and pointier than mine. "That's none of your business. And I did use a healing potion. I did it when I was bandaging him up. But the potions use too much from the body, and I was afraid of doing more damage than I could help."

I shrugged and chucked inwardly as her expression of anger turned from fury to confusion. "You're probably right. How's the little girl?"

"Fine, for now. She's scared, but I don't think the reality of the situation has hit yet. " She sighed, and she clicked her tongue. "She might break down later.

She glanced back at the girl who sat on a pile of blue wooden crates. The girl had pulled her knees to her chest and put her head down. I wasn't sure how to feel about the situation; I never excelled at handling kids. Sam's little nephews, balls of kinetic energy masquerading as human kids, made me want to keep my distance.

" You can handle that when it happens." I made it clear that it was her problem and not mine. And without wanting to dwell too long on that topic, I moved on. "So, what are your plans? And why did you kidnap me as I was passing through?"

"Hey, I didn't kidnap you. I was saving your life. You don't know what's inside that building."

"Oh? Do tell."

She sighed and sat on a nearby box while glancing at the dead woman. "Hard to describe, big bastard with whiteish scales. Smells like rot and salty water. Think of a drake whose bottom half is a mass of tentacles and random claws."

I blinked a couple of times, trying to picture what she described. "That's, huh, okay. Any idea on its tier?"

She shrugged. "Don't know. It's huge, so I want to say tier two, but tier two monsters are supposed to be separated to the other side of the barrier." She shrugged. "Whatever tier it is, I just know I don't want to fight the bastard."

We spent the next twenty minutes talking and discussing how the first night went. The little girl's name I found out was Tilly. Sereza found her running away from her house while a monster was destroying it. Apparently, her parents were killed in front of her before she ran away, which made Sereza all the more concerned for Tilly's mental well-being.

Shortly after finding Tilly, they hid near the butcher shop. When one of the giant monsters came through and began destroying everything, they tried escaping through the narrow space between buildings and discovered the passage door opened. Being underground and hidden was better than being out in the open with monsters roaming nearby, so they entered the passage and found the hideout filled with crates.

The other two, the dead woman and the beastkin were both found inside this passage. The beastkin was bleeding heavily while the elven woman was frantically searching the crates for bandages.

Given the secret passage, the large room filled with goods, and the bits of conversation Sereza heard, there was a good chance the two were part of the smuggling operation.

Then, when Sereza revealed her presence, the two were surprised. They argued, they were angry, all the typical stuff expected when they realized they left the hideout door open.

The beastkin didn't give a name, and Sereza didn't care to ask, so he was simply a smuggler guy. When he passed out and caused Tilly to scream, she begrudgingly helped clean up his wounds and used one of her healing potions. The potion and bandages finally convinced the elven woman to calm down and sit back while Sereza went to work.

The rest was history. Apparently, she was doing the same thing I was doing and was out scouting the city, leaving the kid and the two adults here.

When I asked her what she planned on doing, she shrugged and pointed to the little girl still sulking nearby. "I don't know. Before you found me, I was hoping to find a new hiding place; this area is too close to that wall of monsters. What about you? How did you survive the night?"

"Manor middle of the city, my familiar noticed enchantments on a tree next to a hidden cellar. I found a family of four down there and spent the night. Once morning came, I wanted to get a lay of the land. And I promised to come to the outskirts and see if anyone else was alive."

She pointed a finger and scowled. "And what's your reasoning for giving a shit? They are rift-born. Why would it matter if they wanted to know if their friends or loved ones are alive?"

I didn't answer for a minute and saw the shit-eating grin grow on her face. Eventually, I pointed a thumb back to the sleeping beastkin. "Because something in my gut tells me these guys matter. And if saving some people in a rift will get me better rewards in the end, why not? I'm not willing to give my life for them, but a little extra effort and risk won't kill me."

She smiled. "Huh, good answer. So, what now? Wake the big guy, and we can make our way to the hidden cellar you were talking about?"

"We? Are we joining up now? Do I get a say in this?"

"Is that a no? Shouldn't we have solidarity for being felkins?"

"I barely know you."

"Well, nothing like surviving fifteen days of misery to form close bonds."

This time, I laughed loudly. It felt good to banter like this, even if a part of me hurt at the similarities I was feeling.

When I looked over, I saw her smiling wide, her fangs exposed in the grin. "Fine, fine," I said after calming down. "Let's wake Wolfy here, and we can head off. It'd probably be best if we returned to the cellar before night hits."

"Agreed. Let me go talk to Tilly."

I nodded and watched her hop off the crate. The sway of her tail made me think of Cal, and I couldn't help but wonder how he was doing. I had a long list of things to interrogate him about the next time I saw him.

And I'll find out the truth about what caused the rift to evolve. I can't keep bringing trouble wherever I go.