The Grand Weave

Eventually, it was time to leave, and the beastkin was still asleep. I didn't feel like getting attacked by a scared werewolf, so I kept prodding him in the face with the butt of my spear. It took a couple of pokes, but he started to stir after I began to push harder.

"Ughhh, cut it out," he groaned.

I ignored him and kept poking.

He started to growl and swung a meaty paw, knocking my spear aside. "I said stop! What sadistic bastard wakes someone up like that?"

"The kind that doesn't want a claw to the face." I twirled my spear and tapped it on the ground, making the man look in my direction. "I healed your injuries, so let's go."

His eyes opened barely, his amber iris taking on a reflective sheen in the dim light. "And where exactly are we going, stranger? I've had the pleasure of interacting with one of the monsters out there. There's no chance in hells that you are getting me to go back out."

I stared at him silently. My mask displayed three angry-looking eyes, constantly shifting in size. I waited till I could see the man start to get nervous. "Fine by me. If you are okay with being left alone with the corpse, you're free to do so. I did my heroic duty and fixed your shit. What you do next is none of my concern."

"What, what corpse? Hold up, where's Nei-"

He turned around and found the covered corpse of the elven woman. I could see genuine anger and sadness start forming, and I was prepared for him to do something stupid. Thankfully, my concerns were unwarranted as he stood up and rushed to her side.

He slowly caressed her face after pulling back the tan tarp we used to cover the woman's body. His other hand dug furrows into the wooden crate beneath her.

"What happened? Why am I alive, and she's dead? I had the worst injuries, not her."

Sereza walked up and stood beside me. She glanced over and gave me an inquisitive look, but I shook my head and lowered my spear. I let the man recover the corpse and turn around before I answered. "Head injury of some kind. She might have seemed fine, but such injuries can be silent killers. Left untreated, she died shortly before I arrived."

He nodded grimly and stood up. His hands trembled slightly, which he concealed by squeezing his fists. Where I expected tears, there was a look of solemn determination.

Giving the corpse one last glance, he glanced around before walking over to a pile of dirty crates.

Curious, I watched him pick up and toss two of the top crates before dusting off the bottom one. He tugged hard on the flimsy lock and let it fall to the floor. When he reached inside, he pulled out an iron mace, a belt sheath, and a set of leather armour.

He finished putting on the gear and turned around. "Where are you heading?"

Sereza cut in and pointed a finger to the boxes behind him. "Before we answer that, how much of what's stored here is useful? Is there a box of potions or elixirs sitting around that we could use?"

He let out a low growl and entered a stare-off with the felkin. Inwardly, I was chuckling at watching this short demoness look utterly unbothered by the much larger wolfman. Eventually, the beastkin gave in and looked away.

Something tells me the elven woman was the spitfire in the relationship.

"Not much around here outside of a few antiques. Much of this is fake, merely bait to distract anyone who finds the hideout. And we moved most of our supplies the day before we were supposed to fetch a new shipment of goods last night."

Sereza frowned. "So there's nothing useful? Damn, you could at least pay me back the potion I used on you."

In response, he sighed and strutted over to another pile of boxes. This time, he reached for something behind a large crate in the middle. When he pulled back his hand, it was holding a small lacquered box about the width of my chest. It was small and thin, without any flairs or decorative detail on the outside of the wood.

He walked over, placed it on a crate beside Sereza, and stepped back. He crossed his arms while pointing his chin at the container.

Sereza looked at him suspiciously before slowly reaching down and undoing the latch keeping the box shut. After sending him another suspicious glare, she flipped the lid open and revealed five neatly stacked potions.

"What are these?" she asked as she lifted up a vial containing a purple liquid.

"Something I misplaced during the last delivery. There are two mid-tier healing potions fit for tier-two injuries, a tier-two antidote that works on most known poisons and toxins, along with two mana potions, low quality."

She whistled and set the potion back. "Not bad, decent potions. Were you thinking of making easy coin since you're not tier two? Or did you think you'd survive the toll of what a tier-two health potion would extract from your body?"

"I'm not that stupid! It was a low-stakes investment. Nobody would miss a potion going missing when transporting a dozen crates of the stuff."

I reached over and grabbed one of the health potions and examined it. The vial was unenchanted, which was not a surprise but a little disappointing. Sereza raised an eyebrow, and I shrugged. "I'll take this one if you don't mind. You can keep the rest."

She frowned and cocked her head. "What about one of the mana potions? Wouldn't you need those?"

"No, not really," I replied. In the corner of my vision, the beastkin was staring at me with calculating eyes, so I made my mask show an eye on the side in his direction. "If you don't want the antidote, I'll take that as well, but it's not a big deal."

Instead of protesting like I thought she would, she plucked the antidote vial from the box before tossing it over. I caught it with my other hand and nodded before turning back to the beastkin.

"Hey, what's your name? I'm getting tired of calling you Wolfie in my head. And are there any crates filled with food? Perishable or otherwise?"

More growls and I could see his eye twitch at the mention of being called Wolfie. " Basta, not Wolfie. And yes, there's a box filled with packages of dried meat and preserved jams in the back."

"Good. Want to grab that so we can go already?"

He smashed a fist into a nearby crate and snarled. "I'm not your errand boy. Get it yourself."

"I don't know where the box is. You do. And again, I saved your life. Grab the damn food, or stay here. I really don't care for hostility at this point."

Another stare-off commenced, and I responded with pure nonchalance. I wasn't about to deal with idiotic aggression for another fourteen days. If he wanted to stay here and be antagonistic, so be it.

Again, to my amusement, Basta was the first to give, and he walked away, deeper into the hideout while grumbling. I chose to ignore the less-than-pleasant words about being short and stubborn and sat down.

Sereza sat down on a nearby crate with a smile teasing the corner of her mouth. "I'm starting to like you more and more, stranger. The mask is a little weird, but whatever."

I made the mask run through a series of long emojis before returning to the three-eyed smile. "The mask is fun and enchanted, so there's no reason not to wear it."

I watched as Magnus came back, held under the little girl's arms. Sereza turned and nearly got up, but Tilly was no longer crying. Her smile was a little forced, but her posture was much more relaxed than before. With Magnus hanging limply in her arms, he looked all the more like a stuffed toy, which made me want to draw him and Tilly in my journal.

"Tilly? Are you okay?" Sereza asked.

Tilly nodded, and she held up Magnus. The cub meowed weakly as he flopped his head over her wrist. The cub's antics received some laughs from the two.

"Thanks for playing along, Magnus. This'll make it easier when we get out of here." As I sent over the message, Magnus cracked open an eye and looked at me. He nodded his head and went back to playing dead.

We made some small talk, and Sereza carefully probed the little girl on how she felt. All in all, she was holding up remarkably well considering the situation, and I couldn't help but be jealous of the kid's adaptability.

When Basta returned, he carried a large wooden crate in both arms. Once he was standing in front of me, he let the box fall with a loud thump, which caused Tilly to flinch in fright. She cowered behind Sereza's leg, which earned the woman's death stare.

He held his hands up and looked guilty as he saw how much he frightened the little girl. "Sorry, I was not thinking."

"You better be. If monsters find this location because of you, I'll let them eat you first."

"Fine, fine. I said I was sorry." He quickly turned away from Sereza's fury and pulled open the box's lid.

The scent that drifted out was pleasant in a muted, smokey kind of way. Half the box was filled with stacked packages wrapped in wax-coated paper. The other half was taken up by rows and rows of glass jars about five inches tall. There was a variety of colourful fruit and jams stored inside.

"I hope you don't expect me to carry this."

I decided to be a little dramatic and held up my hand. With a snap of my fingers, I timed the flow of my mana so that Chomperz would appear as if I had a somatic requirement for my skill. The little dragonling appeared and hovered midair. The beastkin had scrambled back while Sereza's eyes widened in surprise before turning my way.

Chomperz ignored them as he began sucking in the large crate and the two potions. By the time he was done, the other adults in the room were both staring at me like I had grown a second head.

"Thank you, Chomperz. I'll have some space cleared the next time I summon you."

I waved goodbye to my dragonling, who nodded his little dragon head before flying back into my chest.

My dimensional storage skill was impressive, with a fair amount of space for something at the zeroeth tier. But even the endless void that was my dragon's stomach had its limits. And that last crate was pushing at the edge of what he could fit.

When I returned my focus to my surroundings, I looked around and found all three of the room's inhabitants still staring. "Not answering questions, so don't bother."

I stood up, grabbed my spear, and began heading towards the passage's entrance. The others were still staring, but I studiously ignored them in favour of finally getting the show on the road.

It took another five minutes before we all gathered at the hidden wall. Basta looked deathly serious, his fist clenching and unclenching around his iron mace.

Sereza looked ready, determined even, especially when she looked back to smile down at Tilly. And for the little girl's part, she looked frightened as hell, but no one blamed her, so even Basta kept silent.

Sereza activated the enchantment on the wall, and the stone door slid up and into the ceiling. I took point with Magnus slightly ahead of me while Sereza was next, followed by Tilly, then Basta.

The general idea was to have the little girl sandwiched between everyone so she could be the most protected. Unlike us, she had no way of defending herself.

When we exited the passage and reentered daylight, I was forced to turn my body to squeeze my way through quickly. I struggled my way out of the narrow passage and into the streets, and it was finally my turn to stare in wonder as I watched the bulky beastkin slide right through the passage.

There should have been no way his broad shoulders would fit, yet somehow, his body suffered no resistance sliding between the narrow space. It was like his body turned into squishable jelly, and he simply compressed himself to fit.

I wasn't the only one to give him a strange look, and he growled while unhooking his mace.

Ignoring him for now, I turned to Sereza. "I want to see the monster you were talking about first. I need to know what we'll be dealing with."

She scowled and glanced back at Tilly before moving closer. "Fine, but don't enter past the rubble. There was a strange distortion around it, and I don't want to be running for my life while trying to escort a kid and a muscular goon."

I nodded and moved around the broken fence. Leaving the others behind, my familiars and I noiselessly approached the massive hole in the back of the building. I stopped when we reached the corner where the debris was scattered in a vague line. We leaned around the corner together, and my heart skipped a beat.

Sereza's description was accurate, but she undersold just how large it really was. The thing was terrifying, and I could smell the familiar stench of rot and brine.

I continued to watch it, unmoving as the thing stood perfectly still. Its maw was frozen in a silent roar, and I tried to count the number of clawed spikes jutting out from the ground.

This thing is definitely tier two. Fuck.

I backed away slowly, with Magnus in my arms. The girls remained silent, clutching onto my shoulders and neck.

I wouldn't touch the thing unless I had an entire group of people to help lock it down.

With my curiosity sated and a new concern unlocked, I stepped next to Sereza, and she gave me a knowing look.

Yeah, I'm not fucking with that monstrosity.

With my idiotic curiosity satisfied, we resumed formation and began our trek through the city.

It was an agonizingly slow trip, making our way through the city. The others were on a constant lookout, and their nerves were starting to annoy me.

Every random sound would set the beastkin on edge, and Tilly was a ball of shuffling fear. Sereza was too busy trying to keep the little girl calm to be helpful, so I had to tune them out and rely on Zharia to do some scouting.

It took three times as long to get to the manor, but when we did, there were obvious looks of relief in the others' eyes. Sereza's weariness surprised me, but one look at the little girl nervously keeping her head on a swivel answered why she was tired.

I opened the hatch and had Zharia use her feathers as some added light. When she lit up in golden fire, the broken stairway was revealed, and I winced. Turning around, I let the others get a good look at why I stopped.

"This shouldn't be a problem, but we'll have to help Tilly down," I said as I started to climb down the cellar steps.

Basta grunted and made his way first, pushing past Sereza, who was trying to coax Tilly down the stairs. "The hideout was more secure than this," he grumbled.

Sereza glared at him but ignored the beastkin and helped Tilly navigate the steps. I helped lift her past the broken sections, and we made it into the cellar. Sereza secured the metal bar into the door handles, and they stopped before the black tear in reality.

"That is messing with my eyes. I hate it," Sereza complained.

"You get used to it."

"What kind of people lived here? This is some serious runework," Basta commented as he reached a hand out slowly.

I turned to him before I stepped through the illusion. "Come find out. But let me be clear. If you hurt them, I will feed you to the abominations outside."

I watched as he flinched at my words and took an involuntary step back. I may have had Zharia flash the room with a brief burst of flames to add to the dramatics, but it was needed.

Going through all the effort of saving people only for one asshole to mess everything up was not something I was willing to put up with. It was better to nix the problem before it started. And Basta could easily grow to become one if left unchecked.

With a final glare, I pushed through the illusion and into the otherside. The room was empty, but the hidden bedroom door was open. Poltor poked his head out, and I waved. The man relaxed and walked out, followed by the rest of his family.

They kept to the back of the room as Sereza, Tilly, and Basta pushed past the illusion and entered the room. Tilly remained behind Sereza's leg, her thin frame barely poking out from behind the felkin.

I was about to introduce the newest arrivals to the cellar hideout when the daughter, Mayuma, called, pushed past her mom's arms, and leaned forward with her head cocked.

"Tilly?" Mayuma asked. "Tilly! You're here!"

Mayuma ran out of her parents' reach and barreled toward Sereza. The felkin looked so bewildered I couldn't help but chuckle as the human girl tackled a somewhat confused Tilly. Thankfully, it was a good interaction because Tilly hugged and jumped with Mayuma a second later.

I glanced at her parents and saw a concerned Osilla staring at the children. But Poltor's reaction was the funniest. He was trying to hide his tears with a stoic face, his mouth and eyes twitching while his son stared at him like he suddenly turned purple.

With my escort mission complete, I moved to the back-left corner of the room and summoned a chair. After sitting down, my familiars hopped off my shoulders and into my waiting hands. It was a bit of a squeeze with all three crowding the space, but it felt good to cuddle them before they returned to my soulspace.

When their weight resettled back on my soul, I let a lazy smile spread.

It was good to finally sit back and relax.