The Grand Weave

His body was a streak of moving water mixed with flowing shadows. The moment he made an impact with the monster, the thing bent in two.

The hit was more than just the large beastkin ramming into its body. The water exploded into a literal wave of crashing water, slapping the thing as fast as an arrow. Both its arms snapped backwards, and the loud sound of bone breaking echoed across the ground.

And then came the shadows. They were like razor whips that sliced and cut deep lines across its flesh. One line sliced across its elongated neck, sabotaging the monster's scream.

Before the monster could fall to the ground, the large saurian slapped both hands against its head. And before I could tell what had happened, the monster's skull was no more—gone, entirely erased from its body.

I could only stare in shock. I knew Travis was invested in the trio, and Groxl was like a favoured son, but seeing the saurian in action, I finally understood why.

A hand yanked on my shoulder, and I snapped my head around to see Velisanna grabbing the two bombs. "Focus. Get the other barrier."

She turned around and lifted both arms into the air. A draft of wind carried the bombs upward. Then, she brought both hands together and formed a visible twister above the camp. It wasn't large by any means, but you could hear the start of howling winds.

The bombs were pulled inward and flung across the camp, pelting the area and the cluster of pseudo-trees on the far side. That ethereal mist that exploded outwards spread far enough to touch the skin of the tentacle horror.

It trilled, and more people screamed as they covered their ears. It was annoying, but I turned away just as I saw Yurlox send out a barrage of what looked like balls of water.

Trusting them to move things along, I rushed to the circle containing the kids and placed both hands on the barrier. My claws pushed inward, and I could feel it trying to push me back.

It felt weaker, somehow. The angry, slimy energy struck me but contained less than half the other circle's power.

Grabbing onto the energy and beginning the tug-o-war, it was easy to get the upper hand. The barrier went down a few seconds later, and this time, I got to watch what happened.

The hardened air that formed the barrier was now visible like dirty glass. It glowed grey and was beginning to lose form. Beneath my feet, the circle itself smoked and turned to dust. When the final crack sounded out and the barrier broke, the circle flared up and disappeared.

Before I could even stand, a woman came rushing by, nearly knocking me aside as she ran to her kids. They cried out for their mother, and she swept them up and into her arms. There was crying and sobbing, but she quickly turned and ran away.

As she sprinted past me, I heard her whisper. "Thank you... Thank you."

I stood up.

By this point, the camp had erupted into utter chaos. Groxl and his team were locked in a fierce battle with a writhing mass of tentacles—a spectacle in its own right.

Yurlox knelt on the ground, both arms raised high as he channeled mana into a massive globe that floated in the air, encasing the tentacle mass inside.

Veillisanna stood nearby and occasionally sent out projectiles of twisting air that launched into the orb. The twisting missiles would impact a tentacle and explode, causing the air to rotate in a frenzied vortex that ripped the slimy flesh apart.

And then there was Groxl. He was like a torpedo sliding through the water. His form darkened the surrounding area he slid through, leaving black ink trails crisscrossing the globe.

When he rushed by, the monster lost a tentacle or was cut apart chunk by chunk. It stained the globe even darker, mixing in with his shadows.

The monster lunged, attempting to ensnare the elusive saurian. But Groxl dodged with uncanny agility, pivoting on a dime. Each attack missed its mark as the beastkin glided effortlessly through the globe.

I had to tear my gaze away when a loud trill rocked my body. It was the bone-deep kind of shaking that only happened if the monster was hurt.

And when I looked over to the otherside of camp, Sereza joined Zharia in distracting the giant monster while the other adventurers were sending their own attacks.

One conjured stone walls to stop the tentacle's momentum, bleeding off enough force to slow the limbs so his teammates could dodge.

Fireballs, water, lightning, flashes of light, they used everything to battle the guards around the camp. I even saw Áine fly person to person and offer quick bursts of healing to help people in rougher shape.

There was only one thing left for me to do. I summoned my spear and turned to the tent. There was a small wave of cultists streaming outwards, more than what Pena ever saw.

When one came close, I lunged and pushed the blade of my spear through their neck. They stopped and ripped the weapon out. But the cultist was undeterred as they slashed a black dagger across my arm.

I felt the impact against the crystal shell, and I felt it scrape a line across the surface. The feeling was strange; it didn't feel like it cut skin, but I felt it. The crystal was connected to me, even if I was unused to the sensation.

Letting the cultist swing again, I grabbed his elbow and pushed my claws to the bone. It stopped the momentum of his attack, and I stabbed my spear upwards and through the jaw. Quickly pulling away, I twirled the spear to get the foul blood off and looked for another.

More cultists streamed out of the tent like clowns out of a car. The sight was baffling.

There should not have been as many inside as the amount that came out.

The flood forced even the adults who weren't adventurers to take up arms and defend. Some were just parents protecting kids, throwing themselves into battle. Some picked up the fallen daggers; others used their skills from afar. It didn't matter; the mayhem left nobody alone as the struggle continued.

A ripple emanated from deep within me, originating from the power I'd absorbed from the barriers. Mana bubbled up, contained yet brimming in my chest. The sensation was intense, tinged with the unsettling feeling that this power wasn't entirely mine. It was as if my body grudgingly accepted the foreign mana.

Still, I kept it contained, waiting, and ready to use for the right moment.

More cultists rushed by, and I took a shot at another that neared my space. I swung my spear out and cut across the legs of one of the robed figures. The cultists fell forward, but not before taking down the one in front.

The second cultist stumbled but caught themselves. I growled and launched my plated foot into the center of their chest.

Bones broke, and my foot sank deeper while launching the cultist backwards. They fell on their ass, robes billowed out as they lay sprawled on the ground.

The first cultist tried to get up, but I quickly stabbed my spear through their head. My spear's wings prevent the shaft from plunging too deep.

I used my foot to provide leverage and pull the blade portion out. Gore and chunks of bone coated the blade while it dripped the cultist's blood.

Before I could rush over to the second cultist, a random fireball impacted the side of their head, and I stopped.

There was a muted scream, and the cultist's robe caught fire, creating a raging blaze in two seconds flat.

When I glanced over, I saw the mom from before holding out her hand. She looked strained and nearly ready to collapse, but she let out a bloody smile before turning and running away.

I mentally saluted her and pushed on. The stream of cultist had stopped, but there was so many that the presence of all the robes obscured the battlefield. Blood splattered the ground, some red, some black, and one pile was even bright green.

The screams and battle cry mixed in with the dying trills of the tentacle horror. Each sound blended into a cacophony of war that filled my ears. If anyone looked my way, I'm sure they'd have seen a wide, toothy grin spread across my mask.

With the flap to the tent open, I was ready to push inside. I'd turn around and rejoin the battle if nothing else was in there. But there was a strange feeling in the air. My heightened mana senses were telling me something was inside. Something powerful.

Not wanting to waste time while people fought outside, I rushed through the flap and pushed past the unnatural darkness obscuring the entrance.

However, before I could see what was inside, a giant grey tentacle smashed into my chest and launched me into the air.

My body skipped once and knocked out the breath in my lungs before I came to a rolling stop on the ground. Wet sludge touched my skin, sending a cold shiver down my spine.

There was ringing in my ears, and my vision blurred.

"Master!"

Zharia was fury incarnate, but I had to block her out before her thoughts affected my own. And somewhere in the background, I knew Áine was rushing over, but there wasn't time to think.

Screams and shouts rang out, the sounds rising to a new octave. I raised my head to where the tent was and wanted to immediately slam my head back into the ground.

Breaching the darkness, nine massive tentacles pushed through the small flap. Behind it came the single largest cultist around. He was as tall as a tentacle horror, and the limbs were as thick as the ones that dragged me inside the dimensional space.

Their eyes lurked in the shadows of their hood, but I sensed their gaze bearing down upon me. It carried with it an effect that threatened to invade my mind and force my thoughts to a crawl.

I wouldn't let it. The well of energy inside my chest siphoned the energy away as a crystal shell started to grow over my face, covering my mask and skull.

The energy felt stagnant and confined, much like a barrier. However, it was accompanied by a strong feeling of decay and deterioration. It brought to mind the image of fungus spores consuming a corpse until it decomposed and merged with the earth.

I got up just as Áine landed on my shoulder and slapped her hands onto my neck. Her skill encountered no resistance as it pushed past the crystal covering and into my body. Bones slowly repaired themselves, and I could breathe again, even as I had to spit out blood that had pooled in my mouth.

The mega-cultist curled up, the tentacles slithering across the ground and pulling inwards. Their equally giant, tattered robe billowed in an unseen wind, and the sky darkened.

I looked up defiantly and coughed up more blood. I spat it out and grinned widely, ignoring the hole bitten through my tongue.

Not today, you big bastard.

Reaching up, I ripped off my mask and let the energy that had been building inside me bubble to the surface. There was a mix of powers from the barriers and the random bits of kinetic damage I absorbed through the hits.

This time, I called upon the power that wanted to climb up my throat. I let the energy flow and then held it ready, building the pressure.

The mana in the air began to rage and spiral, and I could feel the giant cultist about to discharge their attack.

Fuck you.

My head rocked back as a sphere of twisting grey energy shot out like a cannonball from my mouth. It made a screeching sound as it cut through the air and forced several people to cover their ears.

As one, all the cultists, neck-deep battling the former prisoners, turned and rushed towards me. But it didn't matter.

It was too late to stop it, and before the cultist could unleash his attack, the ball drilled into the robed mass, past the coiling tentacles, and into their chest.

The sky roared, and there was a loud pop when the giant figure became encased in a spiral of multiple rings. Each ring was a spinning line of enchantments that constricted and tightened.

With a silent scream, the energy expanded and shrunk downward, cutting the cultist into two halves.

The silence on the battlefield was deafening, and you could hear a pin drop between all the paused breaths.