The Grand Weave

Several people came to thank us as we made our way through the crowd. I received the most praise, but the others had seen Groxl take on the tentacle horror, and Sereza, with Zharia preening on her shoulder, was a close second.

It was uncomfortable to receive all the thanks. One weeping woman even called me a hero. I hated it. A part of me completely rejected the idea of being some heroic adventurer. I was only here because I was too nosy scouting a place.

Lost in thought, I was jolted back to reality when a man's hand landed on my chest. "What the?"

The man in question stood tall and possessed the kind of muscles one acquires through proper workouts. Blood and dirt caked his blonde hair, and his clothes bore red stains. I was ready to have Áine try to heal him, but then I noticed there were no injuries on his body except for a cut along the back of his hand.

It wasn't his blood.

He looked at me with pure hatred, his bloodshot eyes wet from tears. He pushed again, and I was forced a step backwards. "You. She's dead because of you! Why did you have to do it!"

I ripped his hand off and knocked it aside. "Hey, fuck off. I don't know what you're talking about."

He tried to step closer, but Groxl put his arm out while looming over the man. "Stop."

The man trembled and closed his fists till his knuckles turned white. For a moment, he looked ready to start swinging, but then his knees buckled, and he fell to the ground sobbing. "Oh, Leyla... I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

Seeing the man broken over the loss of someone he knew was sobering. The once bright smiles and happy faces were now downcast, and they looked away.

The anger welling up died, utterly disinterested in the man.

I didn't blame him for being mad. He was lashing out, looking for something to direct his emotions.

I understood.

Keeping the expression on my mask neutral, I stepped aside as two men approached after we moved away to help pull the man to his feet. They carried him away from the crowd and kept him moving.

At least the praises stopped.

Sereza glanced over. "You okay?"

"Perfectly. Can't really be angry at the guy." I turned to Groxl. "Thanks for the help."

"No problem. Foolish to blame the hero for the villain's sins," he replied.

I cocked my head. "You are a strange beastkin, Groxl. Must say, I understand why Travis likes you so much."

He nodded but kept silent. I smirked at that and turned my attention to the shredded remains of what was once the cultist. Giant, lifeless tentacles were still around, but several were missing or had primarily become fleshy chunks.

I turned to Zharia. "You were amazing. Thanks for watching Sereza's back."

She preened. "Of course. I got to burn away the gross people."

Sereza smiled at Zharia. "Thank you as well. It was a pleasure working with you."

"Yes, anytime."

I held out my hand for Zharia to hop into, and when she did, I stroked her feathers before undoing her skill and pushing her to my chest. Her weight settled in, and I pulled out a mana potion.

Popping the cork, I downed the liquid and waited until my mana pool filled. I briefly sank into my soulspace and noted the large flux of rift energy hovering above the lake.

I'll have to meditate tonight, but it'll be worth it.

Once my mana recovered enough to summon Erebus and not fall over from mana fatigue. I channeled the skill. When he appeared, Groxl leaned in and examined the spider.

Erebus waved, and Groxl grunted. "Another one?"

"Yep," I replied.

I eased him into the most substantial pile, watching as he melded into the shadowplane. Given the cultist's sheer size and power, it was evident this would drain an unusually hefty chunk of mana.

I felt him search for something, and I waited while closely watching how the skill wisp inside the soulspace reacted when he tried to activate his skill. There was a brief ripple in the connection, and I saw the link become thin. It made the flow of mana pushing into Erebus seem less solid and lighter in the metaphysical sense.

Sensing the strain on my familiar, I scooped him up as he emerged from the rapidly vanishing gunk. While the disgusting smell couldn't affect me through my mask, my companions didn't have the same protection. So, for their sake, I stepped away, and we watched black smoke rise into the air.

Some people screamed and shouted, and I winced.

Oops. I completely forgot about how they would react. I better nip this now before a riot starts.

"Everyone! It's okay, we're not under attack!" I shouted.

Several people snapped their heads towards me, but I kept my mask emotionless. They didn't need to see my face cringing.

People grumbled, and one person even retched, vomit spewing on the ground before someone else helped drag him out of the area.

Sereza glared from where she stood, and Groxl bore into me with unblinking eyes. I shrugged my shoulders apologetically and pointed to the tent. They joined me, but only after the smoke died down. The corpse of the mega-cultist melted into a massive puddle of tar.

Sereza approached and crossed her arms. "I thought we agreed on you warning me next time."

"And I thought you would know to avoid it since it happened once."

"That was disgusting. Was it worth it?" Groxl grumbled.

I held up the black lootorb and shook it. "Let's find out."

I held Erebus up, giving him a front-row seat. He sent over joy and excitement. I chuckled as the spider tapped my hand, and I sent mana into the orb. It unraveled, and then something heavy landed in my palm.

The item appeared so fast it made my eyes cross. Its interior remained hidden, wrapped tightly in chains of a bluish-grey metal. Runes etched into every chain link sent throbbing pain through my head.

Within seconds, a headache was hammering away inside my mind, and I had to look elsewhere.

"Urgghh, fuck me. What is that?" Sereza groaned as she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

"I don't... know," I growled.

Summoning a spare towel, I draped it over the object to shield it from view. Yet, even concealed, its presence made my eyes twitch.

"Put it away, seriously."

Summoning Chomperz, I watched as he froze in midair. His body sunk to the ground, and he kept his eyes trained on the object. After three seconds, he shook his head and turned around. He launched into the air and leveled his eyes to mine.

He shook his head.

What?

"What? Why not?"

He briefly glanced back, then turned away. This time, he deflated, his head lowering dejectedly.

"Is it too much?" I stopped and put a hand on the dragonling's chest. "If it's too much, I can keep it outside."

It was honestly a surprise he let me touch him. Most of the time, Chomperz avoided physically interacting with me like it was the plague.

This must be serious if he's allowing this.

He placed both talons on my hand and shook his head.

"So you want to try storing it?"

He gave a nod, backing up a bit. Soon after, he began regurgitating various boxes and crates I had stored within him. As this went on for well over a dozen seconds, I found myself scratching the back of my head.

I didn't think I was hoarding this much junk.

Sereza whistled. "That's a lot of stuff. And just how big is his stomach?"

"Ah, not super large, but decently enough."

I didn't have to look to see that all the crates and boxes were empty. He kept some of the stuff inside and emptied only the containers.

He then spat an entire mountain of food. By the time he finished, I caught Sereza and Groxl eyeing me quizzically. Some of the onlookers who'd lingered out of curiosity shot me equally puzzled glances.

"Uhh, okay. I like to be prepared, sue me."

"Sue? What's that?"

"Nevermind. Hey Groxl, do you think you can distribute some of this food to everyone? Might as well give it to people and cheer them up instead of wasting it."

Groxl grinned and let out a strange noise from his mouth. It sounded like a whistle, a hiss, and a trill blended together. Yurlox and Veilisanna came over, giving the pile of boxes and food a confused look.

"Everyone should get something, have the kids pick first."

Yurlox nodded, and Velisanna quirked an eyebrow before shrugging. She walked up to the nearest person and started instructing them.

Good. I didn't want to deal with that.

"You okay, Chomperz? You never pulled out this much stuff in such a short time before."

He nodded and slowly approached the object in my hand. There was a brief moment of hesitation, and I was ready to tell him not to worry about it, but he shook his head and opened wide.

This time, I felt something wrong with our connection. Before I could say anything, he inhaled the object like a bullet.

Chomperz snapped his snout shut. He had enough time to look my way before dropping to the ground and vibrating. I reached for him but lost all control of my limbs and joined him on the ground.

Sereza tried to say something, but the world lost all meaning.

"You are not one of mine... no..... Then why do you ha- GRAAAAGGGHHHHHH."

Rushing tides, slumbering deep. Absent is the caress of the moon. Gone is the embrace of the sun. Let the rot fester and expand. Drown the world underneath the salted tide. I am all, I shall feed, FORM THE WORLD FOR MY KIN!

I can't think... Ca- can't breathe. Must... stop- need to-

DING

The world stopped. Nothing, there was nothing: peace and blissful static. The voice was gone, the presence banished. I felt hands touching my face. They were warm, so very warm.

"Cyrus, come on. Hey, no, don't go to sleep."

But why not? Sleep is good.

"Don't make me sting you. I swear I will."

Slowly, I fluttered open my eyes. As my sight adjusted, I rolled my head and saw Chomperz curled up next to my hand.

"I didn't want to disturb him. But you should get up. People are getting worried," Sereza explained.

Turning to her, I blinked slowly. It took a few seconds, but then everything came flooding in, and I turned back to Chomperz.

Scooting over, I lifted him close to my chest. He didn't breathe, but I didn't expect him to. I did, however, feel a steady heartbeat.

"Hey, buddy. Are you okay?"

Chomperz weakly lifted his head and pointed to my chest. I gave a strained smile and returned him to my soulspace. When his weight settled, I felt another vibration run through me, but it ended as soon as it started.

There was a new feeling to how my soul felt. It was as if Chomperz was heavier now. Holding up a hand, I stopped Sereza from shaking my shoulders and closed my eyes. The world disappeared, and I searched my soul for something different.

I immediately noticed the small island situated in the middle of the lake. The ground appeared altered, with faint tracings of runes crisscrossing the area where black obsidian had been.

The runes meant nothing, as far as I could tell. Despite my attempts, I couldn't detect any flow of mana into them, and they remained unresponsive. They just existed as though they had been there forever.

When I looked up, I searched for the wisps and found Chomperz' easily. He was hanging outside the lake, low, unmoving. I felt the skill stir as I called to it, but it rotated the other way and moved.

For some reason, it felt like the equivalent of Chomperz telling me to go away and let him rest. I was worried, but he seemed fine in the sense that he wasn't in danger.

I exited my soulspace and reached a hand out. Sereza pulled me up, and I dusted myself off. "Sorry about that. It's always annoying when this happens."

She scowled. "As in multiple times? What the hells, Cyrus."

"I told you, strange things happen around me. Don't need to question it further."

She glared and then huffed. "Fine, but just know that was concerning. You two looked like shit when you started seizing. Had a lot of people scared."

She flicked her tail behind me, and I subtly turned my head. There were indeed many people looking this way, at me specifically. A few kids looked terrified, but the adults tried their best to keep them focused on eating the food in their hands.

Hopefully, some warm pastries will calm them down.

Growxl approached with Yurlox and Vellisanna a step behind. "What happened?"

I waved a hand dismissively. "Tried to swallow something I wasn't meant to. Are you ready to head to the tent and discover what's inside?"

"Fine. We are ready."

I nodded, waved to the two behind him, and turned to the tent. "Let's get this over with."

Making our way over, I quickly checked my soulspace for Áine's wisp. I felt her weight inside my soul, so I knew she had gotten unsummoned, but it was good to check. She was floating along right as rain.

With a mental wave goodbye, I opened my eyes and stopped before the tent flap. The darkened illusion covered the door, blocking sight beyond the flap.

Sereza gave me a nervous smile, and I returned it and stepped forward, spear first.

When I finally pushed past the illusion, I had to stop and look around. The tent was surprisingly small. I had expected it to be huge on the inside, but no. The only thing that caught my eye was the two portals near the back wall.

One portal flickered brightly, revealing the room where Seraza and I had been grabbed. The other portal flashed dimly, displaying an empty plane adorned with bright lines painted on the ground.

I stepped to the side when the others entered. "Hold up, there's not much room."

"What do you me-" Sereza started. "Oh. Huh. Not what I was expecting."

"Well, I think I know how all the cultists fit inside the tent."

"How?" Yurlox shouted from behind, completely invisible behind Groxl's broad chest.

"They didn't. There's a portal here. Five gold it leads to the other camp where they made the sacrifices."

"Should we check? It's probably best if we-"

The world shook. The ground trembled. A loud screech resounded, and suddenly, a massive tentacle sprouted from the ground, sending the tent flying.

I stared in awe as the tentacle split open, revealing fanged teeth lining the insides. A silent scream made the world rock as the tentacle started spewing a fountain of blood.

It crashed to the ground with a silent death, and then the sky contracted. Reality itself stuttered, and some people threw up as others fell to their knees.

More tentacles erupted from the ground. Like the first, they split open into terrifying, many-toothed mouths and then coughed up massive spurts of blood before crashing to the ground and shriveling up.

I glanced at the sky and then raised a hand to my mouth. "Everyone to the portal!"