The Grand Weave

Isaac lifted her head and slapped her good cheek.

She didn't respond.

He began shaking her, but Teddy gripped his shoulder and shook his head.

"She's gone," Teddy said softly.

Isaac continued to hold her, but Igas helped set her down as Isaac stood up.

"I've known her since we were kids. She's an idiot and cocky, but not a monster," he whispered.

"I remember. She brought you to my house when you were knocked out."

He stared at Urry and then panned over to examine the rest of the corpses. Most were hardly what you could call a body. The limbs were ripped off; their flesh had exploded, leaving behind a puddle of gore. Those who were intact were pale and drained, clear signs of exsanguination.

"Mask?"

"Magnus?"

"Right. Inside room."

I pointed to the open doorway. It was a small room, no bigger than your average closet. Two bodies were in there, a beastkin and a human.

"Recognize any of them?"

"No. I haven't been to their base in years," Isaac said. "What do you sense?"

Magnus poked his head out of my collar and growled. "Dense."

"Shield. Cover it. Tendril, set it off," Teddy ordered.

Isaac created a clone and it approached while Celenae conjured a barrier. She added a second layer before she nodded toward Isaac.

The clone reached down and tapped the body.

Magnus roared and the body exploded.

Gore splattered the barrier, coating it in red paint with bits of bone and meat. She snapped her fingers, and the first barrier shattered, letting the gore fall to the floor.

The entire closet was nothing more than shrapnel and blood.

"What was that?" Sereza asked.

Another clone appeared and we waited, but no matter what the clone did, nothing else happened.

Isaac dismissed the clone and stared.

"A trap or a side effect," Teddy muttered. "Sense anything else?"

Magnus nodded and pointed a paw deeper into the building.

"Tendril, send a clone to Rain. Ask if she noticed anything."

Isaac didn't respond, instead, he stared at the door leading deeper inside.

Igas slid in front of him and crossed his arms. "Stuff it for later. We got a job to do."

Instead of replying, Isaac tugged on his hood and sank into the floor. A clone rose and took his place before it dashed out of the building.

Teddy sighed and flared the mana around his shield. "Worry about him later. He's around."

With Teddy in the lead, he pushed deeper. Igas was our guard, while I had Magnus constantly check for mana. It was nearly impossible with the mana being all the same, but Magnus was able to detect when a corpse had more than the others.

Every corpse was set off by Sereza's spectral daggers. Celenae blocked the explosions as we systematically moved through the rooms.

The last hallway, Isaac finally appeared. He silently pushed open the door, revealing a room covered in blood–like the rest.

It coated the walls, floors and ceiling. But not in a splatter of dismemberment.

Magnus growled, and he siphoned mana from the air.

From the link, It was like a grain of sand compared to what was inside.

"There's a lot of mana inside the room. More than Magnus can absorb."

"Rex is inside," Isaac said. "I assume he's the bomb?"

I reached with my mana sense and was pulled toward the center where a strangely whole corpse lay. Unlike the others with various levels of dismemberment, a knife was stuck into the man's chest.

"We should leave," Celenae warned.

Teddy looked to Isaac, but he remained silent.

Sereza crossed her arms. "This is the Underground. Warn the beastkin at the bar, and he'll notify people. Probably a Gatekeeper."

"Gatekeeper?" I asked.

"Like the woman at the entrance."

"We could set it off," Igas countered.

"And risk harm to ourselves for no reason. Nobody is alive, and we still have one more stop. Let's get out of here," Teddy said.

Igas waited until Isaac turned away, positioning himself between him and the door.

I stared into the room. Something about the symbols drawn along the circle looked familiar.

"Mask?" Sereza said. "What's wrong?"

I clicked my fangs and shrugged. "Nothing. The room looked a little familiar, that's all."

"Was it in the memory?"

"Nah. Let's go. Hopefully, the kid is okay."

"He better be," she muttered.

We did a double-check, running through each of the exploded rooms before we exited the building.

Teddy turned to Isaac. "Tell Eodyne to follow but stay hidden."

Isaac nodded, but as he began to sink into Teddy's shadow, a tendril sprouted and flung him back. A barrier appeared and intercepted the curling whip that cracked the air above where Teddy stood.

Teddy flared his skills, and Igas stomped, creating a field of ice underneath. Sereza pulled out her daggers and I gripped my spear.

The Gatekeeper's whip retracted, snaking around her arm as she stepped out of the crack in the wall. "Explain yourselves."

Teddy slammed his shield down, cracking the stone. "Why did you attack me?"

"I won't ask again," she shouted. "Last chance. Comply, or I'll rip off your limbs."

"You have the wrong idea," Teddy warned.

"So be it," she smiled.

A wave of black rose behind her, bathing the area in swirling fog. As the shadows solidified, a dozen glowing red eyes appeared, hovering at head height.

The shadows condense and black-bone limbs materialized along with varying weapons and armor. The skeletons pointed their weapons forward while the Gatekeeper sank into the ground.

She appeared on Celenae's right, but an electric bolt shot forward, exploding as it passed through her arm. She appeared twenty feet away with smoke rising up her wrist.

"Smart. No holding back," she said.

More arrows flew, and Teddy activated more enchantments, forcing the skeletons to look his way. Those that managed to resist his taunt were launched into the air by an ice pillar.

"Sturmrorex, Zharia. Now!" I commanded.

My familiars flew out of my hood and unleashed on the shadow army.

But as one was taken down, another would reform and charge.

Mana flared, and I dived, flicking my spear behind me as I did.

The woman tsked again and appeared behind Sereza. The felkin turned into a cloud and avoided the grab.

More arrows zipped toward the woman's direction and she retreated.

I moved toward Celenae and she placed a barrier behind our backs.

"Sturmrorex," I ordered. "Guard Eodyne."

"She'll suffer before I allow harm!" Sturmrorex roared.

Sereza stepped up and sliced forward, sending daggers into the squad assaulting Igas.

"Where's Isaac?" I asked.

Celenae slammed her staff and launched Teddy up who fell like a meteor and sent out a wave of blinding light.

"Chasing her," she said as she conjured another barrier.

I watched as the woman constantly teleported with Isaac a step behind. Occasionally, a tendril would lash out, but she expertly defended herself.

Her whip split into nine and cracked the air explosively. Isaac dived and rose from Celenae's shadow. His sleeve was in tatters as blood soaked the cloth.

"She's holding back," he spat.

I frowned.

"Why?"

"Don't know. Something's wrong. She shouldn't attack us like this without a reason."

Mana flared, and I slammed my spear to Sereza's right. The woman grunted as my blade cut her forearm.

She snapped a kick, knocking my spear away. As she jumped, an arrow bent behind her and accelerated before she could enter the shadow.

The arrow exploded and she rolled into Celenae's barrier.

Igas launched forward, hopping off a pillar and brought his blade down.

She lowered her arms and whistled.

Shadows rose and swallowed the area. Celenae's barrier shattered, and Igas was flung into the fog. Sereza became a cloud and hovered behind me while Celenae was dragged below.

"Magnus!" I shouted.

My familiar opened his mouth and inhaled the shadows. As he devoured the tide, the shadows bent around us, creating an island amongst the endless darkness.

Teddy stumbled behind us and slammed his shield down. "Cover your eyes."

I looked away as his hand became a beacon. Mana rushed forward into a beam of light that scattered into rainbows through the glass shield.

The opposing mana types clashed. The shadows fought back, hissing as if burned, but Teddy continued to pour more of his mana into the skill and stepped forward.

"Aaagh!" the woman screamed.

The shadows retreated, and Teddy sank to his knees. Zharia zipped to my shoulder and stared ahead.

"Don't move, or I will gut her. That includes you, archer!"

The fog cleared.

Celenae was in the woman's grasp, a dagger to her throat. The woman's form was more visible. The black leathers burned away, revealing pale skin underneath.

"Why are you attacking us?" Teddy shouted.

The dagger drew blood, and Celenae froze. "Don't play stupid. I saw what you did to the other gangs."

Other gangs?

"It wasn't us!" Sereza yelled.

"Lie to me and I gut her. Last chance," the woman threatened.

Teddy stood up slowly but kept his hands to his side. Igas groaned and sat up, but Teddy shook his head.

"Calm down. We were here to interrogate. We didn't do whatever it is you're talking about."

"Dragonshit. I can smell the blood."

"Wasn't us. We're here for someone else."

Her eyes narrowed but she kept the dagger close. Celenae didn't breathe while fat, crimson droplets trickled down.

She tsked and adjusted the knife, but as she did, Isaac's daggers stabbed into her neck.

His clothes were gone, replaced by a void that covered his body like ink. It rippled and swayed along with six tendrils, all pointed toward the woman.

"Move, and you die. Kill her, and I'll torture your soul for eternity," he said, his voice cold steel that hummed through the air.

"Dawnborn. I recognize you. You're only tier two," she said.

"Last chance," he growled.

She stared, her hair whipping behind her. Isaac's tendrils pushed against her skin and she sighed.

Her dagger slipped, and Celenae conjured a barrier. In an instant, the barrier flashed and took her hand. She yelped, but Isaac stabbed his tendrils into her arms and legs, pinning her to the ground.

Despite the damage, she looked up and glared. "Kill me, and the Underground will hunt you down."

"Don't tempt me with a good time," Isaac chuckled.

His voice was flat, and his eyes were swirling voids that sucked in the light from Teddy's mace.

"What happened to the other gangs? Talk, or the next one goes through your stomach."

She grinned. "I don't answer to you. Fuck off-"

Blood sprayed the stone as his tendril wormed its way through her body. He crouched and placed his daggers on both sides of her head.

"I'm not in a good mood. Talk. Or don't."

She licked her teeth and spread the blood across the enamel. It dripped out and joined the pool growing beneath her.

"The Lords will enjoy selling your bodies to the market," she laughed before a deluge of blood spilled out.

Her whip unfurled and sliced toward Celenae, but Isaac's dagger pushed through her ear.

Yet, as it did, her head exploded in a wave of shadow and she grabbed his leg and flung him into the wall. Her body moved faster than Celenae could pin her down.

When she reformed, Eodyne's arrow beelined for her head, but her body became fog and she reformed on her knees, panting.

The arrow continued through the building and she stood up and laughed. As she did, she crushed something inside her palm and flung the dust.

"Too late now. I suggest you run little rats."

She gripped a marble in her other hand and examined us all. She paused on each of our faces before wiping her mouth.

"The disguises won't do a thing. Your mana signature has been recorded," she chuckled. "It's too late. They'll be here any mome-"

Mana rushed forward and I flinched as the smell of blood drowned out my other senses.

"Master!" Magnus roared.

Mana was sucked away and I blinked as my vision returned.

The Gatekeeper was lifted into the air by a stream of blood stretching from inside the gang building. It formed crystal claws that dug into her neck and crushed her throat, maintaining form even as she swiped her arms through the stream.

She was raised further into the air. Glowing sigils scratched themselves into existence around her body and began to spin.

Her eyes met mine. She screamed and crushed the second marble.

Reality warped. A shockwave tore her body apart, spattering the blood limb before reality bent and twisted. It splintered into fragments that spun in opposite directions, trailing strips of the world away.

The void appeared.

A second shockwave knocked everyone to the ground.

I fell onto Sereza and we went down. Magnus managed to grip my robe as he battled the mana rushing through the hole in reality.

But another shockwave came and the others were ripped away before I could react. A force grabbed my legs, but Magnus sucked it away until he collapsed.

"Damnit!" I yelled.

My spear stabbed into the stone and we held for a second before we slid closer. Sereza staked her daggers and wrapped her legs around my waist while I reinserted my spear.

"Magnus! Zharia! Fire!"

Golden flames torrented out of Zharia's mouth while Magnus raised his head and released a wave of shadows.

The mana collided, freeing us from the pull as I pushed us backward.

"Hold on! It's fixing itself!" I yelled.

But as I did, a fountain of blood condensed and hardened into a long arm that wrapped around us. I had enough time to watch Eodyne blitz through the air before we were dragged into the portal.