The Grand Weave

Dark crimson hair, reddish-brown skin, and two blade-like horns that jutted from the sides of his head before sweeping backward, the felkin looked nothing like the rest of his family.

No.

His eyes were glowing orbs of crimson in a sea of black, but the features were similar to his mother's. He had her nose, her brow and the same dimples.

His tail jutted in front of him and splayed its fingers.

"Stop!" he commanded. "Don't come near me!"

"What the fuck happened to you? Why do you look like this?!" Sereza demanded.

Her arms were shaking, so I moved behind her and supported her back.

"Shut up! Go away!" Lezka screamed.

He grabbed his robe and wrapped it around himself like a blanket as he tried to hide behind his tail.

"Lezka?" Sereza whispered. "Wha-how? Why?!"

"Stop talking to me! Get out of here, Sereza! Leave!"

She shook her head and moved closer. "Explain everything."

Lezka extended his hand and a ball of red flames formed in the center of his palm.

"Don't make me. I said stay away!"

"Sereza..." I said. "Back off, don't corner him before this turns into a fight."

Her knuckles turned white as she tried to strangle the handle of her blades. I shifted, firmly pressing on her lower back until she stood up straight.

"Why? And don't tell me to stop! Answer me, Lezzie!"

"Don't call me that!" he roared. "I'm not the kid you knew!"

She jutted her dagger at his tail. "No shit. What happened to you?"

Lezka straightened and puffed his chest, but he still clutched onto the remainder of his robe like a frightened child.

"What happened to me? I was kidnapped! Tortured! Left to rot in an iron prison while none of you came looking for me!"

"Dragonshit! I searched for you, day one. I scoured the city for hours."

His jaw quivered, but he snarled and clawed the air. The ball of flames grew wider, becoming a orb the size of a bowling ball.

"You didn't look hard enough," he growled.

Sereza stilled, but her tail coiled behind her.

"Didn't look hard enough?"

"You heard me. You. Didn't. Look. Hard. Enough."

"How? How was I supposed to know you'd do something so colossally stupid as to antagonize the Wintress!"

The kid, though I wasn't sure that he was one anymore, stomped onto the exsanguinated Gatekeeper. She sputtered more blood, breathing in and out, but otherwise, remained an unconscious corpse.

"Shut up, Just shut up! I don't need your rescuing anymore," he spat.

"Lezka..."

He lowered his hand, but the flames remained, licking the stone black near his leg.

"Do you see what I did? How powerful I am now? I don't need rescuing. Go home, Sereza."

"Your family is worried sick. You're mom-"

I yanked Sereza back and braced both hands in front of me. The flames exploded against the crystal, half of the force being sucked away while I was knocked backward.

My robes burned and I quickly tore them off before I was immolated. The wisps that remained were devoured and fed into the mana container inside my chest.

"Lezka! Stop!" Sereza yelled. She stood up and brandished her daggers. "This isn't you."

"I said shut up! Don't talk about them. Go home, tell them I died. Leave!" Lezka roared.

"You're mom is wo-"

This time, when the crimson fireball rocketed toward her, she dived to the side and leapt to her feet. Lezka stepped back in terror, but his tail moved and punched her in the gut.

She was launched into the air but she activated her movement skill and became a cloud before she hit the wall.

No more leniency.

I charged and he swiped his claws in my direction. Streams of blood rose from the circle and bulleted toward me.

One sliced my shoulder, another cut into my hip. Áine activated her skill as I dived between two ribbons and slammed my arm into another.

The mana broke apart against my arm, but I could feel my bones nearly shatter from the impact.

"Get away!" Lezka screamed.

I channeled the energy I absorbed into my hands and swung toward his feet.

Ten lines of blood-red energy shot out, tearing through the ribbons. Four slashes were used up in the collision, the other six continuing closer.

He stomped his foot and I backpedaled as a tidal wave of blood gushed out. It towered over the buildings and drowned the ceiling.

"Cyrus!" Sereza shouted.

I had enough time to see her reactivate her movement skill before I slammed my spear into the stone and braced myself.

It hit me like a charging train, cracking my ribs and dislocating my shoulder before the tide carried me away and into a wall. I was pressed against it, unable to breathe even as I tore into the mana.

Magnus' skill guzzled it down, but it was like trying to drink the ocean through a straw. It was as heavy as ether, a constant pressure that pushed me back.

I slammed my jaw shut and lowered my head, adding the absorption of my helmet. But the pressure was too strong and I continued to struggle.

My receptacle filled and I pushed it down, refining it into something thicker. More came, and my fingers snapped backward.

I kept up the consumption through gritted teeth.

"Aaagh!"

As the screams cut through the overwhelming flood of noise, the wave lessened and I fell flat. The crystal smashed into the stone. A jolt of electricity shot down my spine before Áine fixed the damage.

I groaned and managed to look up, spitting out a mouthful of blood that clogged my throat.

"You stabbed me!" Lezka screamed.

He clutched an ethereal dagger that shattered under his grip. The wound was superficial, barely a centimeter into his calf, but his face contorted in pain.

Sereza was on one of the remaining buildings, the stone having given way to a single pillar that remained standing amongst the river of blood.

She glanced over and I nodded. Her daggers glowed green and she leaned forward, tensing her legs.

Lezka continued to stare at the wound, his jaw slack and his eyes wide. He didn't see her, as distracted as he was.

I tried to stand, but my legs gave out and I slammed my chin against the ground.

Damnit.

Sereza launched, diving forward.

Come on.

Before she crashed, she became a cloud that dispersed but quickly reformed. Lezka slowly looked up, but it was too late.

Her daggers glowed, and she raised them high.

But she stopped, the blades hovering an inch above his leg..

"I... can't..."

Lezka gaped, glanced at the blade, and then reacted. His tail wrapped around her head and lifted her up.

"Sereza!" I screamed.

I channeled mana into my claws and activated the skill. The slashes appeared and-

Slam!

Stone cracked, and the ground gave way. Sereza was raised higher and slammed again before Lezka stomped his foot, and a swarm of blood ribbons took the slashes.

He lowered her gently, peeling back the fingers of his tail. Sereza's head rolled forward, dark-green blood dripping down her chin.

"Áine, focus on the legs; nothing else matters!"

I stood up, but he ignored me and gently lowered her outside the circle before propping her up against a wall.

"I won't kill her," he said. He turned to me and wiped away bloody tears that streamed down his cheeks. "She deserves at least that much."

"Why? Why are you doing this?" I said while reaching for my spear.

I wrapped my claws around it but he didn't react.

He raised his hands and his tail, staring at himself while he slowly turned toward me.

"I had no other choice. They were going to kill me. Either I took the deal or died in that cell."

I shook my head. "He wasn't going to kill you. Riven wanted you as leverage. We'd have found you."

He snarled and balled his hands into fists. "And how was I supposed to know that? Weeks! I was tortured for weeks! There was no escape. Not for me..."

Áine fixed my legs and I stood up straight. The mana inside the crystal container inside my chest was filled to the brim with condensed mana.

If he attacked, I was ready.

"What happened? Don't give me the same shit you fed her."

"And who are you?" he screamed. "Why are you even here?"

"Galarion. Wake up, pay attention. Tell me what he's thinking. I need to know if he's under mind control or not."

Galarion stirred, still exhausted but ready. He stretched his tentacles but kept them hidden, and I cracked my neck.

"I'm how we knew to come to the Underground. Found that you were being held against your will. So cut me some slack."

The ritual circle bubbled but remained inert even though I felt a lake of mana simmering underneath.

Can't fuck around too much.

"Anger. Fear. Suspicion. He's... worried," Galarion rattled.

Lezka licked his fangs, exposing serrated triangular teeth. "What do you want?"

I chuckled and sighed. "To go home and sleep."

His face scrunched in confusion, but I shook my head.

"I'm here because your mother cried herself to sleep," I growled. He tried to say something, but I slammed my spear against the ground. "Just shut up. Seriously, shut up. I'm here because your father and brother are worried sick. And your family is nice. Far nicer than most. That doesn't mean much, but I'm here because I'm an idiot who gives a shit."

"Why?"

"Confusion, suspicion. Anger," Galarion added.

I mentally nodded and inhaled slowly. "Don't know. But that doesn't matter. Just tell me what happened to you."

"I owe you nothing!" Lezka yelled.

"Don't give a fuck. It's not for me. It's for your parents and brother. Bind yourself for power, go live as a rat in the Underground I don't fucking care. But Sereza organized this for you. Your mom begged for us to find you. You owe us that much."

A memory played of a tall masked man in scarlet robes and a flowing black cloak rising from a crack in the wall. His form was a giant droplet of undulating blood that hardened and solidified outside of Lezka's cell.

The memory fractured as he held out his hand offering a vial filled with crimson liquid.

I shook myself out of the memory and focused my eyes on the spellcircle. The ritual lines I didn't understand but they had a similar sigil style along the masked man's cloak.

"He gave something to you, didn't he? Power? Skillstones?"

Lezka glared. "He gave me the revenge I wanted. To evolve into something more than some mid-rate craftsman."

My eyes narrowed. "Was it worth it?"

"No... Yes..." Galarion whispered sleepily.

His lip quivered, but he raised his chin and spread his arms wide. In response, the circle flared to life and I braced myself but the light show ended and he lowered his arms, the Gatekeeper's body no longer inside the circle.

"I'm leaving. Don't look for me, you can't follow," he said.

To punctuate his words a swirling vortex expanded above his palm and I felt mana activate inside a necklace just below his shirt.

Spatial mana joined the chaotic whirls and the portal expanded to his height.

The otherside was a barren wasteland of red dirt and skeletons half-buried underneath the dust.

He took a step back while keeping his eyes locked on mine.

"Wait," I called out. Lezka stopped and I lowered my spear. "Do what you want to do, but tell your mother goodbye. Write them a note, record on a crystal. It doesn't matter. Just tell them goodbye before you leave for good."

His eyes flashed and mana built but he squeezed his fingers and turned away.

"Fine. Tell Sereza I'm sorry. And... that she was the best big sister I always wanted."

Lezka stepped through the portal and it snapped shut. Fat droplets rained down while the spatial mana faded away.

By now I was fully healed so I approached Sereza and pulled Áine out of my hoodie. She rushed to the felkin and landed on her chest before pulling from my mana pool.

I crouched low and brushed her hair back, while I used my hoodie to wipe away the blood.

Carefully, I pried her daggers free and stored them along my belt before lifting her into a princess carry.

"Sturmrorex."

"Master! I felt pain. Are you alive? Where are you?!" Sturmrorex said.

"Tell Eodyne we're safe. Find Isaac first, he'll help find the others faster."

"On it!"

I stared at the devastation that remained.

"Let's go home, Sereza. We could use some rest."