The Grand Weave

The dungeon was dark and gloomy, the walls dull and the pathway empty.

Except for the hidden monster waiting on the ceiling.

Sereza threw a single spectral blade and it sailed through the air, stabbing into the monster's thorax.

It hissed and flopped to the floor in a heap of mechanical limbs. The purple strings underneath unspooled but were quickly retracted as it flipped over.

I gripped my spear and contained a growl as Zagreus placed himself between the monster and us.

"Raaagh!" he roared.

As much as I understood that Zagreus would be fine, I hated it with every fiber of my being. At least Magnus had the ability to absorb attacks.

Yet I had to let this play out. It was better now in a controlled environment than a battlefield filled with chaos.

"Zharia, Sturmrorex. Pincer," I commanded.

My familiars flew high, hanging just behind Zagreus.

"He'll be okay," Sereza said.

"I know."

The spider locked on as Zagreus stepped forward and released another hiss. The central eye flashed purple and the spider leapt.

Before it could close the distance between them, Sturmrorex acted first, piercing it with a bolt of lightning that traveled across its many limbs.

It took the hit and skidded closer, letting Zharia unleash a torrent of flames against its head.

The spider stood under the onslaught and raised a bladed limb. My grip tightened and Zagreus reacted. Two heads bit down on the front limbs, tieing them up, while the third intercepted the attack.

Black metal met hardened blood. Scaled deformed and splashed against the ground while the limb stopped just above my familiar's main body.

As Zagreus took the hit and sacrificed a head, mana thrummed to life and he activated his skill. The blood that splattered the ground and coated the metal limb smoked and sizzled.

The spider tried to pull back but the head reformed with the neck wrapped around the corroded blade.

Sturmrorex dived and speared the golem's side with his horns, unleashing a burst of electricity. It froze, and Zharia swooped in.

She swiped at the core, but a limb came free and battered her aside. It was a glancing hit but she screeched in anger.

"Zharia! Step back. Let them handle it."

She flew high, the golden flames spewing from her feathers. "It should burn!"

"It will, but you can't burn Sturmrorex and Zagreus."

Zharia grumbled but complied and I turned my attention to the limb Zagreus had inflicted with caustic blood.

The metal was tough. Only the edges of the limb had melted. It tugged, but Zagreus maintained a firm hold, preventing the monster from pulling away.

Sturmrorex pulled deeper from his mana pool and upped the ampage. He controlled it well, Zagreus being largely unaffected by the attack.

Sparks danced, and the golem couldn't react as Zharia got her revenge. Her wings were an inferno as she dived and landed atop the orb.

It flashed purple but was drowned in a wave of gold concentrated to a fine stream. Metal hissed and the thick cords serving as tendons melted away.

"Burn! Dumb spider!"

"Uhm. Is it me or does Zharia look extra angry?" Sereza asked.

I chuckled, finally relaxing. "She has a thing against spiders."

"How does that work with Erebus?"

"Erebus is family. Not the same."

"Riiight."

The core cracked and it was over. For good measure, Sturmrorex slithered toward the core and bashed it with his horns, cracking it further.

Once the spider collapsed, Zagreus let go and bowled over my other familiars in an attempt for pets.

"Scratch!"

Zharia pecked his heads and returned to my shoulder. "No."

He pouted but shifted his attention to Sturmrorex who shook his head and tapped him with his tail.

"Dignity. Hold your head high after a victory."

"But scratches..."

Sturmrorex snorted and flew away, coiling around my neck as I approached. With no one else to turn to, my familiar wobbled towards me and leaned into my leg.

I gave in, unable to resist the cute little fella. His heads hissed in delight before returning to my soulspace, and I directed my mana into The Dead Will Provide.

Erebus flopped onto the corpse and dived into the core.

Sereza leaned down and inspected the corpse. "You know. That was surprisingly well done. I am once again in awe at your skills."

The peacocks on my person preened in delight.

"Enough. You did good."

"They're pretty awesome, I know."

Sereza rolled her eyes and waved at Erebus as he emerged from within the core. He waved back and hopped onto my hand.

Zagreus tried to sneak in a lick but he gently booped his snouts before presenting the loot orb.

"Any guesses on what it'll be?"

"Honestly? Maybe some metal scraps. These golems don't have poison as far as I know."

"It's still weird that you guys know about golems but don't use them."

She snorted. "That's because enchanting one requires a genius level of work. Unless it's a monster."

I hummed and held the orb for everyone to see. It was Zagreus' first time seeing it so I inspected it and sent him memories mess before sending mana into my palm.

It popped and a spool of metallic thread fell into my hand. It was the length of my ring finger, and as thick as my nail bed.

"Well, it looks like you were right. I think."

Sereza inspected the thread and unwound an inch before running her thumb across. Blood dripped down and she wiped it away.

"Same color as the golem. Not the sharpest but it'd make a wire trap."

"Keep it."

"Really?"

I shrugged. "You guessed it correctly. Call it your first souvenir.

She pocketed the thread and I waved goodbye to Erebus as he returned to my soulspace. With one golem down, I pointed toward the left tunnel.

"Let's see what else we can loot."

--------

Sereza speared another spider as I impaled one to the wall. I twisted and sent mana into the tip. Acid melted away the metal and I plucked the core free before spiking it into the floor. With a stomp, it split down the middle in a rain of shards.

I turned in time to watch my familiars tangle up their spider and quickly snip the cords behind the metal shell. It crashed to the floor with Zagreus flopping on top.

I winced, but he adjusted in time for Zharia to melt away the rest of the golem.

With the threats neutralized, I untangled my spear and called to Áine. She materialized before me and got to work repairing the deep gouges along my leg.

"That was dumb," Sereza growled.

It was.

It had been four hours since we started and while things were relatively calm and fairly empty for a dungeon so large, the ambush had come unexpectedly.

Four spiders ambushed us near a turn, one being swiftly impaled and torn to shreds as we reacted in time. The other three forced us to retreat and we both activated a spike trap, taking out our legs.

That in of itself, wasn't that crazy. A devious trap for sure, but the wall darts that activated as Sereza touched a wall nearly ruined us.

Thankfully we were used to dealing with multiple enemies. We divided and conquered and I trusted my familiars by now to handle a spider on their own.

They were ambush predators, not combatants. Once paralyzed or had their cords snapped, they became easy targets.

Áine finished healing my legs and moved onto Sereza while my familiars popped the core from the monsters and presented them.

I patted their heads and brought them in for a hug.

"Good job everyone. Thanks for keeping us alive."

"Of course!"

"Scratches!"

"Stupid spiders!"

I laughed and squeezed tighter. Once Áine was finished I replaced her and Zharia for Erebus and he got to work.

"We'll have to settle for two out of four. I want to reserve some mana."

"Works for me," Sereza said as she flopped next to me. She leaned on my shoulder and watched Erebus dive into the first corpse.

"I wouldn't call this a successful haul, but if we find an engineer I'm sure they'd go crazy."

"What are we at now? Four spools, three bags of bolts, and two bags of magic dust?"

"And the enchanted pen."

Aaah. Yeah, I forgot about that.

I grabbed the first loot orb and passed it over as Erebus dived once more. "I'm sure Celenae will love a reinforced pen."

"Better than nothing," she said bitterly.

I cocked my head and tapped her shoulder. "What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Dragonshit. What's wrong?"

Sereza sighed and held up the orb.

"It just hit me. Realized that even though we could have died, I had fun. The darts were nasty but delving is exciting, and having a reliable teammate adds to that." My familiars protested and she held up her hands to halt the tirade. "My bad. Teammates. You're all awesome."

"So why did you sound so bitter?"

"Because I was in danger and had fun. That while Lezka is out there doing who-know's-what, I'm having fun delving in a dungeon." She clenched her fists. "It feels wrong."

"I have that same feeling every now and then."

"About Lezka?"

"No," I chuckled. "About the first rift I went into. About Sam."

"Oh."

"For a long time I was mad, angry that I failed. She saved me, sacrificed herself to the big bad demon and thrown across the void. And the worst part? It was all my fault."

Sereza sat up and crossed her arms as she pointedly glared. "From what you've told me before, there's no way in hells it's your fault. That's idiotic."

"Funny. I think I could say the same. I at least have an actual excuse to take blame for. What's your excuse?"

"I could have searched for him, found him, done anything that wasn't just gallivanting and having fun."

"Is that what you did? I remember you being pretty stressed at the party."

She reached for Erebus and took the second orb as he hopped onto her arm.

"Fine. Point made. Doesn't mean I don't feel like shit. I can't even look Melza in the eye."

"You will eventually. I plan on punching Sam when I see her."

"Wait what?"

"Yep. A single punch for doing something so incredibly stupid, and then the longest hug in the world. Because she saved me."

Sereza shook her head and popped the first orb. It produced a small pouch that sank into her hand.

"Dust."

"One down, last one to go."

She paused and smiled at me. "You're weirdly good at these kinds of conversations. It's refreshing."

"Thanks? I think? I'm not too sure about that, but this isn't the first time I've sat with somebody and had a chat. We've done it plenty."

"Yeah, and usually something crazy happens."

"Pop the damn orb."

The shadow threads burst and black orb fell into her hand. As she held it closer, it flashed purple and a diagonal eye appeared. It scanned the room and locked onto me.

"Uh."

It flashed again and faded away, becoming inert.

"What was that?" Sereza asked.

Silently, I reached over and gripped the orb and called to Chomperz. He swallowed the dust and the orb and shook his head before rushing back into my chest.

"Right, well, I'm sure it's useful for something. But let's avoid creepy eyeball orbs."

"Cyrus, I think you just looted a golem core."

I shrugged. "I already have a spider, thank you very much. No need for an inferior copy."

Erebus screeched into my head and I returned him to the soulspace. I scratched Zagreus and stood up, stretching.

"I have plenty of energy now. Let's head back."

"Are we showing Celenae the orb?"

"What do you think?"

"Of course we are."

I grinned. "Exactly. Now let's get out of here. I'm sick of metal spiders."

And it's about damn time I tier up.