The Grand Weave

"Party tricks, nothing more," Caldur growled.

Raising his sword, he beckoned to the champion. It came as no surprise when the monster attacked the beastkin. In a streak of red light, it rushed at Caldur, swatting him into the sky with a lightning-fast paw. There wasn't even time to blink as the champion sprinted vertically up the wall and leaped into the air.

Caldur was a sitting duck, his arms flailing as he tried to correct himself against the momentum of the attack. With giant glowing red teeth, the champion flew closer, preparing to either eat the lion man whole or bite him into two.

At the last second, I heard a thwip sound, and Caldur disappeared. In his place was a glowing white arrow that vanished into the monster's maw. The bolt exploded in an explosion of searing light, causing it to roar in pain. The unexpected attack caused the champion to crash land on top of the wall, smashing aside one of the raised stones.

The sound of scraping metal caused me to look to my right. Next to Meleena Caldur got to his feet. Completely unharmed, besides the scratch marks on his chest plate, he brushed himself free of dirt and spat to the side.

He must have switched places with the arrow somehow.

"Stop gawking, and attack the damn thing!" Meleena yelled.

I sent Áine to Caldur and had Zharia unleash upon the champion. I doubted she could inflict any meaningful damage to the monster, but I had to try something.

Like watching a fireworks display, the champion's giant form rippled with barrage of magic and energy as skill after skill crashed into its side. It nearly slipped from the wall when a fireball whistled through the air and smashed against its legs. Thankfully Petraeus steadied me with mud vines, preventing me from toppling over.

After the barrage of attacks hit their mark, Dyllan suddenly appeared and taunted the beast. The loud clanging of his shield silenced all other noises. However, instead of the champion rushing off to attack the man, it let out a loud bestial roar. The air scratched at my skin, and static zipped across my hair.

"Spencer barr-" Petraeus tried shouting before a crashing bolt of red lightning struck the wall.

Like some angry mobile tesla coil, arcs of electricity shot out the beast in a sphere.

Those who were hit were blasted off the wall. Leaving only Matias, Edithe, and I standing. I would have been hit as well if it wasn't for Petraeus taking the blast for me. His crumpled form intercepting the bolt before the force pushed him off.

A familiar smell hit my nostrils. It was the smell of burnt and roasting flesh, something I was getting rather annoyingly used to smelling. The champion itself, while not unscathed, still stood tall. Notably, the crimson lightning coursing through its fur had dimmed.

I raised my spear. I felt small. A week of private lessons and a dozen small monsters wasn't nearly enough.

With Matias and Edithe several meters behind me, I was the closest prey for the champion to target. I gripped my spear tight, tensing my legs as the monster coiled its back legs. More out of pure instinct than any feat of athleticism, I threw myself over the wall. I'd rather cripple a limb then get eaten. My only saving grace in my cowardly action was leaving my spear stuck in the mud before I jumped.

A grin split my face.

Go fuck yourself!

Time slowed and my grin dropped. As I fell through the air, the charging monster turned towards me and tilted in my direction.

Ozone hit my nose.

Rings of energy shot up its remaining horn, and I could only blink before searing heat slammed into my collarbone. I hit the ground with a distant-sounding thud and felt something snap face before the world faded to black.

I felt detached. The world felt... hazy. I wasn't sure why I was here. Something about a red cat... An angry red cat, that's all I could think of.

A faint sound pierced the churning mud. There was no way to make out what it was.

What was I doing again?

Whatever it was, I just needed to center myself. I knew there was a red cat, but I knew something else was important.

Think.... Think. Think!

The sound came again, this time louder. It sounded like a woman's voice. Distractions, that's all it was to me currently.

So, red cat, ozone, blood, black cat?

Things were getting more confusing.

The voice came again, this time sounding like it was just a few feet away. I tried to turn my head in the direction of the sound, but I couldn't move. It felt like being back in the void after I died. Strangely, the thought of being dead again didn't disturb me like I thought it would. No, that wasn't entirely correct. It did disturb me; I just felt separate from the weight of that possible revelation.

Bah! That doesn't matter right now. I need to focus.

Before I could start my chain of cat thoughts again, I felt the world rumble, shaking me like an earthquake. When the noise blasted out, it sounded like it was directly yelling into my ear. In fact, I'm pretty sure somebody was yelling in my ear. Like water down a drain, I felt myself being sucked out of the void and breaking the surface. Feeling and clarity came rushing back.

"You stupid, idiotic, comatose pretty-boy. Wake the hell up already!"

Fluttering my eyelashes, I opened them to the sight of a blurry wall of blue flesh hovering over me. As my eyesight adjusted, I felt the rush of healing energy settle inside my flesh. It honestly felt so good. Wrong... But good. It pulled something from me but I couldn't care. I wanted nothing more than to just sink into the earth and rest. Of course, the moment I started relaxing, a meaty hand slapped me back to reality.

Bolting up, I looked around in alarm, every instinct screaming danger. Taking note of my surroundings, I was propped up against the wall. However, I was further out than my normal position during the waves.

"What the?" I asked confusedly.

"Welcome back to the living, idiot. Now stop being a sleeping beauty and get up. We need you pronto," came an irritated voice from my left.

"Sam?" I slurred.

Provided I didn't recognize her for a second because half her body was dyed red. It looked like someone took a giant brush and only painted the left side of her body. After the brief confusion, my mind went into overdrive with concern.

"Sam?! What the hell happened to you?" I shouted, already beginning to stand up and approach her.

She slapped my reaching hand away. Turning her back to me, she pointed across the field.

"I'm not hurt. I just got covered in Xertalus' blood. You got hit pretty hard, so we had to drag you away from the fight. Now stop worrying about me and focus. We need Áine; start chugging a potion and go." she said seriously, any hint of her usual playfulness absent.

Focusing on where she was pointing, I saw a grisly-looking scene. Levin and the twins were busy dodging the champion. Only Levin looked relatively unharmed sans the scrapes along his legs. Compared to the other two; Twin One had massive claw marks gouging his ribs, and Twin Two left arm hung limply by his side.

"Where are the others?" I asked her while channeling mana into my healing skill.

Soon, out popped Áine, who started bopping me on the head with her tiny fists. Her displeasure at my near death was evident as she sent her feelings through our connection. Mentally apologizing for my reckless actions, she settled down and awaited my commands.

"Spencer, Meleena, Caldur, and Petraeus are on the other side of the wall recovering. The bird guy is overseeing the rest of Talon, and Xertalus is watching over Petraeus' body. Not dead but also unconscious like you were. Orsk is quickly brewing potions while you were out of it," she informed me.

She motioned her head in the direction of the village and started jogging. I followed her, and we entered the village through a new hole in the wall. The edges were burnt and blackened, and small spots on the inner wood were still smoking lightly.

Speaking to me as we jogged, she kept her head forward, guiding us to a building near the edge of town.

"You weren't out too long, but it's been around six minutes. Had to practically shove healing potions down your throat. Áine vanished after you reenacted Humpty Dumpty." She slowed down as we approached the small wooden building and turned to me before we entered. "You probably didn't see them since they were taking turns, but the rest of the team switched out here and there. The damn beast is too intelligent. Dyllan is forced to guard Edithe and Matias; otherwise, it'd attack them whenever they started hitting him from range."

I missed out on a lot. I was concerned about the others handling the monster without the rest of us, but there was nothing I could do outside of getting the others into action as quick as possible.

Sam must've seen the worry on my face and reached out and put a hand on my shoulder. "We are vastly underprepared for this sort of thing. At least you can actually do something. I go out there. I get turned into cat food in no time flat. Let's just do what we can."

"You're right," I sighed.

"Of course I am."

I shoved her away and I opened the door. We walked in. The smell of burnt hair and skin plugged my nostrils and I nearly gagged.

I noticed Orsk first, kneeling across Petraeus. He smeared a pinkish paste all over the unconscious elf. Xertalus rested on a chair next to them, watching over his brother. To the other side of the room the crow beastkin stood like a statue over two heavily bandaged individuals. Caldur was missing half of his mane and pieces of of armour rested on the floor beside him.

Meleena growled at the unmoving birdman. While most of her upper body was undamaged, her right leg was tied to a splint while a heavy mass of bleeding bandages struggled to contain the flow over her stomach.

"Give me a damn potion and carry me back there! I'm going to shoot that stupid beast in its eyes." She shouted at the crow.

Caldur had his hands balled into fists, with his teeth gnashed together. He didn't say anything and stared at the wall, no doubt directing his anger at the monster who injured him. When he saw us come in, he gritted his teeth even harder.

"You need to heal up. If you go out there and get targeted like the others, you'll be a sitting duck if it lunges at you. There is no guarantee Dyllan can taunt the monster safely and keep you safe. It has already been proven it can fail," the crow man said politely, unbothered by Meleena's rage.

The next words out of Melena's mouth were more bestial anger than words. Between the silence of the other half of the room and team Talon's side, the two areas were like night and day. Meleena turned her attention to Caldur, she opened her mouth to speak but paused as she noticed his anger.

When she looked over and saw me, I swear I could see veins forming on her forehead.

"You! Make yourself useful and fucking heal me! We're stuck in here cause you decided to take a nap. Hurry it up!" She screamed as Sam and I slowly approached.

Crossing my arms, I stopped and stared at the two. Áine copied my motion, briefly sidetracking my thoughts as I thought the little fairy was absolutely adorable. The small smile that ghosted my face was enough to send the female beastkin into a sputtering rage. Caldur clawed at the ground, digging deep scratch lines into the wood.

The beastkin looked up at me with no small amount of anger as he took a deep breath and sighed loudly. Looking up at me, he stared at me for a while longer before finally speaking.

"Heal us already. I need to go out there and ensure Retas and Setar are okay. I know they're fighting the blood beast," he half growled.

To my surprise, his eyes showed more than pride or anger. Concern. He seemed to genuinely care for the twins. At least I finally had a name.

Áine slowly flew her way over and put a hand on Caldur's head. Her hands started glowing green, and I saw the beastkin begin to relax his grip ever so slightly. Focusing on the soul tether with my familiar, I noticed Áine pouring in a heavier amount of mana than usual. Closing my eyes, I probed deeper.

There's something there... Obstructing the skill.

I could feel her mana struggle to push into the beastkin's body. It felt like the nature mana hit a wall of resistance before forcing its way in and entering veins.

"Is there an issue, Áine?" I asked her.

She didn't reply at first, her head staring down at her hands.

"Resistance. Bad Mana," she replied.

I was curious, but she eventually finished, pulling her hands away from Caldur's head. I could tell she was already down to less than a quarter of her manapool.

But Caldur wasn't that injured. Or he was and he didn't look like it, but I don't think that's right.

Now that I thought about it, why hadn't they just used health potions to heal themselves?

"Hey, is there a reason why you guys didn't just heal via potions?" I asked out loud.

Orsk answered me as he finished cleaning his hands with a towel. "We tried. The potions weren't working, not entirely. Something about the mana from the monster's lightning resists the healing mana. If we wanted to heal our wounds, we'd have to use our entire stock of potions."

If the healing potions were ineffective and Áine disappeared when I went unconscious, how the hell did Sam manage to heal me? I gave Sam a questioning look. When she didn't get what I meant, I motioned to my head and mouthed how at her.

"Oh, I used up my entire supply of potions on you. Took five of them before you started showing signs of returning to the land of the living," she said dismissively.

That was disturbing news.

After helping the beastkin with his armour, Orsk turned to me.

"Cyrus, I need you to heal everyone as much as possible. Suffer mana fatigue if you have to. It's more than likely we'll receive a lengthy enough resting period before the next wave," he instructed. Walking over to the furthest corner of the room next to the door, he bent down and shifted something underneath a grey blanket. As he moved the blanket carefully, it revealed Spencer's unconscious body resting on the floor. "Xertalus, come help me carry Spencer to the wall. Your brother will be fine here. Sam, stay here and stand guard, I doubt anything will happen, but we shouldn't be lax inside a rift. Caldur, if you are all healed up, go ahead and rush back to the fight. I'll have the others help carry Meleena. We need to hurry, people. The longer we spend, not at our max strength, the higher the chance someone dies."

Xertalus hesistated, his eyes darting between his brother and the door.

Orsk looked ready to speak up but Sam grabbed his shoulder. He winced but Sam squeezed harder, forcing him to look.

"I'll protect him. I promise. I'm not as strong as you, but I can smash some skulls in. Go, buy us time to recover. He'll need it," Sam said.

"I..." He exhaled and balled his fists. "You're right. I'm ready. But keep him safe, I'm trusting you."

"Over my dead body, I swear."

"Good. Good."

Xertalus grabbed his axes and nodded to Orsk. Orsk smiled at Sam and directed Xertalus to carry Spencer out of the house.

I went over to help carry Meleena, but she practically spat venom at me and had the birdman carry her instead. Seeing no reason to waste any more time on the idiocy, I shrugged and gave Sam a quick hug before following Orsk out the door.

The man must have been struck harder since more than half his body showed burnt and cracked skin. The wounds were different than the burn injuries I was used to. Worryingly, I could see that the healthier parts of his flesh had a red tinge slowly overtaking the healthy flesh. I suspected that healing Spencer would wipe me out completely, even with potions.

I decided to heal Meleena first since her wounds were the lesser of the two.

As we quickly made our way up to the village wall, I was forced to down a mana potion to sustain Áine's drain. The foreign mana fought and squirmed, resisting my familiar. But she tamed it eventually, forced her way past and dispersed the crackling red in a tide of verdant green. There was a brief tirade of angry growling from the female beastkin when the nature mana healed her leg. Before I could warn Meleena, the crow beastkin jerked her leg into position. The snapping noise made me cringe. Annoying woman or not, the hissing howl from Meleena barely masked the crunch as he adjusted the limb.

By the time we made our way over to the others on top of the wall, Melena was completely healed. She wasted no time pulling out her bow and adding fire to the fight below.

Things weren't good.

Twin One hid beneath a barricade, both arms mangled at his side. Levin was mostly undamaged, looking no worse than when I last saw him. However, he had a slight limp whenever he put weight on his left foot. The champion tried to capitalize on that, but Levin powered through the injury and remained out of reach. But only by a hair's breath.

Twin Two was hardly better than his brother. With only one arm, he struggled to deflect the attacks in time.

Things took a turn for the worst when Twin Two slipped on some mud and failed to get out of the way. At the last second, he was able to bring his arm in front of him and brace his sword before the champion swiped a massive crimson paw. Like a rock skipping across a pond, he flew across the battlefield and bounced twice before coming to rest dangerously close to a pool of acid. The top of his fur sizzled but he didn't move.

The champion must have sensed it was the perfect time to pick off easy prey and pounced after the downed beastkin.

It swiped at Levin then charged. It's claws sliced the air leaving a trail of crimson crackles. But at the last second, an angry, roaring Caldur appeared.

He blinked over the monster's head and swung his sword down. Aiming for the remaining horn, his black-edged sword slashed down and met the electrified appendage with a sharp crack. Unlike last time, the blade did not slice cleanly through. The intense red electricity sparking off the horn brightened enough to shine like a flare in the night.

It discharged and sent Caldur flying. He yelled and teleported away.

The champion didn't roar. It scratched long furrows into the ground.

Caldur's blade knicked a gash across its edge. Electricity sparked and zapped the air. but the red energy coming off of it was greatly diminished. Then the sparks stopped, and the glow dissapeared.

Searching around franticly, it spotted Caldur near the fallen twin and charged. It was given no reprieve from the ranged squad as arrows pierced its legs and tore chunks of fur.

Skills added to the salvo.

Before it could leap, a wall of fire singed its face and forced it back.

"Cyrus, focus on Spencer. Take this and hurry up," Orsk ordered.

He pointed down bringing my focus back to the unconscious man by my feet.

In his hand was a familiar glass vial filled with purple ooze. With no time to complain, I quickly downed the nasty thing and washed it down with another mana potion.

My stomach roiled and a pounding headache slammed my skull. I gritted my teeth and powered through.

For the next few minutes, all my attention was spent on Áine as she healed the man. I had to close my eyes to focus on our connection so that I could explore the hostile mana. Caldur and Xertalus took over the role of the twins and fought the champion.

As I expected, I nearly bottomed out. Repairing the man took me to the dregs. Even with the skill booster, Áine pulled at our connection to drag out my mana pool. The hostile mana didn't feel like electricity. It didn't have anything that I would associate with an aspect. Áine's nature mana brought to mind a spring breeze, the smell of flowers, and the feeling of growth.

Different from Brelten's unyielding forest, it was more akin to the recovery from a long winter, a new beginning of the year.

The mana invading Spencer's body was, in all sense of the word, angry. It brought the whispers of annoyance, a simmering rage behind a thin veneer of civility. Tying it all together was a longing for wanton bloodlust, to give in to the anger and fight. Whatever the mana was, it fit the theme of the champion's full title. Blood and wrath. It raked its claws, but it called to me.

Something about it drew me in. If I could only-

When I finally came out of my meditation, I tried to stand up but instantly fell to my knees. Outside of the endless chill hollowing my body from the inside out, I felt emotionally drained. I was tired in mind, body, and soul. I looked down at my familiar, who was similarly sprawled out on top of Spencer's chest. With my remaining strength, I reached over, scooped the tired fairy up, and brought her closer. Áine's gratitude and relief spilled into the mental connection before she returned into my soul.

Orsk gave me a sympathetic pat on my shoulder before crouching down above Spencer's face. The man woke up slowly with a few light slaps before bolting to his feet. He desperately whipped his head between us, searching.

"What the? Where am I? What happened?" Spencer rattled off.

Orsk gripped the man and squeezed enough to settle him down. "Listen, you were injured, and Cyrus managed to heal you. I was told you were all attacked by a massive blast of lightning and suffered severe injuries. You can ask the others later for clarity, but we need your skills now."

His words must have been enough to center the man since Spencer took stock of his surroundings. His eyes hovered over my weary form before nodding and looking down where the others fought. He swore under his breath; I made out the sounds of his chanting and watched the others tackle the boss.

Time became a blur as I dealt with the effects of mana fatigue. With Spencer's buffs settling over the melee combatants, the champion was harried on all sides, forced to expend more of its dwindling supply of energy. As the fight dragged on, Caldur and Levin used ambush tactics while Xertalus served as the main tank. Between the blasts of acid and ice, Caldur's showy slashes slowed monster as he focused on its back legs.

There was a scream from nearby.

Edithe?

Levin must have finally slipped with his bad leg and got gored by the champion's horn. He was tossed away as the monster tore the blade from Levin's stomach, leaving a massive hole as he tumbled to the ground.

Xertalus capitalized on the monster's half-second of a distraction and activated a skill. His axes gained a crystalline edge and nearly dismembered the lion's back leg. To prevent the monster from turning around and retaliating, Spencer cast a barrier next to its body, blocking it from shifting its weight. With a final salvo of skills, the lion was engulfed in a torrent of orange flames while an arrow struck the monster's savaged limb and exploded in white light.

It pricked my eyes and I had to squint as my brain squeezed.

Like a lightbulb going out, the red energy surrounding the monster vanished. And with one final blink from Caldur, he once more appeared above the monster. This time, he brought his greatsword down and sliced entirely through the final horn and into the neck of the champion, severing its head from its body.

With a roar of his own, Caldur raged into the open air, pounding his chest over his metal plate. More than a few others joined in on the revelry, especially team Talon.

And like that, the third wave ended. The Champion of Blood and Wrath vanquished.