The Grand Weave

My head felt like an angry elephant tap-danced on it. The next to hit me was how raw and strained my mana channels felt. Whatever the item the naga used to drain my mana, it was not gentle. When more of my senses started returning, I finally managed to peel open my eyes and look around.

Where the battlefield was a warm background of flames, it now looked like I had been transported to hell. Nobody was left standing, and the few moving bodies I saw were two nagas the furthest away from the blast. And even those two weren't long for the world, considering they rapidly became smoking corpses in front of me.

I noticed outside of some surface burns and a loss of feeling in my right arm, I was relatively alright. That didn't erase away how pissed off I was. Out of all the things the monsters could do, I was not expecting almost dying to some random enchanted trinket.

As I stood up, I heard a wet cough followed by muffled moaning from my left. Despite the person looking like a piece of barbeque, he was at the least easily distinguished from the monster corpses. I struggled to stand up but eventually managed it with a groan. Using my connection, I tried to feel for where Áine was and felt her somewhere up and behind me. When I looked in the direction of where I sensed her, I didn't see the tiny fairy. It was only when a flash of green light revealed a small alcove hidden behind stalactites that I saw her. One of her wings was lightly charred, but she waved at me happily.

"Are you okay, Áine?" I sent over.

"Yes. Wave hit. Burned wing," she sent back. A bundle of annoyance and pain came through our connection, and I could feel she was angrier than she was hurt.

She glided down in an awkward fall into my arms, and I felt her start healing me. In the back of my head, Zharia was huffing in a tirade at the nagas. I waited a dozen seconds for Áine to work her magic until I made my way over to the groaning body from earlier.

Áine's mana was already missing by a decent amount. However amazing Áine's healing was, it became a mana vacuum when it came to treating burns. If any of the others were alive, I doubted if there was enough mana between the two of us to heal everyone completely. With a sigh, I materialized my last mana potion and downed it.

As Áine got to work on the man, I went to the other bodies and checked for a pulse. The other man I saw standing shoulder to shoulder with the one Áine was healing had fewer burns but was unconscious. The dried blood on the back of the man's head was a good indicator as to why he wouldn't wake up. It was probably for the best, considering he'd be in a world of pain if he were awake.

I found the other two crumpled next to a wall, with one on the other. It looked like the one took the brunt of the blast and kept the woman from receiving even more damage than she already had. Both were also unconscious but alive. I wasn't going to risk moving them with the number of injuries they sustained, and even if Áine could heal them, adding more things to drain our limited mana supply would be idiotic.

By the time I walked back over to my familiar, the man on the ground looked less like charcoal and more like bubblegum. His skin was pink, and some places were rubbery looking, but as long as he could move, it'd have to be enough. I gave the fairy a tiny pat on the head and scooped her up. I put her down next to the guy with the head injury and let her get back to work. Even if the others physically looked worse, I didn't want to risk brain damage. Nothing from what I knew about Áine's healing indicated she couldn't repair the brain, but I haven't tested the limits of her skill, to begin with.

Grabbing one of the monster's spears lying on the ground, I used it to prod the man. A few gentle nudges and there was no reaction. And while I was sure stabbing him would do the trick, I instead slapped him on the cheek with the flat of the spearhead.

"Ouuwaah! What the fuck?!" He yelled out, sitting up in a flail of limbs.

I watched him look around franticly, still in a daze. He flinched when his hand brushed against the corpse of the naga next to him. As he scrambled, I kept half of my attention directed inward as I felt Áine drain my mana pool. I noticed she was using a lot more mana than I thought she would to fix the man. His skull fracture must have been worse than it looked. Mentally noting the information for future use, my attention returned to the man apprehensively staring at me.

"So, I'm going to assume you are the one who healed me?" he asked carefully.

"Not me. I'm just the battery. The miracle worker is the fairy over there," I replied.

His eyes widened when I spoke, and his shoulders tensed up. He looked over and saw Áine finish her skill and watched as the green glow from her hands died down. He turned to me and gave me a partial bow.

"Thank you for helping us. And thank you as well, nature spirit. I have no right to ask for more, but please help my other two party members. I'll pay you whatever I can."

The change of demeanor in the man gave me whiplash. There was a respectful tone to his voice that felt tense. His head was no longer lowered in a bow, but he wouldn't look me in the eyes. It wasn't obvious, but he remained almost deathly still. Only his hands gripping the ground showed the slightest motion.

I didn't know why he suddenly tensed up after I spoke, but I didn't want to set him off any further than I already did. "No worries. I have enough mana left to heal most of your friend's injuries. I can't risk emptying my mana pool, but it should be enough to get you all stabilized and moving."

"Thank you."

I nodded my head in return and picked up Áine. Her wing was still damaged, but I understood why she didn't waste mana repairing it. The man stood up and followed me when I walked over to the two next to the wall. I waited to see if he wanted to say anything, but he only watched long enough to see me place Áine next to the two and then turn to wake the other man up gently.

A few minutes later, my mana was down to its dregs. A very tired Áine lightly booped my face and then returned to my soulspace. She deserved a long rest, and I was determined to ensure she got one.

Eventually, all four adventurers were awake and standing. They kept their distance, and all but the woman averted their eyes. While the rest would give me glances or quick looks, they stood with their shoulders tensed and their hands near their weapons. I was starting to feel annoyed at their actions. After all, I risked my life and nearly drained all my mana to help them.

"Is there a problem? If you are going to attack me, then make sure you don't miss. It won't be hard to turn you back into a piece of roasted meat," I said coolly.

My words brought different reactions to the group. The one I suspected was the leader held up both hands while the other two men gripped their weapons tightly. The woman continued to stare at me creepily, showing no signs if she heard me or not. My irritation grew, and I could see my feathers flared up in small flames with a surge of mana.

"Hands off your weapons now!" he shouted while looking at the other two. There was a delay from one of them, but eventually, he released it and placed his hands at his sides. Turning to me, the leader stepped forward and positioned himself in front of the others. "I'm sorry for our disrespect. I apologize on their behalf. Uhhm, may I ask what you intend to do now, sir?"

I almost physically cringed at him calling me sir. The revolting feeling of being addressed so cordially made my skin crawl for a reason I could not pinpoint. There was a vague memory in the back of my mind that I couldn't place. Yet, no matter how hard I tried to recall it, I couldn't, but the feeling remained.

When I tore myself away from my inner thoughts, I noticed everyone was tensed up again, and the one man with a backpack was struggling not to reach for his sword. I didn't fail to notice the leader shifting himself to block his teammate's sight.

"Did we do something to offend you si-" the leader began but stopped when he noticed me shiver.

"Call me Cyrus. Being called sir feels too weird," I said.

"Err. Alright then. What are your plans now, uh, Cyrus."

"Don't really have any plans. My only goal is to make my way out of the dungeon."

"If you want, we would love to have you accompany us. We have a map of the first floor. With it, we should be able to get to the dungeon entrance before the moon rises."

"That sounds great, but what do you mean before the moon rises?"

I couldn't tell if the party was relieved or worried about me agreeing to join them. Even the leader who suggested the idea seemed unsure of the idea himself. On the bright side, the woman finally stopped creepily staring at me, but her almost manic-like grin wasn't much of an improvement.

"It's almost the last day of the month, so that means Felnarua comes out. I'm not sure if it's the same for where you are from, but when Felnarua rises, it means increased danger in dungeon dives. Monster spawn rates increase threefold," he explained.

I remembered one of the guards talking about Felnarua and her parents. Something about how the world spirits and the wild hunt. If three times the amount of nagas attacked, there would be no way I could come out of that fight as anything other than a corpse. Thoughts of becoming a Cyrus-kebab brought another litany of chirping profanity into my mind.

Not liking how wrong things could become, I pulled up my status and checked the system clock. The result gave me a sneaking suspicion that we were fucked.

System Time: Wuld: 23: 58: 46

"So, have any of you checked the time?" I asked neutrally.

The leader frowned, then got the faraway expression of checking his system. The widening of his eyes and the deep frown on his face gave me the answer I was looking for. The other two men of the group cursed loudly.

The guy with the sword put his hand on the leader's shoulder and gripped it tightly. "We have to go now. If we run, we might be able to make it," he insisted.

"Not before the dungeon starts to populate. There isn't enough time. The best we can do is make it to the safe area and stay there."

The swordsman gritted his teeth. With a glare, his eyes looked at the man holding a staff with enough animosity; you could practically feel the wrath radiating off of him. "Godsdamn you, Oro! If we make it out of this alive, I'm reporting you directly to the guild. Nobody deserves to die for your stupidity!"

Oro, on his part, didn't say anything in return. His hands were clenched, but he did not take his eyes off the woman next to him. From how I found the man protecting the woman and how similar their faces looked, I guessed they somehow related.

"ENOUGH! This isn't the time for this, Aaron. Let's get moving. No point in being saved just to die over petty drama," the leader commanded.

The man tensed, and I prepared to back away in case a fight broke out, but the stern glare from the leader made Aaron turn away and let the issue drop.

The leader sighed heavily and rubbed his brow. Beyond the rubbery pinkness of his face, the lines creasing his forehead aged the man by a few years. I waited for the man to regain his composure before tapping the spear on the ground to grab his attention.

"Sorry, sorry. Tension is riding high right now. We won't delay you any longer," he apologized to me in a tired voice. Straightening his shoulders, he clapped his hands once and adjusted the leather belt with the axe on his hip. "Let's go. No more delays. When we get to the safe area, we can take a rest there. I'll handle the first watch. Ruina, you should tier up before resting. It'll mean we'll have to make a shorter rotation between the three of us, but we need any advantage we can get. Oro, you'll be second. Aaron, you'll be on the third watch. Any complaints?"

He paused for a heartbeat, but nobody complained. He muttered something about teamwork and started heading away from the lake. Before he could take ten steps, a scream from the woman made him turn around. A lance of orange crystal grazed his shoulder and shattered against the cavern wall.

My head snapped behind me to see what threw the lance, and I cursed. Rising with the torso out of the water was a female naga. The sight wouldn't have been enough to worry me if it wasn't for the elongated staff glowing with blinding orange energy. The monster's three other arms held three more crystal spears already cocked back and aimed at our heads.

Aaron yelled out with a wild look in his eyes. "RUN! IT'S A WITCH!"