Weaver

Chapter 2
After spending a week on the sea, Galaizer and Sophorith came to see land again. They looked at each other and Sophorith pointed to a small black dot on the horizon. “With my wind, we should make the dock tomorrow night.”
“Sounds great, but now that I know where it is, we can make it tonight if you want the security of the darkness.” Galaizer commented humorlessly.
“How do you intend to do that?” Sophorith looked at his partner with wonder and shock.
“My weaving of course.” He replied tonelessly.
“Hmm…is something wrong? You don’t seem to be the way you were back at the village? It is because of you leaving your friends?” He probed.
“I would rather not talk about it. Please, would you like to be there tonight or wait until tomorrow?” Galaizer said softer.
“Tonight is fine. I’m sorry.” Sophorith mutedly answered. Galaizer shook his head as if it didn’t matter and the wind died down. They sat in the water where they were and waited the long day away. At the first sign of the sun’s absence, Galaizer gripped the side of the boat and they all faded into the dark. When they came back to some kind of night and not just shadow, they were at the dock and Galaizer hopped out and tied their vessel off. He then reached down and offered Sophorith a hand out. “Sh sh shadows? That w w w was like i ice!” Sophorith stammered in cold and shock. Galaizer only smiled over his shoulder at him as he began towards the end of the dock.
“So, what lies ahead that we should worry about at night?” Galaizer asked as he slowed and began to attune himself to his surroundings.
“Other than a city at war? Just psychopathic weavers bent on killing anyone not allied to them. Other than that, nothing to worry about that I can think of.” Sophorith remarked riley. Galaizer just nodded and crept forward. At the end of the dock, buildings surrounded a dirt path. Galaizer took one look at the path and stayed to its edge. Sophorith, following Galaizer, mimicked all of his moves. “Was the road like this the day you left?” Galaizer whispered over his shoulder.
“No, it was well worn cobble, filling all of the streets.” And those buildings,” he said pointing to a group of buildings centered around a circle in the path, “were not crafted that way.” Galaizer looked ahead and noted the buildings all looked as if they had been built with sharp angles and weird spires in areas that shouldn’t have them. All in all it looked like buildings from a child’s nightmare. The moon rose in a glorious full face and lit the town well. Galaizer soon noted that the buildings around the circle were not the only ones so eerily fashioned. Most of the town was crafted so actually. As they crested a hill, Galaizer got a full view of a Castle near the edge of town, surrounded on three of its four sides by a mysterious and creepy looking forest. The castle wasn’t so demented as the rest of the town, but even as Galaizer looked, he watched it and some near by buildings shift to a greater dementia. Galaizer stood there for a minute watching, and even then could not believe his eyes. Even the roads started moving. The paths started changing directions. Galaizer took one glance back at Sophorith, perhaps to make sure he was there, perhaps to catch the quick nod given him to assure him the castle was there destination… but he didn’t need assurance, and after the momentary glance, he took off in a dead sprint to the castle.
Galaizer could hear Sophorith’s breath and beating feet behind him as he raced to the intrigue in front of him. People started appearing in the alleys and side streets, not many, but there was one here or one there. The total was not expansive though, maybe eight in the entire journey. Galaizer began to slow down as the front gates to the castle began to rear their heads. The gates were of cast iron, black and jagged in any way they could be. There was a menacing beauty to them. Galaizer loved every inch of this horror city. It was new, different, strangely dark and inviting for him, but he did not like the menace of the Weaver that floated just behind it. Galaizer reached the front gates and stopped. When Sophorith joined him he looked ashenly at the gates. “How will we pass? It’s locked.”
“You forget who you are with.” Galaizer said, grabbed Sophorith’s shoulder, and they were beyond the gate in a quick little instant. Galaizer looked over to Sophorith just in time to catch him as he swooned and nearly collapsed. “Are you ok?”
“I think I’ll be fine, just thrown off balance by that is all. Could you warn me next time, maybe the vertigo won’t be so bad.”
“I’ll try. Come on we need to move!” Galaizer gave a harsh whisper. As soon as he got his balance back, Sophorith followed Galaizer in a run to the side of the castle. When he got to the side, Galaizer saw a sentry near a back door. The man was too close to the door for Galaizer to just pop up behind him, and Sophorith didn’t seem to like the shadowy form of travel anyway. Galaizer pushed Sophorith up against the wall behind a bush and threw a hand over his mouth. “There is a sentry at he door we want to go through. We have two options, 1. We take him out, 2. We follow the shadows through the door. What’s your preference?” Galaizer whispered.
“Take him out, I want no one at our backs.” Sophorith breathed when Galaizer moved his hand. Galaizer gave a quick curt nod and motioned for Sophorith to stay put until Galaizer said otherwise. He moved to the edge of the bush to peek at the guard again. Then, he became a part of the ever dark night and moved up behind the man. Without even a whisper of noise, he rematerialized behind the man, threw his hand over the man’s mouth, and braced his other palm under the man’s chin. With a quick twist of his wrists, the man no longer felt anything and was slipping into death’s grasp with barely an audible gasp. Galaizer, supporting the sentry’s full weight now, slowly guided the body down onto the supple grass for a resting place. Then, he walked back around the bush and motioned for Sophorith to follow him inside. They quietly slipped past the body guard and moved to the door.
Their way was impeded by a very warped and horrid looking lock of some shiny black metal that burned to the touch. The thing, much like the buildings and castle, was formed by strange angular spiked protrusions that promised to pierce the skin upon touch and looked as though they could stab you just by looking at them. Galaizer tried to look on the guard for keys, but apparently the door was opened from the inside and locked from there any time they did a change of post for the guard wore no keys. While Galaizer busied himself scouring the body, Sophorith went to work trying to pick the lock. When Galaizer finally got fed up, he put a hand on Sophorith’s shoulder and guided him away from the door holding his index finger up as if to sign to give him a moment.
Sophorith stepped back and gave a wave of his open palm towards the door as if daring Galaizer to take a crack at it. Galaizer smiled and knelt down in front of the door and looked at the lock, then he closed his eyes and began manipulating the shadows and mechanics of the lock from the inside. Suddenly, there was an audible click and Galaizer turned a childish grin up on the stunned friend towering overhead. Galaizer had such an infectious and innocent smile that when Sophorith looked down at him in amazement, he couldn’t help but break into a smile of his own.
Reaching carefully around the lock, Galaizer was able to take hold of the door handle and open it. With a quick glance inside to make sure that no ambushers lay in waiting, Galaizer motioned for his accomplice to precede him through the stone portal. Once inside, the design of the castle looked no less terrifying than the buildings exterior or that of the city as well. The stair case before them loomed in a spiral crouch, as if ready to snap and send flying any daring to set foot on it. The way was narrow, barely wide enough for one man to fit through, and it was unlit. The guards either carried their own torches, or trusted their footing. Sophorith glanced at Galaizer before he moved for the door, “Do you really want me to blaze the way, or would you rather?” He begged.
“Don’t worry, you won’t fall with me behind you, I’ll guide your way if you need help.” Galaizer again motioned for Sophorith to proceed. After Sophorith was in the darkness, Galaizer too stepped in and pulled the door shut behind them. With a quick side thought, he turned the tumbles and locked the door again so that any one trying to follow them in would have a time with the hideous lock.
Sophorith gasped when Galaizer closed the door, his only source of light, behind them. As soon as he was plunged into a complete darkness that rivaled when Galaizer had moved the shadows and themselves at the same time, Sophorith tripped his way back to the door in panic. Galaizer caught him just before he tripped and forced them both into the door. Sophorith clung to Galaizer’s invisible form until he was spun around by that ghostly force and half pushed to the stairs where he began ascending with a large hand in the small of his back for support. When they reached the top of the stairs, another door impeded their way and Galaizer had to peek around Sophorith to check if there was a lock on this one as well. There wasn’t, but the handle looked as if it was alive, writhing in pain while staked to the door’s wood. It looked almost like a small metal dragon curled in the shape of a handle. Not daring to risk the thing attacking Sophorith, Galaizer reached around his friend and grasped the weird living handle.
Immediately, Galaizer felt a surge of life jolt through his arm, but instead of hurting him as he could feel the things first intent was, it wrapped itself around his wrist and allowed him to move it via his thoughts. Just as the door opened and Galaizer realized the handle had somehow connected to him and accepted him and his will, it released him. He couldn’t help but notice a strange life that hummed through the entire castle now, almost as if the whole thing was alive. The door handle had merely been a small part of it, but the entire castle had connected to him in that brief instant. Galaizer felt his stomach squirm as he realized that just in that thing griping his wrist, it knew him now. “The castle knows me now and there is nothing I can do about it, and yet, I know it now too…” Galaizer thought only a millisecond after the release of the handle. Sophorith, not realizing anything had gone on, not even realizing the handle was not a normal door handle, pushed his way into the hallway behind the door.
Sophorith checked both ways for the hallway led off to both sides and was full of doors, but no people. The hall was well lit with bright torches and sconces creating smokeless fire. Galaizer merely followed Sophorith, not really paying attention to the surroundings for the first time since entering the city. He was too busy staring down at a writhing black tattoo upon his wrist where the door had touched him. The thing settled into the path the tail of the dragon handle had gripped after a few nanoseconds of wiggling. It now looked as if the dragon had become a black tattoo laying on his wrist like a bracelet. It was stretched thing and looked like the dragon was holding its own tail. Galaizer brought his other forefinger up and touched the thing, but nothing happened. Finally, not knowing whether Sophorith would notice it or not, Galaizer slid his sleeve back down over the mark and began to acquaint himself with the castle again. He realized that as soon as he started paying attention to the surroundings, he could feel the tattoo pulse.
Sophorith started heading down the right end of the hall compared to where they had come out and Galaizer followed, trusting his friend. Galaizer spent his time tuning himself to the surroundings, the twists and turns they made, and that strange pulsing his wrist continued. As he let his mind wander to it and only the subconscious guide him and his mental log of direction, he focused on the beating and realized it was the beat of the castle, he was attuned to the actual structure and its own life force. Just from touching that one door knob, he could feel the very life of the castle. He focused harder on the thrumming as it picked up speed and grew stronger within him. Suddenly, he could feel where they walked, where others were in the building, what rooms had in them. He could almost see it with his own eyes and yet, they weren’t his eyes.
Scared of this thing, Galaizer quickly backed from it, withdrew until he could only feel a faint flutter in his wrist and he concentrated on Sophorith and where they were going again. The castle moved as they walked, just as the roads outside had. Sometimes, walls would fade and new hallways would open, or the path they had just been on would no longer be there. Galaizer quickly gave up memorizing the twists and just focused on what was around them when. They were somewhere in the second floor of the place and they needed to make their way to the dungeons, or at least that was Sophorith’s idea. Galaizer would check doors every now and again, worried that they had not yet spotted anyone within the castle. One room seemed to be a large study and library that had not been used recently for the room was dark save a vast window on the far wall. Galaizer motioned for Sophorith to join him in the room and they slipped in together.
“We need to split up,” Galaizer said and held up a hand to silence Sophorith’s disputes. “We need to split up so you can find your friend and I can find other people as well as my answers. You will be fine I am sure, but something new has come up since we entered the castle and I have to take care of it.” Galaizer whispered.
“What came up? Are we being followed? We haven’t seen anyone else here yet, it that why you want to look for them?” Sophorith blurted out once Galaizer was silent.
“Don’t worry about what came up, just go find your friend. We aren’t being followed and yes, that’s why I want to look for people. Tell me one thing though, is this city really here?” Galaizer questioned looking Sophorith directly in the eyes.
“Yes, it is here for our kind. It has always been this nightmarish if you were curious about that as well. To the humans, this city isn’t here, it is a strange place they will not go, but none of them can see it. The place is riddled with death now that the war has started and I’m sure that is keeping any humans nearby even farther away, even if they can’t see it, they can get the general feel of it. I wasn’t sure that a Weaver would catch onto that though, especially in such circumstances. What clued you in?”
“One, the only people we have seen here have been a few Weavers, and two, this city has been ‘alive’ for a very long time and I got the general impression that human eyes had never before seen it.”
“How did you come to that conclusion?” Sophorith was hysterical that Galaizer could make such an assumption, true as it was.
“Let’s just say it has something to do with what came up. Now, go find your friend.” Galaizer commanded putting an end to their conversation. After giving Sophorith a gentle hand out the door, Galaizer waited and concentrated on the castle again. When he could feel everything again, he was suddenly under the impression that the castle was in him just as much as he was in it metaphorically speaking. It was a disturbing feeling, but one he tolerated.
Galaizer found what he was looking for not long into his concentration, there was a collection of people in the first floor grand ball room apparently at some dance or party, the castle did not seem too happy with what was going on there, but it did not seem angry either, just as if it was accepting it yet again. Galaizer moved out of the room, keeping a small part of his mind concentrated on the castle, how is felt, how it moved around him allowing him to his destination faster, and how it… ‘liked him’. He also paid attention to what was really in front of him with his own eyes. There were no guards because they were all at the special occasion, so it was easy enough for Galaizer to get to a railing where he could look down on the party without being spotted.
The castle afforded Galaizer a piece of railing with stairs leading to the ballroom if he chose to join in. From all he could see though, the party was a masquerade ball. All the attendees were dressed in elegant gowns and formal suits, each sporting a mask varying on the wearers’ tastes. Men all varied from tall and thin, much like Galaizer, to short and stocky. There was an energized feel the atmosphere of the room, but there was also hesitancy and Galaizer marked that off as some of the guests not wishing to be there.
Galaizer knew well that he would not be able to join the dance, he chose to sit idly by and watch the party as it blossomed. He closed his eyes periodically and saw it as the castle saw it, something that had happened there many times before. He also found the owner of the castle this way. Apparently, the structure actually despised its owner, but the man was powerful and had put the keep in its place. Galaizer suddenly felt sympathy for the castle and realized that it would rather destroy itself than stay sound for its master. Galaizer retreated from the castle when he found this out and realized it came groping after him, almost as if it didn’t want to be alone. He found another tail thing reaching from the floor to the same wrist it had been on before and suddenly vivid pictures of the castle tumbling down flashed through Galaizer’s head and he realized that the thing wanted to destroy itself through him. It wanted to use him to destroy itself, hopefully with its master and all of his subjects still inside. Galaizer forced those thoughts back, out of his head and out of the castles immediate plans. He felt silly, but he promised the structure he would do something about these Weavers. The castle seemed please when he made that promise and it retreated the physical contact. Galaizer went back to concentrating on the dance and its progression, thinking about how he would have to lure the ‘master’ out of the crowd and somewhere off on his own, somewhere secluded. Suddenly, the man looked up towards Galaizer’s direction, almost as if he had been shocked. He quickly looked away, went on talking a little more and then slipped away from everyone. He headed toward a pair of secluded stairs that Galaizer quickly realized would lead right to where his prone form was. Galaizer cursed the castle’s quickness under his breath and leapt back into the hallway he had come from. He began running down the hall concentrating on what rooms looked like through the castle’s eyes and tried to find a large empty one as far away from the party goers as possible.
When he found his room, Galaizer jumped in and closed the door with a whisper. Then, he concentrated on the castle and realized that his pursuer was much closer than he should be and Galaizer felt another presence within the castle’s mind. This man was also linked to the structure. Galaizer sought in a mere second to try and discover the “master’s” Weaving ability, but the castle could not render him an answer and suddenly, the door was opening.