Sins Loom: The Unwilling Weaver

Zara flew down and landed next to him, her wings stretched wide as she pushed out every last drop of her healing power into Ed’s body. She stumbled slightly as her wings furled in. She felt lethargic and like her brain was running in mud.

Warmth filled Ed’s body as the numerous stab wounds closed in, quickly scabbing over. It still hurt, but he felt significantly better. He wrapped his arms around Zara, helping her to stand. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah.” She yawned. “Just a little tired.” Her eyes fluttered heavily as she tried to stay awake.

“Let’s go rest for a bit.” Picking her up, Ed used his threads to create a ramp up to the seating area.

Zara fell asleep in his arms, her breath falling lightly on his chest.

Walking up the ramp, Ed made sure to make it as comfortable as possible for Zara, not wanting to wake her. He brought her back to their seats and set her down.

Ugh, where’s Mr Milani when you need him? I could really do with some of that drink right now. His back felt like it was burning up as he sat down next to her, the scabs and bruises rubbing painfully against the seat.

Ed kept a straight face despite the pain, not wanting to disturb Zara while she was resting. Maybe Wilfred knows where I could get some? Pulling out his phone, he texted Wilfred, asking where he could find a healing potion in Wrath.

“Send me your location.” Wilfred replied simply only a few minutes later.

Sending through his location, Ed soon received a screenshot of a map with a route to a nearby store. Saying thank you, he put his phone away and looked over at Zara. I can wait for a bit. Sitting back, he watched as the fight reached its climax.

The brawl started to slow down as more and more people grew tired and started making mistakes. The more skilled fighters among them took this opportunity to clear out the pit, quickly bringing it down to below five hundred. Then two. Then one.

With only a hundred fighters remaining, the pit felt like a ghost town.

The fighters were scattered along the massive area of the pit. Some were still locked in combat, while others caught their breath. But this moment didn’t last long.

The pit began to shrink back down to its original size, the walls closing in on the fighters and forcing them to fight.

Observing the fights, five people stood out to Ed. There was a figure shrouded in a dusty cloak, appearing and disappearing across the pit like a wraith. The sound of their daggers slicing through the air being the last thing people heard before their heads fell to the floor.

The second was a white feathered bird-woman carrying a large war bow. She rained down arrow after arrow from the sky, each one hitting with the force of a ballista. Bodies exploded with each shot she took.

A man draped in a simple white shirt glided gracefully through a wave of enemies. His sword flowing with an unmatched grace, never stopping as it cut each of them in half. He sheathed his sword as the bodies dropped to the ground and blood filled the air. Not a single drop of blood was left on him or his sword.

A humanoid ant stood in the middle of a sea of corpses, his serrated mandibles slick with blood. Each of his four arms were as sharp as blades and covered in chunks of flesh. Someone jumped out of the sea of corpses, only to be skewered by one of the insect's limbs.

The final person was about a quarter the height of everyone else and wearing a trench coat. He stood atop the ant’s shoulder. Two horns spiralled out of his woolly hair. He fired a rain of bullets down on all who approached them from behind, adding to the sea of corpses.

More and more people started dropping like flies as the walls finally stopped moving. And then there were five. The crowd cheered, excited to watch these fighters put their skill on full display.

“Is it over yet?” The noise woke Zara up. She rubbed her tired eyes and looked up at Ed, asking him a question as she rested her head on his shoulder.

“Not yet. But it will be soon. How are you feeling?” He asked.

“Better. Still a little tired though.”

Ed wrapped his arm around her and gently massaged her hair. “Do you want to get out of here? We can head back to my place for a bit, and you can rest up there.”

“It’s still early, it feels like a waste to go back now.” She said. Her eyes drifted down to the arena, watching the fight with rapt attention.

Looks like we’re staying here then. I don’t mind, and its not like she’ll want to get into another fight anytime soon.

Down in the pit, the remaining fighters squared off against each other, waiting for the first person to make a move. The woman with the bow kept her eyes locked on the man with the guns, and his eyes were locked on her in return. As the only ranged fighters, both of them knew that they were each other’s biggest threat right now.

The cloaked figure appeared behind the swordsman, the daggers hissing towards his neck and back. Sparks flew as his sword parried both attacks.

Having failed, the cloaked figure appeared behind the ant man, hoping to cut off one of his limbs, but this time, the gunner fired at them, forcing them to deflect the bullets.

The archer nocked an arrow and fired it at the distracted gunner. The heavy arrow tore through the sky, the wind groaning heavily as it neared its target.

Moments before the gunner was popped like a balloon, the ant tilted to the side and ripped the arrow out of the air. Flowing with his movement, the gunner swung around his neck and jumped onto his other shoulder, avoiding the daggers that stabbed through the air where he was moments earlier.