Rowan halted as the strings came into view, mindful not to get tangle in them. They stretched between buildings and across roads, blocking movement through most of the paths Rowan saw to enter the city.
'No wonder there's nothing else here, nothing can get in.'
He saw a few paths where the silk wasn't as taught, and he could likely pass unhindered, but he had no desire to meet whatever had created a fortress itself. So he did the same as he did for all cities and towns, and began the task of slowly skirting around the edge, where the strings could not reach him.
A different sort of unease settled in Rowan as he did this, the feeling of being watched causing him to look over his shoulder with increasing wariness. Staring into the town was something he forced himself to avoid, not wanting to risk noticing and thus gathering the attention of whatever it was.
According to the map, he wouldn't have to go too far around the town to find the road leading straight to Cork. From there, all he would have to do is follow the road, and he would eventually be home.
He had been walking for only a few minutes when a glimpse of movement drew his attention into the town, his head turning subconsciously. There, on the edge of the town was a boy looking in, moving across the silk much closer than Rowan would have been brave enough to do.
He appeared nervous, fidgeting slightly with his hands, and repeatedly moving back and forth as he searched through the silk. Rowan was unsure what to do. On the one hand, his survival would likely be easier with another person to help him, but there was obviously something he was up to, and Rowan was unsure if he wanted to get involved.
Unfortunately, the decision was made for him, as the boy spotted him, and jogged over, ignoring any sense of stealth there might have been. Rowan stood with his mouth open, a look of complete shock on his face at the brazen stupidity of the boy. Regardless of whether there were monsters around, there would be soon if he wasn't careful.
"Hey! Can you help me? I just emerged from my Hell and escaped from in there"
He gestured to the cocooned town behind him. The boy had short brown hair, a freckled face and in tact leather armour. Surprisingly, he was unarmed, which made his confidence all the more confusing.
"I haven't seen my teammates get out yet, but I don't have a sword to cut through all those wires. You've got one, so can you give me a hand?"
Rowan bit his lip before replying. He could understand his nervousness now, and now that he knew what he was actually trying to do, he couldn't turn around without feeling like he was condemning them to their deaths. He sighed before replying, already pulling his sword out of its scabbard.
"Alright. I'll help you. How many people are in there? And how far in did you appear from the Hell? Did you see anything in there?"
Rowan asked the questions all at once, not giving him a chance to reply in between.
"Uh, there were four of us in the Hell, I appeared very close to the edge, and no, it gets really dark in there. My name's Gid by the way, what's yours?"
Rowan sized up the silk in front of him before replying. He was checking to see what kind of material it was made of, as he didn't want to risk his sword getting stuck in it, or chipping the edge.
"I'm Rowan."
He punctuated his sentence by severing the first cluster of silk strands, which fell slowly to the ground. They appeared as though they were ordinary silk easily yielding to his sword, and unlike a spider's web, they didn't have any sticky properties.
He continued this way, severing the strands and following Gid's points to where he thought he had come from.
The crippling silence continued even as they got deeper into the town, long past where Gid had expected to find his teammates. But there had also been a complete lack of beasts as well, nothing appearing to dissuade the destruction of its home.
"You're sure they weren't this deep?"
"I know it, I could see the light of the exit when I woke up, and they weren't around me."
'Is waking up in the same space not a certain fact of Hells? Because if it isn't, that could make searching for them take forever. If it is a set rule, I might have an idea of what happened to them...'
Rowan looked around through the grid of silk that was woven throughout the city, and wondered how long it must have taken the beast to weave this much. He didn't share his theory with Gid however, as he wanted him to still be useful.
"What's your ability?"
Gid paused for a second before he answered, and he held his hand out to demonstrate.
"I can increase my mass at will. Currently, it can go up to double. Here, grab my hand and see!"
Rowan did as he offered, and felt as Gid's hand slowly increased in weight as he held it.
'I wonder how this could be used... Increasing your weight when you block or strike would probably make it more effective, I'm sure, but I wonder if there's anything else...'
Gid stared expectantly at him, obviously wanting to hear Rowan's.
"It feels a lot warmer around you, is that your ability? How hot can you make it?"
"No, that's a skill I got from another Hell. My actual ability is regeneration."
Gid seemed to lean back in shock after finding out that his guess was wrong. He paused briefly as though he were about to say something, but apparently decided not to, and moved on to scanning their surroundings, which hadn't looked any different in a long time.