Reading some more scrolls with Ora, I’m almost… bored.

  No, not almost, actually. There’s slow progress, but it’s not anywhere as fast as it used to feel. Or maybe that’s just because I know so much, these little drops don’t feel nearly as substantial.

  Sighing, I climb out of bed, Ora cocking her head at me. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, just bored. You can keep reading.” The studious spider nods and returns to her reading. I wonder if that’s more of a Sal trait, or Lulu? …or maybe it’s just what she’s learned via studying with me.

  ‘Hard telling not knowing, I guess.’

  Heading downstairs, Mom is quick to wave me over. “What’s wrong? Normally you don’t come out for another hour.”

  Shrugging, I lean against the wall, a move I’ve learned from Sal no doubt. “Just… bored, I guess. It feels like I’m not learning much anymore. It’s the same stuff half the time.”

  Chuckling, she nods. “Well, you’ve nearly read through the archives at this point. Four scrolls a day for an entire month and then some… yeah, that’ll go fast.”

  “Wow. I didn’t realize it was so… little? Or was I just reading that fast?”

  Freezing for a moment, she suddenly laughs. “Haha~ I remember when you were a kitten, you couldn’t even sit and read one! Now you read four a day and say it’s not much?”

  Blushing and looking away from her, she just smiles at me. “Well… there is one thing you could try. Since you’ve got Oraxia with you. But you’ll need to share her existence with someone.”

  Groaning at the thought, I turn to her. “Really?”

  “Yes, really. He’s an implant specialist. He’s responsible for doing anything medical or upgrade related. But he always wants to know what he’s doing it for, so you’ll need to explain it.”

  Raising an eyebrow at her, I question it. “Can’t you just pull some strings? You’re the chieftain.”

  Shaking her head at me, she turns and works on her tea. “No can do. That’s abuse of power, and I’m not doing that. Besides, if he knows what it’s for, he’ll feel comfortable giving you the best he can. Ask him for the Soul-Lattice.”

  I give her a look, but she seems like she’s done explaining for now. So, I sigh, and head out the building. At least I know where I can find his clinic; I see it every day when I look out my window.

  Walking through the village, I’m reminded how much my outfit has changed. Instead of city clothes, I’ve begun wearing nothing on my feet like the others here, and some yellow stained hide for the rest of my outfit. Technically I should be wearing purple, since I’m a scholar connected to Oraxia, but nobody knows that yet.

  Entering the clinic, it’s empty at the moment. Guess everyone is eating dinner with their families at the moment… except the man in charge. He quickly spots me and waves me over, a friendly young man with dirty blond hair.

  “Hey hey, I’m Olec, it’s nice to meet you!”

  Smiling politely, I nod. “Nice to meetcha, I’m Yuna.”

  He laughs, sounding natural. Seems he’s a very positive person with the natural smile he’s got. “I know that already, everyone knows who you are. The chieftain's daughter, come back from the city to learn. But what’s brought you to my clinic? I’m sure the people in the city have all the high tech stuff already you want.”

  Rubbing my arm, I look to the side a bit nervous, not sure about what Mom’s signing me up for. But… taking a deep breath, I choose to trust her. “First… is there anyone else around? What I want to tell you should stay between us.”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Looking confused, he nods slightly, before I speak. “Well… I came back with something. A dream weaver.”

  His eyes widen like saucers, but before he can start gushing, I put my hands over his mouth. “Nobody else can know yet, I… I don’t want to disappoint anyone if I can’t do what’s expected of me.”

  The hastily made lie… or at least I think it’s a lie, seems to work. At his nod, I uncover his mouth, but his grin is still there. “That’s amazing! So what do you need from me?”

  “Well… Mom sent me to get the Soul Lattice. I… don’t really know what it is though.”

  Smiling, he stands and beckons me to the back, where there’s a wooden table for operating, and various handmade tools for such. Including some silk spools. “Ah, well that’s not easy to explain. Basically, I’ll weave some of this special silk into your nervous system, and it’ll let you… better sense souls and dreams around you. I don’t know exactly how it’ll help you, but I know it’s the chieftain’s upgrade and solely hers.”

  “Wow… why?” At his gesture, I lay down on the table, and take off my shirt. Glad I got a bra on for once, don’t need him seeing that.

  As he grabs some herbs and hands them to me, he speaks. “Well, it’s because the thread is so rare. It’s gotta be a certain quality, from a certain few spiders, and… well, it’s a process. Anyhow, eat this so the pain will be numbed, then I’ll get to work!”

  Chewing on the herbs, they taste a little minty and earthy. Slowly my muscles relax, and my senses numb, as if I were slowly being dipped into a senseless void, filled with nothing but my thoughts.

  Last I feel, is a slight pinch under my skin. Then… nothing.

  ***

  Laying in bed with Ora, she crawls onto my chest and nuzzles my cheek. “Is sis okay?”

  Chuckling, I nuzzle back weakly. “Yeah… just sore. I got a soul weave implant. It’s supposed to let me sense souls and dreams… which I sorta notice already.”

  It’s odd, I can feel her… like her shadow has a life of its own. Or her chest, I can’t tell. Like a subtle weight or presence in the air, similar to what Mira gave me when we saw her true form, but much less heavy. That was like the pressure of the ocean, this is the pressure of a water bottle.

  The soul weave itself looks… interesting. “Hey Ora, wanna take a look at my back, tell me how it looks?”

  Once she steps off me, I roll over onto my stomach and remove my shirt and bra. After a few moments, I sense a satisfied feeling from her. “It looks really pretty! Like… a bunch of threads, like what I make, but they’re also tied into your soul! And on your back, it makes a pretty spider web in gold, I love it!”

  “Wow… I’ll be sure to give the artist your compliments. Think Lulu or Sal would like it?”

  Rolling back over onto my back, she quickly climbs atop my stomach and nuzzles her head into my soft chest. “Yeah, they’ll love it.”

  Smiling at the thought, I cuddle her. “Thanks. Um… think we could stay up, so I can be with you while you eat people’s dreams and make good ones?”

  “Sure!”

  Relaxing a bit, I don’t need to wait long. Only after an hour, and she’s going to work, little threads appearing in the air between her hands, being woven into a pretty pattern.

  But now… there’s more to it. These threads are being pulled out of a liquid in the air, the dreams themselves. She’s eating half of the dream, while weaving and returning the other half in an intricate pattern instead of a formless mass.

  And as I watch her work, I start noticing certain patterns… not that I know why they are, just that she has certain habits.

  …I can feel what they are vaguely, though. Just from knowing how she does my dreams. She’s eating the fear, the terror, while weaving what’s left into comfort and what’s desired.

  ‘Huh… what’s that feeling beneath them though? Is that… it’s their soul.’

  It’s like a subtle presence, like a water bottle, but where the dream is formless liquid begging to be shaped, the soul is solid and rigid, like if you tried to thread it, it would snap instead.

  “What’s stopped you from weaving souls before, Ora?”

  After a few seconds, she responds. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, and they’re very rigid and tough. Trying to just snaps pieces off, and that could be dangerous.”

  “Makes sense… wait, have you done it before? On who?”

  Hesitating for a few moments, she quietly responds. “...you… when your soul was hurt…”

  Sighing, I kiss her head. “It’s fine, you were trying to help. Hm… I wonder if there’s a way to make a soul more malleable. I mean, you can melt metals down to make them workable until they cool, so I wonder if there’s a similar method.”

  “...I think I know what we’re going to research next.”

  Chuckling, I nod, with a new thought on my mind for the night.

  Just how could she weave a soul?

  ___

  Soul will be made to silk, and back again, ain’t that interesting? It’s almost like it’s the title!

  Roll credits! Hah.