The Bridge

They set out before sundown. With the issues the inconsistencies of time have been creating, the local transport system has been shut down for the foreseeable future. Instead of taking a bus from Brightside to Fayspass and then walking to Willowguard, the journey more than doubled in length.

“I apologize, Hero.” Shay Kha said about thirty minutes into their trip. “I should have known it would not have been so simple. I can make the trip to Fayspass with no issues. The plains are far safer than the forest. You can go on without me. We can reunite when we leave the city.”

Saif shrugged, it didn’t matter much to him how long he spent with Shay Kha, as long as he learned more about the Greater Being of Time and where to find them.

“Little hero, I should say, though I’m disappointed that we couldn’t secure a faster means of transport, walking through these Earthen fields does really remind me of the beauty of our world.”

Saif was inclined to agree. The fields really were beautiful. Varieties of different trees, layered with a sprinkled blend of flowers and tall grass that looked comfy enough to sleep on.

“I don’t suppose I would have had much of a chance to admire the land if we were going much faster.” We could go a little faster, Saif thought. Shay Kha really was taking her sweet, sweet time, instead of literally stopping to smell the flowers. “This aroma! The last time I’ve come across it was back before the Greater Beings took over.”

Shay Kha didn’t even wait for him to ask, “the resort would spray this scent all over its grounds. I looked everywhere for its source, but came up empty-handed. To think I could find such luxury here. There was a time where if you bet on the coliseum’s champion, you could win a basket of goods from the resort’s gift shop where they had this perfume as an exclusive reward. I bet on every single fighter every time my messages took me there, I could never get my hands on this perfume.

They approached a rest spot at a fork in the road, but Shay Kha made no sign of stopping, so they barreled forwards and kept moving westward.

“My nose has always been my strongest attribute. I recall this one perfume I’ve smelled a civil servant wear up in the Hall of Greater Beings back when it was still just the government operations building, and the person wearing it was so excited to share it with me that they promised to bring me a bottle of it the next time I went up there, but I could never go back.

“You know, these Greater Beings never mixed well with us Lessers.” Shay Kha’s tone grew more stressed with every word. “Great Beings do just fine, you can spot them all over the capital, but Greaters? They never leave the Great Abode. Their fear of us is what changed our whole world as we know it.”

Shay Kha fell silent. They continued on the path for quite a while. Saif didn’t mind the quiet, it made it easier to spot when something was wrong.

Something was wrong up ahead. Shouts and screams were echoing, barely audible over the roaring waters. The path directed them towards a wide bridge that went over a fast flowing river. Shay Kha took one look at the commotion, giving a twitch of the ears, and turned around 180 degrees and started backtracking.

Saif rushed ahead of her, placing himself directly in her path, asking where she’s going.

“Look, hero, whatever's going on over there is none of my business. I have to make myself a priority, I’m not going to risk my life just because some people are causing trouble, okay?”

She waited, but Saif didn’t budge. She gave in with a sigh. “That wasn’t your question. I’m taking the long way around. If you head north at the fork back there, you’d be on route to Twilight Town, and there’s a bridge on their side of the river, and a safe passage into Fayspass. It’s a much longer way around, and it’s filled with horrific little insects- no offense- but it’ll be worth it.”

That didn’t sit right with Saif. Behind them, the sounds of struggle continued. Saif nodded, stepping aside. “I knew you’d see my logic, Hero. I suppose this is where we part ways. I’ll meet you in Fayspass soon.”

He didn’t waste any more time watching her go, heading towards the bridge. Shay Kha has her issues, but that didn’t mean Saif had to abide by them.

Saif rushed to the bridge. It was quite wide, easily carrying three buses side by side with room to spare, though it was currently littered with turned over carts and empty carriages. The bridge was long, though about half-way across the river, the bridge was gone.

A group of people were scrambling around the edge, screaming or fighting off monsters, but before Saif was close enough to see what was going on, a fairy person fell to their knees, clenching their side.

“It’s here! The hero from the food hall. We’re saved!”

“What? Is that the hero?” A fish asked, barely fending off a watery orb, sending it flying over the edge and into the waters below. “I thought it would be much larger.”

“They said it was a bug, hadn’t they? Hero! Help us, please!”

Saif ignored the ones trying to talk to him and faced the monsters, Instinct guiding him rather than taking over. There were seven monsters in total, five of them were watery orbs with void eyes, and two dark blue figures. Saif couldn’t get too good of a look at them, since they were being fought off by three of the civilians, and it looked like they were holding up fine enough for him to take the rest out first.

Alright. He can do this.

Saif leaped over the first orb, his brand new sword slicing through a watery sphere like jello. He landed without a thud, but Instinct pushed him to keep slicing at it, and he could see why. With only one cut, the watery monster slowly stuck itself back together, while the others tried attacking him.

“You need to cut the slime’s core, Hero! Score the core like an orange!” Someone shouted at him. Okay then.

Saif dodged a jet of water, then another, changing his course mid-air to get out of the way of another slime attempting to capture him. jumping on the bridge’s rail to get away. He used the additional height to angle himself so he could slice through two at once. He then leaped away while they tried to heal, making more cuts through the others.

He pushed himself to go faster, slice smoother. He leaped and twirled through the air, avoiding any stray hits while also pushing the slimes away from the civilians at the edge. He scored eight cuts through each of the slimes, landing on the ground as the final one fell. He watched them all turn into mucusy puddles staining the bridge.

“ACK!” The fight wasn’t over just yet. “MY FINS!”

Saif raced over to one of the last monsters, intercepting it just as it was about to bite down on the screaming fish guy’s tail. It looked like the thing he fought to save Ralmine, but a dark blue shade, and with scales rather than leather for skin. What were these things? It didn’t matter either way as he placed his sword inside the creature’s mouth and sliced outwards, causing it to let out a watery gurgle.

It stumbled close to the edge. Instinct guided him, kicking the monster right in the abdomen and sending it hurling to the river below. Saif looked back just in time to see the others do the same, the resounding splash reaching high into the air.

The civilians didn’t calm down yet, rushing over to the edge and screaming all over again. Saif followed them, checking for himself.

A carriage was nestled between chunks of broken stone, halfway to the water, barely avoiding dropping into the rushing waters not so far below. The carriage door was broken off, and he could see a group of people cramped inside. A drop from that height would be nearly fatal, if not because of currents, then by the sharp rocks waiting to impale anyone that fell down below. At the river bank, he could see a few fish people hesitating to enter the turbulent waters.

Saif stepped closer, a pebble dislodged itself and dropped onto the carriage, sending a myriad of screams into the air.

Okay. How’s he going to do this? Looking around the people, he noticed a plant person standing on the far edge, messing with a thin, dried out vine. He ran over and tapped them on the leg, motioning for the vine.

“Hrm? Take it. I’ll grow another.”

He dragged the vine in one hand and the plant person in the other all the way to the edge, despite their protests.

Saif started to lower the dry vine to the carriage, hoping the plant would understand what he meant. “That vine won’t hold up. It’s too thin!” A fish barked at him. Saif ignored it and tapped the plant person again.

“Ah, I see. I can grow strong, but I need water.” Saif bumped the fish person, pointing to the plant and the water.

“Yea…yea! We can help you out there.” The fish ran up to the edge of the bridge, yelling to the fishfolk still waiting around below. “Come on, smolts! We need water!”

“But how can we bring it up?” A fairy asked, “the river’s too strong to manipulate it with magic.”

“You can use these,” a human pushed a cart from up the bridge their way, unloading several large metal and wooden buckets. “As long as you promise to give them back.”

People both hurt and healthy, worked together to bring water up from the river, forming a chain so the water flowed up just as fast as the river flowed down.

The plant focused, growing a vine from the top of its head that grew downwards towards the carriage. It curled around it, growing through any place it could to secure it.

When it was secure, the plant pulled, but nothing happened.

“Too heavy,” it panted, “not strong enough.”

The small crowd gathered on the ledge but it was still too heavy, the angle too sharp, the carriage too far.

Saif grabbed hold of the plant’s vine with his pincers right at the very tip of the bridge. He secured his footing against the broken stone and focused with all his might. Instinct curled around him, warming him, giving him strength.

He pulled.

The carriage flew up through the air, arching over the bridge and landed on the safe side with a crash. Everyone waited with baited breath to see how those inside the carriage had fared.

“WE’RE ALIVE!”

The crowd erupted into cheers. They celebrated by tossing Saif into the air in hoorays. “A Hero! Our hero!”

It was only natural for Saif to be plucked out of the sky by a massive bird.