It’s a nice day.

Thu’lain walked at the head of the group and found that he missed the presence of the guliks skulking through the brush.

They’ll probably be fine.

The sky above was relatively empty of clouds and the view unobstructed by branches and trees. The last few days had brought them out of the sparse forest and into rocky foothills.

“It’s kind of weird being away from trees.” A nervous tinge could be heard from the voice at his side.

Thu’lain glanced over to the source: Raj’ken looked as though she was calm and relaxed, but he could tell that she was a bit on edge.

“You alright?”

“Yeah, mostly. I just don’t like being out in the open like this. But I guess it makes things easier to spot if they come at us.” Raj’ken rolled the tension out of her shoulders.

“How many more days do you think until we reach Anosora?” she continued.

“It depends.”

Raj’ken waited patiently for Thu’lain to finish his internal considerations; if it was important, he’d elaborate further.

“I haven’t been through the area since well before the city fell, so the terrain could be very different.” Thu’lain turned his head toward the center of the group.

“Trat’catha, how many more days till we get there?”

Trat’catha’s head snapped up from something he and Tin’lo were tinkering with and he furrowed his brow in consideration.

“We’re three days out from the forest and, assuming there isn’t a blizzard once we cross into the highlands. . . probably another week. Give or take a few days.” Trat’cata nodded, satisfied with his estimate.

“There, a bit over a week, then.” Thu’lain smiled at Raj’ken.

“So you’re expecting a blizzard? I’ve never been in one. Is it bad?” Raj’ken asked, the nervousness in her voice fading away.

“Yes, it feels like one is coming. They aren’t too bad most of the time. If we think one is coming we’ll just have to make for shelter.” Thu’lain shrugged.

Raj’ken nodded and enjoyed the companionable silence - or as silent as it could be with Trat’catha and Tin’lo bickering over some device they were making. Right now it didn’t matter enough to her to find out what it was.

They passed the foothills without much issue; only one apex had been spotted and while it was much larger than the ones in the forest, it was also far enough away that by the time it reached them it was pin-cushioned with so many arrows that it could do no more than limp. Tin’lo and Tu’lar had decided to finish it off, mostly because Tin’lo was excited to use his hand again. Three days was apparently enough for it to finish regenerating. Thu’lain watched silently as Tin’lo was practicing with a spear, a small smile in his eyes as Tin’lo fumbled the weapon with his newly healed hand.

“His nerves must be a bit sensitive. He’ll be fine by the end of the day.”

They’d finally made some progress into the mountains, and they were lucky enough to find a small cave to set camp in.

Trat’catha and Tin’lo bickered quietly while they set up the device they had been working on. The last two days had been filled with their back and forth of how it should be calibrated.

“This better work this time; It’s getting too cold at night up here,” Tin’lo complained as he poured an amber liquid into a reservoir at the center of the metal device. It looked something like a flower with overlapping petals. Trat’catha held a thin wand with a small pale crystal at the tip and slid it into the center of the flower, leaving it sticking straight up. After a few moments the petals started to rotate around each other, sending out waves of heat.

“It worked! Hah! I told you we didn’t put them on backward!” Trat’catha bragged and sat down. Even though the device had only been on for a few minutes the entire cave was feeling much warmer and the snow near the entrance of the cave began melting away, but not so much as to be concerned.

Thu’lain settled into a corner of the cave, listening as Anar’dea and Raj’ken chatted softly with Il’tan. Hret, Hal, Hesa and Grond managed the food they had brought, warming it over a grate that Tu’lar helped them set over the flower. One of their sons, Ire, helped set it up and hovered nearby in fascination.

“What’s it called?” Ire asked. Trat’catha leaned past Tu’lar.

“It’s called a Fluer, it’s something like a lantern, but depending on the fuel you use it operates differently. I was able to charge a bundle of the wands it needs, so we’ll be able to use it a lot.” Trat’catha explained happily.

“I thought it just ran on that liquid that Tin’lo poured into it?” Ire sat on his haunches and looked around the swirling petals to see how they moved.

“That’s a basic fuel and it’s not that hard to make, assuming Tu’lar can find the ingredients. The wand itself needs essence to function, as a magical instrument. We got lucky that we were close to that tear that formed the other night. Even though we still don’t know why it’s happening.” Trat’catha stretched and lay back.

“Most of elven technology relies on essence in one way or another,” Tin’lo chimed in as he hungrily watched some salted meat as it cooked in a pan.

“Oh, I see. Can, uh, non-elves use elven stuff too? Or like, use magic?” Ire asked excitedly. Before Trat’catha could answer, Tin’lo looked over.

“Yeah, mostly, but some stuff only works for elves as a precaution. But anyone can learn magic. For some it’s instinctive, so it’s easier,” Tin’lo replied.

Thu’lain remained quiet in the corner and smiled; it was good to see that the gaur were getting more comfortable after several days of hiking together and having plenty of time to get to know one another.

That night passed as easily as the next day as the mountain trails became more rough and longer to traverse, though not dangerous. The snow that covered them had been packed down over time, allowing them to walk across easily. It wasn’t until the fourth day that things changed.

“Hey! What’s that?” Il’tan, at the head of the party, pointed to a massive stone bridge that stretched across the gap of two mountains. Trat’catha hurried to the front, slipping past anyone in the way.

“That’s what I’ve been looking for. If we had to climb through canyons and ridges it would take us weeks to get to Anosora. I was hoping at least one of the roads would be intact.” Trat’catha searched the area nearby for an easy path to climb up.

Thu’lain walked forward, inspecting the area around the bridge. The snow covered everything but the steepest of the rock faces and the underside of the bridge was cast in deep shadows. He stared at the darkness for several minutes and felt unsettled the longer he looked, despite not seeing anything concerning.

“Thu,” Raj’ken spoke from beside him, staring into the shadow as well. “Do you see anything?” Her voice relayed her wariness, her instincts telling her something was wrong, but - like Thu’lain - not what.

“Trat’catha, come here.”

Thu’lain’s tone was serious and Trat’catha approached swiftly, narrowing his focus without being prompted.

“I don’t see anything,” Trat’catha said, “but that doesn’t mean it’s safe. I don’t like it, but should we go around? It will add a week to our trip, at the minimum.”

“Does anyone else see anything?”

The gaur climbed up small slopes in an effort to get a better vantage point while the elves spread out to try to get different angles on each other.

“Nothing. I can’t even see the stone on the underside of the bridge. It’s bizarre.” Tin’lo climbed back down.

“There’s definitely something going on and we have no idea what it is, or if there is a way around. How long can we make it with our current supplies?” Trat’catha asked. Tu’lar and Hret each checked the extra bags they were carrying and, after conferring with one another, Hret answered.

“At least two weeks’ worth of food and water.” The gaur hauled the bag back onto his back.

“We don’t even know if there’s really something wrong, though. Wouldn’t this be the fastest way through?” Il’tan nervously fidgeted as she paced.

“It’s dangerous to rush.”

“I’m worried about mom. We haven’t seen any trace of her. I need to know if she’s made it to Anosora, or if something happened to her. She may have been through here,” Il’tan admitted. Hret nodded and stood beside her.

“I agree, if El’tan came through here she would have left a message. For that alone I would like to pass over the bridge,” Hret resolved.

There was a tense silence as the individuals of the group considered what they felt was an acceptable risk.

“Fine. But we do it as safely as we can.”

Trat’catha nodded to Thu’lain and, along with Raj’ken, they ascended the walls of the canyon, leaving rope and anchors in place for others to follow in their place. Once at the top, the three let down extra lines to help pull the others up as they climbed.

The icy hilltop that awaited them still appeared mostly flat. Indeed, it was a road covered in ice and snow. Il’tan looked both forward and backward across the road.

“Why didn’t we just take this all the way instead of climbing up the mountains?” Il’tan asked, a hint of confusion in her voice.

“Well, I wasn’t sure where the road was, honestly. I was searching for it but I suppose I misremembered the terrain. I’m actually surprised it’s held up as well as it has over the years. But then, it was built more as a structure than as a road.” Trat’catha helped roll the rope up, to ensure it would be easy to use next time.

“What do you mean, ‘like a structure’?” Il’tan asked.

“Well, the road extends deep into the rock of the mountain and, where applicable, the mountains themselves had solid columns added to aid in longevity and to be resistant to landslides.” Trat’catha finished packing away the rope and kicked away a deep layer of snow, digging to show the stone top.

“If you take a look you’ll see what I mean. We used ench-” Trat’catha’s voice trailed off as his next kick revealed blackened snow. Il’tan wandered over, confused because he’d cut off mid sentence.

“What is that?” Il’tan asked, concern in her voice. Trat’catha tentatively nudged it with his foot and the tar-like substance resisting being separated.

“I think Uch’l’thein came this way.” Trat’catha’s expression turned grave.

“It seems there’s no more avoiding it. In any case, we still need to move forward.” Tu’lar stepped forward and urged the group to move. Thu’lain nodded and took up the lead much further ahead and Raj’ken caught up to him quickly. Thu’lain turned to look at her and looked like he was considering saying something, but instead smiled in the minute way that she’d begun to notice.

Thu’lain approached the bridge and held a hand up for the group to halt, then he and Raj’ken examined the pylons at the end of the bridge, but could find no marks or signs to indicate that El’tan had passed through.

I hope they weren’t really expecting a sign.

Thu’lain stepped forward slowly then, inspecting the bridge itself and idly noticed as Raj’ken moved to the side, picking something up. He paused as she caught up and put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him before she took a few steps ahead with a rock in hand.

What is she-oh, that does make more sense.

Raj’ken lobbed the rock as far as she could and it landed with a loud thump, displacing snow as it did.

Both Raj’ken and Thu’lain waited in silence, watching for any change. If they weren’t watching so carefully, they would have missed the slight movement around the sides of the bridge.

Something is there.

They looked to one another and Thu’lain picked up another rock, lobbing it next to the first. This time long legs came up fervently fast over the sides of the bridge as massive spiders - dozens of them - surged over the side only to stop in confusion at the lack of prey.

Thu’lain and Raj’ken backed away, but Tin’lo walked up from behind. The spiders had yet to notice them; it seemed they had quite poor eyesight.

“We’re gonna need to turn around.” Raj’ken whispered, and Thu’lain nodded - even he didn’t want to get into that mess if he didn’t need to.

“Mark the bridge so no other elves take this path.” Thu’lain pulled charcoal from a pouch, giving it to Raj’ken and keeping one for himself. He was prepared to hand one to Tin’lo when he realized that he’d kept walking ahead of them. Raj’ken shared his look of confusion before calling out.

“Tin’lo, what the spirits are you doing?” she whisper-shouted.

He didn’t respond or look back, but hefted the spear he’d picked up from the armory over his shoulder before whipping it through the air and into one of the largest spiders, which smacked its sharp mouth-parts together in pain.

“Tin!” Raj’ken barely kept herself from shouting, and Thu’lain hurriedly pulled out his weapons, expecting a furious counter-attack.

Why aren’t they rushing us?

Thu’lain watched as the spider collapsed, the wound around the spear melting like a pit. He wondered if that was really worth the trouble, but inexplicably the nearby spiders started to convulse and collapse. They thrashed violently and searched for enemies nearby, ready and willing to attack.

Soon that fury turned to panic, and the spiders began to scatter from the unseen threat. Some of them limped as they scuttled back over the side of the bridge. One of them careened off the side and fell the the ground far below with a sickening crack.

The few spiders that had fallen on the path of the bridge continued to melt until there was nothing left but a gory puddle.

Tin’lo started to walk back toward the group, but caught the look on Thu’lain and Raj’kens face.

“What? You aren’t the only one that can do stuff you know. Give it a few minutes and we can get going.” Tin’lo swaggered back to Tu’lar, and resisted looking back at the carnage.

“That’s why I didn’t grab that spear.” Raj’ken looked back at the bridge before cringing. “So gross.”

Thu’lain observed the aftermath.

But quite effective. Does it work on large apex too?

Thu’lain stowed his weapons and started walking back.

“The way is clear, though.”