RRUMB-UD
"Slow down."
GRUD-UD
"Stop, stop, stop!"
The vehicle swerved, narrowly avoiding a moss-covered pillar.
The sun hung high in the sky, trees sparsely scattered around them, shrubs growing low to the ground.
"You've been saying that for a while now. Relax," Ria assured Faelan, her fingers drumming on the steering wheel.
"How can I relax when you actually drive at things just to see if you can dodge them?" Faelan retorted from the back seat.
"And I do."
"That's not the point."
GRUD-UD
Faelan shot her a look.
"Fine, I'll slow down a bit."
"Thank you."
Faelan let out a sigh and went back to reading Jarek's journal.
There's a lot of towns around this place, most sucking up to Solax. Damn, smart, stupid sons of...
It's been a year, maybe 13 months, and I have deduced something of importance. Dorvel has the best beer, Maulec has the worst for sure, though...
Nothing, just nothing. A lot of nothing. I'm here again, grass field.
Levid's still far off.
There wasn't anything particularly noteworthy so far, but Faelan noticed that Jarek sometimes overused punctuation.
Or maybe he was just the one thinking that way.
"That's a big bridge," Ria remarked, spotting the structure.
Faelan moved Niri from his lap, positioning himself forward.
The bridge was made of tightly packed stone, its waist-high walls covered in ash and blue-gray plants. The road was made of smooth, rounded cobblestone, arcing over what looked like a canyon.
It was the first time Faelan had seen a bridge like this. As they got closer, more of it came into view.
It's wide enough for at least four trucks, Faelan thought to himself.
GLANDG
"What...?"
Faelan's body felt light.
He looked out the window.
The world was turning on its head.
THUD-SHH
...
"F..."
"Fae."
Faelan opened his eyes.
Something nibbled at his fingers.
His vision was blurry. He made out Ria's face, then Niri.
"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice low.
"Y-yes," he grunted.
Blood flowed down the side of his head.
"What happened?"
"We hit something."
She paused.
"It wasn't my fault."
"Hello! Are you still alive?"
A voice came from outside.
"That sounds like a person," Faelan remarked.
"It is. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine."
He sat up, the space cramped with the vehicle lying on its side.
"I'll check who's outside."
"No... wait. Let me."
Faelan wrapped his scarf around his head, leaving only his eyes exposed. He took a deep breath before raising his fingers through the window, followed by his head.
"There you are," the young man remarked.
He looked to be in his early twenties. He wore protective goggles, a blood-red jacket and black trousers.
"Who are you?"
Faelan looked around, searching for others.
"What did you do?"
"We put a special bump in front of you. To be fair, no one has had a crash as bad as yours."
He chuckled.
"And as for who we are, you can think of us as trolls that require a toll."
Trolls?
Faelan had never heard the word before.
"So this is supposed to be a robbery? Were you the ones from last time as well?" Faelan asked.
The man looked at him for a moment.
"No, we aren't."
His tone became more serious.
"You seem rather calm."
"Are you Ragons?"
The man ignored Faelan's question.
"If you leave all your belongings behind, we'll let you go. If you resist, we'll kill you and take them anyway."
He leaned closer.
"What's it going to be?"
Faelan spotted someone behind a boulder, the muzzle of a gun pointing out.
"I'll take the offer."
"Smart."
The man began moving backwards.
Faelan climbed out, shortly followed by Ria.
The man whistled.
"Quite a lady you're traveling w—"
He froze.
"Stop!"
Faelan stopped moving.
"Go to the side."
Faelan's brow furrowed, but he moved.
Ria's eyes remained fixed on the man.
"Aaniv! Rhade! It's one of them!" he called out.
A moment passed before two men, covered completely in thick clothing from head to toe, came out from behind a crumbled wall. They unfolded a long, pitch-black rope.
"Just like we practiced," the man remarked.
The two nodded, then approached Ria.
"H-hands forward and to yourself," the first said.
Ria looked at Faelan.
He gave a nod in response.
She did as asked.
The two men each took an end of the rope, twisting it around Ria starting from the middle.
"You, over here," the young man called, motioning Faelan closer. "Hands to yourself."
Faelan closed the distance between them, stopping a foot away.
The man stepped closer, their faces barely an inch apart.
He peered into Faelan's eyes for a moment, his shoulders relaxing slightly before he began searching him.
His hand felt something inside Faelan's jacket.
"I told you to leave everything—"
He pulled out the rectangular object.
"How do you have this?"
"It's just a book," Faelan replied.
The man's hand suddenly gripped Faelan's neck.
Ria's eyes narrowed.
"Don't play dumb with me. How do you have this journal?" he yelled.
BANG
A bullet passed between their legs.
The man released his grip on Faelan.
"Ozic, what the fuck are you doing?!"
He looked toward the boulder where the gun muzzle was visible.
"I saw something. Looked like floating eyes, marbles maybe," a voice called from behind the boulder.
"Marbles? Are you sure the heat's not—"
THWACK
Before he could finish, Faelan's fist connected with his face.
The man behind the boulder prepared to fire another shot, but pain exploded across his upper arm. Blood followed.
Ozic caught a glimpse of stripes and spots on an inky blue body.
The young man staggered from Faelan's strike, a cut visible along his face.
"That wasn't very smart."
The cut closed as though it had never been there.
Faelan's eyes widened.
The young man returned a blow.
Again.
And again.
Each one faster and heavier than the last.
At the final strike, Faelan caught his fist and drove his own into the man's stomach.
What...
The man's body felt like stone beneath his fist.
The man struck Faelan in the chest, followed by another punch, then brought both hands together and slammed them down onto Faelan's head.
THUMP
Faelan blocked it.
The man's leg crashed into his side, followed by another punch.
Faelan blocked again, then drove his fists into the man's face and side.
The man retaliated with a heavy blow to the stomach, forcing Faelan back.
Before Faelan could regain his balance, a fist landed on his face.
Then another.
He countered, but the man dodged, dealing another blow to his side.
Faelan jumped back, but the man closed the distance in an instant.
CRACK.
His fist smashed into Faelan's chest, sending him rolling across the floor.
Faelan tried picking himself up, gasping for air. The scarf around his head had loosened slightly, blood trailing down his mouth.
Ria, still tied, looked to the man at her left.
"Let go."
A shiver ran down the man's spine.
He gripped the rope even tighter.
Ria twisted her body, pulling the man closer.
THWACK.
A kick to his side sent him sprawling.
The rope was released.
The other man stepped back, pulling out a knife.
"Really?" she remarked, disappointed.
Rhade lunged at her, stabbing.
Ria weaved through his strikes and caught his arm, delivering a bone-breaking strike.
The knife fell from his hand, but he caught it with the other and drove the blade into Ria's side.
TC.
He froze.
The blade hadn't made it even an inch into her.
Rhade slowly looked up at Ria.
Her head smashed into his face.
His consciousness faded as his body hit the floor.
Ria looked toward the boulder where the earlier shot had come from.
Ozic had wounds on his legs and sides, each leaving him bloodied. It was as though the injuries had opened up by themselves, but he'd seen them.
Eyes.
That was what he noticed first.
He caught another glimpse and readied his gun, but not to shoot.
The eyes were at his side this time.
SCHLIC—THWACK-UD
Blood trailed down his face, the fresh wound just short of his eye.
"I hit it..." he muttered to himself.
He almost formed a smile, but a fist crashed into his face before he could.
His body hit the floor with a silent thud.
Ria picked up the gun and aimed it at him. She noticed Niri, agitated and leaning against the boulder, her paws covered in the man's blood.
"Didn't know you did that," Ria remarked, looking at Ozic's bleeding body.
Faelan rolled, dodging the young man's foot.
He stood up.
THUMP
A knee smashed into Faelan's head, sending him back to the floor.
Hands wrapped around Faelan's neck, squeezing the life out of him.
Faelan tried removing them, but the man's grip was ironclad.
He began punching, again and again, as the air spilled from his lungs.
The man's goggles broke off, revealing glassy bronze eyes that matched his hair.
Faelan's blows grew weaker and slower.
"Let Fae go or I'll shoot him!" Ria called out to the man while holding Ozic at gunpoint.
The man's hands showed no sign of loosening.
CLICK.
A sound came from behind Ria.
"No, I will."
A man in his mid-fifties stood behind her, a handgun aimed at her.
"Drop it."
Then he looked toward the man strangling Faelan.
"You too. Let the boy go."
The young man hesitated, but his grip loosened.
Faelan gasped for air, coughing.
Ria lowered the rifle.
"Good. Varen, why are they still alive?" he addressed the young man.
"I was about to send them away before I noticed her and this."
He produced the book he'd taken from Faelan.
"And why is that important?"
"It's obviously a fake."
"I don't think it is."
"So you think these two could pry it from him? You know that's not possible."
The man's voice remained firm. He pulled the rolled-up piece of burning paper from his mouth and tossed it onto Ria's body.
"It's nothing personal. Well... it is personal."
Ria stared down the barrel unflinchingly.
"Stop!" Faelan called out just before the bullet fired. "A friend of mine, Jarek, gave it to me. It's the real thing."
"Jarek..." Varen muttered.
Gave it? the man thought.
"Where's your friend?"
"I don't know."
The man turned to Varen.
"What do you think?"
Varen looked between the two.
"We could take them there."
"Are you crazy?" the man retorted.
"If we get them there, then there's nothing to worry about. If they're lying, they're not going to be able to escape. I don't think we have anything to lose."
"There is, though..."
He squeezed the handle of his gun.
"Restrain them properly this time and fix Ozic before he bleeds to death."
He looked to Ria.
"It'll do you good to cooperate."
The man said it finally before redirecting his gun.
Ria watched him walk away.
Her eyes drifted to the ground, as though something beneath it had caught her attention.