"See, I told you guys we'd make good time. We haven't even run into any Nightmare Creatures."
Stepping off the Rhino, Lucky had his hands behind his head as he stretched. The area between the Rhino and the bridge was illuminated by the Rhino's powerful headlights and Memories the group had summoned.
Wrapping an arm around Lucky's shoulder, Mele pulled him close. Pressing her thumb into his chest, she dryly muttered.
"Lucky, if you weren't the luckiest person I knew. I'd punch you in the mouth for what you just said."
"Alright, everyone, gather round."
Standing with his arms crossed and his back to the bridge, Lauri glanced over his shoulder, peering into the darkness on the other side. He had known the bridge would be large, but seeing it for himself was something else entirely.
It could comfortably fit two Rhinos side by side with room to spare. Lauri felt his jaw clench as he wondered how many Nightmare Creatures had crossed over these seven bridges heading north, drawn to Falcon Scott and the other cities by the scent of human souls.
'I suddenly hate how quiet it is.'
"If we're going to keep to schedule, we have thirty minutes to destroy this bridge. Any questions before we begin?"
Sansa stuck her hand up.
"Captain!"
Seeing this, Lauri sighed.
"Yes, Sansa?"
Lowering her hand, Sansa exchanged glances with Mele.
"What was the plan again?"
Lauri's eye involuntarily twitched as he rubbed the side of his head.
"The plan was to destroy the bridge. To go about this, we will need to hit six points–"
Before he could finish, Mele raised her hand.
"Captain!"
Lauri dragged a hand down his face as he muttered,
"We aren't in school. If you have a question, just say it."
Mele lowered her hand and nodded.
"We only need to hit six points? Are you sure it's six and not seven?"
Lauri's eyes flicked between Mele and Sansa.
"Are you two purposefully messing with me?"
Mele and Sansa both looked at each other before shrugging.
"Maybe."
"Just a little."
Rolling his eyes, Lauri continued.
"I'll say it one more time, just in case any one of you happened to forget. These bridges are all of the same design. They all have six structural points we need to hit to bring them down – two at the ends where the bridges connect with the land, and four more where the supports are anchored into the ravine below. First, we hit the four anchors, then if that isn't enough to take it all down, we hit the bridge itself until it breaks."
Clapping his hands together, Lauri smiled at the group.
"Any questions?"
Looking past Lauri and off the side of the edge, Lucky shivered.
"Did I miss how we're supposed to reach the anchors? I don't know if you've noticed, Captain, but you're the only one of us who can fly."
Lauri's grin widened as he began walking backwards, toward the very edge of the ravine.
"Now that, young Lucky, is a very good question–"
Reaching the edge, he didn't stop. One foot moved out over the abyss.
Katrina was the first to react, stepping forward.
"Captain, watch out!"
But before he could fall, a large platform of light formed beneath his foot.
Lauri spread his arms and chuckled.
"Ladies and gentlemen… this will be our ride down."
Exchanging glances amongst themselves, the group slowly edged closer, peering over to inspect the platform. It was large enough to hold all of them comfortably, but the thought of hovering over the abyss still gave some pause.
Vick looked at the platform with genuine concern.
"Not that I would doubt you, but… Are you sure you'll be able to hold all of us up? There's quite a difference between holding up one person fall and several."
Crossing his arms, Lauri laughed.
"I've held up Nightmare Creatures heavier than all of you combined when I was a young and naive Awakened. I think I'll be able to hold you all up as a Master just fine."
The group slowly filtered onto the platform, boots scraping against the light as they moved. One by one, they stepped aboard, their movements careful – they may all be Awakened, but even an Awakened could be cautious of heights.
As Mele reached the edge with Sansa and Vick a few steps behind her. Lauri raised his hand.
"Hold up a second."
The three ladies paused.
Mele looked at him, brows knitting together as she scowled.
"What? I don't exactly like standing this close to what might as well be a bottomless pit."
Lauri didn't lower his arm. His gaze swept briefly across the darkness that surrounded them. The area beyond the Rhino's powerful headlights was entirely covered by the pitch-black night as clouds blocked out the stars, softly sprinkling snow down on the land.
"Then you'll be happy to hear that you three are staying right here."
Sansa straightened.
"We're staying? Don't you need our help to bring those anchors down?"
"I need you three up here on watch duty. We've been lucky so far, but… I don't like it. So I want you three to keep an eye on the area. Make sure to shoot anything that moves, alright?"
As Lauri finished speaking, a faint, distant sound echoed from somewhere in the darkness beyond the opposite side of the ravine – just loud enough to set the group on edge.
Mele exhaled through her nose, clearly not thrilled.
"And you lot get to go on a cool floating ride. Why do we always miss out on the fun stuff?"
Looping an arm around Mele's arm, Sansa began dragging her friend away from the edge.
"Come on, we are the best archers in the group. It only makes sense we keep our eyes peeled."
Mele scrunched her face together for a moment, contemplating Sansa's words, nodding, she broke into a smile.
"Ah, that's very true. We are the best archers."
As Mele and Sansa turned and began walking back toward the Rhino, Vick sighed.
"Guess I'm on babysitting duty."
Nodding, Lauri shot her a thankful smile.
With the surroundings now under watch, Lauri turned to the rest of his team, now gathered aboard the platform. A playful grin crossed his face as he spread his arms wide.
"Once more into the abyss."
They stared at him, utterly unamused.
A beat passed.
Lauri exhaled lightly as he scratched the back of his head.
"...Right, then."
Without a sound, the platform began moving. It drifted away from the edge – smooth and steady as Lauri paid close attention to the platform's movement. Not wanting to accidentally knock anyone off balance. They slid downward and to the side, easing beneath the bridge as the shadows closed in around them.
As the platform reached its spot beneath the bridge, Katrina peered over the side.
"How deep does this ravine actually go?"
Holding out his hand, sparks began to fly around Danse's palm.
"The ravine is miles long, probably formed by earthquakes… or ice erosion, back when Antarctica was actually buried under the stuff. Glaciers don't just move, you know? They grind. Stone, earth… anything in their path. Takes centuries, but they carve deep. Deeper than you'd think possible. But even something this deep is rather impressive."
Lauri slowly turned to Danse, his smile confused.
"I didn't realise you knew so much about glaciers."
The Memory finished summoning, a nondescript dagger made out of wood.
"There's a lot you don't know about me."
Without another word, Danse tossed the dagger over the side of the platform.
Through the transparent floor, they watched it fall – shrinking to a speck, then vanishing into the darkness below.
Lucky tilted his head.
"Is that supposed to do something?"
Danse didn't answer.
Seconds passed.
Then, suddenly, an explosion rang out from far beneath them.
The sound slammed into the ravine walls and came roaring back, echoing violently. Lucky and Katrina both flinched, clapping their hands over their ears as the noise rolled through them before finally fading into the distance.
As the last echoes died, Danse rested his hands on his hips.
"That was… what, ten seconds? How deep would that be?"
Katrina threw her hands into the air.
"Are you mad? You could've just thrown a stone! What even was that? It looked like a wooden dagger – why did it explode?"
Danse glanced at her, genuinely puzzled.
"What if we didn't hear the stone!?"
"Hey, guys!"
Lauri looked up to see Mele's head poking over the edge of the ravine.
"Was that you getting started?"
Katrina jabbed a finger toward Danse.
"Danse threw an exploding Memory into the ravine!"
Mele's expression stayed blank for a moment – then she broke into a grin.
"Wicked."
With all distractions out of the way, Lauri turned his gaze towards the four anchors.
Four massive anchoring pylons were driven into the ravine walls, two on each side, holding the bridge suspended between them. They sat at staggered heights – one higher, one lower on each wall, allowing the weight of the bridge to be evenly distributed across the stone.
Lauri's fingers flexed as he eyed the two highest anchors.
"As we discussed, I'll take the top two. Katrina and Danse, you handle one together. Lucky – you've got the final one."
Sparks exploded as Katrina and Danse summoned their Memories, brief flares of light crackling around them.
Lucky's came a heartbeat later.
A surge of sparks burst outward, far greater than the others, snapping and spilling through the air in a wild mass. The sparks converged on the platform a moment later, revealing a creature.
Lucky had summoned an Echo, it looked like a cross between a mole and a bat – with a hunched body and broad, folded wings tucked tight against its sides. Its snout was blunt, twitching as it sniffed at the air. Roughly the size of a person, it crouched low to the ground.
Lauri was the first to act. Weapons of light formed beside him, firing at the highest anchors. Rather than striking the anchors directly, they carved into the surrounding stone. The weapons cut deep grooves into the surface of the ravine, flashing in short, controlled arcs. As each weapon struck, Lauri dismissed it, allowing for the next weapon to take its place.
Katrina knocked an arrow to her bow as Danse began winding up his sling, preparing to throw the Memory he had placed into its leather pouch. They attacked at the same time. Katrina's arrow shot through the air as Danse's arm struck forward, hurling a bright green stone at full force.
Katrina's arrow hit, embedding up to the fletching in the stone beneath the anchor. As Katrina channelled essence into it, its enchantment activated. The arrow began vibrating, sending a pulse of conussive force rippling through the stone, cracks began to form as the vibrations forced their way through the solid surface. Danse's projectile hit the wall in the next instant, the green stone shattered on impact, bursting into an acidic splash that sank into the cracks formed by Katrina's arrow and began melting away the stone.
As Katrina and Danse waited to be able to resummon their Memories, Lucky's Echo reached the wall.
The mole-bat creature's claws dug into the stone as if it were made of butter. The Echo began crawling into the hole it was digging in the wall, displacing stone as it disappeared, burrowing deeper to weaken the anchor's support from within.
Looking at the effective work his team was doing, for the first time since Danse had read out their mission and its connection with the remnants of the Fallen Titan. Lauri felt relief spread within his heart.
'Maybe we won't need thirty minutes to destroy each bridge after all.'