The Death Bridge

Thunder rumbled nearby and the wind blew violently. Raven threw the blanket off of her and climbed out of bed. She was drenched in sweat. She looked around and spotted the kettle of water that was stored away. She poured some water into a bowl and started to clean her wounds with shaking hands. Thunder clashed nearby and she nearly dropped the cloth in her hands.

After a few minutes, her wounds were clean and bandaged and Raven was back in bed. "{It's just a fever. I can't brew my medicine so I'll just have to try to sleep it off}", she thought and a few minutes later she fell into a dreamless sleep.

***

The men had managed to set up camp inside the forest. They felt grateful for the thick leather tents that provided them with some shelter from the rain and snow. Inside the largest tent, the big man stood with a frown on his face, quietly listening to the storm raging outside his tent. He had an odd feeling about the storm. Even though the white-haired man said no one created the storm with magic, he just couldn't shake the feeling that magic was somehow involved with the storm.

The longer the storm raged, the more uneasy the big man felt. He paced back and forth in his tent, scratching his head and rubbing his temples. "{There's somethin' that scholar lad's not tellin' me about this storm…}", he thought to himself.

Inside the wagon, the white-haired man was also pacing around. His white hair made silver waves in the dark as he walked from one end of the wagon to the other. He was deep in thought. The storm reminded him of something, but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't place his finger on what exactly it was. Then there was that strange dream he had. "{This must be the place I've been searching for…}", he thought as he kept on pacing around in the wagon."{If so, then I need to get out of these chains…but how?}", he thought as he sat back down.

He felt faint mist blowing in through the open window. He shivered at the cold air and looked outside. Again he felt the memory coming but it was as if it was locked away. He sighed and looked down at his feet. He thinks back about his strange dream. He remembered the strange figure that was surrounded by darkness. He was certain the person could see and hear him.

The storm raged outside with an unwavering force matching the storm of questions raging inside the white-haired man's mind."{But who was it? Why was the person shrouded in darkness like that?}", he thought as he stared downwards with unseeing eyes. He heard thunder clash nearby but his thoughts were too occupied to pay it any mind. "{What was that object? Why did it emit such a bright golden light?}", the questions swirled around in his mind. "{I guess I'll get some answers once I get out of this wagon…I wonder how long this storm's going to rage on…}"

____Two days later____

Raven opens her eyes. She listened carefully but, everything was quiet outside. She kicked the blanket off of her and jumped out of bed. She nearly fell when she suddenly put too much weight on her injured leg. She steadied herself and hurried to get dressed. She threw on a clean set of clothes and grabbed her weapons. She swallowed down a handful of dried berries and rushed to the door, eager to see what happened after the storm. She slowly opened the door.

The sun was shining brightly and the air was fresh and bone-chilling. The ground was littered with leaves and broken branches. "{Woah…}", she thought as she stepped over a thick branch lying on the still fresh layer of snow. She saw a figure approaching her from the trees. Her hand went to her sword at her side. But then a smile appeared on Raven's face as she recognised the doe coming towards her. "Mili! I thought you blew away in the storm!", she said with a chuckle as she bends down to pat the doe's head. "What do you say, girl? Should we go take a look at the main road? I didn't get to finish properly last time…", she said to the doe. Mili turned around and started walking towards the road into the forest. Raven chuckled and followed the doe.

____Meanwhile____

The men were busy in their camp. They were fixing the broken tents and cleaning their campsite. The big man stood in the middle of the camp, looking at the men work and giving orders. Now that the storm was over, he needed to find a way to stall. He did not want to go to the city. He knew of his right-hands plans to cheat him when they got to the slave markets. He needed to find a way to thwart his plans…

Inside the wagon, the white-haired man was busy with his own plans. One of the men had brought him food earlier and didn't stay to watch him. He was now busy with the knife…The shackles around his feet were already off and he was struggling with the shackles around his hands. "{The big man finally made his mistake…guess that letter's got him really worried…}", he thought as he worked with the knife. He suddenly heard a commotion outside. He froze. He heard two men shouting at each other.

Outside the big man was getting angrier by the second. "What did you say to me lad?", he asked in a dangerously low tone to the man in front of him. "I said, you're afraid to go into the city because you think you'll get cheated by the slave buyers!", the man replied, shouting. "Oh lad, I don't think that I know that!", the big man shouted, anger radiating off him.

***

Raven stopped dead in her tracks. "{No, it couldn't be…could it? My ears must be playing tricks on me}", she thought. She carefully stepped forward. She heard it again. Voices. "{Not again…}", she thought as she sighed. She crouched down and whispered to the doe beside her "Mili, you've got to get out of here…Hunters...Go and hide somewhere in the forest…Go on!". The doe snorted softly and turned around, slowly walking away. Raven slowly stood up and moved forward. The closer she got the more she realised the people were in a heated argument. She hid behind a bush and carefully looked at the scene in front of her. Her jaw dropped to the ground at the sight of the biggest man she had ever seen in her entire life. She saw that he was big and muscular with medium length and slightly curly brown hair, a big beard and wild eyebrows. She could see his attractive face is scarred with age. At the moment he looked terrifying, but the man in front of him didn't look terrified at all. Raven recovered from her shock and finally closed her mouth.

She started to move closer…