I knew this was going to happen.

Pulling the wagon slowly, I kept a keen eye on the wheels as I pulled it across the bridge.

This was one of the wagons that already had broken a wheel, so in theory I shouldn’t have to worry too much over it. Since I had fixed it, and done so properly, I didn’t need to worry much over the wheel breaking again. At least, typically I would think so. But the problem with doing such good work was that when you fixed one part of something, it usually ended up breaking another. When one cog suddenly became perfect, all the rest that were only slightly worn or out of sync suddenly started to stutter and break themselves.

So far though it was looking fine. Even with the howling winds doing all they could to change that.

Glancing behind me, towards the way I was heading, I squinted as to make sure nothing was amiss on the other side of the bridge.

Thanks to the very strong windstorm, the bridge was empty. Not just the bridge itself, but the areas around it too. The humans knew better than to risk this bridge during such weather and since the storm seemed to not have any intent on easing or leaving the area they didn’t seem to even be willing to wait it out nearby. Since the area was so empty I had felt comfortable just escorting the group across the bridge to the other side, as to let them set up camp and get shelter from the storm as I got the wagons and horses across.

A leather strap flung upward and smacked me in the face as I looked back to the wagon. Slowing for a small moment as a stronger bellow of wind rushed past, I held firm onto the edge of the wagon as I felt it start to skid a little. I readied myself in case I had to move around to the side of the wagon, as to put myself in-between it and the edge of the bridge, but it seemed this time I didn’t need to. The wind died back down to manageable levels and I was able to return to pulling it along.

This was the third wagon so far, and was actually going the quickest. I’d loaded it and packed it a little tighter than the first two, having felt comfortable enough to do so thanks to the last two attempts. Originally I had felt too much weight would have been detrimental, since the extreme bursts of wind that occasionally roared over the bridge was able to make the wagons shift enough that I had worried over the wheels snapping under the weight, but it seemed it had been a needless worry.

I expected there to be at least one incident before the day was over, but I wasn’t too worried over it. I could always just drag the wagons across, broken wheels and all, and then fix them back up once on the other side. But until that happened I was going to try my best to keep them in one piece…

Another burst of wind blew past, and it roared in my ears as I steadied the wagon I held. Just ever so slightly I felt it start to slide, but it didn’t go very far nor did anything break as the wind died back down enough to return to a better pace.

Pulling the wagon all the way across the bridge, I then pulled it the extra distance to the campsite. Renn and a few others hurried over as I neared, though they didn’t help pull it the last bit of distance they did go straight to securing it into place once able. I watched Renn hammer in a spike, one that was fastened to a rope, to help make sure the wagon stayed where it was as others did the same to a few more.

Once they were done Renn came over to me, and leaned in close as to be heard and so she could hear me over the wind. “Everyone’s still fine, Vim!” Renn shouted into my ear.

I nodded, glad to hear it. Although I had allowed them to set up camp here, since no humans were around, it still worried me that someone would show up. Especially since they couldn’t put up tents as to hide themselves from view. Everyone was just sitting around, huddled with one another. The wind was so strong they didn’t even have any fires going for warmth. And considering they weren’t out in the open, but hidden amongst the thickest parts of the trees in this area that was saying something.

“I’ll go get the next, then,” I said as I patted her on the shoulder. She gave me a heavy nod as I stepped away and headed for the bridge.

Renn had wanted to help me cross the bridge, but I wasn’t willing to risk her in such a way. The wind really was bad… and although it wasn’t raining at this moment, it had not too long ago. The bridge was slippery and slick, which made it all the more dangerous. It was why it had taken us so long to cross it, because it had taken several hours to get everyone across originally. I had been required to cross with only a few people at a time, and had even resorted to tying ropes around people’s waists and connecting them to me as extra precautions. And on a few occasions I had been glad I had. Several of the older members, and some of the children, had slipped and fallen while crossing… and although none had been picked up by the wind and carried away it could have happened had we not been careful. Especially since the wind occasionally had momentary bursts of gusts that were far beyond the norm…

In truth Renn probably could help me. She had crossed earlier with me without any trouble, walking easily even during the gusts. I had originally figured she’d have trouble too, since she was lighter than she should be thanks to her heart, but it seemed her innate senses and dexterity had kept her on her feet with ease. But even if she’d be fine… I wasn’t willing to risk her for no reason. I could get the wagons across myself, alone, shortly. Her help would not speed it up enough to justify her endangering her life, especially when we weren’t actually in a hurry in the first place.

Especially now that I knew another god was there waiting for us.

I sighed into the noisy wind, and didn’t hear it, as I crossed the bridge while thinking of Fincy.

She was not like Renka. She was a weaker god… one that was only alive today because I had simply never gotten my hands on her. She was capable enough to stay out of my grasp, but that was really it… rather the real threat she pose was of a different nature. One that I didn’t think Renn comprehended, and probably wouldn’t until she experienced it herself. No matter how much I told her or warned her about it.

When was the last time I’d encountered one of Fincy’s experiments, I wonder? Renka spoke of her in a way that made it seem she still to this day performed her tests and whatnot… but did that mean she’s been doing so this whole time? The same experiments that had caused so much destruction and chaos before?

You’d think if she had been I would have encountered them more often, and more recently as well… I couldn’t think of any demon-esque monsters showing up lately.

Those flower monsters, maybe…? The ones that had been in the sewers…? They might have been a bit monster-ish from a certain perspective… though I had not felt any divinity from them, and usually Fincy’s creations were a little more… well, not as basic. She liked creating things that caused terror, not just destruction. And although that giant flower creature had indeed instilled a lot of terror into the city of Lumen and its residents, it had only done so because I had pissed it off. Her creations normally didn’t wait for an invitation to spread their filth…

Reaching the other end of the bridge, I sighed as I picked the next wagon at random. Those left were all roughly the same size and weight, and already packed and ready, so I just unfastened the tethers that held it in place and went to pulling it as if I was a horse.

It really was a good thing no humans were around… it was one thing to cross the bridge in these conditions, they’d just think us insane or desperate, but to do so by pulling myself…? A grown man could barely pull a completely empty wagon of this size, let alone one completely full and in such wind.

I pondered my oddness for a moment as I pulled the wagon across the bridge. It went smoothly, and Renn and her little group helped me secure it in place before I went to get the next. Again the process went smoothly… mostly thanks to the wind easing up a little for once. I got the wagon across so easily and swiftly that I was able to get the next, and get halfway across the bridge, before the wind again became a real issue as it picked back up in strength.

Slowing my pace, I took it easy as I finished crossing the bridge and helped Renn secure it with the others. “Where’d your little group go?” I asked over the wind as I finished pushing the last metal stake in.

“They’re trying to make food, a fire,” Renn shouted.

Ah. Maybe they were digging a pit? If not I’ll go do so for them in a moment. There was an easy way to make a fire during such winds, you just had to dig a hole… or well, a tunnel. You’d think those like Chancy would be old and wise enough to know how to do so, but… sometimes people forgot things even when they couldn’t afford to.

“There’s only one more,” I told Renn.

She gave me a big grin as she smiled and nodded at me, opting not to say anything since the wind howled a bit louder. I gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder to let her know I was going, and I went ahead and returned across the bridge to get the last wagon.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

And found people standing near it.

Approaching the group, I sighed as I realized this was going to be annoying. The humans looked normal, wrapped in gear more suited for rainstorms than windstorms, but they seemed kindly enough as I approached. It didn’t look like they had touched the wagon at all, but I might have just caught them before they had attempted to do so.

Hopefully they were neither thieves nor going to try to cross on their own. I both wasn’t in the mood to kill them, and also didn’t want to watch them die as they got flung off the sides of the bridge in their attempts to cross. They all carried large packs on their backs, the kind that made it awkward and difficult to traverse a mountain even on a perfect day let alone one like today.

“Hello there!” one of the men shouted at me as I got near, and then he hurried over up to me. The man was taller than me by a head and so had to bend down a little as to speak to me, since being human he needed to get as close as possible to both hear and in his experience be heard. “Pardon our intrusion! Is your camp nearby!?” he shouted.

Ah. They were not thieves, nor planning to cross at the moment, but instead hoping to share in the safety of an already established camp.

“Me and mine have already crossed. I simply came back to get the last of our gear,” I said to him with a point to the wagon.

“Ah…!” the man hesitated as he glanced back at the wagon, and then his comrades, then he looked back at me. “You’re daring the bridge!?” he shouted his question.

I nodded.

“You’ll die!”

“Possibly,” I said. Eventually, some day, I would. But I highly doubted it would be here and now. The man didn’t seem to know what to say to that, but I quickly realized he had simply not heard me. “I suggest camping over there! There’s a small outcropping of rocks, you can take shelter from the wind within them!” I shouted, loudly, at him as I pointed towards the edge of the clearing. Over by where the mountain looked like it dropped off into a cliff. It didn’t though, there was actually a path that rounded the edge and opened up to another clearing. I knew of it because that was usually the path we took and arrived here on, when coming from the Smithy.

The man turned and followed my point… and I didn’t give him time or the chance to figure out what to say or do. I stepped around him and headed for the wagon.

Ignoring the group who stared at me as I undid the ropes and fasteners that held it down, I gathered them all up and put them into the wagon. I almost got away cleanly and freely, but right as I was about to grab the wagon’s tongue and start to walk and pull the man grabbed me by the arm.

“Please, sir! You’ll die!” he shouted worriedly.

For a small moment I studied the man’s face. It was half hidden by a feathered hood, but what could be seen was wrought with worry. “I’ll be fine. Go seek shelter, rain is coming,” I said, loudly but gently. Odds are he too has felt the few droplets that were starting to join the heavy winds.

“But…!” his hand squeezed my arm, but I ignored him as I started pulling the wagon. He let out a small shout of shock as he stepped back, and I heard muffled shouts of confusion as the others in his group watched me, but I ignored them all as I headed for the bridge.

I’d have offered to help them cross the bridge if I had been alone, or if it had just been myself and Renn… but I couldn’t offer it with the rest of our members just beyond it. Especially with none of them really hidden, other than under thick clothing and gear, since they couldn’t put up tents or hide in the wagons.

Plus it wasn’t as if they were in a lot of danger. They just needed to wait out the storm… it would probably pass in a day or two, so as long as they had no pressing injuries or were going to starve themselves, they’d be fine.

“Sir…!”

I ignored the man’s last shout of warning as I stepped out onto the bridge… and kept pulling the wagon.

Taking it slower, since the wind was picking up with the new rain joining it, nothing eventful happened as I got the wagon across and found Renn waiting for me.

“Who were they!” Renn asked as she helped me fasten the wagon in place.

“Humans. Travelers,” I said. So she could see across the bridge? Really?

Under a normal day that was possible… but only to a point. The bridge was big enough; long enough, that one could only make out faint shapes and whatnot from one end to the other. And with this weather, with the sky cloudy, it was even more difficult… but I should have figured Renn’s sight had gotten as good as her hearing.

“It looked like one of them grabbed you!” Renn shouted as we finished with the wagon.

“He had. Worried I was going to kill myself,” I said. And as I spoke, I went ahead and did so without raising my voice.

“Oh, because of the bridge!” she shouted, nodding as she did.

Hm… so she could hear me just fine even if I didn’t shout. Why then did she shout back…? Was it because she thought I couldn’t hear over the roar of the wind, or was it because her own ears were playing tricks on her? Maybe the world was so utterly noisy to her right now that she simply couldn’t imagine anyone else being able to hear her otherwise if she didn’t shout loudly?

The wind did make a whistling sound, amongst all the other noises it made, thanks to the pillars along the bridge… maybe those were also affecting her too.

“Did they get the fire going?” I asked Renn.

“Huh? Oh, yes! Two of them! They dug into the ground like this, connecting them! It’s neat!” Renn shouted as she held out her arms in a big circle, connecting them at her fingertips.

So they had made a tunnel-pit, good.

I glanced around, and was glad to not see anyone or anything else new nearby. If any other travelers had arrived during my transfer of people or wagons, they weren’t in visible range at least.

“They don’t want to linger long! People are really uncomfortable!” Renn shouted.

I nodded, glad to hear it. I had been a little worried they’d use this moment as another excuse to bundle up and relax, but it seemed I didn’t need to do so. Though that was likely thanks to the fact they couldn’t actually bundle up and relax. If they were able to use their tents or wagons, they might have done so.

“Then after they eat we’ll return to the road,” I said.

“Yeah!”

Smiling at my wife who was smiling back at me, I wondered if she was enjoying herself. She looked… kind of annoyed, likely because of the noise and wind, but at the same time was grinning wildly. Maybe the moment was unique enough to amuse her more than the loud noises hurt her ears.

Reaching over to her, I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer. She was wearing a really thick cloak, since her normal hat was not performing well thanks to the wind and she needed a thicker hood as to cover her ears just in case, so I wasn’t really able to feel much of her warmth even with her up against me.

“So it’s true!?” Renn asked, not really with a shout but with a huge smirk.

“What is?” I asked while staring down into her eyes. They were huge and vibrant right now, she really was enjoying herself.

“You get frisky during life and death situations!” she shouted happily.

Frowning at her, I was half tempted to let her go… but I chose instead to just sigh at her and lower my head. Not to kiss her, but instead to stick my head under her hood, as to join her in it. She leaned closer and placed our foreheads together, and for a tiny moment… my world was her, and nothing else.

“Who gave you that stupid idea?” I asked. Renka, maybe?

“Chancy. She said she once saw you fall off a tall tower, and had laughed as you fell. At least, for as long as she could hear you do so,” Renn said, speaking in a more normal volume now with us so close to one another.

Fell…? Tower? Maybe in Telmik…? “You know you’ve lately been getting a lot of mixed information about me. I feel like I should correct the record,” I said.

She giggled at me, and I felt her squirm in my grasp. Not because she seemed like she wanted to escape but… maybe she was trying to get closer? Or maybe she was trying to get the cloak out of the way. It was between us, except our faces at least. She might be cold, she’d been out and about in this wind this whole time.

“If we’re talking about records, I want it known you make a good pack mule,” she said.

Ah. The wagons. Yes. Funny. “Have you tried pulling one? I bet you’re strong enough to do so too,” I said.

Her eyes narrowed at me cheerfully. “I can. I tried earlier, though I don’t know if I can pull one across the bridge in this wind like you did,” she said.

Of course she’s already tried… “I’ll remember that next time I need a good horse,” I said.

She snickered at me. “I got better uses, surely!”

“Well…” I was about to tease her, but before I could I had to lean back a little as to check who was approaching. My eye twitched as the young duckling ran straight at us, her arms outstretched in an already pre-planned attack of a hug.

Renn didn’t seem to notice her approach, likely thanks to not having heard it, so I made sure to position us both in a way that allowed Fressi to run right into us and not hurt herself as she did so. Renn happily accepted the ducks hug, without any hesitation, and so I released Renn with a little bit of resignation… and then went to make sure no one needed any help.

“It’s so cold, Renny!” Fressi shouted as she buried her face into Renn’s stomach.

“But you got such thick feathers!” Renn argued.

Shaking my head at them, I gave Renn one small look as I stepped away. She looked back at me, our eyes met, and I got a gentle smile from her before I turned away.

The faster we got back on the road the faster we could get to Lumen. The faster we got to Lumen… the faster I could find a way to get some alone time with Renn. Real alone time, too.

I was growing a little annoyed over our little moments getting interrupted so constantly… if not by our members, then by gods or fate.

At least that was what I told myself… or rather, what I was willing to admit.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep