A hoard of small creatures had taken over the bridge that spanned Cleftshire, and were attacking the surveyors tooth and nail. To Jarod’s eye, they were terrible monsters, apparently living unknowingly in the chasm until the group sent to retrieve his father’s sword had disturbed them. And now they were trying to destroy the bridge.

  The creatures stood only 2 feet tall, and they had grey fur covering most of their body like an ape. Proportionally, they looked like toddlers, with large heads and a waddling gait. They wore motley scraps of clothing that must have been lost over the side of the bridge, and their dirty hats and socks were garnished with metal and stone pins.

  They did not come unarmed, however. They attacked the surveyors ferociously with daggers and swords, as well as explosives, which they lobbed haphazardly about the battlefield, blasting more and more of the wood bridge apart.

  Jarod, freshly released from his shackles, stood alongside Filgrin, trying to find a way to escape their situation.

  “Run!” shouted Filgrin. “Back over here. We can hide in that house.”

  Jarod glanced back to see a group of the creatures chasing after the fleeing surveyors, and nabbed a piece of wood that had broken off from the carriage for self defense. It wasn’t much, but it gave him some reassurance as he raced after Filgrin.

  The old man ran forward with a definite hobble, but still a surprising amount of agility. Jarod just managed to close the gap between them by the time they arrived at the house Filgrin had pointed out. The pair barrelled in through the doorway and were met by a wide-eyed girl holding a kitchen knife in both hands.

  “It’s okay child,” said Filgrin. “But get back away from the doorway, we don’t want them to see us.”

  The girl was young enough to still be wearing a child’s dress, and her eyes had started to water when the two men had burst into their home. She managed to hold back her tears, but she’d started sniffling as Filgrin shepherded the group away into the kitchen.

  Jarod kept glancing back over his shoulder, sure that every wicked sound the creatures were making would pursue them into the house, but for now at least, they seemed to be contained to the bridge and the street chasing after the surveyors. He could turn his attention back to finding a hiding place.

  The girl ran over to another boy in the kitchen and put an arm protectively around him.

  “It’s alright,” she whispered loudly into his ear. “They’re with me.”

  Jarod couldn’t help but smile at the girl’s bravado, but he frowned when he realized that he recognized the boy. They were Esther’s children, whom Wilfurd had taken on as his own. He might not yet be married to the woman, but he was as involved in their lives as any father.

  “Where’s your mom and Wilfurd?” Jarod asked.

  “Mum’s away to the city,” the girl said. “And dad’s at work in the mill. Are they okay?” Her eyes looked up at him expectantly, but Jarod had no answers to give.

  Luckily, Filgrin stepped in. “Your dad’s a smart man, he’ll be safe.” Jarod heard the unvoiced for now at the end of that statement. “What’s your name?”

  An explosion and manic laughter outside interrupted her before she could answer. They could feel the blast through their feet, and the girl looked up with a fresh set of tears on the verge of spilling forth.

  “I’m Jessica,” she said. “Please, we need to find our dad.”

  “It’s too dangerous out there,” said Filgrin. “We need to find somewhere to hide in here until the little monsters are done.”

  “It’s Wilfurd,” said Jarod, turning his side to the children for as much of a private conversation as they could have. “I can’t just leave him.”

  “What? We don’t even know what those monsters are,” Filgrin said. “It’s too dangerous out there to go looking for anyone. Besides, you’ve been chained up for the last day, yer in no position to go rescuing anyone.”

  “We have to at least try. I won’t let him die to those monsters.”

  “Boy, you have to start listening to my advice. If you would’ve kept a level head earlier, you might not have gotten in this mess in the first place. Follow my instructions this time, and maybe you won’t ruin it for the rest of us.”

  Jarod clenched his teeth. He knew Filgrin had a point, but at the same time, something was calling him to do more than just cower and hide. Maybe it was the rush of emotions at being condemned to prison and suddenly finding his freedom, or maybe it was some carryover from that shapeless void he’d come to consciousness in, but he was going to find Wilfurd and do everything he could to save him.

  Momentous decision

  +1 Fate die

  Another inscrutable pop-up, but hopefully one that might help him the challenge ahead.

  “I’m going to find Wilfurd,” Jarod said. “Come if you wish or stay back and wait if you don’t. I won’t have it on my conscience that I didn’t go to help my friend.”

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  Filgrin looked back and forth between the children and Jarod, then finally cursed under his breath. “You’ll just get yerself killed on your own. I’ll join you.”

  Jarod knelt down to look the children eye-to-eye. “Do you have somewhere safe you can hide? Maybe a cellar, or behind a wardrobe?

  “There’s a wine rack in the cellar that you can’t see unless you crawl into it,” Jessica said. “It’s my special hiding space when we play hide and seek.”

  “Perfect, go hide there,” said Jarod. He stood up and clenched the splinter of wood in his hand. “Wilfurd wouldn’t happen to keep a sword around here, would he?”

  The girl shook her head. “He has a hunting bow, but no sword. You can have this though,” and she offered him her knife in replacement. It would have to do.

  Filgrin crept off to retrieve the hunting bow in the direction Jessica had pointed, while Jarod examined the knife. It was a bit thin for a weapon, probably wouldn’t stand up to a blow against any sort of armor or another weapon, but it would cut through skin just fine. Assuming the creatures’ skin wasn’t supernaturally hardy.

  “Shall we?” Jarod asked when Filgrin came back.

  Filgrin shook his head, but said, “aye, we’d best go before it’s too late.”

  After making sure the two children had run off into the cellar to hide, they snuck back out to the doorway to check on the melee outside.

  The screaming and fighting continued, but the hubbub had mostly progressed off the bridge and into the streets. The creatures seemed to be out of explosives because despite the giant holes blown through the bridge, it remained standing, though it was of questionable integrity. A scattered few of the grey-furred monsters continued hacking at it with oversized swords they’d claimed from the surveyors, but most seemed to have given up on their demolition dreams and been more enticed by the screams of the villagers they antagonized.

  Jarod was glad to see a group of villagers and surveyors gathered at the mayor’s house, fighting off an encroaching group of the creatures. It meant both that the villagers were mustering some sort of defense, and that their path would be more clear.

  Unfortunately, it wasn’t entirely clear. The scattered group on the bridge was preoccupied with its destruction, but several of the monsters were running between other houses, breaking through doors, and attacking villagers inside. Each scream from inside seemed to attract a fresh pair of the monsters to the noise, and the weapons they carried were now as bloodied as their fur. They’d have to hope that the kids in their hiding spot in the basement would keep quiet and keep hidden.

  “Back this way,” said Jarod, leading the way. “If we sneak behind the houses, we might be able to keep out of sight.”

  Filgrin followed him behind Wilfurd’s house, and along a path that would normally have taken them to fields of cattle. Jarod only followed it as far as a cluster of rocks where they could keep an eye out for the next opportunity to move, and advance the last couple of houses to the bridge.

  “I could try shooting them with my bow,” offered Filgrin.

  “Not yet,” said Jarod. “If we can sneak by them without having to fight, we’ll be less likely to attract enough attention to overwhelm us.”

  The two of them waited, and a group emerged from one of the buildings to chase after more noisy prey, but a group picking over one of the wagons seemed uninterested in anything but the treasure on the road.

  “Good a chance as any,” said Jarod. “Let’s go for it.”

  They moved as quietly as they could, stopping low to hide among the grass and rocks where children might normally be playing.

  Athleticism (stealth) check (4)

  [6]

  Success

  Another message, this time informing him that their attempt to sneak past the monsters must have been successful. This presented the opportunity to test if he was guaranteed to remain hidden even if he ran into the street, but Jarod thought it wise to not push his luck.

  The message proved true, and Jarod and Filgrin were able to cross the gaps between the last two houses without getting spotted by any of the creatures on the streets. Now, they were crouched at the corner of the back wall, peering out at the bridge to their left.

  A total of four creatures were still rampaging on the bridge. It was in a sorry state, as the monsters continued to pry it apart board by board. Before long, there wouldn’t be anything left for them to run across.

  “Alright, I don’t think we’ll be able to stealth our way across this one,” said Jarod. “Do you think you can land a shot on them from here?”

  “Easily,” said Filgrin. “The harder part’ll be trying to hit them once they know we’re here and they start running at us.”

  “After the first shot, we’ll start running,” Jarod hefted the knife in his hand. “I’ll try to take out whoever’s left standing with this. If you can land one more shot on them before they close the distance, we might almost have a fair fight.”

  The pair of them snuck forward just a bit more. Filgrin took cover behind a tree, while Jarod hid behind a bush a bit closer to the bridge. Jarod breathed out slowly, calming his breathing, and gave a thumbs-up to the other man. Filgrin muttered something under his breath, but knocked an arrow, took aim, and fired.

  The shot streaked through the air on a low arc, just passing underneath the branches of the tree. It flew on over open space, then over the bridge, finally stabbing into the back of one of the creature’s heads.

  The monster was leaning backwards when the arrow hit, straining to pull a partially-shattered board off the side. The muscles in its grip failed before the ones in its leg, and the death throes made it jump up and back after the arrow pierced its skull. It slammed into the wood floor of the bridge, its momentum carrying it tumbling backwards, and finally off the side, down into the chasm below.

  Its partner quickly noticed the fallen comrade, and said something in a throaty yell, calling out to the other group on the bridge which was a little farther off. The other pair turned around as the first one hopped from side to side, gesticulating wildly and miming its partner tumbling over the side.

  As the second pair began jogging to join the loner, Filgrin let loose another arrow. It sailed onward, flying past the same low-hanging tree branches, open space, and wood as the first. This time the creature was moving around though, and the arrow tip breezed past its shoulder, before hitting the chasm wall with a metallic clang.

  Three sets of fingers pointed directly at the would-be arrow assassin. Their element of surprise gone, Jarod and Filgrin would have to take out the three remaining on the bridge before they were able to reach either side to call for reinforcements. Jarod gripped the knife tightly in his hand, holding it at the ready as he ran forward and onto the bridge, his support archer on his heels.