Lewis couldn’t be happier. Stuck back on the bridge, no more fighting needed, and far away from Jake.

155mm shell intercepted by Shield of the Divine. Mana cost: 18

Lewis’ shield occasionally intercepted an errant artillery shell, detonating them early. Most were aimed at the entrance to the bridge further back. Unless anything suddenly changed, his dwindling mana supply was steady.

He stood a few dozen feet back from the wreck of the Musveil. Almost the center of this part of the bridge, plus Elaine and Gregor were nearby in case he needed help. So far, nothing much had happened. He’d considered firing off the occasional sunbeam, but instead just put all his mana into the Shield. After everything, taking things a little easy sounded too good to him.

So he sat among the rubble, waiting for the cue that the bridge was taken and the day won.

Wait. Was someone moving among the bodies?

Lewis began to conjure a sunbeam, a small lance, taking mana he’d invested into the shield back into himself when a Scale stood up, tossing it into the ammo tractor.

Elaine blinked out of existence. Gregor was running away. And off the side of the bridge, the Scale dove off towards the river.

A beam of sunlight followed, but his attack only succeeded in punching a hole through the railing on the bridge's side.

No.

“They’re blowing up the bridge!” Lewis screamed. He turned and sprinted for the far side of the bridge. He invested all his mana into his shield and shrunk it to surround himself. No use trying to contain this blast to just the bridge.

If he concentrated enough, he might survive this-

The ammo tractor exploded.

His shield burst into bright light instantly as he was flung off his feet. He hurtled backward, ramming into a destroyed Scale vehicle.

Warning Shield of Dawn integrity is dropping rapidly! Mana reserve emptying at rate of 400 per second.

The bridge broke apart underneath him, concrete and metal ripping apart into chunks. He fell through screaming.

The water. The sky. The water. The sky. Lewis’ view shifted rapidly as the force threw him through the air. Something rammed into his chest, tearing a scream out of him as it drove deep inside.

His back exploded in pain as he collided with something metal, bones cracking. He gasped, and took a ragged breath as he fell down the length of a bridge support. He slid towards the river waters below. He put his feet against the sides, trying to slow his descent.

Multiple explosions have hit you. After damage reduction from armor and spells, you take 435 damage, reducing your hp to 14/650. You have no mana remaining! No organs at 0 HP currently. You have suffered the following conditions-

His legs hit something, halting his fall but also feeling like hammers to both of them. But he was stable. He let out his held breath.

It came out as a cough, blood spraying out as his vision focused.

A pair of metal cylinders stuck out of his chest. Pipes from something, long, thin, and stabbed deep into him.

Lewis tried to breathe, ragged choking attempts that made his chest burn.

You are at 12 hp. Bleeding will reduce you to 0 in 8 seconds.

He needed the pipes out. He couldn’t heal. All his mana had gone to the shield. But he couldn’t risk what might happen if they remained in his chest when the HP total reached 0. He tried to reach his arms for the first pipe. They wouldn’t move.

His vision darkened. His ragged breathing began to gurgle. Every breath felt like swallowing liquid fire.

10 hp

He knew he shouldn’t be this fearful, but now he'd forgotten why. He strained, trying to move, only for something to shift, and a cracking sound filled the air. Everything below his waist was dead. He couldn’t feel anything from it.

8 hp

“Oh fuck. Hang in there, Lewis.” The metal girder squealed and jolted underneath Lewis. “Fucking cheap ass Scale steel.

6 hp

“Hope your abilities trigger. This is going to hurt, kid.” Fresh pain ripped through Lewis’ body as the pipes shifted, being dragged out of his body. The pain remained dull and distant, even as both were ripped out of his torso.

4 hp

“Can you heal yourself? Lewis, stay with me!” Something hit his cheek, pain blooming across the side of his face. His vision came back a little, an armored figure coming into focus.

2 hp

I didn’t keep my promise. Lewis’ breath ragged, and choking gasps ceased entirely. His body went limp, someone holding onto him from up above.

0 hp

You have died within view of the sky. Your passive ability, Chosen of the Sun Goddess has triggered. Resurrect token for today at 0/1. It will refresh in 6.134 hours. You are at 50% hp.

Lewis drew in a breath, the fresh air filling his lungs. Above, Jake hung onto the metal girder of the bridge support with one hand, the other holding onto Lewis’ robes. Further down, the Malden River roared past, rivers rushing past even as chunks of the bridge still fell in, slabs of concrete falling from up above.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Good to see you alive, Lewis,” he yelled, the sound barely audible over that of the river rushing down below them. “Guess being a goddess’ chosen comes with some perks, doesn’t it?”

Lewis got out a weak “Yes” before a coughing fit seized him. After a half minute of hacking, he started to get it under control.

Lewis pulled himself further up the girder. The metal beam groaned and strained, the river's waters crashing into it.

“How do we get off of this?” He yelled up to Jake. Jake hadn’t moved at all, maybe not trusting his weight moving along the support.

“Well, if I stay on, it’ll probably collapse eventually. If I leap over to the shore, the force will probably collapse it as well. If I leap with you….additional weight will make it tight, but we should reach the shore.”

“What about the bridge?”

“No. The only part I’d trust to be stable enough is the part in Scale hands. They’re probably already preparing that section for demolition as well. I don’t exactly want a repeat of what just happened. Okay. Can you get onto my back?”

Lewis’ eyeballed it. There wasn’t much room, he felt tired enough to sleep for a week, and his entire body ached. But he probably could make it.

“Just don’t, you know, cut me with a spike or something?” He reached for a handhold on Jake’s armor, beginning to pull himself up.

“No guarantees,” the other Traveler said, holding still.

Lewis moved carefully, even as the shrieking of metal got louder. He shouldn’t rush, even if the entire girder was about to give way. There was too much chance it actually would collapse from a sudden force.

Eventually, he made it on top of Jake, sitting on him like a toddler on their parent’s shoulders, hands gripped tightly on Jake’s shoulder pauldrons.

“This is going to be awkward as hell. I’d say close your eyes, but ultimately, that’s up to you. Alright, five, four, three, two, one-“

Lewis closed his eyes before three. Underneath him, Jake jolted, and the wind blew against his face. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes to see the river bank approaching fast, and he braced himself against Jake.

They landed on the beach, the force hurling Lewis from Jake’s shoulders. He emerged from the sandy beachside, coughing and spewing sand.

You have not suffered enough force of an attack to suffer HP damage.

Well, thank god for- thank the goddess for that.

“How far from the bridge are we?” He asked Jake.

“Take a look for yourself.”

Lewis looked up, and the bridge was close, only a quarter mile away. Well, what remained of it. The entire front section was just gone the span between one concrete support and the other replaced by twisted pieces of metal and torn-apart concrete. Spars of metal were left on both end, but no path from one side to the other.

“Jake, Lewis. Over here.” The authoritative bark was Trevor, walking down the length of the beach. Their leader’s armor dripped water, soaked from what must have been a swim from the Malden’s waters to the shore. Possibly a far way down since Trevor walked from downstream.

“Boss. Took a swim?” Jake waved at Trevor, earning a glare in return.

“Do either of you two know who, or what blew up the bridge?” Trevor asked icily.

Mouth dry, Lewis spoke. “I saw the Scale that did it, but they’d already thrown a grenade into their big gun’s ammo tractor. Trevor, I should have been more on top of things. I should have noticed it sooner before it blew up the bridge.”

Trevor didn’t reply for a few seconds, then “Not your fault. You did your part perfectly. This one is on me for thinking we’d cleared them all out or Rebecca for not detecting some were still alive. Her and Lisa are already heading back to the bank of the river. We dig in there, though I doubt the Scales will try to cross.”

Jake frowned. “We could still push across. It’s only one section of the bridge they destroyed. The second one might go, but if we leapfrog repeatedly, we can get ahead of their engineers blowing up the sections, we could take the-“

“No,” Trevor cut him off. “Even if we made it, do you want to be on another section of the bridge when they set it off? The three of us? We have limits, Lewis. Not small ones, but they exist. Besides, I need you two with me. I’ve messaged the Stormsummoner. We’re finding whoever fell into the river and getting them out. If it’s a Scale, kill it. If it’s one of ours, drag them out.”

He turned to face the two of them, expression softening. “I understand wanting to end this campaign now. But we’re low on resources, low on HP, and those of us at Trost are probably just as exhausted. We take a breather, return in a month, and crush them. The Scales aren’t going anywhere.”

***

The water chilled Markos to the bone as he swam towards the far bank. It was a futile gesture of defiance and hope on his part. The far bank was miles away, and the river water was cold enough that he’d freeze to death long before he reached it.

The current didn’t help, the rushing waters of the Malden carrying him further and further downstream. He’d ditched his weapon long ago, his ammo, pretty much everything to stay afloat.

To his right, he could still see the bridge, the massive section gone, removed from the explosion. The shockwave had driven him underwater, forcing a desperate struggle to reach the surface before drowning.

He didn’t know if detonating the Musveil’s ammo tractor killed any Travelers yet. He might never know. The System interacted weirdly with explosions since the widespread production of them. Grenades you’d get the XP for, mines and artillery generally not, AT guns yes, incendiary explosives no, but flamethrowers yes.

He couldn’t begin to guess where the Musveil’s ammo belonged in that list .

Markos shivered, then kept on paddling, but his strokes became sluggish. The ice-cold water sapped his strength. Each foot took more and more effort. He’d falter soon, and the moment he did, he’d sink into the black watery depths.

He heard a boat engine somewhere behind him. Could he trust it? It might be a Scaverian boat, or it could be an Aetherian boat. He turned to face it just in time for a searchlight to swing to face him. The bright light burned his eyes, and cursing, he tried to paddle away.

“Over there!” A familiar voice yelled. Ferat. He stopped moving away, instead starting to puddle back towards the bright light. Something landed in the water in front of him, cold water spraying across his face. “Grab on.”

He felt around in the water, finding the rope. He tugged, and soon they were yanking him towards the boat, his hands locked on it as it felt like his arms were being pulled out of his sockets.

They hauled him onto the deck of a small vessel, crowded with other Scaverians, most dressed in naval uniforms. Ferat and two others guided him to a chair on the deck, Ferat talking the entire time.

“Can we get a blanket! Can’t believe you’re still alive. Can’t believe I’m alive either really. You injured from the blast?”

“No,” Markos answered shakily. “What are you doing out here?”

“River barges that fired the rockets earlier. They broke apart for safety. The captain of this one decided to show some initiative and try to collect survivors from the bridge. I insisted we wouldn’t leave till we’d found you. Oh shit.”

The sound of explosions echoed across the open water. Explosions went down the length of the second section of the bridge, supports crumbling as it fell into the water. Waves pushed outward, buffeting the boat. Markos clung to the railing as the boat tipped, feet sliding along the slick deck.

Eventually, the waters settled, and the boat stopped tilting. Markos watched as another section of the bridge went. “Looks like the bridge is handled. You think anyone else is the river?”

“Can’t know for sure, but this captain is insistent on picking up anyone we can find. But we’ll head back before the sun comes, I think. We might get some sleep. Who am I kidding? Probably back on the front as soon as we get to the far bank.”

Markos chuckled weakly, then turned back to the collapsing sections of bridge. Ferat was right. Not that there’s be any choice. Soon there would be no place to run from the frontline to.

End of Part 1: Trost