“The bridge is out.” Nevin mumbled, matching both the cat's tone and pacing but finding the simple four word phrase almost too cumbersome for his mouth to handle.

A fork-nosed beetle scuttled up the trunk of a nearby maple sapling, pausing in its ascent to flutter its wings in agitation at the curious lynx who had bent his head to have a sniff.

Nevin rubbed his forehead in advance of the dull ache swelling out from the still tender wound in the back of his skull. “No, hold on. You sure you're not thinking of Lassiter's bridge?”

Aidux cocked his head, his ear tufts flopping to the side. The beetle flinched at the sudden movement, but didn't move from its perch. “Wait, they have names? Which one is Lassiter's bridge?”

“About a quarter mile outside of town, on the main road. Crosses the Millercrik. Got washed out three Tendings ago. You said you went up the main road while you were tracking the soldiers. Was it Lassiter's bridge that was gone?”

“No, it wasn't that one. I remember because you told me that if I'd reached that bridge, I was too close to town. I hadn't reached it by the time I decided to turn back and check out the pig farm.”

The lynx nodded. “No, it was definitely the rope bridge. I was right next to the gorge.”

It was getting hard to breathe, thick coils of anxiety incrementally cinching down on his chest as the seconds ticked by. Nevin closed his eyes and straightened his posture. It didn't help. “Maybe you just had a bad angle. The bridge hangs below the edge of the cliff, so you probably couldn't see it from where you were. That makes sense. You just couldn't see it.”

“No, no,” Aidux protested, practically dancing in place. “I saw! I made sure. I got as close as I could without being seen.”

“Being seen? There were people?”

The cat nodded emphatically. “Yeah, more soldiers. They'd put up a whole camp on the far side of the gorge. I couldn't smell much over the fires, but I could still see a few shadows moving around inside the tents.

“The bridge was weird, though. On my side of the gorge, is was just hanging, but someone had tied new ropes to the other side, and lowered the far end into the gorge. Definitely not an improvement on the original design.”

Aidux poked the beetle with a claw, and the tiny creature finally thought better of position and, with a flurry of gossamer wings, took to the sky. “If you had problems with heights before, Nevin, you're gonna lose your mind now. It's like...they're expecting you to climb the bridge? How's that gonna work?”

“A drawbridge,” Nevin whispered, his eyes unfocused, distant. It made sense. If the soldiers really were going farm to farm, door to door, searching for something, it made perfect sense to control the only real way into and out of the area. Depending on the number of men at their disposal, searching the expansive Traagen Peninsula could take weeks, but if they could effectively prevent their target from leaving the area, the only hindrance to their mission would be their supply line.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Oh, that's smart,” the cat marveled, his silver eyes lighting up. “So they could pull it up and down whenever they wanted.”

It didn't matter. If Aidux was correct, it was no different than if the bridge had been lost in a storm. He wasn't going to convince a team of soldiers to allow him passage unless he knew exactly what they were looking for, and could ensure them he didn't have it.

Fat chance of that happening, though. The last two soldiers he encountered had seemed like normal enough people, but from Aidux's testimony, he suspected this group was the type to stab first and ask questions while he laid there, bleeding out.

Nevin grabbed his head and squeezed, trying to silence his pounding skull. He sank to his knees. “Then...I'm screwed. We're screwed. There's no way out.”

Furry paws pressed down on his shoulders. “Don't say that. We'll figure it out! We always figure things out together.”

He brushed away the tears of frustration forming in the corners of his eyes. “I don't see how, Aidux. We're trapped here. There's nowhere to go.”

“But...it's not like the bridge was an option anyway. How many times have you tried to cross the bridge anyway? Six? Seven? And every time, you don't even make it to the first plank before you change your mind.”

“It's different this time.”

The cat rolled his eyes. “That's what you say every time.”

“It's different!” Nevin shoved the cat away and shot to his feet. He snatched his pack out of the ferns, and with a feral cry, heaved it deeper into the woods. The pack spun and tumbled, crashing through the undergrowth and vomiting its contents in a rooster tail of clothing and foodstuffs.

When he turned back around, all that was visible of Aidux above the ferns was his silver eyes and pointed ears.

“Aidux, I-” The cat dipped lower, blinking up at him. Pain blossomed in his strained shoulder. I deserve that. Rubbing the aching joint, Nevin sank down into the foliage to join his friend.

The cat was right, of course, and Nevin suspected the bald-faced truth of the situation is what upset him the most. Careful planning and drive meant nothing in the face of the beast that was the Hyret bridge. If he couldn't even muster the courage to cross a thirty-foot span of wood and rope and nails, how could hope to survive the actual world on his own?

If he and Aidux didn't find a solution, and soon, soldiers would be the least of their problems. Dalen's spite and cruelty had no limits. If the soldiers didn't do it first, the old drunk was like to set the whole forest ablaze in his zeal to find and punish Nevin.

Nevin reached out and plunged his fingertips in the fur on either side of Aidux's face, pulling the cat close. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against his friend's. “I'm sorry, buddy. I didn't mean to yell.”

“I know,” Aidux whispered. “You're just scared.”

“I am. For the both of us.”

Aidux answered with a rumbling purr, nuzzling Nevin's face before taking a step back. “I can tell there's something going on with you. Something's changed. More than just the soldiers. And you don't have to tell me. It's okay. But I think talking to Ishen is a good idea. He always knows what to do. It'll all work out, you'll see.”

Nevin offered a defeated nod, knowing that it had been Ishen who assured him of the bridge's sovereignty as the only means onto or off the peninsula. He didn't feel like arguing just then, didn't feel like damaging the cat's nearly limitless optimism, especially not when optimism was in such short supply. If nothing else, Ishen needed to be warned before a group of soldiers showed up at his door and tossed him to the pigs.

But even then, even knowing what was coming, where would he go? Where would any of them go?