Lucas stared across the river at the fields on the other side. “It’s only waist deep… It may be moving fast, but it’s only waist deep. Then again, with the river running down along part of the base, I could get pulled under the base.” Thinking carefully about crossing, Lucas decided his best bet was to hike south, downriver of that potential hazard and try and find a better crossing.
Twenty minutes south and there still wasn’t a good crossing point. The river narrowed but deepened. Turning back north, Lucas decided to check out the area around the former airport. Logically when the river shifted it would try and take the path of least resistance and use whatever drainage culverts existed at the airport.
Forty minutes of walking north and he found something. It wasn’t necessarily safe, but it looked a lot safer than trying to walk straight through the river. The raging river had dug out a path through a drainage ditch underneath one of the runways. There were a few inches of the river that continued above the concrete, but most of the water was below the concrete. You could see the land that had been eaten away under the concrete, leaving little support towards the center of the river.
Walking just past the runway, Lucas could see that there weren’t any other better options present. The other runways had already collapsed into the river, leaving a rocky mess that was sure to batter and bruise him if he slipped.
Walking back just south of the Runway, Lucas was considering if he could brace the runway when someone shouted at him. “Hello over there! Are you looking for a way across?”
“Yes.” replied Lucas, “I want to trade with the village that lay on that side of the river.”
“I can help, but you need to be very careful on this river, there is a something blocking part of the river just south of here. If you run into it while you are in the water, you are done for.”
“I saw that,” replied Lucas, not wanting to mention he was from inside the dungeon in case the village decided not to help him. “I tried approaching from south of the shield first but couldn’t find a good crossing point.”
“Aye, and you won’t find one for a good long while headed south. But the concrete bridge you see in front of you is a bit of a trap. As soon as you try and cross the concrete will tip into the gap and you will fall into the river if you aren’t ready for it. If fall into the river, chances are you will be dragged towards the shield to an untimely death.”
“If you go north just a bit further, maybe two kilometers, there is a bridge over the river. We only have the one because we have to guard it against monsters coming from the west. Our biggest trading partners are to the north, so there hasn’t been any reason for us to build another bridge to the south. You go far enough south though and you come to the Kingdom of Ketuk, and you will find many bridges. Not sure why they like bridges down there so much. Each bridge just adds more places for you to defend.”
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Turning south, Lucas was shocked. He couldn’t see the military base. He couldn’t see the burnt forest on the roof. There was a slight shimmer in the air, but otherwise, it was if the space that the dungeon occupied just wasn’t there. “Hmp,” thought Lucas, “that explains why nobody came looking while the roof was burning. I half expected people lining up at the river waiting to see what happened.”
“Thank you, kind sir. I will travel the little bit further north and then come down to the village. Is there anything I should know as I head north?” questioned Lucas.
“Yeah, you are headed into wolf territory. Be careful,” shouted the man. “Hope to see you when you make your way into the village. You can come find me in the traders' hall, the names Joe, just ask around,” said Joe. “Tell them knuckleheads up at the bridge that you are headed to trade with Joe if they give you any trouble.”
“Thanks’ Joe, I will!” replied Lucas.
With that Joe back to the village. It was pretty quiet in the woods, so Lucas figured he was pretty safe, as long as he kept an ear out and his head up he should hear or see the wolves before they attack him. He was safe on the east side, and he just passed through from the south side. So as long as he watched the west and north directions he should be safe. It wasn’t like he was walking through woods at the moment. It was mostly plains broken up by the sporadic trees and stretches of concrete over what used to be the runways of a fairly small airport.
Before he could see the bridge, he could hear the shouting of the guards and the sound of wolves. Cresting a hill, Lucas took stock of the situation in front of him.
There were three guards standing side by side defending the bridge. Facing them was a full pack of wolves. While a few lay dead in front of the guards, most were snarling and snapping at them as they slowly pushed them back towards the stone bridge. Some of the guards looked a bit worse for wear. One of the guards had what appeared to be blood seeping into his clothes on his sword arm. Another was limping as they slowly retreated across the bridge. If they hadn’t finished off the wolves in another 30 feet of retreating, the wolves would be able to flank the men.
Casting his spells, Lucas prepared for a fight. “Haste! Mind over matter! Windshield!” With his passive spells set, Lucas snuck towards the back of the wolf pack. The wolves were so engrossed in attacking the men in front of them, that the wolves in the rear didn’t notice anyone was behind them until the first wolf was dead. The dying yelp notified the other wolves that another predator was among them. About half the wolves turned to face the oncoming threat. As they did, Lucas yelled at the human defenders, “You are my allies!” and with that, he cast “Flames!”