By the light of the moon and the guidance of my brother’s left thigh, we carried on. Making our way towards the bridge with the help of Epictetus, who was somewhat of an expert on the constellations, as it turned out. I honestly don’t know why some people have problems with the constellations. Basically, all you do is look at it for a while, and pretty soon, a full line drawing appears on the constellation. If you are in the right mood, and you are very relaxed and lay down on a clear night with everything dark, sometimes you can almost hear a narrator telling you the story of each constellation.
Anyway, we arrived at where we thought the bridge probably was without encountering more Abandoned. I say where we thought the bridge was because we couldn't actually see it from where we were hiding, but our path had nearly converged with the main footpath that led to the bridge, which meant we should be close. Decius also claimed he could smell the sea.
As we had feared, a large quantity of Abandoned were on the path. Evidently waiting for us to arrive.
“How can we get by them?” asked Epictetus.
***
Decius eyed the moonlit enemy forces from his place in the bushes at the top of a hill. His position overlooked the path. He estimated he could see about a hundred by the moonlight. There could be far more. In all likelihood the bridge was close. The Abandoned must have used the path to get ahead of them. Now they were simply waiting for Decius and his refugees to come to them. That implied a level of growing coordination that Decius preferred not to think about right now.
The largest group of Abandoned that Decius and the refuges fought alone so far was twelve. Josh had done for maybe thirty or so with that little stunt on the hill. Even if all our forces came down on them from the hills with a perfect ambush. Even if the children could fight as grown men, we would all still die to the last person. Well no. We would die to the last mortal. That god would still probably live. Although, if he was captured, he would probably wish he were dead.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
As much as he was pleased by the thought of a god getting what they deserved, he needed to keep everyone alive and get them to safety. If he had to use a god then that’s what he would do. For now. But he would never rely on a god.
Decius respected the deep learning of Epictetus despite his strange naivety. Epictetus believed that they would indeed be safe if they could cross Last Bridge. Privately, Decius thought it might just be a very defensible position. Anyway, there weren't any other options. If the world could be destroyed by a strange decay and a god could show up and actually do something, however ineffectual, then there could be mystical islands that protect you from people gone mad.
If Josh had been a proper god he would have smited…smote…smit…destroyed the enemies before them in a single blow. Two or three at most. With maybe a couple targeted shots for any stragglers.
Decius slowly and quietly shifted his position. Careful not to rustle any leaves or put pressure on any twigs or branches.
“Any ideas?” Decius whispered to Epictetus.
“None that don’t involve putting a lot of our people in danger.” Breathed Epictetus in return.
“I HAVE AN IDEA!” Shouted Josh. Standing tall in plain sight a bit in front of us on the hillside.
“Gods!” cursed Decius silently. “Is he sure they can’t see him?”
“He assured me that they can neither see nor hear him unless he wants them to… or becomes careless.”
“...” Said Decius.
“I AM GOING TO GO INVESTIGATE!” Shouted Josh while running down the hill.
Some nervous minutes later, Decius suddenly heard some barking.
“What about smell?” Asked Decius.
V0.2.0 11/21/23