Chapter Forty: The Bridge

The convoy of carriages left Breadtown in the morning. Nathaniel rode on the carriage beside Jason. Freya rode her horse near the front. Lord Redran sat on the back of one of the carriages.

They had picked up new soldiers, three asian swordsmen, they wore Samurai Armour and each had a pair of Katanas. They also hired a sellsword, a cook and the talking cat decided to join the party as well. The cat was currently sleeping in the back of a carriage, nestled in some blankets on top of the sacks of rice. The cat had somehow talked Redran into accepting his help. He was going to be a knight.

The party rode for a few hours, passing cottages, farms and forests.

Eventually the party arrived at a bridge. It was a long stone bridge. It crossed over a wide river. The carriages began to roll across. When the army had made it halfway across, a giant emerged from the forest on the other side. He stood, waiting. Behind them, from the road they had just come from, another giant and a small army of bandits emerged from the bushes.

Both of the giants held clubs. The horses got scared. One of them bucked their rider to the ground and ran towards the first giant. It slipped past, the giant wasn’t trying to kill an innocent horse. Lord Redran told everyone to hold positions. The men started preparing to defend their position.

The giants began to roar. They sprinted towards the carriages. The giants did not see Freya turn into a lady beetle. She flew towards the giant ahead of them and re-appeared on the giant’s neck. She stabbed the huge man with her brother’s enchanted sword. Electricity crackled and flowed forth from the stab wound on the neck. The sword had the power of lightning.

The giant fell to the ground dead. The wound from his neck was smoking gently.

This impressed Batuuk, who was watching from a distance. Giants were hard to kill.

Fire arrows rained down on the convoy from the forest behind them. Some hidden catapults started to rain boulders on the far side of the bridge. The boulders landed very hard and began to break the bridge.

“Forward, now!” Redran shouted. All of the knights began to run for the shoreline in front of them.

The carriages raced towards the bridge exit. More boulders landed, and the bridge ahead was hit and reduced to half a lane. The carriages would have to be precise.

The horseback riders made it to shore first.

The carriages came close to falling into the water, but with enough speed. They made it past the destroyed part of the bridge.

The carriage in the rear was clipped by a boulder, and it broke a corner of the carriage. The wood splintered. The carriages were now on fire, due to the fiery arrows.

Redran looked back at the bridge. Three of his men had died due to arrows. They lay on the bridge motionless.

He used his magic to pick up a large broken chunk of the bridge. He lifted the chunk high into the sky and dropped it onto the remaining half of the bridge.

The bandits were trapped on the other side of the river.

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Redran commanded everyone to run. The carriages kept a rapid pace all the way to the next village.

Nightfall came and the army arrived at a beautiful castle. The castle was strong and sturdy.

The city was called Farimor. They would be sure to find a lot more knights, horses and equipment in a big city like this.

Redran led the group to the stables and dismounted. He began to speak to the stablehand.

“Oh my god, it’s Lord Redran! You’re bloody famous, mate. My wife’s got a poster of your book cover on our wall!” The stable owner shouted. He was an old man. “That tome you wrote! Dragons of the Frozen North! That one is my favourite! I can’t believe I’m seeing you right now in person! You must be five hundred years old, mate. I’m bloody seventy, how do you look so young?”

Redran chuckled and continued his conversation with the stable owner. Jason, Freya and Nathaniel walked to an inn with the other soldiers. They all were in dampened spirits. They’d lost three men, possibly six, as the other scouts had never returned.

Jason, Freya, Nate and a few other soldiers shared a drink around the table.

“Gannon was a strong young man. Wait till his mother hears about this,” one of the other soldiers said.

“Gannon introduced me to my wife.” Another man said.

“To Gannon, and Percival, and Rannok!” Said a different soldier. He raised his glass to cheers. Everyone at the table clinked their metal cups and drank some ale.

“Rannok was the best drinker in the whole city. He could put back beers like he was getting paid a hundred Dime each cup. This one is for Rannok!” One of the soldiers said. He then downed an entire glass.

“Chug, Chug, Chug, Chug!” Shouted the soldiers at the table. Nathaniel saw everyone else chanting, and decided to join in. The soldier finished his drink, and then Nathaniel, without saying a word, started chugging too. This inspired Jason to finish his drink too. The soldiers chanted for the two and then cheered as they both finished. Nathaniel’s brain went cold as the icy ale gave him a rush. Jason laughed and relaxed a little.

Freya walked to the bar, she asked about getting a room for the night. The bartender took her money and gave her a key. She then bought a bottle of wine and decided to retire for the night. Jason appeared next to her at the bar.

“That looks vintage,” he said, gesturing to the bottle in her hand.

“It’s a couple years old, at least.” She said, with a sly smile. “Want to come get drunk in my room?” She asked. Jason was caught off guard.

“Do you mean like, right now?”

“No, tomorrow night.” She said sarcastically. “Of course right now, come on. Or is your girlfriend gonna turn me into a stone statue for drinking with you?” She said playfully.

“Stella, she. I mean… I can come drink but I’m not sleeping in the same bed with you.” Jason said. He was honestly surprised by Freya’s confidence. She was beautiful too. Jason’s heart was with Stella though, they were childhood best friends, and he’d finally begun to court Stella.

Jason felt confident some drinks in Freya’s room would not lead to romance. Not today.

They entered Freya’s room and inspected the furniture. A small table with two armchairs sat in a corner, a queen bed with a soft mattress and down-filled pillows and duvet. The room had an oil lamp, already burning, mounted on the wall. It had a small window, and a small bathroom.

Jason sat down on the chair while Freya jumped backwards on the bed. She lay in the soft blankets and they talked for a few hours. Jason learned about her elf culture, and why she was travelling. Jason told her all about his life growing up in Buttermilk as a young blacksmith. He was always burning his hands while he made things.

A few hours later, Jason and Freya fell asleep. Jason slept uncomfortably, sitting in an armchair with a small blanket, while Freya sprawled out under the soft blankets of the queen bed in the room. Three wine bottles lay empty on the floor. A stack of playing cards sat messy on a counter. They’d become close friends.