As Bright skipped along the bridge, humming to herself, I rolled up to Clarissa.

"Hey, you OK?" I asked. My wheelchair had developed a squeak as we had traveled so far with it. Clarissa looked at the chair. I could tell many emotions were competing for her thoughts.

"Yeah. Sure. Your friend Bright is quite a girl." She remarked dryly, running her hand along the rail. The bridge was fully enclosed in a cage-like fence, even on the top. Like the bridge was going through a wire mesh tube. There were lights under the railing but that only accentuated the feeling that beyond the darkness was ... something.

Clarissa gave me a look then turned to Bright.

"Miss Bright!" She called.

Bright looked over her shoulder and smiled.

"Yes, 'issa?"

I winced. I wondered how much of an earful I would get later for all this. Or maybe the silent treatment?

Clarissa didn't bat an eye.

"Why this cage around the bridge? Is it to keep people from falling?"

Bright made a moue with her lips and shook her head vigorously.

"Oh no. It's to keep the Eaters out."

Clarissa and I exchanged glances.

"Eaters? What are they? Some kind of bird?" Clarissa asked .

Bright looked up and placed a finger on her cheek as if lost in thought for a moment.

"Do you have any food? Like some bread, or jerky?" She asked.

"Oh sure." Clarissa rolled her shoulder and dropped her pack. A bit of meat was in her hand in a heartbeat.

"Are you hungry?" She asked.

Bright giggled.

"Oh no no. It's not for me. I don't eat people food. It's for the Eaters. Put it outside the fence a little. Watch your hands! They are bitey!"

Clarissa held the strip of jerky outside the fence a few inches. With absolutely no warning a creature the size of an alligator smacked into the fence, bit into the jerky, and disappeared into the darkness.

"Yeeeeep!" Clarissa cried, flinging herself backward.

It had looked like a mouth, with claws, wings, and teeth. Lots of teeth.

Bright chuckled. Then gave us a wide eyed innocent look.

"Eaters" she said finally and turned to continue skipping down the pathway.

----------------------------------------

We reached the end of the bridge, and walked into an opening on a sheer cliff face. There was no ledge on this side of the bridge, it just connected directly to the stony wall and into a short hallway. There were flameless torches on the rough stone walls, set in evenly spaced sconces. The air was noticeably colder here, as the temperature had dropped once we started walking on the bridge.

Bright gave us a big smile as she looked over her shoulder. Her pert nose and short hair gave her a distinctly elfin appearance that I hadn't put together before. Her excitement seemed barely contained as she pulled out a huge key from ... somewhere ... and pressed it into the lock on a heavy metal studded oaken door at the end of the hall.

"I'm so excited. I've NEVER had guests before. I'm so glad I tidied up before you came." Bright said wistfully.

As she pushed the door open into the next room my jaw dropped. Up till now, we had seen wonders, and architecture that seemed built for giants ... on acid. But this next room took all that to another level. Clarissa and I entered the huge circular room and took in all the features like two kids gawking at a county fair for the first time.

Picture a huge room - completely half-spherical --- dome-like -- filled to the ceiling with shelves full of oddly shaped bottles, books strewn all over, glowing gems that floated in bell jars, hanging herbs, a mad assortment of items like a cross between a witches herb room and Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory. There were devices lying everywhere - mostly brass or iron and brass - some glowing, other quiescent, while still others hummed or made other electronic sounds.

While all this was overwhelming, it paled in comparison to the immense structure in the middle of the room. Imagine a gated circular pool full of blue glowing fluid with a singular bridge that led to a pillar of rapidly spinning and churning blue light. It was as if you forced a giant waterfall into a barrel wide pillar of light. I was reminded of something like the Warp Drive in Star Trek meets the inner room of a T.A.R.D.I.S. from a show called Doctor Who.

The sounds were quiet, but almost overwhelming in their diversity. Beeps and whooshes and hisses from steam escaping. The smell was akin to motor oil meets vanilla cream. There were also other doors set at regular intervals around the room - each one giving off a different color of eerie light.

Bright danced around the room - flitting from object to object as she sought to show us everything she had collected or created. It was like meeting a 5 year old for a sleepover and having her show you all her toys, books, and clothes.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"So this is a spatial capacitor, and this is concentrated fairy dust, and this is a book on parallel univ - "

"Enough!" Clarissa cried out. She was holding her head in her hands over her ears. She looked overwhelmed to the degree that I thought she might actually pass out.

Bright gave Clarissa a hurt look, but spun to me and smiled.

"So, Aegis. What do you think? Like it?" She blinked at me with wide expectant eyes.

"It's all so overwhelming. Did you do all this?" I gestured at ... everything. She nodded.

"And what is this thing in the middle? It's so… vibrant." Clarissa asked. The light from the pillar of energy played off her eyes, making her look starstruck.

"Oh, that's an easy one. That's ... " she paused for dramatic effect and raised her hands with palms to the sky - once again like the stage magician " ... me!"

"What? I don't understand, Bright. Aren't you ... you?" I gestured to her bouncy figure.

She chuckled.

"No, silly. This is just a .... What did Kenny call it? A pro-jeck-shun. Projection! That's it! He always had the right words. I'm basically pure Mana. But it would be pretty boring just flowing around the castle like some mindless light beams, right?" She smirked. Clarissa looked a bit .. ill.

"You, you're pure Mana? How is that even possible?" Clarissa managed.

"Simple! Kenny made me. Just like he made Aegis." She acted like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Anyway .. " She clapped her hands and suddenly she looked different. Instead of a sun dress, short curls, and bare feet, she was dressed in a white lab coat over a dark bodysuit. She had large goggles on her forehead and white gloves. She was the epitome of a Mad Scientist. I expected her to start laughing evilly while holding up her hands in triumph.

"Let's get down to business. Aegis. Kenny knew that you would get into scrapes, and possibly major damage. I was schooled on every aspect of your body." Her eyebrows bounced under the goggles. I blushed.

"So you can fix him?" Clarissa managed to say between gritted teeth.

"Oh 'issa. I can do more than just fix him. I can make him better!" She clapped her hands -- which was somewhat muffled by the gloves -- and bounced slightly on the balls of her feet.

Fix me?

A thrill of electricity seemed to arc down my spine. I could walk again? How I had taken that for granted before I was pulled into this world. I had taken a lot of things for granted, it seemed. The very thought that I could be made whole - or at least 'more whole' since my arm was still missing - filled me with joy.

"I've been learning a lot about magic, science, spirits, and other things I can't mention in mixed company" she winked at me. Clarissa dropped her arms to her sides - her hands in fists.

"You know, maybe I should just leave. You have a back door to this place? I'll risk the goblins eating me ... I guess." Clarissa was seething.

"Please don't go, 'issa. I've been so terribly lonely here. Just with Argent and Boris, and the stuffy old Archive. I've never had a real friend before." Bright walked over and touched Clarissa's hand.

Clarissa looked at Bright, then at me. She sighed.

"Plus, I'll need you if we want to make Aegis whole again." Bright gave a hesitant smile.

Clarissa was surprised.

"Need me? What for?"

"Weeelll. You see, I need to go back into the Source. That's what Kenny called the big shiny column thingy there. And Aegis will have to enter it as well. That will leave nobody here to run the controls. "

Bright took Clarissa's hands and swayed them gently back and forth.

"Pleassse? Without you - Aegis would burn up like a little bit of charcoal in my Source. He needs to be dipped in for just a few minutes, and then POP! Out he comes good as new."

Clarissa looked at me. Several emotions passed through her face. "Well, Aegis. Do you trust me? What if I just walk off while you two are .... Sourcing? "

I rolled up to Clarissa.

"Look, I know you barely know me. And you have no reason to risk anything being here. I've already imposed on you so much. But... I have a chance to be whole again. I'm sorry I didn't mention the attack. I only remember a few seconds. Someone very evil did their best to destroy me. And they had ... glowing eyes."

"Oh man" Clarissa replied.

"Just like whoever killed the Wizard Ken? Wow." She paced back and forth.

*Aegis, I caution you about trusting this human. If she does not complete the process and eject you on time, Bright's energy will burn you out like a ... broken light bulb? Is that right?*

"I get it, Interface."

"Well, you ARE part of my guild, Aegis. And you will have to do as I say after this .... girl fixes you. You will owe me big time. And I'll expect a payback. " She managed, she looked down at her fingernails, as if they needed tending to.

"I'll do whatever you want. As long as it's not .. you know ... killing someone" I answered.

Clarissa looked stricken.

"Geeze, Aegis. What kind of girl do you think I am?" She replied.

"Oh! Oh! I know this one!" Bright said as she held her arm up excitedly.

"You're a junior member of the thieves guild. And you've been doing jobs behind your father's back for the past two years as a way to escape your fate as a shopkeeper?" Bright said enthusiastically.

"Did I get that right?" She added.

Clarissa took a step back and placed her hand on her heart as if stricken by the words Bright had said.

I arched an eyebrow.

"Is this true Clarissa? That explains a lot." I said

She stood up straight, chin jutted out and arms to her sides, in fists, defiant.

"Well, what if it is? Are you going to go lock me up now? You don't know what it's like living a boring life day in day out, sitting in a shop, waiting for customers that either never come, or come asking for absurdly stupid things. I would go mad if I stayed with my father."

"No no. I think that's really cool. So you're a secret thief. That's bad-ass." I said.

Clarissa shook her head. "I don't know what that means. Did you just insult me?"

Her face was turning red.

"No, I think you're amazing. I had parents that treated me like I was some burden. I was trapped in a hospital with no friends, no way out. But I never thought to try to escape that life, and try to make something of myself. You're pretty awesome."

Clarissa blushed.

"You're very odd, Aegis. If another boy talked to me like you do, I would probably slit his throat and leave him in a back alley." She half smirked.

"Well then. I'm glad I'm not on your hit list." I said.

Clarissa blanched, and for a moment her face turned white with fear, then she came back to herself and walked over to Bright.

"What do I have to do?" She turned her back to me.

Bright looked over Clarissa's shoulder at me. She had a surprisingly thoughtful expression.

I realized that behind the bubbly, bouncy girl persona, there resided an incredibly powerful, driven, and intelligent personality that I never, EVER wanted to be on the bad side of.

"Well, first off, have you ever read a gauge before? It's a little box with a squiggly line in it ...."