Yaaa!" Parcival jerked awake. It hurt, oh it hurt to move. He rolled off the blanket and the dry bitter pine needles stuck to his lips, he spat them off. "Furrg-wah?" He sputtered. The words refused to come outright. "For Olenus sakes! Are you—" Merryn ducked and rolled into a ball, the grass and leafs sticking to her clothing. An enormous jade blur of gods-knows-what jumped overhead. A slow hiss escaped from its maw of fangs. It weaved in and out of the silver trees as it stalked her. She turned and ran over. Han padded quickly over his white ears flattened down, and whiskers quivering. Parcival froze. A shiver coursing up and down his back. That... That is not good. Sacred heavens help us, not again! The wildlife was so hostile this year. The size of the thing just didn't want to register. "Move!" Han said. He let out a harsh breath. Sweat coated his palms as he pulled on the sword handle, it slipped spinning away and plowed into the ground. He swore several expletives. Heat rushed over his face. Oh, Olenus, don't fault me. The Jade cat bounded on the sword and bit it in half. It chuckled as it stepped back into the endless shadows of the woods disappearing. Merryn spun about, her sweat-soaked hair came undone from the leather tie, covering half her face. He pulled up slow and easy favoring the still sore side and walked over then touched her shoulder. She flinched but relaxed a second later then shoved her hair back. "Give me a moment," she said. She plopped down on the ground cross-legged with her head in her hands. He stood it was easier to simply stand. The creature seemed to be gone, but still... After a while, she exhaled slowly then stood. Her body shimmered before vanishing from view. It was unnerving when she did that! Her voice whispered from behind. "I'm going to go scout ahead." "Don't take too long," he said. ##### Not much later she appeared in front of him. "It's all clear! Let's get going!" It hurt to move but fighting that beast just wasn't possible. Where was grandfather's power now? It never lasted long and came and went with the wind. Far ahead the deafening roar of the Vetocroft Rapids assaulted his ears. The ground cut short ending there. Here a flimsy rope and plank bridge stretched across the canyon. The canyon spanned a good hundred feet, the frothy waters smashed onto the sides of it twisting and turning its reach without end. High waves sprayed like spittle of a behemoth's open maw, ready to swallow all that dared to enter. In the middle of the bridge, he helped Merryn untangle a boot tie from a bit of broken bridge rope. On leaning partly over favoring the sore ribs, the potion of ice slipped free of the shirt pouch, he caught it before it fell and put it back. She smiled, nodded, and slowly went forward. He pointed to the end of the bridge on the north side of the canyon, beyond this a wide dirt path that lead to a small trade village. "Is the city big? Tell me this isn't the only way to it," Merryn said without turning. "There are easier ways but not necessarily better." Han grumbled several foreign words. A different roar became mixed with the rapids. There it was again. Merryn and Han stiffened. Their ears swiveled following the sound. Lo'! The jade cat sat in the middle, on its haunches. A slow smile of fang spread as long as its face was wide. The beast would not quit. "I should've stayed home," said Han. Merry's daggers clanged from the sheathes. It pointed at Merryn, then leaned back, and breathed in deeply, like the bellows of a furnace. Out of the sides of its mouth wisps of smoke trailed out and its cheeks puffed out. "Kind mother protect us!" He backpedaled right into her. "Run!" It released a breath onto the bridge breathing forth a burst of fire that engulfed what it touched in an instant. The fire a crackling demonic wind that burst into a mass of flames as it rushed past popping and crackling as it ate the ropes. The fire reached the end of the bridge it burst into a mass of flames. The planks underfoot fell free into the rapids. More planks under Han's feet gave way as the ropes tied to them turned to ash. "Help!" Han called out, his voice shrill. Parcival lept over, caught his hand. Ignoring a sharp pang he tried to pull him up. And, shook as his ribs screamed, he held Han out as he climbed to an unburnt section. Merryn came back crawling on top of the left supporting bridge rope cable. She took off a right hip pouch, and pulled out a long grappling hook, leaned over, and dangled it by Han. He shook his head, eyes wide. "Please! Grab it!" She stretched closer. The ropes frayed and snapped arching up as they catapulted from each other in rapid secession. "Now Han!" Parcival yelled. Han caught it and as she pulled him up, the fire whooshed through the line of the cable, setting it ablaze. The fiery inferno consumed it with whooshing breath. She screamed, dropped the rope-bound hook it bounced and caught on a plank. She collided with Han, pulled him to her, and wrapped her arms around him. They plunged under the rapids. It swallowed them like a hungry angry spirit. Burning tears blurred his vision. "Merryn! Han!" he yelled. The hook slid off the planks he ran over and took it and jumped off the bridge. No time. Act. He shuffled after them while trying to keep an eye on their bobbing heads as the rapids below carried. This was going nowhere. "What to do? Tell me!" His foot caught a twisted an exposed root tripping him. Again, the ice potion slid out of the pouch. He blinked. Maybe this? Though, this won't work on the whole river. Way below farther northwest at the bottom of the canyon, the ancient petrified wood bridge of the Verto's still arched across. Praise them, even over two thousand years later their works still stood. Most of the cracked slanted posts still jutted from the riverbed, some pieces littered part of the bank at the end of the bridge. They were just there, where did they go? Minutes passed before Han popped up near the bridge. Merryn wasn't with him. There! Parcival cringed as Merryn slammed into a pair of boulders jutting out of the bank, wedging her between them. Sweat dripped off his forehead, he ripped of a shirt sleeve placed the bottle on the hook, and secured it with the fabric, knotting it. Let this work. He spun the rope end of the graphing hook and aimed at the bridge. It missed. At least it didn't break. Again, it missed. Not this time. He peered over the canyon edge, it did not look too hard. A few minutes and sore fingers later he stood on the riverbank. The boulders still held Merryn, but Han's limp form floated under the bridge. Got to get this right. Spinning it faster and faster he let the rope fly to its end before clasping it. He held his breath. Heartbeats pounded in his ears. The bottle smashed on a post. He squinted. At first, nothing happened.

A cold breeze picked up then slammed into him he dug his feet into the ground pushing back into the wind. Father's potion not only froze the bridge but a good twenty feet of the river around it. Unfortunately, it froze Han and Merryn too. No. No. He worked his way over along the river bank water splashed his feet as he stepped closer to the bridge. What fool, a great big fool! Please let them be alive.

The water rose to his waist and pushed him back as he gouged his fingers into the mass of ice. He held a breath. On top of the ice, he slid over to Han. He hasn't fully frozen a good fourth of his body stuck out. He exhaled. Merryn. Half crawling, half sliding, he reached her. The ice stopped just below her chin and shoulder that arm free. He did a double-take. Under the ice, her left hand held a dagger jammed into a crack in the rock. Was she conscious before the ice hit?

He kicked and pounded on the ice, but this was a waste of time. He shivered, the chill of the ice seeped into his legs. There had to be something. Some way. He went over to Han again and tugged on his back. Stuck tight. With a sword, it would be possible to crack it. Crack it. Cracked. Weren't their posts somewhere?

His numb stiff fingers could not grip the edge of the ice, he slid straight off and into the water. "No, not like this!" The current spun pulled him out past the bridge then a separate wave tore him past Han, lifted him, and dropped him on top of Han.

Several more attempts later he reached the bridge and half-crawled to the end of it and plopped onto the bank. He gagged, choking on the swallowed water. Vomiting, he staggered over to the nearest posts. His mind went bank focused solely on finding a small yet sturdy post. Several minutes later back by Han slammed the post into the ice in front of him. Hurry up, faster.

Why won't it crack? A sharp pinch on his side. "I don't care!" Ignoring the pain he lifted the post above his head using every last bit of energy left and slammed it hard. Did it? On bent knees, he ran his fingers over the ice. A faint line appeared in the point of impact.

Crack.

Another line followed by more spreading out in every angle, a webbing of cracks ran behind and around Han and spread over to Merryn. Chunks fell into the river and several underfoot, the boom of the ice tearing apart scared several birds airborne. He scrambled closer to Han tugging on his vest. Han popped free. Parcival fought back over to the river bank and laid Han down well away from the water. He ran back to Merryn. He tugged and pulled, but she wouldn't budge. That's right. The dagger. He kicked it free and dragged her back to the riverbank.

He sat down, between them, and plopped on his back, breathing in burning breaths.

They both woke and a few minutes later shivering, some ice chunks stuck to their clothing.

"You two seriously need a luck potion. Or the whole blasted vat." He smiled at Merryn with a lopsided grin.

Merryn shivered bent down and made a motion like to smack him. In a blur, she hovered over his head and kissed his cheek. "I—I'm—glad you're here." Then she went over to Han to help pull off chunks of ice.

Parcival's mouth parted open then shut. Just when you think... never mind.

"Glad you're alright fur-ball."

Han rolled over, stood up water dripping off his whiskers, and shook his body, spraying water everywhere.

"Don't call me fur-ball." He grinned at her as he wrung out his tail.

"Let us eat fast and keep going."

She stepped forward. “The cat acted strangely. Maybe we should go another way.” Rubbing her wrist back and forth she paced while darting glances all around.

“That would take too long.” His voice raised higher than he cared for.

Her hands raised and back down again. “How do you fight something that breathes fire?”

She jumped when a Wolfren swooped down into the tree next to her and howled, its pointed ear tufts and fat rounded beak resembled a muzzle. Was it good or bad luck to see one? The bird dove into a calmer part of the river after a fish.

A nagging thought ran around. “Bring water with.”

“Huh?” She tilted her head. “We don’t have anything to carry it in.”

This has to work. Her cheeks are sunken in more than before. “How big can that pouch of yours get anyway?” He went over and poked it.

“Think about it, it won’t work, there are too many things in it.” She untied it and pulled it open wide and tilted it at him. An assortment of metal tools, quills, a small knife, dried meat, a smaller second pair of dangers, twine, and many scrolls. “It’s not one of those infinite pouches.”

He tapped his chin for a moment. "You're right." This time carefully to make his tone soothing. He paused. "Do you think it'll come back here?" He arched his neck taking in full height of the canyon wall. This side wasn't much worse than the last, nor hard to gain a foothold what with all the rocky crevices. He waited.

She blew out her cheeks and huffed. "Great choices here. Stay and get eaten, or have some squishy robey decide I'm a demon." She breezed past climbing at a good pace considering how shaky she looked.

Han kept his face straight, very straight, and followed her.

About time! Reminder to self, never argue with her.