Dragon Realm Scorch

With a grunt, Guster and Avalon's borgren came to a stiff halt at the edge of the canyon. A rope bridge stretched across, but the lumpy reptile refused to move. The rope that held the old, rickety bridge together was tattered and worn, far past its prime. The bridge itself swayed back and forth as the taunt ropes creaked under stress and age. The two looked over the edge to see the Zacheriah river bob in waves as it sliced between the two cliffs below. It rushed around a maze of rocks, crashing into small waterfalls heading to a gentler part of the river miles to the south.

“Come on, you scabby beast! We need to make it across de bridge before Siv gets here!” Guster swatted the beast with a thin riding crop, as if the animal would understand him. Finally, he gave in. “It’s no use, we’ll have to go de rest of de way on foot.”

Guster climbed down from the wagon and inched closer to the first wooden plank. He gingerly tapped the bridge with his foot. His flesh turned a pale yellow as a wave of dizziness invaded his head.

“Ugh, never been one for heights…” he said. He looked at Avalon and bowed, “Fair maidens first, blue.”

Avalon rolled her eyes and hopped off the wagon. She patted the gentle borgren on its head and pushed Guster to one side. He stumbled, teetering on the cliff's edge as Avalon started across the bridge with careful, catlike steps.

As the two trekked slowly across the treacherous bridge, their pursuer galloped to a stop behind them. Siv pulled on her reins and dismounted off her horse. Taking stock of her arsenal hanging on leather straps inside her coat, Siv produced a thin needle from her white duster. Pushing back the flap of her coat to not be over-encumbered by the heftiness of the clothing, she flung the needle, taking aim at Guster.

Guster felt something like a mosquito nip him. His leg went limp. Numb. It dragged behind him as he flopped forward. Another mosquito bite tagged his upper back. With a yelp he called out to Avalon but the Silent One had already hurdled over him to come to his aid.

She slid out her Silencer and knelt on the wobbly planks. With one keen eye on her opponent, she glanced at Guster, “Can you walk?”

Guster winced as he desperately dragged him himself at a sluggish pace. “Nah, I’m out of dis fight, Avalon, see ya!”

“Then we can’t fight, we have to hurry across.”

Siv glared angrily at the woman that stood between her and her bounty. “Get out of here, Avalon. This is between me and my partner!”

Avalon grunted as he shouldered Guster’s limp body. “I owe this man a life debt. My conscience won’t be cleared until it is paid off.” She took a step back. “I suggest leaving before this gets any uglier.”

Siv fired a single needle towards Avalon. Just a warning shot. Just to show that she wasn’t leaving this bridge until Guster was dead or in her clutches. She didn’t care which came first.

Avalon deflected the thin steel needle with prowess and finesse.

“Siv, join us, we can still capture Uther together!” Guster huffed. His energy waned as he struggled to keep upright against Avalon.

Siv shook her head. “You don’t get it, do you? The Network didn’t just blacklist you!” She pulled out a buck knife from her belt and motioned to the ropes that anchored the bridge. “They threatened me, too! They gave me an ultimatum: deal with you; whether that means bring you in or kill you, or they cut ties with me forever!” Siv began to cut the woven ropes. One by one each strand plucked apart. “I never wanted it to come to this. Your friendship always meant a lot to me…” She clenched her teeth in resentment, “But it seems all you did was walk all over me.”

Avalon sheathed her sword and threw Guster over her shoulder. She grimaced under the weight as he dashed across the bridge. The end was in her sight, if she could be a hair faster, she could make it to safety. Before-

The bridge gave way underneath her! She made for a last-ditch leap for the other end. She scraped and scrambled for any earth that she could take a hold of, but all that there was to grab was air. Guster and Avalon howled as they fell into the river below.