“Shit!” The bridge that spanned from this building to the next was gone. It wasn’t the first such unfortunate ruin he’d encountered; more than once already he’d had to double back to bypass a section that had fallen to rubble.
He could, of course, have continued his journey on the ground, but Keelin knew just how easy it was to get turned around in a large city. He preferred to stay near the rooftops, where he could see his destination to correct his course if need be.
Keelin glanced down. He was easily six storeys up, and any fall would result in almost certain death, smashed upon the cobbled streets below. The telltale rubble of crumbled bridges and walls littered the floor, and a small, rat-like creature scurried about from cover to cover, no doubt hiding from aerial predators.
Looking up, Keelin spotted another skybridge a good ten feet above him. It appeared to be intact for the most part, veering off at an angle to connect to a nearby building that was at least vaguely in the right direction. He heard the scuff of boot leather on stone and glanced back inside the building. It wasn’t the first time, and he was now certain that someone was following him. It was probably Aimi, and the sooner she realised it was safer to go back to the rest of them, the better.
Keelin shuffled up to the edge of the broken skybridge, sending a small cascade of loose dust and rocks hurtling to the ground far below. He edged sideways, placed his left boot on a nearby window ledge, and pushed upwards, grabbing hold of a door frame and beginning the climb. It wasn’t taxing – there were hand and footholds all over the outside walls in the forms of ledges or chunks of missing brick. It was, however, nerve-wracking, knowing that a fall would likely end his life as a nameless corpse in a city full of bones.
Keelin rolled onto the intact skybridge, wiped the sweat from his forehead for the hundredth time, and got his feet beneath him to move in a crouch, ready to leap for safety at the first sign of the bridge giving way beneath him. The stone held, and after only a few moments he was across, a new doorway before him leading into the next building. Keelin hesitated only a heartbeat before stepping through into the dim room beyond.
Like all those before, this one smelled stale and dusty. There was little of any real note. Over a thousand years had long since turned all but the most sturdy of items to dust. Here and there tarnished metal glinted underneath the rubble and dust; some of it might even be valuable. To Keelin it was worthless. The real treasure of HwoyonDo lay in its magical accomplishments, and there was one in particular that interested him.
Not for the first time, Keelin hoped the creature who had sold him the information had been truthful. If he’d come all this way and sacrificed so much only to be cheated of his vengeance… He let the thought hang, unsure how he would react in such a situation.
The buildings were large and spacious. With all the doors long since rotted away to nothing, he could see the next skybridge, two rooms further on, and hoped this one would correct his course. Keelin made it through the first room and into the second before he again heard the scuff of shoes behind him; this time it sounded far closer.
“Damnit, woman,” Keelin growled, turning to give Aimi a shouting at that would hopefully send her back to the others.
The figure that stood at the entrance to the skybridge was definitely not Aimi. Keelin couldn’t see the man properly, the light shining from behind rendering him nothing more than a large silhouette, but it was certainly a man – and a big one at that.
Keelin moved a hand to the hilt of one of his cutlasses and raised his voice. “Hello?”
The figure took a lurching step forward, and Keelin felt the tension flood out of him as he recognised Bronson. How the man had found them after disappearing the previous night was beyond him, but Keelin was glad, nonetheless, that the big pirate had survived his disappearance.
“Where have you been?” he said.
Bronson didn’t answer. He took another lurching step forwards. A second figure darted in from the skybridge behind him. Keelin drew his sword in a flash and rushed forwards, only making it as far as the doorway before the second figure turned to face Bronson.
Elaina stood in front of the pirate, swaying slowly from side to side. Keelin watched as the big man mimicked her movements.
“What the fuck are you two doing?” Keelin said.
“Quiet!” Elaina hissed, holding out a hand behind her and pointing towards Keelin, all the while keeping up her steady swaying.
“What is this, Elaina?” Keelin took another step forward and froze. He could see Bronson’s face now, and it was a mess of open, oozing wounds that almost looked self-inflicted, as if the big man had torn at his own face with his fingernails. One eye was missing, a gooey hole where it should have been, and the other was as black as the darkest night.
“This ain’t your man no more, Keelin,” Elaina said slowly, still swaying from side to side. Bronson mimicked her, as if in some sort of trance.
“Then who is he?”
“Fuck,” Elaina snapped. “Would you just shut up and trust me for once?”
“Last time I trusted you it almost got me killed.”
Elaina was still facing Bronson, her arms spread out as she moved, as if she were balancing on a narrow railing.
“Well, ya either trust me now, Keelin, or I can let this thing loose and we’ll see how you fair.”
“I’ve got my swords.”
Elaina snorted. “Steel won’t stop this. There a way out behind you?”
Keelin glanced back. The next skybridge was a room and a half away, no more than twenty feet, he guessed. “Aye.”
“Then start backing towards it, slowly as ya like. Let me know when ya get there, eh?” There was a note of something in Elaina’s voice, and it sounded a lot like fear. It wasn’t something Keelin was used to hearing from her.
He began to walk backwards, slowly, one foot after the other after the other. His sword was still drawn, but after Elaina’s claim, he was starting to doubt its usefulness. She kept up her slow swaying, Bronson – or whatever it was – still copying her. Keelin took another step, and his back bumped against the door frame, sending a chunk of brick the size of his head tumbling to the floor with a crash.
“Fuck!” Elaina shouted, and she turned towards him, the fear now plain on her face. “Run!”
Keelin turned and stumbled over the rubble he’d just dislodged, steadying himself with a hand to the floor. He launched into a sprint towards the skybridge, sure that both Elaina and Bronson were only steps behind him.
The room sped past in a blur of grey and brown dust, light shining in from the doorway in front of him. Keelin rushed through the portal, and it took too long for his eyes to adjust to the change in light. Too late, he realised the skybridge was down. He didn’t have time to think – he barely had time to react. His foot hit the rubble that was the end of the skybridge and he pushed off, leaping forwards and at the same moment seeing just how distant the other side of the bridge was. He was already falling, and safety was so far away. He threw up his arms, hoping to catch hold of the ledge, all that was left of the far side of the bridge.
Rough stone smashed into Keelin’s face, and the light went both dim and bright at the same time. He felt his sword fall from his grip to go tumbling to the ground, where he knew he would soon join it. Then his fingers hit the ledge, and he gripped instinctively, holding on with every drop of strength he could muster.
Opening his eyes, Keelin saw the drop below and a wave of vertigo swept over him, twisting his vision. He heard a grunt from above and the sound of leather boots skidding on stone. Looking up, he saw Elaina above him, her expression frantic.
Elaina’s hands gripped hold of his own, and she braced and pulled.
“Can’t do this alone,” she hissed through clenched teeth.