The Horned Child of Reaver and Baroness

THE HERO INSIDE

After a week more of travel, we spotted a large wooden structure in the distance. I thought it was another town until Vera pointed out that it was closer to a city in size.

I continued to stare at it until I realized that it was one massive structure. It was made of both wood and metal, reaching from the land and off into the distance over the water. It housed a town in its shadow that wasn't even visible until we closed at least half the distance from when we saw it. The bridge was gigantic.

As soon as I understood what it was, I was impatient to step onto it. Nobody stopped me as I proceeded to trip and land face-first on the wooden curb leading up to the bridge. The first step was a doozy, and I was not prepared for it. The elevation was lower than I expected and I tripped on nothing. I stood to a roar of laughter.

"Shut up!" I snapped at them. "That hurt."

Between laughs, Vera said, "Ha! ye were so happy a minute ago, but then ye tripped on nothin'!" she continued laughing. "I mean, we could'a warned ya, but that's just priceless."

"Why didn't you?!" I couldn't help but be angry.

"Consider it payback for that headbutt when you joined the guild."

"Whatever..." I rubbed my throbbing nose. Looking down, I noticed two shallow marks in the wood. "At least I dented it."

"You put up a good fight, but I think the bridge beat you." Sandra handed me a handkerchief. "Your nose is bleeding."

"Thanks." I wiped my nose.

"You can keep the handkerchief."

"Thanks." I stood and walked a few steps onto the bridge.

It wasn't nearly as large as it looked from far away, but most of what we could see from the distance was the portion over the water, which had a series of supports leading into the shore while the rest of it hung over the waves into the distance. I could hardly believe that someone built a bridge that connected the mainland to an island, but now I was standing on it.

"Here we go," I said, taking a deep breath before taking another step.

"Where do you think you're going?" I nearly jumped as I wasn't expecting Cyrus to say anything. "We have to stop at the town before we go. It'll take a day to cross the bridge and we just got here. There's no place for us to put our base on the way."

"We'll just be taking a stroll." Sandra put her arm around me. "Got a problem with that?"

"None at all." He turned and started walking toward the town with Jefford and Vera. "Have a nice date."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, have a nice time." He hurried up.

"I thought so." She huffed.

We walked a bit over the bridge and looked out over the water. There was something majestic about there being nothing but waves as far as the eye can see.

"Can you believe that guy? A date?"

"Yeah... Well, I'm not really against the idea..." I realized what I said after saying it and tried to back-peddle. "I mean, we're just hanging out, I mean, I mean... Yeah."

"Wait, you like me or something?" She looked me dead in the eye for a split second before averting her gaze and staring out to sea.

"Uh... Sure?" I began nervously tapping one of my horns with my fingertips.

"I like you, too." Her voice wavered as she put her arm around my shoulders.

Trembling, I laid my head on her shoulder.