CHAPTER 43: 43: BROKEN BRIDGE PT 3

Lightning flashed around the merging bats. The crackling faded in both the sword and the massive, condensing cloud. Mike’s attack had taken out nearly one quarter of the giant bats. With no more energy or lightning to use, Mike was out of the fight.

Chad’s arrows grow thinner; His energy was waning rapidly. He was nearly out of the fight as well. They were running out of juice to fight, and by the looks of the merging bats, the fight had just begun.

"Come," Drake commanded his familiar. His eyes never wavered from the merging bats.

Renn immediately moved forward, positioning herself only inches away.

He placed one hand on her head, letting his eyes glow brightly. Their minds merged. He was trying to figure out why Renn had imprinted. With their energy evaporating like water, they were as good as dead.

An image formed. He understood.

Replacing his bow on his back and coiling the whip on his wrist, he stepped forward. Chad, stop firing. Back away.

Chad looked confused but listened.

"Mike...Chad, hide in the trees. Regain your energy. You can’t fight without it. I still have some left. Just in case, remember we still have one life token left."

When Mike and Chad realized that Drake was going to face the beast on his own, they began to panic. "No, Drake, that’s suicide!" Mike choked out.

Drake looked down at Renn. When looking in her mind, he discovered that beasts didn’t fight each other unless they needed food. The funny thing was, they didn’t need food very often. When they did, they preferred to hunt ordinary animals, instead of beasts. He also discovered why the beast had chosen to come to him without aggression.

"Stay in the trees. Don’t come out!" He called, watching the beast form itself into one giant bat.

The loud screeching had stopped as the beast finalized its final form.

Drake stood tall, walking several feet forward before stopping. He forced his glowing eyes to shine brighter, creating a nearly blinding green light. Renn followed, staying close to his side.

The large bat landed in front of him, its sharp fangs dripping with blood like saliva as it looked down at Renn and Drake. Drake’s hand was resting on Renn’s large form as he looked up at the towering bat.

In the trees, Mike and Chad could only see the glowing green light. The bright glow consumed the two figures. Only the top of the bat could be seen as it glared down at their friend.

Drake maintained his stance, trying to appear calm. "I think you need a name," Drake pondered aloud. "Do you want me to give you a name?"

The beast blinked in confusion, his large ears twitching. It appeared to be listening. "You protect the bridge, don’t you?" Drake asked calmly, trying to sound soothing.

The beast screeched softly.

"I will call you Protector," he stated, his eyes not wavering from the beast. "Do you like that name?"

The beast screeched softly, bowing its massive head slightly.

"Then you are named Protector, the protector of the bridge." Drake smiled softly. He was still trying to be soothing. It wasn’t something he was used to. "You will decide who crosses the bridge and who does not."

The massive bat screeched again, its ears twitching. It appeared pleased, but he couldn’t be sure. He had to rely on Renn’s behavior. If she sensed something terrible, her change in behavior would warn him.

The beast stayed where it was, so Drake continued. "I wish to cross your bridge. Will you allow me and my cohort to pass?" he asked. "There are four of us. That does include Renn here," he said, stroking her thick fur.

The beast’s massive eyes widened as it looked down at Renn. It made a soft screeching sound, then lowered itself to the ground, resting on all fours. The bat pressed its chin to the ground. Drake slowly reached out and stroked the bat’s giant head.

{The Level 3 Beast, Protector, wishes to become your ally. Do you accept?}

{Yes or No}

Drake mentally answered ’yes.’

{You have gained a new ally. Protector, Guardian of Broken Bridge}

{Your cohort grows stronger. As an ally, your cohort will benefit from the conquest of ’Protector’}

Drake continued to stroke the beast’s head. The red in its eyes slowly changed, turning green. The same color as Renn’s.

Drake allowed his eyes to dim. They still glowed but faintly. It was enough for anyone looking at him to see the glow in his eyes. He was relieved that his plan worked. He wasn’t sure if it would. The bat beast was different. It was a massive gamble to do what had just been done.

The beast stood tall again, then walked to the bridge, stopping briefly, waiting for Drake to follow. Drake motioned for his friends to come out of the trees. They did, but slowly, which gave him some measure of relief. He wasn’t sure what the beast would do if someone suddenly showed up out of the forest.

Protector cocked its massive head, watching the boys approach.

"That’s my cohort," Drake told Protector.

Protecter blinked its large eyes and then continued to the bridge. When it arrived, it placed one of its winged limbs on the skeleton of the bridge.

The boys watched in disbelief as the bridge began to prepare itself. It was like a slow-motion movie, every board, every bolt, every rope, floating up and going back into its place where it all belonged.

As the last piece went into place, Protector gave a soft screech. Drake turned and looked up. The bat bowed, then motioned for them to proceed.

Drake moved first, leading the group. Renn followed behind him. Mike and Chad rushed to keep up as they made their way to the opposite side of the ravine.

On the other side, Drake waved, then bowed, thanking Protector, before turning and continuing on their journey.

Behind them, Protecter touched the bridge again, reversing back to its broken, damaged state.

***

The Dimension Master watched in disbelief as Drake stood toe to toe with the bat beast. He didn’t flinch or show any fear. He stood tall with confidence. His wolf beast stood beside him as Drake rested his hand on its black fur.

If that wasn’t enough, he spoke to the beast, giving it a name and title. Protector, the Boken Bridge Guardian. Unbeknownst to Drake, giving the beast a title gave it power to control every aspect of the bridge. It had never done that before.

Normally, it was up to the storm-wielder to find the way to get across the bridge. In this case, it was Mike. Lightning was the beast’s weakness. It always tried to prevent others from crossing to the other side. You had to defeat it to use the beam to cross the ravine. It was the lightning attribute that opened the hidden beam, which, after the beam extended, provided a way to cross the bridge. Lightning was essentially the key to operating it.

Drake had bypassed that altogether. After he completes the quest, he wouldn’t have to worry about crossing the bridge; he could use the staff instead. It appeared it didn’t matter anymore. The bridge was essentially his.

***

Drake led his friends away from the bridge. He finally allowed himself to breathe. He had stood in front of the most terrifying beasts he had ever encountered. He was nearly paralyzed from fear.

He knew that his friends were out of energy. They would die if they tried to keep going. He had kept an eye on Renn, and that’s what gave him the idea. He figured that if Renn was his familiar, he might be able to see his memories. It was like instinct, not knowing how he even came up with the idea.

When he understood what the beast was looking for, he attempted to give the bat beast the same. IT worked far better than he had imagined.

Once they were far enough away from the beast, Mike stated, disbelief still in his features. "How did you do that?"

Drake kept walking; they had a clearing to go to. "I’m not sure," he answered. "I used information I got from obtaining Renn as my familiar and attempted something similar with it. I knew you two were out of energy. We would have all died if we continued fighting, so I figured if we’re going to die anyway, I had nothing to lose."

"And you called me insane," Mike mumbled.

They all laughed.

"Now that we’re on the correct side of the ravine, we can get this quest finished. We need to rest up, though. We all used a lot of energy in that fight. Hopefully, we won’t have any issues getting to the clearing. It’s not far from here. I know it’s early, but I’d rather get some rest and be at full strength while we travel, than try to continue and get into another fight that we’re too weak to fight at the moment." He paused. "We’re in level 3 beast territory, so the beasts in this area will be tough if we have to fight any."