It upset Ruth profusely how much slower the going was. It made dreadful sense though. An army by its nature would be slower than Ruth by herself. Their forces were rugged and tough, and Clodius assured her they were going as fast as they could. He told Ruth to just focus on leading the way. With Aunt Kathy and Sheba by her side, she did just that.

  They marched throughout the week, slowly yet surely moving forward until they reached the God’s Teeth mountains and the ancient stairway that led to the plateau and bridges within. Clodius noted grimly at how bad the conditions of the stone steps were. Ruth was afraid he would call off the expedition, but instead he ordered his legionnaires to work.

  The soldiers dispersed in their hundreds. Aunt Kathy became aghast when they started chopping down trees. “This is sacrilege!” signed Aunt Kathy with a frown. “They mess with Terra’s world.”

  “Trust us,” said Clodius, his signs much sloppier as he spoke orally. “This is for the best. The path is too narrow and dangerous, and time is short. This is something we’ve done many times before, and not once has Mighty Terra intervened. This is how we survived, and this is how we'll get to the Golden Wood in time.”

  Aunt Kathy said nothing in reply and just watched the display with a bitter face and folded arms. The soldiers worked fast. With iron shovels and pickaxes, they carved out a wider path, breaking stone and dirt like it was nothing.

  Ruth and the other Godshards were amazed at their speed, even Aunt Kathy found herself impressed with their efficiency by the end of it. Despite her misgivings on altering the landscape, no God intervened, nothing prevented the humans from doing this. Perhaps the Gods were forgiving, or perhaps the Benelim were too rigid after all. Whatever the case, she saw the results within the span of a day. The path was pristine and wide enough to proceed.

  Ruth and the Godshards took to the front of the column as they entered the mountains themselves. The peerless engineering of Primus couldn’t help them this time. They had to narrow their ranks and merely proceed as fast as they could.

  Ruth dreaded what they would see on the other side of the mountains. The closer they got to the Golden Wood, the more anxious she became. She didn’t even notice she was trembling until a gentle grasp from Sheba calmed her down. A looming fear hung over Ruth, and it had ever since they reached the plateau. Ruth was so frazzled she couldn’t tell if it was foresight or simple fear.

  The answer came when they approached the bridge. Or where the bridge used to be.

  Ruth could only gawk as they entered the clearing to find nothing there. The bridge was gone, reduced to metallic rubble at the bottom of the chasm. Even with her Soulsight, Ruth could barely even see it. Her body trembled and her head shook in disbelief.

  “The Maelim must have destroyed it,” signed Aunt Kathy, similarly distraught.

  Clodius dismounted and made his way to them. He tried to hide his concern but his micro expressions exposed it, even behind his grit teeth. He was saying something to the others, but Ruth wasn’t paying attention. Her eyes were focused on the rubble.

  She was not going to let this stop her! She was so close to getting back to Mother. She was a Godshard, in the spirit of Adam and Elias. She had great power, she bested The Butcher, she stood her ground against humans, Benelim and Maelim alike. This chasm was nothing.

  She gestured to everyone else to back away.

  She raised her hands dramatically and began to sign. At her command, the ground shook and vibrated, and as Ruth’s glowing eyes brightened, the rubble from beneath the chasm slowly hovered into the air. By Ruth’s signs, the metal began to shift and warp, glowing white hot to the point of blinding the host and causing everyone to look away. Scattered stones and ores broke apart from the surrounding crevices and rallied to the growing mass of raw matter. Ruth grit her teeth, the weight of the material was indescribably heavy. A bead of sweat formed on Ruth’s brow. Her arms were getting tired, and she struggled to fight through it.

  A flash of pain caused Ruth’s arms to fall, and the formless mass of metal and stone crashed into the chasm below. An echoing boom rang out that even Ruth could hear.

  Ruth stared ahead, stunned and silent. She didn’t want to believe it. She raised her hands to try again, and once more the rubble rose from the chasm, but Ruth couldn’t finish the spell. She tapped into her power, but it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough? Ruth shook her head, her eyes wide. No. No no no no. That can’t be! She was a powerful Godshard, how was this beating her!?

  She gave it one final try, only to end in failure once more. The tears trailed down Ruth’s cheeks as she sank to her knees. In fury and despair, Ruth slammed her fists down onto the stony earth. The rubble bounced out of the chasm before falling back down like a hammerblow from the Gods themselves.

  Sheba gently laid a hand on Ruth’s shoulder, turning her to face Aunt Kathy and Clodius. “It’s alright,” signed Aunt Kathy. “There’s another way.”

  “There’s another pass south of Raveno, by the Triad,” signed Clodius. “We can reach the Golden Wood in a couple months.”

  Ruth’s jaw dropped before signing frantically. “A couple months!? We cannot wait that long! Every day we wait means more death and destruction in the Golden Wood, that less likely anything will be left!”

  Clodius was stone faced as he signed back. “This is our only chance. I’m sorry it can’t be sooner.” He turned to Aunt Kathy. “I’ll give you your space. I’ll see you back at the stairs.”

  Aunt Kathy bowed and waved him off.

  Ruth stared at the rubble, a mix of hatred and frustration in her eyes. Aunt Kathy turned Ruth toward her. “It’s going to be okay,” Aunt Kathy signed. “Your mother is very tough and so is the Golden Wood. They’ll be able to hold their own for a little bit longer.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Ruth shook her head vigorously. “That’s not what my foresight shows,” signed Ruth. “If we don’t cross here, it will be too late.”

  Aunt Kathy tilted her head before signing. “That’s just your anxiety talking.”

  “No, my foresight has cleared ever since we got here. By turning back, we lose everything.”

  “There’s nothing we can do, Ruth. I know you’re not used to feeling this way, but this kind of desperation is not the way to cope. This is just the way things are. You need to accept that.”

  Sheba frowned and stepped in. “If there’s one thing Ruth has taught us,” Sheba signed, “it is that life has always been what we make it. There is no ‘the way things are’. People told us all our lives that things have always been a certain way. Godshards only become Godshards three days after their birth. That Godshards can only cast spells orally. That the Godshards can’t keep their own island safe. That humans and Benelim can’t work together.” Sheba’s glowing eyes brightened. “And Ruth has proved every single one of these things wrong. Adam wrote that what we know is an ever expanding process, that nothing is set in stone. Ruth proves everything Adam said was true!”

  “Then what are we supposed to do then, love?” signed Ruth.

  “Not even Adam could create the island on his own. Elias and five others helped him, right?” Sheba gestured to herself and the others. “Let’s do it together! One. Last. Try.” The Godshards present got into a line by the chasm, leaving a spot open for Ruth. Sheba reached out a hand, a reassuring smile on her lips. Ruth steeled herself and let Sheba pull her to her feet. Ruth nodded to the others. “You lead, we’ll join in orally,” signed Sheba.

  Ruth closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was it, now or never. With trembling hands, she began her signs. She didn’t know how in sync they would have to be, she just had to trust in Sheba to keep them all together. Like the previous three times, the stubborn rubble rose from the chasm, and a crowd of scattered ores and stone joined them. The glowing mass of matter coalesced in front of them.

  Here it was, the moment of truth. Ruth’s arms strained, even with the other Godshards sharing the load. Indeed, the mass was shifting and warping, and elongating. Flecks of iron, copper, star iron and stone joined from a thousand tiny deposits from miles around. Ruth cringed in pain, her arms were shaking, and Ruth struggled to finish her signs.

  Ruth began to lose concentration, and the spell slowed and faltered. Her arms were about to give out. She grit her teeth, desperate to hold on. But just when it seemed like Ruth’s arms would give, a pair of hands kept them aloft. Ruth looked down to see Aunt Kathy trussing up her arms. Propping them up so Ruth could focus on the spell.

  Aunt Kathy’s reassuring grin meant everything to Ruth, and it was enough for them to finish the job. At long last, a great bridge had reformed, slamming itself into place, shimmering of iron and copper, grounded by immense columns that dug deep into the earth. This new construct was strong, durable, and most importantly, wide enough for an army to pass.

  The spell finally completed. The Godshards all collapsed, their breaths heavy and their bodies covered in sweat. Ruth was on her feet first, and she opted to test out the bridge first. A slow cautious step rewarded her with certainty. It was as hard and unmoving as the stone of the mountain itself.

  Excited, she turned to see a speechless Clodius. His jaw dropped, and his eyes wide in awe. He turned to Ruth and the other Godshards, and Ruth could only give a small smile in reply. Clodius adjusted his helmet and reared up on his horse. Ruth could read his lips, and her grin widened. He was clearly shouting “Forward!”

  It took them several days to cross the bridge, not due to the shoddy conditions of the bridge, but due to the sheer amount of men who were crossing it. Inch by inch they were making headway, and had made camp at the plateau on the other side. While the army regrouped, Aunt Kathy decided to scout ahead, and Ruth wanted to join her. Ember morphed into a bird to scout even further afield with them.

  Ruth offered to fly the two of them to the bottom, but Aunt Kathy was content to walk.

  “I’m sorry,” signed Aunt Kathy.

  Ruth tilted her head. “For what?” she signed back.

  “I never understood why you wanted to be among the humans so much until now. I do still think humans are too reckless with their treatment of the woods and the hills. They may yet anger the Gods. However, I can at least understand why they do what they do, and I can see how it serves them well.” Aunt Kathy teared up. “I let my narrowmindedness tear a wedge between us. Your mother read your letters, but I wanted nothing to do with them. I’m sorry for being so callous.”

  Ruth shook her head,“Don’t be. I can understand why you felt that way.”

  “Your friends nursed me back to health, gave me a new arm, and now they march with us to save my home. I finally see the virtue you see. I wish I saw it sooner.”

  Ruth smiled. “That means everything coming from you. And there’s no use dwelling on the past.”

  Aunt Kathy nodded. “Your mother is alive, I’m sure of it. She’s probably at the capital, aiding in the defense.”

  Ruth shuddered and she had to steady her arms before she could sign. “I hope you’re right.”

  As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Ruth’s heart sank. In the far distance, they could see black columns of smoke. The border wall of trees was little more than skeletal pieces of charred bark and ashen branches. The golden colored grass was blackened, scorched and lifeless.

  That was before they came across the bodies.

  First came the sickening smell of burnt flesh, made worse from the corpses left to rot for several weeks at least. The bodies of Benelim and Maelim alike, united in violent death. Everywhere Ruth looked, she saw decaying cadavers, blackened rib cages and large femurs leaking marrow. Intestines lined the bodies like greasy snakes, eyes were smashed out of their sockets, to say nothing of the blood. Red and black blood formed estuaries out of the sea of corpses, pooling the ground.

  Ruth wretched and vomited. Never had she seen such death in all her life. Even Aunt Kathy was gagging, and the two retreated to where they came. Once the lingering stench of necrosis left their nostrils, the two stopped to collect their bearings. Ruth turned back to view the grizzly sight. This was her home, too! And these wretches destroyed it! Burned the timeless ancient splendor to nothingness!

  Ruth was nearly as angry as she was saddened. The faintest comfort came from the confirmation that Mother’s body wasn’t among the corpses, and the lingering hope that the capital hadn’t fallen yet.

  “The attack must have been swift,” signed Aunt Kathy, her fists clenched. “The Maelim did not linger. Their prize is the capital. Once that city falls, they’ll come back for the rest.”

  Ruth paused, and she pointed at a strange indentation near the base of the burning trees, near the gatehouse. As they approached, it appeared that there were several, a large cluster of strange markings. Both of them deadened when they realized those were footprints. They were huge, both of them could stand in each one. They followed the trail until it reached the carcass of wood that was the gate itself. The remains had giant scratch marks upon them, carved into the wood like it was nothing.

  “What is it?” signed Ruth.

  Aunt Kathy turned to Ruth, her face paled. Ruth never saw her look so scared before. A looming naked dread unveiled itself from the micro expressions to the forefront. Her trembling hands barely signed. “They have a manticore.”