Lt. Dan Got New Legs!

[Seloine]

Morgaine nodded.

"Let's," she murmured, and then led the way back to the group. To Simone, she shook her head. "It turns off down a side route, we should be fine to get to the bridge."

Colton, who'd been sitting fiddling with his lute, looked up nervously and put the instrument back in the sling he'd been carrying it in.

"S-so... To the bridge then?"

[DrifterUK]

Kara nodded, picking up her pack, still looking a little sheepish, and began to lead off down the road. Simone got to her feet and moved close to Morgaine.
''What happened?'' she whispered to her, casting a glance at the obviously distracted Kara.

[Seloine]

Wolfgang whistled to Kemp and headed after Kara, Colton on his heels.

Morgaine glanced after them, then shook her head.

"Whatever it is, it's big," she said quietly. "It... It'd gone through a door like the one we found, and the smell... It was so strong, the blood. We came back after that, it... Like before, I don't think we were equipped to deal with it, it... It may have a lair beneath the district. In those tunnels."

[DrifterUK]

''I can't help but wonder if the fire that destroyed this place was a last ditch attempt to kill it...'' said Simone quietly, making sure only Morgaine heard. ''If that didn't do it, what chance do we have?''

Kara led on quietly following the tracks, before letting Morgaine take over a short distance before the alleyway. The twon was still deathly quiet, and the mist had only gotten heavier during the time they had been travelling.

[Seloine]

"It looks like the fire didn't penetrate to the tunnels though," Morgaine said, head inclined to Simone to stop her voice carrying. "It... It seems intelligent - but that doesn't mean it can't be killed. We... We'll just avoid it, for now. Hopefully it... It's not hungry anymore."

As they neared the alleyway, she felt her skin start to crawl, but she didn't blame Kara for letting her take to the lead. She swallowed hard and steered the group to the other side of the road, mindful in particular of Colton's delicate constitution.

"Come on," she murmured, waving them onwards. "This way."

[DrifterUK]

''We can only hope..'' muttered Simone.
Kara stood warily in between Colton and the alleyway, attempting to block it from his view, but being a shade of five feet and quite slender, it was a bit of a futile effort.

Simone brought the group up at the rear to keep eveyone moving, but felt uneasy when she saw the alleyway that obviously led to the door underground,

The group pushed onwards nonetheless and began to near the bridge.As they were approaching the river, the mist thickened further, making it impossible to tell the condition of the bridge from a distance.

[Seloine]

Colton, fortunately, wasn't scanning the area too closely, and instead followed the group with his eyes mostly kept down, cloak wrapped tightly round his body to try and ward off the damp cold of the mist. By the time they neared the river, he was wheezing slightly again, hugging himself all the tighter.

Morgaine squinted at the mist, then pulled a face.

"Bloody great," she muttered. "Just when we really don't need heavy fret, it comes in heavy enough to block the whole place out."

[DrifterUK]

''Typical weather.'' Simone sighed.

''Let's just head over there and see what condition it's in'' Kara said, before heading towards the bridge.

[Seloine]

Morgaine huffed quietly, but the group did proceed.

On closer inspection, however, it was revealed that the bridge had suffered much in the fire. There were still parts of it standing, planks reaching over gaping holes that bared the river underneath. Morgaine frowned, chewing her lip.

"I... It would be quicker to cross the bridge than to get a boat," she said, grimacing. "It's... It's still standing, at least, we'll just have to go lightly - and it would save one of us getting soaking wet in this cold."

[DrifterUK]

''This... will be interesting.'' Simone said, suddenly feeling the weight of her armour.

Kara tentatively stepped onto the bridge and began picking a way across it, helping to guide the others through the safest route she could manage.

[Seloine]

Morgaine decided to wait to bring up the rear, eyes flickering back to try and penetrate the mist, wary of the beast.

Wolfgang started to climb across carefully, following Kara as exactly as he could, but Kemp hung back and whimpered loudly. Wolfgang clicked his tongue and gave a soft whistle and the dog took a few steps forward, but when the plank bowed under his paw he whined and shied back.

Colton, on the other hand, started to pick his way across and made it almost halfway before a plank that had been unfortunately rotted prior to burning splintered and crumpled under his foot and he fell with a distinctly high pitched scream.

He didn't quite plummet down into the river though, managing to catch hold of one of the beams with his hands and holding on for dear life, his hood falling back and his scarf slipping down, baring the open terror on his finely boned face.

Morgaine twisted round, but the boy was a long way from her and she swore.

[DrifterUK]

Kara swore in elvish, before agiley jumping back across the gap seperating her and the boy, and dived down on to the bridge surface, grabbing Colton's wrists, but wasn't strong enough to pull him back up on her own.
''Colton! Hold on!'' Kara shouted,

Simone attempted to navigate her way to the pair, but struggled to move at any real pace because of her armour.

[Seloine]

Colton whimpered, but he clutched on tightly, with one hand on the bit of bridge and one on Kara's arm.

"D-don't drop me," he yelped, voice cracking. "P-please, I don't want to fall."

Wolfgang was clambering across carefully, but with his injured wrist, he didn't know that he could really help at all.

[DrifterUK]

''It's fine'' Kara said, trying to sound calm, ''I've got you... just can't pull you up on my own''

Simone continued to make her way across the bridge carefully, but was picking up a bit of speed. She managed to get passed Wolfgang, and reached Colton and Kara.
Bracing herself, she reached down and grabbed Colton's arm with both hands and pulled him up and back on to the bridge surface.
Kara rolled back over and got up, before checking Colton and Simone were ok.

[Seloine]

Morgaine was also carrying Kemp, as the dog had outright refused to get on the bridge.

Colton clutched at the bridge, flat on his stomach, as though afraid it would suddenly lurch and throw him into the river below.

"Th-thank you," he whimpered, eyes shut. "Oh... O-oh god, thank you, I-I thought I.... I-I'm sorry..."