"Well? What's the news?"
I told them that the bridge had begun to lower, and that we had heard shouting above us on the main platform.
"Hmmm... They must be moving a lot of stuff across, or maybe it's rotation of a guard team or something. Either way, I'm hoping it provides us with enough time to get all of us across. We've been discussing the plan as far as crossing is concerned. UOPETA will go first, followed by anyone who is in line next. I will be the last to go across. This is to ensure that if anyone is left behind because of the bridge lowering too soon, we have someone in charge to keep everyone else ready for when we get another chance."
Collecting up all of the bags, we set off back towards the bridge, everyone coming along this time. We couldn't quite move at the speed I was going at because of all the stuff we had brought with us, including the rifles. Not everyone was carrying a bag, and others were carrying more than necessary, so hopefully if we distributed them evenly amongst everyone, we should easily be able to get everything across the bridge. I was a little concerned about Amie crossing over, as we'd need a lot of upper body strength to get across. I wasn't trying to be sexist, and Amie assured me she'd be okay with it.
"I'm not a weak little girl, you know... I can handle myself, and I'm confident I'll get across there perfectly fine. I'll probably be faster than you!"
I had to laugh at that last bit; she was definitely strong, both mentally, and physically, if I believed what she had just said. Despite this though I was still concerned. It was a long way across to the other side, at least 20 metres or so, and that didn't help when you were essentially suspended above a body of ice-cold water. Definitely a deterrent to looking down or stopping halfway across. Once we reached the bridge, I stepped across to the strut and began to usher everyone else across. When everyone had begun to walk across, COLUS stepped forward and let me go first, bringing up the rear himself.
"The bridge should hopefully be lowered by now so that we can begin crossing straight away. Let's hope it remains down for long enough so we can all get across."
We neared the end strut where UOPETA was still waiting for us, but it had now become very crowded. With a little reorganising, myself and COLUS edged our way to the front. COLUS Looked across at the now lowered bridge, before nodding his head.
"Right, it's now or never. Have you checked the plumb lines to see of they can take your weight?"
"I have and they can. I was practically tugging on them with my entire body hanging at one point, so it'll easily be able to take everyone else's."
"Good, but we had still better keep it to 2 people crossing at a time. We can't guarantee they maintain integrity the entire way across, and it would be incredibly difficult for everyone to escape if we get caught and everyone is trying to cross at the same time."
UOPETA offered to take one of the bags across on his initial crossing, but COLUS was against the idea. We needed to know whether it was possible to get all the way across, and taking a bag with him was unnecessary.
"We can take the bags across when we know you're safely on the other side. The rifle scopes should help us to see when you're on the far side."
Using the strut as a prop again, UOPETA reached up to the plumb line closest to him, and grabbed hold. Once he had a good grip, he let go of the strut, and began to put one hand in front of the other, slowly making his way across. His body swung slightly as he gained momentum to swing from line to line, before stopping part way and smartly turning around on the spot!
"Piece of cake! Word to the wise; generate some momentum by swinging first before you start. Makes this a lot easier..."
With that, he spun back around, and continued going the way he had started. It wasn't long before he started to fade slightly as the fog began to envelope him. We waited until we could see he had passed the halfway point before letting anyone else go across. According to COLUS, that person was me.
UOPETA crossed the halfway point, and COLUS placed a hand on my shoulder, before wishing me luck. If UOPETA could do it, so could I, and everyone else! Adopting the same position as UOPETA, I brought myself up to the height of the plumb lines by leaning against the strut, before grabbing one and letting go. My body swung slightly as I settled vertically. Remembering what UOPETA had said before, I swung forwards a little by pulling my legs forward, and then letting them go, and after a few seconds I grabbed the next plumb line. UOPETA had been right; get enough momentum and crossing was easy! I wasn't about to stop and turn around however. Somehow I doubted I was capable of doing that, and if I fell it it was likely to alert the guards above us. That and possibly give me hypothermia... Continuing across, I tried not to tell myself to not look down as it was just as bad as actually looking down. Instead I stared at the back of UOPETA, who was just about visible through the fog ahead of me. From what I could tell, he was nearing the end and as I got closer, I realised I had passed the halfway point. Someone would now be following me across, just as I had followed UOPETA. I let my mind wander so that I didn't put so much thought into actually trying to get over to him, and before I knew it, I was a few feet away from him!
"Excellent Syeonyx! A bit more and you're there!"
The bag I was carrying had begun to slip from my shoulder, and it put me off a little, but I managed to get above the bottom section of the strut before dropping off and grabbing the side. Putting the bag down, I wind-milled my arms in circles as I tried to get the blood back into them, and shake off the pins and needles that had started up.
"It'll wear off in a bit. Look! AMPHIS is coming next."
Looking across the water, I could just about make out the gold detailing of AMPHIS' armour slowly approaching us. From the looks of it, he had just about made it to the halfway point too. Over the course of the next 5 minutes, AMPHIS and Joe made it across to us. But just as Joe jumped down, we heard the same screeching of metal and the signs of wood stress. The drawbridge was lifting up again! Whoever was crossing next seemed to know this as well, as we could see the outline of a figure turn around on the spot and head back the way they came. Hopefully they would get back to the strut before the entire section became fully elevated.
"The bridge is raising slowly enough so they should make it fine. But unfortunately, that just leaves us four... Now what?"
"We scout out the area, find a place to lay low and wait for the bridge to lower again. The other five will be with us when they can, and we won't be helping them by staying here. Come on, let's go."
We headed across the wooden boards of the walkway in single file, a little deflated at how few we had managed to get across. I had to admit that despite silence usually being a good thing, the lack of shouting from above me when I had begun to cross had freaked me out a little. We had nothing more we could do besides scouting the area that lay on this side of the bridge, so that we had something to tell the others when they eventually made it across. Let's hope that was sooner rather than later.
Syeonyx signing off
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