I didn't want to stay in the woods during the night, but there was not much of a choice for us. The bird called again, a distance away and my stomach dropped. Something about the lyrical cry made me uneasy and yet, I was enticed to find the source of it.

I approached Arawn as everyone flanked in different directions, tending to their tasks.

"Already causing problems," I said with a slight smile.

He rolled his eyes, pressing harder on his nose. "I am surprised you are speaking to me."

"You wanted trust," I whispered. "This is trust."

He looked me over, then returned his gaze to the trees. "Since we are speaking about trust and telling stories, I have a story to tell you."

"A story?"

"Rodi mentioned she had one," he sighed. "But my tale is far worse."

"Why?"

"Because it isn't a legend," he replied. "It really happened."

"I thought most legends were history," I replied with a raised brow.

He laughed. "Some are. This one I know isn't one."

"How so?"

"I lived it."

I felt a lump in my throat.

"I had a family at one point," he replied. "A father, a mother, and-" he paused, his voice flattening. "A sister."

"What happened to them?"

His face blanched. "They died."

"I am sorry to hear that."

"My parents were of old age," he replied. "They lived a good life under the eyes of Baria. As for my sister..."

"What happened to her?"

He sniffled, pressing harder on his nose. Blood soaked his blouse. "She started to cough one morning," he began. "It was a soft cough that no one would think anything of. Then as the days turned into nights, the cough progressed, growing more violent and soon, blood expelled from her mouth. She..." His voice broke off. He blinked, finding himself again. "She was bed ridden," he explained. "Baria helped me to make her as comfortable as possible. We gave her a room in the castle. Mind you this was years before she found Hona or Jonga. This was years before servants lived in the castle. It was just Baria."

"She helped you?"

He sniffled. "To the best of her ability. There was no healer known. The healer of life was not born yet, not even thought of. My sister spent her days sleeping and nights coughing. I spent my nights by her side, saddled in the nook under the window, listening to her coughs. Then during the last night, there was silence. Everything was still and peaceful. There was no more coughing, and the only life in the room was mine. When I saw her awful pale face, the life inside of me died. My sister was the only thing I had left. She was the reason I lived still and then, she was gone."

"I am sorry to hear that."

He continued, lost in his grief. "Baria came to my aid the following morning, she comforted me, and right then, I knew, I would serve her like my father before me and his."

"I respect that you've told me this but what does this have to do with trust?"

"It's more so vulnerability," he answered, staring in my direction. "Being vulnerable to people tends to instill trust."

"I see."

"I hope you do not take offense to this, Queen Mara, but I wish that you would be more like Baria," he whispered. "There was kindness under the queen of stone. A queen may rule with a mighty fist, but nothing is mightier than tenderness."

I guffawed, feeling my ribs ache. "Ironic coming from the guy who just had a brawl!"

He laughed with me, taking the blouse from his nose. Dry blood crusted his nostrils. "Aye, it is. You remember a lot after getting punched in the nose."

The rest of the Udanians returned moments after our conversation ended. I couldn't picture Baria being the queen Arawn said she was. When I knew her, she was cruel and delusional. She saw her people as livestock rather than just that, people.

Rodi sat by the bundle of branches Lenox supplied, trying to fuel a fire by vigorously rubbing two sticks against each other. She leaned in, sweat dripping from her brow as she concentrated. I never saw such determination on one's face.

Lenox saw her expression and went back to his satchel. He rummaged through it, gasping 'oo's' and 'ah's' before pulling another vial.

He smiled, throwing the vial into the air with a snicker. The laughter was joyous and filled with victory. Once it landed, he uncorked it and rushed toward the bundle. He poured the orange contents onto the branches and it spread, soaking into the wood. It sparked and, in an instant, they gained a blaze.

"Thanks," Rodi mumbled, setting down the two sticks. "You said you learned magic in Kair?"

He nodded. "Aye," he said. "When Queen Baria was younger, she requested I learn magic from Kair."

"And you know you have these vials?"

He nodded. "Filled with the finest magic."

"What happens when you run out?"

"I go back to Kair or I make my own," he declared. "It's just throwing ingredients together."

"I see," she whispered. "It must be grand to know magic."

He nodded, walking away.

Rodi was alone once more, Dari took it upon himself to approach. He cleared his throat and settled by her side, crossing his legs.

I thought he was being stupid. She wanted to be alone. She had made that more than clear when he approached her the first time.

"Hi," he murmured.

"Hi..."

"Are you all right?" he queried, pointing to her chest.

She shielded it with one of her hands. "I am fine."

"I am so sorry you got hurt. It was never my intention."

"Do you know what it feels like to be punched there?" she said, pointing to her breast.

Dari reddened with the fire. A lump nested in his throat but he pushed it away with another clearing. "Uh," he paused, jeering his lip while closing one eye. "No?"

"You should know," she retaliated. "The pain is not pleasant."

"I know and I apologize."

"Do you really know?"

He fell silent, tucking his head in. "No."

"Stand up," she ordered with a stoic expression.

"I don't under—"

"Stand up!"

Dari stood with Rodi. She kept her hand on her chest, covering it.

"Good," she answered. "Now this is going to hurt."

"What is going to—" Dari was cut off mid-sentence as Rodi's foot collided gently with his delicates. He winced, falling to his knees. He curled into a fetal position.

I gasped, holding her hands over my agape mouth. My eyes widened as she listened to Dari's pained groans.

"I am not a monster to hit you hard," she whispered. "But now we are even."

Dari gasped in between breaths. "Do you forgive me?"

She nodded, holding out a hand. "I do." She helped him to his feet as he labored his breathing. Bent over, she slapped a hand on his back and laughed. "Never mess with a girl," she said, shooting his daggers in his direction. "We are more dangerous than you think."

I shook my head, joining them at the fire with a laugh. "Now that is settled," I buzzed. "I was promised legends before."

Rodi's eyes lit up. She leaned in, the fire illuminating half of her face. The other was shrouded by nightfall shadows.

"Get comfortable, I have one that will chill your bones."

Rodi giggled with Dari, compelling her hands to the fire. Lenox was resting near the horses, snoring, while Makaio had drifted off to sleep beside the fire. Every once in a while, he would mumble about his daughter, Rava.

I enjoyed the company. I had Hona by my side the night before, and it felt nice to be together with so many watchful eyes.

All except for Awarn. He was still sulking on the log, his legs crossed and arms folded. They thought he had fallen asleep, but his lantern-like eyes glowed through the darkness. He was observing us from a distance, stalking like a predator.

For the past hour, we had been sharing horror stories that had been passed around Udan for many generations.

I listened, trying to contain my fear after hearing legends of ghosts inside of Udan and secrets of murderers and thieves. I wondered what could lurk outside of it.

"What about in this forest?" I queried. "Have you heard any legends of it?"

Dari silenced, and Rodi stiffened. "I don't know any of this wood," she started. "But there is one bridge that spans the north side of the river."

"A bridge?"

"Rickety and creaky," she described with a snicker. "Dangerous some would say."

"What's so dangerous about a bridge?"

"It's not the bridge that is dangerous," she explained. "But the thing in the water under it, but the creature hidden beneath the shadows of the water."

Dari's eyes widened as his voice quivered. "What's in the water?"

Rodi laughed. "It's a tale. No need to be afraid, friend. My mother told me about it when I was a child. I promise it was scarier then than now."

"Right," he chortled. "Only a story."

"I would love to hear the rest of it," I declared, feeling a strange pull at the mention of the bridge. The bird we had heard earlier called again. I cocked my head, finding it peculiar that it was singing in the night. It was odd that it sang at all hours of the day.

"The entire story?" she probed.

"From start to finish."

Rodi nodded, a malicious smile growing on her face. "Very well. I warn you, it is not for the faint of heart. It is a story to keep children from going near the river when the gates of Udan were open. They did not want their kin to escape from the wall so they told this tale to scare them and keep them inside the barrier."

"Get on with it already," Arawn called out from beyond the fire's reach. "I've been listening and observing and all you do is yammer before telling the damned tale."

Dari turned, glaring at him, then he twisted back to Rodi, suing a polite hand on her thigh. "Take your time and ignore him. He doesn't know when to shut his trap."

"Neither do you," Makaio mumbled, rolling over.

Rodi and I broke into laughter and Dari brightened red.

Rodi took a deep breath and held out her hands. Her face twisted, shadowing like the forest. "Okay," she commenced. "Here we go."

"By the time day breaks, she would have said one word of this beast," Arawn mumbled, standing from the log. "I am going to bed. Waiting and waiting makes me drift off into slumber." Arawn shuffled toward the stack of blankets Makaio left by the horses. He picked one up and laid down on the ground, turning away from us.

"Ignore him," I whispered over the crackle of the flames. "He doesn't know a good way to build a legend."

Rodi smiled, nodding. "Deep in the woods, once you reach the crystal waters is a bridge," she began. "Rickety and creaky with the most rotten of wood you could find."

I leaned in, listening as close as I could. I thought back to the river I was found in, even in the horizon I did not see a bridge.

"Is this bridge magic?" Dari asked.

"Listen to the story and you will know," Rodi hissed, rolling her eyes. "There was a girl who ventured there with her brother. They discovered the bridge together and one crossed. The story doesn't say who crossed. The other who was on the other side went to cross and..." she trailed off, staring intensely into the flames.

"And?" Dari egged on.

"I will get there," she said with a smirk. "They had strayed from Udan, hoping to find adventure outside the walls. They did not know the danger. Danger never threatened Udan, Baria kept it at bay. They clambered through the trees until arriving at the river. This was not the same river they knew. The water was tainted and on it lay a bridge."

"The first approached, laughing as they strode down the planked bridge, feeling its rotten sodden wood against their bare feet. Once the first reached the other side, they turned back, and listened to the splitting scream."

"Scream?"

"Their eyes filled with horror. It was the most dangerous of all dangers."

"What was it?" Dari whispered.

"A beast that emerged from the waters. Tentacled, with the sharpest of teeth. Eyes crimson like the water."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"It took the other and ate them," she explained. "Consumed them whole, leaving an eye to prove the story could be more than one. Some whisper of the bridge, stating the monster under it waits for another human to step foot and feed it its feast."

A breeze swept by, causing the fire to expel. Rodi jumped, grabbing hold of Dari. I leapt back in shock, heart pounding. The night mocked me, growing darker. The shadows clambered, trying to suffocate us.

"We should rest," I said, trying to calm the two. "We have a long journey tomorrow."

"I agree," Rodi whispered. "I've said too much tonight anyway."

"Goodnight, my queen ," Dari called out.

The legend stuck in the back of my mind. "Goodnight."

I had the same dream as before. Still standing in the small room with the two people dressed elegantly. I had hoped they would have faces this time, but when I looked, they were still blank slates. Everytime I looked, the dream ended, but tonight, it was different.

I was walking in the woods this time. I thought that I was thinking of my journey today, but realized I was dressed once more in a brown clothed dress. In my hand was a dagger and from what I could see, I was being stalked.

A silver beast loomed in the distance, watching my every moment. I broke through the treeline and found the river. The same river I had woken up in. I stepped in, not feeling the chilling water against my flesh like before. I looked down at the water realizing that it was red like the color of blood.

I awoke to Rodi shaking me. "Queen Mara," she whispered, staring at her with muddy eyes. The light gleamed from behind her. "The sun is high, we slept longer than we should have."

I narrowed her eyes, feeling the blistering sun heat her body. She sat up, blinking, noticing Lenox and Arawn were already mounted on their horses ready to go.

"We need to ride," Arawn called out. "Daylight is burning."

I nodded, sitting up, I rolled up my blanket and walked over to Rohell. Pressing a hand to her snout, I calmed the horse by stroking its mane before moving to the side.

I tucked the blanket back into the satchel and planted my feet in the stirrups. Hoisting upward, I straightened, gathering the reins. I pushed the dream from my mind. Rodi's legend proved to have been scary like she declared.

"Where to?"

"We veer more to the east," Lenox said, the map curled to his side. "I have been studying it all morning and it seems we are close to the river."

"Then east we shall ride," I said, lighting tapping the reins.

We rode on for hours until a break was seen between the trees. I cocked my head to the side, listening. I gasped, hearing rushing water.

We had found the river.

My heart thumped as I exchanged a smile with Rodi and Dari.

"To the river!" I hollered.

Cantering, I pulled ahead of everyone and broke through the woodline. I smiled, expecting to find the place I had been captured, but the smile vanished when I saw it.

My heart froze, no longer thumping, my stomach coiled as my face blanched. I had hoped it was a tale, a legend to keep children at bay like Rodi claimed, but now, it was proving to be more than real.

I stared it down at the rotten wooden planks.

The bridge.

The same bridge Rodi claimed was a legend.