Marcus sat on the log by the dwindling campfire, flabbergasted by what Cornelia just told him.

  "Just like me, in what way?" Marcus cocked an eyebrow.

  The princess rubbed her palms across her leather pants, as if she were straightening a dress. She turned her attention toward the Hastatus for a moment and then cleared her throat. "W--well, I mean." She looked at him intently. "Didn't you feel anything was out of place when you were down there? Near the black object where we were held?"

  Marcus rubbed his hands together, staring at them. "It did feel a little funny, sure."

  Cornelia observed him for a moment then glanced back to the Hastatus once more. She sighed. "Me too. It gave me strange sensations when near. Pins and needles all around."

  With a nod Marcus returned his attention back to the embers of the fire. "I can't do any nifty tricks, like cause people to burst into flames, though."

  The princess held her hand over her mouth and giggled. "It does take some practice." She lowered her hand and straightened her posture. "I mean, for someone like me."

  Shaking his head, Marcus smirked. "Oh, now I'm not someone with special magical powers." He huffed and rolled his eyes playfully.

  The princess restrained a smile. "That's not what I meant!" She hushed out. "I just-- well," she blinked and searched the distance. "I've never had to give someone a primer on esperitus before now." She again glanced toward the Hastatus, then continued. "Well, all energy has a source and destination."

  Marcus nodded, listening intently.

  "And that's also true for esper energy." Cornelia said. "It starts in one place and wants to travel to another. Without that motion, there can be nothing produced."

  "So you're saying you throw and I catch." Marcus crossed his arms.

  "Quite the opposite." The princess shook her head. "There are some places it can't travel. Just like the top of a whirlpool in the ocean draws water, the bottom pushes it out. Water can't come from the bottom and push up, otherwise it wouldn't be a whirlpool."

  Marcus squinted, confused. "So, I spin around?"

  Cornelia smiled wide. "No, not quite. You push esperitus away. Like the bottom of the whirlpool."

  Marcus rubbed his chest, remembering the sensation of being hammered by whatever energy she produced. "Didn't feel like I did a good job of that before."

  Her mildly joyous expression melted as she watched his motions. "Please accept my apologies. I deeply regret what I've done. There was no way for me to know your intent."

  "Well, if I were tied up by a crazy technomage, I would've done the same." Marcus nodded. "It's no big deal."

  "That--" The princess glanced once more toward the Hastatus. "You're too gracious." She took a deep breath then looked around as a quiet grew between them. She looked to Layne and her eyes lit up. "Tell me, how did you meet Sir Layne?"

  Marcus stopped gripping his chest and looked over to him passed out on the log. "Oh, we've been friends forever." Marcus thought for a moment. "Let's see. Father disappeared almost 12 years ago now. Mother died not long after and we lost the estate. So, about that long. He was an orphan, like me. We met on the streets of Lapis Meridia."

  "Did Sir Layne ever know his parents?" Cornelia said.

  Marcus sat back and cradled his chin, thinking hard. He hummed. "No, I don't think so. He didn't talk about it much but said he moved from place to place for a while before being dumped out in the cold."

  "Terrible thing, what happened to House Valentia..." The princess muttered.

  Marcus cocked his head. "What?"

  Cornelia shifted in her seat. "I was just thinking out loud, how amazing it is you both made it to where you are today. Is it also the case with your mechanics? With Simon, Ekkehard, and Ozzy?"

  Marcus explained the circumstances by which they met.

  The princess nodded. "I see. Terrible situation, that must have been."

  The fire died down to just embers.

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  Caeso appeared after climbing upon a massive boulder and sitting down with a tonoascia in his lap. "You should get some shut-eye, twinkletoes. Staying up needlessly for two days in a row is going to wear you down."

  Marcus smirked and let loose a subtle chuckle.

  The princess furrowed her brow and pursed her lips, looking at Caeso.

  The warrior recoiled. "I mean you took watch last night; you should get some rest."

  Marcus yawned. "Yeah, I guess so." He walked over to the ladder of the Firestorm and ascended. "Hollar if anything's going on."

  Caeso grunted.

  As Marcus got halfway up, Cornelia called out.

  "Marcus?" The princess spoke with a worried tone.

  He stopped and turned his attention to her. Cornelia passed a glance to Caeso, who looked away.

  "Good night." The princess spoke after some hesitation.

  "Oh, uh. Good night to you too." Marcus nodded and then continued up the ladder.

  After getting inside the darkened cockpit, Marcus settled into the pilot seat and crossed his arms. In an instant, the whir of Fenicks appearing on the center display filled the cockpit.

  "Morning has arrived." Fenicks spoke from the pilot's console.

  Marcus groaned and opened one eye. Daylight creeped in from the slightly ajar hatch. "Anything happen while I was out?"

  "Standard motion from nighttime camp watch. No incidents." Fenicks replied.

  Marcus sighed, shut his eye, and then hugged his chest tighter, ready to go back to sleep. "Good."

  "Considering the way ahead has complications, I recommend awakening." Fenicks said.

  Groggy, Marcus shifted in the chair and grunted, wanting to sleep longer. He slid a palm down his face and then leaned forward, catching himself on the center console. "Fine, I'm up."

  He threw himself from the chair and stumbled down to the hatch. Crouching down, he hefted it open and descended to the forest floor. At ground level, he found Arminius and Layne up and waiting for him.

  "At least you settled in last night." Arminius said.

  "Getting shot at takes it out of you." Marcus rubbed his arms to stave off the chill breeze coursing through the forest.

  The Myrmidon laughed. "That it does." He turned and motioned in the direction they entered from the road. "The good news is that the bridge being out has diverted most of the traffic away from the area, so we can move in relative peace."

  Layne nodded.

  Marcus, still with just one eye open stared at Arminius. "What's the bad news?"

  "The bad news is that if there was an easy way to fix the bridge, it would have already been done by someone else." The Myrmidon sighed.

  "Can't we just put a few logs across it?" Layne said.

  "We could try, but if they break, it's certain death." Arminius said.

  Marcus opened both of his eyes, finally waking up. "So what, we have to take a different route?"

  The Myrmidon exhaled sharply. "No, despite the danger, the most effective way to get to Kourion City is to get across the bridge, even if it is perilous." He motioned toward the wagons. "There's enough of the bridge left for the wagons to get across safely. We'll try to build a temporary platform to get the uprights to the other side."

  Marcus looked at Layne and shrugged. "The faster we do it, the faster it's done."

  After getting the camp packed up and the uprights started, the group returned to the broken bridge at the end of the road. It was a double arch cobblestone structure. The far side had been shredded by explosives in some way. Half of it was usable by carts, but without the entire surface, there was no way for the uprights to walk across.

  "Let's get the carts sorted first, and then we'll figure out how we can do this." Arminius radioed.

  The Hastatus walked over near the bridge and motioned for the wagon train to keep moving. With Caeso on one and Baldmund driving the other, the two warriors carefully navigated across the broken bridge. The wagons hugged the wall on the only passable side. Staring down into the vast canyon with a raging river below, the mechanics leaned over and watched the wheels that were only inches away from sliding off.

  The two carts crossed and then continued farther down the road some more.

  "Strip those and lay them across the gap." Marcus pointed at a portion of the forest nearest the canyon as he brought the Firestorm to where he was motioning.

  Layne uprooted trees with a firm grip. He twisted the branches and roots, making roughhewn logs. After processing a bunch, they laid out a patchwork crossing on the bridge, the logs overlaid, slightly disorganized.

  "I'll go first." Arminius radioed after they finished.

  The Hastatus toed the makeshift platform. The fresh logs bent and groaned, rubbing against each other, held together by simply being longer than the gap was wide and what remained of the wall stopping them from tumbling over the side.

  After retreating its foot for a moment, the Hastatus leaned back then stepped with a wide gait, almost throwing itself across in one step. It spun around and faced the Firestorm after reaching solid ground.

  "Good enough. Your turn." Arminius radioed.

  Marcus took a deep breath. Layne turned around and gave him a reassuring nod.

  The Firestorm was much heavier than the Hastatus and couldn't be as nimble as to simply gap the length of the damaged bridge section. It would take a few steps.

  Marcus inched the upright forward.

  "Bridge integrity stable." Fenicks said over the intercom.

  Marcus slowly crossed the undamaged portion of the bridge. Then he came up to the logs.

  "Going to take this slow and steady." Marcus said.

  He eased the foot onto the near side of the impromptu log bridge. They shifted under the immense weight of the Firestorm.

  "Bridge integrity good." Fenicks said.

  Then he eased the opposite foot onto the remaining portion of the bridge. He was quick to lift the first foot from the logs as fast as possible. Then he again eased the foot onto the tree section. They shifted and creaked.

  "Looking good." Arminius radioed.

  Once more he did the same thing, quick to place a firm step on the remaining portion of the bridge. Then, once steady, he readied to step once more onto the logs.

  "Almost across, keep her steady." Arminius radioed.

  Layne let out a subtle gasp, his attention unwavering out the forward viewport.

  The Firestorm's right foot lowered onto the makeshift bridge section. The groaning echoed in the cockpit.

  Just as Marcus lifted the left foot, the Firestorm bucked and tumbled to the right. The outer wall supporting the logs collapsed and the upright began to tumble into the river rapids below.

  "Critical alert: bridge integrity has failed." Fenicks said.

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