CHAPTER FOUR: CROSSING THE CHASM

The seven companions cautiously rounded the bend, and suddenly found themselves at the end of the Gorge. The steep walls of the hills rose like cliffs all around them. They had reached a sort of cul-de-sac, a dead end. Splitting the clearing was a massive chasm, wider than anyone could possibly hope to leap. But there was a bridge, a rickety-looking affair of rope and wooden planks, only wide enough to be crossed in single file.

At the other end of the bridge, on the far side of the chasm, the adventurers saw a cave at the base of the cliff. It was a squarish opening in the side of the hill, with dragons carved in bas-relief at the sides and top. The opening was large, perhaps twice the height of a man. Inside the cave was dark.

But closer to where they stood, the adventurers saw something which caused them to draw their weapons. On the near side of the chasm, near the entrance to the bridge, there was a large, crude hut. Smoke curled upward from the chimney.

"That's one big cottage," Lidda said, a little nervously. The hut was much bigger than a normal human would have used.

"I wonder who lives there," Jozan asked.

His question was answered almost immediately. The door of the shack was flung open, and from the doorway emerged, stooping, a massive, giant-sized creature. "Who goes there?"

The adventurers' eyes widened in surprise at what they saw. The guardian of the bridge straightened to its full height and regarded them with unquestioned malice- and hunger. It was a two-headed giant. The ettin wore nothing but a huge loincloth of fur wrapped around its middle, and in its two giant hands wielded a club so large it could have been an uprooted tree. In fact, it probably was. The two heads turned to face the adventurers, fangs bared. "Ah," the left head of the ettin laughed. "My supper!"

"No, MY supper," said the right head.

The left-side head frowned in consternation. "It wuz my idea to live here, so I get to eat first."

The right-side head rolled its eyes. "Lookit, there's enough of them to go around. There's one, two, three-" That was about as high as an ettin could count, but both heads agreed that the party of heroes represented a veritable feast.

"There's a lot more'n three of 'em," the left-side head said, grinning. "I dunno if they'll all fit in our pot!"

"Who cares," laughed the other head. "Anything's bettern harpy for dinner. Let's get 'em!"

Regdar was thinking the same thing, and he raised his sword and charged. Tordek was right beside him on the left, wielding his dwarven axe, and Alhandra was beside him on the right, ready with shield and sword. Soveliss and Lidda split off, to either side, preparing to flank the creature or attack it with missile weapons. Lidda made for the chasm while Soveliss angled towards the steep side of the Gorge. Jozan wasn't sure yet what role he could play in fighting such a huge foe, so he hung back, raising his crossbow. Mialee knew that an ettin was a formidable monster, so she drew a treasured wand out of her belt.

Regdar and Tordek struck at almost the same time, biting deep into the legs of the ettin with bastard sword and dwarven war axe. Arrows and bolts thunked into its massive torso from Soveliss, Jozan and Lidda, and a cluster of bluish magic missiles streaked from Mialee's wand to impact the ettin's midsection.

The ettin howled in pain. Blood poured down its hairy legs from the slashes cut into its thighs. The wounds the two fighters had inflicted were deep and painful, but hardly enough to bring the thing down. It swatted in annoyance at the rain of missiles, both magical and mundane, which swarmed at it from all directions. Then, the creature raised its club with both hands. With surprising speed, it swung.

Regdar couldn't get out of the way in time. The massive club impacted him squarely in the shoulder, denting his armor and knocking him to the ground. Blood oozed from between the plates of his armor. Regdar struggled to rise.

Alhandra stepped in front of the fighter, giving him the moment he needed to stagger to his feet. She slashed at the arm of the ettin, drawing blood. "Reg, are you all right?"

"Damn this thing," the warrior cursed, spitting blood. "That hurt."

"Then let me cut it down to size for ya," Tordek yelled. Raising his great axe overhead, he planted his feet and swung as hard as he could.

The ettin, surprisingly nimble, laughed and jumped out of the way. "You next, stunty!" The monster brought its club around again, aiming for the wide-eyed dwarf. The blow hit Tordek smack in the chest, and sent him flying through the air. He landed on his back, and skidded a few more feet before finally coming to a stop- just inches from the edge of the chasm.

Lidda was nearby, and she grabbed Tordek's cloak to make sure he didn't fall in. "That was close," she said, reloading her crossbow for another shot.

"Grrr!" Tordek leapt to his feet, ignoring the pain of his cracked ribs. "That thing dented my armor!" His face reddened with rage, the sturdy fighter charged back into the fray.

Soveliss had found a vantage point that allowed him a clear shot of the ettin's flank, and he pumped arrows into the monster as quickly as he could. Jozan, taking stock of the massive damage the ettin could inflict, fired his crossbow then quickly prepared a spell of healing. Someone was going to need it.

"Now you, shiny fella," the ettin's left-side head chuckled, looking down at the armor-clad paladin. The ettin didn't have much association with humans, so it had mistaken Alhandra for a male knight. It struck at her with its club.

Alhandra bravely stood her ground and raised her shield. She caught the full weight of the ettin's massive strike, and the blow knocked her to the ground, just as it had the others. Her shield was badly damaged, and her arm was probably broken, but when the ettin looked, expecting to find her lying dead, it blinked. Alhandra yet lived.

"Trithereon help me," the paladin said, weakly, as she thrust at one of the ettin's necks. There was blood in her eyes, but faith guided her hand and her sword pierced the monster's throat. The ettin clapped one hand to the wound and drew back, staggering in pain. Then, the armor-clad woman collapsed to the ground.

Jozan saw that Alhandra was actually much worse off than she seemed. Keeping an eye on the ettin, the cleric darted forward and pulled the wounded paladin back out of reach of the monster's stomping feet. Mialee, firing magical missiles from her wand, stood guard over the two as the cleric prayed for the divine power to heal Alhandra's wounds. "You'll be all right," he said.

"My thanks," Alhandra said, shaking her head. Then, her eyes widened. "Look out!"

Jozan straightened and leapt aside. The ettin was looming over him, club raised to strike at the cleric.

Regdar and Tordek, back on their feet, took advantage of the ettin's distraction to drive their blades deeply into the thing's hide. Regdar aimed for the abdomen, and his sword went in up to the hilts. Tordek went again for the leg, and this time his axe chopped so deeply through bone and muscle he almost severed the limb.

The ettin was too stupid to realize it was about to die. Roaring with pain, it stomped and bashed in a frenzy. The adventurers scrambled, either to get out of the way or to position themselves for a telling blow.

At last, it was a determined Tordek who, swinging his dwarven axe with both hands, brought down the ettin. A single swipe of his axe cut through the thing's leg below the knee, sending the giant sprawling to the ground. Regdar and Alhandra leapt on the fallen monster, brandishing their swords, and stabbed deep into its vitals. Soveliss, smiling, sent a last arrow into the monster's ear, where it stuck.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief, and slowly the adventurers began to stir.

"Is it dead?" Lidda asked, lowering her crossbow.

"As a doorknob," Tordek said, grinning. The dwarf leapt atop the ettin.

"Let's search the thing for treasure and move on," Regdar said. "Somebody take a look inside his cottage, look for anything valuable or unusual."

In a few moments, that was accomplished. Lidda, crowing excitedly, found a strangely-colored patch of dirt on the floor inside the shack. Tordek came over and quickly announced it was fresh dirt- the signs pointed to something buried beneath it. The dwarf brought out his digging tools, and soon they had unearthed the ettin's treasure- a rotten sack containing a mound of gold and silver coins. The adventurers quickly divided this small treasure between them, and, when nothing else of interest could be found, they assembled near the bridge and prepared to cross the chasm.

"Lidda should go across first," Mialee suggested.

The halfling took one look into the chasm and clenched her fists. "Why do I have to be the one who crosses the bridge first? Because I'm the thief? You all think I don't pull my own weight around here, don't you? So, whenever there's a dirty job to be done, it's 'let's send Lidda'. Whenever there's a certain death situation, it's 'let's send the thief- if she dies, we won't be out much." She scowled and turned her back on the others.

"It's because you're the lightest," Regdar said.

"And the nimblest," Tordek added.

"Lidda, it's not like that at all," Jozan said. "You've long since earned our respect, no matter what your, ahem, previous profession might have been. We all know you pull your own weight."

Soveliss, who stood near the bridge at the very lip of the chasm, peered down into the depths below. He raised his eyebrows. It was a long way to the bottom. He studied the bridge for a moment. "It's all right, Lidda," he said. "If you don't want to cross first, I can understand that. I'll go across." The elf began removing his pack.

Lidda whirled on the ranger. "Don't give me any of that over-protective bargle, Soveliss. Honestly, you people drive me crazy sometimes." She elbowed the elf out of her way and put her feet on the bridge, one hand on each of the rope railings. "I don't need anyone looking out for me. If it's my job to cross every hazard first, then that's what I'll do. But I expect to be compensated, mark my words." She set out across the rickety-looking bridge, muttering curse-words in the cant of thieves under her breath.

Soveliss looked at the others and shrugged and put his pack back on.

The bridge barely sagged at all under Lidda's weight, though the ropes creaked and the wood planks of the walkway gave slightly with each step. No one had crossed this bridge in a long time, but it felt sound enough. It swayed a little from the wind coming down the chasm, but structurally is seemed the bridge would hold. With each cautious step, Lidda examined the bridge for traps or signs of weakness, but she saw none.

Halfway across the span, she stopped. She paused only long enough to spare a quick backward glance. The others were there, weapons ready, scanning the far side of the chasm for any sign of danger. Taking a deep breath, the thief resumed her crossing.

As she neared the far side, Lidda looked up and focused her attention on the opposite bank. The ominous cave was much larger than it had appeared from the other side. It looked like a natural cave that had been augmented with stonework. A massive lintel spanned the top of the opening, supported by squarish columns on either side, giving the cave mouth the appearance of a door or portal. The stonework, she could see from up close, was carved with stylized dragons and indecipherable runes. She'd have to check that more closely once she'd crossed. She'd seen glyph traps before, and this seemed the perfect place for such protections, if there were any.

The interior of the cave, what she could see of it, was shrouded in darkness. Lidda couldn't make out anything in the darkness within- something else she'd have to examine more closely, but that could probably wait until the others had crossed as well.

Lidda finally set one foot on the gravel at the far end of the bridge, then another. She breathed a sigh of relief. "It's safe," she called back, keeping an eye on the dark cave ahead of her. "Come on across."

Regdar didn't wait for Lidda's call. As soon as the halfling set foot on the far side of the chasm, he was moving across the bridge. It swayed a lot more under his weight than it had for the little thief, but he just kept a firm grip on the side ropes with both hands and tried not to look down. "Wait until I'm halfway across before the next person comes," he said. "We don't want to all be on this bridge at the same time."

Behind him, Soveliss nodded. The elf stood beside the bridge, bow in hand, an arrow nocked. He scanned the cliff walls all about them for more harpies, or signs of any other danger. He saw nothing. On the far side, Lidda stood out in the open, fidgeting nervously, waiting for Regdar to join her. Tordek had two feet on the bridge already, waiting impatiently for the other fighter to pass the halfway mark.

Soveliss frowned. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he'd seen something. Something moved on the far side of the chasm. He saw nothing, and tried to peer into the cave with his elvensight. He couldn't see anything, but if something was stirring in the cave, he needed to be alert. Lidda had her back to the cave, foolishly. Soveliss raised his bow and drew the string back to his ear.

"What is it?" Jozan asked.

"I thought I saw something," the elf muttered, his eyes locked on the dark portal beyond the chasm. Soveliss was about to call out a warning to Regdar and Lidda when his eyes widened. Something was stirring in the darkness of the cave- something huge. "Lidda! Look out!"

Lidda sensed something was coming behind her even before she heard Soveliss' warning. She heard the soft shuffle of paws on stone. The halfling spun and leapt aside, rolling and coming up in a crouch. A great wind buffeted her, and out of the silent cave emerged the most enormous creature she had ever seen.

It wasn't a dragon, but it might as well have been. It was a massive beast, the twisted result of some mad wizard's experiments, or the result of some cruel god's impulses. It had three heads- goat, dragon and lion. It had wings, with the forelegs of a lion and the hindquarters of a goat, and a serpentine tail. The chimera bounded out of the cave and flew into the air with a roar.

Regdar almost fell off the bridge, but he managed to retain his grip. He saw Lidda jump aside as the chimera emerged from its lair. Thankfully, the thing had taken flight, rather than sitting perched at the far end of the bridge. Then, he would have had no choice but to stay on the bridge and fight. But the chimera instead flew above him, giving Regdar the few moments he needed to sprint to solid ground on the far side. He drew his sword and turned to face the monster.

Tordek was not so lucky. The impatient dwarf was already partway out on the narrow bridge, and the chimera was flying straight towards him. Going forward was not an option, and going back never occurred to him. Instead, he pulled a rope from his belt and lashed himself to the bridge. Then he took hold of his axe.

Still on the near side of the gorge, Jozan gawked at the monster that flew above the chasm. "By Pelor, what sort of monster is that thing, a dragon?" he asked, drawing his mace.

"A chimera," Mialee said. "Not quite as cunning or deadly, but still nasty."

"We can't fight it with half of us here and half on the other side," Soveliss warned, noting the teeth and claws of the thing as it flew. "We've got to keep it busy long enough for Tordek to get off the bridge."

"Tordek, get back here!" Jozan shouted.

Alhandra drew her sword and stood at the edge of the chasm. "I'll get its attention."

The chimera was bred to be a guardian, not a predator. Its wings, like a dragon's in shape and size, were not really the wings of a dragon. They enabled the monster to fly, but not gracefully, and its bulk was too much for it to do more than glide. But that was enough.

Over the chasm, the three heads of the chimera looked down on the scene below. The lion's head roared at the intruders, the goats head lowered its horns, and the dragon head swiveled to face the lone adventurer stranded on the bridge- a dwarf in scale armor. The chimera opened its dragon-mouth, inhaled, and spewed a stream of bright, burning orange flames at the dwarf.

Tordek was caught completely by surprise when the creature suddenly enveloped him in its breath weapon. He gritted his teeth as his flesh burned and his armor smoked. His hair and beard burst into flames, the stench sickening him. His cloak was crisped, and his backpack smoldered. The bridge, nothing more than rope and wood, went up like the tinder that it was. The ropes holding it together vaporized, and suddenly Tordek felt himself falling. The dwarf snarled in defiance, and struggled to hold on to the bridge. He managed to hold on to a part of the bridge that was still attached to the far side. As he swung down, he caught a glimpse of Regdar and Lidda, looking down at him from the edge. Then, the remains of the bridge slammed into the wall of the chasm.

"That was lucky," Tordek muttered. Looking up, he could see that enough of the rope bridge survived that he could climb up to where Regdar and Lidda were waiting. If the chimera would let him be, anyway. Taking a deep breath, the burned and battered fighter began to inch his way up the side of the chasm.

"Hold on, Tordek," Regdar called down from above. "We'll find you a rope!"

"Forget about that," the dwarf called back. "I can climb this myself. Get your bow and shoot that thing!" Then, Tordek remembered he already had a rope. He had used it to lash himself to the bridge. There it was, one end still attached to his belt. He expected to see the other end dangling below him, crisped like the rest of the bridge. But it wasn't. Instead, his rope remained intact. Somehow, it had survived the chimera's breath weapon, and the slack had paid out as he rode the ruined bridge. He looked over his shoulder. There it was. His rope, tied at one end around his waist, stretched all the way back across the chasm to the remnants of the bridge on the far side.

Tordek laughed aloud. "Looks like we're not done with yet," he called up, enthusiastically. With a single strand of rope still running from his belt to the other side the chasm, the adventurers still had a chance of making a way back across to aid their friends. Tordek began to climb again. "Hold on, I'm coming up."

Above him, Lidda also noticed the rope. She didn't smile, but she, too, realized that they still had a chance, because the dwarf had taken the time to tie himself off.

Regdar looked down at the dwarf and grimaced. Tordek looked horribly burned. "I'd better get out my healing potion."