Wander felt himself get bucked harshly from his horse's back before he realized it had even happened.

One moment, he was focusing solely on kicking her into action, running her as swiftly as her lithe legs could carry her, hooves clacking against precariously unstable stone. But between then and now, he could distinguish only a blast of wind lashing his face as he fell forward, and then he was on the ground. A fearsome chorus of shattering architecture roared synonymously with the clattering of a dropped sword as Wander lay there dazedly for the briefest moment. Then he shook his head, clearing the haze away. Agro was in trouble.

Ignoring the scuffs on his hands and the soreness of his limbs, Wander scurried to the cliff's edge where the bridge had been connected just a moment prior.

He scrambled to a stop there just in time to see his beautiful black steed, his irreplaceable companion Agro, release a final whinny as she plummeted towards the hazy waters below.

She was the first to fall in with the broken pieces of stone architecture, leaving circular splashes of foam rippling forth from the center of her downfall.

"Agro!"

The last time Wander had felt so much grief flood his soul was when he had found Mono sacrificed. This raw howl of grief and betrayal coalescing into a single entity as tumultuous as all of the colossis' power before him was not unlike the first time he let it boil forth.

Wander's breathing came rapidly as he searched the waters below hopefully, if not frantically. The river hundreds of feet below displayed no sign of a mare's head bobbing up towards the surface. Wander was certain of it now…

Agro was gone.

"Agro," Wander whispered, letting his head dip in defeat. She had sacrificed herself so that he could carry on with his final obstacle, so that he could be reunited with Mono...

Agro, why? Why would you do it?

Lightning crackled and thunder crashed. Rain began to fall to the earth, droplet by droplet, until it cascaded down all around him in sheets. This was the first rain he had felt upon his back since he had entered the Forbidden Lands all those fifteen colossi ago.

Good thing the tears flooding Wander's eyes, cascading down his cheeks, would be disguised when he went in to slay the final colossus, his final obstacle, the one he was blindly targeting with his mournful rage.

Maybe when he returned to Dormin's temple after the battle, and Mono was finally resurrected, he could request to Dormin that his beloved steed be returned to him too.

Maybe the three of them—the princess, her warrior, and his steed—could live in unison, wandering past the Forbidden Lands to find a new home. A new beginning…

But now, now was not the time for wishing. He had a friend to avenge.

"Malus, final colossus, you are in the glare of my Ancient Sword's beams. And I will not let you escape it.

"Agro deserved better than to be killed by your hand."

I was itching to write something different from my usual craft, so after pondering what I could think up from a prompt labeled 'The Bridge,' I decided this scenario would be a great pick. I've been wanting to put this scene into words since I first experienced it. It's simply too powerful. I hope that translated into my work.

Thank you for reading my one-shot dedicated to this masterpiece of a game, and the best of companions, Agro.