Tal spent the remainder of the morning gathering and piling rocks near the bridge. No one had told him to do it, but he figured if they were going to break the bridge then they would need a good selection of stones to throw. He’d hoped others would help but as time passed and no one joined him, Tal gave up on that hope. It wasn’t terrible work, after all, with no task masters shouting orders or feeling rushed to complete a mountainous list of tasks before the end of the day. For now, he only had one thing to do, and was in no hurry to finish.

From time to time, Tal looked up across the divide between Peak and Spire. The six visitors from Spire had already crossed the bridge and vanished from sight, but every once in a while he caught glimpses of people moving about the bridge on their end.

“What do you suppose they are doing?”

Tal jumped, dropping the stone he’d been carrying and spinning around to see who had spoken. One of the rulers stood there, looking across towards Spire. This wasn’t the ruler who had spoken to the visitors from Spire but he was no less important. Tal immediately looked down and bowed. He’d never spoken to one of the rulers before, let alone been spoken to by one of them. He was so far beneath them he didn’t even know their names. They were the rulers and that was sufficient for anyone as low as Tal.

“I did not ask the question aloud just so you could examine the dirt,” the ruler stated, his voice cold and full of impatience.

“I, uh,” Tal stammered while he struggled to put his words together, “They might want to end the competition between us?”

The ruler huffed and took a step closer towards the bridge. His eyes were narrow and it was clear he was straining to see whatever it was that Spire was doing. Not knowing what else to do, Tal bent down to pick up the stone that he’d dropped so he could resume his labor.

“What are you doing?” Snapped the ruler.

Tal dropped the stone yet again and cringed, expecting to be struck across the face at any moment. No such blow came and Tal slowly relaxed, then remembered the ruler had asked him a question and knew it wouldn’t improve the ruler’s mood if he failed yet again to give a response.

“I’m gathering stones,” Tal explained in as humble a manner as he could muster. “The bridge needs to be destroyed and if it’s strong enough to hold the weight of six people we’ll need lots of good stones.”

“Stones we could otherwise use for building,” the ruler said, though Tal wasn’t sure if he’d said this more to himself than to Tal.

“Come,” the ruler stated and immediately began walking towards the bridge.

Tal obeyed but couldn’t help but wonder at what the ruler was doing. The closer they came to the bridge, the more Tal worried. He kept stealing glances back towards the rest of Peak and with each additional step he regretted more and more his decision to come gather stones.

“What is the matter with you?” the ruler demanded.

“Sorry,” Tal replied.

“I did not ask you for an apology,” the ruler snapped. “Now explain yourself!”

“I was, um,” Tal wasn’t sure what to say. He was unaccustomed to being addressed by anyone of such high standing. He was nervous about getting too close to the cliff edge where the bridge was anchored. He was worried that something in his conversation would be deemed too unsavory and be punished. Perhaps this was because of his and Geth’s conversation earlier, although why a ruler would stoop so low as to handle such a matter was beyond Tal’s reasoning.

Too late, Tal realized he’d been silent for too long, leaving the ruler waiting for his answer all while Tal struggled through his various thoughts and fears. He also made the mistake of looking up and meeting the ruler’s gaze.

To his utmost surprise and bewilderment, the ruler still did not strike him. Neither did he appear to be overly furious with Tal. Certainly, there was a deep frown on his face and his eyes bore no love for Tal, but there didn’t seem to be much in the way of overt hostility.

“We are going to cross this bridge,” the ruler stated. “You and I, right now.”

Tal paled.

“It’s a thing of wonder,” Tal said, nodding to the bridge, “and don’t know if I’m fit to walk on it. Like a fine carpet in a ruler’s manor.”

“Nothing that Spire can build is above you,” the ruler said and then, taking hold of Tal’s shirtsleeve, began pulling him onto the bridge.

“I’ve nothing on my feet,” Tal protested, “I’ll be torn to bits trying to walk on it!”

The ruler ignored him and Tal’s objection was quickly nullified as they both found the surface of the bridge to be quite smooth. How the builders of Spire had managed such a feat was beyond Tal since everything about the structure seemed to look like it ought to be covered in sharp edges. Of course, it also looked like it ought to be falling apart. Soon, the ruler let go of Tal and then cleaned his hand on a small cloth he produced from inside his robes.

They walked for several minutes, Tal expecting at any minute for the ruler to state that he’d satisfied whatever curiosity he’d had and then to begin walking back. The view from the bridge was spectacular. Out in the midst of the vast nothing that separated the two lands Tal could now see other places that had previously been hidden from view. Lands far down below, other mountains rising and falling in the far distance. He’d never thought about it much before, but now that he had this new vantage point, he wondered if there were other places, other people, besides Peak and Spire. It seemed silly not to have considered it before but he’d just been so focused on what was right in front of him his whole life that he’d never had the time or cause to think about such things.

They reached the midpoint of the bridge. It was a little wider here and there were some benches, also made of broken glass, built into the side railings. The ruler stopped but did not sit and so Tal did the same. It was an effort not to look back towards Peak. Midday would be arriving soon and he worried what might happen if they were still on the bridge when it came. Would the other rulers still order the bridge to be destroyed? Did they know that one of their own had come out here for a walk?

“Midday seems only a short time off,” Tal risked being punished for speaking before being spoken to, but perhaps the ruler had lost track of time. Maybe this would spur on their return to Peak.

“So it is,” the ruler replied, giving the rising sun a brief glance. “We should quicken our pace, then.”

With that, the ruler resumed walking towards Spire. So shocked was Tal that he spoke without thinking.

“We’ll be stuck on the other side when they break the bridge!” And then he added, “Or we’ll not make it and fall to our deaths when the bridge is broken!”

“I doubt this bridge will fall too quickly if the best our people can do is throw stones at it,” the ruler replied, walking faster, nonetheless. “As for being stuck on the other side, do you think life over there will be any worse than life back in Peak?”

Tal didn’t know what to say but knew he needed to say something.

“I don’t know enough about things to know what a servant’s life in Spire will be like for me. But you’re a ruler in Peak. What will you be in Spire?”

Tal hoped that was a safe enough response while still, hopefully, motivating the ruler to change his mind and return to Peak. Unfortunately, the ruler made no sign of slowing or turning back. Before too much longer, Tal began to hear the distant and yet terrifying plink plink of stones hitting glass.

“Pace yourself,” the ruler stated as they broke into a run.

It seemed that, whatever the ruler had said regarding his confidence in the strength of the bridge, he still didn’t fancy being on it much longer now that Peak had begun their assault on the bridge. Tal knew it wouldn’t go over well for him if he raced ahead of the ruler but it was all he could do to restrain that instinct. The ruler, as Tal had long suspected of all the rulers, was not that used to physical labor and had a difficult time running for very long. Soon, he began to slow, huffing and panting, gripping his side as if in pain.

A loud CRACK rang out and the bridge shuddered. The Spire end of the bridge was in sight but it was clear the ruler was spent. Without thinking, Tal scooped up the ruler, slung him over his shoulder, and then ran with everything he had left. Almost in time with each of his steps were additional cracking and crashing sounds from behind. Some were far distant, others were terrifyingly close. Sometimes, he thought he felt the glass beneath his feet shift but he managed to keep his balance.

People were gathered around the end of the bridge, watching silently as Tal desperately sought the safety of solid ground. The watchers didn’t cheer, but neither did they look unfriendly. If anything, they looked curious. Tal didn’t have any energy to spare on thinking about them, however. All he wanted to know was that they weren’t going to just toss him and the ruler back into the void once they got across the bridge and the lack of anger in their expressions was enough for him.

Years of being a builder for Peak, carrying stones, lifting and moving the scaffolding, all had led to him having a significant amount of strength and endurance. Never before had he been so keenly aware of, and grateful for, the benefits of having lived such a life.

The bridge was tumbling away beneath his feet now, still providing some support but it was much more akin to running on sand than it was anything else. With a final leap, he cleared the final distance and landed on solid ground. Behind him, the noise of crashing glass filled the air, echoing up from the chasm that divided Peak and Spire for several minutes. For a long time following the collapse of the bridge, Tal continued to lie there on the ground. He wasn’t sure what had become of the ruler, as he was no longer holding onto him, but he was fairly certain he hadn’t dropped him. Perhaps he’d just gotten up without Tal noticing.

Eventually some voices began to speak but Tal had had enough for one day and the dimming around the edges of his vision that he’d been resisting ever since he reached the safety of solid ground finally overcame him and he slipped into a dreamless dark.