On the Bridge

Armageddon by Nicholas Roerich, created 1935–6 and available under Creative Commons license

Part Four: Circle’s End

This is last part of a four part story. If you have not already read the first part, check it out here. Part two is here. And here is part three. Otherwise, read on!

We are come full circle.

Here I stand, one side of the bridge — a real, physical bridge, this time — set in a pretty clearing, a mile or so to the south of Cassonne. Any minute now, the thing, the creature that has already wreaked such chaos and destruction upon so many worlds will break what little resistance my fellow mages can mount against him. Then, our bridgebuilders will allow him to pass through a portal that ends in the woods a little way across from where I am stood.

Though this is but diversion. We do not know what this being is: whether it kills to feed, or for the simple delight of snuffing out life. Does it even know what it does? Are we dealing with some deranged arch-mage, evil counterpart to myself and our sisterhood? Or some fluke of nature? What will it do, once arrived?

Or He. For in my previous encounter I sensed what I could only describe as an unbounded and hostile male energy,

Will he just smash our entire world to pieces, not pausing even to take stock? In which case, all our efforts to save some small portion of our people will have been in vain. Or will he stop…