[ TT ] The journey never ends . The same hero is constantly caught in the cycle of leaving for an adventure , having their adventure , settling down , and being forced to leave again .

The towers rise, twin alabaster ruins guarding the only path to the Godhouse. Between their crumbling parapets, a blazing orb makes its journey from one Horizon to the next. Though the rays of the sun are blinding, my breath leaves my body like the vapor of a living soul. 
 
 I envy the demons, cursed to drag the sun across the sky. At least they know its warmth. 
 
 Before me, the bridge is long, and narrow. Ropes bounce and boards of rotted wood sag under my weight. They have always *been* rotten, and they will always *be* rotten. 
 
 Behind me, a stone falls, clattering against the sides of the steep chasm, reminding me of the fate that lies below. I do n't bother to count how long it takes to reach the bottom, because I already know. 
 
 The bridge creaks and sways, swinging wider the farther I cross. My heart leaps in my mouth, though I have done this a thousand times. It's the next part that always catches me off guard. 
 
 One steel-toed foot goes ahead of the other. The bridge sags to it's lowest point. 
 
 I slap down the visor of my helmet, lift my shield, and wait. 
 
 And wait. 
 
 And just when I start to think something has changed, something has *finally* changed, there is a scream. 
 
 A piercing wail, like a woman who watches the death of her child, rattles across the chasm. A shadow lifts itself from the cliff, and another, and another. 
 
 I set my feet, reminding myself to breath. 
 
 As the beating of wings rises to a crescendo, I feel the very pressure in the air change. I finger the vial in my right hand, making sure to keep it hidden from their sight. 
 
 Their leathery, rock-colored wings propel their bodies through the air, whip-like tails snapping and cracking in the wind. How many of them had I killed? 
 
 How many of me, had they? 
 
 They dart at me in wild spirals, as if they've lost control of their own flight, but I am not fooled. I lift my shield, and wait for the first impact. 
 
 *Thwack! * 
 
 I grunt, and nearly lose my footing, as first worm smacks into my shield. I can feel its added weight as it latches it's circular mouth onto the oiled metal of my shield. On the sides of my vision, I see another one angling around me, and coming in for an approach. 
 
 I shift my stance. 
 
 The shield-sucker beats its wings, blinding me for a moment, and I lose sight of the approaching worm. 
 
 Something clangs against my helmet, and it crumples against my skull. One of the worms must have flown above while I was distracted, and dived. 
 
 I try to push the worm off with my shield. 
 
 It's wing flaps wildly, and slaps the vial out of my hand. 
 
 A burst of flames engulfs the bridge, snapping wires and blowing out rotted wood. By the Blood Goddess's blessing, my body is protected from the flames, but the bridge is gone, and I can not fly. 
 
 Wind whips in my ears, and the screeching calls of the worms falls away. The ground, once a permanent fixture, rushes up below me. 
 
 Though she is but a brief moment in the cycle, I will embrace Death when she comes. And I will beg her to make this death my last. 
 
 Though, I know it will not be so.
