For Rhia it was a relief when the closeness of the town was behind them. And rising suddenly and incongruously before them was a grand bridge that seemed as out of place as it seemed to be from another time. Rhia noted that there were massive iron gates at either end of the bridge, and just as impressive were the huge stone towers and archways into which they were set. Carved into each tower were figures that made little sense to Rhia. They seemed to her to have some historical significance, but Julina was unable to enlighten her.

As they turned off the roadway and onto the bridge, the massive gates began to move. Even from her mount Rhia could feel the stone shudder beneath them as the gates groaned slowly inward. Flocks of pigeons, disturbed from where they roosted on nests built seemingly in every available nook carved into the stone archways above, exploded into the air and began circling the towers in a sweeping rush of wings. As they passed beneath the first archway, craning her head back to

watch them, Rhia found herself almost losing her balance at the dizzying sight.

"I am told that it took two-thousand dwarves nearly ten years to build this bridge," Julina told her. She too was admiring the stone archways. "There are many such as this throughout the Four Kingdoms."




Most Popular