Banesbridge turned out to be a somewhat more accurate name than Noah had expected. It might have been one of the most unique looking cities that he’d ever seen. It was located inside enormous gorge that almost seemed to come out of nowhere, splitting the ground like the enormous claw of some dragon god had carved a huge swath of earth away eons ago.

  But it wasn’t at the bottom of the gorge. Banesbridge was suspended between the two sides of the sheer rock face. The entire city was a huge stone structure bridging across the enormous gorge. It was, albeit stretching the definition of the word to its absolute maximum, a bridge.

  Nobody could have said Banesbridge was a small city. Despite its positioning, even when looking down at it from where they stood at the cliffside above, there were at least four layers to the city.

  Houses and shops dotted the bridge. Every single spot of space was taken up by a multi-story building that perched unsteadily like piles of wet sand dripped into place at the beach, waiting to be washed away by an unfortunate wave.

  The only space that wasn’t occupied by buildings was stuffed chock full of people. Thin pathways ran throughout and across the bridge. Though the crowds stuffing them weren’t actually all that big, in the tight quarters offered by the city, it was more than enough to functionally block out even a single glimpse of the stone beneath their feet.

  Noah was actually somewhat impressed to see that people were still able to move in such a dense horde. The flow of traffic seemed surprisingly fast for how tightly packed everything was.

  A few people flew around the edges of the city, but all of them wore heavy armor similar to what Corban and Alina had on. Noah’s attention was also drawn to looming towers that jutted out of the sides of the bridge. They protruded at odd angles, many of them seemingly just a light breeze from pitching away from Banesbridge and plummeting into the dark abyss beneath.

  Rickety wooden lifts suspended on chains of thick iron rattled along edges of the cliff in an incessant grind. It almost reminded Noah of a ski resort, if said resort had been built above a hellish pit of death.

  “Wow,” Noah said, looking down into the darkness below Banesbridge. “That’s… nice.”

  “It is,” Corban said with an undeniable sense of pride. “My grandfather was part of the dispatch that built Banesbridge during the Coral Empire’s expansion. He put his blood, sweat, and life into those stones. The city was his pride and joy.”

  “It kind of looks like a stick caught halfway down an outhouse hole,” Lee said. “Maybe he could add a little color. That would help.”

  Noah glared at her.

  Alina let out a choking cough. It might have been either indignation or stunned amusement, but behind her helm, it was impossible to tell which.

  “Thank you,” Corban said dryly. “Unfortunately, I don’t think that would be possible. He’s dead.”

  “Oh,” Lee said. “Is that why the city looks—”

  “He died after it was finished,” Corban said.

  Lee cleared her throat. She caught Noah’s glare and scratched the back of her neck awkwardly for a second as she searched for words. “Outhouses are… nice. Very nice. Nothing wrong with them. It’s good to take inspiration from nature. Taking a—”

  “Lee,” Noah said. “I think that’s enough. We don’t need to dig the hole any deeper.”

  “Keep going and you might make an outhouse,” Alina said in a stiff, choked tone that did nothing to hide her losing fight against the amusement cracking her words.

  “Come on,” Corban said with a sigh. He stepped off the edge of the cliff and onto one of the large wooden platforms as the pulley system brought them around. Everyone else followed him.

  The rattle of the wood traveled along Noah’s bones and chattered his teeth as the huge system slowly lowered them toward Banesbridge.

  Shimmers of gold twisted through the darkness far below them. They twisted all the way up to Noah, as if beckoning him to step onto them. The pathways looked so real that Noah could have sworn they were really there.

  But they weren’t. Not, at least, for everyone else.

  They saw only darkness.

  That was a luxury that Noah suspected he would never again have. The gold of the Line had etched itself so deeply into every single part of his soul that he would never be alone in the darkness again.

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  “Don’t look too hard,” Corban said.

  Noah blinked. He tore his eyes away from the shadows below. “What?”

  “The pit,” Corban said. “It’s bad luck.”

  “You built your city over a pit you think is bad luck?” Lee asked.

  Corban let out a small snort. “I’m aware the superstition is stupid. But I think it has some credence to it. Darkness is like a mirror with no reflection. The closer you look at nothing, the more you see the bits you don’t want to see of yourself.”

  “Why’d you build a city over a place you don’t want to be?” Noah asked. “Lee kind of has a point.”

  “Because we aren’t the only ones that avoid it,” Corban replied. “Banesbridge is pretty far into the edge of the kingdom. We’re not in a safe area, and we don’t have as powerful of a garrison as many other edge cities have. The pit makes up for that. It keeps almost all the most powerful monsters away from the city. There aren’t many flying ones ‘round these parts. They’re all landbound.”

  “Interesting,” Noah said. “And the others?”

  “That’s what we’re for.” Corban rapped his knuckles on the top of Alina’s helm. “We’re the garrison. I am, at least. Alina is still in training. She’ll get there one day soon.”

  “You’ve got a very talented Imbuer working in the city, then?” Noah guessed. “That armor of yours is pretty impressive.”

  Corban nodded. “Quite. He goes by Sigmund. He’s damn good at his job. Been keeping us all kicking and outfitted for over sixty years. Armor, weapons, he does it all. Without him, the whole city probably would have fallen into the pit years ago.”

  The platform jerked as it hit a snag. Noah tensed, but the wood stabilized a moment later and continued on its journey down toward the city below .

  “He makes weapons too?” Lee asked.

  “Yeah,” Corban said. “Occasionally takes commissions as well, though they’re not cheap or easy to get. The waiting list can be quite long. I could put in a good word for you two if you want.”

  “Oh, I’ve already got a weapon,” Lee said. She tilted her head to the side as her brow furrowed. “Oh. I should—”

  “No!” Noah yelped, grabbing Lee by the shoulder. “I think it’s quite all right! No need to call the axe. Not without a purpose.”

  “Oh. Yeah. Good point. I don’t wanna carry it around,” Lee said.

  Noah blew out a relieved breath. The last thing they needed was her axe hurtling over to find her and murdering some poor bastard that happened in its way.

  “Thank you,” Noah said. “Let’s avoid thinking about that thing anywhere near a city, shall we?”

  “Kay,” Lee said.

  Corban and Alina exchanged a glance. Noah noticed it, but there wasn’t much he could say that wouldn’t somehow make the situation worse. He and Lee were already far too suspicious.

  “So…” Noah said, clearing his throat. “There’s someone that might be able to get me a mask or the like made? I’ll need a disguise for the upcoming tournament.”

  “Why would you want to hide during a tournament? The whole point is to get glory,” Alina said.

  “Because not everyone wants fame. It’s more effort than it’s worth in many cases,” Corban said with a shake of his head before looking to Noah. “And yes. I know Banesbridge doesn’t look like much, but we have some talented craftsmen. I’m certain you’ll be able to find anything you’re looking for — and after getting the reward for killing that monster, you’ll have more than enough crystal to afford just about whatever you want.”

  “Really?” Lee’s eyes lit up.

  “Don’t get too excited,” Noah said. “Something tells me you won’t be able to afford nearly as much food as you’d like with your share.”

  Lee’s face fell. “Oh. What’s my share?”

  “Half, minus one crystal for tearing the damn thing’s head off,” Noah said. “You can’t go doing that when the fight’s already over. It’s rude.”

  “What?” Lee protested. “It’s not my fault it wasn’t attached properly! You can’t blame me! I want my crystal!”

  “Only if you don’t rip the next monster’s head off on accident.”

  “Fine,” Lee said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

  Noah nodded. “Good. Then we’ll split it evenly.”

  “Next time, I’ll do it on purpose.”

  I suppose I walked myself into that one, didn’t’ I?

  Alina coughed. This time, Noah was pretty sure she was laughing. He supposed that was a good thing. Better she found them amusing than terrifying.

  His gaze drifted back down into the waiting darkness. They were almost at Banesbridge, but the shadows around the bridge seemed to call to him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, something begged him to step forward.

  To plunge off the platform and into the embrace of the darkness below. He knew he’d never hit the bottom. The golden rivers of the Line would ferry him to wherever he wanted to go.

  Corban’s hand landed on Noah’s shoulder.

  “You’re looking,” Corban said in a firm tone. “Don’t.”

  “What do you see down there?” Lee asked, peering over Corban’s shoulder as if the man hadn’t just warned them off it. “All I see is shadow.”

  “It’s not what you see. It’s what you don’t,” Corban said, pulling Noah a step back. “And you don’t see it.”

  “Neither do I,” Alina said. “I think it’s normal.”

  Corban just grunted. “Count yourself lucky. For your sake, Alina, I hope you never do. Bad luck, it is.”

  “You might be right,” Noah said. He shook his head. They were nearing the ground, now. He couldn’t see the darkness below them anymore. All that awaited was stone. That seemed to help banish the strange thoughts.

  Something prickled against the back of his neck.

  He turned.

  A figure clothed in dark, tattered robes stood at the edge of the gorge far above. White bandage covered some massive weapon slung over their shoulders. But, before Noah could get a better look, they were gone.

  He blinked. Then he squinted, extending his domain to feel for the traces of the person he’d just seen. Noah found nothing. Nobody had been there.

  A hallucination? It wouldn’t be the first I’ve gotten.

  Bad luck, indeed.