Page 185 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
Bridges remembered from another life. Another time.
A time before I was Gerda the Bridge Troll … And I noticed with a sad smile that there was also a bridge from Gerda’s old village.
I hesitated, wanting to look back at least once, but I knew that if I saw Julian standing there, I would lose the nerve.
[You have selectedLions Gate Bridge. Mana Cost 1000.]
Suddenly, I was walking through portal space … but not as I was familiar with it. Crossing a dimensional bridge in Valaria was over in the time it took to blink: one step, a rush, and then it was over.
Traveling between worlds wasn’t fast; it was harrowing. Each step felt like my feet were going to fall out from underneath me. There was a lurch in my stomach, my mind reeling against a momentum that threatened to make me vomit. I could feel the “bridge” beneath my feet, but I couldn’t see it.
I took ten steps that lasted an eternity. All in Void space.
Then suddenly, there was a barrier, a translucent film where this bridge ended andanotherbegan, and Iknewwith absolute certainty that I’d reached the edge of this world and was going to cross into another.
I opened my eyes, only knowing they were open because I was met with another prompt.
[Thank you for playingDungeon Delves and Debutantes. Would you like to exit the game? Yes/No]
I stared at it. I couldn’t answer.
Julian’s note was still in my hands. I couldn’t even read it in the darkness of the Void.
“Why are you crying?” a familiar voice whispered into my ear. It passed through me like a gentle gong. The sound lingered, like a hum in my bones.
“Fate?” I asked.
“I opened this path for you; I thought you would be happy?” the goddess said.
The world shifted, and I couldsee. I was standing on her mana: hundreds of thousands of small motes of divine magic that stretched behind and in front of me. The goddess was made of pure mana, the outline of a tall figure, effeminate and ethereal.
“Why did you bring me here?” I asked, knowing it was rude to answer a question with a question but doing so anyway. “Wasit you?”
“I asked Luck to find me a soul who could change this world for me. Someone who knew what would happen here and would have the will to change it.” Fate bent down and her gentle hand wiped away one of my tears. “She found you.”
“Then why did you ignore me?I went to your temple!You could have—” I was yelling at a goddess, but she simply shook her head.
“I could not appear and risk drawing attention to you,” she explained. “You needed to be truly a part of this world before my siblings noticed you … or they might have removed you.”
“So I get dragged here, do all the work fixing the weave, save everyone—and then what? I get kicked out?” My heart pounded against my chest as anger laced my words. “Did I evenneedto unlock this stupid bonus ability? Or were you just going to send me back anyway?”
“I did nothing. You chose to come here,” Fate reminded me gently.
“Does choice even matter when there is Fate?” I challenged.
“Do not let Luck catch you speaking this way,” Fate chided. “And who are you to say that, Madame Potts!”
She was being awfully forgiving for an all-powerful goddess. The rage inside me dimmed into fear, resentment … and grief.
“Do I have to leave?” The words escaped me, even though I didn’t want to hear the answer.
“No, my sweet soul.” Fate held my shoulders and directed me back to the system prompt. “It is your choice. You may, of course, choose to stay in Valaria. But—” I looked up at the goddess. “I cannot leave a gate between worlds open.” Fate let go and took a step back. “Whatever you choose, I must close the way.”
“I understand,” I said. I knew what I was going to choose.
“Then I will leave you to decide on your own. But first—” Her divine mana wrapped around my hands, and the words in Julian’s letter were made clear to me.
I love you, Miss Gerda Jones
