The Bridge by James Butler

DON’T EVER GO ACROSS THE BRIDGE.
    IF THEY CATCH YOU ON THE OUTSIDE, THEY WILL KILL YOU
     
    PROLOGUE
    Dór ran through the forest as fast as he could, jumping from one tree to another , trying to avoid the traps the outsiders had set for him. It was the last year of the great war and the outsiders were out in force. He could hear their dogs barking as they picked up his scent and the clattering of the snappers, the genetically altered bats, as they swarmed toward him. He wished he’d listened to his friend, Connor, but now it was too late. He was Huldufolk and had crossed the bridge from the village of Alfheim into the world of the outsiders.
    A bullet grazed a tree only inches away from his head, forcing him to move even faster. He was winded and afraid, but he couldn’t stop. He couldn’t give up. He summoned every last bit of energy he had and jumped from behind the tree, running again. He had only taken a few steps when the ground gave way underneath him and he fell face down into a bear pit. One spike went through his leg and another through his chest. He lay there thinking he was going to die, but hoping the outsiders would show mercy and rescue him or at least shoot him. Being one of the Huldufolk, he had never experienced fear or pain and now, for the first time, he felt somehow disconnected from it, but the dark shadows were moving in on him and he knew death would come quickly if he didn’t receive help. He was struggling against the spikes, trying to loosen himself, when the outsiders’ dogs ran up to the pit, barking and snarling. The bats were close, their clattering getting louder, and then the outsiders appeared. The men came to the pit, cheering and laughing, as they looked down at him.
    “We finally got one of you majic men!”
    “He don’t look no different than us , Pa,” a young boy said.
    “Kill me,” Dór commanded them. “If there’s any kind of a man left among you, you won’t let the bats have me.”
    “They got to eat too,” one of them laughed. “Why don’t you use your magic and get yourself outta there?”
    “Why do you hate us so?” screamed Dór, as he watched dark cells spread through his body and felt the pain starting to set in.
    The men stood around the pit relieving themselves on Dór until the swarm of bats came, then walked away, leaving Dór to be consumed by the snappers.

Chapter 1
    Feona held her daughter’s hand as they walked across the old covered bridge. The bridge was the only thing that separated the village of Alfheim and the world of the outsiders. It was hundreds of years old, yet looked as if it had just been built. Her daughter was Meva and today was her sixteenth birthday.
    “When your grandmother was your age, no one could walk across this bridge and step into the forest without losing their way. Once they stepped off the bridge away from the village, something happened to their minds and they couldn’t find their way back. They were overwhelmed by the dark shadows.”
    The dark shadows covered the entire universe. They were in everything that existed, even the smallest particles of space. They carried with them evil, but in the village of Alfheim , they were ineffective. Only when the Huldufolk crossed the bridge were they in danger.
    Feona was the daughter of Shannon and Nia, elders of the Huldufolk - The Hidden People, as they had been called by the outsiders. Feona had promised to spend the whole day with her daughter and they would do whatever Meva wanted. They stopped in the middle of the old bridge and looked down at the rocks and river below.
    “What happened to them?” asked Meva. “ Those people who crossed the bridge? Didn’t they ever come back? Were they devoured by the dark shadows?”
    They walked on across the bridge and stepped out into the forest.
    Feona had been waiting until this day to tell her daughter the story of the Huldufolk. Meva would be studying for the Aeosta soon and Feona wanted to prepare her for it.
    The Aeosta