Chapter 158: Rope Bridge
"Rae will hook us up. Just give her a moment to work, and she will have a way across the river." Karl explained to the others.
She was already getting to work, attaching her web to trees on opposite sides of the river, and creating a small, woven platform for them to cross. Then she added a handhold line up near shoulder height, and darted across it to add a bit more securement to the other side.
Bob gave the silk rope bridge a look of trepidation, but he stepped up onto it, and easily balanced as he made his way across.
The mages looked at the bridge and shook their heads.
"There is no way we're making it across that without dumping ourselves in the river." One of them, possibly Danni, informed Karl with a frown.
"What if we send your packs first? Or should I have Rae make more bridge for you? It's not going to fall in the water." Karl asked.
Doug smirked as he relieved one of the mages of her pack and nimbly danced across the bridge, putting one foot in front of the other.
"They're just incredibly uncoordinated. Taking the packs from them is a good idea, but they still might not be able to walk a straight line." He taunted.
[I could throw them.] Thor suggested.
"Hopefully, it won't come down to having Thor toss you. How about you pass me your remaining pack and give it a try? The upper rope is sturdy, just keep a good hold on it and you won't fall in the river." Karl offered.
The remaining pack was handed to him, and the mage stepped up on the bridge, wobbling a little as she took her first few steps. But after that, she was getting the hang of it, and after a close call that left her hanging off the handrail for a moment, she made it to the other side.
"How is Thor going to make it to the other side?" The remaining mage asked.
"He will just duck into the separate space where he rests, and then come out again when I'm on the other side." Karl laughed, while imagining the sight of Thor trying to cross a single rope bridge.
The mage carefully crossed the river, then Karl walked across behind her, before turning back to the bridge.
"I suppose we should take that down, unless we are going to need it to go back. Or at least disable it so it doesn't let anything else cross the river." He suggested.
"Yeah, we could cut it and let it fall. Most creatures wouldn't be able to reuse it anyhow. How long will the silk last?" Bob asked.
Karl shrugged. "As long as it needs to, I suppose. It normally doesn't dissolve or anything."
"Leave it. Someone else will need to get across the river soon, and they will likely be following the same trail that we are. We have to cross two more search areas before we get where we are going, and they will appreciate the ability to get across. Well, at least after they realize that it isn't a trap by a giant spider to get them stuck in the middle of the river."
Rae perked up at the suggestion. That was actually brilliant. Just a bit of sticky silk, and she could get them stuck right in the middle, where they would be out in the open and nearly helpless.
But she resisted the urge to booby trap the bridge, and waited patiently for the group to continue. The sun was about to hit the mountains, and while it would be twilight for a few hours still, the direct light was about to end for the day.
"As we have Rae here, why don't we camp up in a tree tonight? It will be softer and safer than camping on the ground, and she is fast with the web. It isn't too draining, is it?" Bob asked as the light began to fade, marking time to get their camp set up.
Rae gave him what he took for an enthusiastic gesture, and Hawk informed her of a good tree nearby, with large wide branches that could be used to make a tree fort.
"She says it's not, and she's off to build us a camp in a spot that Hawk picked nearby. He says the tree has nice wide branches for a nest." Karl explained as the spider vanished.
The mages smiled at Karl. "You know, it's really handy having her around. Setting up camp is always the most annoying part of the day, and you usually end up having to sleep on rocks and tree roots, or out in the open where anything could see you.
But being in the trees will limit the number of monsters that can get to us, and Rae should be able to make a decent canopy to keep the rain off and the bugs out."
Rae was listening in from a distance and perked up at the mention of bugs.
[Do you think there are bugs big enough to eat here? I can make a sticky tent.] She eagerly suggested.
[I can't say for sure, but we're in the right area for them. There might even be another giant beetle out here, or some of the vampire flies, which are nearly as big as my forearm.] Karl informed her.
Rae started to alter her idea from just a platform to an awning tent that would enclose the area, trapping any bugs that tried to go for the team, so she could eat them later.
Karl led the team over to the chosen tree, and saw that Rae had made them a ladder to climb up the fifty metres to where she had chosen to put their encampment in a large redwood tree overlooking a clearing.
The view was incredible, and the tree towered over most of the others in the area, which would let them scout for enemies easily when the sun came back up.
"How far are we from our search area?" Karl asked as they looked up into the tree.
"We should be right near the edge of it now. Let me double-
check the map, but I believe that our area started just behind us." Bob replied.
The mages smiled. "That means we can keep this as our base camp until we've finished with the area. It takes ages to do a full search, and there are fresh monsters appearing every day, so even if we clean them out one day, we will have to start over the next.
But with a good base camp, we can just keep scouting and returning to the same spot, without letting the monsters build up."
Karl nodded in understanding. "You hear that, Rae? This will be a regular spot, so feel free to make more webs in the area if you want to catch snacks."
Bob sighed as he saw Rae start to spin more webs in the area, filling the tree tops and linking them together into one large web.
"Did you have to tell her that?" He asked.
"Of course. She's going to get hungry, and we need to get rid of the excess monsters, so the more that she catches in her web, the fewer that we have to hunt. I will ask her to leave some at ground level as well, since we're not just after monsters that climb trees." Karl explained with a smile.