Drake stood looking at Gerda's bridge, flanked on either side by his friends. Renn and Ruby were in their small beast forms, sitting on Drake's shoulder.

As they waited, Gerda pulled herself out from under the bridge. When she saw who it was, she smiled. "You're back," she said gleefully. She was happy to see that the boys had returned.

"We need to cross your bridge. We wanted to ask you for permission first before we tried to cross it. Our quest leads us past it, so we need to get across the river," Drake explained.

Gerda smiled widely and ushered her hand over the entrance of the bridge. A barrier shimmered, then vanished. "You may cross," she said, smiling. "I will thank you for not attempting to cross the bridge. Although the barrier would have prevented it, crossing without permission is rude," she said.

"We will always ask you for permission. Thank you, Gerda," Drake told her, bowing slightly.

Gerda smiled as she watched the boys cross the bridge. All three boys waved goodbye as they continued down the dirt road. When they were out of sight, she replaced the barrier and returned to her home underneath the bridge.

"I didn't know there was a barrier," Chad whispered. He wasn't sure why he whispered; he just did. "It was invisible until Gerda waved her hand to remove it. I saw it shimmer slightly."

"We need to remember that when crossing any bridge. Always wait to see if we need permission before crossing. This place is different from back home. It seems in this place there is a guardian for every single bridge crossing," Drake reminded them. "Protector guards the bridge at the ravine, and Gerda at the river bridge. I don't know how many bridges there are, but we have to remember to get permission before we cross anything like that."

"Do you think we'll be back for the festival?" Chad asked. "I want to go if we can. It sounds like something really fun. After everything we've been through in this dimension, I think we need a little bit of fun."

"It doesn't matter whether we're finished with the quest or not, because we can always teleport back. We can attend the festival, then teleport to where we left off with the quest," Drake said. "As long as we've been there before, I can teleport us there."

Drake's words made Mike and Chad smile. They both wanted to attend the festival. They were thinking the same thing, but it was Chad, for once, who spoke his thoughts. Normally it was Mike. The thought of having some fun seemed to have overshadowed Chad's quietness.

***

In another part of the dimension, a tall figure stood at the massive stone. He had on torn clothes and twin short swords at his side. He stared up at the stone, trying to figure out how to access the power it held.

The Runestone was nearly twelve feet tall, with carved runes on every inch. He tried to touch the stone, but the stone vanished as soon as he reached toward it. The man frowned. If he didn't already know better, he would think it was an illusion. It wasn't one, it just didn't want him to touch it.

Every time he had tried to touch the Runestone, it would vanish before he could place his hand on it. No matter how fast he was, it still ended in failure. As soon as he would move his hand toward the stone, it would disappear out of existence.

"This is my last chance. There are no more dimension masters after the current heirs. I have no choice, I have to find a way to touch it," he mumbled, staring at the large gray stone.

Blood dripped from the top, as if in warning. It dripped from the top and down its front. The carved runes on the stone soaked up the blood before releasing it, letting it fall to the grass below.

Circling the massive stone, the figure stared at the runes, eyeing every inch, looking for a clue on what to do to touch it. He wanted to decipher the runes on the stone, but didn't know how. They were runes he had never seen before. It was an enchanted stone. If one placed a hand on the massive gray stone, they would gain the power of the dimension master. He wanted that power that the Runestone contained.

He was about to reach out and attempt to touch it again, but it vanished the moment he thought about it. "Damn it. This should be easy. All I have to do is touch it, but it's not letting me!"

The Runestone was an enchanted stone just over twelve feet high. There were runes carved into every inch that glowed with a subtle green light. It only revealed itself when the heirs were in the dimension. Now that there were heirs, the Runestone materialized in the farthest clearing in the dimension. Past it was yet another beach.

The man screamed in frustration. "AHHHHHH!"

With one last look at the Runestone, he walked off to his camp. He was determined to stay near the stone until he came up with an idea to take its power before the heirs reached it.

***

Back on the road, Drake, Chad, and Mike were riding on Ruby, who had decided to give them a lift. It was far faster than walking. She was incredibly fast.

Trees whipped past them as she dashed down the road, following the bright green quest thread. In this part of the dimension, like the other parts, the trees were dense. They easily hid the wildlife that lived inside the forest.

The ground began to vibrate. Every second, the vibration rhythmically lifted stones. Ruby halted to a stop, looking around them. She clicked nervously as he peered into the dense trees. The rhythmic vibrations continued, getting louder.

"Something really large is heading our way," Mike whispered, trying not to be heard by whatever was heading their way.

Drake let his eyes glow brighter, staring at the surrounding area. He found a massive energy signature that glowed with a bright purple. "It's level 5," Drake whispered back. "It's massive!"

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