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1. A knight strode through the woods, seeking his horse. There had been a great battle, and in the midst his steed had spooked and run for the trees. He had attempted to reign in his mount, who was normally a stalwart and unflappable beast, but to no avail. Eventually he had been unseated by a low branch, and when he had stood the horse had crashed away through the thick underbrush and he was alone in the heart of the wood. And so he followed the horse's path by the broken branches that were left in its wake, feeling irritation that he would have been seen fleeing a battle and losing his horse.
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2. After a time, the knight came to a wide stream in the wood. He knew he had not crossed it before, but his horse's tracks now led up to the bank of the stream and it must have swum across. It did not seem to flow quickly, but it was deep and the knight could not see the bottom in the center. With his heavy armor and his shield, he knew he would not be able to cross. So, he walked along the stream for a while to look for a narrow spot where he may cross.
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3. Before long the knight came to a bridge across the stream built of rough dark wood, and he laughed to think of his foolish horse blundering through the water. When the knight began to cross the bridge, however, he found his way blocked by a terrifying warrior who stood in the center of the bridge and did not stand aside as the knight approached. The warrior wore plate armor, but in parts it appeared to melt into the scales of a dragon or serpent, and in others to melt into vines and brambles. His shield was feathered outlandishly, and his axe ended in tangling roots like an uprooted tree. One leg ended in a beastial claw, and from the slit in his helm the knight could see a malevolent glow where the warrior's eyes might be.
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4. The knight quailed at the sight of the monstrous warrior, so corrupted of foul magics was he. But the knight was brave, and gallant, so he gathered his courage and hailed the warrior. "Strange warrior, stand aside! I would cross this bridge," announced the knight. "Do not cross here, knight," the warrior replied, and the knight shivered to hear the inhuman growl of his voice, "I must stop you if you try." The knight frowned, and hefted his axe. The warrior did the same.
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5. "If you test me, I must cut you down, for my steed has crossed the stream, and I must gather him. I will say only once more, stand aside," the knight commanded. The warrior only stood, axe raised. So the knight gave battle, and met the warrior axe to axe. They were an even match, and the battle was drawn for a time, but the warrior was slowed by his clawed foot and in time the knight cut him down. The knight moved his fallen foe respectfully to the side of the bridge, and went on across.
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6. The wood beyond the bridge was stranger than it had seemed from the opposite shore. The knight walked down the shore and looked for the prints his steed must have left exiting the water, but found nothing. After a time, he pushed into the trees to search for sign or spoor of the beast. He could find no sign in the tangled growth of the strange wood, but when he turned back to find the river he could no longer see it. No matter which direction he set out through the trees he could see and hear no sign of the merry stream and its deep water, or of the bridge. There were only more trees, and increasingly the odd winding tendrils of purple vines across their trunks. And no matter which way he went the way was thicker, and darker, and more filled with strange noises and dancing lights that made him shiver and look away, dizzy.
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7. The knight trudged through the trees, and as he was lost in the wood so also did he begin to lose himself. His vision swam and his thoughts came slow and muddled, as though he were deep in his cups and dizzied by drink. He walked and walked, and he felt aches and hungers, and he felt them go away. He felt thicknesses in his throat, and itches on his skin below his armor. Sometimes he heard a strange low voice very close singing and laughing a tune he couldn't recognize, the words of which he couldn't quite understand. Sometimes he would realize, in a moment of lucidity, that the voice was his. But the moment would pass, and his mind would whirl away once more.
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8. The time passed, but it did not pass as it ought, all in a row. Some years would go by all in a rush, and then a minute would stretch and stretch until he felt drowned in it. But still he walked, axe in hand, for what else was he to do. The bridge surprised him. He pushed through another tangle of purplish thorns and wide glassy leaves and was suddenly at the river, and the bridge stood before him. His heart leapt, and he was suspicious that it may just be another false vision to plague him, but he blinked his eyes and shook his head and still the bridge stood before him.
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9. So he went to the bridge, his steps a bit uneven, and began across it. But just as he had reached the center of the bridge, he spied a knight walking up the bank. He stood, astounded, and watched the knight approach with a confident and gallant stride. He seemed very familiar, and as the knight approached a sense of dread began to build in his mind. So familiar, was the knight. The axe and the shield, the armor. His thoughts chased one another and hid, and tripped out of his reach, but he knew one thing clear. One thought that, while muddled at the edges, stood as an imperative. It rang in his mind: He mustn't let the knight cross the bridge, at any cost. If he allowed the knight across, he would never be free. "Strange warrior, stand aside! I would cross this bridge," announced the knight. But he could only shake his head, and grope after the words that stuck in the gravely disuse of his throat and tasted strange on the fork on his tongue. "Do not cross here, knight," he said.
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