<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="color: #00BFFF">David</span></span></div><br/><br/><br/>David suddenly felt very worried after Tessa brought his attention to the fact that it wasn't a good idea to give this man their hair. Not that he was keen on doing that in the first place, but he was still feeling quite overwhelmed. Instead of asking Tessa why they shouldn't give him their hair, aside from it being weird, he decided to ask some more questions.<br/><br/>"I'm sorry," David said, trying to give a reassuring smile. We may have gotten off on the wrong foot," the man glanced at his feet, not understanding the idiom, "we apologize for not scheduling our," David was completely winging it, "crossing appointment." The man's eyes narrowed and David thought he was probably making a complete fool of himself.<br/><br/>"Well," the man said, eyeing the two of them, "these here times are hard on account of the war about to break out."<br/><br/>David gave Tessa a look, expressing his concern about what they could have possibly walked into.<br/><br/>"Where's you two from anyhow? Fonhampton? Littleberry?"<br/><br/>Not good. David wouldn't be able to keep up this charade if he was going to start name dropping towns.<br/><br/>"How about we pay you in money?" David asked. He bent down and began to look through the bag that had come with them.<br/><br/>"Money?" The man gave them a disparaging look that David didn't like. Sure they looked a little dirty from the roll down the hill, but that was no reason to judge them so harshly. Of course, David was quite used to those kinds of people. "My fee 'aint cheap. Hair is easy payment for most of your folk. I only keep it for a year and all you two's gonna feel is small head when I channel. [interpretation working: small head likely means lightheaded].<br/><br/>The voice startled David again. He whispered to Tessa, "are you hearing that too, or is it just me?" He hoped he wasn't going crazy on top of everything. He finally heard some jangling sounds s his hand closed around a money bag. He was about to bring it out, but then thought better. "So how much if we pay you in coin?"<br/><br/>"Ya sure you want to?" The man asked, eyeing Tessa's hair with a regretful expression.<br/><br/>"Very sure." David responded.<br/><br/>"3 gold smeltings," the man said, smiling.<br/><br/>David return the smile and winked at Tessa as the man's gaze drifted away to look up the river. He brought out a small money pouch out of the bag.<br/><br/>"No problem," David said, hoping whatever smeltings were, they had enough in the bag. The man watched with wide eyes as David brought out three golden coins. An image of a waterfall was embossed on them, or perhaps it was lava. David had no idea how much smeltings were in Earth money, but he guessed it was a lot from the man's reaction. They were probably overpaying by a lot, but as outsiders, they couldn't exactly haggle the price without knowing what would be reasonable.<br/><br/>"Very well," the man took the coins and proceeded to swallow them. David stood them with his hand open, and his mouth open. He quickly shut his mouth and tried to wear a neutral look.<br/><br/>"You think it's customary to eat money here?" David whispered to Tessa, "please tell me we won't have to eat money to receive payment if we ever have to sell something."<br/><br/>The man smiled and bowed, "A paying customer is always a preferred customer." There was a rumbling and the earth shook as the bridge retracted and the crude structure crumbled back into the ground.<br/><br/>"Um," David's heart skipped a beat. They had just payed their dues and now the bridge was being taken away from them. He could be preparing to capture them or kill them. He felt an odd sensation and his hand flexed. Suddenly, out of the lava, the bo staff that had been lost earlier flew out, past Tessa, and into David's hand. David gave an undignified yelp and dropped it again, thinking it would be hot, but no. The staff was cool to the touch and completely undamaged. David flexed his hand again and the staff rose to settle in his hand again. The man whistled in admiration of the staff as David inspected at it.<br/><br/>The man then walked away from them, towards the lava again. David wondered how he was going to store the staff when it started to shrink again, back into a small pencil-like rock. Turning to Tessa he exclaimed, "are you seeing this? How is it doing this? He placed it in his pocket and was about to call out the man for trying to trick them when his eyes widened. The man was walking right onto the lava. His feet seemed to be able to walk on the surface. He turned to look at them, then spread his arms palms down. The lava began to harden into black rock. The black rock seemed to spread out and covered a small portion of the river in front of them. The rock was completely smooth. Hand rails rose from the sides. The bridge was about 30 feet long, spanning the width of the river.<br/><br/>"The best for my best customers," the man said, his voice and demeanor sounding quite different now. "The bridge will last until you cross it, or until your thirty minute limit is reached. Whichever comes sooner. Do not attempt to cross more than five people." The man extended his hand, clenched his fist, released it and was now holding a black coin that looked like the rock formed by the lava. "If you wish to cross any stream in future, please do not hesitate to call me. Make sure to make an appointment this time. Simply call for Bahrook and throw the coin into lava with your desired day and time. If my schedule allows it the coin will be accepted. If not, the coin will be returned to you."  Bahrook, David was finally glad he could stop calling him the man, looked up river again. "Looks like our time is up. I have an appointment to keep." He smiled at them and tossed the coin to Tessa. "No need to come to my home next time." Then a hole opened up in the bridge and Bahrook slipped down through it, almost becoming part of the lava. The hole remade itself again and it was once again smooth. A large shadow moved from under the bridge in the direction of upriver at a very fast paced.<br/><br/><br/>"Was that guy some kind of lava fairy?" David asked.<br/><br/>The surroundings were quiet again, aside from the bubbling of the lava.<br/><br/>"Well," David said, looking at Tessa, "should we cross?"