Bignor, the "Flying Fox" bat, fluttered through the thick fog, keenly aware of every rock, bush, and insect within earshot. He also heard the voice on the wind that called him. It called him by the name he owned when he was, for a time, an orc and a mage. The voice was that of Nogda, the Chief of his tribe. He had been an orc for years and years, and during that time he was steadfast in his loyalty to Nogda. He feared and worshipped Nogda. Now, Nogda was calling him, and every bone in his body (though now the body of a bat) told him to obey.
He was getting closer. Nogda's voice was louder, clearer. As he banked left into a foggy, moonless, night-filled valley he heard Nogda call again, this time from far above. Then, his hypersensitve ears detected an object falling toward him from above. It was long, and bigger on one end. It tumbled in freefall, an inanimate object plummeting toward him. His bat reflexes instantly adjusted his flight path and pivoted in a backward flip just in time to clasp the object with his rear claws. Summoning all of his strength, he fluttered his wings to slow the descent of the object until he finally gained the lift and speed he needed to begin a slow gradual climb out of the valley.
The object felt familiar. Very familiar. Nogda's voice whispered in his ear, "Good Bignor. Go now to the bridge. Carry the Staff while I bring the cyclone tailwind."
The gemstone on the head of the staff glowed wildly and the voice of Nogda whispered powerful words. Bignor traversed the vast distance across mountains and desert in a blur. Thunder echoed in his wake, and a shockwave formed in front of him, from traveling faster than the speed of sound. In no time at all the bridge was near.
As Bignor settled to a gentle landing near the center of the bridge, Fenrik's voice spoke from Beyond asking, "Who bears the staff?"
