The river spread wide beneath the bridge ruins, brown and fast, its surface broken by standing waves where stone still jutted up from the old foundations.
Vencian slid one boot forward onto a slick slab and let his weight settle, watching the One-Armed Man mirror him from a few paces away, blade angled low, shoulder turned to hide the missing limb.
Vencian pressed power down into the water first, shallow and thin, laying it beneath the stone like packed earth. The surface tightened. The slab held. He shifted his stance a handspan to the side, closer to the faster channel, and let the current bite at his calves.
The One-Armed Man stepped in hard, committing fully. His heel landed where the river should have pulled, and instead found purchase. He leaned into it, trusting the ground, blade lifting as he drove forward.
Vencian slid sideways and released the false hold.
