Luck Of The Claw

by Matthew C. Gill

burned at the very lifeless flesh, the flames so cold they scorched all heat and life away until the creature’s corpse began to collapse.

  Sensing the threat the other dragons immediately moved to overwhelm Silver-Claws before he could train his deadly dragon breath upon another. Camden had to quickly drive his blade to parry at claws that frantically reached for them while the sapphire scaled sentinel darted and dodged.

  Arrows swam through the air like schools of flying fish seeking dark scaled dragon flesh to pierce. Of those that managed to find their mark the bowmen soon found that their arrows only bounced harmlessly off the hideous hides. But not without drawing the dragons’ ire, prompting them to turn their attentions downward at the irritating albeit harmless attempted attacks.

  Camden and Silver-Claws dove down as several dragons set upon the guards but were too late to save them. Cold fire spewing forth to roast a pair of the dark devils before the others returned their attention towards the defiant dragon. At this rate Camden wasn't sure how much longer he could keep the fiends distracted, or if they could even stop them from slaughtering anyone else. Just the thought of it filled him with a furious rage, and he directed Silver-Claws into another headlong charge.

  While Camden battled overhead, Trinity still struggled in strained concentration to work whatever miracle she could as Mal and King Rainborne marked the approach of another figure. In all the confusion they had lost sight of the beast from outside the Vault, who was now stalking its way straight for them.

  "Age before beauty," Tonniel jested as he raised his guard to the oncoming abomination. "As you wish your majesty," was Mal's reply as he took his own defensive stance, his Marshal's Edge held before him. "Just don't complain any when your aged mentor proves your better even after all these years."

  Both men had just enough time for a quickly chuckled breath before a chaos of claws and jaws descended upon them.

  - Episode 45 -

  Mal studied the charging beast’s movements as it came at them, carefully looking for anything he could use against the creature. While it moved fast, seemingly reckless in a headlong rush it was different this time around - more cautious. It had been harmed before, and clearly seemed to remember the experience. Trinity seemed to be its intended target, but the monster wasn't ignoring him or Tonniel either; perhaps it was learning. Mal would have to be careful; if that was the case he couldn't rely on the same tricks working a second time around. It was all the same to him however, he would just have to dust off a few other ones.

  "By the authority of his majesty, King Rainborne, I hereby give you fair warning and order you to halt or forfeit your life." The ground at Mal's feet shuddered violently as the creatures clawed fists slammed into it, barely missing him as it continued it's assault. "Didn't think you'd take it," Mal remarked, mostly to himself. With a tilt of his broad blade he shifted his footing and took a short step to keep a defensive barrier between them.

  Narrowing his gaze Mal let his instincts rise from the back of his mind and allowed himself to sink down into a deep quiet. His hands set themselves to motion, moving in tightly controlled series of blocks and parries that kept his guard strong. Patience was the key, he knew, this was not the kind of fight that would end quickly unless he was foolish and he couldn't afford to be that.

  "Oh, quit toying with the thing," Tonniel exclaimed as he moved forward to join the fray. With a surge of swirling swiped strikes the king circled in towards the monster his own blade a deadly arc of spinning steel. "Cower before the king," Tonniel roared a sense of triumph in his tone. The beasts claws clanged off the feverishly flung weapon and it screeched back its own challenge.

  So caught up in his own attack Tonniel had taken his attention off the creatures other clawed hand leaving Mal alone to intercept the sinister blow. Power answered his call from within the blade as he rolled it into a strong arc that met the deadly digits with a crackle. Tonniel wouldn't need any reprimand; it was already written upon his face that he had misjudged his hasty attack.

  Riding her will down through her staff, Trinity focused her mind deeper and deeper into the weakened wards of Oakhelm Keep. She had to have faith that her brother and Mal could protect her long enough to work, there was no time to spare worrying over it. Magic flowed around her like a waiting song, its words somehow out of rhythm now.

  And then Trinity could hear it, a voice pure and peaceful as a tumbling snowflake drifting down beside her. The silver and ivory pendant dangling from her neck began to glow with a warmness that held the promise of tender kindness. Trinity was no longer alone, she could feel it now; she had never really been alone. That is what she had been carrying all along - it wasn't a book of magic at all. It was the gift of the Unicorn's essence itself, the very Unicorn's spirit that even now was walking with her trying to help.

  Born from the very presence of the Unicorn, hope began to flood through Trinity's heart, filling it with song.

  - Episode 46 -

  Camden clung desperately to Silver-Claws back as the young dragon endlessly kept moving, dodging blows and hastily flung dragon fire. At times it was all he could do to hang on, trusting to his companion to keep him safe as they maneuvered through the air. Claws tore through the air to rend and rake at Camden, but only found waiting shield and jack resisting them.

  If only Silver-Claws could catch all of them with his breath, Camden was sure that it could end this whole ordeal quickly. The only problem was that there was still enough dragons moving around them that there just was no way that Silver-Claws could envelop all of them at once. Every time the dragon loosed a blast of his vicious cold-fire it seemed to tire or lessen him somewhat. As powerful as it was it only made sense to Camden that it would take a lot out of Silver-Claws to summon up such a potent attack. It wasn't the kind of thing he could maintain indefinately; otherwise he would have been doing it none stop.

  "Oh, great; now I am starting to think like Trinity," Camden thought to himself. Here he was in the middle of battle riding on the back of a dragon of all things and he was even thinking things through. Surely his sister hadn't used that magic of hers on him, had she? He would have to save all this thinking stuff for later; right now he had to keep buying her time.

  Below him, Mal and the King were still battling the black beast using the steel of their skilled blades as capable as any shield to defend Trinity. Cautiously Mal kept himself between his fearsome foe and his charge, patiently parrying blow after blow. Every time the creature attempted to charge forward it found itself rebounding off edged steel.

  It was becoming furiously frustrating; before it was the one thing that it could feel as sure a threat as anything to its freedom. And yet it remained just out of reach, thwarted by a pair of irritations. A dark rage began to consume what was left of the creatures mind as desperation demanded the removal of this obstruction.

  Both pairs of clawed hands exploded towards the King, followed instantly by snapping jaws that sought their way towards Mal. It was just the kind of reckless gambit the old knight had been waiting for, and one he hoped he could still manage to take advantage of. Perhaps he had become just a tad bit rusty after all.

  - Episode 47 -

  The music of life itself flowed all around Trinity; she could hear it, see it; feel its delicate warmth. There was a pure power here, running through the runes it seemed so simple and yet it was so very beautiful. Soft strands of light were in tatters though, frayed and scorched. There was so much damage to the ancient wards they just simply couldn't cover an area the size they once had.

  She knew that she would have to do something, but rebuilding the entire series of wards was far beyond the scope of anything she could manage right now, especially rushing. No, she was going to have to find a way to reweave what she could of the working barrier and protect what she could. There was no way it would cover everything, but just maybe she could cover enough.

  Quick as she could she grabbed at the pearl and ivory wisps and set herself to finding e
verything she could salvage. As she worked a strange memory puzzled its way into her mind, it was a fragmented thing from long ago. Something she barely remembered from when she was little, it was a trick some kindly lady had shown her once to keep her busy.

  The image played out inside her as she absently worked her hands to rearrange the strands of woven magic. It was thing of amusement, a simple construct of interlocking meshed yarn or string. But for a child it was a thing of wonder, when compressed it was just a ball of unassuming mess. When pulled outwards it sprang to life to form the shape of a ball or whatever it was created to become. Trinity had nearly forgotten about the little marvel, it wasn't the kind of thing she spent time practicing and it wasn't really anything she had time for these days.

  And yet, all at once she realized she had been reworking the wards into something similar. They had formed a web-work of energy that she tugged at carefully watching it compress in and out. It was a far cry from the masterfully crafted thing it had once been, but given time Trinity promised herself that she could