Luck Of The Claw Read online

look of deep contemplation etched on his brow.

  And then for some strange reason something came to mind, it was the name of something that she had seen in that book. As they all began to set down to eat she could hear herself ask the question before she even knew what she was doing.

  "Have you ever heard of something called the 'Vault of Echoes'?" Mal's heart skipped a beat and his plate fell to the floor. His voice became a coarse whisper that barely slipped from his lips. "How do you know of that place?" the old knight implored of them.

  When Trinity answered him, he could hear it in her voice this child had no idea what she was asking about. "I read about it in a book," she stated before repeating the little rhyme. Mal recited the passage along side her word for word:

  Virtue is the key for any who desire to enter me. The Vault of Echoes shall mirror forth that which is within and weight your worth.

  Memories flooded back to the retired hero, he could still see clearly all the dangerous things he himself had locked away inside the Vault under the order of the King. It had been a long standing mission of the Knights to seek out anything too dangerous in power that was out there and lock it away for the safety of the realm. Mal himself had even seen to removing all the records of the Vaults location so that no one might seek it out. It was one of his greatest reliefs that the kingdom could rest easy knowing that so many terrible threats were buried never to trouble them again.

  "This could be very, very bad," Mal said more to himself than anyone else. "You are going to have to tell me everything." Camden and Trinity wasn't sure why but they did as he asked and told him everything. It took awhile, since they started with as far back as they could remember but they did eventually work their way up to how they found the strange items.

  Long before they did, Mal had already decided two things. One was that it looked like he was going to come out of his retirement. And the other was that these two kids needed someone to look after them. In fact, they deserved it. Well, Mal figured he still had a few more adventures left in his old bones and it looked liked duty was calling once again.

  - Episode 13 -

  "Hit him again, he has to know something," Thatch said firmly. Cobble held aloft in his left hand a battered farmer whose face already sported a few bruises. He raised his right hand, a big meaty and calloused thing almost the size of a mallet to threaten his helpless victim.

  "I told you, the only thing I know is there was a pair of little thieves that stole some chicken from me, but they fell into the Pool of Tears trying to flee. There is no way they made it out and they are the only one I have seen besides you two lately." The farmer had the look of desperation in his eyes; he had already taken enough of a pounding he would do anything to avoid any more.

  "Please," he begged, "I swear that’s all I know." Cobble didn't want to hit him anymore but he wasn't sure what to do so he waited for Thatch who he figured was thinking it over. After a few long moments of silence Thatch finally spoke. "Alright, we'll take your word for it, but if we have to come back this way my friend here won't bother to pause for us to ask any more questions. Understand?"

  The pummeled farmer nodded as he fought to keep his feet under him, he had been sure these two had meant to leave him dead. "Let's go Cobble," Thatch declared as he turned to look around. Which way was this Pool of Tears again he wondered. "Is that Pool the one where people say you never come back from?" Cobble asked sheepishly. He looked up to see Thatch nod in agreement. "Isn't that the one that’s over that way by where we had the nice nap?" Cobble continued while pointing off towards the woods.

  "How do you even possibly think you might know where the Pool of Tears is?" Thatch snapped as his head shot around to look down at Cobble. His cohort merely shrugged back at him. "I seriously doubt that you’re right Cobb," Thatch told him. "But I guess we best go have a look just the same."

  "What are we going to do if it was two kids who found those things Thatch?" Cobble inquired as the two headed out. "Hope we find them hiding at some nearby farm or something and they still have them," Thatch stopped to explain. His face had the expression of dire earnest as he muttered quietly to add; "We both know what awaits us if we can't find them."

  Cobble swallowed hard at that thought, and hurried to follow Thatch. It was a frightening thing to even consider, even for his simple mind.

  - Episode 14 -

  "Those two Neanderthals will never manage to accomplish the task you set them on, you know that right?" The Baron immediately recognized the voice that drifted through the shadows and delicately brushed his ear. It was both soft like a stray beam of moonlight and yet it also held a carefully veiled razor’s edge. There was but one person capable of being both a thing of beauty and coldly vicious as any predator - Lady Adriana.

  As sinister as they come the Lady had been a strong supporter of Baron Samael, providing him with key information. Even now she seemed to purr advice in his ear. "And what then do you propose, my dear?" The Baron let the question effortlessly roll from his tongue without looking up. He knew better than to allow her to distract him as she often easily did.

  "I think the solution should be obvious," she declared casually. "If the likely result is that your servants should fail then we must be prepared to consider taking action. When that happens I think it save to presume that whoever has the key will endeavor to seek out the Vault. All I propose is to position myself to follow them to our prize and then reward them appropriately for their hard work."

  The Baron couldn't argue with her logic, not really but he also felt like he detected a certain glee creep into her tone. It wouldn't surprise him at all to think that she might possibly enjoy her little plan, much less personally dealing with whoever now troubled them. "That does sound prudent," The Baron agreed. "We have worked too hard for too long to let our plans be ruined now."

  "Very well then," Lady Adriana whispered with a curtsy before stalking out of FrostThorn tower. There was a dark joy in her step as she echoed across the tower's stone. She was determined to keep everything on track, and so very happy to do so.

  - Episode 15 -

  "We must be ready," Mal's voice was clear and resolute as he stood across from Camden in the morning sun. He had replaced his thick oaken cane with a sturdy steel blade and wore the stern face of a Knight once more.

  "If someone has managed to locate the Vault then we have to be prepared. They may look for you two to reclaim what you now hold, and even if they do not we have a duty to make sure the Vault's guardians still defend it." Mal had roused them from bed just before dawn, every bit the old veteran knight ready to put his charges through their paces.

  "Attack me," He ordered Camden who was still trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes and stifle a yawn. "But all I have is this dagger, that really doesn't seem fair," Camden protested. "Boy, I have served the realm for many years and there are a few simple truths I can tell you. For one, nobody ever waited for me to get an equal footing or arm myself before they attacked me. Two, you have at your disposal more weapons than that you wield in your hand. You have a mind in your skull, breath in you, and a beating heart. Make use of everything you have - use your arms, fists, feet, everything. Don't limit your options to only think of the weapon in your grasp, to do so is foolish. But you also should not discount what you carry; I have seen them before. That blade was borne before you by a worthy friend; he died most unfortunately when we placed the guardians in the Vault. It is more than an equal for any sword you will find and I don't think he ever even found its full potential. We had decided to leave him with it both to honor him and to ensure it never fell into wicked hands."

  "Now, I don't like wasting time or repeating myself - strike at me!" This time Camden reluctantly charged forward and thrust straight ahead at Mal's middle. The cunning and experienced knight only waited for him to close the distance between them before he spun with a grin. With a pivot he twisted his own arm at the elbow and angled his blade down. The two shafts of forged steel sang as
they connected and the force startled Camden driving him to the side. He had to fight to regain his footing as well as halt himself, his momentum threatening to continue to carry him forward.

  "Defend," roared Mal as he raised his sword to arc downward toward his student’s unprotected back. Camden had little time to even think of how to react and instead had to resort to pure instinctive reflex. He twisted swiftly and threw his left arm up to try and block the blow only realizing at the last second that it was a sword that now moved towards his forearm, not a club or some such. The only thing that stood between his tender flesh and cold steel was a simple leather band with a dull silver stud. Camden couldn't hide the panic from his face and even as Mal pulled the blow to a halt he knew it was likely to at the least leave a nasty cut upon the boy.

  But instead of seeing blood flow a blue arc flashed to life with a pale flicker that stopped the oncoming assault. The impact deflected Mal's old blade to the side almost as readily as thick strong shield of worked steel. Luck truly had blessed these two young orphans indeed!