He made sure to note to himself how Camden had reacted to the attack; it had been some time since he had seen anyone that young with such good reflexes. With further training he might one day be able to hone the boy into a worthy knight himself.
"Very good," he congratulated Camden without dropping his serious demeanor. "There are some old pells out behind the house, go back there and practice striking at them and I will come to check on you shortly. You need to get used to swinging that blade of yours some."
"But what are you going to do?" Camden asked impulsively. "Don't question me boy, go on and get to work, now!" Mal barked with every ounce of authoritative tone he could muster. The result was always the same, even now after all these years; Camden took off as fast as his feet could carry him to obey.
Mal waited a few breaths to make sure the lad was well out of earshot before he allowed himself a quick chuckle. "Now," he told himself decisively, "to check on the lass and prepare her." That was going to be both more difficult of a task in itself but also just as important. Because if he wasn't mistaken what she was carrying now was the very key to an ancient magic few dared wield. It was powerful enough that it could unlock the Vault itself but it required a pure heart. Supposedly the legends had said it was a gift given freely from a Unicorn to a repay an act of kindness made by a benevolent traveler.
Hopefully she could unlock its secrets to help them keep it safe until they could return it to the Vault. And if anything had happened to the guardians of the Vault then it alone might be the last chance to reseal it permanently. There simply was too much at risk to even chance anything else being removed.
- Episode 16 -
"Hey, Cobble," Thatch made sure to keep his voice low and pointed over to an old farm house to direct his peer's perspective to match where his own was trained. "Look, there is a boy over there, all by himself," he whispered while rubbing at his chin. Cobble was quite used to the gesture; it generally meant to him that his vertically gifted peer was deep in contemplation. "Didn't the farmer say it was a pair of 'little thieves' that stole from him?"
Cobble had to try really hard to remember what the farmer had said but he couldn't seem to. So he just shrugged his reply at Thatch before deciding to add a simple; "I don’t know, I forget." As usual Thatch responded with a groan of exasperation before chiding Cobble. "You know if you paid just a half a grain of attention sometimes we might not get into these messes!"
After a few long moments the two watched the boy draw a small weapon and begin hacking and bobbing around some wooden poles. Whatever he was doing was lost on both of them but there he was out there all alone. "Even if this isn't one of the two the farmer spoke of, this farm is too close to not check it out," Thatch asserted. "We'll grab the brat and question him. Either they have the key the Baron needs or they at least maybe know something about who might have passed this way."
Arrogant and assured of their superiority Thatch hefted up a makeshift club. "I'll give him a good whack and you tie him up," instructed Thatch. Cobble pulled out a long length of rope and nodded, he did so prefer these simple plans. "Ready," Cobble grunted.
The two inept minions charged up and out of the brush towards Camden crunching twigs underfoot as they went. Like a lightning bolt Camden's head jerked around to notice two figures racing towards him. One with a club in and hand and the other rope - it didn't take a scholar to guess the pairs intentions.
Without a moment to lose, Camden threw himself into motion deciding to trust in his own instincts. He knew there wasn't time to stop and think about what to do, so he charged at the oncoming attackers. Thatch slammed down towards him hard with his club trying to knock the boy to the ground. But he didn't expect the resistance of some unseen force from Camden's left arm. The moment of confusion was all he needed to roll aside.
Immediately Camden spotted the rope and slashed at it with his blade severing it in two. It was Cobble's turn to be bewildered as a short "huh?" escaped him. Seizing upon the opportunity Camden grabbed at the end of the rope pitched his momentum into a wide slide that carried him behind his attackers.
Thatch and Cobble fell hard on their backs to land in the dirt. Furious they fought to regain their balance and stand. "You're going to pay for that kid!" snapped Thatch whose face now began to burn red. Camden knew he had managed to get lucky so far and as he watched Cobble set his jaw it became clear. These two were determined to take him, and without some help soon they might just succeed.
Surely Mal or Trinity had heard something and would be here any minute Camden figured, right?
- Episode 17 -
Mal already felt vastly out of his depth. He had only just begun to try and talk to Trinity but he had immediately found himself grasping for what to say. The triumphant veteran had been victorious in countless battles; he had reclaimed and locked away untold scores of dangerous relics. But when it came to trying to talk to a young lady he wasn't quite sure how to handle the matter.
"The book you carry, it is quite special," Mal struggled to explain matters. This had been so much easier with the boy! "You said you had already read from it, right?" he decided to change his approach and asked.
Trinity looked up at the old knight's kind eyes and saw how nervous he was behind the mask that even now seemed to be failing him. She wasn't sure how but she could feel a subtle flow in things around her, kind of like how she had somehow felt the agitation in Percival. In some way she had started to realize she had altered or shifted some aspect of the animal’s mood. At the time it didn't make sense to her but now it was all starting to become clear.
"Yes," Trinity lowered her head as she answered not completely sure how what she wanted to say would sound. "I was cleaning some dirt off the book since my dress was still damp I was just going to wipe it down. We had fallen into the Pool of Tears before we had stumbled onto those two sleeping guys. They had thrown some of the stuff they were carrying aside into a pile like they were sorting through what to keep and what to throw away or something. Anyway, Camden had grabbed the discarded items and we ran for it."
Mal had already heard the story once but he let Trinity tell it again, she seemed to need to. "The pages were blank, I had opened the book and it was empty." Trinity looked up at him and this time he could see the confusion that had plagued her. "It was blank, and then all of a sudden the writing just started to fill itself in on the pages - it was even glowing. How could it do that?"
The question was more of a plea for understanding than one to merely seek some arbitrary answer. "The book is very special," Mal let his voice drop down to as soft a tone as he could. "It is an ancient tome that legend says was a gift given freely from a Unicorn to repay an act of selfless kindness. But it was locked away because it was too dangerous to risk it being sought out by the wrong hands. The legend claims it required a pure heart to unlock its secrets but nobody knows for sure. I don't think anyone has ever managed it except maybe who it was first given to, that is if the legend is true."
"If you have already managed to read from the book then you have been allowed to do something truly precious." Mal wasn't sure how and had no explanation to offer, he was a man of blade and battle. This wasn't exactly within his realm of expertise. "All I can say is that it is very important that we keep this book safe and try our best to ensure the Vault is secure. The only advice I can offer is that the book has opened itself to you and you alone. Only you will be able to look to it, but if it really has deemed you worthy - perhaps then you will be able to use its secrets to help."
A sudden clamor interrupted the conversation and both Trinity and Mal spun their heads to redirect their attention. It was coming from behind the farm house. "I sent Camden back there to practice," Mal stated absently. "And that doesn't sound like him practicing," Trinity added.
Worry gripped both of them heavy in the pit of their stomach. Neither of them had to say another word as they both rushed out the door to investigate.
- Episode 18 -
A strange sc
ene unfolded before Mal and Trinity as they rounded the corner of the farm house. There, facing down a pair of oddly mismatched thugs was Camden and he was fighting for all he was worth. The taller of the two was slamming and swinging a club around savagely while his shorter partner grappled to grab Camden. It was amazing that these two had not yet managed to seize the brave boy who defied them like the swirling wind.
"He can't keep that up forever," Mal remarked with a tone that was level and firm. He drew forth his sword and studied the fight before him, measuring for just the right moment. It never paid to charge in blind or you might actually cause more harm than good to who you sought to help. "I'll try to lend him a blade, you see if there is anything you can do as well."
Trinity didn't even get a chance to agree, or ask any number of the questions that leaped to mind at that plan. What was she supposed to do in a fight? But Mal was already stomping his way directly into the melee and she was left to think of something herself. Where Camden had been a whirlwind of instinct and reflex it was obvious that