Tales of the Broken 2: A Redone Life

Chapter Thirteen: Claw and Fang

    Violet swung her head to the side, nearly slipping off the dizzying cliff next to her. The beast's claw sliced through the snow easily, sparks flying up where the claw struck the icy stone. The beast roared again, still chanting the same text over and over. It was almost unsettling. Violet started to lose herself in thought, trying to dissect the phrase. She immediately snapped out of it, realizing that this was the worst time to think about that.

   Violet gripped her sword and attempted to cut the monster's eye, but the beast only slashed it away with it's hand. The steel blade clattered out of her reach, tumbling down the cliff. Violet stared as the sword struck a stone and snapped in half. Muttering a bit angrily, "Guess it wasn't a good sword to start off with." The beast pressed his claws against Violet's chest and it's maw unhinged, saliva dripping onto Violet's face. Violet closed one eye so the vile liquid didn't get in her eye.

   She took a deep breath, knowing that this was her end. Her leg was injured. Her arms weren't strong enough to displace the monster. She tried fighting back the tears in her eyes. She had done nothing worthy of note in her life. Besides her rage fueled slaughter of the innocents. All she would be remembered as is a menace. An exile.

  As the beast closed in on her face with his fangs dangerously close to her eyes, a massive shadow loomed over them. The whir of a mechanics turning filled Violet's ears. The beast turned it's head to look at the noise. When it saw what made it, it's ears flattened against it's head in fear. A small whimper escaped into the frigid air before a heavy fist collided with the monster's nose. The wolf-like being rolled over Violet and tumbled into the abyss below the cliff, disappearing into the fog.

Violet glanced up at what protected her from the beast. What she saw was a bear with faded and fragmented white paint across his matte black fur. One large metallic coat covered his right arm, his left arm was the same mute black as his body. His eye had a copper rim around it and one of his legs had been replaced by a false metal limb. The massive bear extended a hand out to her, helping her back to her feet.

   "Uh... thanks." Violet said a bit awkwardly.

   The bear regarded her with some curiosity, "Don't mention it." He said, his elder voice deep and gravelly. He turned his head to the sky, "We should get a move on. It's not safe here. Not for long."

   Violet nodded and followed the bear through the mountain, making the ascent to the top slowly. Her head was swimming with fear and relief, her hands were freezing cold and numb from climbing so much. Her feet dragged on the ground with fatigue , but she pushed forward. There was a terrible blizzard coming.

   When they finally arrived, what Violet saw astounded her. She was star struck. Instead of their destination being a freezing hell hole at the top of this mountain, Violet's eyes were graced with a beautiful grassy flat land with a lake in the center. The water in the lake glowed a faint turquoise color, and the trees surrounding the lake stretched into the heavens with plump fruits resting on their branches. Near the lake was a small, but cozy, cabin with a warm fire illuminating what the lake did not. Violet pushed past a variety of bushes and hurried over to the fire, holding up her hands to the pyre. Embers danced upon the air from the fire.

   "Pretty eager for that fire, aren't you?" The bear said. Violet only nodded.

"Cuh, I don't blame you. It's cold out here. Especially for you."

  Violet eyed him, "Are you..." she began, hesitating.

   The bear frowned, "My name is Magnus Everclaw."

Violet's hopes plunged into nothingness, "Oh... I see." She said glumly.

"I know who you seek. But he's dead. Died a long time ago."