The Knights of the Vulture's Claw

Trial of the Silver Cord

"No fair!" shrieked Bella. "You always get away with stuff!"

"Hey." Dragomir closed his eyes and half-lifted his hand with a wild grin. "You made the promise."

Ginevra, Bella, Dragomir, Spike, and Jack were standing in front of the shack. Hunter had called an emergency Council meeting for the senior members to review the files Ginevra and Spike had pinched from the Night Whisper camp. He'd promised to tell them the results, and to wait in front of the shack unless a real emergency occurred.

"It was too easy," Spike said suddenly.

"Huh?" asked Ginevra. "You mean getting the files?"

"Yeah. They were the exact ones Hunter wanted. I think it seems a little too obvious, like they wanted us to get them."

"But how would they know?" asked Jack. "They'd have to have—"

"A spy," breathed Ginevra. "Tim Rackham."

"Nah, too obvious." Spike waved his hand. "Bad idea, trust me. Rackham couldn't find his way to class without a GPS."

Bella looked very thoughtful. "Do you know, I wouldn't be at all surprised if that were true."

"Yeah," said Dragomir. "I mean, he's definitely evil enough, and he has a bone to pick with the Council."

"Come on," said Spike, looking annoyed. "This is a very diligent spy we're talking about here!"

"You lot! Come here!" The Shack's door slid open and Ciel Black's grinning face stuck out. "Hunter's ready for y'all."

"Finally," growled Dragomir. "I'm—"

"Let me guess," Bella rolled her eyes. "You're hungry?"

"Is that a crime?"

Bella and Dragomir argued all the way to the meeting room, the one where Ginevra had spied on the four-o'clock meeting. When Ciel swiped his card against the door, they fell silent and everyone else gave sighs of relief.

The full Council had assembled, all except for Claverford. Instead, Ginevra noticed with a silent groan that Cygnus now sat to Hunter's right. She slipped into a chair next to Ciel, and Spike sat down next to her. She noticed two empty seats on Hunter's left and realized with a pang that they were her parents'. The whole time at Infinity Isle had been so busy and strange that she'd forgotten that last night.

Where are you? she thought. Are you okay?

When everyone was seated, Hunter slid the files over to Ginevra and called the meeting to order. He then indicated the files and began to speak.

"Did getting these files seem easy, Ginevra?"

"Uh, yes. A bit too easy."

"I knew it!" burst out Spike. "It was a false go!"

"Yes, Mr. Lighter. It was." Hunter narrowed his eyes. "These files are full of blather. Read one, Ginevra."

Ginevra slid out one paper and read aloud, "In case you haven't noticed, you are lunatics and this proves it. You are all going to fail and if you have any decency, go jump in a lake. Signed, Brigadier General...Lighter."

Spike paled.

"Yes," Hunter sighed. "However, we are going to work around it! We will show them that they are the lunatics and I swear, we will prove it."

"Hear, hear!" cheered Dragomir enthusiastically. Mrs. Black shot him a look, and he shut up.

"I'll go check the depth," said Cygnus suddenly.

A man with a British accent and honey-colored hair that stuck up at the back frowned. "The depth of what, Cygnus?"

"The lake, Harry." said Cygnus mulishly. "The file told us to jump in the lake."

"Pay no attention, dad." sniffed Jaleigh. "You've been abroad too long. He's mad, remember?"

Ginevra had to work very hard to hold in a snort of laughter. Beside her, Spike wasn't doing as well. His head was on the table and he was shaking in a silent fit of the giggles. Janet shot him a look full of such disgust Ginevra thought she might crack a rib or two, holding in all that laughter.

"Yes, yes." Sebastian Black spoke up, and Spike took his head off the table, still wearing a wide grin. "We should send someone—possibly a new recruit— to see the—"

Hunter whipped a paper out of his jacket and slammed it on the table. "The Underminer. Operation Hades. A retired—or is he?— bounty hunter, who does any job for anyone, as long as they pay him well," he explained, noticing Ginevra's confusion.

"The problem," mused Mrs. Black, "is that we've used the Underminer too much. We've depleted almost everyone's bank account—"

"Vultures have banks?" Dragomir cut in suddenly. Two seats away from him, Alexei Shevchenko shot him a look that said shut up.

"Alright, alright, yada yada yada." Cygnus rolled his eyes. "Point is, the Underminer's not going to listen to Hunter, he's not going to listen to Claverford, nor Black, nor Angelina, nor Wolverine, nor Janet, nor Aberline, nor Cylene, nor Ciel, nor Michaela, nor Jaleigh, nor Artolius or Rachel. Or anyone else, for that matter. Bane's out of the question, he's not from our core. So what Black and Hunter and everyone else is saying is: either Ginevra, Bella, Dragomir or Lisha will have to do it.

Everyone fell silent at this pronouncement. Then Mr. Black spoke up. "You can't be sure they'll be able to persuade him. They're only kids! You've seen what he did to Ciel last time Operation Hyperion went wrong, and—"

"Might I remind you, Sebastian," Mrs. Black raised an eyebrow. "You were the one who suggested the Underminer. A new recruit, I quote exactly. Which new recruit were you thinking of? Not the incredible hulk?"

"Oh, let's do the Trial of the Silver Cord!" Ciel spoke up suddenly.

"Oh, yes! Great idea, Shay!" Jaleigh grinned. "We need some excitement here. Let's do best of four, make it real good, and choose the winner!"

"No. Absolutely not, Jaleigh." Harry Aberline's voice was firm.

"Why?" whined Ciel. "Jay's right, we do need excitement. We both did a trial, remember? We came out fine, ah, even though I lost."

"No." Aberline's voice was firm. "There's no point. No."

"Ohhh yes! Cygnus screeched suddenly. "Yes, yes, and yes again! A trial! Now that's way more like it! It'll be good for the records!"

"No." Aberline's voice went deadly quiet.

"Yes!" Hunter slammed his fist on the table. "Meeting adjourned, we meet again, in the dueling arena, half-past five A.M."

As the Council filed out, Ginevra turned to Spike and whispered, "What's a Trial of the Silver Cord?"

"A trial?" said Spike, "Oh, that's nothing. Only a little stint climbing a thin metal wire and trying to kill your competitors."

Ginevra drew in a sharp breath. "What?" she gasped. "I have to—I have to kill something?"

Spike threw back his head and laughed in that annoying way Ginevra couldn't stand. "No, rarely anyone dies, you sap. Basically, you have to climb a thin strand of metal. You have one laser beam, but you're only allowed to use it once. With everyone else trying to knock you off the cord, it's a real hard decision, when to use your laser."

"Whoa, sounds hard." Dragomir whistled. "All the odds in favor of me using the laser as soon as I get it, say aye!"

"Aye," Bella gritted her teeth. "We can count on you, can't we?"

Ginevra suddenly laughed. "Yeah, we all know who's going to win this, don't we?"

She was going to point to herself, but from the shadows, Lisha, who hadn't spoken up the entire time, quietly said in a voice brimming with confident determination, "Me."

The next morning, at five o'clock sharp, Ginevra stood in the center of the dueling arena. Hunter had insisted on keeping it quiet, so naturally, the whole school knew. Ginevra felt all the nerves, and started looking at the laser Hunter had given her to avoid all the stares. On her right, Bella and Dragomir were joking and arguing. On her left, Lisha was staring at the top of the fifty yards high metal wire with that unsettling look of quiet determination. Ginevra felt a bit uneasy. She could just imagine the look on Spike's face if she was beaten by a thirteen year old.

Hunter stepped out into the arena, a maniacal grin reminiscent of Cygnus's plastered on his face. "Welcome, to all the unauthorized guests that have showed up to watch this event. I have to hand it to you, Mr. Black and Miss Aberline, for never being able to keep your mouths shut." In the audience, Ciel and Jaleigh grinned and waved.

"Remember, five feet from the top there is a sheet of glass. Do what you must to pass it. The only rules in this contest are: If you fall, you are disqualified. You may... begin!"

Ginevra raced to the bottom of her wire, and hauled herself up. It was taking all her strength to hoist herself higher, the thin wire was cutting deeply into her hand. After inching up about a foot, she looked around, taking in the others. Bella and Dragomir were three feet up, occasionally lashing out at each other. Ginevra could tell that Dragomir was itching to use the laser, and had to admire his usually absent self control.

Ginevra pulled herself up an inch, and winced as the first cut appeared on her palm. She looked around, and with a gasp noticed Lisha was seventeen feet up already, her face focused and totally impervious to the stream of blood drizzling from the many cuts in her hand.

As Ginevra inched past the three-foot mark, she pictured Spike laughing and shaking his head, and was filled with a resolution to win. She hissed under her breath, and with newfound strength, pulled herself even with Bella and Dragomir, who were now six feet up.

Dragomir grinned. "Well, look who showed up!"

"I agree, Drago." Ginevra grinned. "Take this!" and she lashed out a kick that caught him full in the face, and with a hiss of pain slid about two feet down. But while she was fighting with Dragomir, Bella had seized the opportunity to boot Ginevra's head, and she, too, slid about a foot. Meanwhile, Lisha had pushed past twenty feet and was still climbing.

Dragomir whistled. "Whoa, is that girl on steroids?"

Ginevra laughed and climbed faster, but the laugh was turned into a sharp hiss as several more cuts sliced open on her hands. By the time she has reached ten feet, (Lisha now at thirty five) She was gritting her teeth to stop from shrieking. Suddenly, a dark blur moved past her and Ginevra's mouth dropped open as Dragomir looped past her, swinging from one hand and catching the wire with the other.

"How are you doing that?" she yelled. Dragomir was now pulling up to the twenty first mark.

Ginevra felt a sudden burst of strength, and began copying Dragomir. She found that the less her hand touched the wire, the faster she went. By the time her new skill had helped her reach forty five feet, she had pulled even with Dragomir and Bella had pulled even with her.

Past the fifty foot mark, Bella suddenly shot up, propelled by her laser, which she had activated, and came to a stop a foot behind Lisha, who was past ninety feet now. Dragomir hissed angrily and pulled out his own laser, but before he could do anything, Ginevra planted her feet on his head.

"Think, Drago! Bella made a foolish mistake, how's she going to cut the glass now?"

"Good point," grinned Dragomir. "Sorry, Ginny, but I'm going to knock you off your wire—" But before he could do anything, Ginevra laughed maniacally and shot off her own laser.

As Ginevra pulled even with Lisha, who was so close to the glass that they could see it now, Lisha turned around and grinned. "Looks like just you and me in this, Ginevra!"

"How are you doing that?" Ginevra asked. Lisha's hands were covered in blood and she seemed to be ignoring them.

"What, you think it doesn't hurt?" laughed Lisha. "It stings like hell. But I want to win. I really want that mission. And you should look behind you, because here he comes!"

Dragomir exploded up from below, his eyes almost red with rage. "That was cheap!"

"Uh oh," said Ginevra. With a few more pulls she had climbed to Lisha's level, right below the glass sheet. Lisha smirked and pulled out her laser, ready to cut the glass. "What are you gonna do now, Ginevra?"

Ginevra swore, but it was nothing as bad as Dragomir, who jumped up. Propelled by rage, he reached their level and threw his hand back to pull out his laser.

All of a sudden, Ginevra knew what to do. She grabbed Lisha's laser and fired it upward as Dragomir lit his own. The glass exploded and rained down on them as Ginevra shot up and threw Dragomir off course. He flailed and hung upside down, laser still shooting him up, glass showering around both of them from all sides.

"Hold still!" Cygnus shouted from the audience. "I need my camera!"

At that moment, Ginevra's head slammed into a gold ring—The top of the wire. She heard Bella's voice, yelling "I'm at the top!" and Lisha shrieking in pain, finally aware of the damage done to her hands, and she and Dragomir were both at the top of the wire, and glass was still raining around them.

Hunter blew his whistle, and Ginevra, Bella, Dragomir and Lisha waited in anticipation. They were all, by some miracle, up at the top. Hunter would say who got there first.

"The winner of the Trial of the Silver Cord and acceptor of Operation Hades is..."

Ginevra held her breath.

"All four of you."