Luck Of The Claw - Episode 17.

- 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 animals mood. At the time it didn't make sense but now it had all started to come together.

"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 it's 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 it's secrets to help."

A sudden clamour 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.