Chapter Six

 

CHAPTER SIX

    Simon, awoke, the sun just barely peeking over the mountains to the east. He had spent two full days training, and his muscles ached.
    As each day turned to night, he found himself thinking and worrying more and more about Cerberus. Would he be able to defeat it? Just thinking about it he got more and more worried. He couldn’t do it, he was too small, too young, too inexperienced!
    “Awake already?” Kira asked as she padded up behind him.
    “Yeah,” Simon said, “I’m worried.”
    “You either win or lose, what’s to be worried about?”
    “Losing.” Simon said dully.
    “Then we’ll not let you lose.” Kira said confidently.
    “But I --” Simon started, before being interrupted by Kira, “Look, I’ve got something for you.”
    Kira led him into a small clearing, a little off from where they were. “Look!” Kira pointed to ten sharp, claw-shaped pieces of metal. “Since you’re no cat with sharp claws or anything, I thought you could use these as weapons.”
    “What are they? How did you make them?” Simon asked.
    “They should fit on your claws, like those fake fingernail things you humans think make you look good. I made them out of some scraps of metal and… well, a bit of magic, but don’t tell Daien or Liru.”
    “How do I put them on, seeing as I don’t have thumbs?” Simon asked bitterly.
    “I’ll help, they should just slide on.” Kira helped get the metal claw tips on, using a bit of magic to blend them in with his real claws.
    “There, and none will be the wiser!” she said triumphantly.
    “They seem pretty sharp,” Simon said, testing them on a rock, small sparks flying off. “Very sharp.”
    “Yup” Kira said proudly, “Cerberus won’t stand a chance.”
    “Well, I’ll have less of a chance of dying at least.”