The Temple of the Frog
A Tale of Claw the Unconquered
I
The desert sun roasted the air as a hot, roaring wind blew from the south, carrying a cloud of sand and grit in its wake. A lone figure trekked through the desert, bent into the wind as sweat glistened on his muscular form. He was naked except for a tattered loincloth and the blood red gauntlet on his right hand.
He paused and licked his parched and blistered lips, shading his eyes with his left hand, holding back the damp black locks of his hair away from his grey eyes. He scanned the horizon, looking for something, but not even he knew for sure what he sought. Out of the corner of his eye, a glint of sun off of metal caught his attention. He turned to see its source-the sun reflecting off the blade of one of a trio of riders, mounted upon jeerak, tall, broad, six legged lizards standing eight feet tall at the shoulder, and used by the desert tribes as mounts.
Grunting the gauntleted figure watched as the three mounted men shouted and pointed in his direction. Unarmed and naked, he seemed like easy prey, but he smiled and licked his lips again, this time in anticipation. Inside the red gauntlet, his malformed hand clenched into a fist, eager for the fray.
He watched silently as the leader of the raiders signaled the others to follow, and reined the jeerak to turn in his direction. The six-legged lizard picked up speed as it galloped down the side of the sand dune towards the solitary figure.
He stood his ground, adjusting his position a bit, widening his stance to provide a quicker, stronger base to work with, and poised for action.
“Trespasser! You defile the sacred sands of Karth!” the first rider bellowed as he charged towards the naked man.
He stood here, unphased by the invective hurled his way, and waited calmly for the right moment. Measuring the distance he pounced. With a low growl, he leapt at the rider before the raider could bring his blade to bear. He caught the sabre with his gauntleted hand as the raider started to slash with it, and angled his body so his left shoulder crashed into the rider square in the chest.
The jeerak continued forward, but the impact knocked the rider backwards, dismounting him, and both he and the naked man tumbled off the jeerak and crashed into the desert sands. The raider twisted and landed on top of his attacker, using his leverage to yank his sabre free and raise it to strike. The force of the move tore the red gauntlet off the hand off his attacker, revealing the deformed, reptilian and demonic claw underneath.
“By Soth the lucky,” gapsed the rider as his eyes widened in shock at the sight of the demonic appendage. “You are a demon escaped from Hell!”
He started to slash down at his attacker, but the naked man was quicker. His arm shot up and his clawed hand grabbed the raider by the throat, quickly crushing his windpipe and tearing through the vulnerable flesh of his neck.
The leader gurgled as he died, and the attacker released the corpse, snatching up the fallen sabre. The demon hand gripped the blade tightly as the man rolled into a crouch, eying the other two raiders warily.
The two had checked their charge and they stared warily at the stranger in return. The jeeraks pawed the ground nervously under their riders.
“Who are you? What are you?" panted one of the raiders.
The strangers eyes narrowed as he spoke for the first time that he could remember, “You know as much of me as I do. My nature and origins are a mystery to me”, he said, glancing at his malformed hand, “but you can call me Claw!”
He snarled the last bit and leapt towards the closer of the two remaining raiders. He lashed out with the sabre, taking the raider’s head clear off with a single cut. He landed on the jeerak, knocking the decapitated body aside and slid astride the beast.
The remaining raider wheeled his jeerak as he screamed in terror, spurring the beast to flee back in the direction he had come.
Claw spun the sabre in his hand, grasping it as if it were a spear, and hurled it with all his might at the fleeing raider. It flew true, striking the raider between his shoulder blades, piercing through his heart and out his chest. He fell dead off his mount and crashed into the desert sands.
Claw surveyed the horizon to make sure there were no more raiders coming, then slid off the back of the jeerak. He scooped up the red gauntlet and slid it back onto his demonic hand. He walked to the corpse of one of the raiders, bent down and took the water jug off his belt and took a long drink. He stripped the corpse and donned the loose desert breeches and shirt the raider had worn, before strapping on a belt and sabre. Quickly he herded the three jeerak back to the site of the combat, and loaded one with all the water and extra gear he pillaged off the corpses.
Feeling his stomach rumble, Claw looked hungrily at the other two beasts and drew his sword to slaughter one of them…
