The House of Claw: Chapter 1

A canary colored griffin crouched low against the ground as a cool breeze swept over him, signaling that spring was indeed in full swing. He crawled up to where his human friend, his Captain, was and dropped to his belly, waiting for the right moment to strike.
"Shadow…it's not that I don't trust your judgment..." the griffin said. "But attacking these workhouses is just so…"
"So what Bill?" the human asked.
"So futile! We raid them and free the enslaved but don't you know that Claw is just going to keep repairing and restocking them? We're flyin' into the wind here."
Shadow chuckled.
"Ah now Bill, that's where you're mistaken. You see the workhouses we've been raiding over the past month have all led to this one."
"What's so special about this one?" Bill squawked, but Shadow clamped a hand over his beak, silencing him. Then he motioned for Bill to follow him.
As a guard turned the corner of the building, Shadow and Bill crept up after him. Shadow waited until he was out of sight and then tried the door. It was unlocked. They slipped inside.
"So, just what is so special about this one eh?" Bill whispered as they padded silently down the empty hall, "And why are you so certain no one is going to come by this way?"
"All these workhouses are the same design, nobody's coming by the backdoor except the servants and I doubt any of them would alert the Claws. And what we're here for, my good friend, is a map."
"If it's a map showing the locations of the rest of the workhouses…"
"It's not that! It's a map showing the location of one of Claw's hordes. The ones they use to fund this campaign."
"A…treasure map?"
"Precisely."
Bill chuckled; Shadow truly was a pirate.
Suddenly, they heard footsteps.
"I thought you said nobody would be by here!" Bill hissed, his ears pressed flat against his head.
"Well it's been a while since I toured one of these places!" Shadow hissed back.
Then they could hear someone speaking.
"Aw Null." Shadow cursed. "Get ready for a fight Bill."
They pressed up against the wall. Shadow unsheathed both his sabers and Bill clenched his talons just as two Claw officers in black cloth uniforms rounded the corner.
"What in the-?!" one shouted as he drew his sword.
Shadow and Bill didn't give him time to finish. Bill leapt at the other officer, latching onto his shoulders with his talons and digging in with his beak. Meanwhile Shadow locked swords with the officer who had spoken. He met the man's eyes and something clicked.
"Your-"
Shadow freed himself from the lock and kicked the man in the chest so that he fell backwards before sticking him straight in the heart.
"Highness." he finished.
Bill meanwhile had managed to bite the man in the jugular, killing him as well. He leapt off the body and spat onto the ground, rubbing his beak with a dirty paw.
"Euch, I hate that." he muttered, "I heard your guy. He recognized you."
Shadow shrugged and sheathed his swords.
"Well my face is plastered all over here." He said. "Come on, let's find that map."
They snuck further down the hallway and right up to where Shadow knew an office would be. They waited for a moment until they were sure the coast was clear before daring to approach the door.
"Ha, I must be loved by the luck goddess." Shadow whispered upon seeing that the room was indeed empty.
He went over to the desk and began opening drawers and rummaging around in the papers.
"So you know what this map looks like?" Bill asked.
"Yeah, I've seen enough of them. Ah! Here we go." Shadow said triumphantly holding up a piece of parchment with a series of islands drawn on it as well as a few other markings.
"Oi!"
Shadow and Bill startled, it appeared that the Grand Officer of the workhouse had returned. Bill immediately rushed him, cutting his legs out from underneath him. As the man pitched forward Shadow came up and buried his swords into his spine, an instant kill.
"Good, now let's get out of here!" Bill whispered harshly.
"Not so fast." Shadow cautioned.
He knelt down and rummaged around on the man's belt before extracting his key ring.
"We can at least do the people here a favor by liberating them."
Shadow quickly located the stairs leading to the cells where he knew Claw kept the workers. He and Bill took the stairs two and three at a time, all the while knowing that the alarm might have already been raised.
However, when they skidded to a stop at the bottom step, the entire floor appeared to be empty.
"Are they all in the slag pits?" Bill suggested, knowing that this workhouse was for the manufacture of steel.
"Hey!"
The two pirates started at the cry of a woman. Shadow approached the cell and beheld a woman with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. She was glowering at him.
"Please tell me you're part of the Liberation." she said.
"Uh…yeah I…I'm Shadow and this is Bill." Shadow stammered.
"Good! Then are you going to let me out of here or what?" she asked somewhat impatiently.
"Oh! Right!" Shadow said, fumbling for the keys.
"Captain!" Bill said, his ears turned towards the ceiling as shouting was heard from the Claw who had found the dead Grand Officer.
"Damnit." Shadow cursed, his gloves were making it hard to get a good grip on the keys. "That's the last time I buy howler leather." he muttered as he pulled the right one off with his teeth.
He quickly opened the lock but the woman continued to stand there, a horrified expression on her face. Shadow was about to ask what was wrong with her but he followed her gaze to his hand. He swore terribly, yanking his glove back on.
"Look, it's not what you think and I don't have time to explain. If you want your freedom you have to come with me."
"Shadow!" Bill said, running past him, the tromping of boots hot on his tail.
The woman stood there for a second longer before rushing after the griffin. Shadow sighed heavily and followed suit. He used a blast of dark energy to break down the door and they quickly found themselves in a courtyard. Shadow turned behind him and saw at least five heavily armed Claw enforcers staring at them. They couldn't fight, not those odds. There was only one way and this girl wasn't going to like it.
"Do you trust me?" he asked her.
"Hardly! I've just met you and your hand…" she started.
"Then I'm sorry about this." Shadow said, grabbing her around the waist.
The girl screamed as she felt a great rush of wind and found herself being lifted high off the ground. She tried to turn but felt again a rush of air, this time accompanied by the sound of wing beats. She looked up and saw that whoever had been holding her was gone, replaced by a black furred beast with horns and feathered wings. She screamed again but the beast looked down his long neck at her with an expression of…apology? She couldn't understand it.
"Don't worry miss! He's still the captain! Just let us get you to the Cloudchaser and we can explain everything!"
The woman turned her head and saw the griffin sailing alongside them. Again, seeing that this griffin trusted this beast calmed her. A griffin would never help someone evil; they were a species devoted to serving those who would do good in the world.
It wasn't long before she saw a ship nestled in the clouds. The beast landed softly, letting her go to find her footing before landing fully.
"Start her up Gear we've got pursuit!" Bill hollered.
"YES SIR!" a voice squawked from somewhere below deck.
The woman watched as the black beast landed. She now realized that it resembled a dragon somewhat. It had the long neck, tail and wings of a dragon, although they were feathered. It had horns sprouting from its furry skull, and a bristly mane of a brilliant green color going all the way down to its tail. Its eyes were glowing the same shade of green, but with no whites to denote where the iris and pupil were to be. The creature shook itself, folded its wings, and completely shed its body, leaving behind the man who had helped her escape. The man she couldn't trust.
Beside her, Bill chuckled.
"Welcome to the Cloudchaser m'am."