Boga's Claw

By Noah Luther

With no knowledge about his birth and taught only to survive, Nuka Wolfclaw is thrust into a life of struggle. Armed with a dragon's claw and his bow, he will fight through a world he does not understand, governed by rules he does not know, to seek a place he will finally belong.
He is not alone in this, for he is joined by friends and strangers alike; the beautiful noble Raven, a tomboy who seeks justice for her father's killer; the betrayed prince Tal, a kindhearted mage who has been framed for murder and no longer knows who he can trust; and the snow-white changeling Damien, lost in their time thanks to a spell he did not even know was cast. Together, they must fight, for no one can find the answers they seek without the others.
In the end, Nuka must choose between what he believes and what he knows, and whether it is worth fighting for something he never knew he needed in the first place. For this strange world holds secrets and enemies he could never have imagined from his home in the woods.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Drakeblood Ink
• Release date: Jul 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370943593

Noah Luther

Noah Luther is an up-and-coming author from northern Colorado. His style of writing is emotional and deep, drawing on his deep love of imaginative stories. He's currently hard at work on a trilogy, The Nuka Chronicles.

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The Nuka Chronicles:

Boga’s Claw

Noah Luther

Copyright © 2017 by Noah Luther

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Published by Drakeblood Ink

Sioux City IA, United States of America

drakebloodink.com

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter One: A strange Purchase

Chapter Two: Scars and Tokens

Chapter Three: Strange Visitors

Chapter Four: Caleb

Chapter Five: Many Treasures

Chapter Six: The Dark Outside the Woods

Chapter Seven: The Clan Slayers

Chapter Eight: The Broken One

Chapter Nine: Sha’aza

Chapter Ten: Tal

Chapter Eleven: A Parcel for a Penny

Chapter Twelve: Signs of Damages

Chapter Thirteen: A Secret Deal

Chapter Fourteen: The Crimes of the Crown

Chapter Fifteen: The Mire’s Prisoner

Chapter Sixteen: The Clever Plan

Chapter Seventeen: A New-What

Chapter Eighteen: Accusations

Chapter Nineteen: The Escape

Chapter Twenty: Two Faces, Two Minds

Epilogue: The Trail Runs Red

Dedicated to many.

To my Mumsy, who looked at my hyper scribbles and thought that'll be a good book some day. The woman who bought me clay and so many notebooks and told me that the story was worth every expense.

To my sisters Isabelle and Jemma, who thought I was smart enough to do this, who loved me even when I couldn't love myself, for wanting to be a part of my life even when we were hours apart.

To Donna, my editor, publisher, and dearest friend. She who made this a reality instead of a pipe dream.

To Jessica, the first person to see Nuka in his every angle, raw and unclean, and still call him beautiful. You are as much a part of these stories as he is.

To Jess, who endured my energetic babbling and enjoyed my company, who assured me of my ability and helped me further hone the tales.

And to Ceith. You are gone from the physical world, but you told me to write the story I wanted to read, and I hope you can see how hard I tried.

And to my father, who told me I've never done anything to be proud of. Hopefully this will change your mind.

Prologue: The Stranger’s Tale

It was as if time had stopped. Everything around him seemed to slow, and everyone froze where they stood. The fighting ceased, and even the rain seemed to stop falling. Nuka knelt, shivering. He looked down slowly at the long gash across his chest. His chin rested on his sternum a moment, as he fought for breath. He looked up, his eyes meeting those of his foe. With a barking laugh, the warrior removed his helmet, and Nuka felt his heart drop into his gut.

"…T-Tal…?" he whispered, his horror only seeming to amuse his attacker.

"Who were you expecting?" he sneered. Nuka barely saw the blade flash down as Tal gave a final bellow of anger, and hardly felt the blow, as his body fell back upon the muddy ground.

Is something the matter? Should I stop? the stranger’s voice broke my concentration. I shook my head sharply to clear it and then looked at him with wide eyes.

"What? O-oh, no, no! I stammered. Is… Is that the end? It can’t be the end! What happened to Nuka? Raven? What of Mikayla?! Why would Tal-"m

The stranger held up one of his gloved hand, taking a long drag from his tankard. I waited as patiently as I could, biting the inside of my left cheek eagerly. When he set the mug aside, I opened my mouth to continue my questions but again he cut me off with a wave of his hand.

You’re young, he stated as if that would explain why he’d stopped.

When I didn’t move, he looked surprised and laughed shortly. Why do you want to hear of such death, such pain? Surely you’d rather hear tales of more heroic and likeable things?

I blinked, searching for a response. W-well… Nuka was a hero! He saved Anima all over the country, acted for the betterment of an entire continent… He single-handedly prevented a war with Oriax! I can’t believe he could have died in such a manner… I trailed off, seeing the stranger’s eyes shine from within his hood. Slowly, he pushed it back, revealing the scarring on his cheeks and the age lines in his face.

You think Nuka’s a hero? His question made me pause; he sounded amused.

…Yes, sir. I do. He was the reason my parents could marry, why my grandparents even risked a life here… He saved many of our people from enslavement and death... I trailed off, feeling my ears go flat against my head as my cheeks burned. The stranger sighed, sitting back in his seat, gazing at me silently. I felt my cheeks burn under his gaze, but I dared not look away. Slowly, his grizzled face broke into a smile.

You young Anima and your thirst… he mused, shaking his head with a soft chuckle. "Alright, I’ll tell you more. But you shall hear a better tale than how Nuka died… he leaned forward again, close enough for me to see his deep green eyes clearly. I shall tell you of how he lived."

Chapter One: A strange purchase

Terra gazed at the bustling market with disdain; she disliked being among so many humans, especially with the guardsmen strolling so leisurely along the stalls. She felt like one might decide his day was poor enough to harass her… an experience best avoided. She pulled the hood of her old cloak over her silver hair, covering her elegant, pointed ears. Shifting the basket on her arm, Terra walked slowly into the market, careful to keep a sharp eye on those around her and to keep her money pouch close.

She’d have liked to avoid this place altogether, but her guest insisted upon specific accommodations, ones she could not provide with her garden alone; sweet apples, sword fruit, mint, and a woolen blanket for his bedding. She wondered yet again where the last had gone. She suspected he’d burned it; why he didn’t just tell her was beyond her reckoning…

She seemed to float along; people parted to allow her past. Those that knew her bowed their heads in respect, while others stared in awe. She ignored their stares, for she was well used to the novelty of her very existence in the little town of Kearne.

Elves were rare in Monos, these days, and rarer still, the further north one went; the once-proud cities of elves had been emptied, demolished, or repurposed as forts and military bases.

The knife-ears had been chased from the lands by King Aderas’ men before he took the throne, and the only remaining elves lived solitary lives on the outskirts of human civilization or traveled with circus troupes, taming animals or practicing their magical talents for paltry coin. Even the Queen, an elf born and raised in the Elven capital of Fallenstave, would be mistaken for human at first glance; her ears were small and delicately rounded, and her face showed signs of age, unlike the ever-young Terra.

Terra approached a stall piled high with fruit and vegetables of local and foreign origin, her expert eyes seeking healthy, unblemished fruits. She began to place her selections into her basket, silently taking inventory.

A disturbance in the crowd up the street caused her to look up from her calculations, as a woman wearing too fine of clothing to be common, poorly hidden by an ill-fitting cloak, came down the street with a bundle in her arms. Terra watched curiously as the woman hurriedly moved, looking scared out of her wits at every noise, bumbling occasionally into people. It was this clumsiness that caused the disturbance.

The woman faltered in her steps, seeing something, and Terra turned her gaze the other way, to a trio of guardsman walking up the street. They hadn’t taken notice of the woman yet, but they soon would, at the rate she was going… Terra briefly wondered if the guards' attention would be a problem for the woman, or if the source of her panic was something else entirely.

Looking back at the woman, who was now beginning to move more slowly, the elf wondered what had the girl’s nerves so high. Terra made no sound as the girl came over to the stall, pausing beside her. She gazed pleadingly at Terra until the elf finally met her eyes. She seemed to try to say something with her eyes, quickly setting the bundle on a stack of sword fruit and hurrying away.

Terra frowned, following her with her eyes until she was out of sight, and looked at the bundle, which blended almost perfectly with the stack of large fruits, all wrapped in cloth to protect buyers from the fruit’s thick coat of spines. She reached out, touching it. Her hand shot back when the bundle moved and made a soft whimper. Terra frowned further, and again touched the bundle, with a less dramatic response. She lifted the bundle, strangely heavy, and dared to peel the cloth back.

To her astonishment, the face of a baby, no older than a few weeks at most, gazed up at her. She frowned and slowly put the wrapping back over it, ignoring the protesting sound it made. She placed the bundle back on the stack but paused when she felt warmth on one finger. Withdrawing her hand, she saw a small bead of blood trickling from her fingertip. She looked at the baby, seeing the single spine poking through the cloth wrapping the fruit beside it; how easily the child could be hurt...

Something in Terra’s usually stony heart softened, and she again took up the bundle. She paused a moment, then slowly set it into her basket. She selected a sword fruit and paid the stall’s owner, apparently oblivious to his impromptu merchandise.

~~~~~

With her strange cargo in hand and safely nestled amongst the apples and herbs she’d purchased, Terra made the slow trek back along the thin dirt path through the woods, to her home, nestled atop a hill.

The burden was unfamiliar but nothing she could not handle, and she made good time in arriving back home. She smiled as her dearest companion raised her head, awakened/woke from slumber by the elf’s approach. At Terra’s greeting, the beast returned to her slumbering position, content to soak in more sunlight before she hunted that evening. Boga’s head raised again when she heard a strange sound come from the basket on Terra’s arm. Tilting her wide head slightly, the dragon looked curiously to her companion, who shrugged and entered her hut without a word.

Another cry pierced the air and Boga gave a low groan, covering her head with a wing trying to drown it out.

~~~~~

Terra sighed softly, as she gazed at the sleeping baby. She had bathed him, and given him some herbal medicine to ward against sickness. He’d fallen readily into slumber, when she’d placed him in the basket again, this time with leaves and moss as a bed, and his wrappings as a blanket.

She sighed, standing slowly, and moved to the door of her hut. She paused for a moment. Why was she doing this? Why had she bothered with the child? It was not her business… She looked back at him once more, and her eyes fell on the baby’s feet; large, for his assumed age, misshapen and broad, with dark nails already forming…

The feet of a wolf cub. Terra suspected, with a wry smile, these were why the boy had been left, one way or another. Humans did so fear the prospect of difference… Being apart from the pack, being isolated, made one weak, made one need to struggle all the more for survival. They feared loneliness almost as much as they feared the unknown.

She sighed to herself, looking to the window, examining the darkening sky. Her guest wouldn’t arrive until morning, at least, so she had time.

~~~~~

Come now, little Acorn… Terra cooed, as the baby looked up at her. His first teeth had come in already, small canines and an incisor. Her bandaged fingertips were a testament to their sharpness. She held the spoonful of herbal soup to his mouth, but again he turned his head aside, grunting distastefully.

She sighed, and looked hard at him. "You won’t grow stronger if you do not eat, Aduil," she scolded. Her words only earned her a quizzical look from the baby. She sighed, and lifted the spoon to her own lips, blowing gently on it before sipping it slowly. She scooped up another small spoonful and was glad to see the baby allow the spoon to enter his mouth, but flinched when he suddenly spit it back at her, coating her face with the soup and spittle.

The baby giggled at his actions, wiggling his arms giddily. She sighed, wiping her face calmly. "…Nuka alva nu at vivas…" Such a little fighter you are. …My little Nuka, she added softly. The baby looked up at her at her words, and she smiled slowly. …Nuka it is, then.

~~~~~

Nuka? Sweet dreams began to fade as he heard his name. Nuka groaned softly and sat up, looking bleary-eyed at his teacher. Good morning, little Acorn, Terra greeted softly, as the boy blinked the sleep away. You’re going to start learning something today. Something very special. Are you ready?

Nuka blinked again and nodded; he had no idea what Terra would teach him, but she never did anything that would waste her time and her lessons always had purpose… Slowly, the three-year-old climbed from his bed to the cool dirt floor, as Terra stood. She led him to the single tall cupboard in the hut, opening it slowly and pulled her bow from inside. Nuka had seen her practicing with it sometimes, but she kept him so busy with chores, he usually didn’t notice.

The longbow looked like it was carved from a dark, mossy wood. Vine-like designs seemed to dance over its surface, with a small line of runes carved along the grip. He had asked what they said, but Terra had not answered.

Nuka watched his teacher remove the bow, and then another, smaller one of simple wood without adornment. She handed the smaller to Nuka, who grasped the wood curiously.

"You will learn to shoot a bow today, Aduil. When you are good enough to hunt, you will be responsible for hunting your own meals."

Nuka looked from the bow to his teacher, nodding his understanding.

Terra took him far from the hut and into the woods where she had an archery range set up. Nuka watched silently as Terra produced a quiver of arrows from her robes and a smaller one for him. He took the strap with a quiet gasp and examined the quiver.

There are twenty arrows, Nuka. I want you to keep firing until all twenty can fall into one of the three center rings or hit the deadeye. When you run out of arrows, fetch them and try again.

Nuka nodded, taking one of the arrows slowly, and clumsily tried to put it on the bowstring, still slackened and unstrung. Terra knelt and took the bow and arrow from him. She set the arrow aside and showed him how to string the bow, telling him to unstring it whenever he was not using the bow, to save the string and prolong its life. She gave the bow back to him and watched as he struggled to repeat her actions.

When he, at last, managed it, some minutes had passed. Terra nodded silently and stood again, stringing her bow, and slowly drew her arrow back, staring down its length. When she let the arrow fly, the string made almost no sound. The resounding thud of the arrow embedding in the target drew Nuka’s attention. Her arrow still quivered with the energy of its motion, sticking just left of the center of the target. Nuka gasped at how close she had come and looked up at Terra, who smiled.

When I was a child, such a shot would have made been cause for reprimand. To fall short of perfection is not enough. To fall short is to show a lack, and therefore, a reason to work that much harder. Do you understand this?

For the rest of the day, Nuka practiced with his bow. He grunted with frustration at every miss, every arrow that fell short or went too far to the right or left… But with each failure, his determination to do better grew. He promised himself, over and over, that he would reach perfection. He swore to the air he would hit the target all twenty times, some day.

Terra brought her ward some stew when the sun began to sink behind the tree line, and the boy ate readily. He kept looking at the range with an expression of anger and determination that made Terra take pause. She had not expected the boy to take to his lesson with such fervor, nor do so well, so soon. Perhaps, she mused, he has some elf in him… The thought gave her more reason to push him. If he was of her kind, she would see to it he was raised to be worthy of his ears. They already showed signs of pointing, and he grew quicker than the human children she had seen. At only three, he was nearly to her hip and had the understanding of a child twice his age.

~~~~~

Nuka, why don’t you take today to practice hunting? Terra’s voice made Nuka jump slightly. He looked up at her, his bow in his lap and the bar of wax in his hand.

Hunting? he echoed, sounding confused.

You’ve enough skill, now, why not try it? You’ve done well in our outings, and I can’t always be there with you, Terra persisted. Nuka thought for a moment and shrugged. If you can bring home something good for dinner, I’ll give you some apples for dessert, she added with a hidden smile.

Nuka’s mouth watered at the thought of his favorite treat. A-alright! he stated, standing quickly enough to almost lose his bow. He set the bar of wax on the stump and looked up at Terra, who watched him silently. I’ll be back before dark, he assured her and ran for the range to fetch his quiver.

Terra watched him go with a slow smile. He was growing so fast… Not yet one year had passed since she’d first taught the boy to shoot, and now he was heading off to hunt on his own for the first time. She felt the tremor of emotion in her breast, and she quelled it with a soft sigh. She was teaching the boy to survive… He would need it, some day. That thought soured her pleasure at seeing him work so hard and not for the first time that day, wished her familiar were near to comfort her.

~~~~~

Two years passed in silence. Nuka learned the way of the bow, how to move silently like a creature of the forest, and to draw his bow with the same stealth. He learned to aim for the heart or the head, and to bring prey down swiftly, lest they injure themselves and harm the meat, or worse, escape to become sick or a meal for another creature.

Come away, Acorn, and eat your supper. Nuka looked up from the dancing flames at his teacher, grunting softly as he rose from his seat beside the fire. He dusted off his knees and ran to the low table. A bowl of steaming rabbit stew awaited him, and he happily sat on his stool. But before he could reach for his spoon, he felt Terra's eyes on him. What happens tonight, Nuka? Why did we make something so special as this stew? she asked, her stormy grey eyes fixed on her young ward.

Nuka thought frantically for a moment and gasped. Boga comes back tonight! he chimed. Terra nodded once, her expression resuming its predominant calm, emotionless state.

Nuka jumped from the table and ran for the door, eager to see his teacher's familiar arrive. An odd silence had fallen over the forest, and even the darkening sky seemed to hold its breath. Wide blue eyes searched