Croft's Ark Part 2

Aragorn patrolled the small collection of dwellings that had been named Bree. It was on the edges of the Shire Hold and this made it vulnerable. It was not very well protected and Aragorn was the only man with any real training in combat. And it was about to be put to the test. The corridors he walked were well lit and clean, making it easy to fight on. The floors were usually smooth but in the distance were some small scratches in the metal floor. Aragorn walked forward cautiously. It had been relatively quite throughout his memory and he had never had to actually do anything while on patrol. But all the same, Aragorn relished the chance of doing something; even it was just looking at some starch marks. But as he got closer, Aragorn could see that these were no marks created by anything he knew. They were deep, claw like, like they had been created by an animal. Aragorn bent down to feel the marks, testing if they actually existed. He wondered what could have made such strange marks. But before he came to any conclusion, a screech like nothing he had heard before came from around the corridor. It was animalistic, warlike, and angry. This was a sound that Aragorn doubted if any of them people down on the Lower Decks had heard. But the only thing around the corridor was the door leading to the Temporal Field. Then some grunts of pain and exhaustion came. Aragorn grabbed the hilt of his sword and pulled out the blade. He admired the blade as it shone in the light. That was the first time it had been drawn from its scabbard. Guns were scarce in the Lower Decks and swords were easier to make. But Aragorn didn’t think of this as he ran around the corridor to see a hideous looking creature. It was a tall reptilian like humanoid. Battling the beast was a tall man with a long beard and equally long hair. He wore a long coat that had become tattered and he sported a metal arm that was now brown with rust. The bearded man dogged the spear with a practiced roll and jumped up to kick the beasts head. The man spun round at the sit of Aragorn, it was as if he had never seen another person.
“The sword, quick!” he shouted as the beast recovered from the blow to the head. Aragorn tossed the sword in the direction of the man. Aragorn was not a very good thrower and it showed as the sword spun in the air and clattering on the ground a good foot away from the bearded man’s out stretched hand. Without a word, the man bent down and picked up the sword and drove it into the skull of the beast, killing it instantly. The man spun round and expertly tossed the sword back to Aragorn. After a few deep breaths, the man raised his metal hand and gave a rusty thumbs up, “Plisken,” he said wearily.