He was our Knight. He wasn't particularly fit, but he was smart and hearty. He was chosen to wield the Blade. He would be the one to slay the Beast.
We hoped.
I was his advisor, the most paranoid among us, and as we waited I gave him tips on the Blade and repeated for the thousandth time what we knew of the Beast.
The Blade's surface reflected light almost perfectly, broken only by the single groove on either side. The Blade was as wide as a man's head, but only half an arm in length. Its handle seemed oversized and gave it the appearance of a malformed spear.
But it was sharp. Sharp enough to hurt the Beast, and that was what mattered. Energies were born upon its edge that would destroy the Beast utterly.
I screamed to him as I saw the claws find purchase on the ledge outside, the scaly skin fill the doorway and windows. Everyone felt the tremor through the ground and the dust fill their nostrils.
His attitude had been making me nervous, but my fears vanished as he leapt at the creature.
He was swatted away with a stroke of the monster's tail but appeared to ricochet off the wall and press into the Beast with great fury. Our hearts sank as we watched the Blade thrust at the monster's tough hide. The skin merely deformed and the Blade was returned unbloodied. He only gave this a moment of his consideration before renewing his strokes as the Beast snatched him up in one enormous claw.
The Beast must have been unchallenged for too long, it had forgotten its own mortality. For when it was about to consume our Knight, the Blade found purchase in the Beast's mouth.