No part must be undone ~Harlow Yung #2
I saw a wooden sign hanging above one of the establishments. It was swinging on a single chain, but I could still see the emblem on it. A hammer and sword crossed had to mean metalwork.
The front door of the building was thick with metal hinges. I nudged it open, stepping inside to find a dark, drab place covered in dust. It felt empty, but the two candles burning on the table near the front door said otherwise.
Looking around, it was larger than it appeared outside. There were basins of water and bins of metal scrap arranged along one wall. The smell of burnt coal and iron invaded my senses.
“Addison!” I called out, not wanting to waste time searching for someone who likely didn’t want to be found. “If you’re here, I’m with your brother, James.”
The sound of something hitting the ground and rolling along the thick wood drew my eye.
A woman, small in stature but solidly built, stepped out from behind a large, stone forge fire that was unlit.
Chestnut hair was wrapped in a thick braid, and tiny scars peppered her round face, likely from prolonged work in harsh conditions, like hovering over hot embers.
“Addison?”
Her eyes widened with fury. She was wielding a hammer when she bared her teeth.
“Liar. You’re one of them.”
I shook my head, raising my hands in surrender. Meridan, less inclined to relinquish her weapon, stood ready to attack if the woman advanced.
“We need to leave,” I said.
“Leave?” she snorted. “With you? For what? Another sacrifice to those fucking monsters! And what the fuck is she?” she gestured at Meridan. “A goddamn ghost?”
She roared, charging at me with the hammer.
When she swung, I pivoted and the hammer crashed into the wooden wall, making a deep hole.
When she couldn’t dislodge it right away, I clutched her shoulders, throwing her onto her back and straddling her.
She thrashed, kicking out her legs like a lamb trying to avoid slaughter.
I could have pulled out my knife. Instead, I pulled Vidar’s cutlass from its sheath and held it to her neck, making sure she got a glimpse of the bronze.
It had the desired effect, at least. Or perhaps it was just the feeling of cold metal against her neck that made her stop struggling.
“Bronze? Since when do you bitches carry bronze?” she hissed through clenched teeth.
“Since Vidar Woelfson gave it to me to find you.”
Her eyes narrowed at me. She had no reason to believe me. Not after what the sirens had done to her town. Even from her smithery I could smell the stench of the bodies in the square and it likely wasn’t the only pile.
“Vidar Woelfson?” she snorted again as if about to laugh. “The greatest hunter of sirens gave you his cutlass to—”
I moved the blade so she could see it. “Lady Mary,” I cut her off. “He said your mentor made it.”
Two creases formed between her confused brows as her eyes soaked in the unique look of the weapon. When realization hit her, she snapped her gaze toward me, thoughts running rampant behind her stare. Then she bucked, trying to throw me to the side.
“Get the fuck off of me,” she cursed.
I stood, stepping back to give her space as she scurried to her feet. Gaining some distance, she turned to face us again, straightening the fitted leather vest she was wearing. She studied me for a moment and then turned her gaze on Meridan, cocking her head curiously.
“What the hell is she?”
“Like me,” I said. “But different.”
“You’re saying James’s captain, Bone Heart, gave you that blade to come here looking for me? If you’re not a siren and I’ve died and gone to hell, tell me now, because that is harder to believe than the shit happening here the last couple weeks.”
“What exactly has happened here?” Meridan asked.
“Beastly men on two legs coming from the water. Sacrifices. Screaming. God, the screaming. I knew… I knew I should have left when they started selling you bitches to the rich folk around here. Now look.” She raised her hands out on either side of her, indicating the mess.
“They found a way to turn on us. One foolish fuck did something stupid and they all rallied, tearing us to bits. It’s like they been waiting and enduring.
Like it’s all been a trap. And did the military show? No.”
“Why?”
“How am I supposed to know? Look around. Do you think I’ve left this place since the massacre? I pop my head out, I’m liable to end up on the docks where these bitches killed dozens of us in the early days and dumped us in the water for those monsters.”
“How have you gone unnoticed?”
“That’s none of your business.”
My eyes studied the room. It didn’t take long to find a trap door that was wide open in the floor, likely leading into a cellar. Addison stepped in front of me, scowling.
“I’m not here to tell anyone where you’ve been hiding.”
“For the most part, if you’re quiet, they leave you be,” Addison surrendered. “But that won’t last long, believe you me.”
“So they really are feeding the sons,” Meridan said softly.
I nodded.
“Oh, they eat plenty of us all on their own. In fact, some of these fine townsmen walk around with one less limb like they’ve given themselves to the demons freely. They take an arm. A leg. And they say they’ll spare you, but it’s a lie. I know it is. You monsters can make us do anything.”
“I’m not trying to make you do anything, but I told your brother I’d get you to him no matter what and I will.”
“How am I supposed to believe a word you say?”
I held up my hand. It took her a moment to see the ring on my thumb, but when she did, it was like I’d knocked the air out of her.
“God, you’ve eaten my brother,” she said.
I sighed sharply, tugging the ring off and forcefully putting it in her hand. “I haven’t eaten him. He’s waiting on the beach.”
“Why isn’t he with you?”
“Do you want him to be when the town is like this?”
She examined the ring and then slid it on her own thumb, biting her lip.
“God damn,” she muttered. “Call me a crazy cunt—my parents did—but if you have Lady Mary and my brother’s ring and you say you’re working with them, I want to believe you.
I do. But you’re one of them.” She glanced at Meridan again, waving her finger at her.
“And I don’t know what the fuck you are, but I don’t want no part of this. ”
She looked around her workshop as if in search of another weapon.
“Try to kill us and you’ll die faster than you can blink,” Meridan said.
I let out an exasperated breath, shaking my head. “Try to kill us and I’ll knock you silly. And then I’ll haul your body to Vidar’s ship. But it would be easier if you came willingly.”
“Why?” she demanded. “Why does Vidar fucking Woelfson want me? Last I checked, he was too obsessed with killing your kind to give a shit about anyone.”
“He needs weapons. The bronze kind.”
“For what?”
“What else?”
“Don’t tell me you’re helping him. That really would mean I’m dead and in hell. Ain’t no way a siren is helping a hunter kill other sirens. And there’s even less chance that Vidar would spare you.”
“We have larger prey in mind, but it’s not a lie. A long story, yes, but not a lie.”
“And the villagers? The other sirens? How you planning to get past all of them?”
“We didn’t see any others,” Meridan said.
Again, Addison shook her head, seeming about to laugh as she scrubbed her hands over her face.
“Then we’re in for a surprise.”
“So, you’ll come with us?”
“What have I got to lose?” she groaned, defeated. “But if you’re telling the truth and Vidar wants me to forge weapons for him, we’re going to need some things.”
We didn’t have time. I glanced at the door, certain that the moment we stepped out, we would be cornered.
But she was right. We couldn’t make weapons if we didn’t have the supplies.
“How fast can you gather your things?” I asked.