Forged Steel

by H A Titus

  "You assume that he's staying," David said, glancing at me, eyebrows raised.

  I hesitated. This was David giving me an opportunity to back out, to bail. Sticking up for another human, like he'd said.

  But I might need the skills Eliaster could teach me, especially if, like everyone kept saying, the Sidhé were never going to leave me alone after this. And, as always, the thought of taking off and abandoning Marc when I still might be able to help him made my gut turn.

  "I'm staying," I said.

  David frowned.

  Roe smiled and patted my shoulder. "Thank you, Josh."

  I shrugged again and started stuffing my mouth with food. It wasn't like I was being heroic.

  We finished the rest of the meal in silence.

  Afterward, I retreated back upstairs, grabbed the toiletries Roe had left out for me, and took a shower in the bathroom at the far end of the hall. The pipes were old, and made a rattling sound as soon as I turned the handle on the tub, but the water was hot and blasted out of the showerhead in a stinging rain. I hurried through the shower, dressed in clean clothes—well, cleaner, I guess. After I finished shaving, I realized the shirt I'd grabbed had come from my pile of dirty laundry.

  Oh well. It wasn't like anyone would care too much.

  I settled down in my room again and resumed work on the cipher, carefully unscrambling the letters. Occasionally I heard someone talking or moving around downstairs, but it was quiet for the most part. If I ignored my surroundings, I could almost pretend I was back in my dorm room, finishing up some homework in a mad scramble before class…if the class was something like Codebreaking 101.

  Finally I penciled in the last word and checked over the cipher one last time. I stretched, my shoulders and neck popping, and glanced at the clock. One-thirty. As if in response to the red numbers on the desktop clock, my stomach growled.

  I went downstairs. Everyone was in the library again.

  David and Roe had their noses in books. Eliaster was sleeping again. Larae was curled up in the armchair opposite him, chewing on the eraser of the pencil she held. A copy of the cipher sat in her lap.

  "I got it!" I waved the paper over my head.

  David poked Eliaster's arm with his foot. "Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wake up. Josh says he's got it."

  Eliaster sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Yeah? What does it say?"

  I read off the message. "'From the Museum director in the Year of Our Lord 1871, in light of the recent discoveries regarding the relic in our hands, has decided to put the relic under safekeeping. Those who would seek it would be wise to remember the lost. Nov 1871.'" The two X's at the end had turned out to be fillers, letters placed there to finish out the last set of five.

  I set the message on the table and looked around the room. Larae had her lower lip fixed between her teeth. David and Eliaster looked disappointed.

  "Are you sure that you translated that right?" David asked.

  "Yes," I said defensively. "The letters didn't make sense in any way except this one. Why? What's wrong?"

  "More riddles," David muttered. "After protecting the location of the relic with a cipher and everything, couldn't they just state straight-out where it is? It's not even the fae who wrote this, it's the curators. Humans. They should be on our side."

  Larae tapped her lips with her pencil. "Leave the heavy thinking to someone who hasn't had two concussions, David."

  The look David shot her was startled, almost hurt.

  Larae straightened. "What happened in 1871 that was significant for the Sidhé, Roe?"

  "Before November 1871," Roe added. "That was…let me think…the year of the Great Chicago Fire. In early October. That's it, I think. It was a very quiet year, quite unusual for back then."

  " 'Those who would seek it would be wise to remember the lost!'" Eliaster repeated, his voice rising.

  "The Lost Tunnels of Chicago!"

  Roe's eyes widened just a touch, and she pressed her lips together tightly.

  Larae paled. "Oh no. I'm not going there!"

  I was tired of hearing my voice asking questions, but I said it anyway. "What are those?"

  "The Chicago fire was started by a fae relic, and it blazed both above and underground. Many of the tunnels were decimated. As the city was rebuilt, some of the tunnels were cleaned out and rebuilt as well, but the majority of them were left untouched," Eliaster said.

  "They're haunted," Larae said. "Everyone knows that ghouls and béan sidhé live there now, not to mention the souls of those who died in the fire. I've even heard the dullahan has been sighted there."

  Eliaster groaned.

  David leaned toward Larae. "Besides, who says we're going there?"

  Eliaster swung his head around. "What?"

  The single word was sharp, a razor blade cutting through the room.

  David's shoulders hunched. "I haven't heard a thing about going anywhere. As far as I knew, this entire mission was to find a way to rescue Marc. Right, Josh?"

  I tried not to growl under my breath. Crap. Why did he have to put me on the spot like that? "I have no idea. I've done what I was supposed to do—I deciphered the document."

  "But Eliaster never told you that we might be packing up and going somewhere?"

  I gritted my teeth. "No, he didn't say anything about going anywhere. But again, I didn't ask."

  "Would you have come if you knew he wanted to drag you on a trip?"

  Eliaster stood up. "What is this, Twenty Questions?"

  David rose, his head leaning forward just a little as he glared at the fae. "Maybe you should have told us your plan in the first place. Come to think of it, Eliaster, what is your plan? All we've heard from you is, get the cipher finished, get the freakin' cipher finished. Well, it's finished. What now? You don't honestly think that going after this relic will help Marc?"

  "You don't honestly think that we can do nothing?" Eliaster shot back. "You've heard the rumors. The Lucht Leanúna want this thing for something. Can we really just sit and let them take it?"

  "You can't leave Marc!" Larae clenched her hands. "We could find the relic after we rescue him. Then the Lucht Leanúna would really be stuck."

  Larae had voiced my thoughts. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for Eliaster to reply.

  The blond fae gnawed on his lower lip. He took a step to the side, as if beginning to pace, then jerked back into place. His hands worked into fists, then relaxed, then clenched again. He looked over at Roe.

  She shook her head.

  "Give me a bit to think." Eliaster walked out, his shoulders hunched and his hands stuffed deep into his pockets.

  Larae growled and tucked her arms around her body. Tears glimmered in the corners of her eyes. "No, no, no. He can't abandon Marc. He can't."

  Roe scooted across the couch and put her arms around Larae. She glanced up at David and me and made a shooing motion toward the door.

  David brushed his fingers against Larae's shoulder, then held the door as I walked out. He let it slap shut behind him and rubbed his neck. For a moment, we just stood beside each other, awkward and quiet. Then he shrugged.

  "Want to start on those defense lessons?" he asked.

  I nodded. It would be good. And after hearing Eliaster contemplate abandoning his friend, I needed to hit something. Might as well make it useful in the process.

  David headed into the kitchen. A door at the back, beside the fridge, opened up to a wooden staircase and a cement-block room. The basement had been turned into a full gym. I stepped off the stairs onto the floor padded with thick foam and rubber mats. David continued flipping lights on, illuminating the punching bags set up in one corner. A weight bench and treadmill were in another. The main portion of the floor was left open, and the reason was pushed against the wall opposite the staircase.

  Racks on the wall held wooden and metal weapons, mostly swords but some maces, knives, and a few odd-looking things I couldn't identify. A tall metal gun safe stood beside the weapons rack
.

  David stepped up to the safe and started to punch in the code.

  I cleared my throat. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not bother with guns anymore."

  "Are you scared after the mess at the Market the other day?"

  I gritted my teeth. "I'm not scared. Eliaster said that guns are basically worthless in close combat, and that not many fae carry them."

  David dropped his hand from the safe. "And you trust Eliaster?"

  I frowned. Truthfully, I didn't much trust any of them. Roe, maybe, and that was because she didn't seem to care about anything other than finding her grandson. It felt like everyone else had an agenda, even though I couldn't name those agendas.

  David snorted. "Eliaster's fae. He doesn't care what happens to humans as long as his little agenda is fulfilled. Teaching you the sword is worthless. You don't have one, and it would take you too long to learn how to be of any use in a fight."

  "I do have one. Eliaster got a glamour sword from Opti."

  "What are you, his pet project?" David shook his head, turning to examine the practice swords lining the weapons rack. "Eliaster is…different than most fae. He's viewed as unorthodox because he worked with curators and has been known to get protective of humans."

  "Well, he needs to figure out that he's not my mommy."

  "When Eliaster gave you the sword, did he ask for anything in return?"

  "Why does it matter? You're not my mommy either."

  "Fae tend to twist words so they always get a good deal. I hope you didn't agree to anything stupid."

  "For once, can't someone give me the benefit of the doubt? Even if I don’t know much about the Underworld, I can still put the meaning of a sentence together." My mind raced. I hadn't really promised anything—had I? Eliaster had wanted my word that I'd continue fighting against the Lucht Leanúna, and I had refused to give it to him. I hope that was it.

  David sighed. "Well, I guess there's no reason not to teach you the sword, then. I'm guessing you've never picked up a sword before."

  "Closest I've come is some throwing knives my parents got me when I was a kid."

  "Yeah?" David raised an eyebrow. "Any good?"

  "I got them confiscated after a week because I thought it might be fun to use my sister's teddy bear as a target. My dad sort of conveniently forgot where he hid them."

  He chuckled and gave me a squinty, appraising look, then pulled a medium-bladed sword from the weapons rack. "This is a good beginner sword. It's not too heavy, and can be used with one hand or two."

  He tossed it across the room. I held my hand out to catch it and the hilt bounced off my knuckles. My fingers went numb.

  "Ouch!"

  David chuckled. "Pick it up. Let's get going on this."

  I leaned down and wrapped my hand around the hilt, flexing my fingers. The grip felt a little strange, meant for a different hand. The weight did feel similar to my sword. I'd definitely feel it in my arms and shoulders after a while of swinging it. The edges of the blade were blunt.

  Something smacked my leg. I yelped and dodged away, narrowly avoiding another swipe from the flat of David's blade.

  David grinned, blue eyes twinkling. "Pay attention."

  "Not fair." I spread my feet to shoulder width and crouched down a little, holding the sword out in front of me with both hands.

  "Get used to it. Fae don't play fair."

  For the next hour, David had me hopping and dodging as he tried his best to land more stinging blows. He enjoyed it way too much, but he also taught me a few things—how to hold the sword and how to block without sending a shiver of pain through my arms. I didn't land a single blow on him, but my sword struck plenty of other things—the walls, the floor, and more often than not, my own shin.

  After a bit, I noticed David had certain forms he was going through. There were only so many different ways to swing a sword, and each had a recognizable pattern, something I could remember and a trajectory I could trace.

  After a while, I could predict what he would do next, which height he'd strike at and what kind of swing it would be. I even managed to land a couple of strikes on David as I recognized openings in his defenses.

  After a particularly good whack on his leg, David stepped back and lowered his sword. He wiped sweat from his forehead.

  I rose from the crouch I'd maintained. My thighs and shoulders burned, and my hands trembled just a bit as I braced myself with the sword. "How did I do?"

  "Pretty good, for a first timer."

  "Your patterns are predictable."

  David paused slightly as he put away his sword. "How so?"

  I racked my sword next to his and took a deep breath, trying not to grin. Yeah, not so useless in a fight after all.

  "You just go through various patterns—well, I guess they would really be called sword forms. You even use the forms in predictable ways. If you'd change up the patterns you use, just a little…"

  David patted my shoulder. "Wait 'til you get a little more practice before you start critiquing, newbie."

  As I opened my mouth to snap, the door creaked above us, and Larae came down the stairs, chewing on her lower lip.

  "What's up?" David asked.

  She nodded to the weapons' rack. "Good thing I didn't have access to that a little while ago. I'm pretty sure Eliaster would be missing an appendage."

  David laughed. I chuckled nervously as the fae girl turned her deep, violet eyes on me. What did she want now? Out of the corner of my eye, I saw tension appear in David's neck and shoulders. He looked away, running his hand through his hair.

  She rubbed her arms. "I want to talk about a rescue mission for Marc."

  "Um, didn't Eliaster say he'd think about it?" I asked.

  She frowned. "That's Eliaster-speak for 'no chance in any world, Heaven, or Hell'. But we can't just leave Marc! I don't feel right about that, and I can't believe Eliaster would either."

  Don't feel right about that? I'd been expecting a much more impassioned argument for saving her boyfriend.

  "Eliaster's an idiot," David said.

  Larae rolled her eyes. "Oh please, David, don't bring your alpha-male arguments into this."

  He held up his hands. "Hey, I'm on your side. So do you have a plan at all?"

  I took a few steps away from them. Part of me wanted to stick my fingers in my ears and chant la-la-la so I couldn't hear them. If I didn't know what they were planning, Eliaster couldn't get mad at me.

  "Josh." Larae's hand landed on my arm.

  I jerked and spun around.

  She stepped back. "Do you want to be a part of this? If you don't, I think you should leave so you can't tell Eliaster what we're planning."

  "That's a good idea." I rubbed my neck and winced as my fingers hit a raw area from yesterday when Llew had twisted my shirt around my throat.

  Larae and David were silent for a moment, both watching me. I tried not to squirm under their gaze. Did I really want to be a part of this plan? Eliaster would kill us if he found out—and in the back of my mind, I cringed at the thought that the usually-exaggerated phrase just might, with Eliaster, be literal.

  But I couldn't reconcile abandoning my friend. Marc had never backed away from helping me. The most notable memory I had of that was when we were ten, and two boys a grade older had tackled me on the bus. Marc hadn't hit his growth spurt yet and was a good head shorter than both those boys, but he'd calmly dropped them both with sucker punches to the gut.

  This is different. Marc has trained his entire life to fight. I haven't.

  David dropped his shoulders like he was disappointed and nodded to the stairway. "It's right there."

  I stiffened. "I'm not lost. Look, I'll go. I think it's a bad idea, but I'll go, because I owe Marc that much."

  David glared at me. "You think it's a bad idea to rescue your best friend? If you think that, why are you bothering to come?"

  "Relax, David. I understand his misgivings," Larae said.

  Yeah right
you do. I bit my tongue.

  Footsteps clomped down the stairs, and Eliaster came into view. He squinted at us suspiciously. "What are you three up to?"

  David waved his hand. "Just finishing up a training session. Josh said you'd gotten him a sword, so I thought I'd show him the basics."

  "So I'll have to retrain him the right way? Thanks a lot."

  "I learned a lot," I said. "Figured out some of the patterns, that sort of thing."

  Eliaster frowned. "That's because David sticks to the patterns like it's a religion."

  Odd thing for him to say, given that cross he wears.

  "It's a starting point at least," Larae said.

  Eliaster grunted. "Maybe so. At least this will serve him better than leaving him with a pistol."

  David raised his eyebrows. "Like it was a better idea to leave him unarmed?"

  "It drew attention to him, David, and I had to deal with it." Eliaster sighed. "Look, I know you guys are wanting a decision on whether or not to go after Marc. I'm still thinking. I need to gather more information before I say yes or no. I'm going to go talk to Angel and a few other guys. Tell Roe not to wait up for me." He turned and headed back up the stairs.

  As soon as the door shut, David put his arm around Larae's shoulders, pulled her closer to me, then put his other arm over my shoulders. I tensed. His arm was heavy, and with his bulky frame, it made me feel like a David chumming up to a Goliath.

  "Tonight," he said in a low voice. "We'll head out tonight."

  Chapter 11

  I hunched in the back seat of Larae's Porsche, watching the shop lights speed by. David and Larae sat in the front seats, both preoccupied with their own thoughts. Larae held her sawed-off shotgun close to her body and absently rubbed a thumb up and down the barrel. Outside, the city flowed by in a wash of golden streetlights and neon signs.

  I wore the sword Eliaster had given me on my hip. Please, please don't let me have to use this. Tension coiled around my muscles at the thought. This is insane. Why did you have to agree to go? You're not a hero. You can't even use this sword—you might as well be unarmed.

  Okay, enough. I had to stop analyzing this before I chickened out.