Chapter 48: Iron and Blood
By the time she returned to Water City, it was deep night. Violet didn't climb the city wall. She went straight back to her small house. Moon Silver had turned over in its nest. She scooped it up and held it in her palm. It was as warm as a small ball of fire. The rune on the back of her hand glowed faintly in the moonlight, pulsing with her heartbeat. Like a second heart.
She lay down and closed her eyes. No Thornveil Gorge in her dreams. No Leon. Nothing. She slept the whole night through. When she woke, the sky was already bright. Moon Silver wasn't in her palm. It had crawled onto the pillow on its own. Pressed against her neck. Its silver-gray fur nuzzling her chin. She moved it aside. It crawled back.
"Are you annoying or not?" She whispered.
Moon Silver blinked its deep blue eyes. Opened its mouth and yawned. Showed two rows of tiny white teeth the size of rice grains. She stuffed it into its nest and got up.
---
Late morning, Violet went to find the blacksmith.
The forge was on the south side of the city. The clanging of hammered iron could be heard from far off. The blacksmith was forging a long blade. Stripped to the waist. Sweat streaming down his back. When he saw Violet come in, he tossed the blade into a water bucket. A sharp hiss. White smoke billowed up.
"You're here." He wiped his hands on a dirty cloth. "That batch of blades isn't finished yet. Five more days."
"Not here to rush the blades." Violet untied a blade from her waist and threw it onto the anvil. The one she had seized from the bandits. The hilt bore the Ironwood mark. The blacksmith glanced at it. His face changed.
"Where did this blade come from?"
"Bandit hands. Thirty bandits camped beside the dry riverbed southeast of the city. My people killed nineteen wolves. Captured eleven bandits. Seized over a dozen blades. All with the Ironwood mark."
The blacksmith picked up the blade. Turned it over. Studied the notches at the base of the hilt. His finger traced one of the notches. His lips pressed tight.
"This is my work. Forged a year ago. Twenty blades in total. Said they were to be shipped north to the trade route for sale." He set the blade down. His voice sank. "Seems they never made it to the trade route."
"Someone stole them?"
"Don't know. Could have been robbed on the shipping road. Could have been sold to the wrong people." The blacksmith raised his head and looked at her. "What do you want me to do?"
"I don't want you to do anything. I want you to know. Your blades flowed into bandit hands. The bandits took your blades to strike Water City. If the beast tide comes and bandits and wolves attack together, your blades will be cutting my people."
The blacksmith's fingers clenched.
"I didn't come to blame you." Violet's voice leveled. "I came to tell you. From today on, Ironwood weapons are sold only to Water City. The trade route side—stop it. We'll talk again after the beast tide passes."
The blacksmith was silent for a moment. "The trade route orders are already signed."
"Compensate them. The compensation comes out of my account."
"It's not about coin. It's about reputation."
"Reputation? Your blades are in bandit hands. What reputation is there?" Violet looked at him. "Ironwood's reputation isn't built on how many orders you sign. It's built on how many wolves your blades kill. The beast tide comes. Water City's Self-Defense Force takes your blades and kills wolves. After the killing, if others see Ironwood blades with chipped edges and broken hilts, your reputation is gone. If after the killing the blades are still good, your reputation arrives."
The blacksmith stared at her for a long time. He picked up the blade from the anvil. Sheathed it. Handed it back to her.
"Keep the blade. Those orders—I'll compensate them. Ironwood blades, from today on, sold only to Water City."
"One more thing."
"Speak."
"The Self-Defense Force needs blades. Not ordinary blades. Blades made specifically to kill Thorn Wolves. The edge must be thick. The spine heavy. The tip narrow. Must be able to pierce through a wolf's throat. Not chip. Not snap."
The blacksmith took an iron ingot from the wall. Set it on the anvil. Struck it once with his hammer. "Draw the design. I'll forge it."
Violet crouched down. Used charcoal to draw the shape of a blade on a stone slab. The edge the thickness of a finger. The spine the width of two fingers. The tip narrowing to a point. The blacksmith studied the drawing and nodded. "Three days. I'll have a sample."
"I'll wait."
---
Afternoon. The training ground.
All fifty members of the Self-Defense Force were present. Gray Bone stood at the very front. Finn stood beside him. Ak held Black Stone's lead. Behind him stood five ice wolves. Gray Ear lay at Violet's feet. His tail swept occasionally.
"Today we drill coordination." Violet stood before the formation. "Wolves charge ahead. People follow behind. People don't take the wolves' work. Wolves don't take the people's work."
A young hunter raised his hand. "How do we coordinate? The wolves don't listen to us."
"The wolves don't listen to you. But the wolves listen to Ak. Ak listens to me." Violet glanced at Ak. "You lead the wolves to charge first. Charge to the straw target. Bite and hold. Gray Bone leads the men in from both flanks. Thrust blades through the gaps between the wolves."
Ak nodded. He released Black Stone's lead and shouted, "Charge." Black Stone led the five wolves toward the straw target. They bit down on the edges of the target. Gray Bone led his men in from both flanks. Long blades thrust through the gaps between the wolves into the throat position of the straw target.
"Too slow." Violet said. "The moment the wolves bite down, the men must arrive. The moment the men arrive, the blades must thrust in. Too late, the wolves release, the target falls. What are you thrusting at?"
Gray Bone wiped his sweat. "Again."
The second time was faster. The third faster still. The fourth time, as Gray Bone's men thrust blades through the gaps between the wolves, one wolf was kicked by a man's foot. It yelped. Released its bite. Turned its head and bared teeth at the man. Ak quickly shouted, "Down." The wolf hesitated. Lay down.
"Who kicked?" Violet asked.
A young Frost Wolf hunter raised his hand. "Me. Lost my footing."
"If you lost your footing, don't crowd next to the wolf. Stand on the outer side. The inner side is for those with steady footing."
Training continued until the sun swung west. The wolves and people were coordinating more and more smoothly. Though there were still occasional wolf tails being stepped on and people being jostled to the ground by wolves, no one got hurt. No wolf turned hostile.
At dismissal, Gray Bone walked over to Violet. "That thing on the back of your hand. What is it?"
Violet glanced down at the back of her hand. The rune was hard to see clearly in the sunset light. But she could see the dark red pattern beneath the skin. "A letter."
"A letter?"
"Someone entrusted me to deliver a letter. Once delivered, it'll be gone."
Gray Bone didn't press. He glanced at Gray Ear lying at Violet's feet. "He's been following you constantly lately. Even sleeps in your doorway at night."
"He's accepted me."
"Does Ulric know?"
"He knows. He said Gray Ear chose me."
Gray Bone looked at her. Said nothing. Shouldered his shovel and walked away.
---
Night. Violet sat on the steps outside her small house. Moon Silver crawled back and forth across her palm. From her left hand to her right hand. From her right hand to her shoulder. From her shoulder to the top of her head. She took it down from her head. It crawled back up.
"If you crawl up again, I won't feed you." Moon Silver ignored her and kept crawling.
Leon walked over and sat beside her. He held two bowls in his hands. One bowl of porridge. One bowl of dried meat. He handed her the porridge. Ate the dry rations himself.
"How was training?" He asked.
"Alright. The coordination between wolves and men still isn't smooth enough. Someone stepped on a wolf's tail."
"Step enough times and it'll smooth out."
Violet drank a mouthful of porridge. Very thick. Minced meat and wild greens inside. Gray Bone had ordered it cooked. All members of the Self-Defense Force got some.
"Leon."
"Yes."
"After the beast tide passes, I need to make a trip north."
"To find that old woman's son?"
"Yes. She's waited seven years. I have to help her find him."
Leon chewed his dry rations. Didn't speak.
"Will you come with me?" Violet asked.
"No."
Violet's fingers tightened for an instant.
"I'll come with you." He said.
Violet looked at him. The moon had emerged from behind the clouds. Its light fell on his face. There was a point of light in his amber slit pupils.
"You just said you wouldn't go."
"I was teasing you."
Violet set down her bowl. Picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it at him. He caught it. Set it beside him.
"When did you learn to tease people?"
"Learned from you."
Violet glared at him, but the corner of her mouth wouldn't stay down.
Moon Silver jumped—no, fell—from her shoulder. It hadn't learned to jump yet. Its four small paws spread wide. Drifting down like a silver-gray leaf. Leon caught it in his palm. Moon Silver turned over in his hand. Exposed its belly. Four small paws curled against its chest. Leon tickled its belly with his finger. It narrowed its eyes. Its tail curled once.
"It likes you." Violet said.
"It likes everyone."
"It doesn't like Old Egan. When Old Egan was feeding it, it bit his finger."
"Drew blood?"
"No blood. Just held it in its mouth. Old Egan said, 'It's tasting. Seeing if I'm edible.'"
The corner of Leon's mouth lifted. He returned Moon Silver to Violet. Moon Silver yawned in her palm. Went still.
In the distance, a light appeared in the northern sky. Brighter than before. Closer. Like a bolt of lightning striking vertically downward. But there was no sound. The light held for two or three seconds. Died.
Violet stood. Leon stood too.
"That light appeared again." Leon said.
"Brighter."
"Closer."
The two of them looked at the northern sky. There was nothing in the darkness now. But the air carried a different scent. Not grass. Not earth. Something scorched. Metallic. Like rust and not like rust.
"The beast tide is coming soon." Violet said.
"How soon?"
"Don't know. But soon."
She looked down at the rune on the back of her hand. It was glowing in the darkness. Dark red. Steady pulse. Not moonlight. Not torchlight. Its own light.
Leon saw it too. "It's glowing."
"It's always been glowing. Just can't see it in the daytime."
"What does it represent?"
"It represents something I promised. Until that thing is done, it won't go out."
Leon looked at the back of her hand. "And after it's done?"
"Goes out. Or stays. Don't know."
The two of them stood watching the north. The wind blew from the north. Colder and colder. The tail of summer had already passed. Autumn was coming fast. The beast tide would come in autumn. Greta's son was in the north. That light was in the north too.
Violet clenched her left hand into a fist. The rune sat against the bone. No pain. But she could feel it.
"Go back." Leon said.
"You go first. I'll stand a little longer."
Leon didn't leave. He stood beside her. Watching the north with her.
In the distance, patrols moved on the city wall. Torchlight flickered across the stones. The sound of stones being moved on the east side had stopped. The wall was finished. The granary on the west side was piled full of grain. The salt store full of salt. The warehouses full of pelts and iron tools.
Everything was prepared.
Only the beast tide remained.
Violet pulled her coat tighter. The old one. The one Leon had stitched.
Moon Silver turned over in her palm.
---
End of Chapter Forty-Eight
The blacksmith agreed. Selling only to Water City. The Self-Defense Force's wolves and men are still learning to work together. Someone stepped on a wolf's tail. The northern light flashed again. Brighter. Closer. The air carries the smell of something scorched. The beast tide is coming soon. Leon said, "I'll come with you." But north is the destination. Not the beast tide. Two matters. One more urgent than the other. She clenched the rune on the back of her hand in her palm. Until that thing is done, it won't go out.