Jeff's Arc

Chapter 6 of 8

Jeff swung the hammer and the scale flattened under his blows. He worked fast, feeding scale after scale into the fire. Then the water at the pool's edge broke. The serpent's head rose, wide as a door, and its eyes fixed on him. It began to circle the pool, slow at first, then faster. Its scales scraped the stone. Jeff froze with the hammer raised. "It's turning," Garrick said. He backed toward the anvil. "We took its scales. Now it wants them back." He did not soften it. "If it comes for you, we lose the ore. We lose everything." Jeff watched the serpent tighten its circle. Its head swung toward the pile of scales beside the anvil. He saw it then. The creature was not hunting him. It was hunting the ore. He grabbed a scale and held it up in the firelight. The serpent stopped. Its eyes tracked the metal. "It led us down here," Jeff said. "It didn't have to." He remembered the river, the way the creature had swum ahead and shown them the path. It had never struck. It had guided. Garrick grabbed his arm. "Don't. It'll take your hand." Jeff pulled free. He crossed to the pool with one scale in his open palm. The serpent reared over him. Its breath smelled of iron and cold water. Jeff did not lift the hammer. He knelt and set the scale on the wet stone at the water's edge. An offering. A trade. "Take one," he said. "Leave me the rest." The serpent lowered its head. Its jaw brushed the stone. It took the single scale and drew back into the pool. The circling stopped. The water went still. Jeff stood at the edge, shaking, but whole. Garrick let out a breath. "You gave it back." "One," Jeff said. "The rest is mine." He returned to the anvil and picked up his tongs. The pile of scales still held enough. He fed the fire and drew the metal out. The blade grew longer under his hammer, edge by edge. But the peace had a price. Jeff counted the scales again as he worked. The serpent had taken one. It would come again. Each time it circled, he would owe it another. And the pile was not endless. He had metal enough to shape the blade, but not enough to shape it twice. Every scale he gave the serpent was a scale he could not forge. He struck the anvil and watched the sparks fly. The blade was taking form at last. But now he was racing the water. He had to finish before the serpent circled again, or the trade would eat his ore down to nothing. Garrick studied the pool. "How long do we have?" Jeff did not answer. He raised the hammer and swung.