Reckoners 01 - Steelheart

weapon that had killed my father. Holding it felt wrong.
    But it was also, so far as I knew, the only weapon ever to have wounded Steelheart.
    “We can’t know if it was something about the gun that allowed Steelheart to be hurt,” Abraham said. “I felt it would be worth digging out. I’ll take it apart and clean it for you, check over the cartridges. They should still be good, though I might need to change the powder, if the casings didn’t insulate against the transfersion. If it all checks out, you can carry it. If the opportunity presents itself, you can try shooting him with it.”
    I nodded in thanks, then ran to get a sack and haul out my part of what we’d found.
    “Piping is the most sublime sound y’all have ever heard,” Cody explained, gesturing widely as we walked down the corridor toward the hideout. “A sonorous mix of power, frailty, and wonder.”
    “It sounds like dying cats being stuffed into a blender,” Tia said to me.
    Cody looked wistful. “Aye, and a beauteous melody that is, lass.”
    “So, wait,” I said, holding up a finger. “These bagpipes. To make them, you … what was it you said? ‘Y’all need to kill yourself a wee dragon, which are totally real and not at all mythological—they live in the Scottish Highlands to this day.’ ”
    “Aye,” Cody said. “It’s important y’all pick a
wee
one. The big ones are too dangerous, you see, and their bladders don’t make good pipes. But you have to kill it yourself, you see. A piper needs to have slain his own dragon. It’s part of the code.”
    “After that,” I said, “you need to cut out the bladder, and attach … what was it?”
    “Carved unicorn horns to make the pipes,” Cody said. “I mean, you
could
use something less rare, like ivory. But if you’re going to be a purist, it has to be unicorn horns.”
    “Delightful,” Tia said.
    “A grand word to choose,” Cody said. “It, of course, is originally a Scottish term.
Del
coming from Dál Riata, the ancient andgreat Scottish kingdom of myth. Why, I think one of the great piping songs is from that era.
‘Abharsair e d’a chois e na Dùn Èideann.’
”
    “Ab … ha … what?” I asked.
    “Abharsair e d’a chois e na Dùn Èideann,”
Cody said. “It is a sweetly poetic name that doesn’t really translate to English—”
    “It means ‘The Devil Went Down to Edinburgh’ in Scottish Gaelic,” Tia said, leaning in toward me but speaking loudly enough that Cody could hear.
    Cody, for once, missed a step. “You speak Scottish Gaelic, lass?”
    “No,” Tia said. “But I looked that up
last
time you told this story.”
    “Er … you did, eh?”
    “Yes. Though your translation is questionable.”
    “Well, now. I always did say you were a smart one, lass. Yes indeed.” He coughed into his hand. “Ah, look. We’re at the base. I’ll continue the story later.” The others had arrived at the hideout just ahead and Cody scurried up to meet them, then followed Megan up the tunnel.
    Tia shook her head, then walked with me to the tunnel. I went last, making sure the cords and cables that hid the entrance were in place. I turned on the hidden motion sensors that would alert us if someone came in, then crawled up myself.
    “… just don’t know, Prof,” Abraham was saying in his soft voice. “I just don’t know.” The two of them had spent the trip back walking ahead, speaking softly. I’d tried to edge up to hear them, but Tia had pointedly placed a hand on my shoulder and drawn me back.
    “So?” Megan asked, crossing her arms as we all gathered around the main table. “What’s going on?”
    “Abraham doesn’t like the way the rumors are going,” Prof said.
    “The general public does seem to accept our tale of Limelight,” Abraham said. “They are scared, and our hit on the power station has had an effect—there are rolling blackouts all over the city. However, I see no proof that Steelheart believes. Enforcement is sweepingthe understreets. Nightwielder is scouring the city. Everything I hear from informants is that Steelheart is searching for a group of rebels, not a rival Epic.”
    “So we hit back with a fury,” Cody said, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall beside the tunnel. “Kill a few more Epics.”
    “No,” I said, remembering my conversation with Prof. “We need to be more focused. We can’t just take out random Epics; we have to think like someone trying to capture the city.”
    Prof