Dance Macabre: Tales from a Cursed Land

IX: Soulless Dolls (2/2)

Two days and nights later they had their new knives imbued with the cursed blood of a black unicorn and sharper than any regular weapon could ever be. The blacksmith tried to talk them into staying a little longer, but the twins were only interested in their mission.

The weapons dealt with, they were now left with the question how to get inside the harpies' lair and close enough to their queen to land a killing blow. The Viscount had not given any specific orders about that. Killing all the other harpies first was not realistic unless they had some element of surprise. They could not, after all, bring them down from the sky.

However, they only thought of all this when they were already at the location. They remained carefully hidden in the shadows of the rocks or the sparse vegetation as they observed their possible opponents.

An old, abandoned and partially fallen to ruin, seaside fortress was their primary lair. It was located on high rocks ending abruptly in a high cliff where the ocean began, just like their master had described.

The remains of a dirt road, already partially overgrown with grass, led straight to the broken gates. But despite the open doors, so to speak, it would not be possible to just walk right in. Not with the harpies circling above. The same applied to the rugged sides of the rock the fortress stood on. The only other option was to approach from the sea. But that was physically impossible for them - the climb would have been straight up and along rock made slippery by the waves.

Some of the harpies were clearly guards. Others were heading out, probably to hunt or fish, and yet others returning to their nests, built on the caves and small cliffs of the rock sides facing away from the sea.

"We need a distraction," Noel stated.

Nea nodded. "I will do it."

Noel took her hand. "No. We should stay together. Let's see if we can find someone else."

They had noticed - and avoided - a small group of bandits not long ago. Now they backtracked to where they had seen the camp.

The three scruffy men around the campfire reached first for their weapons, but then laughed and nudged each other, as the twins entered the circle of light from the darkness outside it.

"Gotten lost, little ones?" one of them asked, still snickering. "Your parents worried sick over you?"

"We have no parents," Noel replied. "And we are not lost. There is something we must do for our master before returning home."

That earned him another round of laughter.

"There is something we need to steal from the harpies," Nea put in. "We could use some help. There will be a large reward."

"Harpies?" Another of the men snorted. "Ain't big enough reward for that. Those bitches rip apart anyone who comes near."

"We would be the decoys," Noel played along with his sister's plan. "We only need someone to climb to the nests while the harpies are gone."

The bandits whispered among themselves for a moment. Then one of them spoke to the twins again, "Nah. Not worth the risk. So scram."

Under normal circumstances they might have kept the kids for ransom. If their master was willing to offer "a large reward", he had to be rich. But something was...suspicious with those two. They were too determined, too grown-up, for their age. Too cunning.

Nea briefly explained the details of her plan as they walked away. But it would not work unless they could lure someone to assist them.

"Please wait!" a male voice that cracked slightly called after them.