I peeked under another cloth, where a stuffed-dog-looking thing stared back sightlessly. “Why are we looking for ancient weapons, anyway?” I muttered, dropping the cloth. “Wouldn’t it be easier to use, oh, I don’t know…a gun?”
“Guns require ammunition,” Kanin replied without looking up. “Ammunition is difficult to find, even if the Prince did not have a stranglehold on the automatic weapon distribution in the city. And an empty gun is about as useful as a large paperweight. Besides, guns are impractical for dealing with our kind. Unless you can somehow tear off our head, bullets will only slow us down at best. To adequately protect yourself from a vampire, you’re going to need a blade. Now…” He moved to the next box, tearing off the lid, nails and all. “Why don’t you make yourself useful and look through a few of these yourself? See if anything jumps out at you. Remember, you’re looking for a blade. Not a mace or a maul or a huge spiked chain that you’d probably hurt yourself with trying to learn.”
“Fine.” I wandered down the aisle, looking at random articles. “But I still say the flail looked like it could bash in a vamp’s head pretty efficiently.”
“Allison—”
“I’m going, I’m going.”
More wooden boxes lined the aisle to either side, covered in dust. I brushed back a film of cobwebs and grime to read the words on the side of the nearest carton. Longswords: Medieval Europe, 12th century. The rest was lost to time and age. Another read: Musketeer Rapie…something or other. Another apparently had a full suit of gladiator armor, whatever a gladiator was.
A clang from Kanin’s direction showed him holding up a large, double-bladed ax, before he laid it aside and moved on to another shelf.
One box caught my attention. It was long and narrow, like the other boxes, but instead of words, it had strange symbols printed down the side. Curious, I wrenched off the lid and reached in, shifting through layers of plastic and foam, until my fingers closed around something long and smooth.
I pulled it out. The long, slightly curved sheath was black and shiny, and a hilt poked out of the end, marked with diamond pattern in black and red. I grasped that hilt and pulled the blade free, sending a metallic shiver through the air and down my spine.
As soon as I drew it, I knew I had found what Kanin wanted.
The blade gleamed in the darkness, long and slender, like a silver ribbon. I could sense the razor sharpness of the edge without even touching it. The sword itself was light and graceful, and fit perfectly into my palm, as if it had been made for me. I swept it in a wide arc, feeling it slice through the air, and imagined this was a blade that could pass through a snarling rabid without even slowing down.
A chuckle interrupted me. Kanin stood a few yards away, arms crossed, shaking his head. His mouth was pulled into a resigned grin.
“I should have known,” he said, coming forward. “I should have known you would be drawn to that. It’s very fitting, actually.”
“It’s perfect,” I said, holding up the sword. “What is it, anyway?”
Kanin regarded me in amusement. “What you’re holding is called a katana. Long ago, a race of warriors known as the samurai carried them. The sword was more than a weapon—to the samurai, their blades were an extension of their souls. It was the symbol of their culture and their most prized possession.”
I didn’t really need the history lesson, but it was pretty cool to think that there was an entire race of people who’d carried these once. “What happened to them?” I asked, sheathing the sword carefully. “Did they all die out?”
Kanin’s grin grew wider, as if he was enjoying his own private joke. “No, Allison Sekemoto. I would say not.”
I frowned, waiting for him to explain, but he stepped back and motioned me to follow. “If you’re going to carry that blade,” he said as we headed back through the maze of aisles and shelves, “you’ll have to learn how to use it. It is not a pocketknife you can just swing in circles and hope it hits the target. It is an elegant weapon and deserves better than that.”
“I don’t know, swinging it in a circle sounds like a pretty good trick to me.”
He gave me another of his exasperated looks. “Having a weapon you do not know how to use is better than not having one at all, but not by much,” he said, ducking through the door and entering the narrow hallway. “Especially when dealing with vampires. Especially when dealing with older vampires who already know how to fight—they’re the most dangerous. They’ll cut off your head with your own blade, if you’re not careful.”
We came to the metal grate he’d pulled up earlier, and Kanin dropped out of sight, back into the sewers. I clutched my new prize to my chest and followed.
“So, are you going to teach me, then?” I asked as I hit the ground.