The Hero of Ages

Page 68

  He continued to polish. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Breeze watching him. The Soother had come to Sazeds "room," complaining that he couldnt sleep, not with Spook still outside somewhere. Sazed had nodded, but continued polishing. He didnt wish to get into a conversation; he just wanted to be alone.

  Breeze, unfortunately, stood and came over. "Sometimes, I dont understand you, Sazed," Breeze said.

  "I do not endeavor to be mysterious, Lord Breeze," Sazed said, moving on to polish a small bronze ring.

  "Why take such good care of them?" Breeze asked. "You never wear them anymore. In fact, you seem to spurn them. "

  "I do not spurn the metalminds, Lord Breeze. They are, in a way, the only sacred thing I have left in my life. "

  "But you dont wear them, either. "

  Sazed continued polishing. "No. I do not. "

  "But why?" Breeze asked. "You think that she would have wanted this? She was a Keeper too—do you honestly think shed want you to give up your metalminds?"

  "This particular habit of mine is not about Tindwyl. "

  "Oh?" Breeze asked, sighing as he seated himself at the table. "What do you mean? Because honestly, Sazed, youre confusing me. I understand people. It bothers me that I cant understand you. "

  "After the Lord Rulers death," Sazed said, putting down the ring, "do you know what I spent my time doing?"

  "Teaching," Breeze said. "You left to go and restore the lost knowledge to the people of the Final Empire. "

  "And did I ever tell you how that teaching went?"

  Breeze shook his head.

  "Poorly," Sazed said, picking up another ring. "The people didnt really care. They werent interested in the religions of the past. And why should they have been? Why worship something that people used to believe in?"

  "People are always interested in the past, Sazed. "

  "Interested, perhaps," Sazed said, "but interest is not faith. These metalminds, they are a thing of museums and old libraries. They are of little use to modern people. During the years of the Lord Rulers reign, we Keepers pretended that we were doing vital work. We believed that we were doing vital work. And yet, in the end, nothing we did had any real value. Vin didnt need this knowledge to kill the Lord Ruler.

  "I am probably the last of the Keepers. The thoughts in these metalminds will die with me. And, at times, I cant make myself regret that fact. This is not an era for scholars and philosophers. Scholars and philosophers do not help feed starving children. "

  "And so you dont wear them anymore?" Breeze said. "Because you think theyre useless?"

  "More than that," Sazed said. "To wear these metalminds would be to pretend. I would be pretending that I find the things in them to be of use, and I have not yet decided if I do or not. To wear them now would seem like a betrayal. I set them aside, for I can do them no justice. Im just not ready to believe, as we did before, that gathering knowledge and religions is more important than taking action. Perhaps if the Keepers had fought, rather than just memorized, the Lord Ruler would have fallen centuries ago. "

  "But you resisted, Sazed," Breeze said. "You fought. "

  "I dont represent myself any longer, Lord Breeze," Sazed said softly. "I represent all Keepers, since I am apparently the last. And I, as the last, do not believe in the things I once taught. I cannot with good conscience imply that I am the Keeper I once was. "

  Breeze sighed, shaking his head. "You dont make sense. "

  "It makes sense to me. "

  "No, I think youre just confused. This may not seem to you like a world for scholars, my dear friend, but I think youll be proven wrong. It seems to me that now—suffering in the darkness that might just be the end of everything—is when we need knowledge the most. "

  "Why?" Sazed said. "So I can teach a dying man a religion that I dont believe? To speak of a god, when I know there is no such being?"

  Breeze leaned forward. "Do you really believe that? That nothing is watching over us?"

  Sazed sat quietly, slowing in his polishing. "I have yet to decide for certain," he finally said. "At times, I have hoped to find some truth. However, today, that hope seems very distant to me. There is a darkness upon this land, Breeze, and I am not sure1 that we can fight it. I am not sure that I want to fight it. "

  Breeze looked troubled at that. He opened his mouth, but before he could respond, a rumble rolled through the cavern. The rings and bracers on the table quivered and clinked together as the entire room shook, and there was a clatter as some foodstuffs fell—though not too many, for Captain Goradels men had done good work in moving most of the stockpile off of shelves and to the ground, in order to deal with the quakes.

  Eventually, the shaking subsided. Breeze sat with a white face, looking up at the ceiling of the cavern. "I tell you, Sazed," he said. "Every time one of those quakes comes, I wonder at the wisdom of hiding in a cave. Not the safest place during an earthquake, I should think. "

  "We really have no other option at the moment," Sazed said.

  "True, I suppose. Do . . . does it seem to you like those quakes are coming more frequently?"

  "Yes," Sazed said, picking up a few fallen bracelets from the floor. "Yes, they are. "

  "Maybe . . . this region is just more prone to them," Breeze said, not sounding convinced. He turned, looking to the side as Captain Goradel rounded a shelf and approached them in a rush.

  "Ah, come to check on us, I see," Breeze said. "We survived the quake quite handily. No need for urgency, my dear captain. "

  "Its not that," Goradel said, puffing slightly. "Its Lord Spook. Hes back. "

  Sazed and Breeze shared a look, then rose from their chairs, following Goradel to the front of the cavern. They found Spook walking down the steps. His eyes were uncovered, and Sazed saw a new hardness in the young mans expression.

  We really havent been paying enough attention to the lad.

  The soldiers backed away. There was blood on Spooks clothing, though he didnt appear wounded. His cloak was burned in places, and the bottom ended in a charred rip.

  "Good," Spook said, noticing Breeze and Sazed, "youre here. Did that quake cause any damage?"

  "Spook?" Breeze asked. "No, were all fine here. No damage. But—"

  "We have little time for chatter, Breeze," Spook said, walking past them. "Emperor Venture wants Urteau, and were going to deliver it to him. I need you to start spreading rumors in the city. It should be easy—some of the more important elements in the underworld already know the truth. "

  "What truth?" Breeze asked, joining Sazed as they followed Spook through the cavern.

  "That Quellion is using Allomancers," Spook said, his voice echoing in the cavern. "Ive now confirmed what I suspected before—Quellion recruits Mistings from the people he arrests. He rescues them from his own fires, then holds their families hostage. He relies on the very thing hes preaching against. The entire foundation for his rule, therefore, is a lie. Exposing that lie should cause the entire system to collapse. "

  "Thats capital, we can certainly do that . . . " Breeze said, glancing at Sazed again. Spook kept walking, and Sazed followed, trailing Spook as he moved through the cavern. Breeze moved away, probably to fetch Allrianne.

  Spook stopped beside the waters edge. He stood there for a moment, then turned toward Sazed. "You said that you have been studying the construction that brought the water down here, divertin1g it from the canals. "

  "Yes," Sazed said.

  "Is there a way to reverse the process?" Spook asked. "Make the water flood the streets again?"

  "Perhaps," Sazed said. "I am not certain that I have the engineering expertise to accomplish the feat, however. "

  "Is there knowledge in your metalminds that would help you?" Spook asked.

  "Well . . . yes. "

  "Then use them," Spook said.

  Sazed paused, loo
king uncomfortable.

  "Sazed," Spook said. "We dont have much time—we have to take this city before Quellion decides to attack and destroy us. Breeze is going to spread the rumors, then I am going to find a way to expose Quellion as a liar before his people. Hes an Allomancer himself. "

  "Will that be enough?"

  "It will if we give them someone else to follow," Spook said, turning back to look across the waters. "Someone who can survive fires; someone who can restore water to the city streets. Well give them miracles and a hero, then expose their leader as a hypocrite and a tyrant. Confronted with that, what would you do?"

  Sazed didnt respond immediately. Spook made good points, even about Sazeds metalminds still being useful. Yet Sazed wasnt certain what he thought of the changes in the young man. Spook seemed to have grown far more competent, but . . .

  "Spook," Sazed said, stepping in closer, speaking quietly enough that the soldiers standing behind couldnt hear. "What is it you arent sharing with us? How did you survive the leap from that building? Why do you cover your eyes with cloth?"

  "I . . . " Spook faltered, showing a hint of the insecure boy he had once been. For some reason, seeing that made Sazed more comfortable. "I dont know if I can explain, Saze," Spook said, some of his pretension evaporating. "Im still trying to figure it out myself. Ill explain eventually. For now, can you just trust me?"

  The lad had always been a sincere one. Sazed searched those eyes, so eager.

  And found something important. Spook cared. He cared about this city, about overthrowing the Citizen. Hed saved those people earlier, when Sazed and Breeze had just stood outside, watching.

  Spook cared, and Sazed did not. Sazed tried—he grew frustrated with himself because of his depression, which had been worse this evening than it usually was.

  His emotions had been so traitorous lately. He had trouble studying, had trouble leading, had trouble being of any use whatsoever. But, looking into Spooks eager eyes, he was almost able to forget his troubles for a moment.

  If the lad wanted to take the lead, then who was Sazed to argue?

  He glanced toward his room, where the metalminds lay. He had gone so long without them. They tempted him with their knowledge.

  As long as I dont preach the religions they contain, he thought, Im not a hypocrite. Using this specific knowledge Spook requests will, at least, bring some small meaning to the suffering of those who worked to gather knowledge of engineering.

  It seemed a weak excuse. But, in the face of Spook taking the lead and offering a good reason to use the metalminds, it was enough.

  "Very well," Sazed said. "I shall do as you request. "

  Ruins prison was not like those that hold men. He wasnt bound by bars. In fact, he could move about freely.

  His prison, rather, was one of impotence. In the terms of forces and gods, this meant balance. If Ruin were to push, the prison would push back, essentially rendering Ruin powerless. And because much of his power was stripped away and hidden, he was unable to affect the world in any but the most subtle of ways.