The Hero of Ages

Page 77

  "I see," the Survivor said.

  Surely he knows this already, Wellen thought. Why bother asking?

  "Where is my Heir?" the Survivor asked. "The Hero of Ages, Vin. "

  "The Lady Empress?" Wellen asked. "Shes with the emperor. "

  "Where?"

  "Nobody knows for certain, my lord," Rittle said, still shaking. "She hasnt returned in a long time. My sergeant says that she and the emperor are fighting in the South, fighting koloss. But Ive heard other men say the army went to the west. "

  "Thats not very helpful," Kelsier said.

  Wellen perked up, remembering something.

  "What?" the Survivor asked, apparently noticing Wellens change in posture.

  "An army troop stopped by the city a few months ago," Wellen said, feeling proud. "They kept it quiet, but I was in the group that helped them resupply. Lord Breeze was with them, and he spoke of meeting up with others of your crew. "

  "Where?" Kelsier asked. "Where were they going?"

  "North," Wellen said. "To Urteau. That must be where the emperor is, my lord. The Northern Dominance is in rebellion. He must have taken his armies to quell it. "

  The Survivor nodded. "Very well," he said. He turned as if to go, then paused, looking back. "Pass what news you can," he said. "There isnt much time left. Tell the people that when the mists leave, they should immediately find shelter. A place underground, if possible. "

  Wellen paused, then nodded. "The caverns," he said. "Where you trained your army?"

  "That will do," Kelsier said. "Farewell. "

  The Survivor disappeared into the mists.

  TenSoon left the gates of Keep Venture behind, running off into the mists. He could, perhaps, have gotten himself into the building. However, he wasnt certain how well his imitation of the Survivor would hold up under closer scrutiny.

  He didnt know how reliable the two guards information was. However, he had no better leads. Other people he had talked to in the night hadnt been able to provide any information about the armys movements. Evidently, Vin and Elend had been gone from Luthadel for quite some time.

  He rushed back to the patch of earth behind the warehouse where hed found Kelsiers body. He knelt in the darkness, uncovering the sack hed stuffed with bones. He needed to get the dogs body back and head north. Hopefully he would—

  "You there!" a voice said.

  TenSoon looked up reflexively. A man stood in the doorway of the warehouse, looking through the mists at TenSoon. A lantern flared to life behind him, revealing a group of people who had apparently taken up residence inside of the holy place.

  Uh, oh . . . TenSoon thought as those at the front adopted shocked expressions.

  "My lord!" the man in front said, quickly kneeling in his sleeping robe. "Youve returned!"

  TenSoon stood, stepping carefully to hide the sack of bones behind him. "I have," he said.

  "We knew that you would," the man said as others began to whisper and cry out behind him. Many fell to their knees. "We stayed in this place, praying for you to come give us counsel. The king is mad, my lord! What do we do?"

  TenSoon was tempted to expose himself as a kandra, but looking into their hopeful eyes, he found that he could not. Besides, perhaps he could do some good. "Penrod has been corrupted by Ruin," he said. "The thing that seeks to destroy the world. You must gather the faithful and escape this city before Penrod kills you all. "

  "My lord, where should we go?"

  TenSoon hesitated. Where? "There are a pair of guards at the front of Keep Venture. They know of a place. Listen to them. You must get to a place underground. Do you understand?"

  "Yes, lord," the man said. Behind, more and more people were edging forward, straining to catch a glimpse of TenSoon. He bore their scrutiny with some nervousness. Finally, he bid them be careful, then fled into the night.

  He found an empty building and quickly changed back to the dogs bones before anyone else could see him. When he was done, he eyed the Survivors bones, feeling a strange . . . reverence.

  Dont be silly, he told himself. Theyre just bones, like hundreds of other sets youve used. Still, it seemed foolish to leave such a potentially powerful tool behind. He carefully packed them into the sack hed pilfered, then—using paws hed created to have more dexterity than those of a real wolfhound—he tied the sack on his back.

  After that, TenSoon left the city by the northern gate, running at full wolfhound speed. He would go to Urteau and hope that he was on the right path.

  The pact between Preservation and Ruin is a thing of gods, and difficult to explain in human terms. Indeed, 1initially, there was a stalemate between them. On one hand, each knew that only by working together could they create. On the other hand, both knew that they would never have complete satisfaction in what they created. Preservation would not be able to keep things perfect and unchanging, and Ruin would not be able to destroy completely.

  Ruin, of course, eventually acquired the ability to end the world and gain the satisfaction he wanted. But, then, that wasnt originally part of the bargain.

  53

  SPOOK FOUND HER SITTING on the rocky lakeshore, looking out across the deep black waters, so still in the caverns windless air. In the near distance, Spook could hear Sazed—with a large contingent of Goradels men—working on their project to stanch the flow of water into the cavern.

  Spook approached Beldre quietly, carrying a mug of warmed tea. It almost seemed to burn his flesh, which meant that it would be just right for normal people. He let his own food and drinks sit out until they cooled to room temperature.

  He didnt wear his eye bandage. With pewter, hed found that he could withstand a little lantern-light. She didnt turn as he approached, so he cleared his throat. She jumped slightly. It was no wonder that Quellion worked so hard to shelter the girl—one could not fake Beldres level of innocence. She wouldnt survive three heartbeats in the underground. Even Allrianne, who did her best to look like a puff, had an edge to her that bespoke an ability to be as hard as necessary in order to survive. Beldre, though . . .

  Shes normal, Spook thought. This is how people would be, if they didnt have to deal with Inquisitors, armies, and assassins. For that, he actually envied her. It was a strange feeling, after so many years spent wishing that he were someone more important.

  She turned back toward the waters, and he approached and sat beside her. "Here," he said, handing her the mug. "I know it gets a bit chilly down here, with the lake and the water. "

  She paused, then took the mug. "Thank you," she whispered. Spook let her roam free in the cavern—there was very little she could sabotage, though he had warned Goradels men to keep an eye on her. Either way, there was no way she was going to get out. Spook kept two dozen men guarding the exit, and had ordered the ladder up to the trapdoor above removed, to be replaced only with proper authorization.

  "Hard to believe this place was beneath your city all along, isnt it?" Spook said, trying to work into a conversation. Oddly, it had seemed easier to speak to her when he was confronting her in her gardens, surrounded by danger.

  Beldre nodded. "My brother would have loved to find this place. He worries about food supplies. Fewer and fewer fish are being caught in the northern lakes. And crops . . . well, theyre not doing so well, I hear. "

  "The mists," Spook said. "They dont let enough sunlight through for most plants. "

  Beldre nodded, looking down at her mug. She hadnt taken a sip yet.

  "Beldre," Spook said, "Im sorry. I actually considered kidnapping you from those gardens, but decided against it. However, with you showing up here, alone . . . "

  "It was just too good an opportunity," she said bitterly. "I understand. Its my own fault. My brother always says Im too trusting. "

  "There are times that would be an advantage1. "

  Beldre sniffed quietly. "Ive never known such times as that.
It seems my entire life, Ive just trusted and been hurt. This is no different. "

  Spook sat, feeling frustrated with himself. Kelsier, tell me what to say! he thought. Yet, God remained silent. The Survivor didnt seem to have much advice about things that didnt relate to securing the city.

  It had all seemed so simple when Spook had given the order to capture her. Why, now, was he sitting here with this empty pit in his stomach?

  "I believed in him, you know," Beldre said.

  "Your brother?"

  "No," she said with a slight shake of her head. "The Lord Ruler. I was a good little noblewoman. I always gave my payments to the obligators—paying extra, even, and calling them in to witness the smallest things. I also paid them to come tutor me in the history of the empire. I thought everything was perfect. So neat; so peaceful. And then, they tried to kill me. Turns out Im half skaa. My father wanted a child so desperately, and my mother was barren. He had two children with one of the maidservants—my mother even approved. "

  She shook her head. "Why would someone do that?" she continued. "I mean, why not pick a noblewoman? No. My father chose the servant woman. I guess he fancied her or something. . . . " She looked down.

  "For me, it was my grandfather," Spook said. "I never knew him. Grew up on the streets. "

  "Sometimes I wish I had," Beldre said. "Then maybe this would all make sense. What do you do when the priests youve been paying to tutor you since you were a child—men you trusted more than your own parents—come to take you away for execution? I would have died, too. I just went with them. Then . . . "

  "Then what?" Spook asked.

  "You saved me," she whispered. "The Survivors crew. You overthrew the Lord Ruler, and in the chaos, everybody forgot about people like me. The obligators were too busy trying to please Straff. "

  "And then, your brother took over. "

  She nodded quietly. "I thought hed be a good ruler. He really is a good man! He just wants everything to be stable and secure. Peace for everyone. Yet, sometimes, the things he does to people . . . the things he asks of people . . . "

  "Im sorry," Spook said.

  She shook her head. "And then you came. You rescued that child, right in front of Quellion and me. You came to my gardens, and you didnt even threaten me. I thought . . . maybe he really is as the stories say. Maybe hell help. And, like the idiot I always am, I just came. "

  "I wish things were simple, Beldre," Spook said. "I wish I could let you go. But, this is for the greater good. "

  "Thats just what Quellion always says, you know," she said.

  Spook paused.

  "Youre a lot alike, you two," she said. "Forceful. Commanding. "

  Spook chuckled. "You really dont know me very well, do you?"

  She flushed. "Youre the Survivor of the Flames. Dont think I havent heard the rumors—my brother cant keep me out of all of his conferences. "

  "Rumors," Spook said, "are rarely reliable. "

  "Youre a member of the Survivors crew. "