Well of Ascension

by Brandon Sanderson

  Yet, the entire crowd of soldiers was beyond even his ability, and he had to do them in sections. As he began work on the new group, he saw the ones he had left begin to wilt, their anxiety taking over.

  When those doors burst, these men are going to scatter.

  The gates boomed. Men clustered on the walls, throwing down rocks, shooting arrows, fighting with a frantic lack of discipline. Occasionally, an officer would push his way past them, yelling orders, trying to coordinate their efforts, but Breeze was too far away to tell what they were saying. He could just see the chaos of men moving, screaming, and shooting.

  And, of course, he could see the return fire. Rocks zipped into the air from below, some cracking against the ramparts. Breeze tried not to think about what was on the other side of the wall, the thousands of enraged koloss beasts. Occasionally, a soldier would drop. Blood dripped down into the courtyard from several sections of the ramparts.

  "Fear, anxiety, terror..." Breeze whispered.

  Allrianne had escaped. Vin, Elend, and Spook were safe. He had to keep focusing on those successes. Thank you, Sazed, for making us send them away, he thought.

  Hoofbeats clopped behind him. Breeze continued his Soothing, but turned to see Clubs riding up. The general rode his horse with a hunched-over slouch, eyeing the soldiers with one eye open, the other perpetually squeezed closed in a squint 'They're doing well," he said.

  "My dear man," Breeze said. "They're terrified. Even the ones beneath my Soothing watch those gates like they were some terrible void waiting to suck them in."

  Clubs eyed Breeze. "Feeling poetic today, are we?"

  "Impending doom has that effect on me," Breeze said as the gates shook. "Either way, I doubt the men are doing 'well.'"

  Clubs grunted. "Men are always nervous before a fight. But, these are good lads. They'll hoid."

  The gates shook and quivered, splinters appearing at the edges. Those hinges are straining... Breeze thought.

  "Don't suppose you can Soothe those koloss?" Clubs asked. "Make them less ferocious?"

  Breeze shook his head. "Soothing those beasts has no effect I've tried it"

  They fell silent again, listening to the booming gates. Eventually, Breeze glanced over at Clubs, who sat, unperturbed, on his horse. "You've been in combat before," Breeze said. "How often?"

  "Off and on for the better part of twenty years, when I was younger," Clubs said. "Fighting rebellions in the distant dominances, warring against the nomads out in the barrens. The Lord Ruler was pretty good about keeping those conflicts quiet."

  "And ... how did you do?" Breeze asked. "Were you often victorious?"

  "Always," Clubs said.

  Breeze smiled slightly.

  "Of course," Clubs said, glancing at Breeze, "we were the ones with koloss on our side. Damn hard to kill, those beasts."

  Great, Breeze thought.

  Vin ran.

  She'd only been on one "pewter drag" before-with Kelsier, two years ago. While burning pewter at a steady flare, one could run with incredible speed-like a sprinter in their quickest dash-without ever growing tired.

  Yet, the process did something to a body. Pewter kept her moving, but it also bottled up her natural fatigue. The juxtaposition made her mind fuzz, bringing on a trancelike state of exhausted energy. Her soul wanted so badly to rest, yet her body just kept running, and running, and running, following the canal towpath toward the south. Toward Luthadel.

  Vin was prepared for the effects of pewter dragging this time, and so she handled them far better. She fought off the trance, keeping her mind focused on her goal, not the repetitive motions other body. However, that focus led her to discomforting thoughts.

  Why am I doing this? she wondered. Why push myself so hard? Spook said it-Luthadel has to have already fallen. There is no need for urgency.

  And yet, she ran.

  She saw images of death in her mind. Ham, Breeze, Dockson, Clubs, and dear, dear Sazed. The first real friends she had ever known. She loved Elend, and part of her blessed the others for sending him away from danger. However, the other piece of her was furious at them for sending her away. That fury guided her.

  They let me abandon them. They forced me to abandon them!

  Kelsier had spent months teaching her how to trust. His last words to her in life had been ones of accusation, and they were words she had never been able to escape. You still have a lot to learn about friendship. Vin.

  He had gone on to risk his life to get Spook and OreSeur out of danger, fighting off-and eventually killing-a Steel Inquisitor. He had done this despite Vin's protests that the risk was pointless.

  She had been wrong.

  How dare they! she thought, feeling the tears on her cheeks as she dashed down the canal's highwaylike tow-path. Pewter gave her inhuman balance, and the speed- which would have been perilous for anyone else-felt natural to her. She didn't trip, she didn't stumble, but an outside observer would think her pace reckless.

  Trees whipped by. She leapt washouts and dips in the land. She ran as she had done only once before, and pushed herself even harder than she had on that day. Before, she had been running simply to keep up with Kelsier. Now she ran for those she loved.

  How dare they! she thought again. How dare they not give me the same chance that Kelsier had! How dare they refuse my protection, refuse to let me help them!

  How dare they die....

  Her pewter was running low, and she was only a few hours into her run. True, she had probably covered an entire day's worth of walking in those few hours. Yet, somehow, she knew it wouldn't be enough. They were already dead. She was going to be too late, just as when she'd run years before. Too late to save their army. Too late to save her friends.

  Vin continued to run. And she continued to cry.

  "How did we get here, Clubs?" Breeze asked quietly, still on the floor of the courtyard, before the booming gate. He sat on his horse, amid a muddy mixture of falling snow and ash. The simple, quiet flutterings of white and black seemed to belie the screaming men, the breaking gate, and the falling rocks.

  Clubs looked over at him, frowning. Breeze continued stare up, at the ash and snow. Black and white. Lazy.

  "We aren't men of principle," Breeze said quietly. "We're thieves. Cynics. You, a man tired of doing the Lord Ruler's bidding, a man determined to see himself get ahead for once. Me, a man of wavering morals who loves to toy with others, to make their emotions my game. How did we end up here? Standing at the head of an army, fighting an idealist's cause? Men like us shouldn't be leaders."

  Clubs watched the men in the courtyard. "Guess we're just idiots," he finally said.

  Breeze paused, then noticed that glimmer in Clubs's eyes. That spark of humor, the spark that was hard to recognize unless one knew Clubs very well. It was that spark that told the truth-that showed Clubs to be a man of rare understanding.

  Breeze smiled. "I guess we are. Like we said before. It's Kelsier's fault. He turned us into idiots who would stand at the front of a doomed army."

  'That bastard," Clubs said.

  "Indeed," Breeze said.

  Ash and snow continued to fall. Men yelled in alarm. And the gates burst open.

  "The eastern gate has been breached, Master Terrisman!" Dockson's messenger said, puffing slighdy as he crouched beside Sazed. They both sat beneath the wall-top battlements, listening to the koloss pound on their own gate. The one that had fallen would be Zinc Gate, the one on the easternmost side of Luthadel.

  "Zinc Gate is the most well defended," Sazed said quietly. 'They will be able to hold it, I think."

  The messenger nodded. Ash blew along the wall top, piling in the cracks and alcoves in the stone, the black flakes adulterated by the occasional bit of bone-white snow.

  "Is there anything you wish me to report to Lord Dock-son?" the messenger asked.

  Sazed paused, glancing along his wall's defenses. He'd climbed down from the watchtower, joining the regular ranks of men. The soldiers had run ou
t of stones, though the archers were still working. He peeked over the side of the wall and saw the koloss corpses piling up. However, he also saw the splintered front of the gate. It's amazing they can maintain such rage for so long, he thought, ducking back. The creatures continued to howl and scream, like feral dogs.

  He sat back against the wet stone, shivering in the chill wind, his toes growing numb. He tapped his brassmind, drawing out the heat he'd stored therein, and his body suddenly flooded with a pleasant sensation of warmth.

  "Tell Lord Dockson that I fear for this gate's defenses,"

  Sazed said quietly. "The best men were stolen away to help with the eastern gates, and I have little confidence in our leader. If Lord Dockson could send someone else to be in charge, that would be for the best, I think."

  The messenger paused.

  "What?" Sazed asked.

  "Isn't that why he sent you. Master Terrisman?"

  Sazed frowned. "Please tell him I have even less confidence in my own ability to lead ... or to fight... than I do in that of our commander."

  The messenger nodded and took off, scrambling down the steps toward his horse. Sazed cringed as a rock hit the wall just above him. Chips flipped over the merlon, scattering to the battlement in front of him. By the Forgotten Gods... Sazed thought, wringing his hands. What am I doing here?

  He saw motion on the wall beside him, and turned as the youthful soldier captain-Captain Bedes-moved up to him, careful to keep his head down. Tall, with thick hair that grew down around his eyes, he was spindly even beneath his armor. The young man looked like he should have been dancing at balls, not leading soldiers in battle.

  "What did the messenger say?" Bedes asked nervously.

  "Zinc Gate has fallen, my lord," Sazed replied.

  The young captain paled. "What... what should we do?"

  "Why ask me, my lord?" Sazed asked. "You are in command."

  "Please." the man said, grabbing Sazed's arm. "I don't... I..."

  "My lord," Sazed said sternly, forcing down his own nervousness. "You are a nobleman, are you not?"

  "Yes..."

  "Then you are accustomed to giving orders," Sazed said. "Give them now." "Which orders?"

  "It doesn't matter," Sazed said. "Let the men see that you are in charge." The young man wavered, then yelped and ducked as a rock took one of the nearby archers in the shoulder, throwing him back into the courtyard. The men below scrambled out of the way of the corpse, and Sazed noticed something odd. A group of people had gathered at the back of the courtyard. Civilians-skaa-in ash-stained clothing.

  "What are they doing here?" Sazed asked. 'They should be hiding, not standing here to tempt the koloss once the creatures break through!"

  "Once they break through?" Captain Bedes asked.

  Sazed ignored the man. Civilians he could deal with. He was accustomed to being in charge of a nobleman's servants.

  "I will go speak to them," Sazed said.

  "Yes ..." Bedes said. "That sounds like a good idea."

  Sazed made his way down the steps, which were growing slick and wet with ashen slush, then approached the group of people. There were even more of them than he had assumed; they extended back into the street a short distance. The hundred or so people stood huddled together, watching the gates through the falling snow, looking cold, and Sazed felt a little guilty for his brassmind's warmth.

  Several of the people bowed their heads as Sazed approached.

  "Why are you here?" Sazed asked. "Please, you must seek shelter. If your homes are near the courtyard, then go hide near the middle of the city. The koloss are likely to begin pillaging as soon as they finish with the army, so the edges of the city are more dangerous."

  None of the people moved.

  "Please!" Sazed said. "You must go. If you stay, you will die!"

  "We are not here to die. Holy First Witness," said an elderly man at the front. "We are here to watch the koloss fall."

  "Fall?" Sazed asked.

  "The Lady Heir will protect us," said another woman. "The Lady Heir has left the city!" Sazed said. "Then we will watch you. Holy First Witness," the man said, leaning with one hand on a young boy's shoulder.

  "Holy First Witness?" Sazed said. "Why call me this name?"

  "You are the one who brought news of the Lord Ruler's death," the man said. "You gave the Lady Heir the spear she used to slay our lord. You were the witness to her actions."

  Sazed shook his head. 'That may be true, but I am not worthy of reverence. I'm not a holy man, I'm just a .. ."

  "A witness," the old man said. "If the Heir is to join this fight, she will appear near you."

  "I... am sorry ..." Sazed said, flushing. I sent her away. I sent your god to safety.

  The people watched him, their eyes reverent. It was wrong; they should not worship him. He was simply an observer.

  Except, he wasn't. He had made himself part of this all. It was as Tindwyl had indirectly warned him. Now that Sazed had participated in events, he had become an object of worship himself.

  "You should not look at me like that," Sazed said.

  "The Lady Heir says the same thing," the old man said, smiling, breath puffing in the cold air.

  "That is different," Sazed said. "She is ..." He cut off, turning as he heard cries from behind. The archers on the wall were waving in alarm, and young Captain Bedes was rushing over to them. What is-

  A bestial blue creature suddenly pulled itself up onto the wall, its skin streaked and dripping with scarlet blood. It shoved aside a surprised archer, then grabbed Captain Bedes by the neck and tossed him backward. The boy disappeared, falling to the koloss below. Sazed heard the screams even from a distance. A second koloss pulled itself up onto the wall, then a third. Archers stumbled away in shock, dropping their weapons, some shoving others off the ramparts in their haste.

  The koloss are^ jumping up, Sazed realized. Enough corpses must have piled below. And yet, to jump so high ...

  More and more creatures were pulling themselves onto the top of the wall. They were the largest of the monsters, the ones over ten feet in height, but that only made it easier for them to sweep the archers out of their way. Men fell to the courtyard, and the pounding on the gates redoubled.

  "Go!" Sazed said, waving at the people behind him. Some of them backed away. Many stood firm.

  Sazed turned desperately back toward the gates. The wooden structures began to crack, splinters spraying through the snowy, ash-laden air. The soldiers backed away, postures frightened. Finally, with a snap, the bar broke and the right gate burst open. A howling, bleeding, wild mass of koloss began to scramble across the wet stones.

  Soldiers dropped their weapons and fled. Others remained, frozen with terror. Sazed stood at their back, between the horrified soldiers and the mass of skaa.

  I am not a warrior, he thought, hands shaking as he stared at the monsters. It had been difficult enough to stay calm inside their camp. Watching them scream-their massive swords out, their skin ripped and bloodied as they fell upon the human soldiers-Sazed felt his courage begin to fail.

  But if I don’t do something, nobody will.

  He tapped pewter.

  His muscles grew. He drew deeply upon his steelmind as he dashed forward, taking more strength than he ever had before. He had spent years storing up strength, rarely finding occasion to use it, and now he tapped that reserve.

  His body changed, weak scholar's arms transforming into massive, bulky limbs. His chest widened, bulging, and his muscles grew taut with power. Days spent fragile and frail focused on this single moment. He shoved his way through the ranks of soldiers, pulling his robe over his head as it grew too restrictive, leaving himself wearing only a vestigial loincloth.

  The lead koloss turned to find himself facing a creature nearly his own size. Despite its rage, despite its inhuman-ness, the beast froze, surprise showing in its beady red eyes.

  Sazed punched the monster. He hadn't practiced for war, and knew next to nothing a
bout combat. Yet, at that moment, his lack of skill didn't matter. The creature's face folded around his fist, its skull cracking.

  Sazed turned on thick legs, looking back at the startled soldiers. Say something brave! he told himself.

  "Fight!" Sazed bellowed, surprised at the sudden deepness and strength of his voice.

  And, startlingly, they did.

  Vin fell to her knees, exhausted on the muddy, ash-soaked highway. Her fingers and knees hit the slushy cold, but she didn't care. She simply knelt, wheezing. She couldn't run any farther. Her pewter was gone. Her lungs burned and her legs ached. She wanted to colhpse and curl up. coughing.

  It's just the pewter drag, she thought forcibly. She'd pushed her body hard, but hadn't had to pay for it until now.

  She coughed a moment longer, groaning, then reached a dripping hand into her pocket and pulled out her last two vials. They had a mixture of all eight base metals, plus duralumin. Their pewter would keep her going for a little bit longer....

  But not long enough. She was still hours away from Luthadel. Even with pewter, she wouldn't arrive until long after dark. She sighed, replacing her vials, forcing herself to her feet.

  What would I do if I arrived? Vin thought. Why work so hard? Am I that eager to fight again? To slaughter?

  She knew that she wouldn't arrive in time for the battle. In fact, the koloss had probably attacked days ago. Still, this worried her. Her attack on Cett's keep still flashed horrific images in her head. Things she had done. Death she had caused.

  And yet, something felt different to her now. She had accepted her place as a knife. But what was a knife, but another tool? It could be used for evil or for good; it could kill, or it could protect.

  That point was moot, considering how weak she felt. It was hard to keep her legs from trembling as she flared tin. clearing her head. She stood on the imperial highway, a sodden, pockmarked roadway that looked-in the softly falling snow-to twist onward for eternity. It ran directly beside the imperial canal, which was a snakelike cut in the land, wide but empty, extending beside the highway.