But I won’t die today, he thought, finally smelling sweet, fresh air. It was night above. He didn’t care. The mists didn’t bother him anymore – even beatings didn’t bother him much anymore. He was just too tired to care.
Walin began to climb out of the crack – one of dozens in the small, flat valley known as the Pits of Hathsin. Then he froze.
A man stood above him in the night. He was dressed in a large cloak that appeared to have been shredded to strips. The man looked at Walin, quiet and powerful in his black clothing. Then he reached down.
Walin cringed. The man, however, grabbed Walin’s hand and pulled him out of the crack.
“Go!” the man said quietly in the swirling mists. “Most of the guards are dead. Gather as many prisoners as you can, and escape this place. You have a geode?”
Walin cringed again, pulling his hand toward his chest.
“Good,” the stranger said. “Break it open. You’ll find a nugget of metal inside – it is very valuable. Sell it to the underground in whatever city you eventually find yourself; you should earn enough to live on for years. Go quickly! I don’t know how long you have until an alarm is raised.”
Walin stumbled back, confused. “Who… who are you?”
“I am what you will soon be,” the stranger said, stepping up to the rift. The ribbons of his enveloping black cloak billowed around him, mixing with the mists as he turned toward Walin. “I am a survivor.”
Kelsier looked down, studying the dark scar in the rock, listening as the prisoner scrambled away in the distance.
“And so I return,” Kelsier whispered. His scars burned, and memories returned. Memories of months spent squeezing through cracks, of ripping his arms on crystalline knives, of seeking each day to find a geode… just one, so that he could live on.
Could he really go back down into those cramped, quiet depths? Could he enter the darkness again? Kelsier held up his arms, looking at the scars, still white and stark on his arms.
Yes. For her dreams, he could.
He stepped over to the rift and forced himself to climb down inside of it. Then he burned tin. Immediately, he heard a cracking sound from below.
Tin illuminated the rift beneath him. Though the crack widened, it also branched, sending out twisting rifts in all directions. Part cavern, part crack, part tunnel. He could already see his first crystalline atium-hole – or what was left of it. The long, silvery crystals were fractured and broken.
Using Allomancy near atium crystals caused them to shatter. That was why the Lord Ruler had to use slaves, and not Allomancers, to collect his atium for him.
Now the real test, Kelsier thought, squeezing down further into the crack. He burned iron, and immediately he saw several blue lines pointing downward, toward atium-holes. Though the holes themselves probably didn’t have an atium geode in them, the crystals themselves gave off faint blue lines. They contained residual amounts of atium.
Kelsier focused on one of the blue lines and Pulled lightly. His tin enhanced ears heard something shatter in the crack beneath him.
Kelsier smiled.
Nearly three years before, standing over the bloody corpses of the taskmasters who had beaten Mare to death, he had first noticed that he could use iron to sense where crystal pockets were. He’d barely understood his Allomantic powers at the time, but even then, a plan had begun to form in his mind. A plan for vengeance.
That plan had evolved, growing to encompass so much more than he’d originally intended. However, one of its key parts had remained sequestered away in a corner of his mind. He could find the crystal pockets. He could shatter them, using Allomancy.
And they were the only means of producing atium in the entire Final Empire.
You tried to destroy me, Pits of Hathsin, he thought, climbing down further into the rift. It’s time to return the favor.
33
We are close now. Oddly, this high in the mountains, we seem to finally be free from the oppressive touch of the Deepness. It has been quite a while since I knew what that was like.
The lake that Fedik discovered is below us now – I can see it from the ledge. It looks even more eerie from up here, with its glassy – almost metallic – sheen. I almost wish I had let him take a sample of its waters.
Perhaps his interest was what angered the mist creature that follows us. Perhaps… that was why it decided to attack him, stabbing him with its invisible knife.
Strangely, the attack comforted me. At least I know that since another has seen it. That means I’m not mad.
“SO… THAT’S IT?” VIN ASKED. “For the plan, I mean.”
Ham shrugged. “If the Inquisitors broke Marsh, that means they know everything. Or, at least, they know enough. They’ll know that we plan to strike the palace, and that we’re going to use the house war as a cover. We’ll never get the Lord Ruler out of the city now, and we’ll certainly never get him to send the palace guard into the city. It doesn’t look good, Vin.”
Vin sat quietly, digesting the information. Ham sat cross-legged on the dirty floor, leaning against the bricks of the far wall. The backup lair was a dank cellar with only three rooms, and the air smelled of dirt and ash. Clubs’s apprentices took up one room to themselves, though Dockson had sent away all of the other servants before coming to the safe house.
Breeze stood by the far wall. He occasionally shot uncomfortable looks at the dirty floor and dusty stools, but then decided to remain standing. Vin didn’t see why he bothered – it was going to be impossible to keep his suits clean while living in what was, essentially, a pit in the ground.
Breeze wasn’t the only one taking their self-imposed captivity resentfully; Vin had heard several of the apprentices grumble that they’d almost rather have been taken by the Ministry. Yet, during their two days in the cellar, everyone had stayed in the safe house except when absolutely necessary. They understood the danger: Marsh could have given the Inquisitors descriptions and aliases for each crewmember.
Breeze shook his head. “Perhaps, gentlemen, it is time to pack up this operation. We tried hard, and considering the fact that our original plan – gathering the army – ended up so dreadfully, I’d say that we’ve done quite a marvelous job.”
Dockson sighed. “Well, we certainly can’t live off of saved funds for much longer – especially if Kell keeps giving our money away to the skaa.” He sat beside the table that was the room’s only piece of furniture, his most important ledgers, notes, and contracts organized into neat piles before him. He had been remarkably efficient at gathering every bit of paper that could have incriminated the crew or given further information about their plan.
Breeze nodded. “I, for one, am looking forward to a change. This has all been fun, delightful, and all of those other fulfilling emotions, but working with Kelsier can be a bit draining.”
Vin frowned. “You’re not going to stay on his crew?”
“It depends on his next job,” Breeze said. “We aren’t like other crews you’ve known – we work as we please, not because we are told to. It pays for us to be very discerning in the jobs we take. The rewards are great, but so are the risks.”
Ham smiled, resting with his arms behind his head, completely unconcerned about the dirt. “It kind of makes you wonder how we ended up on this particular job, eh? Very high risk, very little reward.”
“None, actually,” Breeze noted. “We’ll never get that atium now. Kelsier’s words about altruism and working to help the skaa were all well and good, but I was always hoping that we’d still get to take a swipe at that treasury.”
“True,” Dockson said, looking up from his notes. “But, was it worth it anyway? The work we did – the things we accomplished?”
Breeze and Ham paused, then they both nodded.
“And that’s why we stayed,” Dockson said. “Kell said it himself – he picked us because he knew we would try something a little different to accomplish a worthwhile goal. You’re good men – even you, Breeze. Stop scowling a
t me.”
Vin smiled at the familiar banter. There was a sense of mourning regarding Marsh, but these were men who knew how to move on despite their losses. In that way, they really were like skaa, after all.
“A house war,” Ham said idly, smiling to himself. “How many noblemen dead, do you think?”
“Hundreds, at least,” Dockson said without looking up. “All killed by their own greedy noble hands.”
“I’ll admit that I had my doubts about this entire fiasco,” Breeze said. “But the interruption in trade this will cause, not to mention the disorder in the government… well, you’re right, Dockson. It was worth it.”
“Indeed!” Ham said, mimicking Breeze’s stuffy voice.
I’m going to miss them, Vin thought regretfully. Maybe Kelsier will take me with him on his next job.
The stairs rattled, and Vin moved reflexively back into the shadows. The splintery door opened, and a familiar, black-clothed form strode in. He carried his mistcloak over his arm, and his face looked incredibly wearied.
“Kelsier!” Vin said, stepping forward.
“Hello, all,” he said in a tired voice.
I know that tiredness, Vin thought. Pewter drag. Where has he been?
“You’re late, Kell,” Dockson said, still not looking up from his ledgers.
“I strive for nothing if not consistency,” Kelsier said, dropping his mistcloak on the floor, stretching, then sitting down. “Where are Clubs and Spook?”
“Clubs is sleeping in the back room,” Dockson said. “Spook went with Renoux. We figured you’d want him to have our best Tineye to keep a watch.”
“Good idea,” Kelsier said, letting out a deep sigh and closing his eyes as he leaned against the wall.
“My dear man,” Breeze said, “you look terrible.”
“It’s not as bad as it looks – I took it easy coming back, even stopped to sleep for a few hours on the way.”
“Yes, but where were you?” Ham asked pointedly. “We’ve been worried sick that you were out doing something… well, stupid.”
“Actually,” Breeze noted, “we took it for granted that you were doing something stupid. We’ve just been wondering how stupid this particular event would turn out to be. So, what is it? Did you assassinate the lord prelan? Slaughter dozens of noblemen? Steal the cloak off the Lord Ruler’s own back?”
“I destroyed the Pits of Hathsin,” Kelsier said quietly.
The room fell into a stunned silence.
“You know,” Breeze finally said, “you’d think that by now we’d have learned not to underestimate him.”
“Destroyed them?” Ham asked. “How do you destroy the Pits of Hathsin? They’re just a bunch of cracks in the ground!”
“Well, I didn’t actually destroy the pits themselves,” Kelsier explained. “I just shattered the crystals that produce atium geodes.”
“All of them?” Dockson asked, dumbstruck.
“All of them that I could find,” Kelsier said. “And that was several hundred pockets’ worth. It was actually a lot easier to get around down there, now that I have Allomancy.”
“Crystals?” Vin asked, confused.
“Atium crystals, Vin,” Dockson said. “They produce the geodes – I don’t think anyone actually knows how – that have atium beads at the center.”
Kelsier nodded. “The crystals are why the Lord Ruler can’t just send down Allomancers to Pull out the atium geodes. Using Allomancy near the crystals makes them shatter – and it takes centuries for them to grow back.”
“Centuries during which they won’t produce atium,” Dockson added.
“And so you…” Vin trailed off.
“I pretty much ended atium production in the Final Empire for the next three hundred years or so.”
Elend. House Venture. They’re in charge of the Pits. How will the Lord Ruler react when he finds out about this?
“You madman,” Breeze said quietly, eyes open wide. “Atium is the foundation of the imperial economy – controlling it is one of the main ways that the Lord Ruler maintains his hold over the nobility. We may not get to his reserves, but this will eventually have the same effect. You blessed lunatic… you blessed genius!”
Kelsier smiled wryly. “I appreciate both compliments. Have the Inquisitors moved against Clubs’s shop yet?”
“Not that our watchmen have seen,” Dockson said.
“Good,” Kelsier said. “Maybe they didn’t get Marsh to break. At the very least, maybe they don’t realize that their Soothing stations were compromised. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to sleep. We have a lot of planning to do tomorrow.”
The group paused.
“Planning?” Dox finally asked. “Kell… we were kind of thinking that we should pull out. We caused a house war, and you just took out the imperial economy. With our cover – and our plan – compromised… Well, you can’t honestly expect us to do anything more, right?”
Kelsier smiled, staggering to his feet and moving into the back room. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“What do you think he’s planning, Sazed?” Vin asked, sitting on a stool beside the cellar’s hearth as the Terrisman prepared the afternoon meal. Kelsier had slept through the night, and had yet to rise this afternoon.
“I really have no idea, Mistress,” Sazed replied, sipping the stew. “Though, this moment – with the city so unbalanced – does seem like the perfect opportunity to move against the Final Empire.”
Vin sat thoughtfully. “I suppose we could still seize the palace – that’s what Kell always wanted to do. But, if the Lord Ruler has been warned, the others don’t see that happening. Plus, it doesn’t seem like we have enough soldiers to do much in the city. Ham and Breeze never finished their recruiting.”
Sazed shrugged.
“Maybe Kelsier plans to do something about the Lord Ruler,” Vin mused.
“Perhaps.”
“Sazed?” Vin said slowly. “You collect legends, right?”
“As a Keeper I collect many things,” Sazed said. “Stories, legends, religions. When I was young, another Keeper recited all of his knowledge to me so that I could store it, and then add to it.”
“Have you ever heard about this ‘Eleventh Metal’ legend that Kelsier talks about?”
Sazed paused. “No, Mistress. That legend was new to me when I heard of it from Master Kelsier.”
“But he swears that it’s true,” Vin said. “And I… believe him, for some reason.”
“It is very possible that there are legends I haven’t heard of,” Sazed said. “If the Keepers knew everything, then why would we need to keep searching?”
Vin nodded, still a bit uncertain.
Sazed continued to stir the soup. He seemed so… dignified, even while performing such a menial task. He stood in his steward’s robes, unconcerned with how simple a service he was performing, easily taking over for the servants the crew had dismissed.
Quick footsteps sounded on the stairs, and Vin perked up, sliding off her stool.
“Mistress?” Sazed asked.
“Someone on the stairs,” Vin said, moving to the doorway.
One of the apprentices – Vin thought his name was Tase – burst into the main room. Now that Lestibournes was gone, Tase had become the crew’s main lookout.
“People are gathering in the square,” Tase said, gesturing toward the stairs.
“What’s this?” Dockson said, entering from the other room.
“People in the fountain square, Master Dockson,” the boy said. “Word on the street is that the obligators are planning more executions.”
Retribution for the Pits, Vin thought. That didn’t take long.
Dockson’s expression darkened. “Go wake Kell.”
“I intend to watch them,” Kelsier said, walking through the room, dressed in simple skaa clothing and cloak.
Vin’s stomach twisted. Again?
“You all may do as you wish,” Kelsier said. He looked much better after his extended re
st – his exhaustion was gone, replaced with the characteristic strength Vin had come to expect from him.
“The executions are probably a reaction to what I did at the Pits,” Kelsier continued. “I’m going to watch those people’s deaths – because indirectly, I caused them.”
“It’s not your fault, Kell,” Dockson said.
“It’s all of our faults,” Kelsier said bluntly. “That doesn’t make what we do wrong – however, if it weren’t for us, these people wouldn’t have to die. I, for one, think that the least we can do for these people is bear witness to their passing.”
He pulled open the door, climbing the steps. Slowly, the rest of the crew followed him – though Clubs, Sazed, and the apprentices remained with the safe house.
Vin climbed the musty-aired steps, eventually joining the others on a grimy street in the middle of a skaa slum. Ash fell from the sky, floating in lazily flakes. Kelsier was already walking down the street, and the rest of them – Breeze, Ham, Dockson, and Vin – quickly moved to catch up with him.
The safe house wasn’t far from the fountain square. Kelsier, however, paused a few streets away from their destination. Dull-eyed skaa continued walking around them, jostling the crew. Bells rang in the distance.
“Kell?” Dockson asked.
Kelsier cocked his head. “Vin, you hear that?”
She closed her eyes, then flared her tin. Focus, she thought. Like Spook said. Cut through the shuffling feet and murmuring voices. Hear over the doors shutting and the people breathing. Listen…
“Horses,” she said, dampening her tin and opening her eyes. “And carriages.”
“Carts,” Kelsier said, turning toward the side of the street. “The prisoner carts. They’re coming this way.”
He looked up at the buildings around him, then grabbed hold of a raingutter and began to shimmy up a wall. Breeze rolled his eyes, nudging Dockson and nodding toward the front of the building, but Vin and Ham – with pewter – easily followed Kelsier up to the roof.
The Final Empire m-1 Page 60