"This thing?" Cett asked. "The mists?"
"No," Elend said. "The thing that was trapped in the Well of Ascension."
It is called Ruin, Vin thought suddenly. It will destroy everything.
"This is why I've decided we need to secure that last cache," Elend said. "The Lord Ruler lived through this once-he knew how to prepare. Perhaps we'll find plants that can grow without sunlight. Each of the caches so far has had repeats-food stores, water-but each one has held something new as well. In Vetitan, we found large stores of the first eight Allomantic metals. The thing in that last cache might be just what we need in order to survive."
"That's it, then!" Cett said, smiling broadly through his beard. "We are marching on Fadrex, aren't we?"
Elend nodded curtly. "Yes. The main force of the army will march for the Western Dominance once we break camp here."
"Ha!" Cett said. "Penrod and Janarle can suck on that for a few days."
Vin smiled faintly. Penrod and Janarle were the two other most important kings under Elend's imperial rule. Penrod governed Luthadel, which was why he wasn't with them currently, and Janarle ruled the Northern Dominance-the kingdom that included House Venture's hereditary lands.
The largest city in the north, however, had been seized in a revolt while Janarle-with Elend's father, Straff Venture-had been away laying siege to Luthadel. So far, Elend hadn't been able to spare the troops necessary to take Urteau back from its dissidents, so Janarle ruled in exile, his smaller force of troops used to maintain order in the cities he did control.
Both Janarle and Penrod had made a point of finding reasons to keep the main army from marching on Cett's homeland.
"Those bastards won't be at all happy when they hear about this," Cett said.
Elend shook his head. "Does everything you say have to contain one vulgarity or another?"
Cett shrugged. "What's the point of speaking if you can't say something interesting?"
"Swearing isn't interesting," Elend said.
"That's your own damned opinion," Cett said, smiling. "And, you really shouldn't be complaining, Emperor. If you think the things I say are vulgar, you've been living in Luthadel far too long. Where I come from, people are embarrassed to use pretty words like 'damn.' "
Elend sighed. "Anyway, I-"
He was cut off as the ground began to shake. Vin was on her feet in seconds, looking for danger as the others cursed and reached for stability. She threw back the tent flap, peering through the mists. Yet, the shaking subsided quickly, and it caused very little chaos in the camp, all things considered. Patrols moved about, checking for problems-officers and Allomancers under Elend's command. Most of the soldiers, however, just remained in their tents.
Vin turned back toward the tent's room. A few of the chairs had fallen over, travel furniture disturbed by the earthquake. The others slowly returned to their seats. "Sure have been a lot of those lately," Ham said. Vin met Elend's eyes, and could see concern in them.
We can fight armies, we can capture cities, but what of ash, mists, and earthquakes? What about the world falling apart around us?
"Anyway," Elend said, voice firm despite the concerns Vin knew he must feel, "Fadrex has to be our next goal. We can't risk missing the cache, and the things it might contain."
Like the atium, Reen whispered in Vin's head as she sat back down. "Atium," she said out loud.
Cett perked up. "You think it'll be there?"
"There are theories," Elend said, eyeing Vin. "But we have no proof."
"It will be there," she said. It has to be. I don't know why, but we have to have it.
"I hope it isn't," Cett said. "I marched halfway across the blasted empire to try and steal that atium-if it turns out I left it beneath my own city. ."
"I think we're missing something important, El," Ham said. "Are you talking about conquering Fadrex City?"
The room fell still. Up until this point, Elend's armies had been used defensively, attacking koloss garrisons or the camps of small warlords and bandits. They had bullied a few cities into joining with him, but they had never actually assaulted a city and taken it by force.
Elend turned, looking back toward the map. Even from the side, Vin could see his eyes-the eyes of a man hardened by two years of near-perpetual war.
"Our primary goal will be to take the city by diplomacy," Elend said.
"Diplomacy?" Cett said. "Fadrex is mine. That damn obligator stole it from me! There's no need to worry your conscience about attacking him, Elend."
"No need?" Elend asked, turning. "Cett, those are your people-your soldiers-we'd have to kill to get into that city."
"People die in war," Cett said. "Feeling bad about it doesn't remove the blood from your hands, so why bother? Those soldiers turned against me; they deserve what they'll get."
"It's not that simple," Ham said. "If there was no way for the soldiers to fight this usurper, then why expect them to give up their lives?"
"Especially for a man who was, himself, a usurper," Elend said.
"Either way," Ham said, "reports describe that city as being very well defended. It will be a tough stone to break, El."
Elend stood quietly for a moment, then eyed Cett, who still looked inordinately pleased with himself. The two seemed to share something-an understanding. Elend was a master of theory, and had probably read as much on war as anyone. Cett seemed to have a sixth sense for warfare and tactics, and had replaced Clubs as the empire's prime military strategist.
"Siege," Cett said.
Elend nodded. "If King Yomen won't respond to diplomacy, then the only way we'll get in that city-short of killing half our men breaking in-is by besieging it and making him desperate."
"Do we have time for that?" Ham asked, frowning.
"Besides Urteau," Elend said, "Fadrex City and the surrounding areas are the only major sections of the Inner Dominances that maintain a strong enough force to be threatening. That, plus the cache, means we can't afford to simply leave them alone."
"Time is on our side, in a way," Cett said, scratching his beard. "You don't just attack a city like Fadrex, Ham. It has fortifications, one of the few cities besides Luthadel that could repel an army. But, since it's outside of the Central Dominance, it's probably already hurting for food."
Elend nodded. "While we have all of the supplies we found in the storage caches. If we block off the highway, then hold the canal, they'll have to surrender the city eventually. Even if they've found the cache-which I doubt-we will be able to outlast them."
Ham frowned. "I guess. . "
"Besides," Elend added, "if things get tough, we do have about twenty thousand koloss we can draw upon."
Ham raised an eyebrow, though said nothing. The implication was clear. You'd turn koloss against other people?
"There is another element to this," Sazed said softly. "Something we have, as of yet, not discussed." Several people turned, as if they'd forgotten he was there.
"The mists," Sazed said. "Fadrex City lies well beyond the mist perimeter, Emperor Venture. Will you subject your army to fifteen percent casualties before you even arrive at the city?"
Elend fell quiet. So far, he'd managed to keep most of his soldiers out of the mists. It seemed wrong to Vin that their army had been protected from the sickness, while the villagers had been forced to go out in the mists. And yet, where they camped, there was still a significant amount of mistless daylight, and they also had enough tents to hold all of the soldiers, something they'd lacked when moving the villagers.
Mists rarely went into buildings, even cloth ones. There had been no reason to risk killing some of the soldiers, since they'd been able to avoid it. It seemed hypocritical to Vin, but so far, it still made sense.
Elend met Sazed's eyes. "You make a good point," he said. "We can't protect the soldiers from this forever. I forced the villagers of Vetitan to immunize themselves; I suspect that I will have to make the army do the same, for the same reasons."
Vin sat bac
k quietly. She often wished for the days when she'd had nothing to do with such decisions-or, better yet, when Elend hadn't been forced to make them.
"We march for Fadrex," Elend said again, turning from the group. He pointed at the map. "If we're going to pull through this-and by 'we,' I mean all the people of the New Empire-we're going to need to band together and concentrate our populations near the Central Dominance. It will be the only place that can grow food this summer, and we'll need every bit of manpower we can muster to clear ash and prepare the fields. That means bringing the people of Fadrex under our protection.
"That also means," he said, pointing toward the northeastern section of the map, "that we'll need to suppress the rebellion in Urteau. Not only does the city there contain a storage cache-with grain we desperately need for a second planting down in the Central Dominance-but the city's new rulers are gathering strength and an army. Urteau is well within staging distance of Luthadel, as we discovered back when my father marched on us. I will not have a repeat of that event."
"We don't have enough troops to march on both fronts at once, El," Ham said.
Elend nodded. "I know. In fact, I'd rather avoid marching on Urteau. That was my father's seat-the people there had good reason to rebel against him. Demoux, report?"
Demoux stood. "We had a steel-inscribed message from Spook while Your Majesty was away," he said. "The lad says that the faction controlling Urteau is made up of skaa rebels."
"That sounds promising," Breeze noted. "Our kind of people."
"They're. . quite harsh with noblemen, Lord Breeze," Demoux said. "And they include anyone with noble parents in that group."
"A little extreme, I'd think," Ham said.
"A lot of people thought Kelsier was extreme too," Breeze said. "I'm certain we can talk reason into these rebels."
"Good," Elend said, "because I'm counting on you and Sazed to bring Urteau under our control without the use of force. There are only five of these caches, and we can't afford to lose one. Who knows what we'll eventually discover in Fadrex-it might require us to return to the other caches to find something we missed." He turned, looking at Breeze, then Sazed.
"We can't just sneak the food out of Urteau," he said. "If the rebellion in that city spreads, it could cause the entire empire to fracture back into splinters. We have to bring the men there to our side."
The members of the room nodded, as did Vin. They knew from personal experience how much power a small rebellion could exert on an empire.
"The Fadrex siege could take some time," Elend said. "Long before summer arrives, I want you to have secured that northern cache and subdued the rebellion. Send the seed stock down to the Central Dominance for planting."
"Don't worry," Breeze said. "I've seen the kinds of governments skaa set up-by the time we get there, the city will probably be on the edge of collapse anyway. Why, they'll likely be relieved to get an offer to join the New Empire!"
"Be wary," Elend said. "Spook's reports have been sparse, but it sounds as if tensions in the city are extreme. We'll send a few hundred soldiers with you as protection." He looked back at the map, eyes narrowing slightly. "Five caches, five cities. Urteau is part of this all, somehow. We can't afford to let it slip away."
"Your Majesty," Sazed said. "Is my presence required on that trip?"
Elend frowned, glancing back at Sazed. "You have something else you need to be doing, Sazed?"
"I have research I would do," the Keeper said.
"I respect your wishes, as always," Elend said. "If you think this research is important. ."
"It's of a personal nature, Your Majesty," Sazed said.
"Could you do it while helping in Urteau?" Elend asked. "You're a Terrisman, which lends you a credibility none of us can claim. Beyond that, people respect and trust you, Sazed-with good reason. Breeze, on the other hand, has something of a. . reputation."
"I worked hard for it, you know," Breeze said.
"I'd really like to have you lead that team, Sazed," Elend said. "I can't think of a better ambassador than the Holy Witness himself."
Sazed's expression was unreadable. "Very well," he finally said. "I shall do my best."
"Good," Elend said, turning to regard the rest of the group. "Then there's one last thing I need to ask of you all."
"And what is that?" Cett asked.
Elend stood for a few moments, looking over their heads, appearing thoughtful. "I want you to tell me about the Survivor," he finally said.
"He was lord of the mists," Demoux said immediately.
"Not the rhetoric," Elend said. "Someone tell me about the man, Kelsier. I never met him, you know. I saw him once, right before he died, but I never knew him."
"What's the point?" Cett asked. "We've all heard the stories. He's practically a god, if you listen to the skaa."
"Just do as I ask," Elend said.
The tent was still for a few moments. Finally, Ham spoke. "Kell was. . grand. He wasn't just a man, he was bigger than that. Everything he did was large-his dreams, the way he spoke, the way he thought. . "
"And it wasn't false," Breeze added. "I can tell when a man is being a fake. That's why I started my first job with Kelsier, actually. Amidst all the pretenders and posturers, he was genuine. Everyone wanted to be the best. Kelsier really was."
"He was a man," Vin said quietly. "Just a man. Yet, you always knew he'd succeed. He made you be what he wanted you to be."
"So he could use you," Breeze said.
"But you were better when he was done with you," Ham added.
Elend nodded slowly. "I wish I could have known him. Early in my career, I always compared myself to him. By the time I heard of Kelsier, he was already becoming a legend. It was unfair to force myself to try and be him, but I worried regardless. Anyway, those of you who knew him, maybe you can answer another question for me. What do you think he'd say, if he saw us now?"
"He'd be proud," Ham said immediately. "I mean, we defeated the Lord Ruler, and we built a skaa government."
"What if he saw us at this conference?" Elend said.
The tent fell still again. When someone spoke what they were all thinking, it came from a source Vin hadn't expected.
"He'd tell us to laugh more," Sazed whispered.
Breeze chuckled. "He was completely insane, you know. The worse things got, the more he'd joke. I remember how chipper he was the very day after one of our worst defeats, when we lost most of our skaa army to that fool Yeden. Kell walked in, a spring in his step, making one of his inane jokes."
"Sounds insensitive," Allrianne said.
Ham shook his head. "No. He was just determined. He always said that laughter was something the Lord Ruler couldn't take from him. He planned and executed the overthrow of a thousand-year empire-and he did it as a kind of. . penance for letting his wife die thinking that he hated her. But, he did it all with a smirk on his lips. Like every joke was his way of slapping fate in the face."
"We need what he had," Elend said.
The room's eyes turned back toward him.
"We can't keep doing this," Elend said. "We bicker amongst ourselves, we mope about, watching the ash fall, convinced that we're doomed."
Breeze chuckled. "I don't know if you noticed the earthquake a few minutes ago, my dear man, but the world appears to be ending. That is an indisputably depressing event."
Elend shook his head. "We can survive this. But, the only way that will happen is if our people don't give up. They need leaders who laugh, leaders who feel that this fight can be won. So, this is what I ask of you. I don't care if you're an optimist or a pessimist-I don't care if secretly, you think we'll all be dead before the month ends. On the outside, I want to see you smiling. Do it in defiance, if you have to. If the end does come, I want this group to meet that end smiling. As the Survivor taught us."
Slowly, the members of the former crew nodded-even Sazed, though his face seemed troubled.
Cett just shook his head. "You people are all ins
ane. How I ended up with you, I'll never know."
Breeze laughed. "Now, that's a lie, Cett. You know exactly how you ended up joining with us. We threatened to kill you if you didn't!"
Elend was looking at Vin. She met his eyes, and nodded. It had been a good speech. She wasn't certain if his words would change anything-the crew could never again be the way it had been at the beginning, laughing freely around Clubs's table in the evening hours. However, maybe if they kept Kelsier's smile in mind, they'd be less likely to forget just why it was they kept struggling on.
"All right, people," Elend finally said. "Let's start preparations. Breeze, Sazed, Allrianne-I'll need you to talk with the scribes about supply estimates for your trip. Ham, send word to Luthadel and tell Penrod to have our scholars work on culturing plants that can grow in very little sunlight. Demoux, pass the word to the men. We march tomorrow."
Hemalurgy, it is called, because of the connection to blood. It is not a coincidence, I believe, that death is always involved in the transfer of powers via Hemalurgy. Marsh once described it as a "messy" process. Not the adjective I would have chosen. It's not disturbing enough.
13
I'm missing something, Marsh thought.
He sat in the koloss camp. Just sitting. He hadn't moved in hours. Ash dusted him like a statue. Ruin's attention had been focused elsewhere lately, and Marsh had been left with more and more time to himself.
He still didn't struggle. Struggle just brought Ruin's attention.
Isn't that what I want? he thought. To be controlled? When Ruin forced him to see things its way, the dying world seemed wonderful. That bliss was far superior to the dread he felt while sitting on the stump, slowly being buried in ash.
No. No, that's not what I want! It was bliss, true, but it was false. As he had once struggled against Ruin, he now struggled against his own sense of inevitability.
What am I missing? he thought again, distracting himself. The koloss army-three hundred thousand strong-hadn't moved in weeks. Its members were slowly, yet relentlessly, killing each other. It seemed a waste of resources to let the army stagnate, even if the creatures could apparently eat even the dead plants beneath the ash to survive.
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