The Hero of Ages m-3

by Brandon Sanderson

  Elend spun, turning from the relieved father and daughter to face down another koloss. It raised its weapon to strike, but Elend just screamed at it in anger.

  I should be able to protect them! he thought. He needed to take control of the entire group, not waste time fighting them one at a time. But, they resisted his Allomancy, even as he Pushed on their emotions again. Where was the Inquisitor guardian?

  As the koloss swung its weapon, Elend flared pewter and flung himself to the side, then sheared the creature's hand free at the wrist. As the beast screamed in pain, Elend threw himself back into the fight. The villagers began to rally around him. They obviously had no training for war-they were likely under Yomen's protection and didn't need to worry about bandits or roving armies. Yet, despite their lack of skill, they obviously knew to stay close to the Mistborn. Their desperate, pleading eyes prodded Elend on, drove him to cut down koloss after koloss.

  For the moment, he didn't have to worry about the right or wrong of the situation. He could simply fight. The desire for battle burned within him like metal-the desire, even, to kill. And so he fought on-fought for the surprise in the eyes of the townspeople, for the hope each of his blows seemed to inspire. They had given their lives up for lost, and then a man had dropped from the sky to defend them.

  Two years before, during the siege of Luthadel, Vin had attacked Cett's fortification and slaughtered three hundred of his soldiers. Elend had trusted that she had good reasons for the attack, but he'd never understood how she could do such a thing. At least, not until this night, fighting in an unnamed village, too much ash in the dark sky, the mists on fire, koloss dying in ranks before him.

  The Inquisitor didn't appear. Frustrated, Elend spun away from a group of koloss, leaving one dying in his wake, then extinguished his metals. The creatures surrounded him, and he burned duralumin, then burned zinc, and Pulled.

  The village fell silent.

  Elend paused, stumbling slightly as he finished his spin. He looked through the falling ash, turning toward the remaining koloss-thousands and thousands of them-who now suddenly stood motionless and patient around him, under his control at last.

  There's no way I took them all at once, he thought warily. What had happened to the Inquisitor? There was usually one with a mob of koloss this big. Had it fled? That would explain why suddenly Elend had been able to control the koloss.

  Worried, yet uncertain what else to do, he turned to scan the village. Some people had gathered to stare at him. They seemed to be in shock-instead of doing something about the burning buildings, they simply stood in the mists, watching him.

  He should have felt triumphant. And yet, his victory was spoiled by the Inquisitor's absence. In addition, the village was in flames-by this point, very few structures remained that weren't burning. Elend hadn't saved the village. He'd found his koloss army, as he'd planned, but he felt as if he'd failed in some greater way. He sighed, dropping his sword from tired, bloody fingers, then walked toward the villagers. As he moved, he was disturbed by the number of koloss bodies he passed. Had he really slain so many?

  Another part of him-quiescent now, but still aflame-was sorry that the time for killing had ended. He stopped before a silent group of villagers.

  "You're him, aren't you?" an elderly man asked.

  "Who?" Elend asked.

  "The Lord Ruler," the man whispered.

  Elend looked down at his black uniform, encased in a mistcloak, both of which were slick with blood.

  "Close enough," he said, turning to the east-toward where his human army camped many miles away, waiting for him to return with a new koloss force to aid them. There was only one reason for him to do that. Finally, he acknowledged what he'd decided, unconsciously, the moment he'd set out to find more of the creatures.

  The time for killing hasn't ended at all, he thought. It has just begun.

  Near the end, the ash began to pile up in frightening amounts. I've spoken of the special microbes that the Lord Ruler devised to help the world deal with the ashfalls. They did not "feed" on ash, really. Rather, they broke it down as an aspect of their metabolic functions. Volcanic ash itself is, actually, good for soil, depending on what one wishes to grow.

  Too much of anything, however, is deadly. Water is necessary for survival, yet too much will drown. During the history of the Final Empire, the land balanced on the very knife-edge of disaster via the ash. The microbes broke it down about as rapidly as it fell, but when there was so much of it that it oversaturated the soil, it became more difficult for plants to survive.

  In the end, the entire system fell apart. Ash fell so steadily that it smothered and killed, and the world's plant life died off. The microbes had no chance of keeping up, for they needed time and nutrients to reproduce.

  52

  During the days of the Lord Ruler, Luthadel had been the most crowded city in the world. Filled with three- and four-story tenements, it had been packed with the skaa who'd worked its numerous furnaces and forges, with the noble merchants who'd sold its goods, and with the high nobility who'd simply wanted to be near the imperial court. TenSoon had assumed that now, with the Lord Ruler dead and the imperial government shattered, Luthadel would become far less densely populated.

  He had, apparently, been wrong.

  Still wearing the wolfhound's body, he trotted along in amazement as he explored the streets. It seemed that every nook-every alleyway, every street corner, each and every tenement-had become home to a skaa family. The city smelled terrible, and refuse clogged the streets, buried in ash.

  What is going on? he wondered. The skaa lived in filth, many of them looking sick, coughing piteously in their ash-filled gutters. TenSoon made his way toward Keep Venture. If there were answers to be found, he hoped to locate them there. Occasionally, he had to growl menacingly at skaa who looked at him hungrily, and twice he had to run from gangs that ignored his growls.

  Surely Vin and Elend would not have let this city fall so far, he thought as he hid in an alley. It was a foreboding sign. He'd left Luthadel without knowing whether or not his friends would even survive the city's siege. Elend's banner-the spear and the scroll-flew at the front of the city, but could someone else have taken Elend's sign as their own? And what of the koloss army that had threatened to destroy Luthadel a year ago?

  I should never have left her, TenSoon thought, feeling a stab of anxiety. My foolish kandra sense of duty. I should have stayed here, and told her what I know, little though it is.

  The world could end because of my foolish honor.

  He poked his head out of the alleyway, looking at Keep Venture. TenSoon's heart sank to see that its beautiful stained-glass windows had been shattered. Crude boards blocked the broken holes. There were guards at the front gates, however, which seemed a better sign.

  TenSoon crept forward, trying to look like a mangy stray. He kept to the shadows, edging his way up to the gate. Then, he lay down in some refuse to watch the soldiers. He expanded his eardrums, craning to hear what the men were saying.

  It turned out to be nothing. The two guards stood quietly, looking bored and not a little disconsolate as they leaned against their obsidian-tipped spears. TenSoon waited, wishing that Vin were there to Pull on the emotions of the guards, making them more talkative.

  Of course, if Vin were here, I wouldn't have to be poking about for information, TenSoon thought with frustration. And so, he waited. Waited as the ash fell, waited even until the sky darkened and the mists came out. Their appearance finally sparked some life into the guards. "I hate night duty," one of them muttered.

  "Nothing wrong with night," the other one said. "Not for us. Mists didn't kill us. We're safe from them."

  What? TenSoon thought, frowning to himself.

  "Are we safe from the king?" the first guard said quietly.

  His companion shot him a glance. "Don't say such things."

  The first guard shrugged. "I just hope the emperor gets back soon."

  "King Penr
od has all of the emperor's authority," the second guard said sternly.

  Ah, TenSoon thought. So Penrod managed to keep the throne. But. . what's this about an emperor? TenSoon feared that the emperor was Straff Venture. That terrible man had been the one poised to take Luthadel when TenSoon had left.

  But what of Vin? Somehow, TenSoon just couldn't bring himself to believe that she had been defeated. He had watched her kill Zane Venture, a man who had been burning atium when Vin had none. She'd done the impossible three times, to TenSoon's count. She'd slain the Lord Ruler. She'd defeated Zane.

  And she'd befriended a kandra who had been determined to hate her.

  The guards fell silent again. This is foolish, TenSoon thought. I don't have time to hide in corners and eavesdrop. The world is ending! He rose, shaking the ash from his body-an action that caused the guards to start, raising their spears anxiously as they searched the darkening night for the source of the sound.

  TenSoon hesitated, their nervousness giving him an idea. He turned and loped off into the night. He'd grown to know the city quite well during his year serving with Vin-she had liked to patrol the city, particularly the areas around Keep Venture. Even with his knowledge, however, it took TenSoon some time to find his way to where he was going. He had never visited the location, but he had heard it described.

  Described by a person whom TenSoon had been killing at the time.

  The memory still brought him chills. Kandra served Contracts-and in Contracts, they usually were required to imitate specific individuals. A master would provide the proper body-kandra were forbidden to kill humans themselves-and the kandra would emulate it. However, before any of that happened, the kandra would usually study its quarry, learning as much about them as possible.

  TenSoon had killed OreSeur, his generation brother. OreSeur, who had helped overthrow the Father. At Kelsier's command, OreSeur had pretended to be a nobleman named Lord Renoux so that Kelsier would have an apparent nobleman as a front to use in his plan to overthrow the empire. But, there had been a more important part for OreSeur to play in Kelsier's plot. A secret part that not even the other members of the crew had known until after Kelsier's death.

  TenSoon arrived at the old warehouse. It stood where OreSeur had said it would. TenSoon shuddered, remembering OreSeur's screams. The kandra had died beneath TenSoon's torture, torture which had been necessary, for TenSoon had needed to learn all that he could. Every secret. All that he would need in order to convincingly imitate his brother.

  That day, TenSoon's hatred of humans-and at himself for serving them-had burned more deeply than ever before. How Vin had overcome that, he still didn't know.

  The warehouse before TenSoon was now a holy place, ornamented and maintained by the Church of the Survivor. A plaque hung out front, displaying the sign of the spear-the weapon by which both Kelsier and the Lord Ruler had died-and giving a written explanation of why the warehouse was important.

  TenSoon knew the story already. This was the place where the crew had found a stockpile of weapons, left by the Survivor to arm the skaa people for their revolution. It had been discovered the same day that Kelsier had died, and rumors whispered that the spirit of the Survivor had appeared in this place, giving guidance to his followers. Those rumors were true, after a fashion. TenSoon rounded the building, following instructions OreSeur had given as he died. The Blessing of Presence let TenSoon recall the precise words, and despite the ash, he found the spot-a place where the cobbles were disturbed. Then, he began to dig.

  Kelsier, the Survivor of Hathsin, had indeed appeared to his followers that night years ago. Or, at least, his bones had. OreSeur had been commanded to take the Survivor's own body and digest it, then appear to the faithful skaa and give them encouragement. The legends of the Survivor, the whole religion that had sprung up around him, had been started by a kandra.

  And TenSoon had eventually killed that kandra. But not before learning his secrets. Secrets such as where OreSeur had buried the bones of the Survivor, and how the man had looked.

  TenSoon smiled as he unearthed the first bone. They were years old now, and he hated using old bones. Plus, there would be no hair, so the one he created would be bald. Still, the opportunity was too valuable to pass up. He'd only seen the Survivor once, but with his expertise in imitation. .

  Well, it was worth a try.

  Wellen leaned against his spear, watching those mists again. Rittle-his companion guard-said they weren't dangerous. But, Rittle hadn't seen what they could do. What they could reveal. Wellen figured that he had survived because he respected them. That, and because he didn't think too hard about the things he had seen.

  "You think Skiff and Jaston will be late to relieve us again?" Wellen asked, trying again to start a conversation.

  Rittle just grunted. "Dunno, Wells." Rittle never did care for small talk.

  "I think maybe one of us should go see," Wellen said, eyeing the mist. "You know, ask if they've come in yet. . " He trailed off.

  Something was out there.

  Lord Ruler! he thought, cringing back. Not again!

  But, no attack came from the mists. Instead, a dark figure strode forward. Rittle perked up, lowering his spear. "Halt!"

  A man walked from the mists, wearing a deep black cloak, arms at his sides, hood up. His face, however, was visible. Wellen frowned. Something about this man looked familiar. .

  Rittle gasped, then fell to his knees, clutching something at his neck-the pendant of a silver spear that he always wore. Wellen frowned. Then he noticed the scars on this newcomer's arms.

  Lord Ruler! Wellen thought in shock, realizing where he'd seen this man's face. It had been in a painting, one of many available in the city, that depicted the Survivor of Hathsin.

  "Rise," the stranger said, speaking in a benevolent voice.

  Rittle stood on shaking feet. Wellen backed away, uncertain whether to be awed or terrified, and feeling a little of both.

  "I have come to commend your faith," the Survivor said.

  "My lord. ." Rittle said, his head still bowed.

  "Also," Kelsier said, raising a finger. "I have come to tell you I do not approve of how this city is being run. My people are sick, they starve, and they die."

  "My lord," Rittle said, "there is not enough food, and there have been riots seizing that which was stockpiled. My lord, and the mists kill! Please, why have you sent them to kill us!"

  "I did no such thing," Kelsier said. "I know that food is scarce, but you must share what you have and have hope. Tell me of the man who rules this city."

  "King Penrod?" Rittle asked. "He rules for Emperor Elend Venture, who is away at war."

  "Lord Elend Venture? And he approves of how this city is being treated?" Kelsier looked angry. Wellen cringed.

  "No, my lord!" Rittle said, shaking. "I. ."

  "Lord Penrod is mad," Wellen found himself saying.

  The Survivor turned toward him.

  "Wells, you shouldn't. ." Rittle said, but then trailed off, the Survivor shooting him a stern look.

  "Speak," the Survivor said to Wellen.

  "He speaks to the air, my lord," Wellen said, averting his eyes. "Talks to himself-claims that he can see the Lord Ruler standing beside him. Penrod. . he's given lots of strange orders, lately. Forcing the skaa to fight each other for food, claiming that only the strong should survive. He kills those who disagree with him. That kind of thing."

  "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. "She's with the emperor."

  "Where?"

  "Nobody knows for certain, my lord," Rittle said, still shaking. "She hasn't returned in a long time. My sergeant says that she and the emperor are fighting in the South, fighting koloss. But I've heard other men say the army went to the west."

  "That's not very helpful," Kelsier sa
id.

  Wellen perked up, remembering something.

  "What?" the Survivor asked, apparently noticing Wellen's 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 isn't 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 wasn't certain how well his imitation of the Survivor would hold up under closer scrutiny.

  He didn't know how reliable the two guards' information was. However, he had no better leads. Other people he had talked to in the night hadn't been able to provide any information about the army's 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 he'd found Kelsier's body. He knelt in the darkness, uncovering the sack he'd stuffed with bones. He needed to get the dog's 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.