Mistborn: The Hero of Ages (21 page)

The man smelled of smoke.

"I understand, good woman," the Citizen was saying as he held an elderly woman's hands. "But your grandson is needed where he is, working the fields. Without him and his kind, we would not be able to eat! A nation ruled by skaa also has to be one
worked
by skaa."

"But . . . can't he come back, even for a bit? " the woman asked.

"In time, good woman," the Citizen said. "In time." His crimson uniform made him the only splash of color on the street, and Spook found himself staring. He tore his eyes away and continued to maneuver, for the Citizen was not his goal.

Beldre stood to the side, as usual. Always watching, but never interacting. The Citizen was so dynamic that his sister was easily forgotten. Spook understood that feeling quite well. He let a soldier jostle him, pushing him out of the Citizen's way. That jostle placed Spook right next to Beldre. She smelt just faintly of perfume. I thought that was supposed to be forbidden. What would Kelsier have done? He'd have attacked, perhaps, killing the Citizen. Or, he'd have moved against the man in another way. Kelsier wouldn't have let such terrible things happen he'd have acted. Perhaps he would have tried to make an ally out of someone trusted by the Citizen?

Spook felt his heart always so much louder to him now beat faster. The crowd began to move again, and he let himself get shoved up against Beldre. The guards weren't watching they were focused on the Citizen, keeping him safe with so many random elements around.

"Your brother," Spook whispered in her ear, "you approve of his murders?" She spun, and he noticed for the first time that her eyes were green. He stood in the crowd, letting it shove him away as she searched, trying to figure out who had spoken. The crowd, following her brother, carried her from Spook.

Spook waited, being jostled in the sea of elbows, for a short time. Then he began to maneuver again, pushing through the people with subtle care until he was again beside Beldre .

"You think this is any different from what the Lord Ruler did?" he whispered. "I once saw him gather up random people and exe cute them in the Luthadel city . 45 201

square."

She spun again, finally identifying Spook among the moving crowd. He stood still, meeting her eyes despite the blindfold. People mov ed between them, and she was carried away. Her mouth moved. Only someone with the enhanced senses of tin could have seen with enough detail to make out the words on her lip s.

"Who are you?"

He pushed his way through the crowd one more time. The Citizen was apparently planning to make a big speech up ahead, capitalizing on the increasingly large crowd. People were bunching up around the podium that lay in the middle of the market; it was getting more difficult to move through them. Spook reached her, but felt the crowd pulling him away again. So, he reached between a pair of bodies and grabbed her hand, pulling her wrist as he moved with the surgings of the crowd's motion. She spun, of course, but she didn't cry out. The crowd moved around them, and she turned to meet his blindfolded eyes through the throng.

"Who are you?" Beldre asked again. Though he was close enough to have heard her had she spoken, no sound escaped her lips. She just mouthed the words. B ehind her, on the podium, her brother began to preach.

"I'm the man who will kill your brother," Spook said sof tly.

Again, he had expected a reaction f rom her a scream, perhaps . An accusation. His actions here had been impulsive, born from his frustration at not being able to help the people who were execute d. If she did scream, he realized, it could bring his death.

Yet she remained silent, flakes of ash falling between them.

"Others have said that same thing," she mouthed.

"Others were not me."

"And who are you?" she asked a third time.

"The companion of a god. A man who can see whispers and f eel screams."

"A man who thinks he knows b etter for this people than their own chosen ruler?" she mouthed.

"There will always be dissenters who balk at what must be done." He still had her hand. He gripped it tightly, pulling her close. The crowd crowded the podium, leaving her and Spook at their rear, like shells left on a beach by the retreating waves.

"I knew the Survivor, Beldre," he whispered harshly. "He named me, called me friend. What you've done in this city would horrify him and I'm
not
going to let your brother continue to pervert Kelsier's legacy. Bring him warning, if you must. Tell Quellion that I'm coming for him." The Citizen had stopped speaking. Spook glanced up, looking toward the lectern. Quellion stood upon it, looking out over his crowd of followers. Looking at Spook and Beldre, standing together at the back of the crowd. Spook hadn't realized how exposed they had become.

"You there !" the Citizen cried. "What are you doing with my sister!"
Damn!
Spook thought, releasing the girl and dashing away. However, one major inconvenience of the streetslots was their high, steep walls. There were very few ways to get out of the market, and those were all being watched by members of Quellion's security forces. At the Citizen's shouted command, soldiers began to dash forward from their posts, wearing leather and carrying steel. Fine, Spook thought, charging the nearest group of soldiers. If he could get through them, he could reach a ramp up, perhaps disappear into the alleys between buildings above. Swords scraped from scabbards. Behind Spook, people cried out in shock. He reached into the ragged tears of his cloak and whipped forth his dueling cane. And then, he was among them. Spook wasn't a warrior, not re ally. He'd trained with Ham, of course Clubs had insisted that his nephew know how to defend himself. However, the crew's true warriors had always been their Mistborn, Vin and Kelsier, with Ham as a Pewterarm providing brute force, if necessary. Yet, Spook had spent a lot of time training, lately, and while doing so he had discovered something interesting. He had something that Vin and Kelsier could never have had: a blurring array of sensory knowledge that his body could instinctively use. He could f eel disturbances in the air, sense tremors in the floor, and could know where people were simply by how close their heartbeats sounded. He was no Mistborn, but he was still very dangerous . He felt a soft wind, and knew a sword was swinging for him. He ducked. He felt a footstep on the ground, and knew someone was attacking from the side. He stepped away. It was almost like having atium.

Sweat f lew from his brow as he spun, and he cracked his dueling cane into the back of one soldier's head. The man f ell Spook's weapon was crafted of the finest hardwood. But, just to be certain, he brought the butt of the weapon down on the fallen man's temple, knocking him out of the battle for good.

He heard someone grunt beside him soft, yet telling. Spook whipped his weapon to the side and smacked it against the attacking soldier's forearm. The bones broke, and the soldier cried out, dropping his weapon. Spook rapped him on the head. Then, Spook spun, lif ting his cane to block the third soldier's strike. Steel met wood, and the steel won, Spook's weapon breaking. However, it stopped the sword strike long enough for Spook to duck away and grab a fallen warrior's sword. It was different from the swords he'd practiced with the men of Urteau preferred long, thin blades. Still, Spook only had one soldier left if he could cut the man down, he'd be free. Spook's opponent seemed to realize that he had the advantage. If Spook ran, it would expose his back to attack. However, if Spook stayed, he'd soon be overwhelmed. The soldier circled warily, trying to stall for time.

So, Spook attacked. He raised his blade, trusting in his enhanced senses to compensate for the dif f erence in training. The soldier raised his weapon to parry as Spook swung.

Spook's sword froze in the air.

Spook stumbled, trying to force the weapon forward, but it was strangely held in place as if he were trying to push it through something solid, rather than air. It was as if . . . Someone was Pushing against it. Allomancy. Spook glanced desperately around him, and immediately found the source of the power. The person Pushing had to be directly opposite Spook, for Allomancers could only Push away from themselves.

Quellion, the Citizen, had joined his sister. The Citizen met Spook's gaze, and Spook could see effort in the man's eyes as he clutched his sister, using her weight for support as he Pushed against Spook's sword, interfering in the battle as Kelsier himself once had, long ago when visiting the caverns where his army trained. Spook dropped the weapon, letting it f ly backward out of his hands, then threw himself to the ground. He f elt the draft of an enemy sword swinging overhead, narrowly missing him. His own weapon clanged to the ground a short distance from him, its ringing loud in his ears. He didn't have time to gather his breath; he could only push himself up to dodge the soldier's followup blow. Fortunately, Spook wasn't wearing any metal that Quellion could Push against to influence the fight any further. That was a habit that Spook was glad he'd never lost. The only choice was to run. He couldn't fight, not with an Allomancer interfering. He turned while the soldier prepared another swing. Then, Spook threw himself forward, getting inside the soldier's guard. He ducked under the man's arm and dashed to the side, hoping to run past and leave the soldier confused. Something caught his foot.

Spook spun. At first, he assumed that Quellion was Pulling on him somehow. Then, he saw that the soldier on the ground the first one he'd dropped had grabbed his foot.

I hit that man in the head twice!
Spook thought with frustration.
There's no way he's still conscious!

The hand squeezed his foot, yanking Spook backward with an inhuman strength. With strength like that, the man had to be a Thug a pewter burner, like Ham. Spook was in serious trouble. Spook kicked, managing to break free, then stumbled to his feet. But a Thug would have the power of pewter he'd be able to run faster, and farther, than Spook.
Two A llomancers, counting the Citizen
himself,
Spook thought.
Somebody isn't as disdainful of noble blood as he claims!

The two soldiers advanced on him. Yelling in frustration hearing his own heart thump like a pounding drum Spook threw himself at the Thug and grappled the man, taking him by surprise . In that moment of confusion, Spook spun him around, using the Thug's body like a shield to protect himself f rom the third soldier. He hadn't counted on the Citizen's brutal training. Quellion always spoke of sacrif ice and necessity. Apparently, this philosophy extended to his soldiers, for the man with the sword rammed his weapon straight through his f riend's back, piercing his heart and driving the weapon directly into Spook's chest. It was a move only a man with the strength and precision of a Thug could have performed.

Three A llomancers, Spook thought, dazed, as the soldier tried to pull his sword free f rom two bodies. The body of the dead man was a weight that f inally snapped the blade. How
did I even survive this long? The y must have been trying not to reveal their powers. Tr ying to
remain hidden f rom the population. . . .

Spook stumbled backward, f eeling blood on his chest. Oddly, he didn't feel pain. His heightened senses should have made the pain so powerful that It hit. Everything went black.

. 46 201

The subtlety displa yed in the ash-eating microbes and enhanced plants shows that Rashek got better
and better at using the power. It burned out in a matter o f minutes but to a god, minutes can pass like
hours. During that time, Rashek began as an ignorant child who shoved a planet too close to the sun,
grew into an adult who could create ashmounts to cool the air, then f inally became a mature artisan
who could develop plants and creatures for s peci f ic purposes. It also shows his mind-set during his
time with Preservation's power. Under its inf luence he was obviousl y in a protective mode. Instead
of leveling the ashmounts and trying to push the planet back into place, he was reactive, working f
uriously to fix problems that he himsel f had caused.

17

ELEND RODE AT THE FRONT OF HIS MEN,
astride a brilliant white stallion that had been scrubbed clean of ash. He turned his mount, looking over the ranks of nervous soldiers. They waited in the evening light, and Elend could see their terror. They had heard rumors, then had those rumors confirmed by Elend the day before. Today, his army would become immunized to the mists. Elend rode through their ranks, General Demoux riding a roan stallion beside him. Both horses were big destriers, brought on the trip to impress more than for usefulness. Elend and the other officers would spend most of the trip riding in canal boats, rather than on horseback. He didn't worry about the morality of his decision to expose his forces to the mists at least, he didn't worry about it at that moment. Elend had learned something very important about himself: He was honest. Perhaps too honest. If he was uncertain, it would show in his face. The soldiers would sense his hesitation. So he'd learned to confine his worries and concerns to times when he was only with those closest to him. That meant Vin saw too much of his brooding. However, it left him free at other times to proj ect confidence.

He moved quickly, letting his horse's hooves beat a thunder for the men to hear. Occasionally, he heard captains call out for their men to be f irm. Even so, Elend saw the anxiety in his soldiers' eyes. And could he blame them? This day, the men would face an enemy that they could not f ight, and could not resist. Within the hour, seven hundred of them would lay dead. About one in fifty. Not bad odds, on a grand scale but that meant little to a man standing and f eeling the mist creep around him. The men stood their ground. Elend was proud of them. He had given those who wished it the opportunity to return to Luthadel instead of facing the mists. He still needed troops in the capital, and he'd rather not march with men unwilling to go into the mists. Almost none had gone. The vast majority had instead lined up in full ranks without having to be ordered, wearing full battle gear, armor polished and oiled, uniforms looking as clean as possible in the ash-stained wilderness. It seemed right to Elend for them to be in their armor. It made them seem as if they were going to battle and, in a way, they were.