Mistborn: The Hero of Ages (42 page)

"Sure. I guess. Does this have to do with saving Mailey?"

"No," Spook said. "It has to do with your payment for saving Mailey. Get me those workers, and I'll do what I can to help your sister."

The man nodded eagerly.

"Do it now," Spook said, pointing. "We start tonight."

. 86 201

In Hemalurgy, the t ype of metal used in a spike is important , as is the positioning of that spike on the
bod y. For instance, steel spikes take ph ysical A llomantic powers the ability to burn pewter, tin,
steel, or iron and bestow them upon the person receiving the spike. Which of these four is granted,
however, depends on where the s pike is placed.

Spikes made from other metals steal Feruchemical abilities. For example, all of the original
Inquisitors were given a pewter s pike, which af ter f irst being pounded through the body of a
Feruchemist gave the Inquisitor the abilit y to store up healing power. (Though they couldn 't do so as
quickly as a real Feruchemist, as per the law of Hemalur gic decay.) This, obviousl y, is where the
Inquisitors got their in f amous abilit y to recover from wounds quickl y, and was also why the y
needed to rest so much.

36

"YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE GONE IN,"
Cett said flatly.

Elend raised an eyebrow, riding his stallion through the center of his camp. Tindwyl had taught him that it was good to be seen by one's people, especially in situations where he could control the way he was perceived. He happened to agree with this particular lesson, and so he rode, wearing a black cloak to mask the ash's smudges, making certain his soldiers knew that he was among them. Cett rode with him, tied into his specially made saddle.

"You think I put myself in too much danger by entering the city?" Elend asked, nodding to a group of soldiers who had paused in their morning labors to salute him. "No," Cett said, "we both know that I don't give a damn whether you live or die, boy. Besides, you're Mistborn. You could have gotten out if things turned dangerous ."

"Why, then?" Elend asked. "Why was it a mistake?"

"Because," Cett said. "You met the people inside. You talked with them, danced among them. Hell, boy. Can't you see why that's such a problem? When the time comes to attack, you'll worry about people you're going to hurt."

Elend rode in silence for a moment. The morning mists were a normal thing to him now. They obscured the camp, masking its size. Even to his tin-enhanced eyes, distant tents became silhouetted lumps. It was as if he rode through some mythical world, a place of muffled shadows and distant noises.

Had it been a mistake for him to enter the city? Perhaps. Elend knew the theories Cett spoke of he understood how important it was for a general to view his enemies not as individuals, but as numbers. Obstacles.

"I'm glad for my choice," Elend said.

"I know," Cett said, scratching at his thick beard. "That's what frustrates me, to be honest. You're a compassionate man. That's a weakness, but it isn't the real problem. The
problem
is your inability to deal with your own compassion."

Elend raised
an eyebrow.

"You should know better than to let yourself grow attached to your enemy, Elend," Cett said. " You should have known how you would react, and planned so that you could avoid this very situation!

Hell, boy, every leader has weaknesses the ones who win are the ones who learn how to smother those weaknesses, not give them fuel !" When Elend didn't respond to that, Cett simply sighed. "All right, then, let's talk about the siege. The engineers have blocked off several streams that lead into the city, but they don't think those were the primary sources of water."

"They weren't," Elend said. "Vin has located six main wells within the city itself."

"We should poison them," Cett said.

Elend fell silent. The two halves of him still warred inside. The man he had been just wanted to protect as many people as possible. The man he was becoming, however, was more realistic. It knew that sometimes he had to kill or at least discomfort in order to save.

"Very well," Elend said. "I'll have Vin do it tonight and I'll have her leave a message written on the wells saying what we've done ."

"What good will that do?" Cett asked, f rowning.

"I don't want to kill the people , Cett," Elend said, "I want to worry them. This way, they'll go to Yomen for water. With the entire city making demands, he should go through the water supply in his storage cache pretty quickly."

Cett grunted. He seemed pleased, however, that Elend had taken his suggestion. "And the surrounding villages?"

"Feel free to bully them," Elend said. " Organize a force of ten thousand, and send them out to harass but not kill. I want Yomen's spies in the area to send him worried notes about his kingdom collapsing."

"You're trying to play this half way, lad," Cett said. "Eventually, you'll have to choose. If Yomen doesn't surrender, you'll have to attack."

Elend reined in his horse outside the command tent. "I know," he said sof tly. Cett snorted, but he f ell silent as servants came out of the tent to unstrap him from the saddle. As they started, however, the earth began to tremble. Elend cursed, struggling to maintain control of his horse as it grew skittish. The shaking rattled tents, knocking poles free and collapsing a couple of them, and Elend heard the clang of metal as cups, swords, and other items were knocked to the ground. Eventually, the rumbling subsided, and he glanced to the side, checking on Cett. The man had managed to keep control of his mount, though one of his useless legs swung free from the saddle, and he looked as if he was about to fall off. His servants rushed to his side to help.

"Damn things are growing more and more frequent," Cett said.

Elend calmed his horse, which stood puffing in the mists . Around the camp, men cursed and yelled, dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake. They were indeed growing more f requent; the last one had only been a f ew weeks before . Earthquakes weren't supposed to be common in the Final Empire during his youth, he'd never heard of one happening in the inner dominances. He sighed, climbing from his horse and handing the beast off to an aide, then followed Cett into the command tent. The servants sat Cett in a chair, then retreated, leaving the two of them alone. Cett glanced up at Elend, looking troubled. "Did that fool Ham tell you about the news from Luthadel ?"

"Or the lack of it?" Elend asked, sighing. "Yes." Not a peep had come from the capital city, let alone the supplies Elend had ordered brought down the canal . "We don't have
that
much time, Elend," Cett said quietly. "A few months, at most. Time enough to weaken Yomen's resolve, perhaps make his people get so thirsty that they begin to look forward to invasion. But, if we don't get resupplied, there's no way we'll be able to maintain this siege."

Elend glanced at the older man. Cett sat in his chair with an arrogant expression, looking back at Elend, meeting his eyes. S o much about what the crippled man did was about posturing Cett had lost the use of his legs to disease long ago, and he couldn't intimidate people physically. So, he had to find other ways to make himself threatening.

Cett knew how to hit where it hurt. He could pick at the very faults that bothered people and exploit their virtues in ways that Elend had rarely seen even accomplished Soothers manage. And he did all this while covering up a heart that Elend suspected was far sof ter than Cett would ever admit. He seemed particularly on edge this day. As if worried about something. Something important to him something he'd been forced to leave behind, perhaps? "She'll be all right, Cett," Elend said. "Nothing will happen to Allrianne while she's with Sazed and Breeze."

Cett snorted, waving an indifferent hand though he did look away. " I'm better off without the damn fool of a girl around. Let that Soother have her, I say! Anyway, we're not talking about me, we're talking about you and this siege!"

"Your points have been noted, Cett," Elend said. "We will attack if I deem it necessary ." As he spoke, the tent flaps parted, and Ham sauntered in, accompanied by a figure Elend hadn't seen in several weeks at least not out of bed.

"Demoux!" Elend said, approaching the general. " You're up and about!"

"Barely, Your Ma jesty," Demoux said. He did still look pale. "However, I have recovered enough strength to move around a bit."

"The others?" Elend asked.

Ham nodded. "Mostly up and about as well. Demoux is among the last batch. A few more days, and the army will be back to full strength."

Minus those who died,
Elend thought.

Cett eyed Demoux. "Most of the men recovered weeks ago. A bit weaker in the constitution than one might expect, eh, Demoux? That's what I've been hearing, at least."

Demoux blushed.

Elend frowned at this. "What?"

"It is nothing, Your Maj esty," Demoux said.

"It's never 'nothing' in my camp, Demoux," Elend said. "What am I missing?" Ham sighed, pulling over a chair. He sat on it backward, resting his muscular arms across its back.

"It's just a rumor moving through the camp, El." "Soldiers," Cett said. "They're all the same superstitious as housewives."

Ham nodded. " Some of them have gotten it into their heads that the men who got sick from the mists were being punished."

"Punished?" Elend asked. "For what?"

"Lack of faith, Your Ma j esty," Demoux said.

"Nonsense," Elend said. "We all know that the mists struck randomly." The others shared looks, and Elend had to pause and reconsider. No.
The strikes weren't random at
least, the statistics surrounding them weren't.
"Regardless," he said, deciding to change the subj ect,

"what are your daily reports?"

The three men took turns talking about their various duties in the bivouac. Ham saw to morale and training, Demoux to supplies and camp duties, Cett to tactics and patrols. Elend stood with hands cl asped behind his back, listening to the reports, but only with half an ear. They weren't much different from the previous day, though it . 87 201

was good to see Demoux back at his duties. He was far more ef f icient than his assistants. As they talked, Elend's mind w andered. The siege was going fairly well, but a part of him the part trained by Cett and Tindwyl chaf ed at the waiting game. He might j ust be able to take the city straight out. He had koloss, and all accounts said that his troops were far more experienced than those inside of Fadrex. The rock formations would provide cover for the defenders, but Elend wasn't in so bad a position that he couldn't win.

But doing so would cost many, many lives.

That was the step he balked at the last step that would take him from defender to aggressor. From protector to conqueror. And he was frustrated at his own hesitation.

There was another reason going into the city had been bad for Elend. It had been better for Elend to think of Yomen as an evil tyrant, a corrupt obligator loyal to the Lord Ruler. Now, unfortunately, he knew Yomen to be a reasonable man. And one with very good arguments. In a way, his indictment of Elend was true. Elend
was
a hypocrite. He spoke of democracy, yet he had taken his throne by force. It was what the people had needed from him, he believed. But it did make him a hypocrite. Still, by that same logic, he knew he should send Vin to assassinate Yomen. But, could Elend order the death of a man who had done nothing wrong besides getting in his way?

Assassinating the obligator seemed as twisted an action as sending his koloss to attack the city.
Cett is
right ,
Elend thought.
I'm trying to play both sides on this one.
For a moment, while talking to Telden during the ball, he had f elt so sure of himself. And, in truth, he still believed what he'd claimed. Elend
wasn't
the Lord Ruler. He did give his people more freedom and more j ustice. However, he realized that thi s siege could tip the balance between who he was and who he feared he would become. Could he really justify invading Fadrex, slaughtering its armies and pillaging its resources, all ostensibly in the name of protecting the people of the empire? Could he dare do the opposite: back away from Fadrex, and leave the secrets in that cavern the secrets that could potentially save the entire empire to a man who still thought the Lord Ruler would return to save his people?

He wasn't ready to decide. For now, he was determined to exhaust every other option. Anything that would keep him f rom needing to invade the city. That included besieging the city to make Yomen more pliant. That also included sneaking Vin into the storage cavern. Her reports indicated that the building was very heavily guarded. She wasn't certain if she could get into it on an ordinary night. However, during a ball, defenses might be more porous. It would be the perfect time to try to get a glimpse at what was hidden in that cavern.

Assuming Yomen hasn't simpl y removed
the Lord Ruler's last inscription,
Elend thought.
Or that
there was even something there in the first place.
Yet, there was a chance. The Lord Ruler's final message, the last bit of help he had left for his people . If Elend could f ind a way to get that help without breaking his way into the city, killing thousands, he would take it. Eventually, the men finished with their reports, and Elend dismissed them. Ham went quickly, wanting to get in on a morning sparring session. Cett was gone a few moments later, carried back to his own tent. Demoux, however, lingered. It was sometimes hard to remember j ust how young Demoux was barely older than Elend himself. The balding scalp and numerous scars made the man look much older than he was, as did the still-visible effects of his extended illness. Demoux was hesitant about something. Elend waited, and finally the man dropped his eyes, looking embarrassed.

"Your Ma j esty," he said, "I feel that I must ask to be released from my post as general."

"And why do you say that?" Elend asked carefully.

"I don't think I'm worthy of the position anymore."