Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson [263]
Renoux exited the cart, then stepped to the side, watching as his servants rushed free from their cage. Suddenly, a well-dressed figure burst from the melee, grabbing Renoux by the front of his suit.
“Where’s Valette?” Elend Venture demanded, his desperate voice carrying to Kelsier’s tin-enhanced ears. “Which cage was she in?”
Kid, you’re really starting to annoy me, Kelsier thought, Pushing himself a path through the soldiers as he ran toward the cart.
The Inquisitor appeared, leaping out from behind a pile of soldiers. It landed on top of the cage, shaking the entire structure, an obsidian axe grasped in each clawlike hand. The creature met Kelsier’s eyes and smiled, then dropped from the top of the cage and buried an axe in Renoux’s back.
The kandra jerked, eyes opening wide. The Inquisitor turned toward Elend next. Kelsier wasn’t certain if the creature recognized the boy. Perhaps the Inquisitor thought Elend to be a member of Renoux’s family. Perhaps it didn’t care.
Kelsier paused for just a moment.
The Inquisitor raised his axe to strike.
She loves him.
Kelsier flared steel within, stoking it, raging it until his chest burned like the Ashmounts themselves. He blasted against the soldiers behind him—throwing dozens of them backward—and streaked toward the Inquisitor. He crashed into the creature as it began to swing.
The discarded axe clicked against the stones a few feet away. Kelsier gripped the Inquisitor by its neck as the two hit the ground; then he began to squeeze with pewter-enhanced muscles. The Inquisitor reached up, grabbing Kelsier’s hands, desperately trying to force them apart.
Marsh was right, Kelsier thought through the chaos. It fears for its life. It can be killed.
The Inquisitor gasped raggedly, the metal spikeheads protruding from its eyes just inches from Kelsier’s face. To his side Kelsier saw Elend Venture stumble back.
“The girl is fine!” Kelsier said through gritted teeth. “She wasn’t on the Renoux barges. Go!”
Elend paused uncertainly; then one of his bodyguards finally appeared. The boy let himself get dragged away.
Can’t believe I just saved a nobleman, Kelsier thought, struggling to choke the Inquisitor. You’d better appreciate this, girl.
Slowly, with straining muscles, the Inquisitor forced Kelsier’s hands apart. The creature began to smile again.
They’re so strong!
The Inquisitor pushed Kelsier back, then Pulled against a soldier, yanking itself in a skidding motion across the cobblestones. The Inquisitor hit a corpse and flipped backward, up to its feet. Its neck was red from Kelsier’s grip, bits of flesh torn by his fingernails, but it smiled still.
Kelsier Pushed against a soldier, flipping himself up as well. To his side, he saw Renoux leaning against the cart. Kelsier caught the kandra’s eyes and nodded slightly.
Renoux dropped to the ground with a sigh, axe in his back.
“Kelsier!” Ham yelled over the crowd.
“Go!” Kelsier told him. “Renoux is dead.”
Ham glanced at Renoux’s body, then nodded. He turned to his men, calling orders.
“Survivor,” a rasping voice said.
Kelsier spun. The Inquisitor strode forward, stepping with pewter’s lithe power, surrounded by a haze of atium-shadows.
“Survivor of Hathsin,” it said. “You promised me a fight. Must I kill more skaa?”
Kelsier flared his metals. “I never said we were done.” Then, he smiled. He was worried, he was pained, but he was also exhilarated. All of his life, there had been a piece of him that had wished to stand and fight.
He’d always wanted to see if he could take an Inquisitor.
Vin stood, trying desperately to see over the crowd.
“What?” Dockson asked.
“I thought I saw Elend!”
“Here? That sounds a bit ridiculous, don’t you think?”
Vin flushed. Probably. “Regardless, I’m going to try and get a better view.” She grabbed the side of the alleyway.
“Be careful,” Dox said. “If that Inquisitor sees you…”
Vin nodded, scrambling up the bricks. Once she got high enough, she scanned the intersection for familiar figures. Dockson was right: Elend was nowhere to be seen. One of the carts