Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson [794]
He strolled through the Harrows, trying to decide what he thought of the meeting. Durn hadn’t revealed anything all that important. Yet, Spook felt as if something were happening around him, something he hadn’t planned on, something he couldn’t quite decipher. He was becoming more comfortable with Kelsier’s voice, and with his pewter, but he was still worried that he wouldn’t be able to live up to the position he’d fallen into.
“If you don’t get to Quellion soon,” Kelsier said, “he’s going to find your friends. He’s already preparing assassins.”
“He won’t send them,” Spook said quietly. “Especially if he’s heard Durn’s rumors about me. Everyone knows that Sazed and Breeze were on your crew. Quellion won’t take them out unless they prove to be such a threat that he has no other choice.”
“Quellion is an unstable man,” Kelsier said. “Don’t wait too long. You don’t want to find out how irrational he can be.”
Spook fell silent. Then, he heard footsteps, approaching quickly. He felt the vibrations in the ground. He spun and loosened his cloak, reaching for his weapon.
“You’re not in danger,” Kelsier said quietly.
Spook relaxed as someone rushed around the alley corner. It was one of the men from Durn’s chips game. The man was puffing, his face flush with exhaustion. “My lord!” he said.
“I’m no lord,” Spook said. “What happened? Is Durn in danger?”
“No, sir,” the man said. “I just . . . I . . .”
Spook raised an eyebrow.
“I need your help,” the man said between breaths. “When we realized who you were, you were already gone. I just . . .”
“Help with what?” Spook said tersely.
“My sister, sir,” the man said. “She got taken by the Citizen. Our . . . father was a nobleman. Durn hid me, but Mailey, she got sold by the woman I’d left her with. Sir, she’s only seven. He’s going to burn her in a few days!”
Spook frowned. What does he expect me to do? He opened his mouth to ask that very question, but then stopped. He wasn’t the same man anymore. He wasn’t limited as the old Spook would have been. He could do something else.
What Kelsier would have done.
“Can you gather ten men?” Spook asked. “Friends of yours, willing to take part in some late-night work?”
“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.”
In Hemalurgy, the type of metal used in a spike is important, as is the positioning of that spike on the body. For instance, steel spikes take physical Allomantic 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 spike is placed.
Spikes made from other metals steal Feruchemical abilities. For example, all of the original Inquisitors were given a pewter spike, which—after first being pounded through the body of a Feruchemist—gave the Inquisitor the ability to store up healing power. (Though they couldn’t do so as quickly as a real Feruchemist, as per the law of Hemalurgic decay.) This, obviously, is where the Inquisitors got their infamous ability to recover from wounds quickly, and was also why they 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