Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson [913]
“Gone, my dear boy,” Breeze said. “He went off south with Vin’s kandra.”
Vin.
Feet clomped across the floor, and a second later, Captain Goradel’s face appeared beside the other two. The square-jawed soldier smiled broadly. “Survivor of the Flames indeed!”
You have a clue that nobody else does. . . .
“How is the city?” Spook asked.
“Mostly safe,” Beldre said. “The canals flooded, and my brother organized fire brigades. Most of the buildings that burned weren’t inhabited anyway.”
“You saved it, my lord,” Goradel said.
I’m proud. . . .
“The ash is falling even more thickly, isn’t it?” Spook asked.
The three above shared looks. Their troubled expressions were enough of a confirmation.
“We’re getting a lot of refugees into the city,” Beldre said. “From surrounding cities and villages, some as far as Luthadel. . . .”
“I need to send a message,” Spook said. “To Vin.”
“All right,” Breeze said soothingly. “We’ll do that as soon as you are better.”
“Listen to me, Breeze,” Spook said, staring up at the ceiling, unable to do much more than twitch. “Something was controlling me and the Citizen. I saw it—the thing that Vin released at the Well of Ascension. The thing that is bringing ash down to destroy us. It wanted this city, but we fought it off. Now, I need to warn Vin.”
That’s what he’d been sent to do in Urteau. Find information, then report it back to Vin and Elend. He was only just beginning to understand how important a duty that could be.
“Travel is difficult right now, my boy,” Breeze said. “It isn’t exactly perfect conditions for sending messages.”
“Rest some more,” Beldre said. “We’ll worry about it when you’re healed.”
Spook gritted his teeth in frustration.
You must get that message sent, Spook. . . .
“I’ll take it,” Goradel said quietly.
Spook looked to the side. Sometimes, it was easy to ignore the soldier, with his simple, straightforward manner and his pleasant demeanor. However, the determination in his voice made Spook smile.
“Lady Vin saved my life,” Goradel said. “The night of the Survivor’s rebellion, she could have left me to die at the hands of the mob. She could have killed me herself. But she took the time to tell me that she understood what I’d been through, and convinced me to switch sides. If she needs this information, Survivor, then I will get it to her, or I will die trying.”
Spook tried to nod, but his head was held tight by the bandages and wrappings. He flexed his hand. It seemed to work . . . or, at least, work well enough.
He met Goradel’s eyes. “Go to the armory and have a sheet of metal pounded thin,” Spook said. “Then, return here with something I can use to scratch the metal. These words must be written in steel, and I cannot speak them aloud.”
In those moments when the Lord Ruler both held the power at the Well and was feeling it drain away from him, he understood a great many things. He saw the power of Feruchemy, and rightly feared it. Many of the Terris people, he knew, would reject him as the Hero, for he didn’t fulfill their prophecies well. They’d see him as a usurper who killed the Hero they sent. Which, in truth, he was.
I think, over the years, Ruin would subtly twist him and make him do terrible things to his own people. But at the beginning, I suspect his decision against them was motivated more by logic than emotion. He was about to unveil a grand power in the Mistborn.
He could have, I suppose, kept Allomancy secret and used Feruchemists as his primary warriors and assassins. However, I think he was wise to choose as he did. Feruchemists, by the nature of their powers, have a tendency toward scholarship. With their incredible memories, they would have been very difficult to control over the centuries. Indeed, they were difficult to control, even when he suppressed them. Allomancy not only provided a spectacular new ability without that drawback, it offered a mystical power he could use to bribe kings to his side.
65
ELEND STOOD UPON A SMALL ROCK outcropping to look over his troops. Below, the koloss stalked