The Hero of Ages

'He speaks to the air, my lord,' Wellen said, averting his eyes. 'Talks to himself-claims that he can see the Lord Ruler standing beside him. Penrod. . he's given lots of strange orders, lately. Forcing the skaa to fight each other for food, claiming that only the strong should survive. He kills those who disagree with him. That kind of thing.'

'I see,' the Survivor said.

Surely he knows this already, Wellen thought. Why bother asking?

'Where is my Heir?' the Survivor asked. 'The Hero of Ages, Vin.'

'The Lady Empress?' Wellen asked. 'She's with the emperor.'

'Where?'

'Nobody knows for certain, my lord,' Rittle said, still shaking. 'She hasn't returned in a long time. My sergeant says that she and the emperor are fighting in the South, fighting koloss. But I've heard other men say the army went to the west.'

'That's not very helpful,' Kelsier said.

Wellen perked up, remembering something.

'What?' the Survivor asked, apparently noticing Wellen's change in posture.

'An army troop stopped by the city a few months ago,' Wellen said, feeling proud. 'They kept it quiet, but I was in the group that helped them resupply. Lord Breeze was with them, and he spoke of meeting up with others of your crew.'

'Where?' Kelsier asked. 'Where were they going?'

'North,' Wellen said. 'To Urteau. That must be where the emperor is, my lord. The Northern Dominance is in rebellion. He must have taken his armies to quell it.'

The Survivor nodded. 'Very well,' he said. He turned as if to go, then paused, looking back. 'Pass what news you can,' he said. 'There isn't much time left. Tell the people that when the mists leave, they should immediately find shelter. A place underground, if possible.'

Wellen paused, then nodded. 'The caverns,' he said. 'Where you trained your army?'

'That will do,' Kelsier said. 'Farewell.'

The Survivor disappeared into the mists.

TenSoon left the gates of Keep Venture behind, running off into the mists. He could, perhaps, have gotten himself into the building. However, he wasn't certain how well his imitation of the Survivor would hold up under closer scrutiny.

He didn't know how reliable the two guards' information was. However, he had no better leads. Other people he had talked to in the night hadn't been able to provide any information about the army's movements. Evidently, Vin and Elend had been gone from Luthadel for quite some time.

He rushed back to the patch of earth behind the warehouse where he'd found Kelsier's body. He knelt in the darkness, uncovering the sack he'd stuffed with bones. He needed to get the dog's body back and head north. Hopefully he would-

'You there!' a voice said.

TenSoon looked up reflexively. A man stood in the doorway of the warehouse, looking through the mists at TenSoon. A lantern flared to life behind him, revealing a group of people who had apparently taken up residence inside of the holy place.

Uh, oh. . TenSoon thought as those at the front adopted shocked expressions.

'My lord!' the man in front said, quickly kneeling in his sleeping robe. 'You've returned!'

TenSoon stood, stepping carefully to hide the sack of bones behind him. 'I have,' he said.

'We knew that you would,' the man said as others began to whisper and cry out behind him. Many fell to their knees. 'We stayed in this place, praying for you to come give us counsel. The king is mad, my lord! What do we do?'

TenSoon was tempted to expose himself as a kandra, but looking into their hopeful eyes, he found that he could not. Besides, perhaps he could do some good. 'Penrod has been corrupted by Ruin,' he said. 'The thing that seeks to destroy the world. You must gather the faithful and escape this city before Penrod kills you all.'

'My lord, where should we go?'

TenSoon hesitated. Where? 'There are a pair of guards at the front of Keep Venture. They know of a place. Listen to them. You must get to a place underground. Do you understand?'

'Yes, lord,' the man said. Behind, more and more people were edging forward, straining to catch a glimpse of TenSoon. He bore their scrutiny with some nervousness. Finally, he bid them be careful, then fled into the night.

He found an empty building and quickly changed back to the dog's bones before anyone else could see him. When he was done, he eyed the Survivor's bones, feeling a strange. . reverence.

Don't be silly, he told himself. They're just bones, like hundreds of other sets you've used. Still, it seemed foolish to leave such a potentially powerful tool behind. He carefully packed them into the sack he'd pilfered, then-using paws he'd created to have more dexterity than those of a real wolfhound-he tied the sack on his back.

After that, TenSoon left the city by the northern gate, running at full wolfhound speed. He would go to Urteau and hope that he was on the right path.

The pact between Preservation and Ruin is a thing of gods, and difficult to explain in human terms. Indeed, initially, there was a stalemate between them. On one hand, each knew that only by working together could they create. On the other hand, both knew that they would never have complete satisfaction in what they created. Preservation would not be able to keep things perfect and unchanging, and Ruin would not be able to destroy completely.

Ruin, of course, eventually acquired the ability to end the world and gain the satisfaction he wanted. But, then, that wasn't originally part of the bargain.

53

Spook found her sitting on the rocky lakeshore, looking out across the deep black waters, so still in the cavern's windless air. In the near distance, Spook could hear Sazed-with a large contingent of Goradel's men- working on their project to stanch the flow of water into the cavern.

Spook approached Beldre quietly, carrying a mug of warmed tea. It almost seemed to burn his flesh, which meant that it would be just right for normal people. He let his own food and drinks sit out until they cooled to room temperature.

He didn't wear his eye bandage. With pewter, he'd found that he could withstand a little lantern-light. She didn't turn as he approached, so he cleared his throat. She jumped slightly. It was no wonder that Quellion worked so hard to shelter the girl-one could not fake Beldre's level of innocence. She wouldn't survive three heartbeats in the underground. Even Allrianne, who did her best to look like a puff, had an edge to her that bespoke an ability to be as hard as necessary in order to survive. Beldre, though. .

She's normal, Spook thought. This is how people would be, if they didn't have to deal with Inquisitors, armies, and assassins. For that, he actually envied her. It was a strange feeling, after so many years spent wishing that he were someone more important.

She turned back toward the waters, and he approached and sat beside her. 'Here,' he said, handing her the mug. 'I know it gets a bit chilly down here, with the lake and the water.'

She paused, then took the mug. 'Thank you,' she whispered. Spook let her roam free in the cavern-there was very little she could sabotage, though he had warned Goradel's men to keep an eye on her. Either way, there was no way she was going to get out. Spook kept two dozen men guarding the exit, and had ordered the ladder up to the trapdoor above removed, to be replaced only with proper authorization.

'Hard to believe this place was beneath your city all along, isn't it?' Spook said, trying to work into a conversation. Oddly, it had seemed easier to speak to her when he was confronting her in her gardens, surrounded