Part 21 (1/2)

Time already? TenSoon thought. With the Blessing of Presence, he was able to mentally recount the days of his imprisonment. It was nowhere near time. He frowned, noting that one of the Fifths carried a large sack. For a moment, Ten-Soon had a flash of panic as he pictured them towing him away inside the sack. TenSoon thought. With the Blessing of Presence, he was able to mentally recount the days of his imprisonment. It was nowhere near time. He frowned, noting that one of the Fifths carried a large sack. For a moment, Ten-Soon had a flash of panic as he pictured them towing him away inside the sack.

It looked filled already, however.

Dared he hope? Days had pa.s.sed since his conversation with MeLaan, and while she had returned several times to look at him, they had not spoken. He'd almost forgotten his words to her, said in the hope that they would be overheard by the minions of the Second Generation. Va.r.s.ell opened the cage and tossed the sack in. It clinked with a familiar sound. Bones.

”You are to wear those to the trial,” Va.r.s.ell said, leaning down and putting a translucent face up next to TenSoon's bars. ”Orders of the Second Generation.”

”What is wrong with the bones I now wear?” TenSoon asked carefully, pulling over the sack, uncertain whether to be excited or ashamed.

”They intend to break your bones as part of your punishment,” Va.r.s.ell said, smiling. ”Something like a public execution-but where the prisoner lives through the process. It's a simple thing, I know-but the display ought to leave . . . an impression on some of the younger generations.”

TenSoon's stomach twisted. Kandra could re-form their bodies, true, but they felt pain just as acutely as any human. It would take quite a severe beating to break his bones, and with the Blessing of Presence, there would be no release of unconsciousness for him.

”I still don't see the need for another body,” TenSoon said, pulling out one of the bones.

”No need to waste a perfectly good set of human bones, Third,” Va.r.s.ell said, slamming the cage door closed. ”I'll be back for your current bones in a few hours.”

The leg bone he pulled out was not that of a human, but a dog. A large wolfhound. It was the very body TenSoon had been wearing when he'd returned to the Homeland over a year before. He closed his eyes, holding the smooth bone in his fingers.

A week ago, he'd spoken of how much he despised these bones, hoping that the Second Generation's spies would carry the news back to their masters. The Second Generation was far more traditional than MeLaan, and even she had found the thought of wearing a dog's body distasteful. To the Seconds, forcing TenSoon to wear an animal's body would be supremely degrading.

That was exactly what TenSoon had been counting on.

”You'll look good, wearing that,” Va.r.s.ell said, standing to leave. ”When your punishment comes, everyone will be able to see you for what you really are. No kandra kandra would break his Contract.” would break his Contract.”

TenSoon rubbed the thighbone with a reverent finger, listening to Va.r.s.ell's laughter. The Fifth had no way of knowing that he'd just given TenSoon the means he needed to escape.

The Balance. Is it real?

We've almost forgotten this little bit of lore. Skaa used to talk about it, before the Collapse. Philosophers discussed it a great deal in the third and fourth centuries, but by Kelsier's time, it was mostly a forgotten topic.

But it was real. There was was a physiological difference between skaa and n.o.bility. When the Lord Ruler altered mankind to make them more capable of dealing with ash, he changed other things as well. Some groups of people a physiological difference between skaa and n.o.bility. When the Lord Ruler altered mankind to make them more capable of dealing with ash, he changed other things as well. Some groups of people-the n.o.blemen-were created to be less fertile, but taller, stronger, and more intelligent. Others-the skaa-were made to be shorter, hardier, and to have many children.

The changes were slight, however, and after a thousand years of interbreeding, the differences had largely been erased.

25.

”FADREX CITY,” ELEND SAID, standing in his customary place near the narrowboat's prow. Ahead, the broad Conway Ca.n.a.l-the primary ca.n.a.l route to the west-continued into the distance, turning to the northwest. To Elend's left, the ground rose in a broken incline, forming a set of steep rock formations. He could see them rising much higher in the distance. standing in his customary place near the narrowboat's prow. Ahead, the broad Conway Ca.n.a.l-the primary ca.n.a.l route to the west-continued into the distance, turning to the northwest. To Elend's left, the ground rose in a broken incline, forming a set of steep rock formations. He could see them rising much higher in the distance.

Closer to the ca.n.a.l, however, a broad city was nestled in the very center of a large group of rock formations. The deep red and orange rocks were the type left behind when wind and rain wore away weaker sections of stone, and many of them reached high, like spires. Others formed jagged, hedge-like barriers-like stacks of enormous blocks that had been fused together, reaching some thirty and forty feet into the air.

Elend could barely see the tips of the city's buildings over the stone formations. Fadrex had no formal city wall, of course-only Luthadel had been allowed one of those-but the rising rocks around the city formed a set of terrace-like natural fortifications.

Elend had been to the city before. His father had made certain to introduce him in all of the Final Empire's main cultural centers. Fadrex hadn't been one of those, but it had been on the way to Tremredare, once known as the capital of the West. In forging his new kingdom, however, Cett had ignored Tremredare, instead establis.h.i.+ng his capital in Fadrex. A clever move, in Elend's estimation-Fadrex was smaller, more defensible, and had been a major supply station for numerous ca.n.a.l routes.

”The city looks different from the last time I was here,” Elend said.

”Trees,” Ham said, standing beside him. ”Fadrex used to have trees growing on the rocky shelves and plateaus.” Ham glanced at him. ”They're ready for us. They cut down the trees to provide a better killing field and to keep us from sneaking up close.”

Elend nodded. ”Look down there.”

Ham squinted, though it obviously took him a moment to pick out what Elend's tin-enhanced eyes had noticed. On the northern side of the city-the one closest to the main ca.n.a.l route-the rock terraces and shelves fell down into a natural canyon. Perhaps twenty feet across, it was the only way into the city, and the defenders had cut several troughs into the floor. They were bridged at the moment, of course, but getting through that narrow entryway, with pits in front of the army and archers presumably firing from the rocky shelves above, with a gate at the end . . .

”Not bad,” Ham said. ”I'm just glad they decided not to drain the ca.n.a.l on us.”

As they'd moved west, the land had risen-requiring the convoy to pa.s.s through several ma.s.sive lock mechanisms. The last four had been jammed intentionally, requiring hours of effort to get them working.

”They rely on it too much,” Elend said. ”If they survive our siege, they'll need to s.h.i.+p in supplies. a.s.suming any can be had.”

Ham fell silent. Finally, he turned, looking back up the dark ca.n.a.l behind them. ”El,” he said. ”I don't think that much more will be traveling this ca.n.a.l. The boats barely made it this far-there's too much ash clogging it. If we go home, we'll do so on foot.”

” 'If' we go home?”

Ham shrugged. Despite the colder western weather, he still wore only a vest. Now that Elend was an Allomancer, he could finally understand the habit. While burning pewter, Elend barely felt the chill, though several of the soldiers had complained about it in the mornings.

”I don't know, El,” Ham finally said. ”It just seems portentous to me. Our ca.n.a.l closing behind us as we travel. Kind of like fate is trying to strand us here.”

”Ham,” Elend said, ”everything seems portentous to you. We'll be fine.” seems portentous to you. We'll be fine.”

Ham shrugged.

”Organize our forces,” Elend said, pointing. ”Dock us in that inlet over there, and set up camp on the mesa.”

Ham nodded. He was still looking backward, however. Toward Luthadel, which they had left behind.

They don't fear the mists, Elend thought, staring up through the darkness at the rocky formations that marked the entrance into Fadrex City. Bonfires blazed up there, lighting the night. Often, such lights were futile-signifying man's fear of the mists. These fires were different, somehow. They seemed a warning; a bold declaration of confidence. They burned brightly, high, as if floating in the sky.

Elend turned, walking into his illuminated commander's tent, where a small group of people sat waiting for him. Ham, Cett, and Vin. Demoux was absent, still recovering from mistsickness.

We're spread thin, Elend thought. Elend thought. Spook and Breeze in the North, Penrod back at Luthadel, Felt watching the storage cache in the East . . . Spook and Breeze in the North, Penrod back at Luthadel, Felt watching the storage cache in the East . . .

”All right,” Elend said, letting the tent flaps close behind him. ”Looks like they're holed up in there pretty well.”

”Initial scout reports are in, El,” Ham said. ”We're guessing about twenty-five thousand defenders.”

”Not as many as I expected,” Elend said.

”That b.a.s.t.a.r.d Yomen has to keep control of the rest of my kingdom,” Cett said. ”If he pulled all of his troops into the capital, the other cities would overthrow him.”

”What?” Vin asked, sounding amused. ”You think they'd rebel and switch back to your side?”

”No,” Cett said, ”they'd rebel and try to take over the kingdom themselves! That's the way this works. Now that the Lord Ruler is gone, every little lord or petty obligator with half a taste of power thinks he can run a kingdom. h.e.l.l, I tried it-so did you.”

”We were successful,” Ham pointed out.