text stringlengths 1.73k 3.83k |
|---|
without finding some fool baby-face like myself, up from the Basin with a head full of glory and treasure.” “So you started hunting bounties,” she said. “You told me this part. Something about boots.” “Eventually, yes,” Waxillium said, smiling. “Struggled for a long time up there before turning to bounties. At first, t... |
We’re probably going to infiltrate this building project in Dulsing during the night.” He settled with his hat over his eyes again. Marasi felt she should do as he said, and so tried to doze off. Unfortunately, there were too many thoughts in her head for sleep. After some time, she gave up and returned to her letter. ... |
the train,” Steris said. “Speed bubbles move with you if you’re on something massive enough,” Waxillium said. “Otherwise, the spinning of the planet would pop you out of every one you made. The train was heavy and fast. The stagecoach is small and just slow enough. So—” “So I should have known better,” Marasi said, blu... |
over to join them. “It doesn’t steal Allomancy, Wayne. It never did.” “But—” “It takes the metal one is burning,” Wax said, “and somehow … extends it. You saw. It Pushed your metal away, as if a Coinshot were there near you. The cube used Allomancy.” The three of them stood stunned, looking at the little device. “We ne... |
He tossed it to Wayne. “What’s this?” Wayne asked, holding it up toward the sky. “Pretty hoop o’ gold, that is. Who’d you trade this off of? I could use this, mate. It would make a nice metalmind.” “I think it’s already one,” Wax said, deflating. It had been a silly idea in the first place. Wayne gasped. “What?” Marasi... |
barely enough to temper the heat of the sunlight above. Seeing it all, feeling that perfect breeze, made Wax realize what annoyed him so much about the problems between Elendel and the outer cities. Did these people comprehend what life was like out in the Roughs, where planting was fraught with uncertainty, and the da... |
next you’d crest a hill into an open field and find that the sun hadn’t quite dropped below the horizon yet. Still, darkness did eventually arrive, but with it came no mists. Wax realized he’d been longing to feel them envelop him again. MeLaan led the sortie, keeping to forested areas when possible. She or Wayne would... |
underbrush again to where Wayne, Marasi, and Steris waited in the dim woods. “They’re here all right,” Wax whispered. “We have to find a way to get in. Tons of soldiers. Well-guarded perimeter.” “Fly in,” Steris suggested. “Not gonna work,” Wayne said. “They had a Seeker back at the party; you think they won’t have one... |
were almost high enough to see what was going on inside. Certainly, those flickering lights bespoke considerable activity: people moving down below, passing before the lights in the large chamber. But what were they doing, and why were they still at it well into the night? “Gonna be hard to sneak in there,” Wayne said.... |
moment they agreed with Wayne. So, before he could talk himself out of it, he pulled his shotgun from its holster and tossed it to Wayne. The shorter man caught it with distaste—guns and Wayne didn’t agree. His arms immediately started shaking. “Try to hold on tight,” Wax said. “Make an opening on the north side, if yo... |
sought a place deeper in the shadows, then hid the gun near the building so his damn hand would stop shaking. He got away none too soon. A pair of soldiers were approaching from the perimeter. “It was over here,” one said to the other. As they drew closer, one of the spotlights turned around and shone on the area, givi... |
gets me a talking-to. Shouting. That’s all this life is. Being yelled at day in and day out. Wayne smiled, then scuttled ahead of the man, looking for something he’d stepped over earlier. A set of black cords, each as thick as his finger, plugged into a big box near the building. As the guard came strolling past, not p... |
the entire building, with a curved bottom and a prow—unfinished on one side—that was easily three stories high. The thing had two long, armlike extensions at the sides. Pontoons? They were big, and one wasn’t finished yet, ending in a jagged line of construction. Jagged? Wayne frowned. That didn’t look like the way you... |
stroke echoing back from the walls. The group of engineers made exclamations as they discussed aspects of the large vessel. They seem surprised by it, Marasi thought. As if they’re not the ones who built it in the first place. Were they new to the project, then? Guards dotted the warehouse, but there weren’t nearly as ... |
shape of a small bottle. He took a swig and offered it to Wax, who accepted it and downed a drink. He coughed softly. “Apple juice?” “Good for the body,” Wayne said, tucking the canteen away. “I was not expecting that.” “Gotta keep the stomach guessin’, mate,” Wayne said. “Or it’ll grow complacent and all. How’re we go... |
what others must feel at being up so high. That ground was far, far below, and he didn’t have any metals in him at the moment. He growled and stepped around the hole. “That was not my fault. The board was weak.” “Sure, sure,” Wayne said. “It’s okay, mate. Most folks put on a little weight as they hit their twilight yea... |
golden pattern on the corridor ceiling did look something like a small ship. Why paint it here? He suspected it would take years to sort out this vessel’s many secrets. Once, Irich would have been content to spend his entire life picking through these oddities, writing about each and every one. Today however, his “enti... |
Irich turned back to them. “Why, how this thing moves of course.” “You don’t know?” Irich shook his head. “It defies all scientific knowledge available to us. Some mechanisms were undoubtedly damaged in the crash, but as you can see, the vehicle is mostly intact. We should have been able to ascertain its method of prop... |
noticed a small storage compartment that had popped open on the wall. There were hundreds of these scattered throughout the ship, containing ropes or weapons or other items. But this one had dropped something to the floor. A small, silvery cube. His heart leaped in excitement. Another of the devices? Such luck! He had ... |
without alerting the guards camped outside? Wayne nudged him. Down below, the limping man came back out of the boat. Wax focused the spyglass on him, watching as he crossed to one of the nearby rooms. “Did he look anxious about somethin’ to you?” Wayne asked. “Yeah,” Wax said, lowering the spyglass. “What did those two... |
all those guards, not to mention the Set’s kill squads? I’d say compared to that, it’s a pretty damn good idea.” “Tell me.” “Well, see,” Wayne said, sticking his gum to one of the catwalk’s support beams, “we’ve got this very nice engineer’s outfit over there on the unconscious fellow, and ever since that party half a ... |
an eyebrow in her direction. “You kandra have a unique perspective on society,” Marasi explained softly. “You’ve seen trends, movements across large scales.” “I suppose,” MeLaan said, twisting her lockpick. “What good does it do?” “Statistics show that if we make subtle changes to our environment—the way we approach ou... |
its fullest and directing its light for MeLaan. “Hmmm…” MeLaan said, then pressed her hand against the safe, ignoring the dial. Her fingers and palm went translucent, and then her flesh began to wiggle, squeezing into the joints, leaving behind crystalline bones held together with the barest of sinew. Marasi swallowed,... |
the cages looked like the type you might use to contain a large animal. They were empty. “MeLaan?” Marasi asked, glancing at the kandra—who did not respond. She looked utterly absorbed by her task. Marasi inched into the room, wishing for another light. What did they keep in here? Guard dogs? She hadn’t seen any of tho... |
man who saw that things got done. He liked it here, as they had a military way about them—they said what they wanted, and were straight with him. Men were rewarded for hard work. He didn’t like all those guns. And he certainly didn’t like the men in charge of this place. There was something off about them. But he held ... |
ship from tipping over. So it evened out. * * * “Please.” The creature spoke with a strange accent, but the voice was unmistakably human. Marasi breathed in and out in sharp breaths, regarding that hand reaching for her. A human hand. Lips that didn’t move … polished skin … That wasn’t a face, but a mask. This wasn’t s... |
Marasi backed away until she was beside MeLaan. The tall kandra woman watched with a skeptical expression, arms folded, as the masked figure staggered up against the boxes, holding to them. He panted, then lurched away from the boxes toward the back of the room. There was a door there that Marasi hadn’t noticed in the ... |
it?” “I’m a fast learner,” she said, looking far more comfortable now that she had a gun in hand. “Telsin,” Wax said. “Is he here? Our uncle?” “No. I was just speaking with him through that device. He likes … he likes to check in on me. I have to tell him how wonderful I think my accommodations are. He pretends I’m his... |
about, seeming dazed. How long had he been in that little cage, trapped in the darkness? Listening as his friends were taken, tortured, and killed. Rust and Ruin … His eyes found the safe, fixating upon it, and then he crossed the room in a shuffle. He reached inside, and for a moment she assumed he was going for the b... |
was wide and flat up here, though the planks were smoother than the deck of any ship he’d seen, and the gunwales were like the crenellated tops of a fort or old tower. He dropped Telsin. “I’ll be back soon,” he promised, leaping over the side of the ship. The man who had shot at him earlier wasn’t giving up, and fired ... |
“I saw the ladies go in there.” “Funny,” Wayne said, “’Cuz I see them peekin’ out over there.” Wax followed his gesture, and indeed saw MeLaan’s face behind a barely opened door out of one of the rooms at the side of the warehouse. Wax took a deep breath. “All right. Those armies will cut us apart, Allomancy or no, if ... |
he didn’t shout orders. He tore from the hallway in a furious Push on the nails in the walls, soaring out into the warehouse proper a foot or so above the ground, pulling up dust in his wake. The soldiers had been waiting for this. They had formed up on both sides of the warehouse, using boxes as cover, and they sent o... |
Push. Dazed, he was just able to glance up as the next slug hit him in the face. Thanks, Ranette. The other two Allomancers ducked down as they landed, expecting more fire, but the powerful shotgun held only two rounds. Wax dropped it into its holster as he knelt, grabbing Vindication. Behind! If there was a kill squad... |
her shoulder. She jumped, then found the small masked man behind her. Rusts! She’d almost forgotten about him. His other hand was frozen halfway toward his mask, and behind it his eyes were wide. She followed his gaze, which was focused on Waxillium, who landed beyond them. He must have increased his weight manyfold, f... |
sense, and part of her acknowledged it, but rusts— Shock, she thought. I’m going into shock. Oh, hell. * * * Wax soared high above the floor of the warehouse, zipping past the catwalks, where several gunmen with rifles had set up. He flipped Ranette’s ball device outward—catching it around the railing of the catwalk—an... |
of strength. That tossed people away from him in a blast. When the bodies fell, three men stood, stupefied, holding guns Wax couldn’t sense. He brought them down with a Sterrion—his other guns were out of bullets—then turned as he heard something distant. Horns blaring, a command. He leaped to the side, enough men dead... |
who was still muttering and holding her pistol. Outside the ship, it had gone unnervingly quiet. “Our best bet is still going out through one of the warehouse’s walls,” Waxillium said. “We’re going to have to push toward those rooms Marasi and MeLaan were in.” “That’s gonna be dangerous, Wax,” Wayne said, stumbling to ... |
them both up in a spinning leap. They landed inside the trapdoor, finding themselves in a narrow, low-ceilinged room fitted with a few chairs that were bolted to the floor. A single small window to the left looked out of the hull, letting in a sliver of light. The place looked like a railway compartment. “Great,” Wayne... |
to suggest—” “What?” Waxillium asked. “A little Push,” the masked man said, pointing downward. “On my mark.” “If I Push downward,” Waxillium said, “I’ll just fly up and hit the ceiling.” He hesitated as the masked man pointed to a pair of straps connected to the floor, with wooden handholds at the ends. Waxillium looke... |
doing great, O Divine One!” “I’m not going to be able to Push it much higher,” Wax said with a grunt. “The anchor is too far away.” “You shouldn’t need to,” the man said, scrambling past Marasi—he patted her on the shoulder—then fiddling with some controls at the front of the machine. “I’ll need the primer cube, please... |
He wanted to be quick. That ship wasn’t up so high that it would be safe if they had access to cannons. He dropped into the forest and surprised Steris, who sat on her horse with the others in a line, all packed and ready to go. “Lord Waxillium!” she cried. “I assumed you’d be coming, and prepared—” “Great,” Wax said, ... |
a ball. If you did look into her eyes, all you found was coldness. “Waxillium,” she said softly, “there’s a weapon of some sort to the south, hidden among the mountains separating the Basin from the Roughs. Uncle Edwarn has found it. He’s on his way there.” “How much do you know?” Wax asked, taking her hand. “Telsin, d... |
a beetle as he was to help a man, for all were the same to him. If you really wanted to get something done, you prayed to the Survivor, who had—somehow—survived even death. Marasi winced as MeLaan continued to work. “Hmm, yes,” MeLaan said. “Very interesting.” Marasi lay on the floor of the vehicle, near the doorway, h... |
up, amazed. “You said I was going to die!” “Of course you’re going to die,” MeLaan said, cocking her head. “You’re mortal. Can’t turn you into a kandra by just— Oh, you thought today. Hell, girl. That shot barely clipped you.” “You’re an awful person,” Marasi said. “You realize this.” MeLaan grinned, nodding to Waxilli... |
purse, bringing out the notebook she’d stolen from Irich’s study. She flipped to the page with the map and held it so both she and Waxillium could see it. It had a spot clearly labeled Second Site, some kind of base camp in the mountains. And beyond that, something high up among some other peaks, indicated as dangerous... |
Allik said. “But Brunstell’s crew was nearly a hundred, yah? I know that some died in the crash, but the rest … do you know where they might be?” He looked to her, and she could see pain in his eyes behind the mask. “Maybe,” Marasi said, surprised to realize she might. She turned the notebook around, showing the map. “... |
and now it is harsh and broken and frozen.” “Harmony…” Marasi whispered. “Allik’s from the South, Waxillium. Haven’t you read the old books? The people from the Final Empire never went in that direction. The oceans boiled, supposedly, if you got too close to the equator.” “The people who lived down south adapted,” Waxi... |
grants all of the powers?” Waxillium asked. Allik laughed. Marasi frowned. “Why laugh?” “You think us gods?” Allik said, shaking his head. “You see that? The one you hold? It is very complicated. It is stored with the ability to give yourself a sliver of holiness.” “Investiture,” Waxillium said. “This inner ring is nic... |
for him in a hidden range of mountains. He’d left the priests there, with the Bands, and told them to protect them until he returned for them. And, that was dumb, yah? Because we could really use those to fight the Deniers of Masks.” “Deniers of masks? Like us?” “No, no,” Allik said, laughing. “You’re just barbarians. ... |
did his navigation using devices she didn’t recognize along with some startlingly accurate maps of the lower Basin. How often had these people prowled through the skies up here, hidden in the darkness, observing and making their maps? Most of the others slept, comfortably tapping warmth as Allik had taught them. When M... |
infraction of any sort, and kept talking. She liked being able to see his face, even if his wispy beard and mustache looked a little ridiculous—it made him look younger than he really was, unless he was lying about being twenty-two. “It’s like…” he said, grimacing, “like a thing that runs the world, yah? When something... |
Marasi prodded. “Sorry. His mask … Svel, I mean. On the wall…” Oh. The conversation died, Allik staring out the front of the ship, then making a few adjustments to their heading. Outside, the landscape was dark save for a few pinpricks of towns, now far to their left. Though they’d initially skirted the Seran Range, Al... |
panel under the dash. “That’s what we’re going to do,” he agreed, nodding. Then he eyed her, his mask still up. “Of course, your people don’t have what we do. No airships at all. So they’ll simply let me and mine soar away, no information demanded, with this technology?” Rusts. He was clever. “Maybe we can give the gov... |
the Feruchemical device. Marasi wore one herself, comfortably warm—though up this high, the air was probably freezing. Allik settled back, and Marasi—curious—picked up the Connection medallion that he had set down. She turned it over in her fingers, noting the sinuous lines down the center, dividing it into separate me... |
“Yah!” Allik said. “Good eye, O Observan—” “Stop with the titles.” “Yes, um, O Confusing … er…” Allik took a deep breath. “Those are the peaks we’re seeking. Getting close. We’ll have to climb Wilg up even higher. Cold temperatures, dangerous altitudes.” He hesitated as Waxillium pointed at something ahead. Difficult t... |
the bloodthirst this woman had. “You can’t make a shot like this,” Wax said. “Not sure if I can either.” “Let me try,” Telsin begged. “I don’t care what it takes. I want him dead. Another will take his place, but I want him dead.” Wax sighted for a long moment, and everyone in the ship seemed to hold their breath. Fina... |
in blackness. A moment later MeLaan managed to relight her lantern and hold it up, showing that the ship had settled halfway on its side, one of the fan wings—which could fold up so the thing could fit in the larger ship—having bent up on its hinges, with a big heap of snow pushed in through the hole in the ship’s side... |
handing the packs out. Allik emerged, wearing that mask of his still, and stood on the side of his ship, staring at the fortress and shaking his head. He then turned and patted his ship, like it was some kind of puppy, until Steris appeared and chased him away for some reason. A few moments later Marasi climbed out, we... |
people from Allik’s region,” Wax said. “They came here to destroy the place. Fortunately, it seems they didn’t succeed.” He turned to go, but Wayne nudged him, nodding toward a hand sticking from one of the snowbanks. Looking more closely, he was able to pick out a dozen corpses, perhaps more, lying there in this icy p... |
he corrupted.’ The spears didn’t hurt him.” “Come on,” Telsin called from inside the building, where she’d been joined by Steris. Wax and the masked fellow moved off, but Wayne kept looking up at the statue. “So I’ve been thinkin’,” Wayne said as MeLaan passed him. “Yeah?” she asked, glancing at him. Rusts. Wax might t... |
He did something, opening its side, then used tweezers to extract what looked like a small nugget of metal. He shoved it into a cavity in the wall, then pulled down a lever. Wayne heard what he thought was distant humming, then a series of small blue lights started glowing on the walls. As was appropriate to match the ... |
the tip of it still jutting from the wall. The poor fellow’s mates must have tried to pull him free of the spike, but then had gotten caught in traps themselves. The masks were different from Allik’s, that was for sure. Made of wood with bits of glass stuck to them, each in a different, odd pattern. And these ones show... |
all this, they will have prepared for one such as you.” “Yes,” Wax said. “That spike was all wood.” Allik grew more frantic. “Then why would you—” MeLaan stepped on a pressure plate, causing a spear to launch out of one of the many small holes in the wall. It moved jarringly fast, piercing right through MeLaan’s torso,... |
a small thing, and so clean—a shining sliver of … pewter, was it? Staring at it in the light of Steris’s lantern, she wished she didn’t know its history. A person had been killed to make this, their soul ripped apart so a piece could be used to make a kandra. Even though it had been done long ago, to someone who would ... |
now, when he finally does seem to have accepted me, he treats me as merely a tool to be used or put back on the shelf as required.” Steris cocked her head at Marasi. “I think you mistake me.” Of course I do, Marasi thought with resignation. “How?” “I did not mean to say I minded being treated this way,” Steris said. “I... |
asked. “Well, love is a strong emotion, one that requires careful deliberation to—” “Steris.” “Yes.” She looked down at her notebook. “It’s foolish, isn’t it?” “Of course it is,” Marasi said. “Love is always a foolish emotion. That’s what makes it work.” She found herself reaching over and pulling Steris into a hug wit... |
her shoulder. “I don’t know if we have a moment, Ladrian,” she said, sitting up and accepting a canteen of water from the nervous Allik. Telsin stood nearby with arms folded, obviously annoyed at how long this was taking. She kept glancing over her shoulder, as if at any moment she expected to find Suit there to take h... |
its surface oddly oily-looking. “What in Harmony’s Rings—” MeLaan said, squatting to inspect the ice. “Acid, maybe?” Wax said. “It looks like whatever they stored up there was a liquid, but it separated over time, and half froze.” MeLaan stared at it a long time. “What?” Wax asked. “Nothing,” she said, shaking her head... |
destroys society.” “Pushing society forward is no destruction. Even if, in doing so, it leaves us behind.” She withdrew into herself again. He couldn’t blame her, after her ordeal. He wished there had been time to go back to Elendel, see her situated in someplace warm and safe, before flying back here. They retraced th... |
said. “Or…” “Or what?” Wax asked, stopping in place. “We’ve got him captured,” Wayne said, thumbing over his shoulder. “Marasi has a gun to his rusting head.” Captured? “Impossible.” “Yeah,” Wayne said, sounding troubled. “He walked right up to us, carrying a flag. Says he wants to talk. To you.” 25 Wax passed from the... |
so much easier.” “Why did you come here, Uncle?” Wax demanded, stepping out of the doorway and casually putting his back to the wall, in case there was a sharpshooter outside. He noticed, impressed, that Marasi had done the same. “Why did I come? For the same reason as you, Nephew. To find a weapon.” “I meant,” Wax sai... |
said. “A pity the Lord Ruler gave his fantastic knowledge to them, don’t you think? Barely men. They must hide their—” “How do you know?” Allik continued, speaking more loudly. “About the hallway? About the door?” “Your captain knew many things you did not, I believe,” Suit said. “Did she tell you about the group of Hu... |
before it, looking the symbols up and down. “Push on that one,” he said, pointing toward one of the engraved circles. “With Allomancy.” Wax cleared everyone back save Wayne. The shorter man nodded, wearing the bracelet that would let him heal great amounts, speed bubble at the ready in case somehow Edwarn planned the a... |
softly. “I suspect more than a monster like you can ever know.” “You think me emotionless?” Edwarn said, his voice stern. “I tried to spare your life, Waxillium. I argued before the Set on your behalf. There was a time when I loved you like a son.” Wax raised Vindication again. “When we’re done with this,” Wax said, “y... |
which she made lists. “Wax has a natural affinity for things what kill people,” Wayne said. “You’re all still lookin’ at me. Rusts, you think I somehow got in here and lifted the rusting thing?” “No,” Marasi admitted. “But someone did. ReLuur the kandra?” “No,” Wax said, crouching and picking among the pieces of glass ... |
her bullet veered as well, missing Edwarn. Then her weapon flew backward from her hands. Suit smiled at her with infuriating unconcern. At the pedestal, Waxillium stumbled back. He’d been hit right where the collarbone met his neck. He tried to remain on his feet, but Telsin shot him a second time, in the abdomen. Waxi... |
said. He waited a moment to see if Wayne replied, then sighed, taking his foot off Marasi’s neck. Dazed, still having trouble breathing, she took stock of the situation. MeLaan was writhing on the floor. When had that happened? Allik and Steris stood frozen with wide eyes. This had all taken place in a flash. A few yea... |
cling to—oozing out of her clothing, leaving her bones and her skull of green crystal to gaze vacantly at the ceiling. Telsin pointed toward the pit Waxillium had fallen into. “Chase him down.” “Me?” Suit said. “Surely we can wait for—” “No waiting,” Telsin said. “You know him best. You hunt him down. He is still alive... |
of his thigh. He’d taken a shot to the leg too, but that didn’t matter. He’d broken that leg in his fall anyway. The shot near his neck was the worst. He knew this without even touching it, knew it by the way his body worked—by the way pieces of him were growing numb, the way certain muscles didn’t respond right. That ... |
just made too much sense. She’d caused Wayne to knock the backpack out the door. She’d killed the brute in the warehouse, when he’d been about to speak—potentially addressing her, outing her as a member of the Set. Suit wouldn’t … wouldn’t have come into the temple with them unless he had the upper hand.… He needed to ... |
head. “I think not.” He stepped on the pressure plate, triggering the trap. * * * Telsin marched Marasi and the others out of the temple. And, once they were outside, Telsin reached to Marasi’s arm and ripped free the medallion there. Marasi gasped, clutching her purse as the cold descended upon her like a swarm of ins... |
a fist slamming him to the ground. Bones crunched inside of him. He gasped, but got a mouthful of dust. He knew how bad it was when the pain faded. As the dust settled, he found he couldn’t move any part of his body. A weight rested on his back, pinning him with his head to the side. One of his hands hung within his vi... |
scrambled into view. He knelt beside Wax and looked him over, seeming horrified. “Wayne,” Wax croaked. “How…?” “Ah, ’s nothing,” his partner said. “Slipped out and fell down another of those holes. That one ended in spikes, I’m afraid. But I was able to heal up and climb out, once the soldiers had passed, then slip int... |
Suit strode past. He looked far more intimidating dropping through the air using Allomantic abilities than he had bundled up for the weather and standing on the steps of the temple. “Is my brother dead?” Telsin demanded, turning from her group of engineers nearby. “Yes,” Suit said. “Though I encountered the short one.”... |
He growled, and stumbled to his feet. He had no weapons; he’d dropped his dueling canes above. He stared at Wax’s body, then knelt and felt along the man’s leg. He got ahold of something and yanked it free. The shotgun. Wayne’s hands immediately started shaking. “You stop that,” he hissed at them. “We’re done with that... |
He had a quiet voice, familiar to Wax. Like that of a forgotten friend. “I’m dead then.” “Yes,” Harmony said. “Your body, mind, and soul have separated. Soon one will return to the earth, another to the cosmere, and the third … Even I do not know.” Wax continued walking. The shadowy cavern vanished, and Wax had a feeli... |
world. He could feel it choking him, a miasma of dread and destruction. “Perhaps,” Harmony said softly, “I have already done just as you suggest. You do not see it, because the worst never reaches you.” “What is it?” Wax asked, trying to take in that vast redness. It beat inward, but he could see something, a thin stri... |
tapping a metalmind, letting her move at a speed so fast that when she lifted her hand, she could briefly see the pocket of vacuum left behind. She smiled. Then she burned her metals. All of them. In that one transcendent moment, she felt herself change, expand. She felt the Lord Ruler’s own power, stored in the Bands ... |
leave yet.” She opened the notebook, which she’d hollowed out with Wax’s knife in the rear of the skimmer, while Marasi was talking with Allik up front and the others slept. “Did you know that when I evaluated everyone’s usefulness on this expedition, I gave myself a seven out of a hundred? Not very high, yes, but I co... |
that, my son.” He extended the hand. Wax hesitated. “Tell me one thing first.” “If it is within my means.” “Did she come here? When she passed?” Harmony smiled. “She asked me to look after you.” Wax seized the left hand with his own. He was immediately pulled toward something, like air being sucked through a hole. Warm... |
found the advantage. He passed soldiers scurrying about and unloading weapons on the frozen plain of rock. They’d planned for a potential fight here, as he’d worried he might encounter more of the masked savages. “Sir!” one of the men called. “Orders?” He gestured toward the sky. “If anyone other than the Sequence drop... |
as the ground retreated. It worked. Immediately, implications flooded his mind. Travel. Shipping. Warfare. New regions could be settled. New types of buildings and docks would be needed. It would all flow through him. He suppressed a smile—best to celebrate after he was safely away—but he could not stop the heady sensa... |
through her, like a sunrise within. She sighed in relief, her mind clearing. It was him. “How?” she whispered. “I,” Allik proclaimed, “have made friends with some of the devils.” He gestured to the side and a female maskless one almost toppled in, wearing one of the long dresses that were popular here, carrying an armf... |
hand, somehow gave him not just Allomancy, but ancient Allomancy. The potency of those who had lived long ago, during the time of the Lord Ruler. Perhaps even more. Was that possible? What did you create? he wondered. And how long will it last? His resources were diminishing. Not merely the metals inside of him, but th... |
the bomb,” Suit said. “It is set to explode in mere moments. Unless I stop it.” “Let it explode,” Wax said, holding up the Bands—metallic strata weaving across the triangular chunk of metal. “I’m pretty sure I’ll survive it.” “And those below?” Suit asked. “Your friends? My captives? From the sounds of it, they’re figh... |
can’t give you a dusty road, but perhaps we can squint and pretend that the frost is playing that role.” Wax drew his lips to a line. Edwarn looked entirely sincere. “Don’t make me do this, Uncle.” “Why?” Suit said. “I know you’ve been itching for this exact opportunity! You have an aluminum gun, I see. The same as min... |
going straight up through the stone—half this chamber had collapsed as a result—but following his route would have been an arduous climb. The power was gone. She’d handed it over to Waxillium, but instead of feeling deflated, she felt … peaceful. Hers was the serenity of a woman who’d lain stretched out on a perfect su... |
always hated it. I’m a Terrisman, Uncle.” He increased his weight manyfold. He tapped everything he had in his arm bracer, hundreds of hours spent being lighter than he should have been. He brought it all out in one moment of desperation. The airship lurched. And then the floor shattered. Wax clung to Suit as they fell... |
them. She’d already tasted him on the air, and knew his flavor. “Welcome back,” Wayne said, grinning. “I think we won.” 30 Marasi accepted the canteen from Allik. It steamed from the top although it was only lukewarm to the touch. She sat on the steps up to the temple, swathed in about forty blankets. She’d surrendered... |
stories hadn’t conveyed. Marasi was glad for it, but she had stepped to that ledge, then turned back. Proud though she was of having fulfilled her mission for the kandra, she had decided that things would be different for her in the future. She was all right with that. It was what she had chosen. “Frosts,” Allik said a... |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.