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This perfect new world had a disappointing amount of normalcy to it. He yawned, closing his door. The room held a cot and a desk. No candles or lamps; they didn’t yet have the resources to spare those. His head was full of Breeze’s instructions on how to be a king, and his arms hurt from training with Ham. Beldre would... |
a combination of the powers, he managed to make himself unable to age—unable to die, under most circumstances. You’re Mistborn, Spook. Halfway there. Aren’t you curious about what else is possible? I mean, we have a little pile of Inquisitor spikes, and nothing to do with them.…” Immortal. “And you?” Spook asked. “What... |
of the Wax and Wayne books. (There are some hints in those, as the original books have hints at this story.) I can’t promise that I’ll write Secret History 2 or 3. There’s already a lot on my plate. However, the possibility is in the back of my mind. THE TALDAIN SYSTEM TALDAIN is one of the most bizarre planets in the ... |
a whispering touch, catching fine grains of sand between its fingers and bearing them forth like thousands of tiny charioteers. The sand, like the dunes it sculpted, was bone white. It had been bleached by the sun’s harsh stare—a stare that never slackened, for here, in the empire of the white sand, the sun never set. ... |
the sand glow bright enough to be seen even from a short distance, which meant he had at least moderate power. The testing continued, some of the boys producing glows similar to Traiben’s, some barely managing to turn the sand black. Overall, however, it was an unusually strong batch. They would bring much strength to ... |
boy said, his voice barely audible over the wind. A short distance away the line of retreating mastrells and boys paused, several heads turning in surprise. “You have no talent for sand mastery, boy!” Praxton spat, waving for the group to continue moving. They made only a perfunctory show of obeying the order. Few peop... |
have years. She felt rushed as she read biography after biography, often staying up well into the night taking notes. She did not believe that she could do what they asked of her. Creating a believable Forgery of another man’s soul, particularly in such a short time, just wasn’t possible. Unfortunately, she had to make... |
as Praxton waved him over, standing far enough away from the others that the two could have a private conversation. For once, Kenton did as commanded, moving over to hear what the Lord Mastrell had to say. Praxton looked back at the mastrells, then turned back to Kenton. His eyes only briefly shot down at the sword tie... |
defiance, it was Praxton. “Then I’ll be an acolent until the day I die, Lord Mastrell,” Kenton replied, folding his arms. “You can’t be a mastrell,” Praxton reiterated. “You don’t have the power.” “I don’t believe in power, Father. I believe in ability. I can do anything a mastrell can; I just have different methods.” ... |
end your run where it stands.” The shorter man reached into his white sand master’s robes, pulling out a small red sphere. “There are five of these hidden on the Path,” he explained. “Your goal is to find all five. You may start when I say so. You have until the moon passes behind the mountain and reappears on the othe... |
least. Four years of standing before the entire population of the Diem, presenting himself for an advancement that would not be granted. He knew that most of the others considered him a fool—an arrogant fool. At times, he wondered if they might be right. Why did he keep pushing for a rank he did not deserve? Why not be... |
to slow despite the fatigue of sand mastery. He was beginning to regret his insistence on bringing his sword—the weapon seemed to grow more and more heavy as he ran, dragging at his side. Going along the bottom of the chasm instead of jumping was costing him precious time. He had already wasted about sixty minutes of h... |
side of a wall like a sleepy sandling. Still, the process worked, and barely a few minutes later he was nearing the top of the chasm. It was then that he noticed something—a small ledge about ten feet down the side of the cliff. Perched on the ledge was a small red sphere. Kenton smiled in triumph, maladroitly climbing... |
ability was that sometimes sand mastery wasn’t the answer. His eyes almost passed over the solution before his brain registered it. A small pile of black sand. There were only two things that could change sand from white to black—water or sand mastery. Kenton smiled, approaching the discolored sand. It wasn’t pure blac... |
was a reason the ability to change sand into water was the most valuable of sand mastery’s skills. Casting such thoughts aside, Kenton continued to jog. The rock walls were rising high around him again. Even as he began to think the area looked familiar, he rounded a corner and stopped. Up ahead he could just barely ma... |
This was the last sphere. It should have been the most difficult to find. Only a moment later he felt the sand begin to shift beneath his feet. “Aisha!” Kenton yelped in surprise, jumping backward. It couldn’t be … The sand near the sphere began to churn like boiling water. There was something beneath it—something that... |
were said to have poorly developed sight. Their true sense was the sand itself. It was more than an ability to feel movement; for some reason sandlings could sense the location of even a completely still body. The Kerztians said deep sandlings could actually speak with the sand, though few from Lossand gave credence to... |
tumbling over the claws. Kenton dropped heavily to the sand, then scrambled in the direction of the sandling’s original position. Somewhere in that sand was the sphere. He didn’t really need to kill the sandling; he just needed to find the sphere and get away. He released his sand, dropping it to the ground black and s... |
more. The mastrells cried out in surprise as Kenton dashed away from the wall, his face resolute. “Idiot boy!” Praxton’s voice sounded behind him. Kenton brought sand to life, whipping it past the creature and using it to snatch his discarded sword from the sand floor. The blade flashed through the air, carried on fing... |
is in here. What to say about White Sand? I’m thrilled to, at long last, be publishing this graphic novel. (And I’m very thankful to Dynamite, the publisher, for letting us include this excerpt in the collection.) White Sand started very long ago as a simple image: finding a body buried in the sand. The novel was the f... |
provided, I have concluded that some measure of Investiture must have existed on this planet before the battle between Shards. However, the waves of destruction—carrying ripped-off chunks of Ambition’s power—twisted both the people and the planet of Threnody. The planet is home to two separate continents. The larger of... |
way. (This turned out to not be the case, fortunately.) I didn’t want to write just another clichéd story about a femme fatale, or a woman soldier who was basically a man with breasts. What other ways could someone be dangerous? I knew early on that I wanted my protagonist to be a middle-aged mother. Threnody was a ful... |
rival it, and there one of the planets is inhabited solely by Splinters. All four of these planets have water as a dominant feature. And one of them, the first planet, has a perpendicularity. I have not been able to discover why, or how, this perpendicularity exists. There is certainly no Shard residing in the system. ... |
early drafts of this story, they’re available (along with the three stories written by the other hosts of Writing Excuses: Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler) in an anthology called Shadows Beneath. THE ROSHARAN SYSTEM ROSHAR (which—characteristic of the dominant confidence of its people—is the name of ... |
point that it is difficult to distinguish what is pre-Shattering in origin, and what is a newer development. Surely, many of the spren that now exist on the planet have arisen from the friction between Honor, Cultivation, and Odium. Odium. Be aware that this system is the current habitation of the Shard of Odium on the... |
held in place by little tufts of moss that grew on the ground and stuck to things like stones, holding them down as shelter against the wind. Lift’s foot flashed with pain and she tumbled in the air, then hit the stone ground face-first. Reflexively, she made her face awesome—so she kept right on going, skidding on her... |
nice clothing—big, comfy coats and robes. Clothing you could get lost in. She’d liked wearing something soft for once. Then they’d started asking. Why not take some lessons, and learn to read? They were grateful for what she’d done for Gawx, who was now Prime Aqasix, a fancy title for their ruler. Because of her servic... |
next to it decided to fall as well. Perhaps they thought they were missing out on something. Wyndle found her grinning like a fool, staring up at the sun, spread out on the tree trunk with her arms interwoven with the branches, a single golden gloryspren—shaped like an orb—circling above her. “Mistress?” he said. “Oh, ... |
gardener. I’m an artist! Why, I was planning an entire exhibition of sofas when the Ring chose me for this atrocious duty.” “Smufld gramitch mragnifude.” “Would you take that out of your mouth?” Wyndle snapped. Lift did so. Wyndle huffed. How a little vine thing huffed, Lift didn’t know. But he did it all the time. “No... |
what people said. This was a sight. The Azish liked to consider themselves grand, but they only plastered bronze or gold or something over all their buildings and pretended that was enough. What good did that do? It just reflected her own face at her, and she’d seen that too often to be impressed by it. No, this was im... |
She eyed his tangle of a face. “You know something about Shardblades, don’t you?” The vines seemed to wilt. “You do. Out with it. What do you know?” He shook his vine head. “Tell me,” Lift warned. “It’s forbidden. You must discover it on your own.” “That’s what I’m doing. I’m discovering it. From you. Tell me, or I’ll ... |
falling, and get ready for the clatter it will make when it hits.” “So you do feel it.” “Maybe,” Lift said. The chull cart rolled past. Nobody paid any attention to her—they never did. And nobody could see Wyndle but her, because she was special. “Don’t your Voidbringer friends know about this?” “We’re not … Lift, we’r... |
his way across Roshar too. Little people. Quiet people.” “And we came here why?” She shrugged. “Seemed like as good a place as any.” He let himself slide off the back of the cart. “As a point of fact, it most expressly is not as good a place as any. It is demonstrably worse for—” “You sure I can’t eat you?” she asked. ... |
she said. “It’s everyone else that’s weird.” Before he could reply, she ducked underneath the chull wagon and started sneaking toward the front of the line. 3 “TALLEW, you say?” Hauka asked, holding up the tarp covering the suspicious pile of grain. “From Azir?” “Yes, of course, officer.” The man sitting on the front o... |
Tukar was heating up. Granted, everyone was always saying that. But things had changed over the last few years. That god-king of the Tukari … there were all sorts of wild rumors about him. “That’s it!” Hauka said. “Your Grace, I’ll bet that man has been in Emul. He’s been raiding their fields while all the able-bodied ... |
a nightmare. “Out of there, child. Do you have parents?” “Course I do,” the girl said, rolling her eyes. “Everyone’s got parents. Mine’r’dead though.” She cocked her head. “What’s that I smell? That wouldn’t be … pancakes, would it?” “Sure,” Hauka said, sensing an opportunity. “Sun Day pancakes. You can have one, if yo... |
a pancake in each hand and another in her mouth. She passed the guards and scrambled toward the cart with the smuggler, who had climbed down and was ranting about his grain getting soiled. Hauka leaped to grab the child—and this time managed to get hold of her leg. Unfortunately, her two guards reached for the girl too... |
there was this strange black dust at her feet. It blew away in the wind. “Captain?” Rez asked. “Take over immigration for the next hour, Rez. I need a break.” Storms. How on Roshar was she ever going to explain this in a report? DAY TWELVE SHAI pressed her stamp down on the tabletop. As always, the stamp sank slightly ... |
looking at the table. “Why should you?” “I have studied ancient arts extensively,” he said. “This is from the Vivare dynasty?” “No.” “An imitation of the work of Chamrav?” “No.” “What then?” “Nothing,” Shai said with exasperation. “It’s not imitating anything; it has become a better version of itself.” That was a maxim... |
state, the stronger its sense of complete identity becomes. That table is made up of various pieces of wood fitted together, but do we think of it that way? No. We see the whole. “To Forge the table, I must understand it as a whole. The same goes for a wall. That wall has existed long enough to view itself as a single ... |
return to the palace kitchens eaten, though he is, of course, secretly being fed broth. He drinks it when prompted, but stares ahead, as if both deaf and mute.” “And the chamber pot?” “He has no control over himself,” Gaotona said, grimacing. “We keep him in cloth diapers.” “Nights, man! And no one changes a fake chamb... |
another. People swarmed all about, chatting and stomping and coughing. This was the good kind of life. Lift liked being on the move, but she didn’t like being alone. Solitary was different from alone. She stood up and started walking, hands in pockets, trying to look in all directions at once. This place was amazing. “... |
road, passing lines of homes cut into the wall, and strings of other homes smushed between them. Those shanties looked inviting—warm, packed, full of life. She even saw the green, bobbing motes of lifespren floating along among them, something you usually only saw when there were lots of plants. Unfortunately, she knew... |
vine shot out tiny creepers that stuck to her skin to keep it in place. On the page, he spread out other little vines, completely growing over the book and between its pages. “Hmmm.…” Lift leaned back against the wall of the slot as he worked. She didn’t feel like she was in a city, she felt like she was in a … tunnel ... |
girl to remember. “Lift?” Wyndle asked. He’d made a little tower of vines and leaves that blew in the wind. “Why haven’t you ever gone to the Reshi Isles? That’s where you’re from, right?” “It’s what Mother said.” “So why not go visit and see? You’ve been halfway across Roshar and back, to hear you talk. But never to y... |
eh?” “Yeah.” The girl turned as if to leave, but then reconsidered and put a hand on Lift’s arm. “You,” the girl said to Lift. “Outsida?” “Yeah.” “You listenin’?” “I’m listenin’.” “People, they don’t listen.” She smiled at Lift again, then finally scuttled away. Lift settled back on her haunches in the alleyway across ... |
you couldn’t eat—though Lift figured that was probably the point of using spheres instead of something rational, like bags of food. If you actually traded food, everyone would eat up all their money and then where would society be? The Tashi’s Light Orphanage was a corner building, cut into a place where two streets me... |
ahead, sightless, drooling. He had a scar on his head, healed mostly, but still an angry red. The woman bowed her head, then her back, and slunk away, leaving the boy. He just sat there, staring. Not a baby in a basket; no, that was a children’s tale. This was what actually happened at orphanages, in Lift’s experience.... |
like you.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” Lift demanded. “That if you don’t want rats on your ship, you shouldn’t be in the business of feeding them.” The woman shook her head, then moved to pull the door shut. “Wait!” Lift said. “I need somewhere to sleep.” “Then you came to the right place.” “Really?” “Yes, those be... |
still answer my question?” “Depends on how lame it is.” “What body part do you feel that you are most like?” he asked. “Are you the hand, always busy doing work? Are you the mind, giving direction? Do you feel that you are more of a … leg, perhaps? Bearing up everyone else, and rarely noticed?” “Yeah. Lame question.” “... |
a line up there, grown longer than when she’d been in it. Many people were actually making camp on the stones. Some enterprising merchants were selling them food, clean water, and even tents. Good luck, Lift thought. Most of the people in that line looked like they didn’t own much besides their own skins, maybe an exot... |
but curved up the outside of the captain’s tenement. Lift climbed, using his vines as foot- and handholds. This took her up past a number of windows, but only a few of them were lit. One pair of windows on the same side helpfully had a washing line draped between them, and Lift snatched a shiqua. Nice of them to leave ... |
waved at them. “Mistress,” Wyndle said. “You told me to warn you if someone went into the building.” Right. She started, remembering what she’d been doing, the fog leaving her mind. “And?” she asked, urgent. “And Darkness himself, the man who almost killed you in the royal palace, just entered the building below us.” D... |
your jurisdiction. If anything he needs to file against the highway guard, and classify it as banditry.” “That’s what I told him!” “You are not to be blamed, Captain. You faced a force you cannot understand, and which I am not at liberty to explain. I need details, however, as proof. Did she glow?” “I … well…” “Did she... |
a ladder, then chasing after him within a trench. Fortunately, it seemed that people in here expected some measure of jostling as they moved through the streets. The confines weren’t completely cramped—many of the larger streets had plenty of space. But those walls did enhance the feeling of being boxed in. Lift had lo... |
battering against him, though he remained stiff and didn’t seem to notice or mind the attack. Still holding to her, he bent and picked up the basket of fruit, then carried it toward the shop, dragging the thief after him. “Thank you!” the shopkeeper said, taking back the basket and looking over Darkness’s uniform. “Um,... |
bladed weapon, however, is death.” “But … But that was barbaric! Couldn’t you have just … taken off her hand or … or … something?” Darkness stopped, then looked back at the shopkeeper, who cringed. “I have tried that, where the law allows discretion in punishments,” Darkness said. “Removing a hand leads to a high rate ... |
that most of the streets have a slope to them, to siphon water outward. Where does it go from there though?” Whatever. She inspected the big cistern, which did have a neat bridge running across it. The thing was so big that you needed a bridge, and people stood on it to lower buckets on ropes down into the water. Darkn... |
Lift thought. The people. Where are the people being strange? She scrambled through the crossroads, intuiting the way. Something about how people stood, where they looked. There was a ripple here. The waves of a passing fish, silent but not still. She turned a corner, and caught a brief glimpse of Darkness striding up ... |
shuttered window about five or six feet up. That would be on the first story of the building, but it was up somewhat high, because everything was built up a ways in this city. Lift hunkered down and let some of her awesomeness out. The little tree beside her stretched and popped softly. Leaves budded, unfurled, and gav... |
by the wall, sheathed and deadly. Sparring leathers on the floor near the corner. The smell of oil and sweat. There was no door in the doorway, and she peeked out into a dark hallway, listening. There was a three-way intersection here. Hallways lined with rooms led to her left and right, and then a longer hallway led s... |
salty, with chopped-up vegetables. Another tasted sweet. The third variety was fluffier, almost without any substance to it, though there was some kind of sauce to dip it in. She slurped that down—who had time for dipping? She ate every scrap, then settled back against the wall, smiling. “So, we came all this way,” Wyn... |
city.” “Sir!” the Reshi woman said. “I prevented an assault in an alleyway! A man was being accosted by thugs!” “While this is well,” Darkness said, still pacing back and forth in a calm, even stroll, “we must be careful not to be distracted by petty crimes. I realize that it can be difficult to remain focused when con... |
Darkness said, his voice firm. “I contacted Ishar, and he assured me it is so. What you saw are a few listeners who remain from the old days, ones free to use the old forms. They summoned a cluster of Voidspren. We’ve found remnants of them on Roshar before, hiding.” “The storm? The new storm, of red lightning?” “It me... |
is too great. At sunset, I will deal with the issue myself.” “Bollocks,” Lift whispered. She shook her head, then scuttled back along the hallway, away from the group of people. “Wait,” Wyndle said, following. “Bollocks? I thought you claimed you didn’t say words like—” “They’ve all got ’em,” Lift said. “’Cept the girl... |
an arm or leg. Things like that. Lift idled near the wide alleyway mouth, near where two blind girls played a game. One would drop rocks of a variety of sizes and shapes, and the other would try to guess which was which, based on how they sounded when they hit the ground. The group of old men and women in shiquas from ... |
so? Honestly, I don’t know what that term means, but judging by your tone, I’d say that I’m probably giving you lip. And you probably deserve it.” She grunted in response, chewing on her food. It tasted terrible, as if it had been left out all night. “Mama always told me to travel,” Lift said. “And go places. While I’m... |
friends end up as emperors.” She shivered, then leaned in. “People pick his nose for him.” Mik looked at her blankly. “Yeah. I’m serious. They pick his nose. Like, he’s got this woman who does his hair, and I peeked in, and I saw her sticking something up his nose. Like little tweezers she used to grab his boogies or s... |
pockets. “About what, little one?” “About everything,” Lift said. “Who tells you how to decide what to do with your time? Was it your parents who showed you? What’s the secret?” “The secret to what?” “To being human,” Lift said softly. “That,” the man said, chuckling, “I don’t think I know. At least not better than you... |
get a Shardblade.…” He smiled at her, the expression appearing in successive patterns of his growing vines along the wall as they chased her. Each image of the smile was slightly different, grown one after another beside her, like a hundred paintings. They made a smile, and yet none of them was the smile. It was, someh... |
something strange, they’d have written it down. Lift scampered through the garden, brushing vines with her toes and causing them to writhe away. She hopped up onto a bench beside a likely target, an older woman in a brown shiqua, with the head portions pulled up and down to show a middle-aged face wearing makeup and di... |
supposed to have to plant lavis, tallew, or clema: much more labor-intensive—but also more profitable—crops to cultivate. Yet here they were. What if it rained tomorrow, and washed away all this effort? What if it never rained again? The city cisterns, which were glutted with water from the weeks of Weeping, would not ... |
all that, they’ll have written down strange stuff for sure!” “And how, precisely, are we going to find the specific information we want?” “Easy. You’re gonna read it.” “… Read it.” “Yup. We’ll get in there, you’ll read their books and stuff, and then we’ll decide where strange events were. That will lead us to Darkness... |
very important things. She was pretty sure of that, because everyone in Azir wouldn’t shut up about their patterns. The scribe was fat. She needed, like, three shiquas to cover her. Either that or a shiqua made for a horse. Lift wouldn’t have thought that they’d give scribes so much food. What did they need so much ene... |
they were wearing it,” Lift said, rolling her eyes. “Look. Just pull out one of those glowing pens and write to the palace. Then we can get on to the important stuff. My Voidbringer says you got tons of papers in here we’re gonna have to look through.” The woman stood up. Lift could practically hear her chair breathe a... |
a way where you didn’t have to actually see people to tell them what to do? This is Lift, she wrote. Tell Fat Lips I need her. I’m in trouble. And somebody get Gawx. If he’s not having his nose picked right— The door opened and Lift yelped, twisting the ruby and scrambling off the table. Beyond the door was a large gat... |
description of the woman, and two questions only she can answer, as proof of authentication. But know this—if she is harmed or impeded in any way, you will know imperial wrath.’” “Thanks, Gawx,” Lift said, then looked up at the scribes and guards. “That means you gotta do what I say!” “And … what is it you want?” the f... |
mistakes? Or was there another reason? The door to her chambers opened. They had stopped knocking. Why would they? They already denied her any semblance of privacy. She was still a captive, just a more important one than before. Arbiter Frava entered, graceful and long-faced, wearing robes of a soft violet. Her grey br... |
a little late, his seal started to dim right before he arrived. He always got to her in time to renew it, but perhaps someday … Frava inspected Shai, eyes calculating. Shai met that gaze with a steady one of her own. “Zu assumes I’m going to do something horrible to you while we’re alone.” “Zu is simpleminded,” Frava s... |
she did. Assuming she’d jump at a chance like this, assuming that a smuggler and a Forger were basically the same thing because they both disobeyed someone else’s laws. “That sounds pleasant,” Shai said, smiling her most genuine smile—the one that had an edge of overt deceptiveness to it. Frava smiled deeply in return.... |
in from the west.” “And the monsters?” Lift said. “Things with red eyes in the darkness?” “Everything is in chaos,” the scribe said—her name was Ghenna. “We’ve had trouble getting straight answers. We had some inkling of this, from reports on the east coast when the storm struck there, before blowing into the ocean. Mo... |
you want the report of the man who claims his pig was born with two heads? What about the man who says he saw the shape of Yaezir in the lichen on his wall? The woman who had a premonition her sister would fall, and then she fell?” “Nah,” Lift said. “That’s normal strange.” “What’s abnormal strange, then?” he asked, ex... |
the paper. “You should arrest her and spend all her money on soup. Give me half, for tellin’ you where to look, and I won’t tell nobody.” The guard raised her eyebrows. “We can write down that we did it, if you want,” Lift said. “That’ll make it official.” “I’ll ignore the suggestions of bribery, coercion, extortion, a... |
Course, that didn’t mean luck didn’t exist. You either believed in that, or you believed in what those Vorin priests were always saying—that poor people was chosen to be poor, on account of them being too dumb to ask the Almighty to make them born with heaps of spheres. “So what do we do?” Lift said. “Pick one of these... |
Ghenna said. “We will listen very well.” But not necessarily obey. The viziers had explained this. Azir might claim to be an empire, and most of the other countries in the region played along. Just like you might play along with the kid who says he’s team captain during a game of rings. As soon as his demands grew too ... |
still … still worth trying, right?” Stupid cheerful Voidbringer. She glanced at him, then pulled out the wads of paper. “These are useless. We gotta start over with a new plan.” “And with much less time. Sunset is coming, along with that storm. What do we do?” Lift dropped the papers. “Somebody knows where to go. That ... |
her, and she stepped lightly just in case. It— Lift frowned, then crouched down, looking one way, then the other. What was that? “Two-Two-One…” Wyndle said. “Two-Two-Two…” “Voidbringer!” Lift hissed. “Shut up.” He twisted about, creeping up the wall near her. Lift pressed her back against the wall, then ducked around a... |
registering what he’d said. She glanced down at him. “The distraction?” “No.” Wyndle’s vines twisted about one another, tightening into knots. “I’ll do it, mistress. I can sneak into the room. I … I don’t believe their spren will be able to see me.” “You don’t know?” “No.” “Sounds dangerous.” His vines scrunched as the... |
had been so warm, and kindly, so ready to take care of everyone. It was incredible that anyone on Roshar should be as good to people as she’d been. She shouldn’t have had to die. Least, she should have had someone half as wonderful as she was to take care of her as she wasted away. Someone other than Lift, who was self... |
Wyndle said. “But mistress, they know who the person is! They’re heading there right now. To perform an execution.” He poked at her with a vine. “So … maybe we should follow?” “Yeah, okay,” Lift said. “Guess we can do that. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?” 16 TURNED out it was way hard. She couldn’t get too close, as the... |
mad raving and what is not.” “Oooookay,” Lift said. “But you didn’t attack me.” “No. The sword likes you.” “Great. I like the sword too.” She glanced at the sky. “Um … do you know where they’re going?” “The report described a man who has been spotted vanishing by several people in the city. He will turn down an alleywa... |
different directions and she slammed onto the stones crotch-first. She cringed at the flash of pain, but didn’t have time for much more, as she fell into a tumble before dropping right off the side of the tall steps. She crunched down to the bottom a few moments later, landing in a humiliated heap. Her awesomeness prev... |
before arriving, and her stomach growled in protest. The amphitheater was empty, of course. Orphanage to her left, built into the solid stones, seats of the little amphitheater in front of her. And beyond it the dark alleyway, wooden shanties and buildings cluttering the view. The sky had grown dark, though she didn’t ... |
miss my mommy.” “What about the gummers in the alley? Will they be all right?” Their uncertainty thrummed through Lift. She’d been here. After her mother died, she’d been here. She’d been here dozens of times since, in cities all across the land. Places for forgotten children. She’d sworn an oath to remember people lik... |
said, wagging her finger. “Thanks,” Lift mumbled as the Stump moved on. The pancakes were cold, and unfortunately of a variety she’d already tried—the ones with sweet stuff in the middle. Her favorite. Maybe the Stump wasn’t all bad. She’s a thief and a thug, Lift reminded herself as she ate, restoring her awesomeness.... |
that were probably laundry draped along strings between shanties. They looked like twisted, broken bodies in the gloom. Another flash of lightning from the approaching storm didn’t help; the red light it cast made the walls and shanties seem painted with blood. How long was this alleyway? She was relieved when, at last... |
it says about you that these people with such dramatic beliefs live lives that are—basically—the same as the rest of you.” There, Lift thought, picking him out in the shadows. The shape of a man, though as lightning lit him she could see that he wasn’t all there. Chunks were missing from his flesh. His right shoulder e... |
The assassin. The surgeon. The liar. The highprince. But not you. The others all ignore you … and that, I hazard to predict, is a mistake.” He took out a sphere, bathing the place in a phantom glow, and smiled at her. She could see the lines crisscrossing his skin where the cremlings had fit themselves together, but th... |
climbed the wall beside her, and the cremlings shied away from him. They could sense him? “I’m helping with far more than your little personal problem. I’m building a philosophy, one meaningful enough to span ages. You see, child, I can grow what I need. Is my mind becoming full? I can breed new hordelings specialized ... |
her. On the wall, Wyndle whimpered. “What if I’ve been lying all along,” Lift said. “What if I’m not strictly awesome. What if I don’t know what to do?” “Instinct will guide you, I’m sure.” I feel lost, like a soldier on a battlefield who can’t remember which banner is hers, the guard captain’s voice said. Listening. S... |
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