Chapter Text
Prologue
Andés was crouched at the top of a building, observing the mists being slightly dispersed by the gentle rain.
It wasn't unusual to rain in Doriel, it was a coastal town after all, and although the mists would prevent to see clearly at night, the fortunate drizzle will make any vigilant tin eye have a hard time finding him. Although that fortune was compensated by the fact that he would have to walk with a wet mistcloak, a dark gray garment, from which hundreds of strips that were sewn on the shoulders and chest detached.
He carried his leather backpack, a wooden plate on his chest, his purse and a dueling staff that he hid behind the tentacles of his cloak, it was rare for a mistborn to carry a long weapon, normally they only settle for obsidian knives and coins to use as projectiles, unfortunately, he was no mistborn.
Andés looked at the cold, old fortress, not only dirty with ash, but also for the lack of care for its walls, the mistreatment of its servants, and the lack of inspiration in the architecture. The stronghold was occupied by a nobleman who had once managed to make a good name for himself, only to lose most of his fortune due to a series of bad deals in recent times. Lord Proposte sold fish to nearby noble houses, the family had become rich by creating a method of transporting fish over long distances without it spoiling, but they had to stop their operations since the methods for such transport were unorthodox for the Lord Ruler's likeness.
He had been probing the place for two weeks now, it wasn't difficult, it was normal for the decaying city to be full of snoopers to mix with, that plus a few bribes and he discovered that in that fortress there should only be a few conshots and two tin eyes for tonight, so Andés decided to enter at once.
Burning the iron inside him, blue lines appeared in all directions, an effect of his powers. Andes was what is known as a mistling, a lurcher to be more specific. The mistlings could consume a metal and obtain properties from it, in his case he could use iron and "Burn" it to be able to attract nearby metals around him, as if he were pulling them with an unbreakable thread.
He dropped a coin and launched himself in the direction of the fortress while slightly pulling on the metal, slowing his fall speed. It was more difficult than it seemed, you had to position the coin in specific places so that it did not slip when lurched, fortunately he already had a lot of practice with his powers and that was not a great challenge for him.
As he fell, he slid down the cracked wall. Helping to better control his fall, he used the ledge of a window to support his foot, he almost felt like it was going to come off, so he jumped and landed on an old wooden roof adjacent to one of the guard posts.
Dropping another coin, he grabbed his hook and threw it towards the top of the wall. When he hooked himself on the ledge, Andés began to climb the rope. Yes, he could attract himself to the hook, but he decided to simply use his muscles, he had to stay in shape and not rely solely on his allomancy to move, besides, it doesn't hurt to save on the use of his metal. He had his reserves full, but if he had to face a pewter arm, or worse yet, flee from an unexpected Mistborn, he would need every last drop of iron to escape, although that didn't cause him to stop burning. It was known if he would have to catch a surprise projectile.
He always found it curious how some Allomancers decide to ignore or leave aside a large number of abilities, believing that they will no longer use them. Coinshots abandon bows and crossbows, as if a coin propelled by its own weight penetrated deeper than the arrow of a drawn bow, or rioters and soothers, who resign themselves directly to combat, thinking that manipulating emotions would turn them into burdens for a hazekiller team.
There would have to be at least four guards above the wall, with the blue lines he could distinguish the pieces of armor, spears and ornaments that they were wearing, indicating the positions in which they were.
Once up, he walked calmly, observing, attentive to the blue lines roaming the wall, with the mist it was not difficult to evade the sentinels, this was like a curtain of dense smoke that prevented the vision of everything more than two steps away, but you still had to be careful, you could always find a hazekiller deviating from its usual route for any unforeseen reason. He knew that Lord Proposte had hired some a few weeks ago. He had forced Andés to completely change his infiltration plan, for one that took into account those trained soldiers.
He walked until he found a small clay roof, he decided not to go through it, it could be very noisy. Instead he carefully observed the entire roof area, distinguishing where it connected to the main building.
He managed to distinguish a window not far away thanks to its hinges that were presented before the blue lines on his chest, marking their direction. He wouldn't enter that way, it was too far away, but it helped him remember the geometry of that building.
Paying attention, he observed the blue lines that helped him visualize some lanterns inside the house. He couldn't see them, but he vaguely felt their shape. He took a few steps back, calculated his jump, and before pushing off, he threw a coin out of the wall. He began to run, launching himself into the void, lurching himself towards the lanterns, and before crashing into the wall, he pulled the coin he had thrown, which collided with the outer wall, stopping its rapid impact against it.
Andés climbed, lurching the lanterns from inside the building, they should be strong enough to support his weight. Standing over the ledge of the window, he positioned himself above the lock it had, there he unlocked it with a tug, opening it and allowing entry.
It was dark inside, he could barely make out the decoration of the hallway. Through the darkness he could see the paintings and rugs in the room, all worn or of poor quality, bought solely to keep up appearances for his skaa servants.
Following the blue lines of the lanterns, Andés went deeper into the fortress, he could distinguish the walk of the guards inside.
Third floor, fifth room on the left, next to the office, he remembered. If his information was correct, he would have to find the safe there, and hopefully some atium. Proposte was too poor to have even a pearl, so poor that normally a rumor like that wouldn't be worth going undercover, but the tax reports he had were still worth a fortune to the gang.
He walked silently to the stairs while leaving coins along the way, just in case. A sound at the end of the hallway forced him to stop; he didn't detect a single moving piece of metal.
Hazekiller .
Years ago, before snapping, he had trained to become one, they were elite soldiers, prepared to kill mitlings like him. They have precise enough vision to distinguish shadows in the mists and attentive listening to hear the silent footsteps of intruders. These characteristics made them a serious problem, although he could use them to his advantage.
Andés quickly hid in a room, and paying attention to the footsteps outside, he waited for them to be nearby. When the time came, he pulled out one of the coins he had left behind, causing a small noise. This caught the attention of the elite guard, it was almost indistinguishable, but enough for him to pay attention and go to investigate. After a few seconds, once he was sure that the hazekiller was gone, Andés opened the door and headed towards the stairs again.
The door could have creaked, he thought. The fortress was old, and he knew that many of the hinges were rusted; the door from before could very well have creaked enough to attract the guard's attention. That realization bothered him, he did not let himself be guided by luck, he was uncomfortable leaving his destiny in the hands of everything in which he had a lack of control. He had prepared a bottle of door lubricating oil for these cases, but he had forgotten to use it, he couldn't help but conclude that he had to be more cautious, such a blunder could mean death.
It didn't take him long to find the room, but he decided to walk around every corner to make sure that no one of importance was hanging around the place. He knew that Proposte was not awake at this hour, but his son was known to make some nocturnal escapades.
Andés placed his ear on the door, making sure not to hear any noise inside. Taking a jar from his bag, he poured a little oil on the hinges, then carefully turned the knob and opened the door without it squeaking.
He cautiously entered the room, closing the door behind him. The floor was made of stone, so he didn't have to worry about it thundering, even so he made sure that his footsteps made as little noise as possible.
He approached the wall that was adjacent to the office, his iron allowed him to see the safe that was hidden in the wall. The lock was in Lord Proposte's office, but that was a cover, he discovered from a contact that the door of that safe was really immovable.
Andés approached, and there in the wood of the wall he saw with his iron two nails that seemed out of place.
There it is.
Number of the nails in the wood, separating it cleanly from the wall, revealing a lock. It was exactly the same model that he had been told, so he took a lockpick from his bag and began to force it. Unfortunately, he couldn't risk getting the key, Proposte made sure he had it on him, and when he didn't, he only entrusted it to highly trusted servants.
Even with his expertise, it took Andés several minutes to open the lock, but it finally gave way. Inside there was not a single atium pearl, instead they found papers, a bag of coins, and...
What's that?.
Andés saw a large ingot of silver metal, but he did not perceive any blue lines of it, he was stunned seeing this metal, was it aluminum? After some deliberation, he took the ingot along with the papers and put it in his bag, closing the safe, beginning to prepare again to leave.
He was suddenly stopped by the sound of two guards chatting, Andés placed his ear again on the door and began to listen.
"I found three, as you said, they were on the corners," said the guard, worried, "I'm starting to think you're right."
"Shh, we're here," his companion repressed. "Let's hope it's just paranoia on my part."
Andés heard how the door to the next room opened, seeing how the blue lines of both guards entered, so he decided to quickly slip away, taking advantage of the slight opportunity.
He opened the door again and as he walked out, he immediately crashed into something.
-Huh?
A Hazekiller suddenly blocked his path. He had followed the guards in silence, avoiding making any noise. The soldier took a second to respond, which Andés took advantage of to start running. Unfortunately, the soldier reacted and grab him by the mistcloak
"A mistborn!" the guard shouted, Andés rushed, took his dueling staff and attacked, aiming for the head, swinging the staff quickly. The soldier released the mistcloak and jumped back, avoiding the blow.
It didn't take long for the two guards to leave the room, so Andés tried to grab the coins he had been leaving, but they were gone. That's what they were talking about, he concluded.
He ran instead, attracting lanterns and loose pieces of metal in the hallway. He flew a good distance, aproaching the window, where another hazekiller intervened, blocking it,
Shit, Andés weight. He knew it would take another thirteen seconds for the alarm to go off, and he wouldn't have time to find another window, so he attacked the hazekiller. First he threw some coins at him, these were obviously not pushed with steel, but the guard dodged them anyway. Positioning himself quickly, Andés lurched the coins, hitting the soldier who was in his way in the back, he used the distraction to cling to the iron hinge that was on the window, pulling it with force to quickly pass by the soldier's side, and using inertia, delivered a strong blow to the leg that knocked him down.
The man did not give up and on the ground he forcefully grabbed the mistcloack, Andés threw a handful of coins towards the man, one of them landing on his neck, and pulling the metals on the outside, he attracted the coin. Using the weight of the wall, the metal embedded itself in the hazekiller's head, causing its instant death.
The alarm sounded immediately afterwards, Andés could see the guards running towards his direction. He went out the window, leaving a coin behind, using it to cling to the wall, and slow his fall, landing on the clay roof, which he used to run up to the wall.
There were some guards waiting for him, Andés again threw a few coins, this time on the ground of the wall in front of him. He dropped towards the small precipice, and as he descended, he attracted the armor of the guards, who had approached to see, causing the weight of the suddenness to throw them towards the bottom of the fortress while Andés ascended, changing its anchorage by that of the coins it had left behind.
Once up, Andés noticed a piece of metal flying towards him, he reacted quickly and pulled the coin, embedding it in his wooden breastplate.
Conishot, he cursed.
As he jumped outside the wall, the coinshot shot him again. Andés ran along one of the roofs and pulled the hinges of a window two buildings away, launching himself in that direction. Encountering the wall of said building, he pulled the nails in the ceiling, reducing the impact and using his arms and legs to climb the wall at high speed.
One of the ceiling nails gave way, hitting the wooden parapet again. Before the other nails separated from the roof, Andés placed one foot on a slope and jumped, clinging to the wood of the roof and climbing that building. The coinshot was reaching him, so Andés started to paid attention to the geography of the neighborhood and launched himself into the void.
Using the building as an anchor, he slowed down until he found the perfect height, once there, he began to lurch everything that was in front of him, hinges, cutlery in houses, nails. He concentrated, and the moment they gave way, he stopped pulling, it was a technique that took two years to learn, but it allowed him to plan and slide through buildings. Of course, this would not normally be possible for any lurcher, Andés had not only trained to move through the air, but he also had to learn to identify which anchors he should pull and which he should not, in addition to foreseeing dead ends, to It was often possible to find an entire street that did not contain a single piece of useful metal. Although this time that was what I was looking for.
Andés approached at full speed an area with a significant lack of metal, he had to think quickly, he knew that the coinshot could see him because of the metal he had on him, so he ran and positioned himself in the middle of the place, a park practically empty of any metal source, he could barely see the blue lines coming out of his chest.
After a few seconds, he could feel his opponent's bag. He watched his pursuer's coin fall to the ground, so Andés quickly pulled both the coin and the bag, which flew towards him in an instant. Immediately afterwards, he heard the cry of the coinshot, who was falling from a great height, with no anchor to cling to.
Without looking back, Andés ran until he again encountered walls full of nails and hinges, which he used to return to the ceilings. Once at the top, he managed to get lost in the mists, escaping from the fortress.
FIRST PART:
BETWEEN THE KNIFE AND THE MIST
Chapter 1
Why am still alive? , the young girl asked herself.
It was already early in the morning, the rain had stopped hours ago, and the mists were beginning to accompany it on its departure. The girl looked at the sky full of ash with a lost gaze.
She was seated, leaning against the wall of a lonely alley. She didn't like being with the other beggars, the idea terrified her, even though she had never heard anything bad about them. Maybe they were a kind group, but she was still afraid of them, and she couldn't help but feel hatred for that feeling. She hated having to distrust and fear the people around her, the thought made her sick to her stomach and caused her more pain than loneliness, so she had made the decision to simply not to make that risk.
She had stayed up late again, lately she was doing it more often. It wasn't because of the uncomfortable floor, she had already learned to tolerate the hardness of the stone, the numbness stopped after an hour after waking up and it was even pleasant when the stone was cold in the hot nights. No, it wasn't because of the smell, she had lost that sense months ago, or at least that was what she had convinced herself to avoid going crazy. It wasn't because of the dirt either, after all she was no cleaner than the floor she sat on.
She was having trouble sleeping for another reason, one that was a little bit more dramatic. Her mind did not stop harassing her, guilt and remorse assaulted her every night, telling her that she should have died, that she was a coward for not joining the beggars, that she was going to die tomorrow, that every day, she survived was thanks to luck. She hated every moment those thoughts passed through her head, but there was nothing she could do to stop them.
She rose from the ground, preparing to beg another day. Taking her box, she left the alley, heading towards the main street, trying to avoid the broken glass scattered all over the ground.
She had to be careful, since she was barefoot; two weeks ago her shoes had been stolen while she was sleeping, along with the little money she had left. The only thing she had were some dirty, torn rags, with holes everywhere, held together by a bit of thread, and a wooden box, which had nothing special, was the same length as her torso, and probably once It was used to transport food in a restaurant in the rich area a few months ago. But that didn't matter to her, she just knew that it belonged to her and that it was the only thing she owned besides her clothes, having it made her feel a little more comfortable.
The streets were completely dirty from the rain, the water carried away the ash, creating a black and gray pattern that covered the walls and floors around them. The mud it generated was unpleasant, too, including the sea salt that came with the wind, making cleaning anything outside a nightmare for any skaa sweepers, who rarely made an appearance.
Doriel was a coastal city from what she was told, she could never see the sea from where she lived, but she knew it was there. At some point, the Lord Ruler changed the trade routes, causing the rich and powerful houses to leave the city, leaving only minor nobles who ran the important businesses in charge.
In an attempt to prosper, they adopted an aggressive philosophy against the skaa, believing that by squeezing them they could double profits and gain powerful status. But the reality was that those nobles were just the leftovers of other more relevant houses, and no matter how hard they pushed, they could not get more production from the workers, forcing them to only reach the minimum required quota.
She knew a lot about the internal politics of the city, since she was little she was interested in learning about the people and things that bothered them. She could still remember when she had asked… no, don't think, just walk .
The girl reached a residential area, it was a deviation from the usual path she took to beg, but she passed by that place every day anyway. She saw how people left their homes to work, because no matter how precarious their lives were, at least they had one. They moved forward, some happy, others frustrated, but they moved forward, causing her to feel anger towards herself, which helped cover up her sadness and loneliness for a while.
Walking down the street, she dragged her box along the ground as she looked at the battered and abandoned buildings. The windows were broken, held in place by pieces of rubble and wood, which fell away from the walls, giving an appearance of abysmal rot. Which was a curious sight, given that the interiors were usually well maintained.
Many families lived together, so they could afford a good home by pooling the savings of several generations of workers, and some even had luxuries, even if they were small. This whole façade of rot only served to keep hidden from the steel ministry the good living conditions that a large part of the skaa enjoyed despite the excessive mistreatment of the nobles. Although they had told her that they probably knew it, they just turned their heads the other way, if it works, why fix it?
She had always lived in this city, but it wasn't until a few months ago that she started to see how really dirty it was from the outside. Living indoors, in a warm home with food every day, had given her a warped perspective on reality.
Remembering her past life made her think about what happened, for that reason she avoided doing so. Just thinking about her name made her stomach turn, causing her pain. Even knowing her age affected her, she knew that she was about fourteen years old, she was young, there were days when thinking about how young she was would have bothered her, days when she would have loved to pretend to be an adult, but those days were no more, Now only the harsh reality remains, in which she knew nothing, and that she was nobody. Stranded in the city, surviving on the charity of others.
She didn't want to stop by the bakery, they had already given her some leftovers last week, and she wanted to come back with some money as a thank you, so she decided to walk to the factories instead. It was more dangerous, she had been mugged a few times in the past, and if they did it again this time she would have nothing to give for her life, but she was running out of options.
It still surprised her how benevolent people could be, many people were in a situation like hers, and yet, if she made an effort using the strength within her, those people deigned to leave her food or money. That made her feel guilty, these people worked a lot and earned little, and she only took, only swearing to herself that one day she would give it back. But she never did, and the guilt only piled up day after day.
She had arrived at the city's factory complex, it was a conglomerate of tall and wide buildings where people went to work. Many appeared to be almost as old as stone, but a surprising number were relatively new. She never knew who built them, she always thought it was the nobility, but the most powerful had left years ago, so who had the money? All those ideas bounced around in her head, she always thought, she had a bad habit of always having her head moving, they had told her that she was intelligent because of that, but wasn't it normal? She didn't understand that empty flattery, what was the point of thinking so much if at the end of the day she was only acting on instinct?
She sat outside one of the factories, and waited there. That's what her daily routine consisted of, sitting and feeling sorry for herself, yes, she was despicable, she hated herself for doing that, but she still continued, day after day.
Why did they always reject her for work? No matter where she went, she seemed to be of no use. There was still a place to ask, but she had vowed never to resort to speakeasies.
After a few hours, the workers began to leave one of the factories, they did not look happy, some passed by her but they all seemed to ignore her.
bad day, s he thought. Asking would be dangerous, if these people were too angry, no matter how much effort she put into appealing to mercy, there was a possibility that they would decide to attack her, no one would miss a beggar.
Seeing that she wouldn't have much luck in this area today, the young girl took her box and began walking towards one of the nearby alleys in search of another place to beg. She had to be fast, maybe she could reach the steel factory workers, the technology they used to make steel was technically illegal in the final empire, but it was more efficient, usually leaving their workers less exhausted.
She came to a small narrow path between a factory and some old houses, she could hear the wind suddenly sneaking around the corners, giving her chills. She didn't want to be here for a long time, she avoided these streets whenever she could, sometimes she heard screams and footsteps that never indicated anything positive, in addition, the ash accumulated in piles, making small mounds that you could slip on when they were wet.
She couldn't help but hear the sound of someone walking not far from where she was. She turned into another, slightly narrower alley, hoping not to attract the attention of whoever was lurking nearby, but the footsteps didn't stop.
When she turned her head she was able to glimpse a silhouette approaching her at a fast pace. The girl focused on her path again and began to run. It's just a coincidence, nothing more. She was able to hear how the person following her began to accelerate his pace. Realizing the danger she was in, she tried to quickly sneak around the first corner she came to, but the sharp turn caused her to slip on ash mud at the last second, falling on top of her box.
Others seemed to appear from the shadow that was chasing her, they took advantage of the opportunity and quickly surrounded her. The young girl stood up, turning towards her pursuers. They were some boys not much older than her, who looked at her with a smile, slowly approaching
"Wow, this is a dangerous place for a girl like you to be hanging around, don't you think?" said the one who seemed to be the leader without the slightest attempt to sound friendly "How about you come with us? We know a much safer place for you".
Just by listening to it, the young girl understood that these boys would kill her for fun if she was not careful. The way their leader spoke showed how they enjoyed the agony of others.
The girl focused on the strength she had inside her, trying to channel it to survive. There were many of them, so he couldn't try hard enough to forcibly dissuade them, fortunately, the leader seemed willing to be the only one to act.
She began her performance shaking a little at will. Fear was of great help to her, and exaggeration was not a bad thing in situations like this. Her goal was to cause pity, perhaps they were ruthless, but there was a small chance that a defeated and fearful face could dissuade them from ignoring the aggression just for today.
As she expected, her performance did not stop the young boys, they began to approach more apprehensively, one rushed over and took her by the arms. The girl gasped as she tried to gain strength.
Why do I bother?
She couldn't ignore a small part of her mind that told her to let it be, to let them have their way, that she deserved it. She was tempted to give them control and let this end once and for all. Another of the boys approached and started touching her.
¡No!, s he thought immediately. At the end of the day, she was more afraid of dying than of these kids, it was the consequences of being a coward. She decided to start using her strength. Not with her arms, she was too weak from hunger to break free, she took the strength from within, sorrow and shame, she remembered how little she was worth, she remembered how no one alive loved her and how she was going to die, probably at their hands. guys.
Taking in all her current feelings, she began to cry, using those negative feelings which she showed to her attackers. She didn't know if it would be enough, but she did it anyway. She didn't want to move, she didn't want to think, she didn't want to exist, she just prayed it worked.
The hands of the boy who was holding her began to shake too, he reacted, pushing her to the side. With dismayed faces, some of the boys took a step or two back, the one who seemed to be the leader, also trembling, approached her.
"Ahgh, it doesn't matter, if you're going to cry, I'll give you a good reason!" he said with a fast, nervous voice. The boy took the box and began hitting the girl with it, then picked her up by her long hair and placed her against the wall. She concentrated even more on her strength, she was frustrated, in pain, humiliated, she focused on those emotions and exposed them with a screech that was heard throughout the alley.
The boy who was holding her trembled a little and after a few seconds he let her go, having been overcome by the girl's negative energy.
Frustrated, he took the box and kicked it out of the alley without saying a word. The others looked at each other, confused and limited themselves to only following their leader who had just left.
Crawling on the floor, still hurting from the blows, she managed to sit with her back to the wall. They had taken her box.
It wasn't special, it was a simple piece of wood with a few nails, but it hurt, she had another thing now. Her clothes, now much more torn, were the only thing she had left.
She just waited, she had no strength left of any kind to beg, and knowing that things will probably only get worse, she looked up at the sky and wondered.
Why don't I die?