Wax wiped his brow with his hand. “You … mentioned help, from Harmony?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
“It’s close.” VenDell turned, glancing at the door. “Oh. Rather, I should say it’s here. See for yourself.”
Frowning, Wax stepped up to the door and peered through the observation window. The guard was staring toward the front doors of the building.
Where Death had arrived.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Once again I must object to your continued allowance of ads from Soonie Industries, manufacturers of the “Soonie Pup,” who have also ignored my numerous letters regarding their historically egregious depictions of the Ascendant Warrior’s companion as a Terris wolfhound, when scholars have repeatedly demonstrated that modern dog breeds were not yet established in the Days of Ash, and that the Ascendant Warrior’s Guardian was not a wolfhound, but in actuality a wolf dog.
Grudgingly Yours,
Professor Olin Tober
University of Elendel
GUEST EDITORIAL
by Gemmes Millis, Interim Editor
ENFORCE NOSEBALL BAN!
We see them in every unsown field and vacant lot. Vagrants and layabouts, some of them even our own children, congregating in gangs and “playing” the game of Death himself: noseball. These “players” should be going to school or working in factories! Instead, their mal-aimed balls hit unsuspecting motorists and create road debris. The mayor banned this miscreance months ago, yet the conners don’t enforce it. R*st and R*in, some of them even join in! Come to a Rally Against Noseball next Steelday afternoon in Tabret’s Park, adjacent to the city center, and join a Cause Worth Fighting For!
VISIT THE BANDS OF MOURNING TEMPLE SITE!
Basin Bill Tours now travels to the locale of Dawnshot’s famous showdown. Daily re-enactments starring Trevva Cett-Venture and Penelope Portreau. (Additional hot springs day trip packages now available!)
THESE ARE NOT COINS!
They are dangerous Malwish talismans that must be turned in to the authorities for proper disposal. Keep yourself and your loved ones safe from nefarious Malwish witchcraft. Contact N & N at #42 Sixteenth Street for a generous REWARD.
The Man Who Electrifed Time!
The new novel by Bilmingborn working man Schrib Welfor. Available now in all fine bookshops!
HELP WANTED∼Bendalloy Misting cook for new “quick eats” café. Will pay top boxing plus bonuses and bendalloy stipend for off-work recreation. Great hours! One day off a week plus two days off for Survivorday or Harmontide each year. Apply in person at Kevron’s on the corner of 2nd & Nellis.
FOOD DELIVERY∼Order ahead for on-time meal delivery day or night, rain or mist, from any open food establishment. Our trained Steelrunners avoid traffic by knowing all the highways, byways, and throughways. Submit orders to Vema at Steel Kitchen by noon for next-day service.
WEATHER∼Chance of fog at Lighthouse Point. Break in thunderstorms, but low mist conditions for two weeks or more. High: 26 
Low: 17
ELARIEL YEARLY
Spring Salon
Come to our flagship store in the City to see our Terris-inspired designs by up-and-comer Idkwyl Elariel.
OPENS BRASSDAY!
DRINK! DELICIOUS CHOC-O-TONIC
PUT A SPARKLE IN YOUR EYE!
CHOC-O-TONIC
Are you skeptical of other sparkle tonics and their alleged “secret formulas”? Searching for a sparkle tonic with flavor you can identify without hiring a chemist? Search no longer! We flavor our sparkle tonic with only the finest imported Malwish beans, roasted and condensed into an invigorating beverage. Ask for it by name!
Flight of the Ornisaur
Though I desperately wanted to peek, my regard for my longtime companions compelled me to honor their request, even though the sound of their merging was like an octopus kissing a giant slug. For ten minutes.
When I was allowed again to look, the beast before me resembled a featherless version of the paintings of ornisaurs we’d seen at the quarry, with long thin bones and batlike wings. On either side of the creature’s head, where it would normally have had eyes, was KeSun’s face on the right and Tabaar’s on the left.
“You’re absolutely beautiful!” I said, clapping my hands.
“You are an odd one, Miss Sauvage,” said the beast from Tabaar’s mouth.
They picked me up in a claw and launched from the cliff, the skin of their wings snapping into place like an umbrella canopy.
Below us, the tops of more stone outcroppings materialized against a gradual, soft mist that made it impossible to see where the mists ended and the outcroppings began.
I scanned for signs of Vila. If I were her, I would wait to attack until we entered the mist, so I directed Tabaar-KeSun toward it as I slipped my snake-shaped metal knuckles over my left hand. In my right, I held my umbrella at ready.
We entered the mist, and just as I predicted, Vila’s form emerged, arcing toward us until we collided.
“Where’s the key!” Vila said.
“Far away from here by now,” I replied with a smile.
Vila growled, showing her teeth. What followed was a frenzy of punches and kicks while she tried to hold on to the ornisaur leg. That was to my advantage, though, as Tabaar-KeSun’s claw grasped me just tightly enough that I could fight without falling into the abyss.
I beat Vila a few times with the end of my closed parasol, and then, when I had her distracted, I landed a punch with the metal knuckles. As the gold snake met Vila’s cheek, I burned chromium
28
Wax had never seen Death himself, though Marasi had met the creature once. Known as Ironeyes, the ancient Inquisitor had weighty spikes through his eyes, the points jutting out the back of his skull. One of his eye sockets had been crushed during a fight, as recorded in the Words of Founding that Harmony — Sazed — had left. Wax could make out the scars, intermingled with faded tattoos, outlining the eye sockets.
Death wore voluminous black robes and had ghostly skin — looking ill. The hands jutting from his sleeves were so lean they appeared skeletal. Wax had grown accustomed to speaking with beings out of myth; the kandra, even TenSoon, were practically mundane to him these days. But he still felt an unsettling disquiet at seeing Ironeyes. This being was said to escort the souls of the dead to the Beyond.
The entire room outside — filled with desks, constables, and underlings — had grown silent. No one dared turn a page of paperwork; they all stared at that figure silhouetted against the brazen sunlight behind. Something emanated from him. A dread that crushed the soul like a hand around yesterday’s broadsheet. A …
No, Wax thought. I do not fear this. I’ve stared down death already.
Strangely, the sensation of dread evaporated from him. Had that been … emotional Allomancy? It was difficult to recognize in the throes of it, but it appeared obvious in hindsight. Yet this time it didn’t affect Wax as it did everyone else, including Marasi, judging by how pale her face had gone.