Knight of Iron

Cruz fell, tumbling through the air. Heart beating fast and on the edge of panic, he attempted to remain calm He positioned himself to take the least amount of damage as possible. If he could just survive the fall... he could always heal himself. If he survived. As he twisted in the air, he felt something slam into him, and his descent slowed to a stop. He hovered midair, skin pummeled by furious winds. How... who...? He looked around, and saw Trace on the ground below him, bleeding out. He looked above him, and yelled in surprise. A figure hovered in the air above him, facing off with Lena... and, somehow, the very air itself carried a voice... "The Queen has need of her charge. Killing you would waste my time. Do not get in my way." Fear struck Cruz's heart, and he panicked. He was frozen in awe. The figure landed gracefully on the ground, and pulled Trace off the ground, assisting with her wounds. "Wait!" he cried, unsure if he could even be heard through the roaring wind. "I can heal! I can heal her!"

I have recently re-read Elantris, and looking back to Galladon's Way of Kings appearance, a few questions arose for me. I don't know if they've been answered yet, and I'd like to hear any theories that exist. Galladon uses terms like "friend" and "understand?" in the local language rather than terms like "sule" and "kolo". I cannot imagine Galladon saying understand rather than kolo, so I am leaning 100% towards some magical translator that worldhoppers have. Do all worldhoppers have something like this, or do some just have to learn the language? And his appearance doesn't fit as well either. And how did an Elantrian get off of Sel? Actually, that might be the reason his appearance is different, as he is no longer on Sel. Hmm. And do we have a translation of "Alavanta kamaloo kayana?"

PAIN. Cruz dropped to his knees, and Lena pulled the sword straight out of him, standing above him. To deal the final blow. Cruz used his Aspect, healing himself, but he wouldn't be fast enough... Lena stood above him, flaming sword in hand... was she waiting? He gasped for breath as the pain eased. He looked Lena in the eyes, hatred on his face. Lena let the sword drop to the ground, then kicked it away so Cruz couldn't grab it. Smart, but not necessary. "Cruz, why do you have to be this way?" "What do you mean?" he challenged. "You killed my friends!" "You keep saying that, Cruz," she said, serious. "They weren't your friends. You should have disassociated with them long ago, like I told you, and it never would have been a betrayal! I killed criminals, Cruz! Criminals! Your have killed nobles who have done less than those gangsters!" "Don't call them gangsters!" he hissed. "They were addicts, Cruz! You came to me, in need of training, in need of belonging. You had no home, and I gave you one. But you were still connected to them. Cruz, you didn't know what they did when you weren't around. When you, the one who only wanted friends. They were leading you down a dark path, Cruz. And I've told you that." Lies. They must be, right? His friends... Sebastian. Dant. Yugo. The others. All years older, they took him in, and he was part of them in no time. But... he had to admit Lena had a point. Looking back, they weren't the a very good influence on him. Were they ever really his friends? Yes, they were. It was all he had. "This was a mistake, Lena. Sorry for bothering you." With that, Cruz leaped off of the tower.

Cruz ducked for cover before Lena shot a couple fireballs in his general direction, and all chaos broke loose. One absolutely shattered her window, and the other hit the wall opposite and dissipated. "Coward!" Cruz yelled. "Absolute coward!" Lena shook her head solemnly. "Says the one who brutally murdered by decoy with a pistol." She cornered Cruz by the window. "Who's the coward now, Cruz? Are you going to run, like you did all those years ago?" Cruz froze and stared her right in the eye, so they were face-to-face again. "You betrayed me, killing the only ones I loved! Will you kill me, now, too?" Lena sighed. "Says the one who just brutally murdered by decoy with a pistol. Yes, if you remain a threat, I will have to kill you, too." Lena put her hands together and summoned a massive fireball, and launched it at Cruz and sent him flying out the window... Cruz grabbed the ledge and hoisted himself onto the brick. He began climbing, anything to get away. This entire operation had been a mistake. Where was Trace? He hoisted himself onto the third and final floor of the fortress. He could see the whole grounds from here. And beyond that, the city. Life. He looked around, trying to find any sign of the girl--the Yevon. Darn it, what kinds of friends did he make? Suddenly, Lena jumped up from where Cruz had just come from. Cruz had been expecting this, so he rushed her, hoping to knock her off. Apparently, this was a bad idea, as Lena had a freaking flaming sword in her hand. Lena was knocked off balance, but managed to avoid falling of the edge. And her sword plunged into his gut.

They flew into a flurry of punches, kicks, and dodges, with Lena managing to pull of a back spinning hook kick on Cruz's head. Cruz snapped himself into an offensive mindset, and grinned, baring his fangs. He held out his hands as if he were grabbing a ball, and lunged at Lena. He raked his fingers across her swinging arm and reached out, grabbing Lena's throat and bringing her down to the ground, pushing to crush her windpipe, but she knocked his hand off and rolled away, getting onto her knees, defensive. "Stars of Eldea, Cruz," she panted, "I've forgotten how good you were at Sugando." "Fight me, then!" he cried, "Prove yourself!" "I... I'm afraid I can't let you kill me, Cruz. The martial arts... it was fun. But like you said, we're assassins. We have other skills." And with that, her hands burst into flames, casting a fiery glow to the room. Her Aspect, the one advantage she had over Cruz.

"What do you mean?" Cruz asked, knife in hand. "Do you really think I didn't know those murders were yours?" asked Lena. "Sure, there was your friend. But I knew you were behind it. Killing nobles, again? Really?" "You don't have place to lecture me, murderer!" Cruz roared. "You killed my friends in cold blood, then expect me to continue?" Lena smirked. "You... calling me, murderer. Funny how you see the world, Cruz." Cruz lunged, and the test of skills begun.

Cruz shut his eyes tightly but his vision still went red from the sudden immense light. After a moment, it went away, and Cruz opened his eyes. Unfortunately, the light hadn't blinded Lena. She still stood, in her stance. "Weak," she said calmly, "You don't have another gun on you, by chance? I'd like to take this down the old way." "I'm an assassin!" Cruz yelled, "not a martial artist!" He glanced out the window. Trace should be coming any second... "Looking for your friend?" Cruz turned. "Oh, I've got quite the surprise waiting for her... she will not be able to get to you in time."

I don't really agree with this, I think Command in general is just an important part of cosmere magic systems. I just see Command as just a stronger form of Intent.

I'd be convinced. Brandon never meant for it to be confusing (emphasis added).

Stormfather, I like that pun in the title. Welcome to the 17th Shard, the Forumlight Archive! Chaos the head admin can be the Forumfather, and... we could have... highforums? Anyways, welcome! Have you read Rhythm of War yet (no spoilers here)?

The books? They're doing great! The covers that I've had to remove off of them due to how ugly they looked? Not so well. I just got a leatherbound Warbreaker, too, and I'm not even allowing myself to even touch that.

You know, my own reading experience has unfortunately been not as good outside of Brandon Sanderson, though I could supply a healthy list of very underplayed climaxes, the worst of which being Richard Paul Evans's Michael Vey. I think the unofficial term we actually use for this is the Sanderlanche. And as of right now, I can't think of any other authors that I have read who have near comparable climaxes.

As Orpheus lay in bed, he thinks about realmatic theory and that he probably should have went to school and learned more about it and how it relates to all the different types of magic systems. All he remembered was... something about three realms? Fᴏᴜʀ, Zanidar corrected. Oh, he thought, what's the fourth? Dᴇᴘᴇɴᴅs ᴏɴ ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴋɴᴏᴡ. There's the Physical Realm, the Spiritual Realm... and... shoot, I only can remember two. There's other realms, right? Zanidar sighed and didn't answer him any longer. Orpheus wished he could grab him and strangle him sometimes.

Cruz landed on the soft, carpeted floor, and did a quick scan of the room. No one. The room was devoid of activity. He had expected at least someone, cleaning the room, or doing something or another. Lena mustn't have been as… sane as she once was. Casting his eyes across the room, Cruz could only confirm that suspicion. Random objects seemed strewn across the room, the curtains were torn and ragged. A small stack of papers on the nightstand looked like... research, but with many pages ripping apart. What had his master become? No, Cruz thought. She’s not my master anymore. She never had control over me. But he needed to hide. Cruz looked at his dress, and sighed. He was still wearing his black, loose martial arts garb over his strategically placed steel plates. Nice for combat, but not so good for stealth. Just then, he heard voices in the hallway outside. Cruz moved to the space behind the door, and waited, breathing steadily and silently, listening. “…very much so, my Lady,” a man was saying. “It seems as if there hasn’t been any forthcoming research in the area.” “Why is this?” asked a second voice; Lena. The voices were right outside the doorway. “The reasons… are hard to determine. But foul play may have been involved.” Lena was silent, and Cruz raised his pistol, waiting for the right moment to strike. The door opened slowly. Lena stepped out into the room, with a man following behind, and for a split-second Cruz gets a look at her. Blonde, curly hair, with a hint of silver showing. Her back was turned to him, and he didn’t think twice before he stepped out from behind the door, gun pointed at her head, and fired. She fell to the ground, and Cruz pressed the gun against here head, and shot at her again, then again, and again. He had to be sure. But… why did it feel like something was wrong? Lena lay still, unmoving, but Cruz didn’t holster his gun. He was in full view, now, standing in the doorway to the hall. He glanced out, but only saw the man she had been with, standing frozen with fear. He had to admit, he was a little surprised it had been that easy. He had expected to get caught and have to call in Trace for backup. “That was for my friends,” Cruz said, looking back down at the corpse. He pulled out the flashing device he would use to signal Trace. “Wait!” cried the man, and Cruz looked him over. “What?” asked Cruz. “Who—who are you?” he stuttered. Cruz thought. “An old apprentice.” The man smiled. “Cruz?” Well, that certainly caught him off guard. He wasn’t aware anyone had known his real name associated with Lena. “How do you know my name?” “Oh, dear Cruz, it’s been a while since we’ve fought.” The man said, reaching for… his hair. “No…” Cruz whispered, then looked back to the corpse on the floor and turned her over. A decoy. The servant, the real Lena, withdrew a pair of knives from the floor, revealing flowing brown hair—dyed, of course. And looking at her again, Cruz realized his mistake. Lena had always been a master of hiding in plain sight, how had he missed her? “I’ve been expecting—” Cruz shot her in the face, but she dodged and then moved in close and fast, to avoid another attack. Cruz lunged with his knife in his other hand as she did, but it deflected off her stomach, ripping her garb open. A shimmer of silver underneath caught his eye. Lena wrenched his arms outward and knocked the gun out of his hand, and it fell to the floor. Cruz kicked it across the floor, out of her reach, and shoved Lena backwards. She landed in a stance, arms up in a defensive position, smiling. “Now, now, Cruz,” she chastised, “Last I checked, the Art of Sugando never included guns.” Cruz growled. He slowly activated the switch on the flashing light device and shut his eyes, before the room was instantly engulfed in a blinding white light. @Channelknight Fadran

Cruz spent a solid ten minutes casing the area. The mansion was different than the others; it was a refurbished, centuries-old fortress, towering above the massive grounds of what was called Ortisa Keep. The grounds were obviously the attention of the property--with the exotic trees, fields of flowers, and strategically positioned streams running through it to give off the illusion of a paradise--but the dark, stone fortress towering above the grounds was a masterpiece of its own. From his vantage point, Cruz quickly got the impression that Lena was in the dining quarters, accompanied by a number of servants. Only two guards in the room. Not much for security, apparently, but that was likely because she thought herself quite capable of dealing with intruders on her own. But what Lena didn't know was that the man who had almost bested her in battle all those years ago was watching her through her window, concealed. And with much more experience. Cruz spotted a window on the second floor. Her chambers. He remembered being here before, on these very grounds, wrestling with his master. The one who had taken him in, after his father had left. The one who had taught him to kill. The one he would finally bring vengeance upon after the gruesome murder of his friends, the only ones who had gotten him through. He closed his eyes before his thoughts turned to them. Better not to think about that now. He stepped onto the ledge, shoved open the window, and jumped inside.

Yeah, she's been gone for a week now or something. She'll be back tomorrow, and since that aligns with the end of the holiday season, I'm crossing my fingers the Shard will explode after that.

December is a busy time for a lot of people... Condensation and Vapor are on vacation, Dark was on vacation, Fadran is watching movies all day, I've been on because i don't have a life (wait--I do. maybe i should get back to that). But just in general, it's a busier time for people, I think.

@Negative_Null and @The Ward's Guard, @Channelknight Fadran

"We can help them!" Cavalier volunteered. "Though I think Koid would be better to go, but whatever!"

"Yeah, how come they could come here now?"