name is?"
Vin shook her head.
"Description?" Kelsier asked.
"Uh . . . bald, eye tattoos . . ."
Kelsier chuckled. "Just point him out to me sometime, all right?"
Vin nodded, and Kelsier turned to Sazed. "Now, did you bring me the
names of which noblemen asked Vin to dance?"
Sazed nodded. "She gave me a list, Master Kelsier. I also have several
interesting tidbits to share from the stewards' meal."
"Good," Kelsier said, glancing at the grandfather clock in the corner.
"You'll have to save them for tomorrow morning, though. I've got to be
going."
"Going?" Vin asked, perking up. "But you just got in!"
"That's the funny thing about arriving somewhere, Vin," he said with a
wink. "Once you're there, the only thing you can really do is leave again. Get
some sleep—you're looking a bit ragged."
Kelsier waved a farewell to the group, then ducked out of the room,
whistling amiably to himself.
Too nonchalant, Vin thought. And too secretive. He usually tells us which
families he plans to hit.
"I think I will retire," Vin said, yawning.
Sazed eyed her suspiciously, but let her go as Renoux began speaking
quietly to him. Vin scrambled up the stairs to her room, threw on her
mistcloak, and pushed open her balcony doors.
Mist poured into the room. She flared iron, and was rewarded with the
sight of a fading blue metal line, pointing into the distance.
Let's see where you're going, Master Kelsier.
Vin burned steel, Pushing herself into the cold, humid autumn night. Tin
enhanced her eyes, making the wet air tickle her throat as she breathed. She
Pushed hard behind her, then Pulled slightly on the gates below. The
maneuver swung her in a soaring arc over the steel gates, which she then
Pushed against to throw herself farther into the air.
She kept an eye on the trail of blue that pointed toward Kelsier, following
him at enough of a distance to remain unseen. She wasn't carrying any metal
—not even coins—and she kept her copper burning to hide her use of
Allomancy. Theoretically, only sound could alert Kelsier of her presence, and
so she moved as quietly as possible.
Surprisingly, Kelsier didn't head into town. After passing the mansion's
gates, he turned north out of the city. Vin followed, landing and running
quietly on the rough ground.
Where is he going? she thought with confusion. Is he circling Fellise?
Heading for one of the peripheral mansions?
Kelsier continued northward for a short time, then his metal line suddenly
began to grow dim. Vin paused, stopping beside a group of stumpy trees. The
line faded at a rapid rate: Kelsier had suddenly sped up. She cursed to herself,
breaking into a dash.
Ahead, Kelsier's line vanished into the night. Vin sighed, slowing. She
flared her iron, but it was barely enough to catch a glimpse of him
disappearing again in the distance. She'd never keep up.
Her flared iron, however, showed her something else. She frowned,
continuing forward until she reached a stationary source of metal—two small
bronze bars stuck into the ground a couple feet from each other. She flipped
one up into her hand, then looked into the swirling mists to the north.
He's jumping, she thought. But why? Jumping was faster than walking, but
there didn't seem much point to it in the empty wilderness.
Unless . . .
She walked forward, and she soon found two more bronze bars embedded
in the earth. Vin glanced backward. It was hard to tell in the night, but it
seemed that the four bars made a line that pointed directly toward Luthadel.
So that's how he does it, she thought. Kelsier had an uncanny ability to
move between Luthadel and Fellise with remarkable speed. She'd assumed
that he was using horses, but it appeared that there was a better way. He—or
perhaps someone before him—had laid down an Allomantic road between
the two cities.
She gripped the first bar in her palm—she'd need it to soften her landing if
she was wrong—then stepped up in front of the second pair of bars and
launched herself into the air.
She Pushed hard, flaring her steel, throwing herself as far up into the sky
as she could. As she flew, she flared her iron, searching for other sources of
metal. They soon appeared—two directly north, and two more in the distance
to either side of her.
The ones on the sides are for course corrections, she realized. She'd have
to keep moving directly north if she wanted to stay on the bronze highway.
She nudged herself slightly to the left—moving so that she passed directly
between the two adjacent bars of the main path—then hurled herself forward
again in an arcing leap.
She got the hang of it quickly, hopping from point to point, never dropping
even close to the ground. In just a few minutes, she had the rhythm down so
well that she barely had to do any corrections from the sides.
Her progress across the scraggly landscape was incredibly swift. The mists
blew by, her mistcloak whipping and flapping behind her. Still, she forced
herself to speed up. She'd spent too long studying the bronze bars. She had to
catch up to Kelsier; otherwise she'd arrive in Luthadel, but not know where
to go from there.
She began to throw herself from point to point at an almost reckless speed,
watching desperately for some sign of Allomantic motion. After about ten
minutes of leaping, a line of blue finally appeared ahead of her—one pointing
up, rather than down toward bars in the ground. She breathed in relief.
Then a second line appeared, and a third.
Vin frowned, letting herself drop to the ground with a muted thump. She
flared tin, and a massive shadow appeared in the night before her, its top
sparkling with balls of light.
The city wall, she thought with amazement. So soon? I made the trip twice
as fast as a man on horseback!
However, that meant she'd lost Kelsier. Frowning to herself, she used the
bar she'd been carrying to throw herself up onto the battlements. Once she
landed on the damp stone, she reached behind and Pulled the bar up into her
hand. Then she approached the other side of the wall, hopping up and
crouching on the stone railing as she scanned the city.
What now? she thought with annoyance. Head back to Fellise? Stop by
Clubs's shop and see if he went there?
She sat uncertainly for a moment, then threw herself off the wall and began
making her way across the rooftops. She wandered randomly, pushing off of
window clasps and bits of metal, using the bronze bar—then pulling it back
into her hand—when long jumps were necessary. It wasn't until she arrived
that she realized she'd unconsciously gone to a specific destination.
Keep Venture rose before her in the night. The limelights had been
extinguished, and only a few phantom torches burned near guard posts.
Vin crouched on the lip on a rooftop, trying to decide what had led her
back to the massive keep. The cool wind ruffled her hair and cloak, and she
thought she felt a few tiny raindrops on her cheek. She sat for a long moment,
her toes growing cold.
Then she noticed motion to her right. She crouched immediately, flaring
her tin.
Kelsier sat on a rooftop not three houses away, just barely lit by ambient
light. He didn't seem to have noticed her. He was watching the keep, his face
too distant for her to read his expression.
Vin watched him with suspicious eyes. He'd dismissed her meeting with
Elend, but perhaps it worried him more than he'd admitted. A sudden spike
of fear made her tense.
Could he be here to kill Elend? The assassination of a high noble heir
would certainly create tension amongst the nobility.
Vin waited apprehensively. Eventually, however, Kelsier stood and walked
away, Pushing himself off the rooftop and into the air.
Vin dropped her bronze bar—it would give her away—and dashed after
him. Her iron showed blue lines moving in the distance, and she hurriedly
jumped out over the street and Pushed herself off a sewer grate below,
determined not to lose him again.
He moved toward the center of the city. Vin frowned, trying to guess his
destination. Keep Erikeller was in that direction, and it was a major supplier
of armaments. Perhaps Kelsier planned to do something to interrupt its
supplies, making House Renoux more vital to the local nobility.
Vin landed on a rooftop and paused, watching Kelsier shoot off into the
night. He's moving fast again. I—
A hand fell on her shoulder.
Vin yelped, jumping back, flaring pewter.
Kelsier regarded her with a cocked eyebrow. "You're supposed to be in
bed, young lady."
Vin glanced to the side, toward the line of metal. "But—"
"My coin pouch," Kelsier said, smiling. "A good thief can steal clever
tricks as easily as he steals boxings. I've started being more careful since you
tailed me last week—at first, I assumed you were a Venture Mistborn."
"They have some?"
"I'm sure they do," Kelsier said. "Most of the Great Houses do—but your
friend Elend isn't one of them. He's not even a Misting."
"How do you know? He could be hiding it."
Kelsier shook his head. "He nearly died in a raid a couple of years ago—if
there were ever a time to show your powers, it would have been then."
Vin nodded, still looking down, not meeting Kelsier's eyes.
He sighed, sitting down on the slanted rooftop, one leg hanging over the
side. "Have a seat."
Vin settled herself on the tile roof across from him. Above, the cool mists
continued to churn, and it had begun to drizzle slightly—but that wasn't
much different from the regular nightly humidity.
"I can't have you tailing me like this, Vin," Kelsier said. "Do you
remember our discussion about trust?"
"If you trusted me, you'd tell me where you were going."
"Not necessarily," Kelsier said. "Maybe I just don't want you and the
others to worry about me."
"Everything you do is dangerous," Vin said. "Why would we worry any
more if you told us specifics?"
"Some tasks are even more dangerous than others," Kelsier said quietly.
Vin paused, then glanced to the side, in the direction Kelsier had been
going. Toward the center of the city.
Toward Kredik Shaw, the Hill of a Thousand Spires. The Lord Ruler's
palace.
"You're going to confront the Lord Ruler!" Vin said quietly. "You said last
week that you were going to pay him a visit."
" 'Visit' is, perhaps, too strong a word," Kelsier said. "I am going to the
palace, but I sincerely hope I don't run into the Lord Ruler himself. I'm not
ready for him yet. Regardless, you are going straight to Clubs's shop."
Vin nodded.
Kelsier frowned. "You're just going to try and follow me again, aren't
you?"
Vin paused, then she nodded again.
"Why?"
"Because I want to help," Vin said quietly. "So far, my part in this all has
essentially boiled down to going to a party. But, I'm Mistborn—you've
trained me yourself. I'm not going to sit back and let everyone else do
dangerous work while I sit, eat dinner, and watch people dance."
"What you're doing at those balls is important," Kelsier said.
Vin nodded, glancing down. She'd just let him go, then she'd follow him.
Part of her reasoning was what she'd said before: She was beginning to feel a
camaraderie for this crew, and it was like nothing she had ever known. She
wanted to be part of what it was doing; she wanted to help.
However, another part of her whispered that Kelsier wasn't telling her
everything. He might trust her; he might not. However, he certainly had
secrets. The Eleventh Metal, and therefore the Lord Ruler, were involved in
those secrets.
Kelsier caught her eyes, and he must have seen her intention to follow in
them. He sighed, leaning back. "I'm serious, Vin! You can't go with me."
"Why not?" she asked, abandoning pretense. "If what you're doing is so
dangerous, wouldn't it be safer if you had another Mistborn watching your
back?"
"You still don't know all of the metals," Kelsier said.
"Only because you haven't taught me."
"You need more practice."
"The best practice is doing," Vin said. "My brother trained me to steal by
taking me on burglaries."
Kelsier shook his head. "It's too dangerous."
"Kelsier," she said in a serious tone. "We're planning to overthrow the
Final Empire. I don't really expect to live until the end of the year anyway.
"You keep telling the others what an advantage it is to have two Mistborn
on the team. Well, it's not going to be much of an advantage unless you
actually let me be a Mistborn. How long are you going to wait? Until I'm
'ready'? I don't think that will ever happen."
Kelsier eyed her for a moment, then he smiled. "When we first met, half
the time I couldn't get you to say a word. Now you're lecturing me."
Vin blushed. Finally, Kelsier sighed, reaching beneath his cloak to pull
something out. "I can't believe I'm considering this," he muttered, handing
her the bit of metal.
Vin studied the tiny, silvery ball of metal. It was so reflective and bright
that it almost seemed to be a drop of liquid, yet it was solid to the touch.
"Atium," Kelsier said. "Tenth, and most powerful, of the known
Allomantic metals. That bead is worth more than the entire bag of boxings I
gave you before."
"This little bit?" she asked with surprise.
Kelsier nodded. "Atium only comes from one place—the Pits of Hathsin—
where the Lord Ruler controls its production and distribution. The Great
Houses get to buy a monthly stipend of atium, which is one of the main ways
the Lord Ruler controls them. Go ahead and swallow it."
Vin eyed the bit of metal, uncertain she wanted to waste something so
valuable.
"You can't sell it," Kelsier said. "Thieving crews try, but they get tracked
down and executed. The Lord Ruler is very protective of his atium supply."
Vin nodded, then swallowed the metal. Immediately, she felt a new well of
power appear within her, waiting to be burned.
"All right," Kelsier said, standing. "Burn it as soon as I start walking."
Vin nodded. As he began to walk forward, she drew upon her new well of
strength and burned atium.
Kelsier seemed to fuzz slightly to her eyes; then a translucent, wraithlike
image shot out into the mists in front of him. The image looked just like
Kelsier, and it walked just a few steps in front of him. A very faint, trailing
after-image extended from the duplicate back to Kelsier himself.
It was like . . . a reverse shadow. The duplicate did everything Kelsier did
—except, the image moved first. It turned, and then Kelsier followed its same
path.
The image's mouth began moving. A second later, Kelsier spoke. "Atium
lets you see just a bit into the future. Or, at least, it lets you see what people
are going to do a little bit in the future. In addition, it enhances your mind,
allowing you to deal with the new information, allowing you to react more
quickly and collectedly."
The shadow stopped, then Kelsier walked up to it, stopping as well.
Suddenly, the shadow reached out and slapped her, and Vin moved
reflexively, putting her hand up just as Kelsier's real hand began to move.
She caught his arm midswing.
"While you're burning atium," he said, "nothing can surprise you. You can
swing a dagger, knowing confidently that your enemies will run right into it.
You can dodge attacks with ease because you'll be able to see where every
blow will fall. Atium makes you quite nearly invincible. It enhances your
mind, making you able to make use of all the new information."
Suddenly, dozens of other images shot from Kelsier's body. Each one
sprang in a different direction, some striding across the roof, others jumping
into the air. Vin released his arm, rising and backing away in confusion.
"I just burned atium too," Kelsier said. "I can see what you're going to do,
and that changes what I'm going to do—which in turn changes what you're
going to do. The images reflect each of the possible actions we might take."
"It's confusing," Vin said, watching the insane jumble of images, old ones
constantly fading, new ones constantly appearing.
Kelsier nodded. "The only way to defeat someone who is burning atium is
to burn it yourself—that way, neither of you has an advantage."
The images vanished.
"What did you do?" Vin asked with a start.
"Nothing," Kelsier said. "Your atium probably ran out."
Vin realized with surprise that he was right—the atium was gone. "It burns
so quickly!"
Kelsier nodded, sitting down again. "That's probably the fastest fortune
you've ever blown, eh?"
Vin nodded, stunned. "It seems like such a waste."
Kelsier shrugged. "Atium is only valuable because of Allomancy. So, if we
didn't burn it, it wouldn't be worth the fortune that it is. Of course, if we do
burn it, we make it even more rare. It's kind of an interesting relationship—
ask Ham about it sometimes. He loves talking about atium economics.
"Anyway, any Mistborn you face will probably have atium. However,
they'll be reluctant to use it. In addition, they won't have swallowed it yet—
atium is fragile, and your digestive juices will ruin it in a matter of hours. So,
you have to walk a line between conservation and effectiveness. If it looks
like your opponent is using atium, then you'd better use yours too—however,
make sure he doesn't lure you into using up your reserve before he does."
Vin nodded. "Does this mean you're taking me tonight?"
"I'll probably regret it," Kelsier said, sighing. "But I don't see any way to
make you stay behind—short of tying you up, perhaps. But, I warn you Vin.
This could be dangerous. Very dangerous. I don't intend to meet the Lord
Ruler, but I do intend to sneak into his stronghold. I think I know where we
might find a clue on how to defeat him."
Vin smiled, stepping forward as Kelsier waved her toward him. He reached
into his pouch and pulled out a vial, which he handed to her. It was like
regular Allomantic vials, except the liquid inside held only a single drop of
metal. The atium bead was several times larger than the one he had given her
to practice on.
"Don't use it unless you have to," Kelsier warned. "You need any other
metals?"
Vin nodded. "I burned up most of my steel getting here."
Kelsier handed her another vial. "First, let's go retrieve my coin pouch."
Sometimes I wonder if I'm going mad.
Perhaps it is due to the pressure of knowing that I must somehow bear the burden of an entire
world. Perhaps it is caused by the death I have seen, the friends I have lost. The friends I have
been forced to kill.
Either way, I sometimes see shadows following me. Dark creatures that I don't understand,
nor wish to understand. Are they, perhaps, some figment of my overtaxed mind?
14
IT STARTED RAINING JUST AFTER they located the coin pouch. It wasn't a hard
rain, but it seemed to clear the mist slightly. Vin shivered, pulling up her
hood, crouching beside Kelsier on a rooftop. He didn't pay the weather much
heed, so neither did she. A little dampness wouldn't hurt—in fact, it would
probably help, as the rainfall would cover the sounds of their approach.
Kredik Shaw lay before them. The peaked spires and sheer towers rose like
dark talons in the night. They varied greatly in thickness—some were wide
enough to house stairwells and large rooms, but others were simply thin rods
of steel jutting up into the sky. The variety gave the mass a twisted, off-center
symmetry—an almost-balance.
The spikes and towers had a foreboding cast in the damp, misty night—
like the ash-blackened bones of a long-weathered carcass. Looking at them,
Vin thought she felt something . . . a depression, as if simply being close to
the building was enough to suck away her hope.
"Our target is a tunnel complex at the base of one of the far right spires,"
Kelsier said, his voice barely carrying over the quiet hush of the falling rain.
"We're heading for a room at the very center of that complex."
"What's inside?"
"I don't know," Kelsier said. "That's what we're going to find out. Once
every three days—and today isn't one of them—the Lord Ruler visits this
chamber. He stays for three hours, then leaves. I tried to get in once before.
Three years ago."
"The job," Vin whispered. "The one that . . ."
"Got me captured," Kelsier said with a nod. "Yes. At the time, we thought
that the Lord Ruler stored riches in the room. I don't think that's true, now,
but I'm still curious. The way he visits is so regular, so . . . odd. Something's
in that room, Vin. Something important. Maybe it holds the secret to his
power and immortality."
"Why do we need to worry about that?" Vin asked. "You have the
Eleventh Metal to defeat him, right?"
Kelsier frowned slightly. Vin waited for an answer, but he didn't ever give
one. "I failed to get in last time, Vin," he said instead. "We got close, but we
got there too easily. When we arrived, there were Inquisitors outside the
room. Waiting for us."
"Someone told them you were coming?"
Kelsier nodded. "We planned that job for months. We were overconfident,
but we had reason to be. Mare and I were the best—the job should have gone
flawlessly." Kelsier paused, then he turned to Vin. "Tonight, I didn't plan at
all. We're just going in—we'll quiet anyone who tries to stop us, then break
into that room."
Vin sat quietly, feeling the chill rainwater on her wet hands and damp
arms. Then she nodded.
Kelsier smiled slightly. "No objections?"
Vin shook her head. "I made you take me with you. It's not my place to
object now."
Kelsier chuckled. "Guess I've been hanging out with Breeze too long. I
just don't feel right unless someone tells me I'm crazy."
Vin shrugged. However, as she moved on the rooftop, she felt it again—
the sense of depression coming from Kredik Shaw.
"There is something, Kelsier," she said. "The palace feels . . . wrong,
somehow."
"That's the Lord Ruler," Kelsier said. "He radiates like an incredibly
powerful Soother, smothering the emotions of everyone who gets close to
him. Turn on your copper; that will make you immune."
Vin nodded, burning copper. Immediately, the sensation went away.
"Good?" Kelsier asked.
She nodded again.
"All right, then," he said, giving her a handful of coins. "Stay close to me,
and keep your atium handy—just in case."
With that, he threw himself off the roof. Vin followed, her cloak tassels
spraying rainwater. She burned pewter as she fell, and hit the ground with
Allomantically strengthened legs.
Kelsier took off at a dash, and she followed. Her speed on the wet
cobblestones would have been reckless, but her pewter-fueled muscles
reacted with precision, strength, and balance. She ran in the wet, misty night,
burning tin and copper—one to let her see, the other to let her hide.
Kelsier rounded the palace complex. Oddly, the grounds had no outer wall.
Of course they don't. Who would dare attack the Lord Ruler?
Flat space, covered in cobblestones, was all that surrounded the Hill of a
Thousand Spires. No tree, foliage, or structure stood to distract one's eye
from the disturbing, asymmetric collection of wings, towers, and spires that
was Kredik Shaw.
"Here we go," Kelsier whispered, his voice carrying to her tin-enhanced
ears. He turned, dashing directly toward a squat, bunkerlike section of the
palace. As they approached, Vin saw a pair of guards standing by an ornate,
gatelike door.
Kelsier was on the men in a flash, cutting one down with slashing knives.
The second man tried to cry out, but Kelsier jumped, slamming both feet into
the man's chest. Thrown to the side by the inhumanly strong kick, the guard
crashed into the wall, then slumped to the ground. Kelsier was on his feet a
second later, slamming his weight against the door and pushing it open.
Weak lanternlight spilled out of a stone corridor within. Kelsier ducked
through the door. Vin dimmed her tin, then followed in a crouching dash, her
heart pounding. Never, in all her time as a thief, had she done something like
this. Hers had been a life of sneaky burgling and scamming, not raids or
muggings. As she followed Kelsier down the corridor—their feet and cloaks
leaving a wet trail on the smooth stonework—she nervously pulled out a
glass dagger, gripping the leather-wrapped handle in a sweaty palm.
A man stepped into the hallway just ahead, exiting what appeared to be
some sort of guard chamber. Kelsier jumped forward and elbowed the soldier
in the stomach, then slammed him against the wall. Even as the guard
collapsed, Kelsier ducked into the room.
Vin followed, stepping into chaos. Kelsier Pulled a metal candelabrum
from the corner up into his hands, then began to spin with it, striking down
soldier after soldier. Guards cried out, scrambling and grabbing staves from
the side of the room. A table covered in half-eaten meals was thrown to the
side as men tried to make room.
A soldier turned toward Vin, and she reacted without thinking. She burned
steel and threw out a handful of coins. She Pushed, and the missiles shot
forward, tearing through the guard's flesh and dropping him.
She burned iron, Pulling the coins back to her hand. She turned with a
bloodied fist, spraying the room with metal, dropping three soldiers. Kelsier
felled the last with his impromptu staff.
I just killed four men, Vin thought, stunned. Before, Reen had always done
the killing.
There was rustling behind. Vin spun to see another squadron of soldiers
enter through a door opposite her. To the side, Kelsier dropped his
candelabrum and stepped forward. The room's four lanterns suddenly ripped
from their mountings, slamming directly toward him. He ducked to the side,
letting the lanterns crash together.
The room fell dark. Vin burned tin, her eyes adapting to light from the
corridor outside. The guards, however, stumbled to a halt.
Kelsier was amidst them a second later. Daggers flashing in the darkness.
Men screaming. Then all was silent.
Vin stood surrounded by death, bloodied coins dribbling from her stunned
fingers. She kept a tight grip on her dagger, however—if only to steady her
quivering arm.
Kelsier lay a hand on her shoulder, and she jumped.
"These were evil men, Vin," he said. "Every skaa knows in his heart that it
is the greatest of crimes to take up arms in defense of the Final Empire."
Vin nodded numbly. She felt . . . wrong. Maybe it was the death, but now
that she was actually within the building, she swore that she could still feel
the Lord Ruler's power. Something seemed to Push her emotions, making her
more depressed despite her copper.
"Come. Time is short." Kelsier took off again, hopping lithely over
corpses, and Vin felt herself following.
I made him bring me, she thought. I wanted to fight, like him. I'm going to
have to get used to this.
They dashed into a second corridor, and Kelsier jumped into the air. He
lurched, then shot forward. Vin did the same, leaping and seeking an anchor
far down the corridor, then using it to Pull herself through the air.
Side corridors whipped past, the air a rushing howl in her tin-enhanced
ears. Ahead, two soldiers stepped into the corridor. Kelsier slammed feet-first
into one, then flipped up and rammed a dagger into the other's neck. Both
men fell.
No metal, Vin thought, dropping to the ground. None of the guards in this
place wear metal. Hazekillers, they were called. Men trained to fight
Allomancers.
Kelsier ducked down a side corridor, and Vin had to sprint to keep up with
him. She flared pewter, willing her legs to move faster. Ahead, Kelsier
paused, and Vin lurched to a stop beside him. To their right was an open,
arching doorway, and it shone with a light far brighter than that of the small
corridor lanterns. Vin extinguished her tin, following Kelsier through the
archway and into the room.
Six braziers burned with open flames at the corners of the large, dome-
roofed chamber. In contrast to the simple corridors, this room was covered
with silver-inlayed murals. Each obviously represented the Lord Ruler; they
were like the windows she had seen earlier, except less abstract. She saw a
mountain. A large cavern. A pool of light.
And something very dark.
Kelsier strode forward, and Vin turned. The center of the room was
dominated by a small structure—a building within the building. Ornate, with
carved stone and flowing patterns, the single-story building stood reverently
before them. All in all, the quiet, empty chamber gave Vin a strange feeling
of solemnity.
Kelsier walked forward, bare feet falling on smooth black marble. Vin
followed in a nervous crouch; the room seemed empty, but there had to be
other guards. Kelsier walked up to a large oaken door set into the inner
building, its surface carved with letterings Vin didn't recognize. He reached
out and pulled open the door.
A Steel Inquisitor stood inside. The creature smiled, lips curling in an eerie
expression beneath the two massive spikes that had been pounded point-first
through its eyes.
Kelsier paused for just a moment. Then he yelled, "Vin, run!" as the
Inquisitor's hand snapped forward, grabbing him by the throat.
Vin froze. To the sides, she saw two other black-robed Inquisitors stride
through open archways. Tall, lean, and bald, they were also marked by their
spikes and intricate Ministry eye tattoos.
The closest Inquisitor lifted Kelsier up into the air by his neck. "Kelsier,
the Survivor of Hathsin," the creature said in a grinding voice. Then he
turned toward Vin. "And . . . you. I've been looking for you. I'll let this one
die quickly if you'll tell me which nobleman spawned you, half-breed."
Kelsier coughed, struggling for breath as he pried at the creature's grip.
The Inquisitor turned, regarding Kelsier with spike-end eyes. Kelsier coughed
again, as if trying to say something, and the Inquisitor curiously pulled
Kelsier a bit closer.
Kelsier's hand whipped out, ramming a dagger into the creature's neck. As
the Inquisitor stumbled, Kelsier slammed his fist into the creature's forearm,
shattering the bone with a snap. The Inquisitor dropped him, and Kelsier fell
to the reflective marble floor, coughing.
Gasping for breath, Kelsier looked up at Vin with intense eyes. "I said
run!" he croaked, tossing something to her.
Vin paused, reaching out to catch the coin pouch. However, it lurched
suddenly in the air, shooting forward. Abruptly, she realized Kelsier wasn't
throwing it to her, but at her.
The bag hit her in the chest. Pushed by Kelsier's Allomancy, it hurled her
across the room—past the two surprised Inquisitors—until she finally
dropped awkwardly to the floor, skidding on the marble.
Vin looked up, slightly dazed. In the distance, Kelsier regained his feet.
The main Inquisitor, however, didn't seem very concerned about the dagger
in his neck. The other two Inquisitors stood between her and Kelsier. One
turned toward her, and Vin felt chilled by its horrifying, unnatural gaze.
"RUN!" The word echoed in the domed chamber. And this time, finally, it
struck home.
Vin scrambled to her feet—fear shocking her, screaming at her, making
her move. She dashed toward the nearest archway, uncertain if it was the one
she had come in through. She clutched Kelsier's coin pouch and burned iron,
frantically seeking an anchor down the corridor.
Must get away!
She grabbed the first bit of metal she saw and yanked, tearing herself off
the ground. She shot down the corridor at an uncontrolled speed, terror
flaring her iron.
She lurched suddenly, and everything spun. She hit the ground at an
awkward angle—her head slamming against the rough stone—then lay
dizzily, wondering what had happened. The coin pouch . . . someone had
Pulled on it, using its metal to yank her backward.
Vin rolled over and saw a dark form shooting down the corridor. The
Inquisitor's robes fluttered as he dropped lightly to his feet a short distance
from Vin. He strode forward, his face impassive.
Vin flared tin and pewter, clearing her mind and pushing away the pain.
She whipped out a few coins, Pushing them at the Inquisitor.
He raised a hand, and both coins froze in the air. Vin's own Push suddenly
threw her backward, and she tumbled across the stones, skidding and sliding.
She heard the coins pling against the floor as she came to a rest. She shook
her head, a dozen new bruises flaring angrily across her body. The Inquisitor
stepped over the discarded coins, walking toward her with a smooth gait.
I have to get away! Even Kelsier had been afraid to face an Inquisitor. If he
couldn't fight one, what chance did she have?
None. She dropped the pouch and jumped to her feet, then she ran, ducking
through the first doorway she saw. The room beyond was empty of people,
but a golden altar stood at its center. Between the altar, the four candelabra at
the corners, and the cluttering of other religious paraphernalia, the space was
cramped.
Vin turned, Pulling a candelabrum into her hands, remembering Kelsier's
trick from before. The Inquisitor stepped into the room, then raised an almost
amused hand, ripping the candelabra from her hands in an easy Allomantic
Pull.
He's so strong! Vin thought with horror. He was probably steadying
himself by Pulling against the lantern brackets behind. However, the force of
his Ironpulls was far more powerful than Kelsier's had ever been.
Vin jumped, Pulling herself slightly up and over the altar. At the doorway,
the Inquisitor reached over to a bowl that sat atop a short pillar, pulling out
what appeared to be a handful of small metal triangles. They were sharp on
all sides, and they cut the creature's hand in a dozen different places. He
ignored the wounds, raising a bloody hand toward her.
Vin yelped, ducking behind the altar as pieces of metal sprayed against the
back wall.
"You are trapped," the Inquisitor said in a scratchy voice. "Come with
me."
Vin glanced to the side. There weren't any other doors in the room. She
peeked up, glancing at the Inquisitor, and a piece of metal shot at her face.
She Pushed against it, but the Inquisitor was too strong. She had to duck and
let the metal go, lest his power pin her back against the wall.
I'll need something to block with. Something that isn't made of metal.
As she heard the Inquisitor step into the room, she found what she needed
—a large, leather-bound book sitting beside the altar. She grabbed it, then
paused. There was no use in being rich if she died. She pulled out Kelsier's
vial and downed the atium, then burned it.
The Inquisitor's shadow stepped around the side of the altar, then the
actual Inquisitor followed a second later. The atium-shadow opened its hand,
and a spray of tiny, translucent daggers shot at her.
Vin raised her book as the real daggers followed. She swung the book
through the shadow trails just as the real daggers shot toward her. She caught
every one, their sharp, jagged edges digging deeply into the book's leather
cover.
The Inquisitor paused, and she was rewarded by what seemed to be a look
of confusion on its twisted face. Then a hundred shadow images shot from
his body.
Lord Ruler! Vin thought. He had atium too.
Not pausing to worry about what that meant, Vin hopped over the altar,
carrying the book with her as protection against further missiles. The
Inquisitor spun, spike-eyes following her as she ducked back into the
hallway.
A squad of soldiers stood waiting for her. However, each one bore a
future-shadow. Vin ducked between them, barely watching where their
weapons would fall, somehow avoiding the attacks of twelve different men.
And, for a moment, she almost forgot the pain and fear—and they were
replaced by an incredible sense of power. She dodged effortlessly, staves
swinging above and beside her, each one missing by just inches. She was
invincible.
She spun through the ranks of the men, not bothering to kill or hurt them—
she only wanted to escape. As she passed the last one, she turned around a
corner.
And a second Inquisitor, his body springing with shadow images, stepped
up and slammed something sharp into her lower side.
Vin gasped in pain. There was a sickening sound as the creature pulled his
weapon free of her body; it was a length of wood affixed with sharp obsidian
blades. Vin grasped her side, stumbling backward, feeling a terrifying amount
of warm blood seeping from the wound.
The Inquisitor looked familiar. The first one, from the other room, she
thought through the pain. Does . . . that mean that Kelsier is dead?
"Who is your father?" the Inquisitor asked.
Vin kept her hand at her side, trying to stop the blood. It was a large
wound. A bad wound. She had seen such wounds before. They always killed.
Yet, she still stood. Pewter, her confused mind thought. Flare pewter!
She did so, the metal giving her body strength, letting her stay on her feet.
The soldiers stepped back to let the second Inquisitor approach her from the
side. Vin looked in horror from one Inquisitor to the other, both descending
upon her, blood pouring between her fingers and down her side. The lead
Inquisitor still carried the axelike weapon, its edge coated with blood. Her
blood.
I'm going to die, she thought with terror.
And then she heard it. Rain. It was faint, but her tin-ears picked it out
behind her. She spun, lurching through a door, and was rewarded by the sight
of a large archway on the other side of the room. Mist pooled at the room's
floor, and rain slapped the stones outside.
Must have been where the guards came from, she thought. She kept her
pewter flared, amazed at how well her body still worked, and stumbled out
into the rain, reflexively clutching the leather book to her chest.
"You think to escape?" the lead Inquisitor asked from behind, his voice
amused.
Numbly, Vin reached into the sky and Pulled against one of the palace's
many spires. She heard the Inquisitor curse as she pitched into the air, hurling
up into the dark night.
The thousand spires rose around her. She Pulled against one, then switched
to another. The rain was strong now, and it made the night black. There was
no mist to reflect ambient light, and the stars were hidden by clouds above.
Vin couldn't see where she was going; she had to use Allomancy to sense the
metallic tips of the spires, and hope there was nothing in between.
She hit a spire, catching hold of it in the night and pulling to a stop. Have
to bandage the wound . . . she thought weakly. She was beginning to grow
numb, her head cloudy despite her pewter and tin.
Something slammed against the spire above her, and she heard a low
growl. Vin Pushed off even as she felt the Inquisitor slash the air beside her.
She had one chance. Midjump, she Pulled herself sideways, toward a
different spire. At the same time, she Pushed against the book in her hands—
it still had bits of metal embedded into its cover. The book continued in the
direction she had been going, metal lines glowing weakly in the night. It was
the only metal she had on her.
Vin caught the next spire lightly, trying to make as little sound as possible.
She strained in the night, burning tin, the rainfall becoming a thunder in her
ears. Over it, she thought she heard the distinct sound of something hitting a
spire in the direction she had Pushed the book.
The Inquisitor had fallen for her ruse. Vin sighed, hanging from the spire,
rain splattering her body. She made sure her copper was still burning, Pulled
lightly against the spire to hold herself in place, and ripped off a piece of her
shirt to bandage the wound. Despite her numb mind, she couldn't help
noticing how big the gash was.
Oh, Lord, she thought. Without pewter, she would have fallen unconscious
long ago. She should be dead.
Something sounded in the darkness. Vin felt a chill, looking up. All was
black around her.
It can't be. He can't—
Something slammed into her spire. Vin cried out, jumping away. She
Pulled herself toward another spire, caught it weakly, then immediately
Pushed off again. The Inquisitor followed, thuds sounding as he jumped from
spire to spire behind her.
He found me. He couldn't see me, hear me, or sense me. But he found me.
Vin hit a spire, holding it by one hand, limply hanging in the night. Her
strength was nearly gone. I . . . have to get away . . . hide. . . .
Her hands were numb, and her mind felt nearly the same. Her fingers
slipped from the cold, wet metal of the spire, and she felt herself drop free
into the darkness.
She fell with the rain.
However, she went only a short distance before thudding against
something hard—the roof of a particularly tall bit of the palace. Dazed, she
climbed to her knees, crawling away from the spire, seeking a corner.
Hide . . . hide . . . hide . . .
She crawled weakly to the nook formed by another tower. She huddled
against the dark corner, lying in a deep puddle of ashy rainwater, arms
wrapped around herself. Her body was wet with rain and blood.
She thought, for just a moment, that she might have escaped.
A dark form thumped to the rooftop. The rain was letting up, and her tin
revealed a head set with two spikes, a body cloaked in a dark robe.
She was too weak to move, too weak to do more than shiver in the puddle
of water, clothing plastered to her skin. The Inquisitor turned toward her.
"Such a small, troubling thing you are," he said. He stepped forward, but
Vin could barely hear his words.
It was growing dark again . . . no, it was just her mind. Her vision grew
dark, her eyes closing. Her wound didn't hurt anymore. She couldn't . . . even
. . . think. . . .
A sound, like shattering branches.
Then arms gripped her. Warm arms, not the arms of death. She forced her
eyes open.
"Kelsier?" she whispered.
But it wasn't Kelsier's face that looked back at her, streaked with concern.
It was a different, kinder face. She sighed in relief, drifting away as the strong
arms pulled her close, making her feel oddly safe in the terrible storms of
night.
I don't know why Kwaan betrayed me. Even still, this event haunts my thoughts. He was the one
who discovered me; he was the Terris philosopher who first called me the Hero of Ages. It seems
ironically surreal that now—after his long struggle to convince his colleagues—he is the only
major Terris holy man to preach against my reign.
15
"YOU TOOK HER WITH YOU?" Dockson demanded, bursting into the room. "You
took Vin into Kredik Shaw? Are you bloody insane?"
"Yes," Kelsier snapped. "You've been right all along. I'm a madman. A
lunatic. Perhaps I should have just died in the Pits and never come back to
bother any of you!"
Dockson paused, taken aback by the force in Kelsier's words. Kelsier
pounded the table in frustration, and the wood splintered from the force of the
blow. He still burned pewter, the metal helping him resist his several wounds.
His mistcloak lay in tatters, his body sliced by a half-dozen different small
cuts. His entire right side burned with pain. He'd have a massive bruise there,
and he'd be lucky if none of his ribs were cracked.
Kelsier flared the pewter. The fire within felt good—it gave him a focus
for his anger and self-loathing. One of the apprentices worked quickly, tying
a bandage around Kelsier's largest gash. Clubs sat with Ham at the side of the
kitchen; Breeze was away visiting a suburb.
"By the Lord Ruler, Kelsier," Dockson said quietly.
Even Dockson, Kelsier thought. Even my oldest friend swears by the Lord
Ruler's name. What are we doing? How can we face this?
"There were three Inquisitors waiting for us, Dox," Kelsier said.
Dockson paled. "And you left her there?"
"She got out before I did. I tried to distract the Inquisitors as long as I
could, but . . ."