The Hero of Ages

leaders, even a few soldiers-stood listening. Elend could hear the anxiety in their voices. They had heard of the approaching army. As Elend watched, Demoux carefully pushed his way through them and entered the room.

'Soldiers posted, my lord,' the general said.

'How many do we have?' Elend asked.

Demoux looked grim. 'The two hundred and eighty I brought with me,' he said. 'Plus about five hundred from the city. Another hundred ordinary citizens that we armed with those kandra hammers, or spare weapons from our soldiers. And, we have four different entrances to this cavern complex we need to guard.'

Elend closed his eyes.

'She'll come,' Sazed said.

'My lord,' Demoux said, pulling Elend aside. 'This is bad.'

'I know,' Elend said, exhaling softly. 'Did you give the men metals?'

'What we could find,' Demoux said quietly. 'The people didn't think to bring powdered metal with them when they fled Luthadel. We've found a couple of noblemen who were Allomancers, but they were only Copperclouds or Seekers.'

Elend nodded. He'd bribed or pressed the useful nobleman Allomancers into his army already.

'We gave those metals to my soldiers,' Demoux said. 'But none of them could burn them. Even if we had Allomancers, we cannot hold this location, my lord! Not with so few soldiers, not against that many koloss. We'll delay them at first, because of the narrow entrances. But. . well. .'

'I realize that, Demoux,' Elend said with frustration. 'But do you have any other options?'

Demoux was silent. 'I was hoping you'd have some, my lord.'

'None here,' Elend said.

Demoux grew grim. 'Then we die.'

'What about faith, Demoux?' Elend asked.

'I believe in the Survivor, my lord. But. . well, this looks pretty bad. I've felt like a man waiting his turn before the headsman ever since we spotted those koloss. Maybe the Survivor doesn't want us to succeed here. Sometimes, people just have to die.'

Elend turned away, frustrated, clenching and unclenching his fist around the bead of atium. It was the same problem, the same trouble he always had. He'd failed back during the siege of Luthadel-it had taken Vin to protect the city. He'd failed in Fadrex City-only the koloss getting distracted had rescued him there.

A ruler's most basic duty was to protect his people. In this one area, Elend continually felt impotent. Useless.

Why can't I do it? Elend thought with frustration. I spend a year searching out storage caverns to provide food, only to end up trapped with my people starving. I search all that time looking for the atium-hoping to use it to buy safety for my people-and then I find it too late to spend it on anything.

Too late. .

He paused, glancing back toward the metal plate in the floor.

Years searching for. . atium.

None of the metals Demoux had given his soldiers had worked. Elend had been working under the assumption that Demoux's group would be like the other mistfallen back in Urteau-that they'd be composed of all kinds of Mistings. Yet, there had been something different about Demoux's group. They had fallen sick for far longer than the others.

Elend pushed forward, rushing past Sazed, grabbing a handful of beads. A vast wealth, unlike anything any man had ever possessed. Valuable for its rarity. Valuable for its economic power. Valuable for its Allomancy.

'Demoux,' he snapped, rising and tossing the bead to him. 'Eat this.'

Demoux frowned. 'My lord?'

'Eat it,' Elend said.

Demoux did as asked. He stood for a moment.

Two hundred and eighty men, Elend thought. Sent away from my army because of all the ones who fell sick, they were the most sick. Sixteen days.

Two hundred and eighty men. One-sixteenth of those who fell sick. One out of sixteen Allomantic metals.

Yomen had proven that there was such a thing as an atium Misting. If Elend hadn't been so distracted, he would have made the connection earlier. If one out of sixteen who fell sick remained that way the longest, would that not imply that they'd gained the most powerful of the sixteen abilities?

Demoux looked up, eyes widening.

And Elend smiled.

Vin hovered outside the cavern, watching with dread as the koloss approached. They were already in a blood frenzy-Ruin had that much control over them. There were thousands upon thousands of them. The slaughter was about to begin.

Vin cried out as they drew closer, throwing herself against Ruin again, trying to drive her power to destroy the thing. As before, she was rebuffed. She felt herself screaming, trembling as she thought about the impending deaths below. It would be like the tsunami deaths on the coast, only worse.

For these were people she knew. People she loved.

She turned back toward the entrance. She didn't want to watch, but she wouldn't be able to do anything else. Her self was everywhere. Even if she pulled her nexus away, she knew that she'd still feel the deaths-that they would make her tremble and weep.

From within the cavern, echoing, she sensed a familiar voice. 'Today, men, I ask of you your lives.' Vin hovered down, listening, though she couldn't see into the cavern because of the metals in the rock. She could hear, however. If she'd had eyes, she would have been crying, she knew.

'I ask of you your lives,' Elend said, voice echoing, 'and your courage. I ask of you your faith, and your honor- your strength, and your compassion. For today, I lead you to die. I will not ask you to welcome this event. I will not insult you by calling it well, or just, or even glorious. But I will say this.

'Each moment you fight is a gift to those in this cavern. Each second we fight is a second longer that thousands of people can draw breath. Each stroke of the sword, each koloss felled, each breath earned is a victory! It is a person protected for a moment longer, a life extended, an enemy frustrated!'

There was a brief pause.

'In the end, they will kill us,' Elend said, voice loud, ringing in the cavern. 'But first, they shall fear us!'

The men yelled at this, and Vin's enhanced mind could pick out around two hundred and fifty distinct voices. She heard them split, rushing toward the different cavern entrances. A moment later, someone appeared from the front entrance near her.

A figure in white slowly stepped out into the ash, brilliant white cape fluttering. He held a sword in one hand.

Elend! she tried to cry at him. No! Go back! Charging them is madness! You'll be killed!

Elend stood tall, watching the waves of koloss as they approached, trampling down the black ash, an endless sea of death with blue skin and red eyes. Many carried swords, the others just bore rocks and lengths of wood. Elend was a tiny white speck before them, a single dot on an endless canvas of blue.

He raised his sword high and charged.

ELEND!

Suddenly, Elend burst with a brilliant energy, so bright that Vin gasped. He met the first koloss head-on, ducking beneath the swinging sword and decapitating the creature in one stroke. Then, instead of jumping away, he spun to the side, swinging. Another koloss fell. Three swords flashed around him, but all missed by just a breath. Elend ducked to the side, taking a koloss in the stomach, then whipped his sword around-his head barely passing beneath another swing-and took off a koloss arm.

He still didn't Push himself away. Vin froze, watching as he took down one koloss, then beheaded another in