The Hero of Ages

people dear to us. And yet, I seem to be the only one unable to get over my loss. I feel childish. Yes, Tindwyl is dead. In all honesty, I did not have much time with her before she did pass. I have no reason to feel as I do.

'Still, I cannot wake up in the morning and not see darkness ahead of me. When I place the metalminds upon my arms, my skin feels cold, and I remember time spent with her. Life lacks all hope. I should be able to move on, but I cannot. I am weak of will, I think.'

'That just isn't true, Sazed,' Vin said.

'I must disagree.'

'Oh?' Vin asked. 'And if you really were weak of will, would you be able to disagree with me?'

Sazed paused, then smiled. 'When did you get so good at logic?'

'Living with Elend,' Vin said with a sigh. 'If you prefer irrational arguments, don't marry a scholar.'

I almost did. The thought came to Sazed unbidden, but it quieted his smile nonetheless. Vin must have noticed, for she cringed slightly.

'Sorry,' she said, looking away.

'It is all right, Lady Vin,' Sazed said. 'I just. . I feel so weak. I cannot be the man my people wish me to be. I am, perhaps, the very last of the Keepers. It has been a year since the Inquisitors attacked my homeland, killing even the child Feruchemists, and we have seen no evidence that others of my sect survived. Others were out of the city, certainly and inevitably, but either Inquisitors found them or other tragedy did. There has certainly been enough of that lately, I think.'

Vin sat with her hands in her lap, looking uncharacteristically weak in the dim light. Sazed frowned at the pained expression on her face. 'Lady Vin?'

'I'm sorry,' she said. 'It's just that. . you've always been the one who gives advice, Sazed. But, now what I need advice about is you.'

'There is no advice to give, I fear.'

They sat in silence for a few moments.

'We found the stockpile,' Vin said. 'The next-to-last cavern. I made a copy for you of the words we found, etched in a thin sheet of steel so they'll be safe.'

'Thank you.'

Vin sat, looking uncertain. 'You're not going to look at it, are you?'

Sazed paused, then shook his head. 'I do not know.'

'I can't do this alone, Sazed,' Vin whispered. 'I can't fight it by myself. I need you.'

The tent grew quiet. 'I. . am doing what I can, Lady Vin,' Sazed finally said. 'In my own way. I must find answers for myself before I can provide them to anyone else. Still, have the etching delivered to my tent. I promise that I will at least look at it.'

She nodded, then stood. 'Elend's having a meeting tonight. To plan our next moves. He wants you there.' She trailed a faint perfume as she moved to leave. She paused beside his chair. 'There was a time,' she said, 'after I'd taken the power at the Well of Ascension, when I thought Elend would die.'

'But he did not,' Sazed said. 'He lives still.'

'It doesn't matter,' Vin said. 'I thought him dead. I knew he was dying-I held that power, Sazed, power you can't imagine. Power you'll never be able to imagine. The power to destroy worlds and remake them anew. The power to see and to understand. I saw him, and I knew he would die. And knew I held the power in my hands to save him.'

Sazed looked up.

'But I didn't,' Vin said. 'I let him bleed, and released the power instead. I consigned him to death.'

'How?' Sazed asked. 'How could you do such a thing?'

'Because I looked into his eyes,' Vin said, 'and knew it was what he wanted me to do. You gave me that, Sazed. You taught me to love him enough to let him die.'

She left him alone in the tent. A few moments later, he returned to his shaving, and found something sitting beside his basin. A small, folded piece of paper.

It contained an aged, fading drawing of a strange plant. A flower. The picture had once belonged to Mare. It had gone from her to Kelsier, and from him to Vin.

Sazed picked it up, wondering what Vin intended to say by leaving him the picture. Finally, he folded it up and slipped it into his sleeve, then returned to his shaving.

The First Contract, oft spoken of by the kandra, was originally just a series of promises made by the First Generation to the Lord Ruler. They wrote these promises down, and in doing so codified the first kandra laws. They were worried about governing themselves, independently of the Lord Ruler and his empire. So, they took what they had written to him, asking for his approval.

He commanded it cast into steel, then personally scratched a signature into the bottom. This code was the first thing that a kandra learned upon awakening from his or her life as a mistwraith. It contained commands to revere earlier generations, simple legal rights granted to each kandra, provisions for creating new kandra, and a demand for ultimate dedication to the Lord Ruler.

Most disturbingly, the First Contract contained a provision which, if invoked, would require the mass suicide of the entire kandra people.

11

Kanpaar leaned forward on his lectern, red crystalline bones sparkling in the lamplight. 'All right, then, TenSoon, traitor to the kandra people. You have demanded this judgment. Make your plea.'

TenSoon took a deep breath-it felt so good to be able to do that again-and opened his mouth to speak.

'Tell them,' KanPaar continued, sneering, 'explain, if you can, why you killed one of our own. A fellow kandra.'

TenSoon froze. The Trustwarren was quiet-the generations of kandra were far too well behaved to rustle and make noise like a crowd of humans. They sat with their bones of rock, wood, or even metal, waiting for TenSoon's answer.

KanPaar's question wasn't the one TenSoon had expected.

'Yes, I killed a kandra,' TenSoon said, standing cold and naked on the platform. 'That is not forbidden.'

'Need it be forbidden?' KanPaar accused, pointing. 'Humans kill each other. Koloss kill each other. But they are both of Ruin. We are of Preservation, the chosen of the Father himself. We don't kill one another!'

TenSoon frowned. This was a strange line of questioning. Why ask this? he thought. My betrayal of all our people is surely a greater sin than the murder of one.

'I was compelled by my Contract,' TenSoon said frankly. 'You must know, KanPaar. You are the one who assigned me to the man Straff Venture. We all know what kind of person he was.'

'No different from any other man,' spat one of the Seconds.

Once, TenSoon would have agreed. Yet, he knew that there were some humans, at least, who were different. He had betrayed Vin, and yet she hadn't hated him for it. She had understood, and had felt mercy. Even if they hadn't already become friends, even if he hadn't grown to respect her greatly, that one moment would have earned her his devoted loyalty.

She was counting on him, even if she didn't know it. He stood a little straighter, looking KanPaar in the eyes. 'I was assigned to the man Straff Venture by paid Contract,' TenSoon said. 'He gave me over to the whims of his twisted son, Zane. It was Zane who commanded that I kill the kandra OreSeur and take his place, so that I could spy on the woman Vin.'

There were a few hushed whispers at her name. Yes, you've heard of her. The one who slew the Father.

'And so you did what this Zane commanded?' KanPaar asked loudly. 'You killed another kandra. You murdered