Elend turned away, walking among the koloss. A group of them quickly approached. The same one as before? He couldn’t tell for certain.
“Take me out,” Elend commanded, meeting the eyes of the largest koloss in the team. Either Elend seemed more commanding now, or this koloss was more easily cowed, for there was no argument. The creature simply nodded and began to shuffle out of the camp, his team surrounding Elend.
This trip was a waste, Elend thought with frustration. All I did was antagonize Jastes. I risked my life for nothing.
If only I could find out what was in those pouches!
He eyed the group of koloss around him. It was a typical group, ranging in size from five feet to one ten-foot monstrosity. They walked along with slumped, unengaged postures. …
Elend still had his knife out.
This is stupid, he thought. For some reason, that didn’t stop him from choosing the smallest koloss in the group, taking a deep breath, and attacking.
The rest of the koloss paused to watch. The creature Elend had chosen spun—but in the wrong direction. It turned to face its companion koloss, the one nearest to it in size, as Elend tackled it, ramming the knife into its back.
Even at five feet with a small build, the koloss was incredibly strong. It tossed Elend off, bellowing in pain. Elend, however, managed to keep hold of his dagger.
Can’t let it get out that sword, he thought, scrambling to his feet and ramming his knife into the creature’s thigh. The koloss dropped again, punching at Elend with one arm, fingers reaching for its sword with the other. Elend took the punch to the chest, and fell back to the sooty ground.
He groaned, gasping. The koloss pulled out its sword, but had trouble standing. Both knife wounds bled stark red blood; the liquid seemed brighter, more reflective, than that of a human, but that might have just been a contrast with the deep blue skin.
The koloss finally managed to gain its feet, and Elend realized his mistake. He’d let the adrenaline of his confrontation with Jastes—his frustration at his inability to stop the armies—drive him. He’d sparred a lot lately, but he was in no position to take a koloss.
But it was far too late to worry about that now.
Elend rolled out of the way as a thick, clublike sword smashed to the ground beside him. Instincts overrode terror, and he mostly managed to avoid the backswing. It took him a bit in the side, spraying a patch of blood across his once white uniform, but he barely even felt the cut.
Only one way to win a knife fight against a guy with a sword … Elend thought, gripping his knife. The thought, oddly, hadn’t come from one of his trainers, or even from Vin. He wasn’t sure where it came from, but he trusted it.
Close in tight as fast as possible, and kill quickly.
And Elend attacked. The koloss swung as well. Elend could see the attack, but couldn’t do anything about it. He could only throw himself forward, knife raised, teeth clenched.
He rammed his knife into the koloss’s eye, barely managing to get inside the creature’s reach. Even so, the hilt of the sword hit him in the stomach.
Both dropped.
Elend groaned quietly, slowly becoming aware of the hard, ash-packed earth and weeds eaten down to their roots. A fallen twig was scratching his cheek. Odd that he would notice that, considering the pain in his chest. He stumbled to his feet. The koloss he’d attacked did not rise. Its companions stood, looking unconcerned, though their eyes were focused on him. They seemed to want something.
“He ate my horse,” Elend said, saying the first thing that came to his clouded mind.
The group of koloss nodded. Elend stumbled forward, wiping the ash from his cheek with a dazed hand as he knelt beside the dead creature. He ripped his knife out, then slid it back in his boot. Next he unfastened the pouches; this koloss had two.
Finally, not certain why, he grabbed the creature’s large sword and rested it up on his shoulder. It was so weighty that he could barely carry it, and certainly wouldn’t be able to swing it. How does a creature so small use something like this?
The koloss watched him work without comment; then they led him out of the camp. Once they had retreated, Elend pulled open one of the pouches and looked inside.
He shouldn’t have been surprised by what he found inside. Jastes had decided to control his army the old-fashioned way.
He was paying them.
The others call me mad. As I have said, that may be true.
43
MIST POURED INTO THE DARK room, collapsing around Vin like a waterfall as she stood in the open balcony doorway. Elend was a motionless lump sleeping in his bed a short distance away.
Apparently, Mistress, OreSeur had explained, he went into the koloss camp alone. You were asleep, and none of us knew what he was doing. I don’t think he managed to persuade the creatures not to attack, but he did come back with some very useful information.
OreSeur sat on his haunches beside her. He had not asked why Vin had come to Elend’s rooms, nor why she stood, quietly watching the former king in the night.
She couldn’t protect him. She tried so hard, but the impossibility of keeping even one person safe suddenly seemed so real—so tangible—to her that she felt sick.
Elend had been right to go out. He was his own man, competent, kingly. What he had done would only put him in more danger, however. Fear had been a companion of hers for such a long time that she had grown accustomed to it, and it rarely caused a physical reaction in her. Yet, watching him sleep quietly, she found her hands traitorously unsteady.
I saved him from the assassins. I protected him. I’m a powerful Allomancer. Why, then, do I feel so helpless?
So alone.
She walked forward, bare feet silent as she stepped up to Elend’s bed. He did not wake. She stood for a long moment, just looking at him peaceful in his slumber.
OreSeur growled quietly.
Vin spun. A figure stood on the balcony, straight-backed and black, a near silhouette even to her tin-enhanced eyes. Mist fell before him, pooling on the floor, spreading out like an ethereal moss.
“Zane,” she whispered.
“He is not safe, Vin,” he said, stepping slowly into the room, pushing a wave of mist before him.
She looked back at Elend. “He never will be.”
“I came to tell you that there is a traitor in your midst.”
Vin looked up. “Who?” she asked.
“The man, Demoux,” Zane said. “He contacted my father a short time before the assassination attempt, offering to open the gates and give up the city.”
Vin frowned. That makes no sense.
Zane stepped forward. “Cett’s work, Vin. He is a snake, even among high lords. I don’t know how he bribed away one of your own men, but I do know that Demoux tried to provoke my father to attack the city during the voting.”
Vin paused. If Straff had attacked at that moment, it would have reinforced the impression that he had sent the assassins in the first place.
“Elend and Penrod were supposed to die,” Zane said. “With the Assembly in chaos, Cett could have taken charge. He could have led his forces—along with your own—against Straff’s attacking army. He would have become the savior who protected Luthadel against the tyranny of an invader. …”
Vin stood quietly. Just because Zane said it didn’t mean it was true. Yet, her investigations whispered that Demoux was the traitor.