Brandon SANDERSON - The Hero of Ages

“Um… yes. My lord.”

Elend nodded, and Fatren fell a little behind him and Vin, as if showing an unconscious deference. He didn’t seem rebellious – for now, he was probably happy to be alive. Perhaps he would eventually resent Elend for taking command of his city, but by then, there would be little he could do. Fatren’s people would be accustomed to the security of being part of a larger empire, and the stories of Elend’s mysterious command of the koloss – and therefore salvation of the city – would be too strong. Fatren would never rule again.

So easily I command, Elend thought. Just two years ago, I made even more mistakes than this man. At least he managed to keep his city’s people together in a time of crisis. I lost my throne, until Vin conquered it back for me .

“I worry about you,” Vin asked. “Did you have to start the battle without me?”

Elend glanced to the side. There was no reproach in her voice. Just concern.

“I wasn’t sure when – or even if – you’d arrive,” he said. “The opportunity was just too good. The koloss had just marched an entire day. We probably killed five hundred before they even decided to start attacking.”

“And the Inquisitor?” Vin asked. “Did you really think you could take him on your own?”

“Did you?” Elend asked. “You fought him for a good five minutes before I was able to get there and help.”

Vin didn’t use the obvious argument – that she was by far the more accomplished Mistborn. Instead, she just walked silently. She still worried about him, even though she no longer tried to protect him from all danger. Both her worry and her willingness to let him take risks were part of her love for him. And he sincerely appreciated both.

The two of them tried to stay together as much as possible, but that wasn’t always feasible – such as when Elend had discovered a koloss army marching on an indefensible city while Vin was away delivering orders to Penrod in Luthadel. Elend had hoped she would return to his army camp in time to find out where he had gone, then come help, but he hadn’t been able to wait. Not with thousands of lives at stake.

Thousands of lives… and more.

They eventually reached the gates. A crowd of soldiers who had either arrived late to the battle or been too afraid to charge stood atop the bulwark, looking down with awe. Several thousand koloss had gotten past Elend’s men and tried to attack the city. These now stood motionless – by his silent command – waiting outside the bulwark.

The soldiers opened the gates, letting in Vin, Elend, Fatren, and Vin’s single koloss servant. Most of them eyed Vin’s koloss with distrust – as well they should. She ordered it to put down the dead Inquisitor, then made it follow as the three of them walked down the ash-piled city street. Vin had a philosophy: the more people who saw koloss and grew accustomed to the creatures, the better. It made the people less frightened of the beasts, and made it easier to fight should they have to face koloss in battle.

They soon approached the Ministry building that Elend had first inspected upon entering the city. Vin’s koloss walked forward and began to rip the boards off of its doors.

“The Ministry building?” Fatren said. “What good is it? We already searched it.”

Elend eyed him.

“My lord,” Fatren said belatedly.

“The Steel Ministry was linked directly to the Lord Ruler,” Elend said. “Its obligators were his eyes across the empire, and through them he controlled the nobility, watched over commerce, and made certain that orthodoxy was maintained.”

The koloss yanked the door open. Moving inside, Elend burned tin, enhancing his eyesight so that he could see in the dim light. Vin, obviously doing the same, had little trouble picking her way across the broken boards and furniture littering the floor. Apparently, Fatren’s people hadn’t just “searched” the place – they’d ransacked it.

“Yeah, I know about obligators,” Fatren said. “There aren’t any of them here, my lord. They left with the nobility.”

“The obligators saw to some very important projects, Fatren,” Elend said. “Things like trying to discover how to use new Allomantic metals, or like searching for lines of Terris blood that were breeding true. One of their projects is of particular interest to us.”

“Here,” Vin said, calling out from beside something set in the floor. A hidden trapdoor.

Fatren glanced back toward the sunlight, perhaps wishing that he’d decided to bring a few soldiers with him. Beside the trapdoor, Vin lit a lantern she’d salvaged from somewhere. In the blackness of a basement, even tin wouldn’t provide sight. Vin opened the trapdoor, and they made their way down the ladder. It eventually ended in a wine cellar.

Elend walked to the center of the small cellar, surveying it as Vin began to check the walls. “I found it,” she said a second later, rapping her fist on a certain portion of the stone block wall. Elend walked forward, joining her. Sure enough, there was a thin slit in the stones, barely visible. Burning steel, Elend could see two faint blue lines pointing to metal plates hidden behind the stone. Two stronger lines pointed behind him, toward a large metal plate set into the wall, affixed very securely with enormous bolts bored into the stone.

“Ready?” Vin asked.

Elend nodded, flaring his iron. They both Pulled on the plate buried in the stone wall, steadying themselves by Pulling back against the plates on the back wall.

Not for the first time, the foresight of the Ministry impressed Elend. How could they have known that someday, a group of skaa would take control of this city? And yet, this door had not only been hidden – it had been crafted so that only someone with Allomancy could open it. Elend continued to Pull in both directions at once, feeling as if his body were being stretched between two horses. But, fortunately, he had the power of pewter to strengthen his body and keep it from ripping apart. Vin grunted in effort beside him, and soon a section of the wall began to slide open toward them. No amount of prying would have been able to wedge the thick stone open, and only a lengthy, arduous effort would have been enough to break through. Yet, with Allomancy, they opened the door in a matter of moments.

Finally, they let go. Vin exhaled in exhaustion, and Elend could tell that it had been more difficult for her than it was for him. Sometimes, he didn’t feel justified in having more power than she – after all, he’d been an Allomancer for far less time.

Vin picked up her lantern, and they moved into the now-open room. Like the other two Elend had seen, this cavern was enormous. It extended into the distance, their lantern’s light making only a faint dent in the blackness. Fatren gasped in wonder as he joined them in the doorway. The room was filled with shelves. Hundreds of them. Thousands of them.

“What is it?” Fatren asked.

“Food,” Elend said. “And basic supplies. Medicines, cloth, water.”

“So much,” Fatren said. “Here, all along…”

“Go get more men,” Elend said. “Soldiers. We’ll need them to guard the entrance, to keep people from breaking in and stealing the contents.”

Fatren’s face hardened. “This place belongs to my people.”

“ My people, Fatren,” Elend said, watching Vin walk into the room, bearing the light with her. “This city is mine, now, as are its contents.”

“You came to rob us,” Fatren accused. “Just like the bandits who tried to take the city last year.”

“No,” Elend said, turning toward the soot-stained man. “I came to conquer you. There’s a difference.”

“I don’t see one.”