Mistborn 3
Brandon Sanderson
Marsh has been trying for three years to fight off Ruin, the powerful creature Vin released from the Well of Ascension. He has tried several times to pull the lynch pin from his back, but is unable. He is disgusted with the scene before him as he is about to drive a bronze stake through a man’s heart to the Inquisitor below him. Ruin takes back over his mind and enjoys the Hemalurgy.
Fatren and Druffel have the soldiers of Vetitian ready for the koloss army that is coming to kill them. Druffel is pretty determined they are going to die. Sev, a boy, comes running up to tell Fatren there is a man approaching the city on horseback. They go to the north end of the city and see the man from on top of the bulwark. The man shoots off his horse and lands by them. He starts giving orders to prepare the city for the ten thousand koloss that are heading their way. He then explains he is Elend Venture. Fatren has heard some stories, but doubts this is the same man. Once the generals are gathered, he gives them tactics to use while fighting koloss. The koloss army is spotted in the distance and Elend can see they are making camp. He orders the men to attack, knowing this is their best chance, and charges without waiting to see if they will follow. Fatren charges after him and the men follow.
TenSoon is a formless bulk of muscle in a jail cell just big enough to fit him. The confession of his actions damns him to death after they find out who he told the kandras’ secret to. TenSoon is a Third Generation (old) and is being punished by the Seconds. The Firsts are the ones that ultimately make the rulings based on the First Contract. Guards come and pull him out of his cell. They give him a skull and he forms as quickly as he can to speak. Against kandra law, the guards start pouring acid on him before he has a chance to speak. HIs side is burning when he calls out “judgement.” The guards give him another chance to avoid a public trial and a lifetime of captivity. TenSoon knows that even with the Blessing of Presence he will go mad. He continues to call for judgement, having his own reasons besides his trial.
Elend, still getting used to the physical Allomancy, leads the men into the koloss camp. They kill as many as they can quickly, but the frenzy soon starts up. Elend soothes and riots certain emotions to keep the soldiers spirits up. The koloss start to break down the line and Fatren asks why Elend led them to their doom. Elend points out a spec in the sky (Vin) as the first arrival of his army. Vin lands and immediately starts killing the koloss around her. She finds the biggest on she has ever seen - thirteen feet tall - and kills it. Normally, this would make all the koloss that saw her do it obey her. However, they are being controlled. Vin is able to use emotional Allomancy to control a few and lets her control spread. She sees Elend is doing the same. Finally, this draws out a Steel Inquisitor. Vin fights him and eventually is able to rip off his robe. He has a plate covering the steel spike in his back, which means Vin will have to behead him. She has some help from Elend with his unusually strong steel push to send the Inquisitor flying towards her. Vin uses a koloss to smash in the Inquisitor’s head. Once it is dying, it loses control of the koloss and Elend sends out a powerful wave of soothing.
Sazed has spent the last year going through all of the religions to find one that doesn’t contradict itself in multiple ways. He is determined to find out what happened to Tindwyl’s soul. He has stored away all of his metal minds, sure that he will never need them again. He is not sure if there are any other Feruchemists left in the world. He knows that he can’t lead the Terris people with his lack of faith, so he is serving as Elend’s ambassador. Currently, he and Breeze are visiting King Lekal in the south to convince him to sign an alliance with Elend. Sazed wonders if they are doing the right thing. Breeze can tell Sazed is still hurting over Tindwyl. He tries to cheer him up, but to no avail. A man comes in with their document signed.
Elend tells Fatren the victory is due to him and his people. Vin studies the Inquisitor’s body and finds an extra pewter spike through his heart. They will have to cut him open to see if he had any atium (none of the Inquisitors they have killed have had any). Elend releases one koloss for Vin to control. She has it carry the Inquisitor’s body. Elend explains to Fatren that the koloss are now on their side. He says he needs to something from inside the city and invites Fatren to go with them. They go into the boarded up Ministry building and find the secret door that is made so only an Allomancer can open it. Elend and Vin work together to get into the cavern revealing food and supplies. Fatren feels like he is being robbed, and Elend has to explain that his city would be doomed if word spread of the new found riches. He agrees to let Elend take it. Vin points out how commanding Elend has become and how necessary it has been. Vin is frustrated with the situation, and Elend points out he is focusing on the things he can actually control. They find what they are looking for in the cavern: a metal plate with instructions carved in by the Lord Ruler. They read about malatium (the eleventh metal) and how to control the koloss and kandras. In a previous cavern, they had learned about electrum (see your own future as a defense against atium). There is a map showing the location of the fifth and final cavern in the west located in Cett’s city, Fadrex. Vin thinks the final cavern is the Lord Ruler’s atium stash, but Elend is doubtful. Vin reads a tiny inscription that tells her Ruin can hear anything spoken and read anything written. She has to come up with a plan to defeat it on her own because only her mind is safe.
Marsh wishes he could go mad or that Ruin wouldn’t loose control of him so that he wouldn’t have to think about what is going on around him. The Inquisitors are all getting new spikes for new powers the Lord Ruler had withheld from them. Marsh tries to fight off Ruin enough to commit suicide, but is unable.
TenSoon is given a set of bones and he quickly forms a body. There are several Fifth Generation (lap dogs to the Seconds) with the Blessing of Potency. They take him though back corridors to a sacred place for his trial. He will have to convince the First Generation that he did the right thing or have eternity to think about it.
The mists are unavoidable as Elend and Vin lead Fatren’s people back to their army. A hundred people are killed b the mists and a thousand more become sick. Vin asks Elend if they should have given them a choice. Elend is positive they have done the right thing. Vin walks with the one koloss she controls, whose name is Human. She asks him about koloss reproduction (having never seen a female), but he doesn’t have any answers for her. He says he hates her and the koloss will kill all of the humans to take over the world. Once they meet up with the army, Elend has Demoux send five hundred back to Vetitian to get the supplies and another five hundred to take Fatren’s men to Luthadel. Elend offers for any of Fatren’s soldiers to join his army. Fatren is surprised Elend doesn’t just compel them. Elend explains he needs men that will fight for what they believe in. He calls for a meeting that night.
TenSoon is brought before the Second Generation with the Firsts watching in the shadows above. He stands on a disk in the middle of the room with KanPaar ready to begin judgement. TenSoon sees MeLaan (Seventh Generation), whose true body is made of wood, and she stares at him for a moment. He knows that he will not be able to convince the Firsts or Seconds, but he hopes that he can convince the younger, more rebellious generations. KanPaar is ready to prove that he is right about the Thirds being too rebellious. The Seconds fixed that problem with the Fourth and Fifth, but MeLaan and her friends are different.
Sazed reads about the Larsta religion who encourage art as a way to get close to the divine. Breeze points out the blackness around them and thinks that if there really is some evil taking over the world, they are not being very creative. Sazed explains away the change in the world and marks the religion as impossible. Allrianne rides up to join them and joins Breeze in his saddle. Back at camp, Vin comes to talk to Sazed. She tries to reassure him that he is still him, but he has difficulty believing he is not weak. Vin tells him she needs him. He tells him about how she let the power of the well go instead of saving Elend because it was what he wanted. She leaves him the folded up picture of the flower Kelsier gave her.
TenSoon’s trial begins with KanPaar presiding over it. He starts out by asking TenSoon why he killed another Third Generation kandra, OreSeur. TenSoon realizes KanPaar wants the crowd to hate him so they will discredit what he says. He explains he was following his contract. KanPaar thinks this is what will end their species, humans making them kill each other. TenSoon points out they gave OreSeur the contract with Kelsier, which lead to the death of the Father (Lord Ruler). KanPaar pushes on to avoid the topic. TenSoon explains he betrayed his contract to Zane because he was serving the First Contract. When Vin killed the Lord Ruler, he believes she became the Mother. He tells them how the world is changing and how they should be helping her. Finally, he tells them that he told Vin how to control them. KanPaar waits fro the First Generation to intervene. When they don’t say anything, he says TenSoon will have to wait a month for his sentence.
Elend worries about Vin and how little sleep she gets. She is worried about everyone else - Sazed and Breeze especially. She points out their friends are starting to give up. He promises to fix it. Elend gathers up the crew. He shows them a map of the Final Empire and their estimated ring of the mists. There is a very small area in the Central Dominance that will let them grow crops over the summer. In the middle of the discussion, there is an earthquake (becoming more common). Elend goes on to tell them the last cache is in Fadrex. Cett is excited they will be taking his city back, but Elend wants to try diplomacy first. He also wants to send Sazed and Breeze to Urteau, where Spook has reported a large skaa rebellion. Sazed wants to skip it for personal research, but Elend convinces him to go. He warns them to be careful as the skaa there are not friendly with anyone with noble blood. Last, Elend asks about Kelsier. The crew members that were closest to him tell him. Sazed mentions how he would say they need to smile more. Elend commands them to do this. Even if they think they are doomed, they need to keep spirits up.
Marsh sits in the middle of a three hundred thousand koloss army allowing the ash to cover him. He knows if he moves or struggles, it will catch Ruin’s attention. He thinks about how Kelsier died trying to make Mare’s dreams come true. He decides that he will stop struggling against Ruin until it trusts him. Then Marsh will take his own life, also taking Ruin’s greatest weapon (he has ten extra spikes, more than any other Inquisitor) when the time is right.
Spook has been letting his tin flare for over a year now. His abilities are far greater than anyone else because of it. He makes his way through the empty canals of Urteau until he comes to a building. He listens at the windows until he finds an empty room to enter. He then creeps to a room with an open window (mists flowing in) to listen in on the Citizen, Quellion, meet with his men. They talk about how Elend has taken a small random city. Another man, Olid, thinks they should hear the representatives Elend plans to send. Quellion is determined to stick by Kelsier’s strict hatred for nobility and to die fighting if necessary. As the conversation moves to more mundane topics, Spook finds himself wanting to go talk to the beautiful, but sad, Beldre - Quellion’s sister.
Vin contemplates the mists for a while before they disappear for the day. She finds Elend and Ham talking about whether they should immune their soldiers against the mists. Ham argues they should not allow the deaths, but Elend knows if they have to wait for the men to come out of their tents every morning, it will cause even more deaths. Ham goes to help out a few soldiers. vin thinks Kelsier was wrong about Ham being a general. Elend agrees that he gets too attached and wonders if that isn’t how it is supposed to be. He tells Vin that her Koloss has been around the camp. Vin goes to visit Human. He wants a tent like the human soldiers. Vin refuses, explaining he makes the men uncomfortable. She asks him about the mists. He doesn’t think they kill, but he thinks the mists don’t like them. Vin agrees. She tries to be logical about it, but can’t help feeling different.
Spook is in the streets of Urteau acting like a beggar. Durn, acting like Spook wears cloth over his eyes because he is blind, takes him down the road to where the Citizen is executing people with noble blood by burning them alive in a house. Durn tells him to count the skulls before leaving him to watch. Spook makes his way to the market ahead of Quellion. He notices Beldre by his side, and Spook makes his way to her. He whispers that he is going to kill her brother. They stop int he street and he tells her how he know Kelsier and how he would be disgusted by what they are doing. Quellion sends his guards and Spook starts to fight them. He uses his dueling cane until it is broken and then picks up a sword from a fallen guard. The sword freezes and spook sees that Quellion is an Allomancer. One of the soldiers that should have been dead from Spook’s attack gets back up. Spook realizes he is a thug. Spook uses a guard as a shield, but another guard stabs his sword through the other guard and into Spook, who passes out.
Elend prepares his soldiers to face the mist as the sun goes down. They wear their armor proudly. Demoux is against Elend using the Survivor if he doesn’t believe. Elend explains it is the only feasible religion left. Demoux thinks it more than that and kelsier became a sort of deity when he Snapped. The mists are upon them. ELend starts to ride out to his men, but stops when he realizes Demoux is falling to the mists.
Sazed sets his horse free because it is too weak to carry him and they can’t afford to feed it. Breeze offers to have him ride int he carriage with him and Allrianne, but he decides to walk. He talks to Captain Goradel about the pitiful crops. Goradel thinks they are a sign of hope. The captain then asks about stopping in Luthadel for supplies. Sazed approves and says he will catch up with them on the highway when they leave Luthadel. He leaves them behind to go to the Pits of Hathsin, which have been converted into a place for the Terrismen and their herds.
Spook is woken up by a voice. He realizes that he is being executed by fire in a noble’s house. He is out of tin and hurt badly from the stab wound in his chest. The voice pushes him to crawl to the second floor. Inside a room, the voice has him open a drawer and drink a vial of metal solution. Spook is able to burn pewter to steady. The man steps forward into view and it is Kelsier.
TenSoon is put on display in a cage (first time in kandra history). MeLaan approaches to talk to him, but he has to be carful to protect her - there is most likely someone listening. she knows their gods, Ruin and Preservation, are at war and Ruin has returned. She wants TenSoon to lead a rebellion against the First and Seconds. He refuses, but his mind starts going. He asks about his dog bones, but MeLann is disgusted he even asked. She thinks Vin broke him and she leaves him.
Vin contemplates the first rule Kelsier taught her about Allomancy: consequences. There is a balance that is maintained. She wonders what balances Ruin. Noorden (former Obligator, friendly and scholarly) comes to inform Elend of the number of people that have fallen sick or died from the mists. Vin asks about percentages and they find that each time a group has been inoculated, exactly sixteen percent have become ill. Elend sends Noorden to research this finding and to make sure Ruin isn’t manipulating their findings.
Sazed gives his suggestions to the Terris people. They want him to stay and lead them. Sazed knows he cannot do that. He has to keep moving and working to keep from giving up.
In his fevered, healing state, Spook dreams about when he was a child. His father caught him with a gong. They know they can’t turn him in to the obligators without getting them all killed. His father threatens him with his foot on Spook’s neck as they decide what to do. Clubs is there and offers a bag full of coin for his nephew’s life. Spook’s mother convinces everyone it is the best option, but doesn’t dare say goodbye to her son. When Clubs asks his name, he comes up with Lestibournes, which means “I am abandoned” in his eastern street slang.
Days later, VarSell brings TenSoon a bag containing the dog bones Vin gave him. They plan to make him wear them and beat him until the bones are broken. They have given TenSoon what he needs to escape.
When the army arrives at Fadrex, Elend calls a meeting. Cett wants them to go in and take the city by force. Elend wants to try diplomacy first. Cett realizes if that is successful, he won’t get his city back. Elend points out he promised to make him a king, but never said when or when. Cett writes up a list of names of people that might be willing to give them information. Vin will go into the city to learn what she can. Elend offers to go with her, but she tells him he sticks out too much. She kisses him before leaving.
Spook wakes up in his hidden private hideout in the Harrows, a place for people who don’t want to be watched carefully by the Citizen. Pewter has been healing him while he slept. He goes t take a bit of sword out of his chest, but he hears Kelsier’s voice tell him to leave it in. He makes his way down to a bar to listen into the conversations and is forced to buy a bottle of whine to keep his seat. As he drinks without getting drunk (because of pewter), he listens to men talk about the Citizen’s plain to get rid of coins Spook wonders why clubs came to rescue him and what life would be like if he hadn’t. He hears men talking about him. One says he saw the sword go through him and Durn said he was part of the Survivor’s crew. Spook leaves.
Vin makes her way into Fadrex through the far less guarded side of the city that sits against rocks. She uses coins with cloth around them to keep her travel as silent as possible as she makes her way to the informants Cett told them about. The first one, Slowswift, is reluctant to tell her anything at first. He believes the obligator, Yomen, is a good man and a better fit for the city than Cett. Vin is confused. Slowswift explains Yomen gave the people what they needed: stability. Even if it meant going back to the way of the Lord Ruler. Vin finds it odd their will be a ball that night. Slowswift tells her Yomen still has faith in the Lord Ruler. The obligator also seems to have a lot more money to support the city than he should. Vin pays him and heads off to the next informant. As she is about to enter the town square to approach the humming beggar, she gets a bad feeling and leaves. As she makes her way to the third informant, Vin feels an allomancer behind her burning copper to hide from her. She pretends to not notice and picks up the pace. IT soon disappears and Vin starts to wonder if it could have been the mist spirit she hasn’t seen in over a year.
Elend is writing a letter to Yomen when Vin returns. She tells him what she has learned and the possibility of the mist spirit’s return. Elend decides he wants to support Vin, so he offers to help her save the world however he can. vin explains they can’t talk about it because Ruin will hear. She tells him to concentrate on the numbers, but to only direct her in what to do, not tell her what he finds. Elend agrees. Vin finds his letter to yomen, but Elend is not hopeful they can avoid an attack. Vin suggests they go to the ball, and Elend agrees it is a good idea. Vin realizes she doesn’t have a dress.
Sazed, Breeze, and Allrianne arrive before the Citizen’s men in Urteau. They are taken before the Citizen, but he has little interest in what they have to say. He strictly believes what Kelsier said. Sazed asks to stay in the city and the Citizen agrees as long as they follow his rules. As Sazed and his friends are taken back through the city in the carriage, they see a huge fire in the middle of town. Spook joins them and informs them the display is specially for them. He has them follow him to their new base: the Canton of Inquisition. The Ministry building is boarded up, but Spook easily rips the boards away. Sazed tries to help, but is unable. Spook leads them inside and down to the secret cavern that holds the city’s cache that Vin discovered earlier. There is a lake in the underground cavern. They all agree they will use the building as their base.
When it is time for the next ball in Fadrex, Elend and Vin prepare to go. He is shocked to find her in a proper black gown, which a friend inside the city helped her get. They make their way into the city and decide to land directly outside Keep Orielle. One servant tries to keep them from entering, but Elend pushes him aside. Another runs off to get the guards. They make their way in and are announced. They give everyone a moment to look at them before moving in to find Yomen. They find his table and the king calls off his guards. Elend suggests they split up to cover more nobility. Vin finds the most stuck-up woman in the ballroom and warns her followers that they will be left behind to die by the woman when the army attacks. When Vin finally gets a rise out of Lady Patresen, Vin tells her it doesn’t matter what she thinks and leaves the table. All of Lady Patresen’s (cousin family of Eleriel - Shan, Elend’s ex-finance) friends abandon her for Vin. They offer to introduce her around the ball and Vin accepts.
After three days in Urteau, Sazed meets with Breeze, Allrianne, and Spook to determine their options. The Citizen still refuses to meet with them. Spook suggests they kill him, but they others point out it would not win the people of the city. They need to undermine their way of life so they can take over as peacefully as possible. Sazed points out they are following Kelsier’s preachings. Spook talks to Sazed alone as they stare out over the underground lake. He tells Sazed he knows Kelsier is looking over them, but Sazed doesn’t believe it. Spook asks why Sazed doesn’t talk about the religions anymore. After Sazed explains, Spook says he though it would have been when Tindwyl would have wanted. Sazed is impressed with Spook’s observations.
Elend mingles a bit with the local nobility. He runs into his old friend, Telden, who he is surprised to see after four years. They talk about politics and Vin before going their separate ways. Elend goes up to Yomen’s table, who is not happy to see him. Elend lays out his plans for peace and an alliance. Yomen doesn’t like him and calls him a hypocrite. Elend tells him they need the supplies and instructions left in the cavern by the Lord Ruler. By Yomen’s reaction (and the bead of atium he wears on his forehead), Elend knows Yomen has already found it. Since they can’t come to an agreement, Elend says he will attack far in the future when Yomen’s soldiers are starved. Elend sends a servant to fetch something for him, and after he has it, he approaches Vin. He apologizes to the woman swarming around her and asks her to dance. When they take the floor, everyone else leaves it. As they start dancing, Elend pulls out a copy of the book he was reading the night they met. Vin scolds him but appreciates the gesture. He puts the book away and Vin explains that he can still be him while he is emperor. They discuss the next ball at the Candor of Resource and decide it will allow them to get a look at the cache. When they are finished dancing, they make a show of their departure.
TenSoon is lead to his judgement in the wolfhound body Vin had given him. KanPaar starts to sentence him, but TenSoon ignores him and addresses the Firsts. He tells them they cannot ignore the world around them. They decide not to heed his warning and tell KanPaar to continue. TenSoon charges KanPaar and breaks the crystal bones that form his “true body.” He continues to do the same to the other Seconds. As the guards are sent after him, TenSoon leaps over the crowd to escape. He hopes no one with the Blessing of Potency (he no long has the one he took from OreSeur) would be able to catch him.
Marsh walk into a small town in the Central Dominance that is close to Mount Tyrian (ash mount). He walks into town and finds the house he is looking for. He kills all the servants before finding the misting he is looking for. He stabs a spike through the drunk smoker’s heart (less powerful than using the spike and heart directly) storing the power to take with him. As he is leaving, a man begs for their salvation through the Lord Ruler because they are starving. Marsh tells them they won’t have to worry about it much longer. When he is far enough away from the city, lava pours out of Mount Tyrian to flood the city.
Spook takes Breeze to a tavern to start spreading his influence. He then goes to confront Durn about the rumors he has been spreading. He finds the cave dug into the canal wall with two guards covering the door. Spook kicks in the door and quickly moves inside to find Durn playing cards. Spook orders the other men out and Durn tells them and the guards to leave them. Spook asks about the rumors. Durn wanted the people to turn against Quellion for killing a member of the Survivor’s crew. He offers what little he has to help his friends. Spook tells him to go to Breeze with the offer. As Spook is leaving, he and Kelsier debate how quickly Quellion must be killed. One of the men rushes up to him and asks Spook to save his seven-year-old sister who is part noble and will be burned in a few days. Spook agrees to try in exchange of ten men willing to wrk at night.
Cett thinks Elend made a mistake by going to the ball and meeting the people he will soon have to attack. He knows they can’t wait too long as they haven’t gotten word or supplies sent from Luthadel. ELend meets with his generals to hear their reports. Demoux stays behind afterwards and asks to be demoted. He thinks the mists are Kelsier punishing people for their lack of faith. He points out the anomalies around the number sixteen (how many months Kelsier spend in the Pits, etc.). Elend points out the Demoux has more faith in the Survivor than most and his sickness lasting sixteen days is proof they are chosen at random. Demoux isn’t convinced, but Elend points out they don’t have time for his doubt. He wants to ask if the men that got sick were all as faithful as him, but shooting starts up.
Vin wakes up to the sound of fighting and goes out to help. After taking out several mounted riders, she senses a Mistborn. She follows him into Fadrex, but is unable to catch up. She decides to use duralumin, but she looses him while her tin is off. The Allomancer stops burning all metals to hide from her. She returns to the camp where Elend and Ham have bad news. The attack was a distraction for more soldiers to use their siege weapons on the koloss. Elend briefly lost control and half died while they fought with bloodlust. Elend says he is going to give one thousand to Vin to control. She goes among them and does this. Human follows her and says she needs to make more koloss. She pushes him to show her. He takes a dead koloss and carries its body to the tend of wounded soldiers. He rips off the blue skin and pulls out four spikes. He takes them into the tent. Vin stops him and realizes koloss are created from humans.
Franson (man who asked Spook to rescue his sister) and his friends dig through the debris of the first execution Spook witnessed. Ten people were executed, but there are only nine skulls. Spook pays him and says there is hope for his sister. Sazed goes with Breeze to one of the skaa bars, surprised they have no fear of the mists. They sit with a few men while Sazed tells them about Elend and his plans for their city. Though they are not happy with Quellion’s rule, they are not convinced another Venture is the answer. One of the men mentions the Survivor of the Flames. When Sazed asks about him, they say they will show him at the executions the next day.
TenSoon runs through the ash and finds the place where he hid OreSeur’s Blessing of Potency. Each kandra gets on Blessing (Presence, Potency, Stability, or Awareness) that gives them sentience and turns them from mistwraith to kandra. He takes the two spikes made from Hemalurgy and absorbs them into his body along with his own Blessing of Presence. He now has increased strength (like pewter) and starts running again. The First Contract said if Ruin were to return, the kandra should go to the Lord Ruler. Since he is dead, TenSoon decides to find Vin.
Elend points out what they know. There is a third power none of them were really aware existed - Hemalurgy. Vin points out they found a dead body they thought was Marsh when he actually became an Inquisitor. They also know Marsh’s mind has changed since the transformation occurred. Vin wonders if they are controlled by Ruin (and previously the Lord Ruler) like the kandra and koloss. Cett asks what they can do with the information, pointing out they won’t kill humans to make more koloss. Elend has Noorden change his focus from percentages to pattern of koloss movement. After everyone leaves, Demoux tells Elend the soldiers don’t trust him and the other mistfallen. Elend has him form a special unit for themselves. A messenger, Conrad, comes from Luthadel to ask Elend for troops and supplies. Riots have put the city in chaos. They never received Elend’s request for the same. Later Vin confronts Elend alone. He thinks Ruin is trying to draw them away from Fadrex. Vin stops him, not wanting Ruin to hear. After he leaves her, Vin stands with the mist avoiding her. She wonders if she really did call on the mists during her fight with the Lord Ruler.
Sazed is intrigued with the idea that the Survivor’s religion could have multiple Survivors and evolve with each new and living one. Breeze gets tired of listening to him talk about it and complains about waiting for the executions to start. Spook is concerned about having to kill the guards as he hasn’t killed anyone yet. As the execution is getting ready to begin, he drops down a passageway that leads to the basement of the burning house. He kills most of the guards (who are only there to save one person, who is an Allomancer) with dueling canes and daggers, but one grabs the little girl and holds a dagger to her throat. Spook tells the others to leave and lock them in. Once they do, the guard drops the girl to frantically try to escape. Spook breaks his knees and Kelsier tells Spook to let him burn. Spook leaves the man and tries to find a way out for the girl and himself. As the building burn, Allrianne starts to riot the crowd to feel angry at Quellion until Breeze stops her. Suddenly, the boards fly off a second story window and Spook drops out with the little girl. Allrianne riots the people to give Spook time to escape.
Marsh is in Luthadel as the other Inquisitors search around the world for what Preservation took from Ruin. Marsh makes his way to Penrod’s room at Keep venture. He slips in and puts a spike into his chest. His people will not be able to remove it without killing him and Ruin will be able to have some influence over his thoughts. Marsh stays around to listen to and make sure they will not be able to remove the spike. Then he leaves.
Vin points out the other Mistborn to Elend on their way to Yomen’s ball. She makes him promise to leave when she is discovered, no matter what. They continue on and make their way inside the Candor of Resource. Vin asks if Elend wants to dance before they separate, but he is too nervous. Vin goes around the ballroom and finds two women tailing her, one burning tin and the other copper. She has Slowswift send two men against Yomen to the court yard and wait for her. She goes outside and the women follow. Two men appear soon after. When Elend’s distraction starts, Everyone but Vin, her two tails, and the two men go inside. Vin knocks out the two women and tells the men to hide them and keep them knocked out. She hands them her dress to hide and goes inside to sneak down to the basement. Meanwhile, Elend does everything he can think of to argue with Yomen. He challenges him, says he has allies within the city, and claims because he can control the koloss , he is the true heir of the Lord Ruler. Elend can tell he is getting to Yomen.
Vin sneaks downstairs and goes through the maze of corridors. She distracts the guards by altering their emotions. Eventually, she makes it into a room with a trap door. She drops down and finds a lantern to give some light. She finds the door to the storage cavern just slightly open, noticing the trouble Yomen must have gone through to get it open. She goes inside and starts looking for the plate with the Lord Ruler’s instructions, but the door closes behind her. Elend enjoys debating with Yomen and tries to keep the crowd engaged. He finds it difficult to do both and is relieved when one of the girls Vin knocked out is brought into the ballroom. Elend decides to take the opportunity to find out if Yomen is an Allomancer. He launches himself at the obligator and strangles him. When Yomen can’t defend himself, Elend lets him go. Yomen attacks him with a glass dagger and hits him twice. Elend realizes Yomen is burning atium and uses electrum to get the opportunity to escape. Three hours later, Elend receives a note from Yomen. He has Vin. Meanwhile, Vin is trapped in the cavern. The metal has been removed from the stone door and something is reinforcing it. She hears someone else in the darkness - Yomen’s Mistborn. She waits until he is close enough and then attacks with her daggers. She recognizes her brother - Reen.
Vin looks at her brother, but refuses to believe it is him. She knows he wasn’t an Allomancer, let alone Mistborn, and him snapping rather than being killed is improbable. She notices the imposter couldn’t get Reen’s eyes right. Vin attacks and as they are fighting, she tries to figure out why his Allomantic pulses seem familiar. She realizes they are the same as the mist spirit. Finally, the imposter reveals that he is really Ruin. He has been using Reen’s voice inside her head for years to manipulate her.
Sazed, Breeze, and Allrianne sit in the secret cavern waiting for Spook to arrive. After seeing him jump from the second story of the burning building, they have wondered how he did it. Sazed wonders if he really is Mistborn, but Breeze points out how unlikely that is. Sazed goes to study his religions, but keeps getting distracted by the idea that a misting can gain additional powers later in life. Spook goes to visit Beldre. He has decided that her sad eyes are because of the murders her brother commits to secure Allomancers. She calls him simplistic. Spook points out he was on the Survivor’s crew and overthrowing Quellion won’t be difficult. He asks her to come with him in hopes of a peaceful resolution. She screams for the guards. Kelsier yells for him to kill Quellion, but Spook leaves instead. Breeze asks Sazed why he takes such good care of his metalminds if he refuses to use them. Sazed tries to explain he won’t use them because they won’t do anyone good in the present. Spook returns. He tells Breeze to spread news of the truth - Quellion is holding families hostage to get Allomancers to do what he wants. He tells Sazed to put on his metalminds and find a way to get the water from the underground lake into the canals. He plans to take the city with his miracles and turn the people against Quellion.
Cett admires the loyalty people have towards Elend, but after three days, he is convinced Vin is dead. Elend wants to go after her, but knows he cannot take the risk. He hears fighting among the restless men and goes to investigate. Demoux beats him to the scene. When one of the soldiers punches Demoux, Elend steps in. He asks the man why he hit his general and the man replies it is because Demoux is mistfallen. Elend thinks the rivalry is ridiculous, but knows he will have to separate the men. The man that hit Demoux will be executed and the mistfallen will be sent to Luthadel to assist Penrod. Elend goes to Noorden’s tent to check on the koloss’ movements.
Vin opened a few cans of food on her first day in the cavern, but it burned away her pewter. She has yet to find any water. Ruin leaves her, but says in her head that he is never really far away from her. Vin goes over to the metal plate. It has a circle with a dot in the middle rather than a map. She runs her finders over the inscription she has memorized. The Lord Ruler had a thousand years and still couldn’t find a way to beat Ruin. She wonders how it was imprisoned in the well. The last written line, “I have hid the body well,” makes her wonder even more. The stone door starts to open.
As Sazed makes a plan on how to refill the canals, Breeze points out how much the Terrisman enjoys studying. Breeze tells him not to feel guilty about liking what he does and going good at it. Spook joins them to express his concern that Quellion hasn’t attacked. When he took the city, it was by force. He made the skaa attack at night and those who died where said to be impure. Spook points out the nobility haven’t been killed by the mists. Goradel comes to tell Spook that Beldre has come to talk to him. Sazed, Breeze, Allrianne, and Spook go to talk with her. Beldre believes they won’t hurt her, but wants to talk them out of killing her brother. Spook points out that if they hold her, it will look like she snuck away from Quellion for protection. Breeze admits it is a brilliant move. Sazed wonders when Spook got so clever. When asked what the Survivor would think, Spook tells Beldre he thinks it is exactly what Kelsier would do.
As soon as the door is open enough, Vin uses coins to shoot herself out of the cavern. She heads straight up the ladder to the trap door, but is unable to get it open. She looks at the men in the room with her. Elend’s friend, Telden Hastings, is there with a number of skaa servants. He wants her to drink a drugged wine so they can move her to a new location. She contemplates how she can avoid that, but Telden points out Yomen is above and unlikely to open the door for screams. Vin decides to take the wine. She waits a few seconds for the effects to kick in and then burns duralumin and pewter to burn it away. It isn’t enough and she passes out.
Elend sets off using coins to quickly travel to a nearby village. It is burning and some thirty thousand koloss are attacking. Elend jumps into the fray and starts killing koloss. He tries several times to control them, but eventually has to use duralumin. The survivors think he is the Lord Ruler. Elend wonders why he wasn’t confronted by whichever Inquisitor was controlling the group of koloss.
TenSoon is surprised at the crowded misery Luthadel is in when he arrives. He can’t seem to figure out what happened to Vin and worries Straff Venture has taken over as Emperor. After listening in on a few guards at Keep Venture, TenSoon makes his way to a warehouse. He remembers torturing the information out of OreSeur. He digs up Kelsier’s bones and hopes he gets the look right without having the rest of the man. TenSoon appears to two guards as the Survivor. He uses the disguise to get information. One of the guards tells him King Penrod has gone made, talking to the air and claiming to see the Lord Ruler. They say Lord Breeze brought men in a few months back and headed into the North Dominance. TenSoon tells them to get people underground when the mists leave. He goes back to the warehouse-turned-church for the wolfhound bones, but there are people there. They ask for guidance, and he tells them King Penrod has been corrupted by Ruin. He tells them to go to the guards at Keep Venture for directions to the underground caves where Kelsier trained his army. He then moves to another building to change back into his dog bones. He makes a sack to carry Kelsier’s bones with him and starts to run to Urteau.
Spook goes to talk to Beldre as she sits by the underground lake. He starts telling her about Elend and Vin when she asks about them. Eventually he starts telling her about how he has always been an insignificant member of the crew. He promises he won’t hurt her and he will try to save her brother. Spook warns Durn to make sure they have a waterproof way to keep the Harrows from flooding. He also says he will be granted a title when they take the city. They then take wine from cavern to the bars. Spook listens to the people and thinks about his conversation with Beldre. He wishes she could see him admired by the people and hopes he can keep a balance to prevent corruption. Kelsier tells him to enjoy it, so he does.
Vin wakes up to find her metals are gone - her body used them up as she slept. Yomen is there and knows she is awake. She rises to find herself in a room with silver manacles around her wrists that are chained to the wall. Yomen has gone through a lot of trouble to make sure she doesn’t get any metal into her. However, he gives her back the silver plated bronze earring. He allows a messenger from Elend’s army in to ask a question to prove she is alive. He plans to execute her for murdering the Lord Ruler. Ruin tells her to kill him (using Reen’s voice) but she ignores it. He leaves her.
Elend walks back towards his camp with his new koloss army to give him time to think. His line of though eventually leads him to believe they cannot defeat Ruin and save the world. The mist spirit appears and points east. Elend tells it to write out what it wants, but Ruin immediately changes the words to portents of death. Elend starts asking “yes or no” questions with the creature waving his arms to signal “yes.” It wants him to go back east and not attack Fadrex. It is much weaker than Ruin. Preservation might be bringing the mists, but it is not the mists that are killing the men. Before it disappears (dies) it indicates the metals and the mists are important, but doesn’t have the power to answer why. ELend starts walking again, feeling a little more hopeful.
Spook writes out his ideas on a charcoal board in his eastern street slang, trying to find a way to expose Quellion as a misting coinshot. Beldre finds him and asks about the language. He explains a bit of it to her and she appreciates the coded gibberish. She asks him to promise not to kill her brother and he does. He agrees to let her write a letter (which he will re-write to prevent any codes bing exchanged). Goradel comes to get him. The Citizen’s guards outside their door have left. Breeze suggests some of Goradel’s men find out where they went. He follows the order after Spook gives his approval. Sazed walks with Spook and asks if he has doubt they will succeed. Spook has faith that something will happen to save them, even as the land dies. Sazed realizes he needs to get his faith back to be useful again.
After a week in her cell, Vin still has control over the one thousand koloss Elend gave her to control. Ruin comes to Vin in the form of Reen. He starts bragging about how he has finally won. Vin sees the humanity in him. She realizes there must be a force on the other side. Ruin confirms that he and Preservation created the world. They had an agreement that Ruin would destroy it one day in exchange for sentient life. Preservation broke their deal and imprisoned Ruin in the well. He says Preservation was a power of the universe. Ruin continues to gloat, thinking Vin is the only one that understands him, and says the world will end in days. Vin realizes he is telling her this because she is locked away with no power. She thinks this means he can be defeated, specifically by her.
Quellion writes back to his sister that he won’t listen to what Spook has to say. They all prepare for battle. That night, the Citizen plans to give a speech as the mists come. By the time Spook and his men get there, fires and riots have already started. Spook makes his way to the stage and fights off Quellion’s guards. He tries to get him to push a coin or leap into the air, but the push comes from Beldre. Kelsier tries to push him to kill the Citizen, but Spook notices that Quellion can see the Survivor as well. Spook rips off Quellion’s shirt and finds a bronze spike in his arm. Spook pulls it out. The then removes the steel spear tip from his own chest. Ruin’s influence over them disappears and they realize what they have done. Spook sends Quellion to Breeze and Allrianne to calm the riots. He, Sazed, and Beldre go to the Ministry building to find it on fire. Beldre took out the men that were supposed to use Sazed’s machine to turn on the water. Spook extinguishes his tin so that he is numb and then goes through the burning building to get to the lever in the cavern. He throws himself against it and then collapses.
TenSoon stores Kelsier’s bones outside the city before heading into the destruction of Urteau. He finds Elend’s soldiers at the Ministry building. He has gathered that Elend and Vin are not there, so he tells the guards that he has a message from Elend. They take him to Breeze. TenSoon says that he is looking for Vin. Breeze takes him to Sazed. He is reluctant to tell the Keeper anything (as kandra have been told to avoid nosey Keepers), but tells him he has information for Vin about the end of the world. TenSoon is shocked when instead of asking questions about the kandra, Sazed is ready to help him any way he can.
The next time the guards come to take Vin to Yomen, she attacks to give them what they expect. There are twenty guards in the hallway and they restrain her and take her to their king. Yomen has his back to her when she is chained. She uses the opportunity to use grease hidden in her shirt (from her food) to slip out of the manacles. She throws screws from her bed at the guards, who drop, assuming they are steel pushed. She goes for Yomen, but discovers he is burning atium. She is put back in her seat for the trial to begin. Yomen isn’t convinced the Lord Ruler is actually dead. vin tells him the entire story, but he thinks the Lord Ruler wanted it to look like Vin killed him. Ruin is there and whispering to Vin. She realizes that she is not Kelsier’s heir, but the Lord Ruler’s. She knows Yomen won’t kill her because he thinks she is the key to the Lord Ruler’s plan. Yomen asks why Fadrex is so important to them. Vin tells him it is because of the atium store. Yomen thinks she is mad because the metal has become almost worthless.
Elend returns to camp. Ham is there to tell him what the scouts have reported. Villages are being destroyed and people are dying by the droves. Elend tries to figure out what the mist spirit was trying to tell him besides not to attack Fadrex. Elend knows he can’t leave Vin or waste the collected koloss. He tells Ham they will attack in the morning.
Sazed checks on Spook, but his condition hasn’t changed and he hasn’t woken up. Sazed gave him pewter, but it did nothing but relieve Sazed’s worries about Spook randomly acquiring a new power. Beldre sits with Spook everyday, faithful that he will wake up. She is grateful that Spook returned Quellion to his old self. Sazed is suspicious as to why the Citizen is so willing to work with them now. He goes to finish studying the remainder of his notes on religions and finds all of them to not be possibly true. As TenSoon gets ready to leave to find Vin, he tells Breeze to say goodbye to the Announcer for him. This sparks Sazed’s interest because no one else know that is what he should be called (rather than Holy First Witness - a skaa term). Sazed busts out of his room to catch TenSoon and asks how he know the term. TenSoon explains that the men that travelled with Rashek to kill Alendi were granted immortality in exchange for their Feruchemy. He made them into mistwraiths and granted them consciousness through Hemalurgy. They became the First Generation of kandra. Sazed realizes they are the only ones that would know the Terris religion without it being altered by Ruin. TenSoon agrees to take Sazed to the kandra Homeland so Sazed can convince them the world is ending.
Ruin brags to Vin about how the world is about to end. She realizes she doesn’t have time to wait. She calls to the guard and says she has information for Yomen. The guards take her to him and she tells him to ask her anything. He wants to know how Elend controls the koloss, so she tells him everything. She then tells him there is a reason the Lord Ruler wanted her to end up in Fadrex. She has him send for maps and shows him where all the secret caches were. She then has him pullout a map with mineral mines and they see the locations all were around the largest mines. Vin realizes that Ruin has been driving her to find the atium She starts to realize that Ruin might not be able to read things when they are written in metal. Suddenly Marsh comes in demanding Yomen’s atium. The obligator tells him there were only a few beads in the cache. Ruin screams out in frustration. Marsh points out that Elend is preparing to attack the city. Vin says he will not attack because he is a better person than her. She offers yomen to join them to stop Marsh and Ruin.
Spook hears a voice tell him him he needs to get the message to Vin. He wakes up to find Breeze and Beldre watching over his bandaged body. They tell him to rest, but he insists. Goradel promises to get the message to Vin or die trying. Spook asks for metal to carve the words into, knowing they cannot be spoken.
Elend stands with his army in place and wonders if it is right to attack the city. He asks Ham, who for once gives him a straight answer: no. Elend tells him to give the command to return to Luthadel. Yomen and Ruin are both surprised by this. Vin tells Ruin they found the atium a long time ago, but kept up the appearance of looking for it because they know he can’t see it. marsh gives the order for Yomen to attack Elend’s position. Yomen stops to question it, but does give the order. As Yomen’s men rush out of the city gate, Elend orders his to retreat, having the koloss clear the way through the ash. Vin moves to the window by Marsh to watch Elend’s retreat. She can’t get quite close enough to get into his sash. Ruin points out the koloss are creatures of his power. As Elend makes his way into Fadrex, he feels a rip that knocks him off balance. He realizes he has lost control of the koloss. vin is able to get into Marsh’s sash and drinks a vial of metals before anyone can stop her. She uses her steel and duralumin to push her earring through Marsh’s brain. She tries to convince Yomen to call his men off as they block Elend’s from escaping the koloss. She finds her little group (ignored by Ruin) and marches them out to Yomen’s men before Ruin takes control. Yomen orders the retreat and to allow Elend’s army into the city as well. Marsh gets up and strangles vin as she tries to get to his mind. She draws on the mists and is able to break through. Marsh leaps away and out the window. Vin goes to join the battle. Elend’s men are having trouble dealing with all the koloss. Suddenly Vin arrives and quips about being delayed by an Inquisitor and a dark god before joining the fight.
TenSoon uses a horse and a pig to create a horse large enough to carry Sazed and both of their baggage to the Homeland, which is next to the Pits of Hathsin. TenSoon says Vin will lead an army of Allomancers to save them all before he goes to find her. Sazed makes his way through the ash and into an underground cavern. He meets two kandra guards and demands to see the First Generation or else he will leave and tell everyone where they are. The guards lead him further underground.
A few days after the koloss attack, Vin, Elend, and Yomen look out over the city as Ruin gathers his koloss. Vin hopes she can trick Ruin. She tells Elend she is going to get the atium and bring it back to Fadrex. He is confused, but keeps up the charade. Vin says her goodbye to him and then uses horseshoes to start off towards Luthadel.
Sazed is led into a room surrounded by a metal ring. There are two members of the Second Generation there. He tells them who he is and they call for the other ten members of their generation. Sazed starts asking questions, but KanPaar tries to stop him. Sazed points out that he has all of the Terris Religion he can find, but it has been altered by Ruin. If they compare it to the truth, they might be able to find where to focus their efforts. The firsts send all of the other kandra away and then appear to Sazed. They wear their own bones the Lord Ruler gave them from their human bodies. They get to work immediately.
Marsh sits in the falling ash as Ruin commanded him. He is unable to come up with any way to defeat the god or even help his friends. Ruin calls on him to kill a messenger. As Marsh hacks apart the body, Ruin has trouble controlling him. Eventually, Ruin takes back control and has Marsh read out loud the letter from Spook to Vin warning her about being pierced by metal. The god then sends Marsh toward Luthadel.
Elend and Yomen work together to do what they can for their armies. In the infirmary, Elend points out that the mist took exactly sixteen percent of the men. Yomen isn’t surprised because sixteen is a reoccurring number in the Lord Ruler’s religion. He mentions there are sixteen Allomantic metals. ELend points out they only know of fourteen, but Yomen points out they are in sets of four. Elend realizes the mist sickness might not have been a negative thing. He finds one of the mistfallen soldiers and has him drink a vial of metal. The man is able to burn metal. As Elend starts to realize the mist is their ally, Ruin realizes he is out of time and attacks.
Sazed speaks with the Firsts about the Hero of Ages that is supposed to save them all. He is surprised that the Terris religion is so full of cliches. Two gods, Ruin and Preservation, make a deal to create humans with emotions as long as Ruin can one day destroy the world. Preservation used a bit too much of his power in the humans and was therefore weaker than Ruin. As Ruin prepared to end the world, Preservation went back on their deal. Instead he made his body into the well to trap Ruin. The Lord Ruler used the kandra to hide Ruin’s body. Sazed opens up the large, metal sarcophagus to find thousands of beads of atium. The obligators would take the beads out of the mined geodes and send them there while people thought he was crating a stockpile elsewhere. TenSoon travels as fast as he can through ash, but comes up on a field of fire and lave from Tyrian, the ash mount. He will have to detour to the south, but knows it is already over.
Vin stops at Kredik Shaw. Ruin thinks she doesn’t have the atium, but can’t be sure. He has his twelve Inquisitors attack while Marsh watches them fight. After a while, she ends up using the last of her pewter and steel to get four Inquisitors off her. Marsh starts breaking her bones. He revels in it so much that he can think clearly long enough to realize Vin’s earring is the metal spike Ruin has been using against her. He pulls it out of her ear. Suddenly, Ruin disappears and the mists surround Vin. She calls on them and stops Marsh from using his ax to kill her.
TenSoon rests in the ash and notices the mists swirling toward Luthadel even though there isn’t any wind. He turns back that way hoping he isn’t too late. Allrianne calls Breeze to the window to see the odd behavior of the mists. Spook bursts in to tell them they need to get everyone to the storage cavern. Elend and Fadrex fight off constant waves of koloss. Suddenly, a messenger arrives to tell him the koloss are retreating. Elend launches himself into the air to see the mass of blue bodies moving toward Luthadel. Vin takes power from the mists and takes out all twelve Inquisitors, toppling Kredik Shaw in the process. Marsh is huddled on the ground and the mist is gone by the time Vin gets to him. She pulls out one eye spike, trying to remember Marsh died a long time ago. Marsh is glad he didn’t give up. He is ready to die, but Vin leaves before pulling out the second eye spike.
Elend and yomen look out over the dead in Fadrex. The day seems too hot and the mists have disappeared completely. Elend tells Yomen to search for wounded among the dead and get everyone into the caverns. Before leaving, the two men become friends, each admitting the other is a good person. Yomen reveals that he is a Seer (atium using Misting). Elend takes off trying to use horseshoes to get to Vin as quickly as possible.
Sazed studies alone for a time and comes to the conclusion he does believe in the Terris religion. He returns to the Trustwarren to find kandras worried that the mist are completely gone. KanPaar tries to tell them it is nothing. However, the leader of the Firsts, Haddek, thinks the Resolution might be upon them and orders all of the lower generations out of the room. The Firsts tell Sazed about the Resolution: a promise to the Lord Ruler that one day the kandra would all remove their Blessings and become mistwraiths again. Sazed points out the mists might be drawn into a person and thinks Vin truly is the Hero of Ages in the prophecies. KanPaar bursts in to overthrow the Firsts. Talk of the Resolution has caused some panic among the kandra. He is going to make sure it doesn’t happen. Sazed is gagged.
Vin wakes up and Ruin welcomes her to being a god - Preservation. He mocks her as she tries to fix all of the world’s problems. He says he is stronger than Preservation, but Vin feels like they seem even. She realizes a piece of Preservation is missing from creating humanity. A piece of Ruin must also be missing - the atium. She is frustrated that she is inexperience with the power. She sees the koloss coming to Luthadel and Elend as well.
Elend arrives in the empty, nearly destroyed capital city. He wonders what happened and where all of his people went. He finds Penrod’s suicide note saying the people are in the Terris Dominance. He realizes that Ruin most likely changed the words just slightly. He thinks his people are with the Terris people at the Pits of Hathsin. Vin is frustrated with how difficult it is to try to communicate with Elend, her words just barely a whispering wind. Ruin continues to tell her he his more powerful and yet preaches about balance.
Sazed sits in the tiny kandra prison cell. he finds the grate above him and the lock are metals he can use to store weight and speed. TenSoon and his friend MeLaan find him and open the the cell. The guards come and TenSoon starts to fight them off. Sazed uses stored weight and speed to crush their bones. He tells TenSoon about the Seconds taking over and points out the other prisoners are likely the Firsts. TenSoon takes a guard’s bones to imitate him so eh can throw the Seconds off their trail. Sazed stays with the Firsts and stores more weight and speed while waiting for the Firsts to reform.
Ruin moves and Vin follows. He hears two kandra talking about atium and realizes the Lord Ruler hid it where they were already a lot of minerals Ruin couldn’t see. Vin sees the kandra Homeland as a shiny mass. Ruin is able to get into KanPaar’s head because of his Blessing - the Hemalurgy spikes. Elend arrives at the Pits of Hathsin and is surprised to find his own soldiers that he sent back to Luthadel with Demoux. The Firsts announce that KanPaar is a traitor. TenSoon attacks Sazed. Though he cannot control his actions, he is able to tell the Keeper that he can’t. Haddek announces it is the Resolution. Sazed blacks out as TenSoon frees on arm and reaches from his own shoulder.
Demoux tells Elend a house war split Luthadel. A few soldiers and church members saw Kelsier and he told them to get out of the city. Demoux thinks Elend did right to send him back to help the Terris people organize the refugees. Elend tells him to have all his soldiers ingest Allomantic metals and divide them by what they can burn. He worries about the koloss heading their way. Sazed wakes up and is surrounded by mistwraiths. He is impress that most of the kandra pulled out their spikes. He remembers that he has to protect the atium, but finds KanPaar and a few others going after it. KanPaar (and Ruin) see him and he uses his stored up speed to get to his metalminds. He empties out the bag and grabs two that he filled before giving up Feruchemy. He uses his pewter-stored strength to get out and close the door to the Trustwarren to trap the kandra. He then uses stored weight to hold it closed. Elend talks to the two soldiers that saw Kelsier outside of Keep Venture. He keeps hearing his name on the wind and eventually decides to listen to it. He has demoux get an honor guard and follow him. He sees a hill with a hole in the side in his head and then finds it in person. He goes into the tunnel and sees Sazed. In his surprise, Sazed lets the door open. He yells out to not let the kandra get away and Elend and Demoux easily stop them. Elend plans to move people there to protect them.
All of Vin’s smugness of her successes are whipped away when she realizes it is just another stall tactic. She gets frustrated and attacks Ruin, but they are too well matched. Elend and Demoux lose hope until Elend makes Demoux ingest a bead of atium. Elend realized the men that got the sickest got the most power. Vin listens as Elend makes a speech to his soldiers before he leads them into battle about how they are going to die. He changes out and starts burning atium. He fights the koloss easily. He men join him and they also burn atium. Vin laughs at Ruin and says it (Vin decided Ruin is not human and therefore is an “it”) doesn’t understand how life isn’t just chaos and destruction. Elend fights the koloss for hours, but there seem to be no end to them. His men start to die as they run out of atium. Elend is about ready to go back for more when Marsh arrives, also burning atium. Human leads other koloss into the caverns and to the atium storage. Elend fights off Marsh. As his metals run out, he now knows how Kelsier must have felt facing the Lord Ruler. Vin enhances his power and he sees her in the sky. He burns duralumin and atium, but Marsh puts his ax in Elend’s chest. Ruin becomes smug until Elend explains he had his men burn all the atium during the battle. Marsh cuts off Elend’s head. Vin has nothing left to loose, so she attacks Ruin. She pushes until they both vanish.
Sazed waits at an entrance to the Homeland for Vin’s arrival. He sees her body fall next to Elend’s along with Ruin’s. He runs out to her and starts getting burned by the too-hot sun. He feels power coming off Vin and Ruin’s bodies. Eventually, he realizes he has the knowledge to save the world. HE takes both powers and uses information from the different religions to put the planet back to the way it was. He becomes the god to watch over the world - the Hero of Ages.
People emerge from the storage caverns and the Homeland relatively close to each other and find the world restored. There is a field of flowers with Vin and Elend’s bodies. Spook finds a tome with a note from Sazed to him. He is leaving the knowledge of what happened as well as all the knowledge from his metalminds. He thinks people will look to Spook for leadership and tells him to seek out the last two metals. He made Spook Mistborn at Kelsier’s request. Vin and Elend are happy where they are. Sazed will be around.