The hero of ages

THE HERO OF AGES TOR BOOKS BY BRANDON SANDERSON Elantris THE MISTBORN TRILOGY Mistborn The Well of Ascension The Hero of Ages BRANDON SANDERSON A TOM DOHERTY ASSOCIATES BOOK NEW YORK This is a work of fiction All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously THE HERO OF AGES: BOOK THREE OF MISTBORN Copyright © 2008 by Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC All rights reserved Edited by Moshe Feder Maps and interior art by Isaac Stewart A Tor Book Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC 175 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10010 www.tor-forge.com Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sanderson, Brandon The hero of ages / Brandon Sanderson.—1st ed p cm.—(Mistborn ; bk 3) “A Tom Doherty Associates book.” ISBN-13: 978-0-7653-1689-9 ISBN-10: 0-7653-1689-7 I Title PS3619.A533 H47 2008 813'.6—dc22 2008031067 First Edition: October 2008 Printed in the United States of America FOR JORDAN SANDERSON, Who can explain to any who ask What it’s like to have a brother Who spends most of his time dreaming (Thanks for putting up with me.) CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDMENTS MAPS PROLOGUE PART ONE: Legacy of the Survivor PART TWO: PART THREE: PART FOUR: Cloth and Glass The Broken Skies Beautiful Destroyer PART FIVE: Trust EPILOGUE ARS ARCANUM Metals Quick Reference Chart Names and Terms Summary of Book One Summary of Book Two ACKNOWLEDGMENTS As always, I owe a whole lot of people a whole lot of thanks for helping make this book what it is today First and foremost, my editor and my agent —Moshe Feder and Joshua Bilmes—are to be noted for their exceptional ability to help a project reach its fullest potential Also, my wonderful wife, Emily, has been a great support and aid to the writing process As before, Isaac Stewart (Nethermore.com) did the fine map work, chapter symbols, and circle of Allomantic metals I truly appreciate Jon Foster’s artwork as well; this time it’s resulted in my personal favorite of the three Mistborn covers Thanks to Larry Yoder for being awesome, and Dot Lin for her publicity work for me at Tor Denis Wong and Stacy Hague-Hill for their assistance to my editor, and the—as always—marvelous Irene Gallo for her art direction Alpha readers for this book include Paris Elliott, Emily Sanderson, Krista Olsen, Ethan Skarstedt, Eric J Ehlers, Eric “More Snooty” James Stone, Jillena O’Brien, C Lee Player, Bryce Cundick/Moore, Janci Patterson, Heather Kirby, Sally Taylor, Bradley Reneer, Steve “Not Bookstore Guy Anymore” Diamond, General Micah Demoux, Zachary “Spook” J Kaveney, Alan Layton, Janette Layton, Kaylynn ZoBell, Nate Hatfield, Matthew Chambers, Kristina Kugler, Daniel A Wells, The Indivisible Peter Ahlstrom, Marianne Pease, Nicole Westenskow, Nathan Wood, John David Payne, Tom Gregory, Rebecca Dorff, Michelle Crowley, Emily Nelson, Natalia Judd, Chelise Fox, Nathan Crenshaw, Madison Van-DenBerghe, Rachel Dunn, and Ben OleSoon In addition I’m thankful to Jordan Sanderson—to whom this book is dedicated—for his tireless work on the Web site Jeff Creer, also, did a great job with the art for BrandonSanderson.com Stop by and check it out! Ruler Vin convinced him to switch sides, and he later led Elend through the palace to try and rescue her He is now an officer in Elend’s army HADDEK: Leader of the First Generation of kandra HAM: A Thug on Kelsier’s crew, now a general in Elend’s army Known for his enjoyment of philosophical puzzles, and for wearing only a vest no matter what the temperature HAMMOND: Ham’s real name HATHSIN: See Pits of Hathsin HAZEKILLER: A soldier with no Allomantic or Feruchemical powers who is trained to fight and kill Allomancers HERO OF AGES, THE: The prophecied savior of the Terris people It was foretold that he would come, take the power at the Well of Ascension, then be selfless enough to give it up in order to save the world from the Deepness Alendi was thought to be the Hero of Ages, but was killed before he could complete his quest Vin followed in his footsteps, and got further, taking the power, then giving it up The prophecies, however, proved to be falsified—a ruse intended to allow a force named Ruin to escape imprisonment (See also Ruin.) HOID: A mystery yet to be solved HOMELAND, KANDRA: The cavern complex that the kandra use as their secret home It is known to no human other than the Lord Ruler (who is now dead) Kandra who serve well in Contracts are allowed periods of rest in the Homeland INQUISITOR, STEEL: A group of strange priests who served the Lord Ruler They have spikes driven completely through their heads—point-first through the eyes—yet continue to live They were fanatically devoted to him, and were used primarily to hunt out and kill skaa with Allomantic powers They have the abilities of a Mistborn granted to them via Hemalurgy, and some other powers gained by that art as well IRONEYES: Marsh’s nickname when he was a member of the crew, before he became an Inquisitor IRONPULL: Pulling on a metal when Allomantically burning iron This Pull exerts a force on the metal item, yanking it directly toward the Allomancer If the metallic item, known as an “anchor,” is heavier than the Allomancer, he or she will instead be Pulled toward it JANARLE, KING: Once Straff Venture’s second-in-command, Janarle was forced to swear allegiance to Elend Venture He now rules the Northern Dominance on Elend’s behalf JASTES LEKAL: Heir to the Lekal house title and one of Elend’s former friends He and Elend often discussed politics and philosophy along with Telden Jastes gathered an army of koloss and marched on Luthadel during the siege begun by Straff and Cett, then lost control of them Elend executed Jastes for the death and destruction he caused KANDRA: A race of creatures who can ingest a person’s dead body, then reproduce that body with their own flesh As relatives of mistwraiths, kandra have no bones, so they keep and use the bones of the person they imitate Natural spies, they serve Contracts with mankind—which must be paid for with atium Kandra are immortal (See also Homeland and Generations.) KANPAAR: Foremost of the Second Generation of kandra KEEPER (TERRIS): Often used loosely as another term for a Feruchemist The Keepers were actually an organization of Feruchemists dedicated to discovering, then memorizing, all of the knowledge and religions that existed before the Ascension The Lord Ruler hunted them to nearextinction, forcing them to remain hidden After the Collapse, they began teaching and revealing their knowledge However, they were attacked by the Inquisitors about the time of the siege of Luthadel, and are all presumed dead, save Sazed KELL: Kelsier’s nickname KELSIER: The most famous thieving crewleader in the Final Empire, Kelsier raised a rebellion of skaa and overthrew the Lord Ruler, but was killed in the process He was Mistborn, and was Vin’s teacher His death spawned a religion known as the Church of the Survivor KHLENNIUM: An ancient kingdom that existed before the rise of the Final Empire It was Alendi’s homeland KOLOSS: A race of bestial warriors created by the Lord Ruler during his Ascension, then used by him to conquer the world KREDIK SHAW: The Lord Ruler’s palace in Luthadel It means “the Hill of a Thousand Spires” in the old Terris language KWAAN: A Terris scholar before the Collapse He was a Worldbringer, and was the first to mistake Alendi for the Hero of Ages He later changed his mind, betraying his former friend by recruiting Rashek to stop him LADRIAN: Breeze’s real name A distant relative of Jastes Lekal, King Audil Lekal took power over Jastes’s kingdom after the siege of Luthadel He has slowly lost most of that kingdom to banditry and koloss incursions LESTIBOURNES: Spook’s real name LLAMAS, MISTBORN: Brandon’s former writing group, who helped and advised on all three Mistborn books Mistborn Llamas chew various kinds of plants to gain super-llaman powers T-shirts can be found on the Web site, if you know where to look LORD RULER: The emperor who ruled the Final Empire for a thousand years He was once named Rashek, and was a Terris servant who was hired by Alendi He killed Alendi, however, and went to the Well of Ascension in his place, and there took the power and Ascended He was finally killed by Vin, but not before warning her that she was making a terrible mistake LURCHER: A Misting who can burn iron LUTHADEL: Capital of the Final Empire, and largest city in the land Luthadel is known for its textiles, its forges, and its majestic noble keeps It was nearly destroyed during the siege of Luthadel by rampaging koloss and is now ruled by King Penrod, one of the subject kings under Elend MALATIUM: The metal discovered by Kelsier, often dubbed the Eleventh Metal Nobody knows where he found it, or why he thought it could kill the Lord Ruler, but it is an alloy of atium and gold Malatium eventually provided the clue Vin needed to defeat the Lord Ruler, as it allows an Allomancer to see a shadow from another person’s past MARE: Kelsier’s wife, a friend of Sazed’s who was very active in the skaa rebellion before her death in the Pits of Hathsin MELAAN: A kandra of the Seventh Generation She was trained and “raised” by TenSoon METALMIND: A piece of metal that a Feruchemist uses as a kind of battery, filling it with certain attributes that he or she can later withdraw Specific metalminds are named after the different metals they are made of: tinmind, steelmind, etc MIST: The strange, omnipresent fog that falls on the Final Empire every night Thicker than a common fog, it swirls and churns about, almost as if it were alive Just before Vin took the power at the Well of Ascension, the mists changed and began randomly killing people who went out in LEKAL, KING: them An Allomancer who can burn all of the Allomantic metals MISTCLOAK: A garment worn by many Mistborn as a mark of their station Mistcloaks are constructed from dozens of thick ribbons of cloth that are sewn together at the top, but allowed to spread free from the chest down MISTING: An Allomancer who can burn only one metal They are much more common than Mistborn (Note: An Allomancer either has one power or all of them There are no in-betweens with two or three.) The Lord Ruler and his priests always taught that there were only eight kinds of Mistings, based on the first eight Allomantic metals MISTSICKNESS: The name used for the strange malady that strikes people who go out into the mists Though most who so are unharmed, a sizable minority fall to the shakes and grow sick This sickness can last just a few days or over two weeks, and is sometimes fatal One need only go out in the mists once, however, to become inoculated—and immune—to mistsickness Nobody knows why it began, though the first reports of it came just before Vin took the power at the Well of Ascension MISTWRAITH: A nonsentient relative of the kandra people Mistwraiths are globs of boneless flesh that scavenge the land at night, eating any carcass they find, then using the skeletons for their own bodies Kandra are actually made from mistwraiths, which they call the “unbirthed.” NEW EMPIRE: The name Elend gave his realm after he took power from Cett and Straff at the end of the siege of Luthadel It currently includes the Central Dominance and the Northern Dominance, with parts of the Eastern and Southern Dominances as well NOORDEN: One of the only obligators who chose to stay in Luthadel and serve Elend OBLIGATOR: A member of the Lord Ruler’s priesthood Obligators were more than just religious figures, however—they were civil bureaucrats, and even a spy network A business deal or promise that wasn’t witnessed by an obligator was not considered legally or morally binding ORESEUR: A kandra employed by Kelsier OreSeur once played the part of Lord Renoux, Vin’s uncle He was killed by TenSoon, who impersonated him to get close to Vin PATRESEN, LADY: A noblewoman in Fadrex known for her proofreading MISTBORN: abilities One of the most prominent noblemen who remained in Luthadel after the Collapse, Penrod made a play for the throne, eventually succeeding in taking it away from Elend via a democratic process He later accepted Elend as his emperor, and now rules Luthadel PEWTERARM: Another term for a Thug, a Misting who can burn pewter PITS OF HATHSIN, THE: A network of caverns and crevasses that were the only place in the Final Empire that produced atium The Lord Ruler used prisoners to work them Kelsier destroyed their ability to produce atium shortly before he died Now home to the Terris refugees PRESERVATION: An ancient Terris god, Preservation was Ruin’s opposite —the force for stability, stasis, and continuity He gave up most of his mental force to imprison Ruin at the Well of Ascension PULL (ALLOMANTIC): Using Allomancy to Pull on something—either on people’s emotions with zinc, or on metals with iron PUSH (ALLOMANTIC): Using Allomancy to Push on something—either on people’s emotions with brass, or on metals with steel QUELLION: Ruler of Urteau, Quellion considers himself a pure follower of the Survivor, and tries to uphold Kelsier’s injunction to overthrow and execute the nobility Beldre is his sister RASHEK: A Terris packman before the Ascension, Rashek was hired by Alendi to help him make the trek to the Well of Ascension Rashek deeply resented Alendi, and eventually killed him He took the power at the Well himself, and became the Lord Ruler REEN: Vin’s half-brother, who protected her and trained her as a thief Reen was brutal and unforgiving, but he did save Vin from their insane mother, then protect her during her childhood He was killed by the Inquisitors when he refused to give them Vin’s location Sometimes, Vin hears the words of his lessons in her memory, and he has come to represent the more brutal side of life in Vin’s mind RELEASE (FERUCHEMICAL): When a Feruchemist stops tapping a metalmind, no longer drawing forth its power RENOUX, LORD: A nobleman whom Kelsier killed, then hired the kandra OreSeur to impersonate Before the Collapse, Vin played the part of his niece, Valette Renoux RIOT (ALLOMANTIC): When an Allomancer burns zinc and Pulls on a PENROD, FERSON: person’s emotions, enflaming them RIOTER (ALLOMANTIC): A Misting who can burn zinc RUIN: An ancient Terris god, Ruin is the force of destruction, entropy, and decay in the world Once imprisoned near the Well of Ascension, Ruin was accidentally released by Vin Ruin’s power is not yet complete, and he mostly affects the world subtly, by whispering in the ears of his servants and by changing the text of documents He cannot change things written in metal SATREN: A city in the East that has a storage cavern SAZE: Sazed’s nickname on the crew SAZED: A Terris Keeper who joined Kelsier’s crew against the wishes of his people, then helped overthrow the Final Empire He was romantically involved with Tindwyl, and her death has pushed him into a long bout of depression He now serves as chief ambassador in Elend’s empire, and has been named by Elend third in line for the throne, should Elend and Vin both die SEEKER (ALLOMANTIC): A Misting who can burn bronze SHAN ELARIEL: Elend’s former fiancée, a Mistborn whom Vin killed SIEGE OF LUTHADEL: The term used to refer to the month-long attack upon the Central Dominance by Ashweather Cett, Straff Venture, and Jastes Lekal It ended with Jastes losing control of his koloss army, which attacked Luthadel Vin managed to stop this army, then turn it against Straff At the last minute, Cett joined her SKAA: The peasantry of the Final Empire They were once of different races and nationalities Over the thousand-year span of the empire the Lord Ruler worked hard to stamp out any sense of identity in the people, eventually succeeding in creating a single, homogeneous race of slave workers Elend freed them when he took over Luthadel Many of them have now joined the Church of the Survivor SLOWSWIFT: The nickname of a certain nobleman in Fadrex He bears a striking resemblance to a well-known storyteller SMOKER (ALLOMANTIC): Misting who can burn copper Also known as a Coppercloud SOOTHE (ALLOMANTIC): When an Allomancer burns brass and Pushes on a person’s emotions, dampening them SOOTHER: A Misting who can burn brass SPOOK: A Tineye from Kelsier’s crew The youngest member of the crew, Spook was only fifteen when the Lord Ruler was overthrown He is Clubs’s nephew, and was once known for his use of garbled street slang At the command of the other members of the crew, he fled Luthadel before its fall, but felt terribly guilty for doing so He now serves as a scout and spy for Elend, and has been stationed in Urteau, where he is gathering information about the rebels there STEEL MINISTRY: The Lord Ruler’s priesthood, consisting of a small number of Steel Inquisitors and a larger body of priests called obligators The Steel Ministry was more than just a religious organization; it was the civic framework of the Final Empire STORAGE CAVERN: The Lord Ruler left behind five caches of supplies hidden in caverns beneath certain cities Each one contains a metal plate giving the location of the next cavern, and providing some advice from the Lord Ruler The first cavern was discovered beneath Luthadel itself STRAFF VENTURE: Elend’s father, once king of the Northern Dominance He was killed by Vin at the climax of the siege of Luthadel STREETSLOT: The name for the sunken streets of Urteau They are really just drained canals Rather than fill them in, the people of the city walk along their bottoms SURVIVOR OF HATHSIN: A cognomen of Kelsier, referring to the fact that he is the only known prisoner to ever escape the prison camps at the Pits of Hathsin SYNOD (TERRIS): Once the elite leaders of the Terris Keepers, the entire Synod was attacked and carried off by the Inquisitors They are presumed dead TAP (FERUCHEMICAL): Drawing power from within a Feruchemist’s metalminds It is parallel to the term “burn” used by Allomancers TATHINGDWEN: Once capital of the Terris Dominance, Tathingdwen was burned by the Inquisitors during their assault on the Keepers TELDEN: One of Elend’s old friends, with whom he talked politics and philosophy Known for being something of a playboy and dandy TENSOON: Once Straff Venture’s kandra, TenSoon was loaned to Zane for use in spying on Vin TenSoon killed OreSeur and took his place, acting as Vin’s companion He came to like her, despite his natural inclination to hate all humans, and eventually betrayed Zane—breaking his Contract—to help her In consequence of this action, he returned to the Homeland to accept punishment from his people He has the Blessing of Presence, as well as the Blessing of Potency, which he stole from OreSeur TERRIS: The dominance in the far north of the Final Empire During the days of the Lord Ruler, it was the only dominance to retain the name of the kingdom it used to be, perhaps a sign of the Lord Ruler’s fondness for his homeland (Though it was later discovered that the current Dominance of Terris is not actually where the old kingdom stood.) The Terris people abandoned their homeland after the Inquisitor assault a year ago, fleeing to the Central Dominance, where Elend took them in They now make their home in the valleys surrounding the Pits of Hathsin THUG (ALLOMANTIC): A Misting who can burn pewter TINDWYL: A Terris Keeper and a member of the Synod Once romantically involved with Sazed, Tindwyl was killed during the siege of Luthadel She was one of Elend’s primary teachers in the art of leadership TINEYE: A Misting who can burn tin TRUSTWARREN: The holiest place in the kandra Homeland TYRIAN, MOUNT: The closest of the ashmounts to Luthadel UNBIRTHED: See Mistwraith URTEAU: Capital of the Northern Dominance, and once the seat of House Venture Now in rebellion, it is ruled by a man known as Quellion the Citizen Site of a storage cavern VALETTE RENOUX: The alias that Vin used when infiltrating noble society during the days before the Collapse VEDLEW: A senior elder of the Terris people WELL OF ASCENSION: See Ascension, Well of WELLEN: Also known as Wells One of Cett’s soldiers whom he brought with him into Luthadel during the siege Wells was the sole survivor of a large group of men who were on watch the night when Vin and Zane assaulted Cett’s position WORLDBRINGERS: A sect of scholarly Terris Feruchemists before the Collapse, of which Kwaan was a member The later order of Keepers was based on the Worldbringers YEDEN: A member of Kelsier’s crew and the skaa rebellion He was killed during the fight against the Lord Ruler YOMEN, LORD ARADAN: An obligator in Urteau who was politically opposed to Cett A member of the Canton of Resource, Yomen took control of Fadrex—and Cett’s kingdom—when Cett left to besiege Luthadel SUMMARIES OF PREVIOUS BOOKS BOOK ONE Mistborn: The Final Empire introduced the Final Empire, a land ruled over by a powerful immortal known as the Lord Ruler A thousand years ago, the Lord Ruler took the power at the Well of Ascension and supposedly defeated a powerful force or creature known only as the Deepness The Lord Ruler conquered the known world and founded the Final Empire He ruled for a thousand years, stamping out all remnants of the individual kingdoms, cultures, religions, and languages that used to exist in his land In their place he set up his own system Certain peoples were dubbed “skaa,” a word that meant something akin to slave or peasant Other peoples were dubbed nobility, and most of these were descendants of those who had supported the Lord Ruler during his years of conquest The Lord Ruler had supposedly given them the power of Allomancy in order to gain powerful assassins and warriors with intelligence, as opposed to the brutish koloss, and had used them well in conquering and maintaining his empire Skaa and nobility were forbidden to interbreed During the thousand years of the Lord Ruler’s reign, many rebellions occurred among the skaa, but none were successful Finally, a half-breed Mistborn known as Kelsier decided to challenge the Lord Ruler Once the most famous gentleman thief in the Final Empire, Kelsier was known for his daring schemes Those eventually ended with his capture, however, and he was sent to the Lord Ruler’s death camp at the Pits of Hathsin, the secret source of atium It was said that nobody ever escaped the Pits of Hathsin alive—but Kelsier did just that He gained the powers of a Mistborn during that time, and managed to free himself, earning the title “the Survivor of Hathsin.” At this point, he turned from his selfish ways and decided to try his most daring plan yet: the overthrow of the Final Empire He recruited a team of thieves, mostly half-breed Mistings, to help him achieve his goal During this time, he also discovered a young half-breed Mistborn girl named Vin Vin was as yet unaware of her powers, and Kelsier brought her into the crew to train her, theoretically to have someone to whom he could pass his legacy Kelsier’s crew slowly gathered an underground army of skaa rebels Despite their progress, the crew began to wonder if Kelsier was setting himself up to be another Lord Ruler He sought to make himself a legend among the skaa, becoming almost a religious figure to them At the same time, Vin—who had been raised on the streets by a cruel brother—grew to trust people for the first time in her life As this happened, Vin began to believe in Kelsier and his purpose Even before mastering her Allomantic talents, Vin was used as a spy among the nobility, and was trained to infiltrate their balls and parties playing the part of “Valette Renoux,” a young noblewoman from the countryside During the first of these balls, she met Elend Venture, a young, idealistic nobleman and heir of his house He eventually convinced her that not all noblemen were deserving of their poor reputation, and the two fell in love, despite Kelsier’s best efforts The crew also discovered a journal, apparently written by the Lord Ruler himself during the days before the Ascension This book painted a different picture of the tyrant—it depicted a melancholy, tired man who was trying his best to protect the people against the Deepness, despite the fact that he didn’t really understand it In the end, it was revealed that Kelsier’s plan had been much broader than simply using a skaa army to overthrow the empire In part the effort to raise troops provided an opportunity to spread rumors about himself He also used it to train his crew in the arts of leadership and persuasion The true extent of his plan was revealed when he sacrificed his life in a very visible way, making himself a martyr to the skaa and finally convincing them to rise up and overthrow the Lord Ruler One of Kelsier’s crewmembers—a man who had been playing the part of “Lord Renoux,” Valette’s uncle—turned out to be a kandra named OreSeur OreSeur took on Kelsier’s form, then went about creating rumors that Kelsier had returned from the grave, further inspiring the skaa After this, OreSeur’s Contract passed to Vin It was Vin who actually killed the Lord Ruler She discovered that he wasn’t actually a god, or even immortal—he had simply found a way to extend his life and his power by using Allomancy and Feruchemy at the same time He wasn’t the hero from the logbook—but, instead, was that man’s servant, a Feruchemist of some great power Still, he was much stronger in Allomancy than Vin While she was fighting him, she drew upon the mists somehow, burning them in place of metals She still doesn’t know why or how this happened With that power—and with the knowledge of his true nature—she was able to defeat and kill the Lord Ruler The Final Empire was thrown into chaos Elend Venture took control of Luthadel, the capital, and put Kelsier’s crew in prime governmental positions BOOK TWO The fledgling kingdom managed to survive for a year under Elend’s leadership Elend set up a type of parliament, named the Assembly, and gave them a great deal of power While Elend showed expertise in the theories of leadership, he lacked practical experience His rule became unstable as various members of the Assembly began to jockey for power Rumors of the Lord Ruler’s atium cache—combined with the prize that was Luthadel, the largest city in the empire—eventually drew several predators to the Central Dominance The worst of these was Straff Venture, Elend’s own father Straff marched a sizable army to Luthadel, secretly bringing with him a Mistborn son, named Zane Fortunately for Luthadel, Breeze managed to convince a second army—led by Ashweather Cett—to march on the city as well Surprised by the presence of the other, each tyrant realized that he couldn’t afford to attack the city, for afterward he would be vulnerable to the other army So, they settled down into a siege, more worried about each other than they were about Elend About this time, a Keeper named Tindwyl arrived in Luthadel Sazed invited her to come and help Elend learn to be a better king She worked with him, trying to teach him to temper his idealism with a measure of realism Elend convinced the crew to help him play Straff and Cett against each other, with the ultimate goal of getting them to fight Elend hoped that if the two invaders weakened their armies against one another, his own force—by far the smallest of the three—could defeat the remnants He began to meet with Straff and Cett, trying to manipulate them During his maneuvering, however, a faction in the Assembly managed to depose him via a law he himself had written Elend refused to use his army to seize back the city, a decision that Tindwyl and the crew thought was foolishly idealistic Instead, he decided to play the political game and try to convince the Assembly to reinstate him During all of this, Vin had troubles of her own She had discovered a mysterious “mist spirit” that came out at nights, watching her She noticed that the logbook author—Alendi—had seen a similar manifestation before he arrived at the Well of Ascension In addition, Vin began to hear strange thumpings when she burned bronze Vin’s emotions regarding Elend and her own worth to him went through a great deal of turmoil She loved him, but didn’t think that the two of them were right for each other She worried that she was too brutal, and not enough of a politician, to make him a good wife Complicating this was Zane, Straff’s Mistborn son and Elend’s half-brother, who spent many evenings sparring with Vin, tempting her and driving a wedge between her and Elend Vin began to rely upon the kandra OreSeur, who was—by Elend’s order—to remain by her side at all times and watch over her The two became friends despite their initial dislike for one another About this time, Sazed returned to Luthadel, having discovered some very alarming facts during his wanderings First, it appeared that the mists were beginning to come during the day Second, the mists were somehow causing people to fall sick and die Third, there was a large army of koloss marching on Luthadel, led by Jastes Lekal Sazed began to work on researching these things, along with translating a strange inscription he had discovered in the South while traveling with Marsh This inscription turned out to record the last words of Kwaan, a scholar who—some thousand years earlier—had been deeply involved with Alendi, Rashek, and the Terris prophecies Sazed also began to interact with Tindwyl, who disapproved of his rebellious nature, yet harbored some deep feelings for him Elend’s campaign in the Assembly failed, and they elected Ferson Penrod as their king instead of Elend Oddly, however, being deposed finally made Elend begin to understand what it meant to be a king and leader He began to intertwine his philosophies about justice with the things Tindwyl was teaching him, and actually started to become an inspiring and effective leader —even if he no longer held the throne The city’s problems, however, grew even worse as Jastes Lekal’s koloss arrived It quickly became clear that he had only marginal control over the murderous beasts Eventually, Zane prompted Vin to assault Cett’s base inside of Luthadel (Cett had entered to make a play for the throne himself.) She and Zane slaughtered their way to the top floor of the keep, where Vin had a breakdown prompted by what she’d just done She fled, leaving Cett alive Soon after, Zane attacked her, driven to madness by strange voices in his head Vin and Zane fought, and OreSeur revealed himself as a spy, another kandra named TenSoon, who had killed and impersonated the real OreSeur Vin managed to kill Zane, even though he had atium, then she ran to Elend Her emotional problems in remission, she convinced Sazed to marry Elend and her Following his near-assassination, Cett retreated from Luthadel and withdrew his armies from the siege Elend’s attempts to get Jastes to withdraw were unsuccessful Outside, Straff realized that if he simply pulled back, the koloss would probably attack and destroy the city—leaving Straff himself to return and take control once the beasts had exhausted themselves in combat Many of the crewmembers realized that this was what would happen Sazed convinced them that they should lie to Vin and Elend, telling them that the city would be safe and sending them north to search for the Well of Ascension This ploy succeeded Vin and Elend left, taking Spook with them, and in their absence the koloss finally attacked The city’s army fought well, Sazed himself holding one of the city gates against terrible odds During the fighting, Clubs, Dockson, and Tindwyl were killed As the koloss were about to destroy everything, Vin returned to the city, having learned from Spook that she had been deceived Vin exploited an Allomantic weakness in the koloss revealed to her by TenSoon/OreSeur the kandra, taking control of the koloss in the same way the Lord Ruler once had She used those koloss to attack Straff’s army when it returned, and she was joined by Cett at the last moment With Straff dead, Vin forced Penrod, Cett, and Straff’s second-in-command to swear allegiance to Elend, naming him emperor The city was saved However, Vin continued to hear the strange thumpings in her mind She’d become convinced that she—not the ancient man Alendi —was the Hero of Ages She soon realized that the Well of Ascension wasn’t actually in the northern mountains, but instead beneath Luthadel She and Elend investigated this, discovering that beneath Kredik Shaw, there was a large secret cavern stockpiled with food Beyond that cavern was another, filled with dark smoke Beyond that, a pool of glowing power The Well of Ascension Sazed, up above, was still reeling from Tindwyl’s death He had thrown himself into his studies, and discovered—to his alarm—that something was very wrong with the prophecies He rushed after Vin and Elend, intent on stopping them from taking the power at the Well, but was blocked by Marsh As the two fought, Vin took the power and did what she thought was the right thing Though the mist spirit stabbed Elend, Vin didn’t use the Well’s power to heal him Instead, she released it as the prophecies said she had to in order to stop the mists from destroying the world She made the wrong choice A dark force imprisoned near the Well of Ascension had altered the prophecies and led Vin to what was necessary to release it The thing burst free, leaving Vin with the horror of what she had done The mist spirit, however, provided a way for her to save Elend by making him into a Mistborn The book ended with Vin and Elend on the walls of Luthadel, having saved the city but also having released a terrible force upon the world Sazed, crushed by Tindwyl’s death, had come to believe that his faith was worthless Spook was riddled with guilt for abandoning Clubs to die in the city, and both Breeze and Ham bore emotional scars from their seemingly hopeless fight against the koloss On top of all this, as Sazed had reported, the mists had changed somehow, and they now killed people who went into them Elend, however, was determined to consolidate their new empire and find a way to fight the thing that Vin had released When she asked him what they were going to now, he had only one answer for her: They were going to survive No matter what One year has passed Table of Contents PROLOGUE PART ONE PART TWO PART THREE PART FOUR PART FIVE ... along the bulwark—I’ll teach the squad leaders and captains a few tricks, then they can carry the tips to their men.” Some of the soldiers moved, but—to their credit—most of them stayed where they... work of fiction All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously THE HERO OF AGES: BOOK THREE OF. .. —paused in front of a large structure near the center of the city The old offices of the Steel Ministry Fatren had ordered the doors and windows boarded up “You found the weapons in there?” Venture