Mistborn #01 The Final Empire

lunatic. Perhaps I should have just died in the Pits and never come back to bother any of you!”
    Dockson paused, taken aback by the force in Kelsier’s words. Kelsier pounded the table in frustration, and the wood splintered from the force of the blow. He still burned pewter, the metal helping him resist his several wounds. His mistcloak lay in tatters, his body sliced by a half-dozen different small cuts. His entire right side burned with pain. He’d have a massive bruise there, and he’d be lucky if none of his ribs were cracked.
    Kelsier flared the pewter. The fire within felt good—it gave him a focus for his anger and self-loathing. One of the apprentices worked quickly, tying a bandage around Kelsier’s largest gash. Clubs sat with Ham at the side of the kitchen; Breeze was away visiting a suburb.
    “By the Lord Ruler, Kelsier,” Dockson said quietly.
    Even Dockson, Kelsier thought. Even my oldest friend swears by the Lord Ruler’s name. What are we doing? How can we face this?
    “There were three Inquisitors waiting for us, Dox,” Kelsier said.
    Dockson paled. “And you left her there?”
    “She got out before I did. I tried to distract the Inquisitors as long as I could, but . . .”
    “But?”
    “One of the three followed her. I couldn’t get to it—maybe the other two Inquisitors were simply trying to keep me busy so that their companion could find her.”
    “Three Inquisitors,” Dockson said, accepting a small cup of brandy from one of the apprentices. He downed it.
    “We must have made too much noise going in,” Kelsier said. “Either that, or they were already there for some reason. And we still don’t know what’s in that room!”
    The kitchen fell silent. The rain outside picked up again, assaulting the building with a reproachful fury.
    “So . . .” Ham said, “what of Vin?”
    Kelsier glanced at Dockson, and saw pessimism in his eyes. Kelsier had barely escaped, and he had years of training. If Vin was still in Kredik Shaw . . .
    Kelsier felt a sharp, twisting pain in his chest. You let her die too. First Mare, then Vin. How many more will you lead to slaughter before this is through?
    “She might be hiding somewhere in the city,” Kelsier said. “Afraid to come to the shop because the Inquisitors are looking for her. Or . . . perhaps for some reason she went back to Fellise.”
    Maybe she’s out there somewhere, dying alone in the rain.
    “Ham,” Kelsier said, “you and I are heading back to the palace. Dox, take Lestibournes and visit other thieving crews. Maybe one of their scouts saw something. Clubs, send an apprentice to Renoux’s mansion to see if she went there.”
    The solemn group started to move, but Kelsier didn’t need to state the obvious. He and Ham wouldn’t be able to get close to Kredik Shaw without running afoul of guard patrols. Even if Vin was hiding in the city somewhere, the Inquisitors would probably find her first. They would have—
    Kelsier froze, his sudden jerk causing the others to pause. He’d heard something.
    Hurried footsteps sounded as Lestibournes rushed down the stairs and into the room, his lanky form wet with rain. “Someone’s coming! Out the night with the calling!”
    “Vin?” Ham asked hopefully.
    Lestibournes shook his head. “Big man. Robe.”
    This is it, then. I’ve brought death to the crew—I’ve led the Inquisitors right to them.
    Ham stood, picking up a wooden stave. Dockson pulled out a pair of daggers, and Clubs’s six apprentices moved to the back of the room, eyes wide with fright.
    Kelsier flared his metals.
    The back door to the kitchen slammed open. A tall, dark form in wet robes stood in the rain. And he carried a cloth-wrapped figure in his arms.
    “Sazed!” Kelsier said.
    “She is badly wounded,” Sazed said, stepping quickly into the room, his fine robes streaming with rainwater. “Master Hammond, I require some pewter. Her supply is exhausted, I think.”
    Ham rushed forward as Sazed set Vin on the kitchen table. Her skin was clammy and pale, her thin frame soaked and wet.
    She’s so small, Kelsier thought. Barely more than a child. How could I have thought to take her with me?
    She bore a massive, bloody wound in her side. Sazed set something aside—a large book he’d been carrying in his arms beneath Vin—and accepted a vial from Hammond, then bent down and poured the liquid down the unconscious girl’s throat. The room fell silent, the sound of pounding rain coming through the