Mistborn #01 The Final Empire

immortal as a side benefit. Keeping a journal for one’s posterity becomes somewhat redundant when one is going to live forever, I think.”
    “That’s just . . .” Vin ground her teeth in frustration. “It’s a very unsatisfying end to a story, Sazed.”
    He smiled in amusement. “Be careful, Mistress—become too fond of reading, and you may just turn into a scholar.”
    Vin shook her head. “Not if all the books I read are going to end like this one!”
    “If it is of any comfort,” Sazed said, “you are not the only one who is disappointed by the logbook’s contents. It didn’t contain much that Master Kelsier could use—certainly, there was nothing about the Eleventh Metal. I feel somewhat guilty, since I am the one who benefited most from the book.”
    “But, there wasn’t very much about the Terris religion either.”
    “Not much,” Sazed agreed. “But, truly and regretfully, ‘not much’ is far more than we knew previously. I am only worried that I will not have an opportunity to pass this information on. I have sent a translated copy of the logbook to a location where my brethren and sister Keepers will know to check—it would be a pity if this new knowledge were to die with me.”
    “It won’t,” Vin said.
    “Oh? Has my lady suddenly become an optimist?”
    “Has my Terrisman suddenly become a smart-mouth?” Vin retorted.
    “He always has been, I think,” Sazed said with a slight smile. “It is one of the things that made him a poor steward—at least, in the eyes of most of his masters.”
    “Then they must have been fools,” Vin said honestly.
    “So I was inclined to think, Mistress,” Sazed replied. “We should return to the mansion—we should not be seen out in the gardens when the mists arrive, I think.”
    “I’m just going to go back out into them.”
    “There are many of the grounds staff that do not know you are Mistborn, Mistress,” Sazed said. “It would be a good secret to keep, I think.”
    “I know,” Vin said, turning. “Let’s go back then.”
    “A wise plan.”
    They walked for a few moments, enjoying the eastern garden’s subtle beauty. The grasses were kept carefully trimmed, and they had been arranged in pleasant tiers, the occasional shrubbery giving accent. The southern garden was far more spectacular, with its brook, trees, and exotic plants. But the eastern garden had its own peace—the serenity of simplicity.
    “Sazed?” Vin said in a quiet voice.
    “Yes, Mistress?”
    “It’s all going to change, isn’t it?”
    “What specifically do you mean?”
    “Everything,” Vin said. “Even if we aren’t all dead in a year, the crewmembers will be off working on other projects. Ham will probably be back with his family, Dox and Kelsier will be planning some new escapade, Clubs will be renting his shop to another crew. . . . Even these gardens that we’ve spent so much money on—they’ll belong to someone else.”
    Sazed nodded. “What you say is likely. Though, if things go well, perhaps the skaa rebellion will be ruling Luthadel by this time next year.”
    “Maybe,” Vin said. “But even still . . . things will change.”
    “That is the nature of all life, Mistress,” Sazed said. “The world must change.”
    “I know,” Vin said with a sigh. “I just wish . . . Well, I actually like my life now, Sazed. I like spending time with the crew, and I like training with Kelsier. I love going to balls with Elend on the weekends, love walking in these gardens with you. I don’t want these things to change. I don’t want my life to go back to the way it was a year ago.”
    “It doesn’t have to, Mistress,” Sazed said. “It could change for the better.”
    “It won’t,” Vin said quietly. “It’s starting already—Kelsier has hinted that my training is almost finished. When I practice in the future, I’ll have to do it alone.
    “As for Elend, he doesn’t even know that I’m skaa—and it’s my job to try and destroy his family. Even if House Venture doesn’t fall by my hand, others will bring it down—I know Shan Elariel is planning something, and I haven’t been able to discover anything about her schemes.
    “That’s only the beginning, though. We face the Final Empire. We’ll probably fail—to be honest, I don’t see how things could possibly turn out otherwise. We’ll fight, we’ll do some good, but we won’t change much—and those of us who survive will spend the rest of our lives running from the