Mistborn #01 The Final Empire

in horror, watching the bracelets fly out the broken wall-window.
    In the distance, the sun broke the horizon. The bracelets dropped in front of its red light, sparkling for a moment before plunging down into the city.
    “ No! ” the Lord Ruler screamed, stepping toward the window.
    His muscles grew limp, deflating as Sazed’s had. He turned back toward Vin, angry, but his face was no longer that of a young man. He was middle-aged, his youthful features matured.
    He stepped toward the window. His hair grayed, and wrinkles formed around his eyes like tiny webs.
    His next step was feeble. He began to shake with the burden of old age, his back stooping, his skin sagging, his hair growing limp.
    Then, he collapsed to the floor.
    Vin leaned back, her mind fuzzing from the pain. She lay there for . . . a time. She couldn’t think.
    “Mistress!” a voice said. And then, Sazed was at her side, his brow wet with sweat. He reached over and poured something down her throat, and she swallowed.
    Her body knew what to do. She reflexively flared pewter, strengthening her body. She flared tin, and the sudden increase of sensitivity shocked her awake. She gasped, looking up at Sazed’s concerned face.
    “Careful, Mistress,” he said, inspecting her leg. “The bone is fractured, though it appears only in one place.”
    “Marsh,” she said, exhausted. “See to Marsh.”
    “Marsh?” Sazed asked. Then he saw the Inquisitor stirring slightly on the floor a distance away.
    “By the Forgotten Gods!” Sazed said, moving to Marsh’s side.
    Marsh groaned, sitting up. He cradled his stomach with one arm. “What . . . is that . . .?”
    Vin glanced at the withered form on the ground a short distance away. “It’s him. The Lord Ruler. He’s dead.”
    Sazed frowned curiously, standing. He wore a brown robe, and had brought a simple wooden spear with him. Vin shook her head at the thought of such a pitiful weapon facing the creature that had nearly killed her and Marsh.
    Of course. In a way, we were all just as useless. We should be dead, not the Lord Ruler.
    I pulled his bracelets off. Why? Why can I do things like he can?
    Why am I different?
    “Mistress . . .” Sazed said slowly. “He is not dead, I think. He’s . . . still alive.”
    “What?” Vin asked, frowning. She could barely think at the moment. There would be time to sort out her questions later. Sazed was right—the aged figure wasn’t dead. Actually, it was moving pitifully on the floor, crawling toward the broken window. Toward where his bracelets had gone.
    Marsh stumbled to his feet, waving away Sazed’s ministrations. “I will heal quickly. See to the girl.”
    “Help me up,” Vin said.
    “Mistress . . .” Sazed said disapprovingly.
    “Please, Sazed.”
    He sighed, handing her the wooden spear. “Here, lean on this.” She took it, and he helped her to her feet.
    Vin leaned on the shaft, hobbling with Marsh and Sazed toward the Lord Ruler. The crawling figure reached the edge of the room, overlooking the city through the shattered window.
    Vin’s footsteps crackled on broken glass. People cheered again below, though she couldn’t see them, nor see what they were cheering about.
    “Listen,” Sazed said. “Listen, he who would have been our god. Do you hear them cheering? Those cheers aren’t for you—this people never cheered for you. They have found a new leader this evening, a new pride.”
    “My . . . obligators . . .” the Lord Ruler whispered.
    “Your obligators will forget you,” Marsh said. “I will see to that. The other Inquisitors are dead, slain by my own hand. Yet, the gathered prelans saw you transfer power to the Canton of Inquisition. I am the only Inquisitor left in Luthadel. I rule your church now.”
    “No . . .” the Lord Ruler whispered.
    Marsh, Vin, and Sazed stopped in a ragged group, looking down at the old man. In the morning light below, Vin could see a massive collection of people standing before a large podium, holding up their weapons in a sign of respect.
    The Lord Ruler cast his eyes down at the crowd, and the final realization of his failure seemed to hit him. He looked back up at the ring of people who had defeated him.
    “You don’t understand,” he wheezed. “You don’t know what I do for mankind. I was your god, even if you couldn’t see it. By killing me, you have doomed yourselves. . . .”
    Vin glanced at Marsh and Sazed. Slowly, each of them nodded. The Lord Ruler had begun coughing, and