Mistborn #02 The Well of Ascension

dead.
    But, she knew that Elend wouldn't approve of something like that. He'd argue against using fear to motivate, even on one's enemies. He'd point out that if she killed Straff or Cett, they'd just be replaced by other men, men even more hostile toward the city.
    Even so, it seemed like such a brutal, logical answer. A piece of Vin itched to do it, if only to be doing something other than waiting and talking. She was not a person meant to be besieged.
    No , she thought. That's not my way. I don't have to be like Kelsier was. Hard. Unyielding. I can be something better. Something that trusts in Elend's way .
    She shoved aside that part of her that wanted to just go assassinate both Straff and Cett, then turned her attention to other things. She focused on her bronze, watching for signs of Allomancy. Though she liked to jump around and "patrol" the area, the truth was that she was just as effective staying in one place. Assassins would be likely to scout the front gates, for that was where patrols began and the largest concentration of soldiers waited.
    Still, she felt her mind wandering. There were forces moving in the world, and Vin wasn't certain if she wanted to be part of them.
    What is my place ? she thought. She never felt that she'd discovered it—not back when she'd been playing as Valette Renoux, and not now, when she acted as the bodyguard to the man she loved. Nothing quite fit.
    She closed her eyes, burning tin and bronze, feeling the touch of wind-borne mist on her skin. And, oddly, she felt something else, something very faint. In the distance she could sense Allomantic pulsings. They were so dull she almost missed them.
    They were kind of like the pulses given off by the mist spirit. She could hear it, too, much closer. Atop a building out in the city. She was getting used to its presence, not that she had much choice. Still, as long as it only watched. . ..
    It tried to kill one of the Hero's companions , she thought. It knifed him, somehow . Or so the logbook claimed.
    But. . .what was that pulsing in the far distance? It was soft. . .yet powerful. Like a faraway drum. She squeezed her eyes shut, focusing.
    "Mistress?" OreSeur said, suddenly perking up.
    Vin snapped her eyes open. "What?"
    "Didn't you hear that?"
    Vin sat up. "Wha—" Then she picked it out. Footsteps outside the wall a short distance away. She leaned closer, noticing a dark figure walking down the street toward the keep. She'd been so focused on her bronze that she'd completely tuned out real sounds.
    "Good job," she said, approaching the edge of the guard station's roof. Only then did she realize something important. OreSeur had taken the initiative: he'd alerted her of the danger without specifically being ordered to listen.
    It was a small thing, but it seemed important.
    "What do you think?" she asked quietly, watching the figure approach. He carried no torch, and he seemed very comfortable in the mists.
    "Allomancer?" OreSeur asked, crouching beside her.
    Vin shook her head. "There's no Allomantic pulse."
    "So if he is one, he's Mistborn," OreSeur said. He still didn't know she could pierce copperclouds. "He's too tall to be your friend Zane. Be careful, Mistress."
    Vin nodded, dropped a coin, then threw herself into the mists. Behind her, OreSeur jumped down from the guardhouse, then leapt off the wall and dropped some twenty feet to the ground.
    He certainly does like to push the limits of those bones , she thought. Of course, if a fall couldn't kill him, then she could perhaps understand his courage.
    She guided herself by Pulling on the nails in a wooden roof, landing just a short distance from the dark figure. She pulled out her knives and prepared her metals, making certain she had duralumin. Then she moved quietly across the street.
    Surprise , she thought. Ham's suggestion still left her nervous. She couldn't always depend on surprise. She followed the man, studying him. He was tall—very tall. And in robes. In fact, those robes. . .
    Vin stopped short. "Sazed?" she asked with shock.
    The Terrisman turned, face now visible to her tin-enhanced eyes. He smiled. "Ah, Lady Vin," he said with his familiar, wise voice. "I was beginning to wonder how long it would take you to find me. You are—"
    He was cut off as Vin grabbed him in an excited embrace. "I didn't think you were going to come back so soon!"
    "I was not planning to return, Lady Vin," Sazed said. "But events are such that I could not avoid this place, I