Mistborn #02 The Well of Ascension

boy—and a large one." He turned toward Elend. "I suspect that makes a big difference."
    Elend nodded.
    "You're not going to shut this place down, are you?" Ham asked.
    Elend turned with shock. "Why would I?"
    Ham shrugged. "It doesn't exactly seem like the kind of honest enterprise that you would approve of. There are probably people fleeing from the city nightly through this hole. Granny Hilde is known to take coin and not ask questions—even if she does grumble at you a bit."
    Ham did have a point. Probably why he didn't tell me about the place until I specifically asked . His friends walked a fine line, close to their old ties with the underground, yet working hard to build up the government they'd sacrificed so much to create.
    "I'm not king," Elend said, leading his horse away from the city. "What Granny Hilde does isn't any of my business."
    Ham moved up beside him, looking relieved. Elend could see that relief dissipate, however, as the reality of what they were doing settled in. "I don't like this, El."
    They stopped walking as Elend mounted. "Neither do I."
    Ham took a deep breath, then nodded.
    My old nobleman friends would have tried to talk me out of this , Elend thought with amusement. Why did I surround myself with people who had been loyal to the Survivor? They expect their leaders to take irrational risks .
    "I'll go with you," Ham said.
    "No," Elend said. "It won't make a difference. Stay here, wait to see if I get back. If I don't, tell Vin what happened."
    "Sure, I'll tell her," Ham said wryly. "Then I'll proceed to remove her daggers from my chest. Just make sure you come back, all right?"
    Elend nodded, barely paying attention. His eyes were focused on the army in the distance. An army without tents, carriages, food carts, or servants. An army who had eaten the foliage to the ground in a wide swath around them. Koloss.
    Sweat made the reins slick in Elend's hands. This was different from before, when he'd gone into Straff's army and Cett's keep. This time he was alone. Vin couldn't get him out if things went bad; she was still recovering from her wounds, and nobody knew what Elend was doing but Ham.
    What do I owe the people of this city ? Elend thought. They rejected me. Why do I still insist on trying to protect them ?
    "I recognize that look, El," Ham said. "Let's go back."
    Elend closed his eyes, letting out a quiet sigh. Then he snapped his eyes open and kicked his horse into a gallop.
    It had been years since he'd seen koloss, and that experience had come only at his father's insistence. Straff hadn't trusted the creatures, and had never liked having garrisons of them in the Northern Dominance, one just a few days' march from his home city of Urteau. Those koloss had been a reminder, a warning, from the Lord Ruler.
    Elend rode his horse hard, as if using its momentum to bolster his own will. Aside from one brief visit to the Urteau koloss garrison, everything he knew of the creatures came from books—but Tindwyl's instruction had weakened his once absolute, and slightly naive, trust in his learning.
    It will have to be enough , Elend thought as he approached the camp. He gritted his teeth, slowing his animal as he approached a wandering squad of Koloss.
    It was as he remembered. One large creature—its skin revoltingly split and cracked by stretch marks—led a few medium-sized beasts, whose bleeding rips were only beginning to appear at the corners of their mouths and the edges of their eyes. A smattering of smaller creatures—their baggy skin loose and sagging beneath their eyes and arms—accompanied their betters.
    Elend reined in his horse, trotting it over to the largest beast. "Take me to Jastes."
    "Get off your horse," the koloss said.
    Elend looked the creature directly in the eyes. Atop his horse, he was nearly the same height. "Take me to Jastes."
    The koloss regarded him with a set of beady, unreadable eyes. It bore a rip from one eye to the other, above the nose, a secondary rip curving down to one of the nostrils. The nose itself was pulled so tight it was twisted and flattened, held to the bone a few inches off-center.
    This was the moment. The books said the creature would either do as commanded or simply attack him. Elend sat tensely.
    "Come," the koloss snapped, turning to walk back toward the camp. The rest of the creatures surrounded Elend's horse, and the beast shuffled nervously. Elend kept a tight hold on his reins and nudged the animal forward. It responded