Mistborn #02 The Well of Ascension

Spook, then dashed out into the forest after Elend. She didn't have to go far. She found him sitting on a rock a short distance away, staring at the ground. An ashfall had begun, but most of the flakes got caught in the trees, coating their leaves like black moss.
    "Elend?" she asked.
    He looked out, staring into the forest. "I'm not sure why I did it, Vin," he said quietly. "Why should I be the one to bring justice? I'm not even king. And yet, it had to be done. I felt it. I feel it still."
    She laid a hand on his shoulder.
    "He's the first man I've ever killed," Elend said. "He and I had such dreams, once: We'd ally two of the most powerful imperial houses, uniting Luthadel as never before. Ours wasn't to have been a treaty of greed, but a true political alliance intended to help make the city a better place."
    He looked up at her. "I think I understand now, Vin, what it is like for you. In a way, we're both knives—both tools. Not for each other, but for this kingdom. This people."
    She wrapped her arms around him, holding him, pulling his head to her chest. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
    "It had to be done," he said. "The saddest part is, he's right. I abandoned them, too. I should take my own life with this sword."
    "You left for a good reason, Elend," Vin said. "You left to protect Luthadel, to make it so Straff wouldn't attack."
    "And if the koloss attack before Straff can?"
    "Maybe they won't," Vin said. "They don't have a leader—maybe they'll attack Straff's army instead."
    "No," Spook's voice said. Vin turned, seeing him approach through the forest, eyes squinting against the light.
    That boy burns way too much tin , she thought.
    "What do you mean?" Elend asked, turning.
    Spook looked down. "They won't attack Straff's army, El. It won't be there anymore."
    "What?" Vin asked.
    "I. . ." Spook looked away, shame showing in his face.
    I'm a coward . His words from earlier returned to her. "You knew," Vin said. "You knew the koloss were going to attack!"
    Spook nodded.
    "That's ridiculous," Elend said. "You couldn't have known that Jastes would follow us."
    "I didn't," Spook said, a lump of ash falling from a tree behind him, bursting before the wind, and fluttering in a hundred different flakes to the ground. "But my uncle figured that Straff would withdraw his army and let the koloss attack the city. That's why Sazed decided to send us away."
    Vin felt a sudden chill.
    I've found the location of the Well of Ascension , Sazed had said. To the north. In the Terris Mountains. . ..
    "Clubs told you this?" Elend was saying.
    Spook nodded.
    "And you didn't tell me?" Elend demanded, standing.
    Oh, no. . ..
    Spook paused, then shook his head. "You would have wanted to go back! I didn't want to die, El! I'm sorry. I'm a coward." He cringed, glancing at Elend's sword, shying away.
    Elend paused, as if realizing he'd been stepping toward the boy. "I'm not going to hurt you, Spook," he said. "I'm just ashamed of you." Spook lowered his eyes, then sank down to the ground, sitting with his back to an aspen.
    The thumpings, getting softer. . ..
    "Elend," Vin whispered.
    He turned.
    "Sazed lied. The Well isn't to the north."
    "What?"
    "It's at Luthadel."
    "Vin, that's ridiculous. We'd have found it."
    "We didn't," she said firmly, standing, looking south. Focusing, she could feel the thumpings, washing across her. Pulling her.
    South.
    "The Well can't be to the south," Elend said. "The legends all place it north, in the Terris Mountains."
    Vin shook her head, confused. "It's there," she said. "I know it is. I don't know how, but it is there."
    Elend looked at her, then nodded, trusting her instincts.
    Oh, Sazed , she thought. You probably had good intentions, but you may have doomed us all . If the city fell to the koloss. . .
    "How fast can we get back?" Elend asked.
    "That depends," she said.
    "Go back?" Spook asked, looking up. "El, they're all dead . They told me to tell you the truth once you got to Tathingdwen, so you wouldn't kill yourselves climbing the mountains in the winter for nothing. But, when Clubs talked to me, it was also to say goodbye. I could see it in his eyes. He knew he'd never see me again."
    Elend paused, and Vin could see a moment of uncertainty in his eyes. A flash of pain, of terror. She knew those emotions, because they hit her at the same time.
    Sazed, Breeze, Ham. . .
    Elend grabbed her arm. "You have to go, Vin," he said. "There might be survivors. . .refugees. They'll need your help."
    She