Mistborn #02 The Well of Ascension

chest. Then she Pulled on the sword of a fallen soldier, yanking it into her hand. She ducked backward, but nearly stumbled as she stepped on another body.
    So tired , she thought.
    There were dozens—perhaps even hundreds—of corpses in the courtyard. In fact, a pile was forming beneath her. She climbed it, retreating slightly as the creatures surrounded her again. They crawled over the corpses of their fallen brethren, rage frothing in their blood-drop eyes. Human soldiers would have given up, going to seek easier fights. The koloss, however, seemed to multiply as she fought them, others hearing the sounds of battle and coming to join in.
    She swiped, pewter aiding her strength as she cut off an arm from one koloss, then a leg from another, before finally going for the head of a third. She ducked and dodged, jumping, staying out of their reach, killing as many as she could.
    But as desperate as her determination—as strong as her newfound resolve to defend—she knew that she couldn't keep fighting, not like this. She was only one person. She couldn't save Luthadel, not alone.

    "Lord Penrod!" Sazed yelled, standing at the gates to Keep Hasting. "You must listen to me."
    There was no response. The soldiers at the top of the short keep wall were quiet, though Sazed could sense their discomfort. They didn't like ignoring him. In the distance, the battle still raged. Koloss screamed in the night. Soon they would find their way to Sazed and Ham's growing band of several thousand, who now huddled quietly outside Keep Hasting's gate.
    A haggard messenger approached Sazed. He was the same one that Dockson had been sending to Steel Gate. He'd lost his horse somewhere, and they'd found him with a group of refugees in the Square of the Survivor.
    "Lord Terrisman," the messenger said quietly. "I. . .just got back from the command post. Keep Venture has fallen. . .."
    "Lord Dockson?"
    The man shook his head. "We found a few wounded scribes hiding outside the keep. They saw him die. The koloss are still in the building, breaking windows, rooting about. . .."
    Sazed turned back, looking over the city. So much smoke billowed in the sky that it seemed the mists had come already. He'd begun filling his scent tinmind to keep the stench away.
    The battle for the city might be over, but now the true tragedy would begin. The koloss in the city had finished killing soldiers. Now they would slaughter the people. There were hundreds of thousands of them, and Sazed knew the creatures would gleefully extend the devastation. No looting. Not when there was killing to be done.
    More screams sounded in the night. They'd lost. Failed. And now, the city would truly fall.
    The mists can't be far away , he thought, trying to give himself some hope. Perhaps that will give us some cover .
    Still, one image stood out to him. Clubs, dead in the snow. The wooden disk Sazed had given him earlier that same day tied to a loop around his neck.
    It hadn't helped.
    Sazed turned back to Keep Hasting. "Lord Penrod," he said loudly. "We are going to try and slip out of the city. I would welcome your troops and your leadership. If you stay here, the koloss will attack this keep and kill you."
    Silence.
    Sazed turned, sighing as Ham—arm still in a sling—joined him. "We have to go, Saze," Ham said quietly.
    "You're bloody, Terrisman."
    Sazed turned. Ferson Penrod stood on the top of his wall, looking down. He still looked immaculate in his nobleman's suit. He even wore a hat against the snow and ash. Sazed looked down at himself. He still wore only his loincloth. He hadn't had time to worry about clothing, particularly with his brassmind to keep him warm.
    "I've never seen a Terrisman fight," Penrod said.
    "It is not a common occurrence, my lord," Sazed replied.
    Penrod looked up, staring out over the city. "It's falling, Terrisman."
    "That is why we must go, my lord," Sazed said.
    Penrod shook his head. He still wore Elend's thin crown. "This is my city, Terrisman. I will not abandon it."
    "A noble gesture, my lord," Sazed said. "But these with me are your people. Will you abandon them in their flight northward?"
    Penrod paused. Then he just shook his head again. "There will be no flight northward, Terrisman. Keep Hasting is among the tallest structures in the city—from it, we can see what the koloss are doing. They will not let you escape."
    "They may turn to pillaging," Sazed said. "Perhaps we can get by them and escape."
    "No," Penrod said, his voice