Mistborn #03 The Hero of Ages

rejected me, you know."
    And that happened exactly a thousand years ago, Vin thought. A thousand years has passed since Alendi failed in his quest; a thousand years since Rashek took the power for himself and became the Lord Ruler. That's part of the answer to my question. The glowing liquid at the Well of Ascension—it was gone by the time I finished freeing Ruin. It must have disappeared after Rashek used it too.
    A thousand years. Time for the Well to regenerate its power? But what was that power? Where did it come from?
    "The Lord Ruler didn't really save the world," Ruin continued. "He just postponed its destruction—and, in doing so, he helped me. That's the way it must always be, as I told you. When men think they are helping the world, they actually do more harm than good. Just like you. You tried to help, but you just ended up freeing me."
    Ruin glanced at her, then smiled in a fatherly way. She didn't react.
    "The ashmounts," Ruin continued, "the dying landscape, the broken people—those were all Rashek's. The twisting of men to become koloss, kandra, and Inquisitor, all his . . ."
    "But, you hated him," Vin said. "He didn't free you—so you had to wait another thousand years."
    "True," Ruin said. "But a thousand years is not much time. Not much time at all. Besides, I couldn't refuse to help Rashek. I help everyone, for my power is a tool—the only tool by which things can change."
    It's all ending, Vin thought. It really is. I don't have time to sit and wait. I need to do something. Vin stood, causing Ruin to glance toward her as she walked to the front of the cell. "Guards!" she called. Her voice echoed in her own chamber. "Guards!" she repeated.
    Eventually, she heard a thump outside. "What?" a rough voice demanded.
    "Tell Yomen that I want to deal."
    There was a pause.
    "Deal?" the guard finally asked.
    "Yes," Vin said. "Tell him I have information that I want to give him."
    She wasn't certain how to read the guard's response, since it was simply more silence. She thought she heard him walking away, but without tin, she couldn't tell.
    Eventually, however, the guard returned. Ruin watched her, curious, as the door unlocked and then opened. The customary troop of soldiers stood outside.
    "Come with us."
    * * *
    As Vin entered Yomen's audience chamber, she was immediately struck by the differences in the man. He looked much more haggard than he had the last time they'd met, as if he'd gone far too long without sleep.
    But . . . he's Mistborn, Vin thought with confusion. That means he could burn pewter to keep that fatigue out of his eyes.
    Why doesn't he? Unless . . . he can't burn it. Unless there's only one metal available to him.
    She'd always been taught that there was no such thing as an atium Misting. But, more and more, she was realizing that the Lord Ruler perpetuated a lot of misinformation to keep himself in control and in power. She had to learn to stop depending on what she'd been told was true, and focus on the facts as she found them.
    Yomen watched her as she entered, guards surrounding her. She could read the expectation of a trick in his eyes—yet, as always, he waited for her to act first. Hovering very close to the edge of danger seemed his way. The guards took stations at the doors, leaving her standing in the middle of the room.
    "No manacles?" she asked.
    "No," Yomen said. "I don't expect you to be here long. The guards tell me that you've offered information."
    "I have."
    "Well," Yomen said, arms clasped behind his back, "I told them to bring you to me if they even so much as suspected a trick. Apparently, they didn't believe your pleas that you want to deal. I wonder why." He raised an eyebrow toward her.
    "Ask me a question," Vin said. To the side, Ruin trailed through the wall, stepping with an idle, unconcerned gait.
    "Very well," Yomen said. "How does Elend control the koloss?"
    "Allomancy," Vin said. "Emotional Allomancy, when used on a koloss, will bring them under the Allomancer's control."
    "I find that hard to believe," Yomen said flatly. "If it were that simple, someone other than yourself would have discovered it."
    "Most Allomancers are too weak to manage it," Vin said. "You need to use a metal that enhances your power."
    "There is no such metal."
    "You know of aluminum?"
    Yomen paused, but Vin could see in his eyes that he did. "Duralumin is the Allomantic alloy of aluminum," Vin said. "Where aluminum dampens the power of other metals, duralumin enhances them.