Mistborn #03 The Hero of Ages

from mistsickness.
    We're spread thin, Elend thought. Spook and Breeze in the North, Penrod back at Luthadel, Felt watching the storage cache in the East . . .
    "All right," Elend said, letting the tent flaps close behind him. "Looks like they're holed up in there pretty well."
    "Initial scout reports are in, El," Ham said. "We're guessing about twenty-five thousand defenders."
    "Not as many as I expected," Elend said.
    "That bastard Yomen has to keep control of the rest of my kingdom," Cett said. "If he pulled all of his troops into the capital, the other cities would overthrow him."
    "What?" Vin asked, sounding amused. "You think they'd rebel and switch back to your side?"
    "No," Cett said, "they'd rebel and try to take over the kingdom themselves! That's the way this works. Now that the Lord Ruler is gone, every little lord or petty obligator with half a taste of power thinks he can run a kingdom. Hell, I tried it—so did you."
    "We were successful," Ham pointed out.
    "And so was Lord Yomen," Elend said, folding his arms. "He's held this kingdom since Cett marched on Luthadel."
    "He all but forced me out," Cett admitted. "He had half the nobility turned against me before I even struck toward Luthadel. I said I was leaving him in charge, but we both knew the truth. He's a clever one—clever enough to know he can hold that city against a larger force, letting him spread his troops out to maintain the kingdom, and to endure a longer siege without running out of supplies."
    "Unfortunately, Cett's probably right," Ham said. "Our initial reports placed Yomen's forces at somewhere around eighty thousand men. He'd be a fool to not have a few units within striking distance of our camp. We'll have to be wary of raids."
    "Double the guards and triple scout patrols," Elend said, "particularly during the early morning hours, when the daymist is out to obscure, but the sun is up to provide light."
    Ham nodded.
    "Also," Elend said thoughtfully, "order the men to stay in their tents during the mists—but tell them to be ready for a raid. If Yomen thinks that we're afraid to come out, perhaps we can bait one of his 'surprise' attacks against us."
    "Clever," Ham said.
    "That won't get us past those natural walls, though," Elend said, folding his arms. "Cett, what do you say?"
    "Hold the canal," Cett said. "Post sentries up around those upper rock formations to make certain that Yomen doesn't resupply the city via secret means. Then, move on."
    "What?" Ham asked with surprise.
    Elend eyed Cett, trying to decide what the man meant. "Attack surrounding cities? Leave a force here that's large enough to stymie a siege-break, then capture other parts of his territory?"
    Cett nodded. "Most of the cities around here aren't fortified at all. They'd cave in without a fight."
    "A good suggestion," Elend said. "But we won't do it."
    "Why not?" Cett asked.
    "This isn't just about conquering your homeland back, Cett," Elend said. "Our primary reason for coming here is to secure that storage cache—and I hope to do that without resorting to pillaging the countryside."
    Cett snorted. "What do you expect to find in there? Some magical way to stop the ash? Even atium wouldn't do that."
    "Something's in there," Elend said. "It's the only hope we have."
    Cett shook his head. "You've been chasing a puzzle left by the Lord Ruler for the better part of a year, Elend. Hasn't it ever occurred to you that the man was a sadist? There's no secret. No magical way out of this. If we're going to survive the next few years, we're going to have to do it on our own—and that means securing the Western Dominance. The plateaus in this area represent some of the most elevated farmland in the empire—and higher altitude means closer to the sun. If you're going to find plants that survive despite the daymists, you'll have to grow them here."
    They were good arguments. But I can't give up , Elend thought. Not yet. Elend had read the reports of supplies back in Luthadel, and had seen the projections. Ash was killing crops as much or more than the mists were. More land wouldn't save his people—they needed something else. Something that, he hoped, the Lord Ruler left for them.
    The Lord Ruler didn't hate his people, and he wouldn't want them to die out, even if he were defeated. He left food, water, supplies. And, if he knew secrets, he would have hidden them in the caches. There will be something here.
    There has to be.
    "The cache remains our primary target,"