Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson [632]
The flesh healed around the metal. Sazed stood, pulling the empty bag from where it stuck from his skin, leaving the rings inside of him. He dropped it to the ground, the wound sealing, draining the last of the power from the goldmind. Marsh stopped at the mouth of the doorway, turning in surprise. Sazed’s arm still throbbed, probably cracked, and his ribs were bruised. Such a short burst of health could only do so much.
But he was alive.
“You have betrayed us, Marsh,” Sazed said. “I did not realize those spikes stole a man’s soul, as well as his eyes.”
“You cannot fight me,” Marsh replied quietly, his voice echoing in the dark room. “You are no warrior.”
Sazed smiled, feeling the small metalminds within him give him power. “Neither, I think, are you.”
I am involved in something that is far over my head, Elend thought as they passed through the strange, smoke-filled cavern. The floor was rough and uneven, and his lantern seemed dim—as if the swirling black smoke were sucking in the light.
Vin walked confidently. No, determinedly. There was a difference. Whatever was at the end of this cavern, she obviously wanted to discover it.
And…what will it be? Elend thought. The Well of Ascension?
The Well was a thing of mythology—something spoken of by obligators when they taught about the Lord Ruler. And yet…he had followed Vin northward, expecting to find it, hadn’t he? Why be so tentative now?
Perhaps because he was finally beginning to accept what was happening. And it worried him. Not because he feared for his life, but because suddenly he didn’t understand the world. Armies he could understand, even if he didn’t know how to defeat them. But a thing like the Well? A thing of gods, a thing beyond the logic of scholars and philosophers?
That was terrifying.
They finally approached the other side of the smoky cavern. Here, there appeared to be a final chamber, one much smaller than the first two. As they stepped into it, Elend noticed something immediately: this room was man-made. Or, at least, it had the feel of something man-made. Stalactites formed pillars through the low-ceilinged room, and they were spaced far too evenly to be random. Yet, at the same time, they looked as if they had grown naturally, and showed no signs of being worked.
The air seemed warmer inside—and, thankfully, they passed out of the smoke as they entered. A low light came from something on the far side of the chamber, though Elend couldn’t distinguish the source. It didn’t look like torchlight. It was the wrong color, and it shimmered rather than flickered.
Vin wrapped an arm around him, staring toward the back of the chamber, suddenly seeming apprehensive.
“Where is that light coming from?” Elend asked, frowning.
“A pool,” Vin said quietly, her eyes far keener than his. “A glowing white pool.”
Elend frowned. But, the two of them didn’t move. Vin seemed hesitant. “What?” he asked.
She pulled against him. “That’s the Well of Ascension. I can feel it inside of my head. Beating.”
Elend forced a smile, feeling a surreal sense of displacement. “That’s what we came for, then.”
“What if I don’t know what to do?” Vin asked quietly. “What if I take the power, but I don’t know how to use it? What if I…become like the Lord Ruler?”
Elend looked down at her, arms wrapped around him, and his fear lessened a bit. He loved her. The situation they faced, it couldn’t easily fit into his logical world. But Vin had never really needed logic. And he didn’t need it either, if he trusted her.
He took her head in his hands, rotating it up to look at him. “Your eyes are beautiful.”
She frowned. “What—”
“And,” Elend continued, “part of the beauty in them comes from your sincerity. You won’t become the Lord Ruler, Vin. You’ll