Mistborn: secret history

Kelsier… Preservation’s voice whispered at him.

Something thrummed through him, a familiar jolt of power, a warmth within. It reminded him of burning

metals. Preservation’s own essence, empowering him.

He ran faster, jumped farther. It wasn’t true Allomancy, but instead was something more raw and primal.

It surged through Kelsier, warming his soul, letting him reach Vin – who had stopped in the street before

a large building. Soon after he reached her, she took off again down the street, but this time Kelsier

managed to keep pace, barely.

And she knew he was there. He could sense it in the way she leaped, trying to shake a tail, or at least

catch sight of one. She was good, but this was a game he’d been playing for decades before she was born.

She could sense him. Why? How?

She sped up and he followed, with difficulty. His motions were clumsy; he had Preservation pushing him

along, but he didn’t have the finesse of true Allomancy. He couldn’t Push or Pull; he merely jumped,

grabbing hold of the shadowed walls of buildings, then throwing himself off in prowling leaps.

Still, he grinned widely. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed training with Vin in the mists,

matching himself against another Mistborn, watching his protégé inch toward excellence. She was good

now. Fantastic even. Remarkable at judging the force of each Push, at balancing her own weight against

her anchors.

This was energy; this was excitement. Almost he forgot the troubles he faced. Almost this was enough. If

he could dance the mists with Vin at night, then finding a way to recapture his life in the Physical Realm

might not matter so much.

---

They hit an intersection and turned toward the city’s perimeter. Vin bounded ahead on lines of steel;

Kelsier hit the ground, thrumming with Preservation’s power, and prepared to jump.

Something descended around him. A blackness of shredding spikes, of spider leg scratches in the air, of

jet-black mist.

“Well,” Ruin said from all sides. “Well, well. Kelsier? How did I not see you earlier?”

The power suffocated him, pushing him toward the ground. Ahead, a small figure bounded after Vin,

created of black mist and pulsing with a similar rhythm to what Kelsier had displayed. A decoy of some

sort.

Like he did before, Kelsier thought. Imitating Fuzz to trick Vin. He struggled, frustrated, against his

bonds.

Preservation, in turn, whimpered like a child in Kelsier’s mind, then withdrew from him. The warming

power faded from within Kelsier. Remarkably, as the power dampened, so did Ruin’s ability to hold Kelsier

down. Ruin’s strength became less oppressive, and Kelsier was able to struggle to his feet and push

through the veil of sharp mists, stumbling onto the street.

“Where have you been?” Ruin asked. The power behind Kelsier condensed, forming into the shape of the

man he’d seen before, with the red hair. The motions beneath the man’s skin were more subdued this

time.

“Here and there,” Kelsier said, glancing after Vin. He’d never catch up to her now. “I thought I’d see the

sights. Find out what death has to offer.”

“Ah, very coy. Did you visit the Ire? And got turned away from them, I assume. Yes, I can guess at that.

What I want to know is why you returned. I thought for certain you would flee. Your part in this is done;

you did what I needed you to.”

Kelsier set down his pack, hopefully keeping hidden the orb of light inside. He walked forward, strolling

around Ruin’s manifestation. “My part?”

“The Eleventh Metal,” Ruin said, amused. “You think that was a coincidence? A story nobody else had

heard of, a secret way to kill an immortal emperor? It fell right in your lap.”

Kelsier took it in stride. He’d already figured that Gemmel had been touched by Ruin, that Kelsier himself

had been a pawn of the creature. But why could Vin hear me? What was he missing? He looked after Vin

again.

“Ah,” Ruin said. “The child. You still think she’s going to defeat me, do you? Even after she set me free?”

Kelsier spun toward Ruin. Damn. How much did the creature know? Ruin smiled and stepped up to

Kelsier.

“Leave Vin alone,” Kelsier hissed.

“Leave her alone? She’s mine, Kelsier. Just as you are. I’ve known that child since the day of her birth,

and have been preparing her for even longer.”

Kelsier gritted his teeth.

“So cute,” Ruin said. “You actually thought this was all your idea, didn’t you? The fall of the Final Empire,

the end of the Lord Ruler… recruiting Vin in the first place?”

“Ideas are never original,” Kelsier said. “Only one thing is.”

“And what is that?”

“Style,” Kelsier said.

Then he punched Ruin across the face.

Or he tried to. Ruin evaporated as his fist drew close, and a copy of him formed beside Kelsier a moment

later. “Ah, Kelsier,” he said. “Was that wise?”

“No,” Kelsier said. “It was merely thematic. Leave her alone, Ruin.”

Ruin smiled at him in a pitying way, then a thousand spindly, needle-like black spikes shot from the

creature’s body, ripping through the robes that made up its clothing. They pierced Kelsier like spears,

fraying his soul, bringing a blinding wave of pain.

---

He screamed, falling to his knees. It was like the stretching when he’d first entered this place, only

forced, intrusive.

He dropped to the ground, spasming, his soul leaking curls of mist. The spikes were gone, as was Ruin.

But of course the creature was never truly gone. It watched from that undulating sky, covering

everything.

Nothing can be destroyed, Kelsier, Ruin’s voice whispered, intruding directly into his mind. That’s

something humans can’t understand. All things merely change, break down, become something new…

something perfect. Preservation and I, we’re two sides to the same coin, really. For when I am done, he

shall finally have his desired stillness, unchangingness. And there won’t be anything, body or soul, to

disturb it.

Kelsier breathed in and out, using familiar motions from when he’d been alive to calm himself. Finally he

groaned and rolled to his knees.

“You deserved that,” Preservation noted, his voice distant.

“Sure did,” Kelsier said, stumbling to his feet. “It was worth trying anyway.”

---