Mistborn: secret history

That’s power, he thought, gazing upon it. My power. I should be able to hold that, manipulate it.

He couldn’t. That left Ruin far stronger than he was. Why had Preservation left the mists untouched like

that? It was still part of him, of course, but it was like… like a diffused army, spread as scouts throughout

the kingdom, rather than gathered for war.

Ruin wasn’t so inhibited. Kelsier could see his power at work now, revealed in ways that had been too

grand for him to recognize before Ascending. Ruin ripped open the tops of ashmounts, holding them pried

apart, letting death spew forth. He touched koloss all across the empire, driving them to murderous

frenzies. When they ran out of people to kill, he gleefully turned them against one another.

He had hold of multiple people in every remaining city. His machinations were incredible – complex,

subtle. Kelsier couldn’t even follow all the threads, but the result was obvious: chaos.

Kelsier could do nothing about it. He held unimaginable power, yet he was still impotent. But importantly,

Ruin had to act to counter him.

That was an important revelation. He and Ruin were both everywhere; their souls were the very bones of

the planet. But their attention… that could only be divided so far.

If Kelsier tried to change things where Ruin was focused, he always lost. When Kelsier tried to stop the

ashmounts, Ruin’s arms ripping them open were stronger than his trying to seal them. When he tried to

bolster Vin’s armies with a sense of encouragement, Ruin acted like a blockade, keeping him away.

In a desperate attempt, he made a push to approach Vin herself. He wasn’t certain what he could do, but

he wanted to try battering Ruin away – push himself, and see what he was capable of doing.

He threw everything he had into it, straining against Ruin – feeling the friction of their essences meeting

as he drew nearer to Vin, who was locked in a room within the palace of Fadrex. His essence meeting

Ruin’s caused shocks through the land, trembles. An earthquake.

He was able to draw close. He could feel Vin’s mind, hear her thoughts. She knew so little – like he had

known so little when he’d begun this. She didn’t know about Preservation.

The clashing pushed Kelsier’s essence away, ripping Preservation back from him, exposing his core – like

a grinning skull as the flesh was torn free. A soul lined with darkness, but which was Connected to Vin

somehow. Tied to her by the inscrutable lines that made up the Spiritual Realm.

“Vin!” he shouted, in agony, straining. The fight between him and Ruin caused the earthquake to intensify,

and Ruin exulted in that destruction. It weakened his attention for a brief moment.

“Vin!” Kelsier said, getting closer. “Another god, Vin! There’s another force!”

Confusion. She didn’t see. Something leaked from Kelsier, drawing toward her. And with a shock, Kelsier

saw a terrible sight, something he’d never suspected. A glowing spot of metal in Vin’s ear, so similar to

the color of her brilliant soul that he had missed it until he’d gotten very close.

Vin was spiked.

“What’s the first rule of Allomancy, Vin!” Kelsier screamed. “The first thing I taught you!”

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Vin looked up. Had she heard?

“Spikes, Vin!” Kelsier began. “You can’t trust–”

Ruin returned and shoved Kelsier with a fierce burst of power, interrupting him. To hold on longer would

have meant letting Ruin rip the power of Preservation away from him completely, and so he let himself go.

Ruin shoved him out of the building, out of the city entirely. Their clash brought incredible pain to Kelsier,

and he couldn’t help bearing the impression that – divine though he was – he was limping as he left the

city.

Ruin was too focused on this place. Too strong here. He had almost all of his attention pointed at Vin and

this city of Fadrex. He was even bringing in Marsh.

Maybe…

Kelsier tried to get close to Marsh, focusing his attention on his brother. Those same lines were there as

had been with Vin, lines of Connection linking Kelsier’s soul to his brother. Perhaps he could get through

to Marsh too.

Unfortunately, Ruin spotted this too easily, and Kelsier was too weakened – too sore – from the previous

clash. Ruin rebuffed him with ease, but not before Kelsier heard something emanating from Marsh.

Remember yourself, Marsh’s thoughts whispered. Fight, Marsh, FIGHT. Remember who you are.

Kelsier felt a swelling of pride as he fled from Ruin. Something within Marsh, something of his brother,

had survived. However, there was nothing Kelsier could do to help now. Whatever Ruin wanted in Fadrex,

Kelsier would have to let him have it. To confront Ruin here was impossible, for Ruin could best Kelsier in

a direct confrontation.

Fortunately, Kelsier had made a career of knowing when to avoid a fair fight. The con was on, and when

the house guard was alert, your best bet was to lie low for a while.

Ruin watched Fadrex so intently, it would leave chinks elsewhere.

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