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So, pewtero of the tree The koloss leader--Sazed could only assuround with a red-eyed stare The creature did not blink Sazed wondered if it even could blink, its skin stretched as it was

Sazed plunked to the ground beside the tree, then reached for his pack

"No," the koloss snapped, grabbing the pack with an inhumanly quick swipe of the arm It tossed the pack to another koloss

"I need that," Sazed said "I will be much more cooperative if--"

"Quiet!" the koloss yelled with a rage so sudden that Sazed took a step backward Terrismen were tall--especially Terris to be dwarfed by this beastly creature, well over nine feet in height, its skin a blackish blue, its eyes the color of the sun at dusk It looed in spite of himself

Apparently, that was the proper reaction, for the lead koloss nodded and turned away "Coh the small aspen forest The other koloss--about seven of them--followed

Sazed didn't want to find out ould happen if he disobeyed He chose a god--Duis, a god once said to watch over wearied travelers--and said a quick, silent prayer Then he hurried forward, staying with the pack of koloss as they walked toward the camp

At least they didn't kill ht He'd half expected that, considering what he'd read Of course, even the books didn't know much The koloss had been kept separate from mankind for centuries; the Lord Ruler only called upon thereat martial need, to quell revolts, or to conquer new societies discovered on the inner islands At those tihter--or so the histories claianda? Sazed wondered Maybe the koloss aren't as violent as we assumed

One of the koloss beside Sazed howled in sudden anger Sazed spun as the koloss junored the sword on its back, instead punching his ene to watch the fight, but none of the horror as the aggressor proceeded to repeatedly pu out a dagger and ressor's arressor got his hands around his opponent's thick head and twisted

There was a snap The defender stopped ressor removed the sword from his victim's back and strapped it on beside his oeapon, then removed a small pouch that was tied beside the sword After that, he stood, ignoring the wound on his arain

"Why?" Sazed asked, shocked "What was that for?"

The wounded koloss turned around "I hated him," he said

"Move!" the lead koloss snapped at Sazed

Sazed forced hi in the road The pouches, he thought, trying to find so to focus on besides the brutality They all carry those pouches The koloss kept them tied to their swords They didn't carry the weapons in sheaths; they were simply bound on their backs with leather straps And tied to those straps were pouches Soest creatures in the group each had several

They look like coin pouches, Sazed thought But, the koloss don't have an economy Perhaps they keep personal possessions in them? But ould beasts like these value?

They entered the camp There didn't appear to be sentries at the borders--but, then, ould guards be necessary? It would be very difficult for a huroup of smaller koloss--the five-foot-tall ones--rushed forward as soon as the group arrived The murderer threw his extra sword to one of them, then pointed into the distance He kept the pouch for hi the road in the direction of the body

Burial detail? Sazed wondered

He walked uncomfortably behind his captors as they penetrated into the ca roasted over the firepits, though Sazed didn't think any of theround around the camp had been corazed by a group of particularly aggressive goats

And, according to his coppermind, that wasn't far off the truth Koloss could, apparently, subsist on practically anything They preferredso far as to pull it up by the roots to eat Soh Sazed found that a little difficult to believe

He continued to walk The cae musk that he assumed was koloss body odor So him with steady red eyes

It's like they only have two e as a fireside koloss suddenly screamed and attacked a coed

What would it take to set them all off at once? Andwhat kind of a disaster would they cause if that happened? He nervously revised his earlier thoughts No, the koloss had not beenwild in the Far widespread destruction and death--were obviously true

But soinally reined in The Lord Ruler had been able to control the koloss, though no book explained how Most writers simply accepted this ability as part of what had made the Lord Ruler God The man had been immortal--compared with that, other powers seemed mundane

His iht Simply a clever combination of Feruchemical and Allomantic powers The Lord Ruler had been just a normal man--albeit one with an unusual combination of abilities and opportunities