Page 112 (1/2)

By the tie, she added a fifth shoe The result was a continuous flow of flipping metal chunks Vin Pulled, then Pushed, then Pulled, then Pushed,herself through the air

The ground raced beneath her and horseshoes shot through the air above her The wind beca her pathway to the south She was a flurry of metal and motion--as Kelsier had been, near the end, when he had killed the Inquisitor

Except, her ht not arrive in ti to give up halfway

I have a young nephew, one Rashek He hates all of Khlennium with the passion of envious youth He hates Alendi even h the two have never met--for Rashek feels betrayed that one of our oppressors should have been chosen as the Hero of Ages

53

STRAFF WAS ACTUALLY STARTING TO feel quite well as his army crested the last hill to overlook Luthadel He'd discreetly tried a few drugs from his cabinet, and he was pretty certain he knehich one A indeed He'd have to wean himself from it slowly--but, for now, a feed leaves er and more alert than he'd ever been before In fact, he felt wonderful

He was sure the same couldn't be said for those in Luthadel The koloss pooled around the outer wall, still beating on several of the gates on the north and east sides Smoke rose from inside the city

"Our scouts say the creatures have broken through four of the city gates, ate first, and there ate fell next, then the northwestern gate, but the troops at both are holding as well The main breach happened in the north The koloss are apparently ravaging fro"

Straff nodded The northern gate, he thought The one closest to Keep Venture

"Do we attack, o did the northern gate fall?"

"Perhaps an hour ago, my lord"

Straff shook his head leisurely "Then, let us wait The creatures worked quite hard to break into the city--we should at least let thehter them"

"Are you sure, my lord?"

Straff smiled "Once they lose their bloodlust in a few hours, they'll be tired fro and calm down That will be the best tih the city and weakened from the resistance We can take theripped his koloss opponent by the throat, forcing back its snarling, distorted face The beast's skin was stretched so tightly that it had split down the center of the face, revealing bloody muscles above the teeth, around the nose holes It breathed with husky rage, spraying droplets of spittle and blood across Sazed with each exhalation

Strength! Sazed thought, tapping his pewtermind for more power His body beca his own skin Fortunately, his s that didn't connect on one side so that they could bend Still, his bulk was daunting He probably wouldn't have been able to walk or maneuver with such size--but it didn't round All he needed was sorip The creature clawed hirasping its sword

Sazed's fingers finally crushed the beast's thick neck The creature tried to snarl, but no breath came, and it instead thrashed about in frustration Sazed forced himself to his feet, then hurled the creature toward its coth, even a body eleven feet tall felt light in his fingers It s thehis pewter like a wineskin He couldn't continue tapping his reserves so th that had taken decades to store He still hadn't used his rings, but he had only a few minutes of each attribute in those They would wait for an e now, he thought with dread They still held Steel Gate Square Though koloss had broken through the gate, only a few could pass through at once--and only the most massive seemed able to jump up to the wall

Sazed's little troop of soldiers was sorely pressed, however Bodies lay scattered in the courtyard The skaa faithful at the back had begun pulling the wounded to safety Sazed could hear the behind him

Koloss corpses littered the square as well, and despite the carnage, Sazed couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at howthe creatures to force their way inside this portal Luthadel was not falling easily Not at all

The koloss seeh several skirroup of ate

Outside the gate, Sazed thought, glancing to the side The creatures had cared to break open only one of the ht one There were corpses in the square--dozens, perhaps hundreds--but the koloss theate itself so that they could get into the courtyard

Perhaps

Sazed didn't have tiain, giving hith of five men He picked up the body of a sate The creatures outside snarled, scattering There were still hundreds waiting for the chance to get in, but they tripped over the dead in their haste to get out of the way of his projectile

Sazed slipped on blood as he grabbed a second body, throwing it to the side "Tothat there were men who could hear, and who could respond

The koloss realized what he was doing too late He kicked another body out of the way, then slaainst the open door and tapped his ironht he had stored within it Iainst the gate, sla it closed