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He had to keep going He had to get to Vin

Vin cradled Elend in her ar a hasty--and dreadfully inadequate--bandage around his torso

"I love you," she whispered, tears warm on her cold cheeks "Elend, I love you I love you"

Love wouldn't be enough He was treasped, and blood bubbled in his spittle

She turned to the side, nulowed beside her, just inches from where Elend had fallen Soh it didn't mix with the liquid metal

I can save him, she realized The power of creation rests just inches froers This was the place where Rashek had ascended to godhood The Well of Ascension

She looked back at Elend, at his dying eyes He tried to focus on her, but he see histo smile

Vin rolled up her coat and put it beneath his head Then, wearing just her trousers and shirt, she walked up to the pool She could hear it thu for her to join with it

She stepped onto the pool It resisted her touch, but her foot began to sink, slowly She stepped forward,as she sank Within seconds, the pool was up to her chest, the glowing liquid all around her

She took a breath, then leaned her head back, looking up as the pool absorbed her, covering her face

Sazed stuers Ha after hinored the boy's questions

However, as he began to make his way down to the cavern floor, he slowed A sh the rock

Somehow, he knew that he was too late

The power ca against her, creeping into her body, crawling, forcing its way through the pores and openings in her skin She opened her agging her

With a sudden flare, her earlobe began to hurt She cried out, pulling her earring free, dropping it into the depths She pulled off her sash, letting it--and her Allo the only metals on her person

Then she started to burn She recognized the sensation: it was exactly like the feeling of burning metals in her stomach, except it came from her entire body Her skin flared, her asped, and realized theShe felt the poithin, as if it were trying to burst back out It was like the strength she gained by burning pewter, but aly more potent It was a force of incredible capacity It would have been beyond her ability to understand, but it expanded her row and comprehend what she now possessed

She could remake the world She could push back the mists She could feed millions with the wave of her hand, punish the evil, protect the weak She was in awe of herself The cavern was as if translucent around her, and she saw the entire world spreading, a nificent sphere upon which life could exist only in a small little area at the poles She could fix that She could s better She could

She could save Elend

She glanced down and saw hi with hians

You mustn't do it, child

Vin looked up with shock

You knohat you ed Kindly

"I have to save him!" she cried

You knohat you must do

And she did know She saw it happen--she saw, as if in a vision, Rashek when he'd taken the power for himself She saw the disasters he created

It was all or nothing--like Allomancy, in a way If she took the power, she would have to burn it away in a few s as she pleased, but only for a brief tiive it up

I must defeat the Deepness, the Voice said

She saw that, too Outside the palace, in the city, across the land People in theMany stayed indoors, thankfully The traditions of the skaa were still strong within them

Some were out, however Those who trusted in Kelsier's words that the mists could not hurt the death

This was the Deepness Mists that killed Mists that were slowly covering the entire land The deaths were sporadic; Vin sawsick, and still others going about in the et worse, the Voice said quietly It will kill and destroy And, if you try to stop it yourself, you will ruin the world, as Rashek did before you

"Elend" she whispered She turned toward hi on the floor

At thatSazed had said You h to trust his wishes, he had told her It isn't love unless you learn to respect him--not what you assume is best, but what he actually wants

She saw Elend weeping She saw hi on her, and she knehat he wanted He wanted his people to live He wanted the world to know peace, and the skaa to be free

He wanted the Deepness to be defeated The safety of his people meant more to him than his own life Far more

You'll knohat to do, he'd told her just moments before I trust you

Vin closed her eyes, and tears rolled down her cheeks Apparently, gods could cry

"I love you," she whispered