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Peace gave her strength
Koloss died around her, and scarlet blood--too bright to be human--stained the air There were ten thousand in this army--far too hter every koloss in the army
She just had to make them afraid
Because, despite what she'd once assu in the creatures around her, hidden beneath frustration and rage A koloss attacked her, and she dodged to the side,with pewter's enhanced speed She sla a h the ar--perhaps the biggest one she had ever seen It had to be almost thirteen feet tall Heart failure should have killed it long ago, and its skin was ripped half free, hanging in wide flaps
It bellowed, the sound echoing across the oddly quiet battlefield Vin smiled, then burned duralu inside of her exploded to give her a th Duralumin, when used with another metal, ale burst, giving up all of its power at once
Vin burned steel, then Pushed outward in all directions Her duralumin-enhanced Push crashed like a wave into the swords of the creatures running at her Weapons ripped free, koloss were thrown backward, and massive bodies scattered like mere flakes of ash beneath the bloodred sun Duralu crushed as she did this
Her pewter and steel both disappeared, burned away in single flash of power She pulled out a small vial of liquid--an alcohol so1lution withher metals Then, she burned pewter and leaped over fallen, disoriented koloss toward the massive creature she had seen earlier A sht its ar the joint She took the creature's sword, ducking beneath another koloss's attack, and spun, felling three different koloss in one sweep by cutting at their knees
As she completed her spin, she rammed her sword into the earth point-first As expected, the large, thirteen-foot-tall beast attacked a second later, swinging a sword that was so large that it made the air roar Vin planted her sword just in time, for--even with pewter--she never would have been able to parry this enormous creature's weapon That weapon, however, slammed into the blade of her sword, which was stabilized by the earth below The ainst the blow
Fingers still stinging froo of the sword and jumped She didn't Push--she didn't need to--but landed on the cross guard of her sword and leaped off it The koloss showed that same, characteristic surprise as it saw her leap thirteen feet into the air, leg drawn back, tasseled
She kicked the koloss directly in the side of the head The skull cracked Koloss were inhuh The creature's beady eyes rolled back in its head, and it collapsed Vin Pushed slightly on the sword, keeping herself up long enough so that when she fell, she landed directly on the felled koloss's chest
The koloss around her froze Even in the midst of the blood fury, they were shocked to see her drop such an enormous beast with only a kick Perhaps their minds were too slow to process what they had just seen Or, perhaps in addition to fear, they really could feel a h about theular koloss army, what she'd just done would have earned her the obedience of every creature that had watched her
Unfortunately, this ar controlled by an external force Vin stood up straight, could see Elend's suidance, they held The fighting humans would have an effect on the koloss sith--the creatures wouldn't understand how such a sainst them They wouldn't see the attrition, or the dire situation of Elend's group; they would si
Vin turned to resume combat The koloss approached her with more trepidation, but they still came That was the oddity about koloss They never retreated They felt fear, they just couldn't act on it It did, however, weaken them She could see it in the way they approached her, the way they looked They were close to breaking
And so, she burned brass and Pushed on the emotions of one of the smaller creatures At first, it resisted She shoved harder And, finally, so broke within the creature and he beca him was too far away, and was focused on too many koloss at once This creature--its mind confused because of the frenzy, emotions in a turmoil because of its shock, fear, and frustration--came completely under Vin's mental control