I'm back again, with a couple more of my increasingly infrequent chapters of of Mistborn book Two! I haven't been reading very much recently because I've been, uh, busy. Yeah, busy. That's it...

On to the book!

Part 2

Chapter 13

This one starts with a Vin PoV. She's having a "conversation" with Oreseur. Pfah! More like an interrogation! Vin's trying to find a way to discover who the Kandra impostor may be, so she's asking Oreseur a few quite personal questions. His answers prove pretty intriguing.

Apparently the Kandra are not allowed to enter human society without a contract, and not a single one of them breaks this rule. Kandra also aren't allowed to kill humans. I thought that was just a limitation Kelsier placed on Oreseur himself, but apparently it's in their holy contract. This means that this mystery Kandra couldn't have killed that person in Vin's chambers himself. Someone else had to have sneaked into the keep to do the deed... Perhaps he left some evidence behind, then? Vin should hire someone to look into that if she can.

Upon further questioning, Oreseur reveals that Kandra cannot be affected by mental allomancy. So Vin could just try to sooth someone to see their reaction, right? If they're unaffected, that means they can at least be suspected. Sure, it's not foolproof, but it should narrow down the list of possible candidates quite a bit. Apparently Kandra can't use allomancy either, so if she catches Ham burning pewter my fears will be put to rest. She should go and demand that he burn his metals right now!

Vin also remembers what Kelsier said about keeping the Kandra away from the Lord Ruler and the Inquisitors. (I think it has something to do with the way Inquisitors perceive the world. Maybe they can see straight through a Kandra's disguise) When she questions him about this--actually orders him to tell her--, he says "no". He just flat out refuses. Apparently the contract states that Kandra cannot be forced to reveal secrets about their nature. Okay, now I'm curious. What is the contract, and why do they take it so seriously? He says they're nothing without the contract. What does this mean? Does it have something to do with how they become the way they are, instead of remaining like all the other Mistwraiths? Could it be that someone turned them into Kandra in exchange for them accepting the contract, or is it something more simple than that? I wanna know, but I get the feeling I'll have to wait several hundred pages to find out, if ever.

Anyway, Vin begins to feel for any allomancers who may be sneaking about in the city. While searching with bronze, she asks Oreseur what he cares about; his hates, his loves. He doesn't want to answer, and she realizes that he resents her(with good reason, by the way), so she doesn't force him. At this point, she feels a familiar allomantic pulse. It's that mist creature she saw the other night. She tells Oreseur what she hates; she hates being afraid. She then leaves him behind and runs off to confront the creature. I can already tell this won't end well. Why doesn't she bring him with her? He might be able to help.

She traces the pulsing to the 3rd story of a building on an abandoned street. She launches herself up into the window and looks inside, and there it is. It's standing right in the middle of the room. The creature seems to be formed entirely from the mists. The name "Mistwraith" seems to fit this thing a whole lot better than it does the Kandra's cousins. As a matter of fact, the writer of journal in the first book claimed that one of his companions was attacked by a Mistwraith. Could he have actually been talking about one of these things? It makes more sense, especially considering what Kelsier said about the other mistwraiths being fairly docile.

When Vin lays eyes on this Mistwraith, she feels something she apparently hasn't felt in a long. She feels the mind-killer. The little death. Even though she stated earlier that she was done with it, she feels fear. She swallows her terror, though, and demands that the creature tell her why it's been following her. It doesn't answer, of course. It just takes a step towards her and disappears, just like last time. Something suddenly grabs her arm, something cold; cold as hell. A pain shoots through her head and when she tries to scream her voice fails her. She falls backwards out of the window, but fortunately she's still lucid enough to burn her metals, so she manages to save herself from what might have been a fatal fall.

What exactly was that? It seems like it's probably the same thing that killed that poor farmer, Jed, when he danced his last. Why didn't it kill Vin, though? Was it even trying to? One thing I'm relatively sure about is that this is not the deepness. I doubt it even has anything to do with the deepness. Wasn't the deepness supposed to have an oppressive feel kinda like what the Lord Ruler was always giving off when he was around? This is different. And...cold... Creepy. Cool, but creepy.

Anyway, as Vin walks away from the building, Oreseur shows up--a little late, don't you think? She almost freaking died! Although, I suppose she should've known better than to confront it alone. He asks her if she's in need of any assistance, but Vin just tells him she's alright. Interestingly enough, she doesn't even mention her encounter with the creature. Why not? Shouldn't she be warning everyone she knows about this very dangerous; very real threat? Don't tell me she still believes she's only seeing things.

It switches to Elend's PoV at this point. I guess this confirms that he isn't the Kandra--not that I suspected him anyway.

Elend is in a room with the remaining members of Kelsier's crew. They're having a meeting to figure out what exactly to do with the time Breeze has bought them. Most of them seem to think that surrendering is their only choice, and handing the city over to Cett is better idea than giving it to Straff, because Cett will at least (possibly)allow Elend to remain as the provisional ruler. Of course, that would mean screwing over pretty much all of the skaa living in the city, as Cett is not kind to the Skaa in his kingdom. Yeeaah. That's not much of an option for them, is it?

Elend suggests not bending over for Straff or Cett, but choosing a third, more risky, option. They can't survive an extended siege, as the city's already in pretty bad shape when it comes to supplies, so he wants to see if they can even the odds a little bit. First, they'll need to hire some bandit guilds to keep the two kings from using the canals to resupply their armies. Then, he intends to--using his formidable skills at deception--pit the two armies against each other by convincing both of them that he's on their side... Umm, it's a pretty decent plan, I suppose, but this is Elend we're talking about. He couldn't manipulate a 5 year old into eating his vegetables!. How in the name of all that is good and holy is he supposed to pull this off? Even though they know this, the others agree to follow this plan anyway, but they do have doubts. It's better than just curling up in a ball and waiting to be invaded, I guess. The Parliament can't really stop them, thanks to that proposal Elend so brilliantly convinced them to sign. Perhaps there's hope, if Elend can find himself a tutor, or something.

Once Elend and the rest have agreed on their next course of action, someone knocks on their door. It's captain Demoux, and he has a captive with him. He says she was listening in on their conversation. It's that Terris woman who was watching Elend during the Assembly meeting. She announces to everyone that she is a keeper, and she knows that Vin is apparently hiding just outside of their window. So this stuff is happening before she even went out and had her encounter with the Mist-ghost? Why wasn't Elend's PoV before hers, then?

Anyway, the woman basically demands that everyone else leave the room; she wants to speak to Elend alone. Truth be told, if she actually wanted to kill him, she probably could have overpowered them all using her feruchemy--or maybe not, since Ham's here. Either way, Elend, doesn't think she's going to hurt him, so he tells everyone to do as she commanded.

End of Chapter 13

Kwaam's notes at the end of the chapter seem to be of very little consequence, so...on to the next chapter!

Chapter 14

This chapter starts from right where the last one left off. Has that ever happened before so far in this series? I can't remember.

Anyway, As soon as the door is shut, the Terris woman breaks her bonds. Elend, manly-man that he is chooses to stand his ground and face her. Ha, no, what am I saying? He calls for his girlfriend to come save him the moment he feels he may be in some danger. Unfortunately for him, the woman was lying when she said Vin was outside the window. No, in fact, she waited to reveal herself until Vin left. Elend, brave warrior he is, says he's going to call the guards, but the Terris woman tells him not to be a moron--too late for that. She claims that if she wanted to kill him, he'd be dead before the guards ever got through the door. Indeed.

The woman then begins to --quite rudely-- lecture Elend on his posture and attitude. When I say "lecture", that's kind of an understatement. I mean, she puts him down. She informs him that his behavior is not befit a king, that he's a slovenly pig, and that no one respects him. It's true, every word. We all saw what happened at that assembly meeting. They showed that Penrod guy more deference than they did Elend. He doesn't know how to assert himself. I mentioned that he needed to do something drastic about that. Perhaps this lady can show him how.

Elend finally gets over his shock and asks her what the hell is going on. She tells him that her name is Tyndwyl, and that, unlike Sazed who specializes in religions, she specializes in the study of biographies. Speaking of Sazed, he's the one who told her about Elend, and he's apparently the one who inspired her to come here in the first place. She tells him that she has come to transform him from the walking joke he is today into a proper king. Amazing. She's exactly what he needs.

It's at this moment that Vin finally returns, all hostility. So, she's just now had the encounter with that Mist spirit, right? I guess Sanderson placed the PoVs the way he did to avoid interrupting the flow of the story. Anyway, Vin places herself between Elend and the Terris woman. Tyndwyl is completely unperturbed, though, and just mentions how forceful Vin is compared to Elend, therefore shaming him once more before taking her leave. Ham enters the room after she exits, and Elend, apparently happy to have someone to humiliate him on a regular basis, tells the thug to prepare rooms for her in the palace.

I like Tyndwyl already! She kind of reminds me of Cadsuane. Perhaps with her guidance, Elend won't end up getting himself killed after all. Either that, or her teaching will give him the confidence to at least die an honorable death in battle, or some such. Of course, either way, once she's done training him, he's going to have to do something about the disrespect she showed him this night.

Something...drastic.

Here it switches to Vin's PoV. It seems like whenever Vin and Elend are together it always shows from Vin's PoV. Probably just because she's the main character, but still... eh, whatever.

Vin doesn't trust Tyndwyl, and seems to have taken an instant dislike to the Terriswoman. This must be hate at first sight. I've heard of it, but I didn't believe it truly existed until now. When she mentions her dislike to Elend, he just, once again, brushes off her warning, remarking that she doesn't like anyone when she first meets them. That attitude is going to get him killed some day, I just know it.

Elend talks to Vin about how he's starting to doubt himself. That's understandable. I would too, if I were in his position. If his plan doesn't work out, the entire city is screwed--not to mention he's a dead man. Although, that would have happened regardless. Vin, of course, like any good partner, comforts him.

Once Elend is done talking about himself, he asks Vin how her patrol went. She tells him it was uneventful...uneventful? Yeah, that sounds about right. I'd describe running into The Terrifying Misty Doom and nearly falling to my death as "uneventful" as well. Seriously, I know she thinks he'd just brush it off like he did the last time, but who cares? This thing is too big of a deal for her to be keeping it to herself. She should not only tell Elend, but ALL of the crew members...AND the guards. Come on, Vin! I thought you were sensible.

Vin goes on to talk to Elend about how she's worried. She says the Lord Ruler's last words are still bothering her, and she asks him what he knows about the deepness. She's apparently afraid that it might actually come back, but she doesn't actually know anything about it because it's considered part of the Lord Ruler's religion, and apparently religion was reserved for the noblemen; skaa were prohibited from even thinking about it. Wow. Y'know, it still surprises me how poorly the Skaa were treated under the Lord Ruler. We never did get a proper explanation for that, did we?

Anyway, Elend basically says she's a worry wart, and just chalks her fears up to paranoia...again! Why the heck does she put up with this guy? Of course, perhaps if she'd told him about the freaking encounter she had with that thing tonight, he'd take her questions more f-fu-flipping seriously! Jeez, Vin. Just...darn it. Darn it all to heck!

ANYhow, Vin shares with Elend the little bit of information she was able to get out of Oreseur. He it's great, but he obviously doesn't think any of the other crew members could possibly be the Kandra. As well he should! True friends trust each other. That said, I still think it's Ham. Ha!

The chapter ends when Elend tells Vin he needs to go "check on a few things", and walks away, leaving Vin alone with the mist churning in through the open window. Vin gazes at it and whispers, "I will not fear you". Suuure.

In the end-chapter notes, Kwaam is still busy regretting not listening to the other Worldbringers, and following Alendi on his journeys. With how regretful this guy is, you'd think Alendi turned out to be some kind of monster, or something. Wait... Didn't he write that Alendi towered over others? Kwaam was a Terrisman, and, assuming that they were still tall back then, Alendi would have to be pretty darn tall to be looking down on most of them. Which is strange, because I could've sworn that in the journal from "The Final Empire" he wrote that he wasn't a pure Terrisman. What're the chances he'd be THAT tall if he wasn't Terris born? Am I over thinking things?

Yep, only one chapter today as well. Sucks, cause I was hoping to finish the book in a little over a month, but that's probably not gonna happen now. I've just been too busy. Ah, well. You guys don't mind do you? Yeah, I didn't think so. heh

Oh, and no, I've never read Dune.