25

Kelsier mobilizes the crew in Clubs’s shop after learning the Ministry may uncover their hideouts. He sends Breeze to warn contacts, places Dockson in charge, assigns Ham to return to the Garrison as an informant, and declines Sazed’s limited speed. Vin insists on coming, and Kelsier equips her with pewter and mistcloak.

They leap Luthadel’s gates and begin a relentless pewter-fueled run along the canal, pushing through night and mists without rest. Vin endures her first true pewter drag, obeying Kelsier’s orders to hydrate and maintain pewter despite mounting exhaustion.

At dawn they hear battle and crest a hill to see the Valtroux Garrison annihilating the skaa rebels near Holstep. Vin stops Kelsier from charging a hopeless rescue, persuading him to prioritize survivors at the caves.

In the caverns they find Captain Demoux and roughly two thousand men who had stayed behind, distrusting Yeden’s rash night assault. Learning the main force is dead and Yeden’s head displayed by the road, Kelsier orders an immediate evacuation with prepared supplies.

That night, Mennis—the elder from Tresting’s plantation—explains how Yeden and the generals were emboldened by Kelsier’s legend and sought a premature strike. He reframes the debacle as the skaa’s greatest “victory” in generations while advising Kelsier to quit. Confronting skaa hopelessness, Kelsier rejects resignation and silently vows to win a real victory.