Note: This was all conceived and written pre-Wind and Truth. So there are major spoilers for Stormlight up to Rhythm of War, both Mistborn series (including Lost Metal), and Secret History. You have been warned.

Adolin looked into parshendi eyes, and saw his death reflected. He stood on a small cleft of rock on the edge of the Tower, defending the ground from the incoming enemy. Adolin's Plate was in ribbons, Dalinor was fighting hopelessly somewhere else, and the rest of the army had been shattered to smithereens. He had minutes now, not hours.

Adolin fought on anyway, meaningless as it was. A quote came to his mind, possibly from a reading of The Way of Kings he'd been forced to sit through. It felt apt for his situation. He repeated the words under his breath,"Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination."

Someone beside him said,"It's a nice phrase. Is that really your final desire?"

Adolin didn't recognize the voice and didn't care. He swung his sword in a sweeping arc, cutting through some parshendi that were creeping up. His arms were going to lock up soon.

"I'd rather survive," Adolin muttered under his breath.

"That's more like it," the voice said.

A different voice with the weight of age behind it intruded, I am not sure this is a good idea, my friend. Yet, the boy has spoken…I will accept these words.

Now Adolin could sense eight pools of power inside of him. Still trying to push back Parshendi, he sort of…poked one. His senses erupted with motion and light. He felt every wound like it was fresh, and would've stumbled if his legs weren't locked up. The sensation lasted only a second, but his aches lingered.

"Not tin," the voice shouted in his ear. "Look for the opposite, and burn it instead."

Burn, that was what it felt like. Adolin launched through another series of strikes, in a brief moment of lucidity granted by the pool. The parshendi stepped back from his ferocity. Again, he focused inward towards the eight pools of power. The opposite power. What did the voice mean? Adolin didn't have time to work it out, so he picked one at random, this time turning on the power instead of just touching it.

His vision burst with blue lines, leading to the swords and spears the parshendi held. Stormlight was coming off of his Plate in wisps now. He could feel his arms locking up, and so unclasped them from the Shardplate. Even if it lost him his only protection, the mobility he gained mattered far more now.

"Not what I meant," the voice called. "But while your steel is burning, push on those blue lines."

Adolin complied, and sent the weapons of the two nearest warpairs flying. They backed away, but not before he had cut through all four.

He turned off steel and the blue lines vanished. Searching inward again, he found the power the voice had described. It was pulsing violently in opposition to the quieter power he'd used first. Tapping it, Adolin's movements became firmer, strengthened by the strange power. Despite his all but frozen Plate, he was able to move more, somehow carrying the weight himself.

"That's called pewter, and it grants strength. Careful, it runs out faster," The voice called.

Pewter gave Adolin an edge, but he was still one man in the throng. He was soon overwhelmed again with enemies.

Adolin said,"This is great and all, but do you have anything else?"

The voice replied confidently,"There's plenty more where that came from. Try finding zinc. It's a pushing metal, like pewter."

Adolin didn't know what all those terms meant. Yet, there was a certain logic to the voice's words. While holding off his foes with careful swings, Adolin searched his pools of power. Eventually he found one that was similar to pewter, yet with a completely different rhythm. He turned it on.

"Good," the voice said. "Now increase your enemies' fear."

Adolin sent out a wave of power, sort of like steel, focused on the fear of those around him. While the parshendi were too organized to run, several stumbled, giving Adolin a much needed opening.

He clumsily switched between pools of power, avoiding zinc and its counterpart. Even with his new powers, the fight was hopeless. He had minutes now before exhaustion claimed him.

That was when a man from Sadea's bridge crews appeared, dragging him away. Despite Adolin arguing that he should find his father, he was pulled away by the slave. Obstinate fool, taking command of the army.

"He certainly has style," the voice said from Adolin's side.