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“How does this help?” he asked.

You can now burn duralumin.

“That fancy metal that not-Wax was using to make those big Steelpushing explosions?”

Exactly.

“I don’t need to Push though.”

Wayne, using duralumin burns all the metals in you at once. Every single bit. The more you have, the more powerful it is. It doesn’t just work on steel. It works on any Allomantic metal.

Wayne paused, the ship rocking, then whistled softly, understanding. “You mean…”

How much bendalloy do you have left?

He fished a pouch out of his pocket.

Hmm. Maybe enough to—

Wayne fished another pouch out of his other pocket.

Okay, and—

And the pouch in his sock. Uncomfortable, but handy.

Wayne, how many pouches do you have?

“Seventeen,” he said. “I’m a fancy rich guy now. Will that be enough?”

Oh, Wayne. Yes. I think it will.

Wayne turned and took the steps down at extra-fast speed—grabbing a canteen off one of the corpses. He swallowed mouthfuls of metal beads on his way, stuffing himself with bendalloy. Echoing noises warned him about sailors trying to break into the room to detonate the bomb, but they didn’t have a key. He dealt with both men, then burst back into the room. Electric lights flickered on the walls, and he could hear the chugging of the engines somewhere farther inside the ship.

… And suddenly he wasn’t alone. A figure—mostly transparent—stood beside him, a tall bald man. Terris. And anotherdarkerfellow stood behind him. Not in the skin tone sense or anything. Like… this other one was a shadow. It mimicked Harmony as he held out his hands to Wayne.

“I knew,” Harmony said softly, “that I had to bring Wax to Elendel. It is possible to see future needs. I understood it would begoodto make this choice, though one doesn’t always know why. Even if one is a god.” He hesitated. “I thought I only needed Wax. It seems that I was wrong.”

Wayne tossed up a speed bubble, so that time didn’t move so quickly. He needed a moment to compose himself.

“Itshouldbe Wax,” Wayne said. “He’s the one that fixes messes like this.”

“No,” Harmony said. “You have practiced all your life with speed bubbles, Wayne. Wax would be brand new at them. You might be the only person in the world who could do this.”

“That’s kind of depressing,” Wayne said, turning to Harmony. “Really,I’mthe best you could do? Ain’t you God?”

Harmony’s eyes softened. “Wayne. You aren’t the best I could do.You’re the best there is.And no being, neither god nor mortal, could have wished for more than one such as you.”

Wayne wanted to reject that. But damn, if God was sayin’ it… maybe… maybe Wax was right? About Wayne?

Damn. Had Wax been rightall along?

“You don’t have to do this,” Harmony whispered. “I will never again force such a choice upon someone. Unfortunately, it is the only sure solution that I can think of, and my thoughts move with exceptional speed. This preserves, but it… destroys.”

“The only solution that is sure,” Wayne said. “There’s another?”

“It is possible—very slightly possible—that you could use your new powers to Push hard enough against upcoming sources of metal to hold the ship back, treading water, while we gain more time and figure something else out. It would be exceptionally difficult, but it’s plausible.”

“You can see the future,” Wayne said. “Would it work?”