Words of Radiance

Adolin duels Elit, toying with the man, landing blows but not attacking. Finally, after so many cracks to the Shardplate, Elit’s armor runs out of Stormlight and freezes, immobilizing him. Adolin wins, but the crowd boos. Afterward, Shallan tells Adolin that she believes she has found something that will help him with his duels. Relis interrupts them, storming in to chastise Adolin for embarrassing his cousin. Adolin offers to duel Relis, once again putting his entire family’s Shards as a wager, even saying Relis can bring whoever he wants. Relis agrees, setting the duel in two days.

Shallan travels to meet the Ghostbloods outside the warcamps. She is once again disguised as the darkeyed woman, whom she dubs Veil. Mraize is angry that Tyn once again ignored him, but when Shallan shows him the drawings she made of Amaram’s maps and notes, she earns his trust. He offers her a place in the Ghostbloods if she can keep following directions. Shallan leaves and sends her carriage ahead of her, hiding in a rock she Lightweaves. She hears horses pursue the carriage, and when her Stormlight runs out and the rock vanishes, she walks back to camp, only to find the carriage and its driver murdered and burned on the road.

Kaladin accompanies Adolin for an outing with Shallan at a menagerie and is shocked to see that their driver is Wit, Elhokar’s sometimes-jester. Weeks before, Kaladin met Wit, who hinted that he knew of Kaladin’s abilities before disappearing. Now, Wit makes the same hints. When they stop for Shallan, she is also shocked to see Wit, as he was the messenger who tested her powers years ago. Not trusting Shallan, Kaladin rides in the carriage with her and Adolin. Shallan tells Adolin that Sadeas once used the Right to Challenge, bestowed by the king after an exceptional duel, to kill Highprince Yenev, an adversarial leader, in a duel. She believes that if Adolin can defeat two Shardbearers at once, Elhokar could grant him the Right to Challenge, and he could kill Sadeas. At the menagerie, Kaladin is horrified to see Dalinar announce the refounding of the Knights Radiant under the guidance of Amaram.

Adolin walks out into the arena to duel Relis and meets four Shardbearers. Dalinar and Elhokar protest, but Sadeas explains that Adolin never specified the number of challengers Relis could bring; according to dueling conventions, Relis can bring up to four. Adolin does not back down, striking quickly and taking his opponents off-guard, though they soon overwhelm him. When they force his arm down, preventing him from surrendering, he realizes they mean to harm him.

Dalinar insists on helping Adolin, as the rules dictate that Adolin can have up to two companions, but Elhokar holds him back, explaining that Sadeas wants him to go in, hoping he will be hurt or killed. Renarin steps into the arena with only his Shardblade, and one of the assailants goes to him. Adolin fights for space, and Relis explains that if he surrenders, Renarin will be hurt. Dalinar protests to the judge, but she insists that the duel is legal and that she will not interfere. Dalinar looks around, begging someone to show honor and help. Both Elhokar and Amaram look away. Kaladin, however, jumps down into the arena with his spear.

Kaladin distracts Relis, allowing Adolin to face only two opponents, a much easier prospect. Despite his efforts, Relis keeps turning to rejoin the fight. Finally, desperate, Kaladin breathes in Stormlight from his spheres and lashes himself to Relis’s chest, shattering his legs and cracking Relis’s chest plate. The Stormlight heals his legs, and Kaladin joins Adolin’s fight before Relis can get back up. Soon, Adolin forces one challenger to yield, drawing Renarin’s attacker back to the main fight. Renarin dismisses his Shardblade and kneels on the ground. With Kaladin’s help, Adolin forces two more challengers to yield, though his broken Shardplate freezes.

Relis, the only challenger left, runs toward Renarin, Shardblade high to strike. Renarin does nothing, and Kaladin chases after. As Kaladin catches up, Relis turns and swings at him, but Kaladin catches the blade like Dalinar did. He and Relis hear horrible screaming, and Kaladin believes it is Syl. The screams drive Relis from the arena, and the judge declares Adolin the winner. Elhokar offers Adolin the Right to Challenge, and Adolin calls for a duel against Sadeas. Kaladin also declares a Right to Challenge, calling for a duel against Amaram, calling him a murderer. Kaladin sees Amaram recognize him, and horror flashes across Amaram’s face. Elhokar calls for an arrest, and Kaladin is disheartened to see soldiers surround him.

Elhokar and Dalinar argue while Kaladin sits chained to a chair. Elhokar is enraged, as Kaladin’s challenge has ruined their chances to trap Sadeas, who fled the arena and set the date for the duel a year from now. Neither Dalinar nor Elhokar cares that Kaladin believes his accusations are truthful, and though Elhokar wants Kaladin executed for challenging a lighteyes, Dalinar threatens him into passing a prison sentence. Elhokar leaves, and Dalinar tells Kaladin to grow up and stop being more concerned with revenge than the greater good. Soldiers bring him to a cell, and Kaladin tells Syl he will never trust a lighteyes again.

The thief Lift breaks into the Bronze Palace with a team of thieves while dignitaries inside choose the next Prime Agasix. Her spren, Wyndle, walks up the outer wall, leaving behind vines that turn to crystal before disintegrating. Lift uses these vines as handholds to help her scale the wall. Lift and another child, Gawx, argue over what to steal. Gawx wants jewels, but Lift wants food, as she can metabolize food into Stormlight. She makes her way into the banquet but is uncovered and seized by a man with a scar on his face, who claims to be looking for a thief. As the man’s henchmen escort her out, she breaks free and uses her power, Slick, to remove any friction and slide away.

The man with the scar pursues her with a Shardblade, and she stops when she meets one of his companions holding a knife to Gawx’s throat. She makes to flee, not taking the threat seriously, but the man kills the boy. Lift escapes, but on the roof, she feels guilty and returns to find his body, using the remainder of her Stormlight to resurrect him. The man with the scar grabs her and is about to kill her, saying her kind will bring a Desolation, when Gawx interrupts. His resurrection convinces the dignitaries to choose him as Prime Agasix, and he pardons Lift for her crimes of thievery. The man with the scar obeys the law and leaves.

Szeth sits on the top of Urithiru, the tallest tower in the world, and thinks of his encounter with Kaladin in Dalinar’s warcamp. He is haunted by the screams of those he murdered. He was banished from Shinovar for proclaiming that Surgebinders were returning. His people insisted that the Knights Radiant were no more, but Kaladin’s existence proves this wrong. If the Knights Radiant still exist, then the End of All Things is coming, and Szeth’s banishment was wrong. Moreover, all the killing he has done as an assassin had no purpose. Szeth jumps from the tower and lashes himself to the south. He is determined to find answers.

Eshonai revels in her new power, though she still hears herself screaming deep down. She needs as many Parshendi as possible in stormform to summon the Everstorm. The Five are resistant to this plan, despite the humans’ looming attack. The Five believe she is too hasty. Eshonai decides to take control and announces to the city that the Five are trying to keep them from their potential. She goes to the military encampment and has her soldiers take a census of the city, bringing everyone who does not want to transform to the encampment. Eshonai and her sister Venli agree that they must kill these dissenters, and when news reaches them that the dissenters have escaped into the chasms, Eshonai doesn’t worry, believing they will be dead when the highstorm comes in two days.