In a captured town’s lumberyard, Moash works beside parshmen like Sah and Khen, who fear they were “set up” as punishment for harboring a spy—revealed to have been Kaladin. The group is assigned to carry assault ladders, likely as expendable first-wave troops, prompting anger and despair.

Frustrated, Moash leaves the yard and seeks a Fused in charge. A flying Fused lifts him high into the sky to meet Lady Leshwi. Hovering above the landscape, Leshwi notes Moash bears an ancient singer’s name and reveals he previously killed her; she now inhabits a new body. She speaks of sacrifice, justifying the singers’ harsh methods as necessary to reclaim the world.

Moash challenges the treatment of parshmen; Leshwi counters that those who survive will be honored and that Moash’s passion earned him mercy. She recognizes his driving emotion—vengeance—and, intrigued, orders him freed instead of punished.

Returned to the town, Moash considers fleeing to Kholinar but rejects it. He takes ladder poles, fashions them into practice spears, and offers to train Sah, Khen, and the other condemned parshmen as soldiers. Despite grim odds, they accept, choosing preparation over helplessness as the assault on Kholinar nears.