Venli, newly in stormform, climbs into a chasm with Demid and loyal followers, guided by the red spren Ulim. She revels in her enhanced strength and new rhythms, yet resents Ulim’s orders and lack of transparency. They scour storm debris for a target Ulim insists is “around here.”

They discover Eshonai slumped against the rock with her Shardblade planted in the stone. Eshonai is dead, her Plate drained and broken; Ulim concludes she drowned while clinging to the Blade during the Everstorm’s flood.

Venli is shaken into the old Rhythm of the Lost and mourns, breaking taboo by touching Eshonai’s body. She demands respect and authority, but Ulim dismisses her, claiming experience across eons, obedience to leaders—their “ancestors”—and calling himself the spren of redemption.

Under Ulim’s orders, Venli and Demid strip Eshonai’s Shardplate and recover the pieces despite cultural prohibitions. Venli takes the Shardblade, feeling both liberated from and terrified by the absence of Eshonai’s restraining voice.

Before leaving, Venli notices a small spren like a ball of white fire with a comet tail emerging from Eshonai’s corpse. She shoos it away and departs, leaving the body alone at the chasm’s bottom.