62. Three Glyphs
Contains spoilersOverview
Exhausted Bridge Four faces a morning assault, where Kaladin unveils a risky tactic: wearing Parshendi carapace and using Stormlight to draw all arrows, letting the bridges set with minimal losses. Sadeas commends the success and expects repeats.
The victory’s moral cost surfaces as Shen is devastated, and Teft pushes to share the risk. When enraged Parshendi target Bridge Four afterward, Dalinar Kholin intervenes personally, forcing Kaladin to adopt new precautions and making Bridge Four a high-profile target.
Summary
Kaladin ties a simple prayer with three glyphs to his arm and, despite exhaustion from night chasm work, tells Bridge Four he has a plan for the assault. He fends off a pushy soldier trying to seize their water—protecting the hidden sack of Parshendi carapace inside Lopen’s litter—then lines up to run. As the charge begins, Kaladin darts ahead, dons the carapace helm, vest, and shield, and breathes in Stormlight.
Outraged Parshendi archers focus entirely on Kaladin. Infused, he moves with preternatural speed, drawing arrows to his shield and dodging the rest, minor wounds sealing with Light. The distraction lets all twenty bridges set with almost no casualties. Sadeas rides past, backhandedly promoting Matal and implicitly assigning Kaladin to repeat the decoy tactic.
Bridge Four celebrates while Kaladin fights off shock. Teft notes the Light’s subtlety in daylight and urges sharing the danger with additional decoys. Talk turns to scaling the tactic, but Shen collapses in grief at Kaladin’s desecration of Parshendi dead, chilling the victory. Kaladin confides in Syl about guilt over past failures and the narrow balance between caring and overburdening himself.
As Kaladin teaches field care and treats a wounded Thaylen soldier, a Parshendi squad breaks through and forms to execute Bridge Four. Nearby soldiers do not intervene, but a Shardbearer in slate-grey Plate—identified by Drehy as Dalinar Kholin—charges, annihilating the archers and saluting the bridgemen before moving on. Moash calls it opportunism; Kaladin outwardly agrees, though he notes the salute.
Recognizing their new visibility and the Parshendi’s anger, Kaladin orders deeper pullbacks after crossings and posts scouts to watch the chasm. He finishes stitching the wound and, when Moash jokes about Kaladin’s prayer, answers that true proof will be surviving to escape.
Who Appears
- Kaladin
Leads Bridge Four; uses Stormlight and Parshendi carapace to draw arrows, saving bridges; then sets new precautions.
- Teft
Warns Kaladin about limits; proposes sharing the decoy role; helps organize wounded recovery.
- Moash
Hotheaded supporter; suggests attacking lighteyes; later celebrates the tactic but remains cynical about Dalinar.
- Rock (Numuhukumakiaki’aialunamor)
Front rank with Kaladin; praises the feat; notes Parshendi bones sparked their fury.
- Lopen
Smuggles the carapace in a stretcher; distributes water; alerts Kaladin to the incoming archers.
- Sadeas
Highprince who benefits from the tactic; commends Matal and expects Kaladin’s decoy role to continue.
- Matal
Bridge officer panics at Kaladin’s move; receives a promotion-commendation from Sadeas despite his outrage.
- Dalinar Kholin
Shardbearer who charges a Parshendi archer squad and saves Bridge Four, saluting them afterward.
- Syl
Urges Kaladin to release misplaced guilt; warns he is pushing himself too hard.
- Shen
Parshman bridgeman devastated by Kaladin wearing Parshendi dead; sits weeping, possibly unfit for runs.
- Skar
Helps form ranks; suggests multiple decoys could share the arrow-drawing tactic.
- Sigzil
Amazed by Kaladin’s survival; part of the planning to expand the tactic.
- Drehy
Declares they’re doomed early; later identifies the rescuing Shardbearer as Dalinar Kholin.
- Dabbid
Silent bridgeman assisting Lopen with the stretcher during the crossing.
- Leyten
Assigned as a scout to watch for Parshendi moves toward the chasm.
- Narm
Assigned alongside Leyten to scout and warn of new Parshendi threats.