The Way of Kings
by Brandon Sanderson
Contents
62. Three Glyphs
Overview
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
- KaladinLeads Bridge Four; uses Stormlight and Parshendi carapace to draw arrows, saving bridges; then sets new precautions.
- TeftWarns Kaladin about limits; proposes sharing the decoy role; helps organize wounded recovery.
- MoashHotheaded 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.
- LopenSmuggles the carapace in a stretcher; distributes water; alerts Kaladin to the incoming archers.
- SadeasHighprince who benefits from the tactic; commends Matal and expects Kaladin’s decoy role to continue.
- MatalBridge officer panics at Kaladin’s move; receives a promotion-commendation from Sadeas despite his outrage.
- Dalinar KholinShardbearer who charges a Parshendi archer squad and saves Bridge Four, saluting them afterward.
- SylUrges Kaladin to release misplaced guilt; warns he is pushing himself too hard.
- ShenParshman bridgeman devastated by Kaladin wearing Parshendi dead; sits weeping, possibly unfit for runs.
- SkarHelps form ranks; suggests multiple decoys could share the arrow-drawing tactic.
- SigzilAmazed by Kaladin’s survival; part of the planning to expand the tactic.
- DrehyDeclares they’re doomed early; later identifies the rescuing Shardbearer as Dalinar Kholin.
- DabbidSilent bridgeman assisting Lopen with the stretcher during the crossing.
- LeytenAssigned as a scout to watch for Parshendi moves toward the chasm.
- NarmAssigned alongside Leyten to scout and warn of new Parshendi threats.