An epigraph notes that Rayse is captive and cannot leave the system he inhabits. As the bridge collapses, Kaladin reaches for Stormlight and finds none until Syl screams; he inhales a final breath that blunts the impact before blacking out. He awakens at the chasm’s bottom, in pain but alive, beneath a distant slit of fading daylight, haunted by a thunderous, distant voice asking, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”

Kaladin discovers Shallan alive and unbroken amid corpses. She explains someone threw the bridge’s emergency latch. Kaladin confirms a Parshendi attack had begun and—hiding his powers—claims folktale windspren slowed their fall. They scavenge spheres and a spear, confirm neither Dalinar nor Adolin are among the dead, and accept no rescue is coming.

Shallan calculates that the final pre-Weeping highstorm will arrive the next night, making the chasms deadly. With night falling and spheres drained, they decide to start walking immediately, aiming to navigate around plateaus back toward the warcamps. Kaladin leads, drawing on his experience in the chasms; Shallan follows, observing flora and taking a Memory, while worrying over how they survived.

As they travel, their tensions surface. Kaladin condemns lighteyes’ abuses; Shallan counters that he uses status as an excuse for his hostility. They trade sharp barbs, and Shallan concedes past missteps (the boots) while calling out Kaladin’s spite. Their uneasy cooperation continues as they choose paths through the maze-like rifts.

A scraping sound—rock or carapace on stone—echoes closer. Kaladin douses their light, then, as the noise approaches the next turn, he lifts it and they sprint away, fleeing the unseen chasm threat in the darkness.