On watch near the chasms, Teft and Sigzil wait for Kaladin’s return before an impending highstorm. Pressed by Sigzil, Teft confesses his childhood in the Envisagers, a cult that endangered members to provoke Radiant powers; he turned them in, leading to executions, including witnessing his father’s hanging. Dalinar arrives with attendants, Renarin, and Bridge Four guards Drehy and Skar, orders the men to care for themselves and avoid storm risk, and—despite their faith—states he believes Kaladin is dead.

Deep in the chasms, Kaladin fails to navigate accurately and cannot rouse Syl or draw Stormlight. Shallan sketches their path with startling, aerial precision and circles plateaus to verify shapes, noting mirrored repetitions that conflict with known maps.

Kaladin mentions a dream of the Plains’ symmetry; Shallan recognizes a cymatic pattern, concluding the Shattered Plains once held a central city and that an Oathgate lies at the heart. Urgency mounting, she takes the lead as they race time, pause for mapping updates, and try calling to scouts without success. Kaladin’s bond remains silent, and the two trade banter to manage dread before sharing stark confessions of inner brokenness that deepen their mutual understanding.

Their levity ends when a chasmfiend charges. Kaladin drags Shallan into a narrow fissure, where the beast claws and then waits outside, turning the crevice into a trap as the highstorm nears.

Accepting they cannot outwait both monster and flood, Kaladin decides to draw the chasmfiend away so Shallan can escape, discarding his lantern spheres and asking her to relay his apology to Adolin. As he prepares to step out, Shallan halts him by summoning a Shardblade, revealing power of her own.