7. Open Flame
Contains spoilersOverview
Assassins board the Wind’s Pleasure, murder Jasnah, and capture the crew. Driven to act alone, Shallan draws Stormlight, creates an illusion to distract the attackers, then enters Shadesmar to persuade the ship to change. She Soulcasts the hull into water, sinking the vessel to create chaos, but is pulled into the depths.
Summary
Shallan awakens to smoke and finds armed men with torches outside her cabin on the Wind’s Pleasure. She watches in horror as attackers stab Jasnah in her own cabin, then slam against Shallan’s door. Panicking, Shallan draws in Stormlight and, urged by Pattern, releases a glowing illusion that lures the men away.
Venturing into the corridor, Shallan hears chaos above and learns from Pattern that the sailors have been captured and at least one executed. She slips into Jasnah’s ransacked cabin, discovers the hidden spheres, and realizes the assassins are methodically killing the crew. With no other option, Shallan decides to create chaos by sinking the ship.
Drawing abundant Stormlight, Shallan enters Shadesmar with Pattern’s help. There, she identifies the Wind’s Pleasure as a bead embodying the ship’s mind. Through Pattern’s translation, she pleads with the ship to change, arguing that doing so offers the crew their only chance. After hesitation and another life extinguished above, the ship consents: “I will change.”
Stormlight rips from Shallan as she returns to the Physical Realm. The cabin transforms as the ship’s wood becomes water; the hull liquefies and the vessel begins to sink. Surrounded by darkness and debris, Shallan is plunged into the sea, her dress hindering her as she struggles to find the surface.
As the chaos she sought unfolds above, something in the black water coils around Shallan and drags her deeper, leaving her fate uncertain.
Who Appears
- Shallan Davar
Protagonist; panics, draws Stormlight, creates an illusion, enters Shadesmar, persuades the ship, Soulcasts the hull, then is dragged underwater.
- Pattern
Cryptic spren; urges action, guides Shallan to use Light, intercedes in Shadesmar, translating the Wind’s Pleasure’s will.
- Assassins aboard the Wind’s Pleasure
Armed men with torches; murder Jasnah, capture the crew, execute sailors, and pursue Shallan’s decoy.
- Jasnah Kholin
Scholar and mentor; assassins stab her in her cabin, leaving Shallan to act alone.
- Wind’s Pleasure
The ship’s Cognitive mind; resists, then agrees to change, enabling Shallan to Soulcast the hull into water.
- Tozbek
Captain of Wind’s Pleasure; heard pleading for his wife as executions begin; loses his ship.
- Sailors of the Wind’s Pleasure
Crew captured and bound; some executed before Shallan sinks the ship.