Kaladin dreams he is the storm and confronts the Stormfather, who mournfully claims Kaladin will betray Syl and warns that a hateful presence is coming, heralded by a second, red lightning storm. Kaladin wakes in the king’s chamber after the highstorm’s peak and, sensing imminent danger, steps onto the balcony. Syl urgently confirms that “the one who hates” is watching, prompting Kaladin to order an immediate evacuation.

Kaladin rouses Dalinar, Navani, Elhokar, Adolin, and Renarin, asserting they must flee through the kitchens. He assigns Bridge Four and a King’s Guard to positions: scouts ahead, rear guard, and close protection for the king. As they descend into the palace’s interior, they find the corridor spheres drained and a hole sliced through the outer wall. One of the scouts, Beld, lies dead at a junction.

The Assassin in White appears, glowing with Stormlight and bearing a Shardblade. Dalinar orders Renarin to protect the king and leads a coordinated attack with Adolin and Kaladin in a trident formation. The assassin defies gravity, runs along wall and ceiling, batters Dalinar aside, and flings Adolin onto the ceiling, where Adolin later falls stunned as his Light fades.

Kaladin channels Stormlight and presses the assassin with precise spearwork, wounding him, but runs low on Light. The assassin abruptly outpaces Kaladin’s anticipation, shearing through Kaladin’s spear and deadening his right forearm with the Shardblade. As Kaladin falls aside in agony, Syl insists the killer is not a Radiant and that no spren guides him. The assassin declares Dalinar is his true target and advances.

Dalinar rises to bar the way. When the assassin delivers a killing sweep, Dalinar catches the Shardblade between his palms, shocking the attacker. Seizing the moment, Kaladin body-checks the assassin; both tumble through the breached wall into the open night. Elsewhere during the storm, Shallan shelters with her slaves as Pattern whimpers “bad… so bad,” sensing the impending calamity.