An epigraph notes exotic offworld artifacts, including a chain from the lands of the dead, prized though the writer cannot leave the Rosharan system. On the Emul front, Jasnah—determined to understand war firsthand—joins the infantry advance in Shardplate, masking her identity and conserving Stormlight.

Facing disciplined singer formations and hidden Regals, Jasnah initially refuses to use Soulcasting, wishing to feel a common soldier’s burden. She duels a Magnified One Fused, is immobilized by grown carapace, and survives pikes thrust through her faceplate as Stormlight heals her. Pressed and surrounded, she finally commands the air to become oil, ignites it, and uses Ivory to strike the Fused’s gemheart, collapsing the local enemy line.

She fights on relentlessly, even as a dead Windrunner is dropped nearby by a Heavenly One. An Edgedancer provides Stormlight and orders her to withdraw before her presence costs more lives. In the rear, Wit tends her, counseling that there are no fair fights and urging her to use every advantage as warfare evolves toward individuals capable of mass destruction.

After hours more fighting, night falls on a battered field. The Mink reports the enemy core broken but warns more large battles may be needed. In her tent, Wit—unnerved—reveals a pen-shaped cremling infiltrated his protections, likely a Sleepless spy. Assuming compromise, he says some Sleepless back the Ghostbloods and resolves to tell Jasnah about Thaidakar and the organization’s cosmere-spanning threat.