In Iri, Dyel helps in her family shop while unusual visitors fill the streets after the return of the red-eyed "Owners." Three strange men sit in the shop claiming to be from the East, but Dyel notices their odd accents and clothing. When the quiet man, Demoux, tips her with a broam and asks whether she has seen unexplained moving lights, Dyel realizes he is asking about Uma, the spren who appeared after her grandfather Ym was murdered. Terrified that the killer has returned, Dyel hides in the back room with a knife.

The three men follow, and Dyel's mother rushes in and summons a Shardblade to defend her daughter. Dyel's mother believes the tall man is the same Makabaki-looking killer who murdered Ym and other people, and she reveals that she has been investigating those deaths. The confrontation eases only when the visitors deny being the murderer, identify the real killer as the Herald Nale, and Uma herself appears to confirm that the tall man is not Nale. The strangers explain that they are scholars interested in spren, though Demoux's blunt wording keeps alarming everyone.

Once the immediate danger passes, Dyel's mother reveals that she was given a letter for these men by a mysterious woman who had visited earlier. Baon opens it and finds only a signature and a vulgar drawing, which convinces the men that it came from the "Trickster Aspect," a dangerous but chaotic figure who has also been in Iri. As they prepare to leave, Baon warns that the city may soon become chaotic. Dyel remains shaken, because the warning means Nale could still come later.

Almost immediately, shouting rises outside. Dyel and her mother climb to the roof and see Cusicesh rise from the bay at the wrong time of day. Instead of behaving as usual, the great spren spreads its hands and opens a radiant gateway over the water. Cusicesh then speaks for the first time and announces that it will guide the Iriali on the Fifth Journey. Dyel's mother realizes this means the Long Trail is resuming and orders Dyel to fetch their travel packs.

Mother, Dyel, and Uma hurry to the boats with the rest of their people and pass through the gateway into the land of shadows, where caravans are already being assembled and other portals have opened across Iri. Dyel sees the three strangers again among the confusion while her mother tries to secure them a place in the migration. Overwhelmed by how suddenly her life has ended in the city, Dyel understands that the Iriali are leaving Roshar forever, and she quietly says goodbye to the world she knew.