Szeth, Kaladin, and Syl arrive at Talmut's ridge and find the military encampment deserted. As they search, Szeth explains Shin beliefs about stone, creation, and the shame attached to soldiers, which makes Kaladin more critical of how Shin society preserves peace by isolating violence. Their search leads them to a barracks full of frightened civilians hiding in darkness.

The civilians speak as if the soil itself will swallow them, work fields only at night, and say the soldiers all went north after hearing a mysterious voice. Szeth concludes that an Unmade is influencing Shinovar, much as Unmade have warped other cities. He bitterly says that perhaps Shinovar deserves punishment for rejecting his warning, but Kaladin argues that ordinary people should not die for decisions made by leaders, forcing Szeth to reconsider how justice should be applied.

On the climb to the monastery, Szeth reveals the Shin Sacred Truth: the Heralds had not truly ended the threat forever, and the Shin were meant to guard the Honorblades and stand ready when the enemy returned after Taln broke. That duty was abandoned when the Desolation actually came, which is why Szeth believes his people failed. Inside the open monastery, he meets Rit-daughter-Clutio, one of the shamans who declared him Truthless. Rit is waiting for him with Talmut's Honorblade and tells him that Taln broke, that Szeth still must cleanse the stain of losing his own Honorblade, and that he must now prove himself. Accepting that this confrontation is part of his quest, Szeth hands Nightblood to Kaladin and prepares to face her alone.

In Azimir, the battle around the Oathgate control building escalates faster than Adolin expected. Azish crossbow fire is answered by stormform lightning, direforms slam into the infantry line, and fresh enemy platoons begin pouring through the building. Realizing the Azish will soon break at a single pressure point, Adolin orders messages to his support units, leaps from a balcony in Shardplate, and charges straight into the breach.

Adolin's intervention stops the collapse. Fighting with Maya and using the speed and protection of Plate, he kills multiple direforms, distracts the enemy from the withdrawing Azish, and gives both his own men and the Azish time to reform a wider defensive ring. Maya spots three Heavenly Ones, May's archers drive them off, and Colot arrives with Adolin's support squad to protect his flanks while coordinated tactics and flaming oil send several Fused reeling. Adolin then kills a stealthy Heavenly One, but the enemy immediately surges again and a familiar white-faced Fused from Shadesmar appears, revealing that it has come to the battlefield seeking revenge on him personally.