When Iyatil exposes Shallan’s disguise, Shallan triggers her hidden spanreed alarm, then chooses not to flee. Embracing Radiant fully, Shallan summons Plate, Pattern as a sword, and Testament as a shield, deciding she is no longer the terrified child who once killed by accident. In the main chamber, the Ghostbloods react with disciplined coordination rather than panic, and Iyatil quickly arms herself with a ballista bolt charged with anti-Stormlight because ordinary attacks would be ineffective against a Knight Radiant.

Shallan realizes the Ghostbloods have a second exit and cannot simply be contained, so Shallan steps forward to delay them until her allies arrive. Shallan dismisses Pattern and Testament to protect them from the anti-Light weapon, then tries to hold Mraize and Iyatil in place by revealing that Shallan has seen Ba-Ado-Mishram and warning that Mishram will destroy them. Mraize calls Shallan an obstacle rather than an enemy, and when Iyatil fires, Shallan dives, spends her remaining Stormlight on decoys, and deliberately drops her armor so anti-Light will not meet active Stormlight. The bolt strikes Shallan, wounding her and flooding her body with a cold, unnatural opposite Light that Shallan refuses to draw in or heal around.

As Iyatil moves in with a knife, reinforcements finally arrive. Erinor and a group of Windrunners break through the ceiling with Stoneward powers, cutting off the Ghostbloods from finishing Shallan. Faced with the new threat, Mraize, Iyatil, and Lieke escape through a black-violet distortion, leaving Shallan alive but injured and proving both the danger and mobility of the Ghostblood operation.

Elsewhere, the point of view shifts to Kaladin and Szeth traveling through the forests and down toward Shinovar. Szeth shares only fragments of a personal story before shutting down again, and Kaladin listens in hopes of drawing him out. When they reach an overlook, Kaladin is struck by how alien Shinovar feels: deep soil, dense grass, solitary trees, and exposed buildings all make the land seem rich, vulnerable, and fundamentally unlike the rest of Roshar.

Szeth, however, focuses on something darker. Szeth points out an unnatural patch of shadow around a nearby monastery, explains that Shinovar keeps the Honorblades at monasteries tied to the Radiant orders, and identifies this one as Taln’s. The darkness reminds Kaladin of an Unmade’s influence in Kholinar, suggesting their hunt is nearing one of its targets. Because night is approaching and the threat may be an Unmade, Kaladin chooses to camp and investigate in the morning; Kaladin also insists on making a cookfire, hoping the pause and routine will help Szeth finally open up.