After leaving Testament to rest, Shallan walks with Pattern and explains that Veil is not gone but has been folded back into Shallan instead of taking control. That conversation leads Shallan to reflect on the memories she is beginning to recover: as a child, she bonded Testament, her mother reacted violently, and Shallan killed her mother in self-defense with an early Shardblade manifestation of Testament. Shallan also realizes that she had always known, at some buried level, that her original Shardblade was Testament, which deepens both her guilt and her determination to heal.

Shallan and Pattern join Adolin, Maya, and Kelek, who are speaking to a seon carrying Wit’s voice. Wit confirms that the contest of champions has been formally set for nine days from now at Urithiru, which means the war is about to intensify and Windrunners will soon retrieve them. Shallan also asks about her brothers and the Ghostbloods, and Wit reassures her that her family is safe for now while warning that the Ghostbloods will strike because Shallan now knows too much and has openly broken with them.

As the conversation continues, Shallan admits that she fears the part of herself that could become Formless and that she sees a pattern in her life of killing those who mentored her, including her parents, Tyn, and perhaps eventually Mraize. Wit tells Shallan that the capacity to do terrible things is what gives moral choice meaning, so turning away from that path is itself heroism. Before ending the call, Wit adds one more important clue: the Ghostbloods want something extremely valuable, and the key to it is standing beside Shallan.

Taking that hint, Shallan questions Kelek about Ba-Ado-Mishram. Kelek reluctantly reveals that he was present when ancient Radiants captured the Unmade inside a flawless heliodor and that Melishi hid the gemstone in the Spiritual Realm rather than in the Physical Realm or Shadesmar. Because Kelek believes this knowledge is why the Ghostbloods want him, the confession only increases his panic, and he flees before offering more.

After Kelek leaves, Shallan, Adolin, Maya, and Pattern consider what the revelation means. Pattern and Maya support the growing theory that Ba-Ado-Mishram’s imprisonment damaged the bond between humans, spren, and Honor and may be the reason deadeyes exist. Even after Pattern describes the Spiritual Realm as a nearly incomprehensible place of warped time, distance, and Connection, Shallan decides they must find Ba-Ado-Mishram’s prison before Mraize does and learn how it affects broken bonds; Pattern agrees, while dryly retracting his earlier confidence that Shallan would not get him killed.