There are five days remaining before the contest of champions.

This chapter focuses on a Parshendi woman named Venli. (She was first introduced in Words of Radiance, the second book of the Stormlight Archive series.) She wields Surgebinding powers and is bonded to two spren. She and a group of Parshendi have severed ties with Odium’s forces and are now sheltering “renegade Fused” (533). Their group has forged a bond with the widely feared, massive carnivorous creatures called chasmfiends.

Navani uses the anchor of Shalash’s hair ribbon to guide herself and Dalinar to the next vision. In this vision, the leaders who will eventually become the Heralds debate their options. They have been on Roshar for 50 years, and war is brewing with the Parshendi.

Dalinar follows a gut instinct to pull on a thread of Stormlight and is shocked to find Gavinor.

Sigzil’s strategy works; the enemy forces focus their attacks on Narak Four, diverting their energy from other crucial locations. Despite this success, Sigzil realizes that his troops will not have enough Stormlight to continue fighting at the same level of intensity for long.

Venli and her group of dissenting Parshendi discuss what their departure from Odium’s forces may mean.