95. Inescapable Void

Kaladin and his group continue their journey through Shadesmar toward a distant lighthouse, their only path forward along a narrow peninsula. Kaladin struggles with mounting depression and anger, drawing dangerous angerspren toward them, while Syl opens up about her past as an honorspren and her sacrifice to bond with Kaladin.

The group hikes southward through Shadesmar along an obsidian peninsula that overlays a river in the Physical Realm. Angerspren pursue them, drawn by Kaladin's simmering frustration about abandoning Kholinar. Though Kaladin initially tries to blame his emotions on circumstance, he realizes he's feeding into a destructive pattern—his tendency toward darkness and numbness that has plagued him since Kholinar's fall. He recognizes the irrationality of his anger toward Adolin and others, but struggles to control his oscillation between painful hypervigilance and the numbness of depression. Azure reveals there are lighthouses at the ends of these peninsulas where they might find supplies and catch a ship. The group settles into a routine of hiking and camping over several days. The sun never changes position; the sky beyond the clouds shows only blackness. The landscape features small, delicate plants in black or stained-glass colors. During the hike, Kaladin asks Syl about her past. She reveals she was born as an honorspren in a grand western city, bonded to an elderly Knight Radiant who died in battle. His death devastated her severely, causing her to lose herself. She survived the Recreance because she had no bond at that time. The Stormfather found her sleeping and brought her home, then kept her confined to the city for over a thousand years. She eventually snuck away and gave up her mind to join the Physical Realm as a windspren to answer Kaladin's calling. As they continue, Syl spots a bright yellow lighthouse glowing in the distance, a sign of progress toward their goal.