14. Squires Can’t Capture

Kaladin infiltrates a Voidbringer camp during the rains and discovers the creatures are not the fearsome destroyers he expected, but rather parshmen who speak Alethi fluently, wear slave clothing, and struggle with simple card games. When spotted by a glowing yellow creature, Kaladin chooses to surrender rather than fight the poorly armed, untrained parshmen.

Kaladin sneaks through the rain to observe a Voidbringer encampment, finding their security lax with only a single guard. He positions himself in the bushes at the camp's edge and watches the creatures playing cards under makeshift shelters. To his shock, the parshmen speak perfect Alethi with no accent and appear different from what he expected—they have marbled white and red skin, wear slave smocks, and lack the red eyes and powerful forms he anticipated. Two parshmen play cards, with one lamenting his inability to remember the rules despite watching soldiers play many times as a servant. The camp contains stolen grain that is swelling and rotting in the wet conditions, and the parshmen eat it plain with their hands. Kaladin realizes the Voidbringers are not the terrifying destroyers he and Bridge Four feared. A glowing yellow ribbon-like creature suddenly alerts the camp to Kaladin's presence, and the parshmen grab crude weapons fashioned from branches and broom handles. Kaladin observes they hold these weapons with no martial skill or stance, appearing as frightened as untrained villagers. Despite being capable of defeating them easily, Kaladin surrenders rather than fight.