29. No Backing Down

Veil hunts a murderous spren through the Breakaway market by setting a trap, but the creature leads her deep into the tower's hidden depths. After discovering an ancient chamber with murals and ruined libraries, Shallan and a contingent of Bridge Four soldiers confront Re-Shephir, the Midnight Mother—one of the Unmade—a massive spren that mimics people and attempts to overwhelm them with tar-like creatures.

Veil conducts surveillance in the market, convinced that a predatory spren will strike again. After three nights of fruitless searching, the creature finally kills someone by hanging them from a tower, mirroring an execution rather than repeating an earlier bottle attack. Veil pursues the killer through the market and into tunnels, eventually chasing it to a hidden chamber containing a deep pit. She calls for Adolin and summons soldiers. Shallan then reveals herself in her true form and descends with Adolin, Renarin, and Bridge Four soldiers. The group explores ancient chambers beneath the tower, discovering elaborate Herald mosaics and two sealed library rooms filled with decayed books—a loss that devastates Shallan. Renarin senses something ancient and wrongful deeper in the corridors. When they advance, they encounter Re-Shephir, one of the Unmade, a massive entity that manifests as tar-like darkness capable of forming humanoid creatures. The spren creates copies of people the soldiers know, but its imitations are imperfect and unsettling. Shallan realizes the creature has been watching her and that she shares a mysterious connection with it. Using her powers of Illumination, she creates glowing illusions of people from her collected memories, driving back the darkness and protecting the soldiers. As they advance toward the pillar at the chamber's center, which the creature has wrapped itself around, Shallan presses her ungloved safehand directly against the mass of tar.