41. On the Ground Looking Up

Teft wakes in an alleyway after a night-long binge on firemoss, struggling with his addiction while navigating shame and self-loathing. Kaladin and Rock discover him in a moss den, retrieve him, and bring him back to the barracks, where Teft faces the grim reality of withdrawal and the pain of his dependency.

Teft awakens in the Breakaway market's alleyway, physically deteriorating and mentally tormented by his need for firemoss. He drinks from the well but cannot keep the water down, witnessing Sadeas's soldiers assert dominance over other troops. At the well, he sees a vision of a glowing woman—a spren—who speaks to him about oaths he has broken. Teft makes his way to a nameless moss den, where he consumes three bowls of firemoss to numb himself from memories of his past sins, including betraying his family as heretics and failing to live up to the Bridge Four symbol. His high is interrupted by Kaladin and Rock, who arrive with harsh light and remove him forcibly from the den, paying his debt. Teft admits to selling his coat for moss money. Back in the barracks, alone in a private room with Rock's stew, Teft confronts the reality that he will face days of withdrawal without access to the drug that keeps his self-loathing at bay. He reflects that his only period of freedom from moss addiction came during his months in the bridge crews, but he knows he will inevitably return to it. The chapter ends with Teft terrified at the prospect of facing the coming days without the drug's numbing effects.