16. An Unknown Song

Kaladin is formally retired from active Windrunner command, with Sigzil and Skar promoted to leadership roles. Seeking purpose and wisdom, he visits Zahel at the washing grounds, where the mysterious swordmaster reveals himself as a Type Two Invested entity—a dead man whose soul was preserved and reanimated with divine power—and refuses Kaladin entry to the ardents, deeming him unsuited for a life of routine training.

Days after the Hearthstone mission, Kaladin's anxiety subsides and Dalinar gently pushes him to formalize his transition out of active duty. At a command staff announcement, Kaladin steps down as Windrunner leader, promoting Sigzil to companylord for administrative duties and arranging for Skar to take over field operations upon his return. Kaladin then walks the tower's outer platforms, observing Navani's agricultural experiment where gemstone light, music, and lifespren combine to grow crops—a technique developed with Rlain's help. When Kaladin offers Rlain an honorspren named Yunfah as a bonding partner, Rlain declines, refusing to accept a spren who was coerced into the arrangement, insisting he wants a bond freely chosen based on his own merit. Kaladin then seeks out Zahel at the drying grounds. The swordmaster engages him in an elaborate combat test amid sheets and scarves, using unconventional cloth-based tactics that leave Kaladin defeated and bewildered. Zahel refuses Kaladin entry to the ardents, explaining that Kaladin's passion for fighting would make monastic life unbearable and that he would eventually abandon it. In a shocking revelation, Zahel discloses his true nature: he is a Type Two Invested entity, a dead man whose soul was preserved in power and reimprinted onto a new body. He explains the mechanics of invested souls, mentions that the Fused are similar entities fed by Odium's power, and warns that defeating them requires weapons that can unravel souls. He cryptically references a female entity who takes memories from the long-lived among his kind. Zahel advises Kaladin to return when he truly hates fighting.