I-1. Sylphrena

Interlude I-1. Sylphrena experiences the approaching highstorm with characteristic childlike wonder while contemplating how to better help Kaladin with his struggles. She encounters the Stormfather during the storm's height and later seeks Dalinar's counsel on deepening her bond with Kaladin.

Sylphrena zips through Urithiru in the early morning, delighting in seeing Cord preparing food and leaving an offering. She reflects on her dual nature—a responsible brain devoted to important matters and a childish brain fascinated by the world's details. Sensing the incoming highstorm, she flies through the tower searching for Kaladin's window, worried that his new assignment as a surgeon won't solve his deeper struggles with his dark mind. When the highstorm arrives, Sylphrena joins the windspren in celebration, soaring and dancing through the cataclysm. During a moment when the Stormfather warps time around her, she asks him to make her feel Kaladin's darkness so she can understand and help him better. The Stormfather refuses, saying he has the power but not the ability, and warns her that spren who become consumed by Radiant needs are in danger. After the storm passes and snow falls, Sylphrena visits Dalinar on his balcony. She asks if he can use his Bondsmith powers to deepen her connection to Kaladin so she might feel what he feels. Dalinar declines, explaining it would not be right, and advises that she can help Kaladin without perfect understanding by being available during his darkest moments. Sylphrena recalls her previous knight, Relador, who died in battle, and how that loss caused her to drift into darkness. Dalinar suggests Kaladin experiences something similar, though without a specific cause. Realizing she might already understand Kaladin's struggle from her own past darkness, Syl thanks Dalinar and decides to draw on her own experience of despair.