Chapter 50
I-5. Lift
Overview
Lift steals food from the tower's stores and retreats to her hidden nest, where she confronts her growing anxiety about puberty and her failed request to the Nightwatcher to remain unchanged. When strange disturbances ripple through Urithiru—Radiants collapsing, Lift's powers becoming unstable—she rescues a wounded red chicken being hunted by a green one, only to discover the red chicken leading her to a murdered Alethi official and a dangerous scarred man in Alethi uniform who claims to have been hunting her.
Summary
Lift hangs from the tower's ceiling to steal a basket of food, retrieving it with ease despite her growing awareness that the thrill of theft has faded. She retreats to her hidden nest in the ventilation shafts with her spren companion Wyndle, where she unpacks flatbread, curry, and jam she suspects were deliberately left by a Horneater boy named Gift. While eating, she measures her height against chalk marks on the wall and reveals to Wyndle that she asked the Nightwatcher—or possibly Cultivation herself—to prevent her from growing up and changing. Wyndle theorizes that her request was too vague and that Cultivation, unlike the Nightwatcher, is capable of misinterpretation. Lift struggles with the reality that her body is changing despite her wishes, fearing she will become unrecognizable to her dead mother. As she processes this, Wyndle senses a sudden wrongness in the tower and detects that the tower's dead spren has stirred. Lift discovers her Stormlight-based powers are malfunctioning—she cannot become "awesome" (slick with Light) but healing still works. From a balcony she witnesses flying chickens being hunted in the sky, rescues a wounded red-feathered chicken from a green predator, and carries it into the tower's interior. The chicken leads her through corridors to a corpse: an elderly Alethi official she recognizes, killed by knife wound. The chicken mourns the body, chirping in almost-words. As Lift grieves for the dead man, a tall scarred man in Alethi uniform emerges from the darkness with the green chicken perched on his shoulder. He announces that he has been hunting Lift, then laughs as she flees with the red chicken.
Characters
- LiftThe protagonist; a young Radiant and accomplished thief navigating her anxiety about bodily development and her failed boon from the Nightwatcher, who discovers her powers are malfunctioning and rescues a wounded red chicken before encountering a mysterious hunter.
- WyndleLift's spren companion; a cultivationspren who provides comic relief while offering wisdom, senses wrongness in the tower, and cannot transform into weapons due to interference.
- GiftA Horneater boy who leaves food out on the assumption that Lift will steal it, though he never directly appears in the chapter.
- The scarred manA tall, dangerous figure in Alethi uniform with shadowed eyes who appears at the chapter's end with the green chicken perched on him, announcing his intent to hunt Lift.
- The old Alethi officialA deceased minor functionary found murdered in a tower corridor; recognized by Lift and mourned by the red chicken, suggesting a prior connection.