Map of Eastern Makabak

Navani negotiates with Raboniel in the occupied tower, strategically sharing knowledge of flying machine schematics while concealing her full plans. Meanwhile, Kaladin awakens in darkness after his escape, plagued by horrific nightmares, and discovers a secret door activated by a mysterious gemstone—possibly connected to a legendary spren called the Sibling.

Navani presents herself clean and composed to Raboniel despite having no servants. In the library, she begins a careful intellectual exchange with the Fused commander, initially refusing to reveal the flying platform schematics but ultimately deciding disclosure is inevitable. During their discussion, Navani makes a crucial deduction: Soulcasters are not devices containing spren but are themselves manifested spren, similar to Shardblades. Raboniel confirms this and shares that Voidspren are less willing to manifest than spren of Honor or Cultivation. Navani sketches the mechanism of conjoined fabrials and explains how aluminum wires allow lateral movement by interfering with Connection. She learns that Raboniel's weapons can drain Stormlight from impaled Radiants but cannot prevent new bondings. Raboniel suggests the war will end through shared knowledge and improved lives under singer rule—a proposition Navani privately rejects, recognizing the coercion behind any "sharing." Navani then checks on her scholars, finding several killed including Neshan and Ardent Vevanara. She learns from Rushu that a strange explosion in the crystal pillar room destroyed everything, including a mysterious Voidlight sphere that Navani had feared losing. Kaladin wakes in a dark enclosure, disoriented and plagued by a nightmare in which his friends die by his own hand and Moash urges him toward the void. He realizes he has trapped himself and the comatose Teft in darkness. Syl arrives through a vent, reporting that guards are not actively searching for him. She reveals that the tower may house a legendary Sibling—a third Bondsmith's spren who remained hidden and is possibly responsible for the tower's malfunctions. Kaladin discovers a gemstone in the wall that activates a secret door and still contains Stormlight. He resolves to scout for supplies with Syl's help while avoiding immediate questions about the larger strategic situation.