13: TEN HEARTBEATS

During a chasmfiend hunt on the plateaus, a massive beast unexpectedly attacks the royal party, killing soldiers and attendants. King elhokar pursues the creature recklessly despite his uncle dalinar's caution, leading to a desperate battle where dalinar makes a heroic stand to protect the king, catching the creature's claw with his bare hands while his plate cracks under the strain.

The chapter opens with dalinar summoning his shardblade oathbringer in ten heartbeats as a massive chasmfiend emerges onto the plateau during what should be a controlled hunt. The creature immediately kills soldiers and consumes a chull. King elhokar and dalinar charge on horseback with their shardblades drawn, attempting to weaken the beast by severing its legs. Despite dalinar's attempts to keep him safe and focused on strategy, elhokar charges recklessly at the creature's chest, ignoring orders to target the legs. When elhokar's saddle girth breaks from a sharp turn, he is thrown to the ground and his shardblade vanishes. As a claw descends toward the fallen king, sadeas fires enormous arrows from his grandbow to distract the beast. When adolin is knocked unconscious by a claw strike and the chasmfiend prepares to crush elhokar, dalinar experiences a sudden change in resolve—his reservations about his brother gavilar's death vanish, and he charges forward with supernatural speed and grace. He catches the descending claw with his bare hands, holding back the creature's enormous weight while his plate cracks under the strain. This display inspires adolin to recover and sever another leg, causing the beast to collapse under its own weight. With the chasmfiend fallen, elhokar delivers the killing blow and retrieves the gemheart—an enormous emerald worth a fortune.