Chapter 110

Adolin awakens to find his right leg amputated below the knee after being crushed by a thunderclast. Despite his injury, he insists on returning to the fighting to command the defense. The city has suffered massive casualties, but a mysterious force has slaughtered dozens of Fused near the dome's breach—revealed to be Taln and Ash, who died fighting together. Meanwhile, Dalinar experiences a vision of the False Desolation era, witnessing peace negotiations between Radiants and singer forces led by Garith, then discovers Garith meeting secretly with the enemy direform Femalen, suggesting hidden allegiances or betrayal.

Adolin regains consciousness lying among the wreckage of the thunderclast, only to learn from May and the Truthwatcher Rahel that his right leg has been crushed beyond saving and amputated below the knee. Though devastated, Adolin recognizes he must focus on the battle and commands assistance to stand and rejoin the fighting. He and his remaining soldiers, supported by Hmask, move toward the dome's breach to assess the situation.

At the medical quarter, they discover a massive field of corpses—hundreds of singers and dozens of dead Fused—scattered across the plaza near the broken dome. Yanagawn and his imperial honor guard arrived earlier but found the carnage already complete. Kushkam is located alive among the bodies, having been gravely wounded. As they investigate, Adolin observes eight varieties of dead Fused with crushed gemhearts, far too many elite enemies to have been killed by any known Radiant or Shardbearer currently present.

Climbing the pile of corpses to the breach, Adolin discovers two bodies: Taln, the Herald, pierced with lances and still gripping a crushed Fused skull, and Ash leaning against him, bloodied and chipped but smiling. She whispers "This time, I won't let him go alone" before closing her eyes and falling still. The firebombs deployed by Kushkam forced the singers to retreat back through the Oathgate, buying the city another day at terrible cost.

In a parallel vision, Dalinar witnesses a peace negotiation between human Radiants and Regal singers during the False Desolation. The singer leader, the direform femalen, demands extensive farmland including regions where humans live. Garith, identified as a Windrunner and apparent human leader, resists and promises breakthrough in negotiations. After the singers withdraw, Melishi the Bondsmith reveals that Garith is a traitor meeting secretly with the enemy that very night. Dalinar accompanies Melishi and others to spy on the meeting. When Dalinar empathizes too strongly with Garith's position, he accidentally shifts into Garith's place in the vision. As Windrunners await reinforcements, the direform femalen emerges from the shadows and approaches Dalinar (now in Garith's body), her manner softening as she takes his head in her hands and kisses him, suggesting a hidden romantic or intimate connection.