He, Uatu - his Hand and Eye. The Eye of the Enemy is here. The old deceiver, one that your kin once called Mairon.

"How many of them?"

"About a hundred Singers, sir." Kaladin said. Dalinar narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Kaladin then pointed at Lyn and Dabbid, who were both wrapped up in bandages. Lyn was barely able to lift up her hand. Dabbid was not even bothering - his wounds were so severe Kaladin knew that a single move could leave him paralyzed. "They went through this to give us that information."

Dalinar sighed, then touched Lyn on her shoulder. "How are you going?"

She tsked. "We...we will see, Brightlord. But I can..." She hissed in pain, reaching for her arm. Dalinar winced, but she gently pushed his hand. "Stormlight will heal me soon, I know. But..." She looked over to Dabbid. He did not have the gift. He needed to be treated in the old way. Kaladin touched his arm. "Sir, I ask the permission to stay with him, at least until I know he is safe."

Dalinar winced. "Son, Lift can help, or Rlain. They just need to come after some..."

"I would still stay. Please." Whenever he left any of them, it all ended the same. Even if it was "certain" they will survive.

"Very well." Dalinar looked back at Lyn. "Is any of the Fused leading them?"

"Turash."

Dalinar cussed. That still amused Kaladin sometimes. Lighteyes were not so mannered as they made themselves out to be. "He did this to you?"

"No. He is too smart for that." Lyn smiled. "But...maybe we can negotiate with him. From what we gathered, he seems more sensible than other Fused."

"I know." Dalinar said. "He is Odium's chief commander - he led the Battle of Thaylen Field. And while he might not be as ruthless as the other Fused..." Dalinar frowned, remembering. "I think he is more loyal to him than the others."

"Still, isn't it worth we try?"

"And put more Radiants in danger?" Dalinar said. "We already have very little - we cannot lose any of you."

So we can lose Dabbid? Kaladin left that thought aside. Dalinar is not like that, he knew. It was proven to him many times. "So what do we do?"

"We will send a patrol again." Dalinar said. "If you come upon Turash, you will run. No contest - you will run."

"Yes, sir!" Kaladin stopped her from saying anything. Lyn just sighed, knowing she could not argue with them.

She pulled herself up, still hissing. "I can stand at least."

Dalinar took her by the right arm, leading her out. "Brightlord, there's no..."

"Hush. Let's go." He looked back at Kaladin. "You are staying?"

"Yes, sir."

Dabbid eventually fell asleep. Looking carefully at his wounds and taking water to wash it, Kaladin remembered how he almost died during those bridgeruns. His arm was in even worse state than it is now and, had the Rock and he not dragged him away from the battlefield, that would have been the end. Dabbid was lucky in ways others were not.

"Dabbid?"

His eyes looked at Kaladin. Dabbid opened his mouth, but, as usual, said nothing. He just looked away.

"I wish I could heal him."

"Oh, but Lift can." said Syl. "And Rlain, though...Oh." She looked down. "You meant..."

She looked at him too, showing herself to Dabbid. He just made a single glance, but still said nothing. All Dabbid did was nod or gesture, even on his best days. He never said anything.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine." He patted him on the shoulder, as careful as he could be. "I promise."

He was not the first person Kaladin had promised to protect and, if he does not, would not be the first that Kaladin failed.

He hissed at that, trying to send away those thoughts. This always happened when anyone of his men was hurt in the least. The wretch who carried the bridges as a slave over the chasms, seeing death and torture all around him. The man who decided to give up and stand over the chasm, who looked down at the darkness, wanting to die.

If I had jumped there into the chasm, none of this would have happened. He would have never become a Radiant and saved them all from death. He would not have given them hope and he would have never met Dalinar, Shallan or Adolin.

"Hey, stop!" Syl threw some light at her. "You will not be brooding while I'm here, Kaladin!"

He smiled. Whichever God it was that sent Syl to him on that day when he tried to jump off the cliff, he was thankful for her. If it was not for her, he would have done it.

The door opened. Lift was panting, holding her chest, cussing. "I am the one you should worry about, it seems!"

Kaladin blinked. "I'd rather worry about myself, at the moment. I am in the same room with you, after all."

She made a small chuckle. "Hilarious. Now, please move if you will, lord Kaladin."

He tsked. "Lord..."

"Well, you started first. Let's see..." Lift sat on the other side of bed, the bushy spren Wyndle appearing on her shoulder. Her eyes shined and Stormlight danced around her arm as she absorbed it from the sphere. Leaning a bit closer towards Dabbid, and she breathed it - the Lifelight, with its pale green tint, raced from her mouth to Dabbid's, entering him. He made a small, whimpering sound, before finally moving his hand.

"There." She cleaned her forehead, even though there was no sweating at all. "Ha! Now you owe me another, just so you know!"

Kaladin shook his head. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Dabbid straightened up, leaning against the wall behind his bed. He took a deep breath, grinning at Lift and nodding. She smiled. "Don't mention it."

Kaladin smiled too and wrapped his arms around him. Dabbid was alright.

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

Teft had paper, Mikey scissors.

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

Teft had the rock, Mikey paper. Lopen and Lunamor both chuckled, while Mikey's brothers and Stephen were curious.

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

Both papers. Teft started scratching his beard.

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

Both rocks.

"Rock, paper scissors!"

Again the same.

"Rock, paper scissors!"

Now Teft had paper, Mikey a rock. Mikey rubbed his neck, while Teft allowed himself to smile. "Ha! One point for me."

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

Teft had scissors, Mikey a rock. Everyone clapped and yelled, while Teft sighed.

"Yes! Show him, gancho!"

"Bah! Kelek! This is a stupid game!" Teft looked and pushed Mikey's arm. "You on..."

"Earth."

"Earth. You on earth are as dim-witted as an average lighteye."

Leo and Stephen raised their hands. "Alright, that's it! You guys talk about eye color all the time. What the heck does the color of my eyes have to do with anything?"

The Bridge Four members looked at each other. Teft raised his eyebrow. "You...haven't realized yet?"

"Nah."

"Well, have you seen any servants or beggars with blue or green eyes? Or have you seen any noble men or women with black or brown eyes?"

Stephen stared at them. "I...don't think I paid attention no."

Donnie smacked his own forehead. "Oh, I think I did. Let me guess - your class system is based on eye color, right?"

"Not on all of Roshar." said Lopen. "But in Vorin kingdoms like Alethkar? Yes."

The Five stared at them, without uttering a single sound. Even the Rock felt so uncomfortable he felt the need to walk away. Sigzil, who was not an Alethi, just chuckled at seeing all of this.

"That," Leo started. "is the single most non-sensical, idiotic and retarded crap I have ever heard in my life."

"Dude, really."

"What, you think we like it?" Teft said. "We are darkeyes, storm you!"

"Please," Donnie said. "don't tell me this has something to do with your religion."

The simple men scratched their beards, like Teft. "Well, I'm not a priest, so..."

"Yes." Sigzil said. "Yes, it does. It is said the Almighty made lighteyes to rule over the darkeyes. The way I understand it, it is because of the Radiants - our eyes shine when we absorb Stormlight, so that's where the entire system came from and remained for thousands of years while there were no Radiants." Sigzil sighed. "Ironic, since we are almost all Radiants and darkeyes."

"Look guys," Donnie said. "I may not be religious, but I do not hate any religion. In our world, there are many people who think it is completely useless and meaningless, but I disagree. I respect all religions and think they have huge importance." Donnie then rubbed his neck. "However, every religion has its own share of crap and that is definitely yours!"

Teft and other Alethi all narrowed their eyes and looked down. "You're mocking us, aren't you?"

"I mock idiocy when I see it, yes."

"Idiocy on a completely new level!" Stephen said. "You know what, this is so stupid that I will write it down." Stephen took out the small, blue notebook he carried with himself. It was mostly just a precious item for him, but in this instance it had purpose. "I will write this down as one of the most idiotic things I ever heard and show them others on my world."

Leo sighed. "You're a grown man. You're almost fifty!"

"Doesn't matter, this is worse than childish."

The Bridge Four members all sighed, looking away. Sigzil could not stifle his chuckle while holding his own pen. Stephen stopped as soon as he saw him chuckle, and he and Turtles looked confused at Bridge Four. "What...what is wrong now?"

"Ah, forget it." Teft scoffed. "Kal is right. You're from a different world."

"Yes." Drehy added. "It doesn't matter that you...ugh." He sighed. "Thank the Almighty Renarin is not here."

"What is wrong?" Stephen said.

Sigzil finally stopped. "You have noticed, aside from me and some priests, all scribes are women, haven't you?" The Five did not understand. Sigzil chuckled again. "In Vorin Kingdoms, it is considered unmanly to write or read. Only women are allowed to read and write. Whether poor or rich, noble or not, almost no men doesn't know how to read. Well, there are some symbols like glyphs, but real language, no. Only women can read and write."

Donnie raised his hands and defeat. "Reading and writing? Oh." Donnie shrugged. "Well, yeah, I guess it's nothing. Nothing except, you know...one of the most important way of communication."

"I can literally send urgent messages across the globe!" Stephen raised his notebook. "With a paper or a keyboard!"

"Really? Storms, I didn't think of that." Teft tried to laugh, but cynicism was stronger. "That is why almost all men have scribes wherever they go, genius."

"What does reading and writing," Raph almost yelled. "have to do with being a man or a woman? What the shell does being able to understand and make some symbols have to do with it?"

"We said we understand," Teft said. "that you come from a different world. So leave us be."

"Did you guys even think this through?" Stephen raised the notebook. "Do you even use your head? For fu..."

"Don't try to argue with them." Sigzil said, still writing. "They barely accepted me, and that is only because I choose to write glyphs - which is incredibly frustrating - instead of normal letters."

"Barely?" Teft repeated. "You are our clerk, storms!"

"Oh, take it easy." Sigzil waved away. "In short, Alethi are stubborn beyond every reason. You cannot convince them in anything."

Mikey was still chuckling. "Seriously...you humans are pure comedy."

Rlain raised his hand, making a Rhythm of Agreement.

"What?" was the only thing Stephen said together with Bridge Four. "I am not like them!"

"You humans do," Donnie started. "complicate relationships and hierarchy, often times without reason." He shrugged. "That is true."

"You guys have a problem," Raph said. "with people wearing this or that. Clothes are meant for warmth, shell, no one cares how they look!" He gritted his teeth. "No one normal does."

Drehy cussed. "Because we do not live just for the sake of surviving, that's why!"

Donnie's wide knowledge had some use now. "You think a mother or a father turtle just make the nest and then leave? You think a horse or a dog do not care about their little ones? Why do they protect them if they don't?"

"I don't know what a dog is," said Teft. "but I do know animals have no souls." He raised his hand up. "Whatever the four of you are, you are obviously different."

"Because we can talk?" Donnie said. "So a mute is also worthless? What about a toddler? Have you ever seen how a horse treats the master who is violent towards him? Have you seen birds caring for their young and making bonds between each other?"

Stephen tsked. "Guys, what are you trying to argue? The four of you were raised by a human. You guys have human genes in your body and you are almost identical in everything you do to a normal human. You just happen to look different..."

"I've tested us, Stephen." Donnie said. "We hold a little amount of human genome."

"Enough to make you almost exactly like us." The Rosharans all scratched their heads, shrugging to one another. "You are not just animals..."

"And if we were?" Leo said.

Stephen waved away. "I won't answer that..."

"It's weird, you know." Leo said. "Animals pass you all, right? You see one every day. In all religions I know, all made by humans, you guys are said by your gods to be our protectors. You are supposed to protect us and care for us according to your own religions and gods, and yet..." He looked over to the soldiers moving in the distance, while servants ran back and forth to fulfill all their needs. "You are always caught up in your own mess and rules that don't make a lot of sense, no?"

Stephen was surprised to see the Turtles talking this way. They were not yelling or arguing - they were not even overly sarcastic. Even Raph was calm.

"Hmm." Donnie said. "Maybe if you humans turned to us, you would be a bit calmer as a species. But that's just food for thought. I am a turtle, after all." The four of them shrugged. Stephen and the others looked back at Rlain, who made a Rhythm of Wonder as well. And all humans were left staring at each other, speechless.

"Three hundred?"

"That much, I think." Kaladin said. "Lyn's report. Initially she said just one, but now, we are having it worse."

Mikey and Donnie both gritted their teeth. "And...how dangerous can an entire army of the Singers be?"

"What you faced," Kaladin said. "outside of Urithiru when you arrived, only hundred times worse."

"Well, I guess I should have known that."

"What will we do first?" Adolin said. "Find their sorceress or follow the Singers?"

"Dalinar wants us to go on a patrol again." He said. "But if we come upon any of them, we must run back to Urithiru. But, whatever happens, I don't think she is far away."

Stephen and Leo nodded. "So you say we go with you?"

"It's the best option you have."

"True." Donnie sighed and looked at Shallan. "Well, I'll have to go with them. Whenever I'm not there, they bust into trouble."

Pattern flew towards Donnie. Shallan laughed at that, which was now the only thing he disliked about her. "Hmm...yes. That is a truth."

"What?" Stephen and other Turtles said in unison.

"No, he is not lying. When he is not there, the five of you are always in danger. Hmm...too bad, I love a good lie, but..." He flew back to Shallan.

"We absolutely can survive without you!" Raph said.

"Oh, please!" Donnie said. "You guys are all basically just bodyguards meant to protect me while I am the one fixing the problem."

Stephen did not have the will to protest and just looked away, while Raph... "That's gibberish!"

"Call it whatever you will."

"How about," Kaladin stood between two brothers, raising his hands. "we don't call each other anything."

"And you're a peacemaker or what?" Raph scoffed.

"Doesn't matter." he said. "But you are under my custody while in Urithiru, so you will be calm." Kaladin gritted his teeth while muttering something about Turtles.

"Well, we will go now." Adolin said, gathering his armor. "You should tell Bridge Four to..."

"No, not today." Kaladin said, to Adolin's shock.

"Huh? Kal, my father said..."

"That we should go to patrol, but he did not spexify when." he insisted. "My men are tired, Adolin. They need time to rest and heal."

Teft and Lopen both tsked. "Gancho, we have just been to a single patrol. Even Dabbid is fine, just..."

"We will go tomorrow." Kaladin said. "But today we stay in Urithiru." He placed a hand on Teft's shoulder. "The others all need rest, trust me."

"Kal," Teft said. "we'd follow you if we were on our own deathbed."

And I would hate that more than anything. "I know. And you will, but tomorrow. Now, take your time."

Teft would have scorned him, but... "Storm you! There, I said it." He chuckled. "As you wish."

"I'm not going to complain." said Donnie. "I need some rest too."

"Well, you Five can come with us, but I don't promise anything."

Kaladin, Shallan and Adolin stayed alone in the room discussing something with other officials while Teft and the Five left. As always, it still surprised Donnie how gigantic, yet practical, Urithiru was.

"How old is this building?"

"Do I look like a storming scholar to you?" Teft said. "A thousand years or something. Ask the Heralds, I don't know."

"Heralds." Leo repeated. "The...servants of your god?"

"Yes." Sigzil said. "Ten men and women Honor chose to lead the Radiants against Odium and his servants." He bit his lip. "Well, they did so, at least for some time."

What's that supposed to mean? Leo thought.

"What is this?" a royal voice said. Teft and the Brigemen with him all paused, paying respect to the pair in front of them. Stephen and Turtles held their breath looking at her. A woman, dressed in practical boots and a shirt, holding someone else's hand. Despite being dressed modestly, she herself was beyond that. She looked somewhat like queen Jasnah, even having the same purple eyes - only that she was darker than her and taller than everyone else in the corridor, including men. And more beautiful than Jasnah, not just by her appearance, but the impression she gave was more noble.

"I told Dalinar," she said. "that none of you should disturb us here."

Teft bowed his head. "I swear, Brightness Shalash, we were just passing by..."

"Swear all you want." she said with disgust. "Oaths mean nothing."

Then, beside her was a man, even darker than her. And, if this Shalash was the most beautiful woman Stephen had ever seen, this man was the largest. Built like the strongest soldier who ever walked on Earth, taller than everyone, including her. His black clothes only made him seem like an even greater oddity here. Stephen could imagine even Banner, at his most furious and strongest, to feel intimidated by this man. And yet, though stout and thick, as if he was made of stone, the man's eyes were calm like a lamb's. He was holding onto the woman like a child and muttering something they did not understand, but which made her worry.

Her eyes caught a glimpse of them and her frustration with others disappeared. "You..." Leo felt a shiver down his shell as she addressed them. "What..." She took a look at Stephen as well, but Turtles made her most curious. "What are you..."

"The visitors, Brightness." Teft intervened. "Visitors from the Outside. It's best we don't..."

"I know where you are from." she insisted. "From the Multiverse, are you not?"

They went pale, even Stephen. Mikey knew his legs started to shake. "You...you know about the Multiverse?"

"We all do." The man's eye had a twinkle of awareness as she said that. She continued staring at them, and at last her eyes fell on their bracelets, the ones with a symbol of two trees. Her face twisted in disgust, but the man smiled at them.

He even chuckled. "It is good." he said. "It is all good."

She gently touched him. "Let's go. No one will disturb us again." She did not look towards Bridge Four, but instead looked enraged at the Five again. Even as the two of them left, Leo could feel a sense of admiration, despite the woman's obvious frustration with them. Teft and the others needed to push them a bit to move.

"Who were those?"

"The Heralds." Teft said, barely speaking himself. "Storms, it never makes sense! It was them. Shalash, the Herald of Beauty and Talenel, the Herald of War."

Leo chuckled. Well that at least makes sense. "The...man. Talenel, right? Is there a problem with him?"

"A problem?" Lopen said. "He is mad, that is his problem, gancho."

"Thousands of years of torture," the Rock continued. "would make anyone go mad."

Raph was the first to break their wonder. "Ah, shell, why are you all guys so cryptic? What the hell do you mean by 'thousands of years of torture'?"

"The Heralds are immortal." Shallan appeared from behind them. She held the notebook close to her chest, also taking a breath. "They have fought Odium for thousands and thousands of years before us."

Well, nothing weird with people living for thousands of years anymore, thought Donnie.

"But every time the Heralds would die, they would have gone not to Beyond, but to Odium's realm - Damnation. There, they were tortured until the at least one of them would break. Then they would be sent back to Roshar and Odium would start his war again."

"In last Desolation," added Sigzil. "the last time Odium was defeated, the Heralds gave up. They could not suffer all that torture anymore and would not go to Damnation voluntarily, which they were supposed to do. So they all gave up, except..." he raised his own head, doing something out of respect. "Except him. Talenel stayed alone, and was tortured alone for thousands of years."

"He broke only a year or two ago." Shallan said. "And then Odium returned."

Mikey, Donnie and Stephen gasped, while Raph and Leo just nodded at the remark. Thousands of years of torture without breaking? Raph thought. "That is why he is like that?"

"Yes." Shallan said, passing by them and leaving. Leo sighed. Thousands and thousands of years of torture? Mad respect for that guy.

"How, shell?" Mikey said. "Dude...I can't even think..."

"How many years exactly did he do that?" Donnie asked.

"I have no storming idea how you count time." Teft said. "But our ardents say four thousand and five hundred years."

It was good they entered a balcony at that point. Stephen and Turtles needed to take a seat after hearing this. Donnie waved away. "Alright, listen, I need you to tell me if you are messing with me or not."

Teft frowned. "They are the Heralds of our faith, the most sacred thing to us. I listened to stories of them when I was a child. I am not joking."

"Maybe it is just the stories?" Donnie said. It can't be real...right? "I mean...your religion has been shaken a bit ever since Odium returned, no?

"Doesn't make it," Drehy insisted. "any less sacred and important to us. When we tell you it's real, we mean it - it's real." He scoffed too. "We aren't little children listening to stories. Why do you think she is protective of him? She feels guilty for leaving him."

"It's..." Leo shrugged. "I dunno. All the things we see here - ancient knights, a god of hatred rising, stories of warriors, those storms and" He pushed the confusionspren away. "these damned things! It all just seems...too much."

"Ha!" Teft said. "You know nothing. How do you think we felt when Kaladin became a Radiant?"

Stephen raised his eyebrow. "He...was the first of you to become one?"

"Yes." Teft said and smiled. "You thought it was me, didn't you?"

"I mean, you are older." Leo said. "And he is younger than almost all of you, so I thought...was he a nobleman maybe, and that's how you follow him?"

"He's a darkeye, like we are." Teft said. "He was no noble. We follow him for deeper reasons."

"You were slaves then?" Donnie said. "Weren't you? You mentioned it at one point."

"Yes." Lopen said, his smile becoming smaller. "Yes...we were."

"Slaves in a war." Teft said. "You know what a chasm is?"

They nodded.

"In Shattered Plains, we fought against..." He glanced at Rlain, who nodded in agreement. "Against the Parshendi - that's what we called the Singers before Odium returned. And, as you could guess, an army needs to move at all times. But, chasms, which the Shattered Plains are full of, pose a bit of a problem, don't you think?"

Depends on who you ask, Stephen thought, though without his Cloak he had to agree.

"So, the lighteye lord we served as slaves in his army had a simple solution." He took a long piece of stone and placed it between his two fingers. "Just carry bridges all around." he said in disgust. All the Bridgemen were silent at listening to this. "And who will carry the bridges? Well, the slaves, who else. All the while enemy arrows are being shot at them. Logical choice."

The very way he spoke of it so lightly made Donnie's skin crawl. Teft almost chuckled at all of that, just like people who laugh at their miseries to bear with them. "A slave bridgeman, condemned to die. That's what we were - less than animals. If one of us was mortally wounded, Sadeas, the lord we served, would not waste time on us. 'I need strong men.' the bastard said. And, to be honest, we all made peace with it. After some time."

Teft took the stones and started playing with them, while the rest of Bridge Four stared down, recalling the time they carried the bridges over the chasms. Donnie wondered. He wanted to know more, but it was obviously a hard subject for them. Maybe it will help them if they talk about it? Stephen spoke nested of him. "And what happened?"

Teft, to their surprise, smiled. "Kaladin happened. When one of us was wounded, Dabbid, he came to us and asked us all to give little of our food and water. We were idiots and protested at first, but when he shared his own meal, we decided to do the same. All of us who were wounded, he took care of us. He used those storming surgeon skills to save us dozens of times." Teft chuckled. "The lad was also a soldier, before he became a slave. Amaram did that to him because Kaladin was a good soldier who saved his own life! When he realized Kaladin might become more famous than him, he killed his comrades and sold him to slavery!" He pointed to the tattoo on his head. "That is what the tattoo means, lads - a slave."

Lopen sighed. "Well, it didn't happen exactly like that, gancho..."

"Storms, who cares what excuses Amaram had!" Teft almost yelled. "Kaladin was a good soldier and lost his own brother Tien while fighting for Amaram."

That tickled Stephen's mind. He began to listen even more clearly. "His brother?"

"That's why Kal joined the army." Drehy said. "A local lord in his country had a bone to pick with Kal's father, but instead of settling that fairly, he decided to do it like a piece of crem he was - he recruited Kal's young brother as a soldier." Drehy twisted his face in disgust. "Kal immediately volunteered to follow young Tien and wanted to protect him, but...Tien died in battle."

Stephen remembered Donna as she froze in the lake. I couldn't save her.

Leo could not imagine how he would take it if one of his brothers died.

"He couldn't protect Tien, so he swore he will protect us." Teft started. "Every day, whenever we had time without bridgeruns or other labour, he would train us with everything we had. He trained us to run, to fight, to defend ourselves, to avoid the enemy and arrows whenever we could. And every time we would pick up that bridge again, we tested all of that. Every time I picked that storming piece of wood, I would sooner or later start praying for those arrows to hit me and kill me quickly - death looked better than that kind of life.

But Kaladin did not give up. He pushed us over and over, pulling us with him and leading us while carrying those bridges. I looked at him and thought: 'You know, maybe it is possible.'"

Lopen smiled, he and Rock looking at each other. Even Rlain made a Rhythm of Agreement again. The Five were listening, even Mikey, not paying attention to wonderspren appearing around them.

"And it was worth it. Our bridge was the one that, on every Bridger, had less casualties than others. Once, almost an entire crew, but after Kaladin almost none of us died. Those who did, may the Almighty rest their souls - even they at least died with something they didn't have before Kaladin."

Then his face twisted in disgust again. "And Sadeas, storm him, he hated that. He wanted none of the bridges to have advantage over the others and he took Kaladin to punish him." He slapped the stone below him. "The monster! He tied Kal to the side of the barrack and told him that, if he survives the highstorm, he will be allowed to live."

Donnie scoffed. "Ah, yes. The classic 'if God wants you to live, you'll live'."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Rock said.

"We felt everything was going to fall apart." Teft said. "We thought it was all for nothing. I said to myself: 'There, idiot. There was no use of it.' We came to him before the storm began to say goodbye, and..." Teft chuckled again, that sound making even Raph smile a bit. "He was not afraid. He told us to, after the storm is over, to come out of the barrack and look at him and he said he will look back at us. Alive. He believed, he knew he will live.

'Tell them I chose not to take my own life,' he said. 'and that there is no way I am going to give it over to Sadeas.'

I though that was youth speaking, overconfidence. When we returned after the storm was over, I did not expect anything. You saw what that thing is like with your own eyes. Without our own powers, there is no way no survive it. But...I gave him a sphere. For luck." He rubbed his neck. "Back then, I just thought it was a nice, shiny rock. I never believed in stories about Radiants and I never imagined they would return. But, when we came for him, the sphere was dun, without Light.

Teft slapped the stone again, laughing with all his heart. "The storming bastard opened his eyes and looked back at us! Sure as storms we took him down and took care of him over the next few days. Deathspren started popping up around him, but the moment I left three more spheres beside his bed, he absorbed them and his wounds shined and healed - as if nothing had ever happened to him. He chose life, chose to help us and protect us and became a storming Radiant after all that. That was not real, it sounded like some kind of story or a legend you would hear by the campfire.

But he lived. And then he saved us, lead us throughout all those storms and, when he saved Dalinar from death on the battlefield, he freed us. Everything he did from that point on, everything he said, everything he tried, it was all to protect us and save us. You have no idea what else he did and, honestly, if I continued we'd be awake here until the next night."

Stephen grasped the words as best as he could. Donna...

"And there. You asked us why do we follow him? That is why. Because he saved us and inspired us to follow him there. After all, what else could we do? He already did it first."

This chapter was an answer to a friend of mine who asked: "Who is Kaladin?"

I hope I answered that question. Thank you, Brandon Sanderson, for saving my life through Kaladin, the character who helped me with depression.

Thank you.