Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive, #4)

by Brandon Sanderson

“Wit?” Kaladin finally said. “Do you … maybe have a story you could tell me?”

“You killed her,” Navani whispered. Raboniel continued to rock the corpse, holding it tighter, shaking as she hummed. “Elithanathile,” Navani said, whispering the tenth name of the Almighty. “You killed her forever, didn’t you?” “No more rebirth,” Raboniel whispered. “No more Returns. Free at last, my baby. Free.”

But sir, do you know why I get up each day?” Lirin shook his head. “It’s hard sometimes,” Noril said, stirring. “Coming awake means leaving the nothingness, you know? Remembering the pain. But then I think, ‘Well, he gets up.’” “You mean Kaladin?” Lirin asked. “Yes, sir,” Noril said. “He’s got the emptiness, bad as I do. I can see it in him. We all can. But he gets up anyway. We’re trapped in here, and we all want to do something to help. We can’t, but somehow he can. “And you know, I’ve listened to ardents talk. I’ve been poked and prodded. I’ve been stuck in the dark. None of that worked as well as knowing this one thing, sir. He still gets up. He still fights. So I figure … I figure I can too.”

“Venli? Venli, is that you?” Venli looked down to see that her mother’s eyes had focused, seeing her. Your Words, Venli, a distant femalen voice said in her mind, are now accepted.