Alone. Dalinar held a fist to his chest. So alone. It hurt to breathe, to think. But something stirred inside his fist. He opened bleeding fingers. The most … the most important … Inside his fist, he somehow found a golden sphere. A solitary gloryspren. The most important step a man can take. It’s not the first one, is it? It’s the next one. Always the next step, Dalinar. Trembling, bleeding, agonized, Dalinar forced air into his lungs and spoke a single ragged sentence. “You cannot have my pain.”
