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==Prelude to the Stormlight Archive==
The Prelude opens just after one of the [[Desolations]] (huge battles between humanity and the [[Voidbringers]]). [[Kalak]], one of the Ten [[Heralds]] of [[the Almighty]], is walking thea desolated battlefield. Thetorn landscape isafter tornone andof ruined, apparently due tothe [[SurgebindersDesolations]]. fightingHe andis [[thunderclasts]]on rippinghis themselvesway freeto frommeet theup ground.with Kalakwhatever expressesof reliefthe thatother heHeralds didn't die insurvived the battle. (He's apparentlycontemplates diedsimply before),walking andaway alsoin revealsorder thatto afteravoid eachthe Desolation,torture the Heralds are supposedforced to returnendure tobetween an unspecified location where they are tortured until the next desolation. He contemplates just walking away insteadDesolations.
Kalak goes to meet the other nine Heralds in the location they had chosen before the battle. Instead of the other nine, howeverHeralds, heKalak finds only one[[Jezrien]] waiting for him. That Herald, [[Jezrien]], explainstells to Kalakhim that only one of the Heralds, ([[Talenel]]), was killed, and was sent back automatically to their place of torture. The restother ofnine themhave decided that ratherthey thanwill facewalk the torture againaway, theyleaving wouldTalenel simplyto gouphold theirthe separate[[Oathpact]] waysalone.
The Heralds abandon mankind, leaving them in the care of the [[Knights Radiant]] and Talenel. They tell the men who fought with them that they have finally beaten the [[Voidbringers]] for good, and leave Talenel and mankind to their respective fates.
Jezrien alludes to the [[Oathpact]], apparently an agreement among the Heralds and possibly with some other entity, and says it is time for the Oathpact to end. Talenel, who was killed, will still be bound to the Oathpact. The other Heralds, by abandoning Talenel and walking away, remove themselves from the Oathpact.
The Heralds leave, abandoning mankind to the care of the Knights Radiant and Talenel. They plan to tell the men who fought on their side that they had finally beaten the Voidbringers for good. The Heralds go their separate ways. Kalak looks back at the ring formed by the Heralds' abandoned swords, and thinks about Talenel and his fate. He silently pleads for forgiveness, but leaves anyway.
==Prologue: To Kill==
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