Difference between revisions of "Summary:The Way of Kings"
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(Added summaries for Chapters 13 through 18) |
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===Chapter 13: Ten Heartbeats===
Dalinar, Adolin, and Elhokar all immediately begin to race for the chasmfiend, hoping to kill it before it can harm any bystanders. Sadeas uses his [[grandbow]], weakening it from a distance while Dalinar and Adolin go for its many legs and Elhokar distracts it. While doing so, however, the strap on Elhokar's saddle breaks, causing him to be thrown to the ground. Just as he is about to be crushed by the chasmfiend, Dalinar hurls himself beneath the descending claw and, with Shardplate-enhanced strength, catches it, giving Elhokar time to escape. Adolin continues to cut off its legs, and the chasmfiend is eventually unable to support its own weight. Elhokar summons his Shardblade once again and uses it to kill the felled chasmfiend, then harvest its [[gemheart]].
===Chapter 14: Payday===
Kaladin gets up before any of the other bridgemen, resolved that he's going to fight for a better existence, even in his terrible circumstances. He attempts to rouse the rest of Bridge Four, but none come. After Kaladin physically carries [[Moash]] out of the barrack, however, the rest of the bridgemen reluctantly get up. Kaladin then informs the men of bridge four that instead of sleeping in each morning, they will be training, and that he intends to do everything he can to insure that Bridge Four never loses another man.
The other bridgemen all refuse to participate in Kaladin's training once Gaz informs them that they don't have to. Kaladin goes to Gaz and gets his pay for the week, returning one of his five spheres as a bribe. Gaz tells Kaladin that he has no authority and will be unable to sway the bridgemen, then leaves. Kaladin, worried that Gaz may decide Kaladin is more trouble than he's worth and kill him, asks Syl to watch over him at night and wake him if Gaz tries anything.
Kaladin then proceeds to spend his morning training, jogging back and forth across the lumberyard with a long board. He does this for several hours, before meeting several of the men from Bridge Four to dismiss them for lunch. Syl informs Kaladin that she is changing, becoming better at remembering things and understanding new concepts and abstract ideas. Kaladin realizes that she feels much the way about her new understanding of life as he does about his current position – afraid to continue, but sure that he can't go back.
===Chapter 15: The Decoy===
Adolin is overseeing the cleanup four hour after the chasmfiend attack while the group waits for a bridge crew to come, replacing the bridge the chasmfiend had destroyed in its rampage. He reflects that many of the other lighteyes are treating Dalinar slightly more respectfully and carefully after his earlier rescue of Elhokar, and thinks to himself that it can't last. Having finished his rounds, he approaches Elhokar's pavilion to give his final casualty report.
In the pavilion, Elhokar chides Dalinar for not making serious efforts to win gemhearts, comparing him to Sadeas. Eventually, the conversation deteriorates to taunting, until Adolin calls Sadeas a coward. Sadeas in turn calls Renarin useless, nearly sparking a duel and possibly a war then and there, until he retracts his statement. Wit appears and taunts Sadeas for a while before actually praising Renarin's intelligence.
Adolin and Dalinar then go to examine the strap of Elhokar's saddle to see if it could have been cut. Adolin questions this until he realizes that Elhokar believes that the strap was cut as an assassination attempt, at which point he remarks on Elhokar's increasing paranoia. Dalinar tells Adolin to take the strap to a leatherworker to examine, to talk to he grooms about the saddle, and to double the king's guard. Adolin wonders whether Sadeas would attempt it. Dalinar then approaches Highprince Vamah, manipulating him into making greater use of Elhokar's [[Soulcaster]]s, insuring continued income for Elhokar.
Sadeas approaches Dalinar to ensure the success of the manipulation, and Adolin realizes that the two of them had planned the entire thing between them. After a brief argument, Adolin and Dalinar leave. Dalinar then tells Adolin that though he hates Sadeas, he's certain that he wouldn't hurt Elhokar. Dalinar reveals that Sadeas was the decoy the night of Gavilar's assassination, attempting to lead Szeth away so Gavilar could escape. He then tells Adolin that Sadeas has sworn to protect Elhokar at any cost, then further discusses Gavilar's assassination.
Elhokar approaches, asking if they've learned anything about the saddle. He and Dalinar then begin arguing, Elhokar insisting that someone is trying to kill him and Dalinar insisting that Elhokar is simply overreacting. Elhokar leaves, and Dalinar sends Adolin to prepare the soldiers to move. As he begins to make his way back to camp, Dalinar reflects on his failure to determine the meaning of Gavilar's last words and his desire to protect Elhokar.
===Chapter 16: Cocoons===
Seven and a half years ago:
Kaladin is talking to [[Laral]] about his fathers plans for him to be a surgeon. Laral encourages him to become a soldier and win Shardplate and blade for himself. Tien interrupts their conversation and gives Kaladin a rock, intended to make him feel better. Tien and Kaladin then go hunting for lurgs, a type of small, slimy, spider-like creatures.
Kaladin and Laral go to talk to some of the other boys, questioning why they aren't working in the fields like usual. Jost, another boy, claims that his father was cheated out of a Shardblade, but Kaladin insists that the area where his father fought wouldn't have had any Shardbearers, and Jost's father must be remembering wrong. Jost gets angry and challenges Kaladin to fight him.
Kaladin gets in a few good hits, and is surprised by how good the quarterstaff feels in his hands, but is outmatched by Jost. Tien helps him up, and they return home. There, Kaladin is informed that Brightlord Wistiow, the Citylord and Laral's father, is dead, and that he's left Kaladin a large number of spheres for him to go to Kharbranth, be trained as a surgeon, then return to Hearthstone to serve the people there with his new knowledge.
===Chapter 17: A Bloody Red Sunset===
Kaladin visits an apothecary, hoping to get some antiseptic. He eventually succeeds, but ends being forced to settle for a weaker antiseptic than he'd intended due to high prices.
He has only been back in camp for moments when a horn sounds, calling the bridgemen for a bridge run. Though he is exhausted, each time the bridge stops, Kaladin remains standing rather than collapsing to the ground as most bridgemen do. When they reach the final chasm, the approach to the Parshendi, Kaladin takes Rock's position at the front of the bridge instead of taking his privileged position as bridgeleader toward the back.
All four of the other men in the front row, the deathline, are hit with arrows almost immediately, but Kaladin takes only minor injuries. As soon as the bridge is placed, he begins finding bridgemen who were wounded in the approach and treating their wounds. He then has his men carry the wounded back to camp on top of their bridge, removing them when they get to a chasm so the soldiers can cross.
===Chapter 18: Highprince of War===
Adolin is out walking with Janala, the woman he has been courting. He visits the leatherworkers who were inspecting the strap from Elhokar's saddle, and they tell him that the strap was almost certainly cut, but it's possible it was a buckle from the saddle itself that sliced it. A horn is sounded, signalling that a chasmfiend has been spotted close enough for Dalinar's men to attempt to reach it first. Adolin is disappointed when Dalinar elects not to seek it.
Dalinar, meanwhile, is working with several of his scribes in attempting to manipulate the other highprinces into following Elhokar in truth. [[Teshav]], the wife of one of his officers, questions the number of troops Dalinar has set patrolling, and Dalinar instructs her to set more patrolling anyway. Renarin comes to talk to Dalinar, and Dalinar promises him that if he captures a new suit of Shardplate and a Shardblade, they will go to Renarin, to help compensate for his blood weakness and allow him to fight like any other man.
Adolin seeks out Kadash, an ardent, to ask his opinion on Dalinar's dreams. Janala leaves him, growing frustrated with his lack of attention. Kadash expresses the opinion that Dalinar is either going insane, or the visions are just particularly vivid products of his own mind.
Dalinar visits Elhokar, making his reports for the day. While there, he asks Elhokar how long he intends to continue the war, and suggests that Elhokar consider withdrawing. Elhokar is shocked that Dalinar would even consider an end to the Vengeance Pact. Dalinar eventually backs down, instead saying they need a new approach, a way to win the war instead of simply trying to outlast the Parshendi. Dalinar suggests that Elhokar appoint him Highprince of War, and Elhokar tells him he'll consider it.
Dalinar meets up with Renarin, intending to ride back to their camp. However, before they can get there, they are forced to take shelter in one of their own barracks to avoid a highstorm. They barely make it inside before the storm hits.
===Chapter 19: Starfalls===
===Chapter 20: Scarlet===
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