Summary:Words of Radiance/Interlude I-2
| Interlude I-2: Ym | |
|---|---|
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| Words of Radiance Summary | |
| Follows | Interlude I-1: Narak |
| Precedes | Interlude I-3: Rysn |
| Analytics | |
| Viewpoint | Ym |
Plot summary
Ym is in his shop trimming a small block of wood. The cobbler had been taught to make the wooden forms himself, so he does. It's the way it's been done for centuries, which is good enough for him.
A spren moves in the dimness to his right. It has been coming around more often lately, and Ym had never seen one like it before. As it moves it looks like specks of light, like those from a piece of crystal suspended in a sunbeam. When it stops, light creeps upward from it, like small plants growing, which withdraw when it starts moving again.
They talk briefly about the shoes, and that Ym finds himself needing more shoes for children lately. The spren shakes suddenly, and warns "He Comes." Anxious, Ym stands up looking for "the watcher," a man in a military coat, but finds only a child peering through the door.
Ym invites the urchin in, who's feet are dirty and scraped. The boy is Iriali, with their characteristic golden skin and hair, and walks with a limp. Ym offers the him a pair of shoes in exchange for his story. As the boy speaks, Ym cleans his feet to fit the shoes. One of the feet has a nasty cut on the bottom, infected and crawling with rotspren. Ym cleans it and puts on antiseptic, then subtly uses some stormlight to heal the cut. They speak of Ym's religious beliefs, and the boy leaves after receiving the shoes.
The spren whispers "He's still here," and Ym spins as he hears a rustling behind him. A dark-skinned man with a crescent scar on his cheek steps out of the shadows in the back of the shop. The man accuses Ym of commiting a murder in his youth. Ym tells the man that it wasn't intentional, but the man says he is guilty nonetheless, then summons a Shardblade. Ym runs, but he is old and quickly tires. He stops, trying to pull out a sphere for some Stormlight, but the dark-skinned man slams him against a wall and stabs him in the chest with the Shardblade.
Characters
- Present
Setting
Ym's workshop, in an unnamed country.
Notable
This is the first appearance of Nalan, a Herald.
Chapter header
- Swords
- Vedel wedge