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“What is this?” Dalinar demanded, though he knew that the being couldn’t hear him.
The figure looked about, sorrowful. “I can’t leave much. Just these few images, given to you. Whoever you are.”
“These visions… they’re like a journal, aren’t they? A history you wrote, a book you left behind, except I don’t read it, I see it.”
The figure looked into the sky. “I don’t even know if anyone will ever see this. I am gone, you see.”
Dalinar didn’t respond. He looked over the sheer pinnacle, down at a void, horrified.
“This isn’t just about you either,” the figure said, raising his hand into the air. A light winked out in the sky, one that Dalinar hadn’t realized was there. Then another winked out as well. The sun seemed to be growing dimmer.
“It’s about all of them,” the figure said. “I should have realized he’d come for me.”
“Who are you?” Dalinar asked, voicing the words to himself.
The figure still stared into the sky. “I leave this, because there must be something. A hope to discover. A chance that someone will find what to do. Do you wish to fight him?”
“Yes,” Dalinar found himself saying, despite knowing that it didn’t matter. “I don’t know who he is, but if he wants to do this, then I will fight him.”
“Someone must lead them.”
“I will do it,” Dalinar said. The words just came out.
“Someone must unite them.”
“I will do it.”
“Someone must protect them.”
“I will do it!”
The figure was silent for a moment. Then he spoke in a clear, crisp voice. “Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination. Speak again the ancient oaths and return to men the Shards they once bore.” He turned to Dalinar, meeting his eyes. “The Knights Radiant must stand again.”
“I cannot comprehend how that can be done,” Dalinar said softly. “But I will try.”
“Men must face them together,” the figure said, stepping up to Dalinar, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You cannot squabble as in times past. He’s realized that you, given time, will become your own enemies. That he doesn’t need to fight you. Not if he can make you forget, make you turn against one another. Your legends say that you won. But the truth is that we lost. And we are losing.”
“Who are you?” Dalinar asked again, voice softer.
“I wish I could do more,” repeated the figure in gold. “You might be able to get him to choose a champion. He is bound by some rules. All of us are. A champion could work well for you, but it is not certain. And… without the Dawnshards… Well, I have done what I can. It is a terrible, terrible thing to leave you alone.”
“Who are you?” Dalinar asked again. And yet, he thought he knew.
“I am… I was… God. The one you call the Almighty, the creator of mankind.” The figure closed his eyes. “And now I am dead. Odium has killed me. I am sorry.”
“Can you feel it?” Wit asked of the open night. “Something just changed. I believe that’s the sound the world makes when it pisses itself.”
Three guards stood just inside the thick wooden city gates of Kholinar. The men regarded Wit with worry.
The gates were closed, and these men were of the night watch, a somewhat inappropriate title. They didn’t spend time “watching” so much as chatting, yawning, gambling, or—in tonight’s case—standing uncomfortably and listening to a crazy man.
That crazy man happened to have blue eyes, which let him get away with all kinds of trouble. Perhaps Wit should have been bemused by the stock these people put in something as simple as eye color, but he had been many places and seen many methods of rule. This didn’t seem any more ridiculous than most others.
And, of course, there was a reason the people did what they did. Well, there was usually a reason. In this case, it just happened to be a good one.
“Brightlord?” one of the guards asked, looking at where Wit sat on his boxes. They’d been piled there and left by a merchant who had tipped the night watchmen to make certain nothing was stolen. To Wit, they simply made a convenient perch. His pack sat beside him, and on his knees he was tuning his enthir, a square, stringed instrument. You played it from above, plucking at strings with it sitting on your lap.
“Brightlord?” the guard repeated. “What are you doing up there?”
“Waiting,” Wit said. He looked up, glancing eastward. “Waiting for the storm to arrive.”
That made the guards more uncomfortable. A highstorm was not predicted this night.
Wit began playing the enthir. “Let us have a conversation to pass the time. Tell me. What is it that men value in others?”
The music played toward an audience of silent buildings, alleys, and worn cobblestones. The guards didn’t respond to him. They didn’t seem to know what to make of a black-clad, lighteyed man who entered the city just before evening fell, then sat on boxes beside the gates playing music.
“Well?” Wit asked, pausing the music. “What do you think? If a man or woman were to have a talent, which would be the most revered, best regarded, considered of the most worth?”
“Er… music?” one of the men finally said.
“Yes, a common answer,” Wit said, plucking at a few low notes. “I once asked this question of some very wise scholars. What do men consider the most valuable of talents? One mentioned artistic ability, as you so keenly guessed. Another chose great intellect. The final chose the talent to invent, the ability to design and create great devices.”
He didn’t play a specific tune on the enthir, just plucks here and there, an occasional scale or fifth. Like chitchat in string form.
“Aesthetic genius,” Wit said, “invention, acumen, creativity. Noble ideals indeed. Most men would pick one of those, if given the choice, and name them the greatest of talents.” He plucked a string. “What beautiful liars we are.”
The guards glanced at each other; the torches burning in brackets on the wall painted them with orange light.
“You think I’m a cynic,” Wit said. “You think I’m going to tell you that men claim to value these ideals, but secretly prefer base talents. The ability to gather coin or to charm women. Well, I am a cynic, but in this case, I actually think those scholars were honest. Their answers speak for the souls of men. In our hearts, we want to believe in—and would choose— great accomplishment and virtue. That’s why our lies, particularly to ourselves, are so beautiful.”
He began to play a real song. A simple melody at first, soft, subdued. A song for a silent night when the entire world changed.
One of the soldiers cleared his throat. “So what is the most valuable talent a man can have?” He sounded genuinely curious.
“I haven’t the faintest idea,” Wit said. “Fortunately, that wasn’t the question. I didn’t ask what was most valuable, I asked what men value most. The difference between those questions is both tiny and as vast as the world itself all at once.”
He kept plucking his song. One did not strum an enthir. It just wasn’t done, at least not by people with any sense of propriety.
