Summary

Chapter 1 begins five years after the assassination of King Gavilar and is narrated by a character named Cenn. Cenn is standing in the ranks of Brightlord Amaram's army that is about enter into battle. He is an inexperienced soldier and is afraid that he is going to die in the upcoming battle. An older veteran named Dallet tries to calm Cenn before the battle until their squadleader, Kaladin, arrives. Before the charge, Kaladin and Dallet mark out a piece of high ground their squad will run to when the march starts. As soon as the march begins, their squads breaks into a run to secure the high ground. Cenn is confused as to why they are doing this but soon realizes that it was to get ahead of the enemy archers. Cenn watches from the center of Kaladin's squad as they engage enemy...