Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive #4) - Brandon Sanderson Page 0,348

Kaladin thought, using this as a conduit to touch it. He leveled his spear at her.

She stopped and turned to regard him. “The Pursuer isn’t lying,” she said in accented Alethi. “He will hunt you forever. To the abandonment of all reason and duty.”

“Step away from the gemstone,” Kaladin said.

“He’ll return shortly,” she noted. “You should flee. He has placed Voidlight gemstones in stashes nearby, so he can reinfuse himself and make new bodies.”

“I said step away.”

“You’re a Windrunner,” she said. “You won’t hurt me if I’m not a threat.”

“Touching that gemstone makes you a threat. Step away.”

She did, which meant walking toward him, clasping her hands behind her. “What is it, do you suppose, that makes you able to continue using your powers? I’ll admit, I had worried about the Windrunners. They say your Surges are closest to Honor.”

Kaladin gripped his spear, uncertain what to do. Stab her? He had to protect the gemstone.

Or destroy it, he thought. Storms, that would weaken the shield Navani had set up—and if the enemy had found this one so quickly, how long would it be until they discovered the others? He glanced to Syl on his shoulder, and she shook her head. She didn’t know what to do either.

“Ah,” the Fused said. “He’s back. On with you, then.”

Kaladin risked looking over his shoulder, cursing as he saw a distinctly bloodred ribbon of light approaching. Making a snap decision, Kaladin dropped his spear and pulled out his scalpel. Then he quickly sliced the laces on his boots.

The Pursuer appeared inside the tunnel and grabbed for him, but Kaladin bent—dodging the grip—and infused the floor with a Full Lashing. Then he leaped forward around the Pursuer, leaving his shoes stuck to the stone. The Pursuer couldn’t help but land on that floor, trapping him in place.

Kaladin held out his scalpel, barefoot as he backed up into the rubble of the broken wall that had been opened. The Pursuer eyed him, remaining rooted on the ground. Then he grinned and left his body, shooting toward Kaladin.

Kaladin retreated through the opening into the outer corridor, infusing the floor again, using up a large amount of his Stormlight. He was able to roll away from the Pursuer’s next attack, which again left the creature rooted. But Kaladin couldn’t step forward and reclaim the Light he’d used, not without getting within the Pursuer’s reach.

His Stormlight was almost gone, something the Pursuer had clearly figured out. The creature left his second body, the first already starting to crumble. When Kaladin leaped forward to try to retrieve his Stormlight, the Pursuer darted at him as a ribbon of light—like a snapping eel—and Kaladin retreated.

The two watched one another in the dark corridor. The Pursuer could only form one more body before he’d need to renew his Voidlight, or risk fighting in his fourth body and perhaps being killed. But Kaladin’s Light was low—and he didn’t have a quick way to get more.

Storms. The other Fused—the femalen—had returned to the gemstone and was working on it again.

“We have to destroy it, Kaladin,” Syl whispered.

She was right. He couldn’t defend this place on his own. He’d simply have to hope that the other nodes were better hidden. Though … how could something be better hidden than in the middle of a wall?

Kaladin took a deep breath, then dashed forward to force the Pursuer to materialize. He did so—but only after zipping back into the center of the second pool of Light Kaladin had made. That let the creature materialize standing on the remnants of his second husk, which was stuck to the Light.

The Fused crouched low, hands out and ready to grab Kaladin if he tried to run past. Kaladin was forced to shy back.

I can’t afford to fight him the way he wants, Kaladin thought. If he gets me into his grip, I’ll end up pinned.

When he’d killed the creature before, Kaladin had used the Pursuer’s assumptions against him. This time he wasn’t making the same mistake, but he was still so very confident.

Use that. Let him defeat himself.

Kaladin turned and started running in the opposite direction.

Behind, the Pursuer began laughing. “That’s right, human! Flee! You see it now! Run and be pursued.”

Syl zipped up alongside Kaladin. “What’s the plan?”

“He’s called the Pursuer,” Kaladin said. “He loves the chase. When we were doing what humans shouldn’t do—trying to fight him—he was deliberate and careful. Now we’re fleeing prey. He might get sloppy. But he won’t leave that third body until we’re