[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-661068-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":80,"doc-detail-661068-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","the-way-of-kings","The Way of Kings","","A battlefield survivor, Kalak, finds the remains of a dying thunderclast and trudges through centuries of carnage, smoke, and lingering cries. At a prearranged meeting spire, he discovers only Jezrien waiting, with seven immortal swords still embedded. Told the Oathpact is ending and the cycle of Desolations may be broken, Kalak wrestles with terror, fatigue, and the idea that survival no longer guarantees return, while witnessing living soldiers who worship the Heralds as divine powers.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/","Story & Novel",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-way-of-kings/661068/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-way-of-kings/661068.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Aditya","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-28",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":22},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"Why does Kalak feel uneasy about surviving this time?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"When Kalak dies, he is sent back without choice. Survival normally still requires returning after the Desolation, so his survival raises the danger of being forced to go back again.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"What does Kalak learn at the meeting place?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"He finds Jezrien alone, with seven Heraldic swords embedded and one Blade missing. 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The enormous stone beast lay on its side, riblike protrusions from its chest broken and cracked. The monstrosity was vaguely skeletal in shape, with unnaturally long limbs that sprouted from granite shoulders. The eyes were deep red spots on the arrowhead face, as if created by a fire burning deep within the stone. They faded.  \nEven after all these centuries, seeing a thunderclast up close made Kalak shiver. The beast’s hand was as long as a man was tall. He’d been killed by hands like those before, and it hadn’t been pleasant.  \nOf course, dying rarely was.  \nHe rounded the creature, picking his way more carefully across the battlefield. The plain was a place of misshapen rock and stone, natural pillars rising around him, bodies littering the ground. Few plants lived here. The stone ridges and mounds bore numerous scars. Some were shattered, blasted-out sections where Surgebinders had fought. Less frequently, he passed cracked, oddly shaped hollows where thunderclasts had ripped themselves free ofthe stone to join the fray.  \nMany of the bodies around him were human; many were not. Blood mixed. Red. Orange. Violet. Though none of the bodies around him stirred, an indistinct haze of sounds hung in the air. Moans of pain, cries of grief. They did not seem like the sounds of victory. Smoke curled from the occasional patches of growth or heaps of burning corpses. Even some sections of rock smoldered. The Dustbringers had done their work well.  \nBut I survived, Kalak thought, hand to breast as he hastened to the meeting place. I actually survived this time.  \nThat was dangerous. When he died, he was sent back, no choice. When he survived the Desolation, he was supposed to go back as well. Back to that place that he dreaded. Back to that place of pain and fire. What if he just decided . . . not to go?  \nPerilous thoughts, perhaps traitorous thoughts. He hastened on his way.  \nThe place of meeting was in the shadow of a large rock formation, a spire rising into the sky. As always, the ten of them had decided upon it before the battle. The survivors would make their way here. Oddly, only one of the others was waiting for him. Jezrien. Had the other eight all died? It was possible. The battle had been so furious this time, one of the worst. The enemy was growing increasingly tenacious.  \nBut no. Kalak frowned as he stepped up to the base of the spire. Seven magnificent swords stood proudly here, driven point-first into the stone ground. Each was a masterly work of art, flowing in design, inscribed with glyphs and patterns. He recognized each one. If their masters had died, the Blades would have vanished.  \nThese Blades were weapons of power beyond even Shardblades. These were unique. Precious. Jezrien stood outside the ring of swords, looking eastward.  \n“Jezrien?”  \nThe figure in white and blue glanced toward him. Even after all these centuries, Jezrien looked young, like a man barely into his thirtieth year. His short black beard was neatly trimmed, though his once-fine clothing was scorched and stained with blood. He folded his arms behind his back as he turned to Kalak.  \n“What is this, Jezrien?” Kalak asked.“Where are the others?”  \n“Departed.” Jezrien’s voice was calm, deep, regal. Though he hadn’t worn a crown in centuries, his royal manner lingered. He always seemed to know what to do.“You might call it a miracle. Only one of us died this time.”  \n“Talenel,” Kalak said. His was the only Blade unaccounted for.  \n“Yes. He died holding that passage by the northern waterway.”  \nKalak nodded. Taln had a tendency to choose seemingly hopeless fights and win them. He also had a tendency to die in the process. He would be back now, in the place where they went between Desolations. The place of nightmares.  \nKalak found himself shaking. When had he become so weak?“Jezrien, I can’t return this time.” Kalak whispered the words, stepping up a","cbCaiidof37Gxp5p","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiidof37Gxp5p","pdf",125646,11,"English","# Meeting at the Spire\n## Kalak’s Discovery\n## The Oathpact’s End","[{\"question\":\"Why does Kalak feel uneasy about surviving this time?\",\"answer\":\"When Kalak dies, he is sent back without choice. Survival normally still requires returning after the Desolation, so his survival raises the danger of being forced to go back again.\"},{\"question\":\"What does Kalak learn at the meeting place?\",\"answer\":\"He finds Jezrien alone, with seven Heraldic swords embedded and one Blade missing. Jezrien explains that only one of them died this time and that the Oathpact is ending.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the purpose of ending the Oathpact?\",\"answer\":\"Jezrien says Ishar believes that if at least one of them remains bound, it might be enough to end the cycle of Desolations, potentially breaking the pattern that repeats after each catastrophe.\"}]","The Way of Kings | PDF",17]