Interlude 16

O dium relied on his expertise, working to break Dalinar. There was another purpose, of course, for these visions. As a god, everything he did had multiple purposes.

In this case, he inspired pain. When Dalinar managed to briefly wrest control of a vision, to try to avoid his agony, Odium isolated him and began overpowering him with painful truth. To break him down, so he could be rebuilt.

The power loved seeing that emotion in Dalinar.

Everything was in hand. Until Dalinar vanished.

Surprise. The power did not love that, but it accepted it. Complete, overwhelming, surprise.

What had happened? Dalinar was nowhere in the Spiritual Realm—nowhere that Odium could see. Could someone hide from him that completely?

The answer was yes. They could. But it would take the act of a Shard. The visions themselves were hiding Dalinar now? They’d all been playing with the fragments of Honor’s power in here, as it longed to have a Vessel again, and thus was easy to mold into the shapes of memories. Visions, for that reason, were more stable when in this “region” of the Spiritual Realm.

Yet the power had been agreeing with Odium. Such as it could; but it didn’t have true volition, did it? It didn’t care about anything other than following its Intent, right? Odium investigated, furious at having his prey stolen, and found something unexpected.

The power of Honor had been too long without a host. It was becoming dangerous. It was coming alive. So Odium contemplated.

Should he destroy it?