Wyndlerunner

James looked at her as they walked, and let the tears fall. "I don't know what we're doing Cassie" he said in a voice just above a whisper, "I swore my 5th Ideal in direct opposition to one of the people I thought I was supposed to be leading." He laughed hollowly, mingling with his tears to create a noise halfway in between a laugh and a heaving sob. "I couldn't let the others see me like this," he admitted, "They need a strong leader now more than ever, especially with how rough this has been on Ben and Shana. I swore my 5th, but even I don't know if I can be that leader for them right now." James rubbed his temples. "God, Theo would be disappointed in me." The name slipped out without James even meaning it to. He hadn't thought of Theo in a while, at least, not before the memory he'd recalled before swearing the 5th Ideal. Why was he all of a sudden so concerned about what Theo might think?

"Yeah," James agreed, "probably not too good for any of us to stay here in this room at the moment." As James moved out of the doorway and into the hall, he let himself release. The brave face he'd been putting on for the others now shattered, his true exhaustion and confusion plain for anyone to see. He would let Cassie see him like this. She would understand.

James felt a pit in his stomach as Ben accepted the risk of their plan. "That settles that then" he said, giving Ben a slight nod as he turned to leave, intending to give the Truthwatcher some space. Space to be with Shana, or space for the pair to simply be alone together. James walked over to where Cassie was standing, across the remains of what had once been his room, and gave her a weak smile. "Hey, Cassie" he said, "Could I talk to you in private for a minute?" @AonEne @Lunamor @Sorana

It's certainly possible, the Nightwatcher sent, with a sense of hesitation in her ethereal voice. "The Nightwatcher says it's possible" James said to Ben, "It isn't something that was done frequently in the past, but I can provide a power source, Lifelight, that you will be able to use sort of like an external hard drive of magic. It will let you go beyond your current limits." James paused, his eyes meeting Ben's and growing stern. "It might be dangerous though. None of us are particularly tested with our abilities, and it's possible that it might grow wrong." James walked up to Ben, placing a hand firmly on his shoulder. "Do you truly believe that saving Rob is worth that kind of risk? I'm not saying that I think he isn't, but I need you to understand and accept the danger inherent in such a task." He looked again at Ben, hoping that he was projecting enough leaderly gravitas to get the point across. "Do you accept it?" he asked. @Sorana @Eluvianii @AonEne @Lunamor

As Cassie and Shana appproached, James sighed, and let the Shardplate drop. Rob was gone. A swirl of a thousand thoughts and feelings spun around his mind. He was Fifth Oath. He was only Fifth Oath because Rob had begun to act against the Ideals that bound them all. Rob had taken a Boon from the Nightwatcher. Not asked for, as Cassie had, but taken. If there is a boon, James, there is a curse to accompany it. The Nightwatcher had told him that once, but as the thought came to his mind, he heard Shana speak. A battle plan. James forced himself to stand, finally beginning to recover from Rob's assault on his soul. "Rob must have some kind of weakness," he said, "the Nightwatcher doesn't just give her blessings. There's always a price. Even without my mediation, that's just how things work. If there's a boon, there's a curse." He felt at the black metallic pen in his pocket as he said it. Storms, it felt awful to be thinking about how to take Rob down of all people. But that wasn't just Rob, There was something in that sphere. Something alive. James felt a chill as he thought about it. "But it's not just Rob that we need to deal with." he continued, turning to Shana. "Shana, you were the closest to Rob out of all of us. Did you ever see him holding a small black sphere?" @Lunamor @AonEne @Sorana

In the end, it wasn't the continued sounds of confrontation that brought James back to consciousness, nor was it Ben's infusion of Light, although that certainly helped. Instead it was a pair of sensations: the first, like the floor on which he lay was beginning to shift, undulate like the water on a lake on a windy day. The second was the more bizarre of the two. A sensation that just beyond his closed eyes was a million dancing sparks of golden light. He didn't know how he knew that they were called Gloryspren, but he did. Come to me. To us. A sound like rushing water filled his ears, mixed with the pealing of a thousand bells, and he opened his eyes. When he did, he found himself coated in a suit of armor, glowing green at the nearly nonexistent seams with Lifelight. Ben was cradling him, and the floor beneath them seemed to be melting. Rob was gone, as were many of the others. At this point, with how deep they appeared to be sunken, they were not likely to be able to escape. The armor seemed to be enhancing his physical prowess, but the wounds he had endured were not wholly physical, and he knew it would be some time before his strength returned to him. He looked up to Ben. "I can protect us!" he said, voice filled with unabashed joy, and the unmistakable sense that he was crying. He couldn't save Rob, but he could keep Ben safe. The armor shifted around, expanding into a large orb surrounding the pair. Hopefully that would be enough for the time being. @Lunamor @Sorana @AonEne

My brother asked during the personalization signing whether animals could evolve to form symbiotic bonds with Aethers in a similar manner to the way animals on Roshar evolve to form Nahel bonds with spren. Brandon responded that they could, and that the Luhel bond is more able to do these sorts of things.