Chapter 13

Erut finds himself at the gorge again and freaks out. This time, however, they need to cross it and the flying maneuver needed to do that is beyond his capabilities so they construct a rope bridge for him and help him cross it. To accomplish this two of the Sifuti make him stretch his arms out over the edge of the gorge until another can fly by and grab a boil of rope. A second flyer takes it from the first and makes her way to the other side where the rope is tied off. Erut then has to walk across the bridge. Unfortunately, he discovered he wasn't much better at that feat either.

An excerpt:

Erut stood at the edge of the southernmost end of the gorge. There were only a few hours of daylight available so Erut took the chance to look around. To his left, in the distance, he could see the virtual wall of dipda trees stretch from either side of the deep cleft and continue north and south. Their leaves, together with a carefully worked lattice of support vines and ropes, created a full canopy that stretched across and down the gap to mark the end of the habitable space of Pa’Myshka. He looked down over the edge of the gorge and was engulfed by the smell of the moist air.

“Oh, no! No, no, no, not again!” said Erut waving his hands back and forth. “I’m not jumping in that thing again.”

“You won’t have to,” said Lagos, now dressed in a borrowed Sifuti bodysuit. “The gorge is too narrow here to simply fly across.”

“What about the…”

“The bridge up north is crawling with your friendly compatriots.”

He came up softly behind Erut. At first, the Kevutian thought he was being pushed from behind into the dark space below, but Lagos grabbed him around the waist. In his hands he held a woven belt with a large iron ring worked into it. Lagos snapped the belt into place around Erut then pulled him back from the edge of the gorge just enough so that the small man would not fall. Erut turned away from the gorge. Other Sifuti were laying down a coil of thick rope taken from supplies hidden behind the Sifuti house. One moved toward them with another rope attached to an iron hook.

“Just relax,” said the approaching Sifuti. It was the voice of the young male. His head covering was off and what remained was a strong and full face lined with wisps of light hair.  “We’re not going to throw you in again.” The male Sifuti threw the hook in his hand into the ring now securely around Erut’s waist. He looked right at the soldier. “Ru Omin,” he said.

“What?” said Erut.

“My name,” Omin said. “I just thought you should know my name before you went falling to your death.”

“Before I what?” cried Erut.

Omin just laughed while he took the rope now attached to Erut and pulled back on it to make it taut. He walked backwards with the rope in his hands and continued to laugh. As he moved, Lagos came from behind the laughing man and slapped him on the back.

“C’mon, don’t scare the little guy,” said Lagos. He moved in front of Erut. In his hands was a ball of rope that ended in a coil on the ground. The ball looked to be made from three separate strands of rope tied together.

“Now, listen to me carefully and do exactly as I say,” said Lagos. As he talked, he pushed Erut to the edge of the gorge. Erut swung his head around to try and avoid the edge, but the combination of shoving from Lagos against the pressure of the belt around him made it impossible to resist. Lagos stopped pushing when the Kevutian was at the absolute edge of the crevasse.

“First of all,” began Lagos. “Don’t move.”

Erut was squirming and making indistinguishable noises. He looked around for Avin and Oyn’a, who had joined them in the mission, but had now gone missing. There would be no support there.

“Don’t move!” barked Lagos.

Erut stiffened up and fell silent.

“I need you to listen to me very carefully,” said Lagos, “and do exactly what I tell you.”

Erut stood stiff and silent.

“You need to become as rigid as a board and hold on to that ball of rope.”

Erut was already rigid and clamped his hands around the rope ball as if squeezing it harder might make this scene just go away. He simply did nothing.

“Alright,” said Lagos. “Here comes the fun part.”

Chapter 12 Overview

Erut finds himself in the depths of the Sifuti's hiding place. They, again, want to know why he was running away from his own fellow soldiers. He tells them he was set up in an internal feud. His words reveal the fact that he is not a typical loyal member of the fighting force and would prefer to just go back home to his home island of Kwanchu. He also reveals that his family are members of a counter-culture religion that was thought to be eradicated but, instead, was pushed further underground. He goes on to explain what his people believe. As they are talking news is revealed about the seige of Lyrin and his people. The Sifuti decide to risk a rescue mission.

Chapter 10 Overview

We are introduced to Fok Lyrin, a large scraggly old man with a knack for reminding fellow Myshkans about the injustices of being held captive by people from another planet. He manages to collect a small group of followers and takes them to the local sanctuary which is meant as a reprieve to the Myshkans since they are no longer allowed to go to their own main temple. There he erects temporary shelter for his followers in a depression around the sanctuary. The Kevutians discover the holdout and decide to lay siege to the whole group by surrounding them. He and his followers are slowly starving to death. The Kevutians, however, are not willing to risk massive bloodshed so a standoff with the defiant Myshkans is underway.

Chapter 9 Overview

Erut is thrown into the depths of the gorge. Fortunately for him the pack put onto him by the Sifutis turns out to be a kind of small parachute that opened when he frantically waved his arms. Now he finds himself gliding through the gorge instead of into it. Two of the Sifuti join him in flight and give him some field training. There is not much he needs to do except keep himself flying straight by adjusting a couple of cords attached to the chute above. He has time to get the hang of flying but not landing. He has to be captured in a large rope net in which he quickly finds himself entangled. The Sifuti cut him out of the mess but before he could even say thanks, the black hood is thrown over his head once again.

Chapter 8 Overview

Lagolen takes his children away from their home but not where his daughter Oyn'a thinks they were headed. Oyn'a asks her father about her mother and how she died but Lagolen is evasive. He says he wants to protect them but she rejects that. Lagolen relents and tells her about her mother. They are heade for one of the sanctuaries that have been built in each province as way to let the Myshkans practice their traditions without going to the main temple which has been taken over by the Kevutians. When they get to the sanctuary they think that they are being watched but find out instead that others are being watched. They observe the Sifuti runnig from the sanctuary just before it explodes. The Sifuti find the three and ask them to follow.

Chapter 7 Overview

In Chapter Seven we meet Rhian who is a Kevutian soldier assigned to the infamous detention center. He is known for his singular excellence in just one talent–the ability to torture people from many different worlds while getting them to talk. In the occupied collection of planets the Kevutians call The Conglomerate, Rhian has found plenty of victims to aid him in refining his skills. We see him applying his craft to yet another unfortunate Myshkan. Rhian describes to him how the Kevutians are doing them a favor by bringing their superior culture to them. Instead of trying to obtain information about the ongoing attempts at sabotage and disruption by the Kevutians, Rhian seems more interested in discussing outlawed ritual practices much to the consternation of superior officer listening quietly in the shadows. Despite his best efforts Rhian seems unable to get the prisoner to repent and his determination leads to disastrous results.

Book Three Chapter 6 Overview

Erut finds himself captured by three masked and dark clothed individuals who call themselves Sifuti. The Sifuti are rebels and saboteurs bent on making life for the occupying Kevutians challenging and inhospitable. They want to know why he is running away from his own fellow soldiers. Erut tells his story and claims that he was framed by another soldier then called to see the man in charge who is named Kotygal. The Sifuti want to know if Erut can be of any use to them. Erut doens't know how to answer the question and is unsure of his fate as the three masked people suit him up in a strange device and proceed to throw him over the edge of the narrow but deep chasm that runs through the center of their world. They call it simply The Gorge.