Fourteen

Garral encounters a young woman in the wilderness who lures him into a cave where he discovers Jessyn being held by a group of human refugees, including a black-armored soldier. After being captured and bound, Garral recognizes an ancient mathematical notation system used by the refugees and begins communicating with them in a proto-language, revealing these humans are descendants of the same ancestral civilization that populated Anjiin.

Garral spots an unfamiliar woman on a trail and follows her, hoping she can help him find Jessyn. The woman leads him into a cave system, where Garral realizes he's walked into a trap. He flees but is pursued and captured by a black-armored soldier. Inside the cave, Garral finds Jessyn alive and discovers the cave harbors a group of human refugees—a woman named Manta, a man named Omco, and several children—being guarded by the soldier, Corvall. Jessyn reveals she deliberately concealed her presence from the Carryx because she believes these people are the enemy the Carryx are fighting, and that these humans are her enemy. The group begins breaking camp, likely preparing to relocate. Garral and Jessyn are bound with rope and held with the children. While being herded, Garral notices mathematical tally marks on the cave floor from a lesson the children were having. He recognizes the notation system as an ancient first-generation Anjiian mathematical script and uses it to establish communication with Omco and Manta. Through this system and attempts at proto-language reconstruction, Garral discovers that these refugees speak a language ancestrally related to the early human languages of Anjiin, indicating they are descended from the same civilization rather than being a separate species. The soldier, Manta, and Omco all seem electrified by this discovery of shared linguistic heritage.