This chapter opens with a soliloquy in which the narrator laments the fact that he has not been able to return to his homeland. He laments that his ship has been delayed in its journey and that his family has been forced to stay behind to care for him. The narrator then turns to the action of the previous chapter, in which alvarez and his men have attacked the ship. The ship has had to be repaired and the captain has been taken prisoner by the enemy. The captain laments his loss of ajeel, who is now an enemy prisoner. He then turns his attention to runningdi, who has been captured and is being held as a prisoner by a group of men from the enemy tribe. He is shocked to learn that the men think the ship is a pushover and that the emperor has sent all his forces to attack the group. He wonders why the emperor would send such a large number of men to attack such a small group of soldiers. He also wonders why he did not notice that the ship was being attacked by alvarez's men. He realizes that he is in the middle of a battle between the enemy and the emperor's forces.