Evar and Starval release Escapes from the Mechanism to keep Clovis, the Assistant, and the Soldier occupied long enough for the two of them and Kerrol to slip through the portal. Once in the Exchange, Evar and his brothers soon find Livira and her group coming out of a different portal. The reunion is cut short as Clovis bursts into the Exchange and attacks. She injuries Malar and grabs Livira, but Yute intervenes and orders Clovis to release her.

With the fight paused, Yute reveals the truth of the ruined city that Livira and Evar saw; it was occupied by both humans and canith, who had finally made peace after years of war, and the attack came from a different species entirely. He also reveals that he and Yamala were once assistants, the servants of Irad, in opposition to the Jaspeth-serving Escapes. The two of them became mortal to try to permanently break the cycle of destruction, although they disagreed on how to accomplish this. Lord Algar, who is among the survivors, rejects the idea that the two groups could ever live in harmony and vows to hunt the canith down.