Chapter 16 Summary

Ransom awakes in Augray's Tower feeling relieved, like a great burden has been lifted. He met a sorn, the source of much of his fear since landing on Malacandra, and was not afraid. Only one mystery remains, Ransom thinks, Oyarsa.

Augray feeds Ransom and says he will carry Ransom to Meldilorn. To counter the thin air, he gives Ransom a tank of oxygen to breathe. He explains the sorn invented the device and the pfifltriggi built it for them.

Ransom rides on Augray's shoulder and as they walk Augray tells him more of the history of Malacandra. A race of birds once lived on the planet, Augray says, but they are long extinct and the forests they once lived in now fossilized. They pass the caverns of many other sorns, some of whom greet them as they pass. As Ransom becomes more familiar...