Eli stopped the burst before his body wanted to stop.
The fixed rib came beneath his left boot. He struck the footing hard, pain running up his shin, and folded toward the cable instead of taking another step into the gate. The movement talent released. Air rushed back into a place that had seemed, for one short interval, arranged around the line he intended to travel.
The ordinary harness rope drew against his waist.
“Landed,” he said.
Tessa’s voice reached him poorly across the broken conduit. He could hear his name and the instruction to answer. He raised his free hand where the near platform could see it.
“On the footing. Movement released.”
The cable jumped.
He caught the short tool against the bent guide and saw what the angle from outside had concealed. A lip of metal had folded inward, trapping the cable against the pulley frame. Mira’s weight and the lowering brace pressed it more tightly with every shift. Pulling harder from the winch would force the cable along the torn edge.
