The chap­ter “Gal­lows Howe” depicts Covenan­t’s har­row­ing jour­ney after his failed attempt to con­front the bat­tle rag­ing in the crevice of the Earth­Blood. Over­whelmed by a pow­er­ful force, he los­es con­scious­ness and is lat­er res­cued by Ban­nor, a Blood­guard, who pulls him to safe­ty. Covenant is left in a daze, bare­ly aware of his sur­round­ings, as Ban­nor car­ries him through the chaot­ic bat­tle­field and into a tun­nel. The scene under­scores Covenan­t’s vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty and the dire con­se­quences of his fail­ure, set­ting the stage for their des­per­ate escape.

Ban­nor nav­i­gates the dark tun­nels with pre­ci­sion, even­tu­al­ly reach­ing a boat on the lake of Earth­root. As they set sail, the boat is caught in a strong cur­rent pulling it toward a mas­sive crevice. Rec­og­niz­ing the dan­ger, Ban­nor acts swift­ly, secur­ing Covenant to the boat and prepar­ing for the impend­ing plunge. He instructs Covenant to use the orcrest, a lumi­nous stone, to light their way. Covenant, though numb and unre­spon­sive, obeys, and the stone’s sil­ver glow illu­mi­nates their path as they are swept toward the chasm.

The boat plunges into the crevice, launch­ing them into a night­mar­ish descent through treach­er­ous under­ground water­ways. Ban­nor skill­ful­ly steers through the chaos, using bro­ken pieces of the boat to nav­i­gate the vio­lent cur­rents and avoid dead­ly obsta­cles. Covenant, despite his stu­por, main­tains his grip on the orcrest, its light prov­ing vital for their sur­vival. The relent­less tor­rent car­ries them through a series of cav­erns, each more per­ilous than the last, as Ban­nor’s unwa­ver­ing resolve keeps them alive.

Their ordeal cul­mi­nates in a final, des­per­ate strug­gle as the boat is dri­ven under­wa­ter by the crush­ing force of the cur­rent. Ban­nor clings to Covenant, pre­vent­ing him from inhal­ing water, and they are even­tu­al­ly eject­ed through a side tun­nel into the open air. The chap­ter ends with their dra­mat­ic emer­gence into the sun­light, bat­tered but alive, as they are spat out onto the Black Riv­er. Ban­nor’s stead­fast­ness and Covenan­t’s uncon­scious endurance high­light the themes of sur­vival and loy­al­ty amidst over­whelm­ing odds.