Portia examines a colossal, sleeping alien that survived the fiery fall which scarred the land. She missed the descent itself, but her people share fractured accounts now shaping cultural doctrine: the Messenger still orbits, yet another star has fallen, proving the skies hold multiple moving lights and new meanings.

Witnesses recall giants from the sky fighting ant scouts, then killing one of Bianca’s assistants. After the giants departed, bodies of their kind remained, some slain by ants, others mysteriously dead. Bianca’s team rapidly removed the remains before an explosion erased the site and killed several of Bianca’s males. Unseen by all, one giant fled into the forest and lived.

That survivor has since killed two spiders who approached it. Portia notes that spider venom barely affects such vertebrates. If it were only a beast, she could trap or unleash the ants to destroy it; instead, its origin ties it to the Messenger, making it a sacred mystery to be unraveled rather than a threat to be crushed.

Feeling history’s weight, Portia decides to capture the creature and bring it to Great Nest for study, convinced it carries the Messenger’s lesson. Her resolve is strengthened by her people’s rising fortunes—turning ant enemies into allies and reversing the war’s tide—signs, to Portia, that destiny itself mandates this bold seizure.