Kia and Envoy share what happened while they were separated – that Envoy saw a "goddess" while inside the Rose Shield, and that Kia and Whonkahonk met some mutant Skreek inhabitants of the city of Stalto. Envoy decides not to take the crystal, though she thinks that it would be wise to suggest that the Skreeks abandon their home. They go off in search of the Skreeks, meeting with their leader, Chieftain Whiptail, and tell of their experience down below. Shaman Whiteeyes agrees to join them to see this for himself, and they struggle with the strange "rules" of the reality-warping effects of magic around the Rose Shield.