Goth and Throbb are bats from the jungle who humans captured and placed in a glass enclosure. Goth thinks it’s so that the humans can study them. A human with “wiry black hair and an unkempt beard” feeds Goth and Throbb mice (75), but Goth is tired of them. He hatches a plan to escape by clawing his way out through a vent. It works, and soon he and Throbb are outside. Goth is shocked to find that he’s no longer in the warm forest but instead he’s outside in the freezing cold. He wants to eat Throbb, but he decides to wait in case he needs his help. He finds a roost of pigeons and decides to eat them instead.

Shade and Marina are in the city, but they’re abducted by a group of pigeons who hold them down and hurt Shade’s wing. The pigeons are in an uproar because two winged creatures who look like the “gargoyles on the cathedral come to life” (88) killed some pigeons. The pigeons quickly realize that Shade and Marina are too small to have killed the pigeons, but an owl with allegiance to the pigeons declares that all bats are banned from the sky and will be killed, no matter if it’s night or day.