Pages 267-323 Summary

Brutha, his dreams haunted by promises of food and drink, wakes to find Om fending off a gathering of spirits, each a would be god. Later that day, Brutha and Om meet an addled anchorite hermit, St. Ungulant, who lives atop a pole and communes with the small gods of the desert. Half-mad, the hermit dines on hallucinatory food and drink, only taking real sustenance for "medicinal purposes." St. Ungulant's only friend is a seemingly imaginary being that he refers to as "Angus." The hermit tells Brutha how to extract fluid from the leaves of a certain plant. Meanwhile, in Ephebe, the invaders have been defeated and the reinstated Tyrant works to muster an alliance for invading Omnia.

Omnia is close. Brutha begins to consider talking to the people of Omnia, telling them what he has learned. Later, while Brutha sleeps...