The flock of bats attacks her swarm in mid flight. Parts of her body mass are being caught and eaten. Her beetle dream responds with only a dull sense of loss. No great matter, this is expected as part of the cycle of life. The remainder of the swarm will simply fly on, go to ground, and start a new colony. 

But the presence of bats evokes in Dema her own bat-dream. Evokes it strongly. Bats are better, more familiar than beetles. She shifts into the bat-dream and her remaining insect mass shifts with her, resolving into a number of little bat bodies. 

Dema's bat dream merges with that of the rest of the flock, and her bat bodies fly on with them through the night, guided by the echoes from their own squeals and chitters, catching and eating night-flying insects just as the others do, restoring some of her missing body mass. 

As day approaches she goes with the flock to their cave, and all her little bodies roost with them there. Dema relaxes into this new aspect of bat existence, learning the pleasant comfort of simply being there, hanging in the cave, digesting little insect bodies, sleeping the bat sleep, dreaming the bat dream.

Evening comes and bats begin to leave the cave. Dema comes out of the bat dream enough to realize where she is. She flies her flock of bat-bodies out of the cave, but she does not follow the other bats on their nightly rounds. Instead she heads home to Chicago, catching more insects along the way, replenishing the rest of her body mass. 

Off and on she contemplates shifting all her little bodies into her own familiar human-sized bat form, but she does not do it. Her last experience in that form had not gone well, and she does not want to repeat it. She is not quite confident that she can do the shift in mid flight without falling. Better to have solid ground under her when she tries. So she flies her flock on. And on.

Farmlands gave way to city suburbs, then to the city proper, then her home. There, flitting over her own rooftop, she is finally on familiar ground and her personal shaman dream grows strong and stable. Without hesitation she resolves her flitting bat-bodies into her normal human form, enters the house through the attic, goes down to her own room, and goes to bed.