Allowing hundreds, even thousands of innocent people to die just to make a movie is something that Dyoniss and Kessil can hardly understand. They are determined to find those responsible and see that they are exposed and shunned. When it is Kessil's tribe out on the plains that is threatened, defending them has to come first. When they lose some of their own, including a good friend of Kessil's granddaughter, bringing them to justice becomes even more important.
Dyoniss finds out all too clearly just how close to the Instinct those people will come to defend their ill-gotten gains. If not for an unexpected ally, he could well have succummbed to their trickery.
Then Kessil learns of the unexpected part she plays in all this and has to face the guilt that results from taking a life.