She tells Marak that when the Ila first arrived on the planet over 500 years ago, she used her own makers to modify man and beast to survive in the desert, but this angered the "ondat", an alien species, because she had released makers on their world and damaged its ecology. The "ondat" feared her actions would rekindle the age-old Gene Wars, and want to rid the planet of all Ila's life. Luz's people negotiated with the "ondat" to give them time to undo the Ila's makers with their own more advanced nanoceles, and prevent the "ondat" from destroying the planet. Thirty years ago, Luz and her team landed and began releasing their own makers into villagers to draw them to her. The "ondat" agreed to hold off their destruction for thirty years, and to spare the area surrounding Luz's tower once it begins. Luz instructs Marak to return across the desert to Oburan and persuade the Ila and other survivors to come to Luz's Refuge where they will be safe. The thirty years is already up and Marak has to hurry because the "ondat" have already begun their bombardment of the Lakht with asteroids from space. To stress the urgency of Marak's new mission, Luz feeds the "mad" with a new vision, that of the final "ondat" assault on the world, the hammerfall. Guided by Luz's voice, Marak manages to avoid the bombardment from space and reaches Oburan, only to finds it in ruins, and the Ila and other survivors camped nearby. Keeping to his promise, Marak tells her what he found, and about Luz and her makers. The Ila reveals that she knew about Luz, and while at odds with her, she agrees to return with Marak to her Refuge because she knows that the hammerfall is coming. The return caravan with the Ila and other survivors barely makes it across the desert to the Refuge before the final hammer falls, destroying the Lakht. An uneasy truce is established between the Ila and Luz, the world's two "gods", and while the Ila insists that her makers will overcome Luz's, it is "her" makers that are overwhelmed by Luz's. The weather has changed—it is cold and often snows, but after several generations, Marak, whose makers have made him immortal, begins routine inspections of the transformed Lakht, and Luz prepares to release new creatures she has engineered.