Prologue

Human beings exist purely as pieces of a large puzzle; each one of our souls designed to fit the bigger picture. The greater Expanse.

As are we all made from the same components; blood and muscle and bone, flesh and hair. Built of organic chemistry, all creatures, equally.

As feet, hooves press into the soil, so hands, paws rush through the leaves or blades of grass. A whisper from the wind and the harmony of a babbling brook, from which we all breathe and take a drink.

You see, Earth operates like a machine, well-oiled and ever-moving. The constant turning over and over, day becoming night and night becoming day. Weeks turn to months, turn to years. Leaves fall, land freezes and thaws. Animals die.

People do.

And outside of it all, the spirit of a God so large, so powerful, we couldn’t possibly comprehend Her. As we are a story in Earth’s biography, so is Earth the chapter to a longer book.

Time and space are infinite.

I suppose such things could make us feel insignificant. But on the contrary… Each breath inhaled and exhaled moves the needle.

We are all a part of it. Wheels in motion, for something much bigger.

Everything is connected. Everything has a point.

Death. Rebirth. Transformation.

Ecdysis.