‘Lewis,’ a voice said nearby. A moment later, he felt someone shake him gently. As he opened his eyes, he saw Nirra standing over him with a spear in his hand. Scrambling backwards, he looked for an escape. ‘It’s alright. I am not here to hurt you. You are coming hunting with us today.’

Where are Olivia and Ellen?’ he asked as his heart slowed to a regular speed once again.

‘The angry one is helping make the dress,’ Nirra said. ‘I don’t know about the other.’ Lewis knew exactly who he meant by the angry one as he climbed out of bed. Undoubtedly, she was angrier now that she had to work on the dress as well.

‘I’m sure she’ll enjoy that,’ Lewis muttered sarcastically.

‘I don’t know why you won’t let me remove her,’ Nirra said.

‘It’s complicated,’ Lewis sighed.

‘I had these prepared for you last night,’ Nirra said, holding out the spear and a bow, which must have been leaning against the side of the bed.

‘Just the bow is fine, thank you,’ he replied, taking it from Nirra and weighing it up in his hands. It was lighter than the one he was used to. ‘Let’s go,’ he said as he shouldered the bow. At last, he had a way to defend himself again.

As soon as he stepped outside, he found himself hit by a wall of hot air. High above, the sun was beating down intently. It took him a moment to get his bearings as he lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the bright light.

'It is a fine day for the hunt,' Nirra said, ushering him towards half a dozen men wielding a selection of spears and bows, immersed in their own conversations, which came to an abrupt halt when they saw Nirra and Lewis coming. 'Let's go.'

With Nirra at his side, Lewis followed the men through the village. At one point, he thought he caught a glimpse of Olivia with several of the villagers. He would have to wait to speak to her later, he realised, as Nirra and his men paid her no attention as they headed for the small wooden bridge that led into the forest.

'As a member of the Cimant tribe, it is tradition that on the morning of his marriage, the man is taken to hunt,' Nirra said. 'It is said that his failure or success in the hunt will reflect the future of his marriage.'

'How does that work?' Lewis asked.

'A large animal captured and killed represents a fruitful marriage; a small and weak animal, the opposite.'

'What if nothing is caught?' he asked as he looked around at the silent forest.

'We do not speak of the consequences of failure,' Nirra said. 'Don't worry, I'm sure you will manage.'

'Right,' Lewis muttered, turning his eyes to the forest around him once more. The odds of finding something in this forest were dismal at best, especially with Harvest drawing near. There would be thousands of food sources in the forest. He would never find anything worth hunting this close to the path.

'We haven't had an unsuccessful hunt in eight years,' said the man in front of Lewis with a glance over his shoulder.

'What happened then?'

'The wife of the hunter died in childbirth six months later. The child died as well,' he said. 'A failed hunt is an omen of death. Try not to think about it, though.'

'I'll try,' Lewis promised. Despite his promise, he doubted the thought would leave his mind, at least until they found something in the forest. While he had no interest in marrying Cassandra, he didn't want to put her in any danger.

With Nirra's recollection hanging in the air, Lewis allowed the men to lead the way through the forest, taking in the huge lengths of moss that were dangling down from the branches of the dense trees. Out of the bright sunlight, the forest was cool. It almost had a damp feel to it, despite the fact that it probably hadn't rained in weeks.

'Look up ahead,' the man at the front of the group whispered, holding up a hand to stop the rest of them. Taking a step to his left, Lewis looked between the two men in front of him.

Hunched over, sniffing at something in the middle of the path, was a large black mass that looked a lot like a panther. 'Go, Lewis,' Nirra whispered, urging him forward. In front of him, the men parted, allowing him to move between them as he removed the bow from his shoulder.

Creeping forward slowly, Lewis pulled one of the arrows that Nirra had given him earlier, notching it carefully as he eyed the panther-like creature. So far, it has been oblivious to their presence. For a second, Lewis paused. How had he not heard them yet? Or, failing that, smell them.

As he pulled back the arrow, it felt like he was back in Fir Forest with his father all those years ago. He never would have thought that, after going so long without a bow, he would feel relieved to hold one again. Despite the bond, Ellen would never have let him near any sort of weapon, something that on several occasions had proved to be a good decision.

In the middle of the path, the creature still hadn't realised that it had company until Lewis released the arrow aimed at its neck. It was a certain kill that Lewis knew as he watched the arrow cross the empty space between himself and the creature, waiting for the thud when it found its target. But it never came. Instead of burying itself in the creature's neck, the arrow passed through as if there were nothing there. Slowly, it turned towards them. Now it knew they were there.

'What?' he heard one of the men mutter behind him. 'Did you see that?'

Yanking another arrow from the quiver on his back, Lewis notched it and fired at the creature quickly as it began to advance on them slowly. Like the first arrow, it sailed through the creature as if it weren't there.

'It's like it's just a shadow,' Nirra said quietly as Lewis backed away, drawing a third arrow despite what had happened with the first two.

A shadow. That was it! It wasn't a shadow but a spectre, just like the one in Fir Forest the night he had been captured. In the darkness that night, he had never been able to get a proper look at it.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

'We need to go now!' Lewis shouted when the spectre growled, inching forward. Turning, he pushed the others ahead of him.

'Where are we going?' Nirra asked as he ran ahead of Lewis.

'The village. We need to find Ellen,' Lewis called.

'What about that thing?'

'She'll know what to do!'

With a glance over his shoulder, Lewis checked to see how far behind the spectre was. For a second, he thought it had disappeared until he spotted it standing in the middle of the path, where it had been before they had started running. Why wasn't it attacking them? he wondered. Rather than stop the men ahead of him, he carried on running; the more distance they could put between themselves and the spectre, the better. Whether it chased them or not, he didn't feel comfortable staying in the village any more. Spectres had managed to get inside Tristan, a heavily guarded city, before; what would they do to a tiny, secluded village in the middle of a forest?

For two weeks, there hadn't been any sign of the spectres, but as soon as they stopped, they caught up with them. Had they really been that close all along? Ellen would have a lot of questions to answer as soon as he found her, Lewis thought as he followed the men across the bridge. As they entered the village, people began to appear from between the houses, looking on, first with surprise that the hunters had returned so early and then with fear when they realised that they were empty-handed.

With no idea where Ellen was, Lewis followed Nirra and the other hunters in the direction of the village square, ignoring the onlookers. 'Olivia!' Lewis called, breaking away from the hunters when he spotted her next to one of the burned-out bonfires from the night before. 'Where's Ellen?'

'What?' she asked, taken aback by his sudden appearance.

'I need to find Ellen now!' he insisted. 'They've found us.'

'In the name of the gods, what is all this commotion?' a voice demanded from behind Lewis. Turning, he found himself facing Krora.

'A demon in the forest,' Nirra said breathlessly.

'What?'

'A demon of some sort; our weapons did not touch it,' he replied. 'The arrows passed straight through it as if it were nothing but a shadow.'

'I need to speak to Ellen now,' Lewis insisted.

'You may have been chosen to marry my daughter, but you are in no position to make demands, outsider,' Krora snapped, turning his attention back to Nirra.

Turning his back on Krora, Lewis looked to Olivia. 'Do you know where Ellen is?' he asked.

Silently, she nodded, afraid that if she spoke, she might be ridiculed by Krora as well.

'How dare you turn your back on me!' Krora shouted, grabbing Lewis by the back of the neck and forcing him to face him again.

'Let go of me,' Lewis said as he pulled Krora's hands away, throwing them off him. 'If you or any of your villagers want to see the sun set, then I need to speak to Ellen now!'

'You cannot enter the bride's dress room; it is against tradition,' Krora said angrily.

'Doesn't your tradition also tell you that an unsuccessful hunt is an omen of death?' Lewis said, recalling what Nirra had told him about the tradition before they had seen the spectre. 'If you value the life of anyone in this village, then you will let me see her.'

'Alright,' Krora sighed, defeated. 'The bride's dress room is down the street across the square. Third building on the right.'

Not waiting to see if he was allowed to turn his back on Krora this time, Lewis turned, grabbing Olivia by the wrist and pulling her after him.

'What's going on?' Olivia asked, struggling to keep up with him as he dragged her along.

'There was a spectre in the forest,' he said. 'We need to get out of here before they get to the village.'

'What about the Cimant people? Should we warn them?' She asked as they cut through the crowd that had gathered as if they weren't there.

'You heard Krora; if he won't listen to an outsider, then none of them will,' Lewis said bitterly.

'Some of them might,' Olivia protested. 'The people that I have spoken to grow tired of Krora's ways. They want a life free from all the silly rituals.'

'We'll see,' Lewis said more to quiet her than anything else as they reached the door of the building. Not bothering to knock, Lewis threw open the dark blue wooden door.

Inside the room, several women screamed as the door bounced off the wall. Around the room, there were a dozen lamps lighting the dark room. Standing on a small stool in the centre of the room was Cassandra, grappling with a bunch of sparkling white material as she tried to cover her chest quickly. For a moment, he froze in his tracks, unable to remember why exactly he was there, as he watched her loosely tied blonde hair come undone, falling around her shoulders.

'Lewis?' she asked in surprise.

'Man! What are you doing here?' An elderly woman shouted as she hurried forward, trying to push him out of the room with little success. 'It is against the ritual.'

'I need to speak to Ellen now,' he insisted, pushing the woman's hands away. From where she sat on the floor dejectedly, Ellen looked up, a strip of beaded ribbon held between her hands. As if she had been woken from her stupor, she jumped to her feet, eager to leave.

'No, no one can leave the bride's dress room if they are involved in the making of the dress,' the woman said, pulling at her frizzy, dark grey hair anxiously.

'Let me guess, it's against the ritual?' Lewis asked, although he had a hunch that he already knew the answer.

'Exactly,' she said, a smile crossing her thin lips as if she were relieved that he finally understood.

'Then I'll talk to her here,' he said, turning back to Ellen, whose face had dropped again, her chance of freedom short-lived.

'No man is supposed to be in here,' the woman reminded him.

'If I leave without speaking to Ellen, then people could die,' Lewis warned her. Reluctantly, the woman backed away into the shadows, muttering furiously to herself. 'There was a spectre in the forest. We need to get out of here.'

'So, this is all just an elaborate plot to avoid marrying my daughter then,' a cold voice said from behind Lewis. It was one that he immediately recognised as Krora's.

'Man! What are you doing in here?' the woman demanded, emerging from the shadows again.

'Silence, Seeker,' Krora snapped. Under his gaze, she quickly retreated to the shadows.

'No!' Lewis sighed in frustration. 'There are spectres in the forest, and they will be coming to the village.'

'He is telling the truth,' Ellen said.

'Hold your tongue, outsider,' Krora snapped. Unlike the woman he had referred to as Seeker, Ellen didn't back down under his gaze.

Laughing quietly, Ellen stared him down. 'I don't know why I am surprised; a primitive man like yourself could never comprehend the forces that are at work here.'

'Why you!' Krora shouted, grabbing a spear from one of the hunters standing behind him.

Jumping in between the two of them, Lewis grabbed the spear, wrenching it out of Krora's hands before he could hurt Ellen and tossing it on the floor with a clatter.

'Everyone just stop!' Reluctant to take his eyes off Krora, Lewis glanced over his shoulder quickly to see Cassandra climbing down from the stool. 'This isn't going to solve anything,' she said as she moved between her father and Lewis.

'Cassandra,' Krora said warningly.

'Lewis, what happened?' she asked, ignoring her father.

'There was a creature in the forest, a spectre. Your hunters will confirm it,' Lewis said, nodding to the men behind Krora. 'I've seen them before. They attacked my city; that's why I'm here. Well, not here, but why was I heading north when your hunters found us?

'Why were you heading north?' Cassandra asked, holding up a hand to stop Krora from interrupting.

'The spectres are drawn to power; Ellen and Olivia were taking me somewhere so that they could teach me to channel the power properly and stop the spectres from hunting me,' Lewis explained.

'These creatures are hunting you?' Krora asked sceptically.

'Yes. That is why you need to let us leave,' Lewis said.

'I can't do that. The marriage ritual has begun; it must be completed,' Krora said with a shake of his head.

'We don't have time,' Lewis insisted. 'If we stay here any longer, then none of your people will live to see the sun set. Your hunters have already seen that their weapons cannot touch a spectre; the people will be easy prey.'

'There is nothing we can do,' Krora said as he turned his back on them, striding to the door. 'The ceremony will proceed as planned.'

'You're willing to risk your life for a ritual? The lives of your people? Your daughter?' Lewis demanded, making him follow Krora out of the door.

'Leave him,' Cassandra said, pulling him back gently. 'There is no one and no force in this world that could change his mind once it is set, for better or worse.'