Four hours after Lewis and the hunters had returned to the village empty-handed, he found himself standing in the middle of the makeshift stage where he had eaten dinner the night before in silence. Only a few feet away was Krora, dressed in an elegant deer hide robe, holding a large book in his hand as he stood facing the crowd that had gathered before them. Around the village square, the large bonfires had been lit, casting a warm glow over the people as the sun dipped beneath the treetops.

Since they had seen the spectre in the forest, there had been no sign of anything out of the ordinary. At least of the dangerous kind, Lewis thought as he looked down at the brown and white-spotted deer skin waistcoat he had been told to wear. Given Krora's current mood, he accepted. He didn't want to anger the Cimant Elder any further, especially if there were spectres lurking near the village.

All of a sudden, the crowd fell silent. Looking up, Lewis saw Cassandra making her way towards the stage, her white dress, now properly fixed, sparkling in the firelight. As the light flickered across her features, he couldn't blame the crowd for falling into stunned silence. Yet, as breath-taking as she was, he couldn't help but imagine that it was Emily wearing the dress instead, the perfectly curled locks of golden blonde hair red instead.

'What do you think?' she whispered nervously as she ascended the wooden steps, taking her place opposite him.

'You look incredible,' he replied, feeling a pang of guilt in his stomach as he thought of Emily. What would she say when she found out? No, he reminded himself, he was only doing this because it kept Ellen alive, and while she lived, so did Emily. He didn't have a choice, did he?

'My people!' Krora called to the crowd. 'On this beautiful evening, we are gathered for the greatest of our traditions. The unity of two people and two great families

This must have all been scripted for every ceremony, Lewis thought with a glance at Cassandra. Krora knew nothing about his family, and he hardly thought that Lewis was anywhere near great given what had happened earlier in the day.

Once again, Lewis found his thoughts drifting back to Emily as Krora began droning on about being a Cimant Elder and how fantastic it was to see his only daughter married before his people. He wondered what Emily was doing right now. Knowing her, she was probably pacing anxiously as they tried to figure out where he was going, not that they could follow him. Or perhaps they were looking for George and the crown. For a moment, he wished that he could see her. Just for a minute so that he could talk to her and explain everything.

Krora's calloused hand dragged Lewis from his thoughts as it pulled his own forward, placing it in Cassandra's hand. 'And with this vine from the sacred tree that has been nurtured by our fathers and forefathers, I bind these two together,' Krora said as he wrapped the blueish vine around their interlocked hands. 'May they be bound as they are by this vine. May their love burn as this vine does.'

Without warning, Krora produced a candle from nowhere, holding the flame to the vine. With wide eyes, Lewis watched as the flame ignited the vine. For a moment, it flickered before going out. Instead of bursting into flames, the vine smouldered, turning to ash and crumbling around their hands. 'Though it may not be seen, may it never disappear from this man, Lewis, and this woman, Cassandra.'

Lewis wondered as Krora fell silent. Yes, it must be, he thought as the crowd in the square erupted in cheers. 'Congratulations! Krora muttered as they turned to face the crowd. Standing as close to the stage as she could was Olivia, a brilliant smile on her face like the rest of the villagers. Beside her stood Ellen, arms folded, as she waited impatiently for the ceremony to be over.

In the brief minutes when she had been freed from the dress-making before Lewis had been led away to get ready, she had sought him out. Once night fell, they would be leaving the village, regardless of the consequences, she insisted. Although he took no pleasure in the idea of returning to the previous arrangement they had had for travelling, he agreed. The spectres were after him; he wouldn't let them destroy this village so that he could avoid Ellen's torture any longer than necessary.

'What happens now?' Lewis whispered to Cassandra.

'Let the feast begin!' Krora shouted before she could respond. Like the night before, tables began to appear from the huge storage room behind the platform, with huge trays of food being placed on them as the villagers fought for a seat as close to the stage as possible.

One by one, Cassandra's family filed on to the stage, each offering them their congratulations as the villagers began to devour the food ravenously. Allowing Cassandra to guide him by the arm to the chairs that had been placed on the platform while they were observing the crowd, Lewis looked around at the village. As he cast his eyes over the tables around the edge of the square, he saw something move in the shadows. Could it be the spectres?

'Come on, let's eat,' Cassandra said excitedly, pulling on his hand gently. Before he turned away from the crowd, he saw Ellen sit up stiffly for a moment, her head turning in the direction he had been looking a moment ago. Had she sensed the spectres? Beside her sat Olivia, oblivious as she tucked into the plate of food in front of her.

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'How long does all this last?' Lewis asked, trying not to sound fed up. He could never get fed up with a feast like this. Instead, it was the nagging sensation in his stomach that made him ask.

'The party doesn't really start until after the feast,' she said without questioning him. Perhaps she just thought he was interested in Cimant customs.

With a plate piled high with food, Lewis followed Cassandra over to their seats in front of the crowd. He had barely sat down when there was a scream from the far side of the square, echoing over the murmur of excited chatter. At once he was on his feet again, his plate breaking on the floor as it fell off his lap. In the front row of tables, Ellen was on her feet as well.

For a moment, there was nothing but silence. Then, in the distance, a huge black shape lunged out of the shadows, skidding across one of the tables as it made for the people sitting there. With screams and a crash, the table turned over, and the villagers disappeared from view.

'Hunters!' Krora screamed as another spectre lunged out of the shadows, attacking a table closer to them.

'Their weapons won't do anything,' Lewis said as he searched for Ellen among the panic-stricken crowd.

'Then what do you suppose we do? Krora bellowed, turning on Lewis angrily. 'Stand around and wait for these creatures to maul us all to death?'

'Let me think,' Lewis demanded as he tried to come up with an idea, all the while watching as table after table was tipped over and villagers swallowed into the crowd fleeing in any direction possible.

'Lewis! Cassandra screamed beside him, pulling him aside roughly. As he turned, he saw the pitch-black fur of the spectre inches away from him. Instinctively, he threw his arm up to protect his face as fear erupted inside him.

With a deafening bang, he found himself thrown backward, the spectre soaring through the air in the opposite direction, its black body burning. Looking around for some explanation, he only found Krora and his wife standing on the platform, both frozen to the spot and ghostly white. 'What was that?' Cassandra asked beside him. Whatever had thrown him off his feet had knocked her down as well.

'I don't know,' he said honestly as he saw the body of the spectre lying motionless, its black fur now ablaze. Suddenly, he remembered the spectre in Fir Forest. It had been injured when Thomas threw some sort of fireball at it. 'Fire! Use the fire!' he shouted, scrambling to his feet.

Leaving his stunned in-laws, Lewis grabbed a spear that was leaning against the wall behind the chairs. Taking it by the end, he held it out to one of the cauldrons of fire that sat at the edge of the platform. As soon as it was alight, he turned, hurling it as hard as he could at the nearest spectre. Whining loudly, the spectre fell to the floor, tumbling into one of the empty tables with a crash.

Whether the hunters had heard his instruction or not, the sight of the flaming spear sticking out of the spectre got the message across. Drawing their weapons, they surged towards the bonfires around the square, using the flaming spears to beat back the spectres.

'Come on!' Lewis shouted, grabbing Cassandra's arm with one hand as he clutched another spear in the other, lighting it on the cauldron as he pulled her off the platform.

'Where are we going?' she asked, hurrying along behind him as fast as she could.

'There are too many of them,' he said as he swiped at a spectre with the flaming spear.

'I told you we should have just left,' Ellen said, appearing by his side suddenly, her bag over her shoulder.

'I know!' he shouted, jabbing at a spectre as it prepared to pounce on them. 'Where's Olivia?'

'We need to get you out of here,' Ellen insisted. 'Get down.'

Not stopping to think, Lewis pulled Cassandra down. It wasn't a moment too soon as Ellen produced a fireball like Thomas had in Fir Forest and threw it at a spectre that had been about to leap on them from one of the rooftops. Lewis could feel Cassandra shaking as he helped her up again. Having never left the village in her life, he couldn't even begin to imagine what was going through her head right now.

'Where's Olivia? We can't leave without her!' Lewis shouted as he tried to look around for her while defending them from a pair of spectres that were trying to find a way past the flaming spear.

'Our priority is to get you to the tower in one piece,' Ellen said. 'Her and Wilson were expendable.'

'No!' letting go of Cassandra, he pulled Ellen back. 'No one is expendable. We aren't leaving until we find her.'

'You'll get us all killed!' Ellen screamed as she yanked her arm out of his grip.

'There! Cassandra shouted. Turning, spear at the ready, expecting another attack, Lewis saw that Cassandra was not pointing at a spectre but at Olivia. She was backed up against a wall, and a man wielding a flaming spear beside her was attempting to hold back a spectre.

Changing course, Lewis ran towards her. He was still twenty feet away when the spectre batted the spear out of the man's hands, lunging at him. As he fell to the ground under the spectre's weight, Lewis threw the spear he was holding. Barely registering the cry from the spectre as the spear pierced its side, Lewis grabbed Olivia by the arm, pulling her away. 'Time to go!' he shouted as they ran after Ellen and Cassandra, following them between two of the houses. He could only hope that Ellen knew where she was going. Without the spear, he was completely defenceless against the spectres.

'Where are we going?' Cassandra asked between heavy breaths as they ran down the street. At the end, Lewis could just make out the small bridge that crossed the stream and led into the forest. On either side, a flaming torch sat on a metal bracket.

'As far away from the spectres as possible,' Ellen said.

'Olivia, grab the other torch,' Lewis said, pointing at the one on the right of the bridge.

'We don't have time to stop,' Ellen snapped.

'And we won't be able to see anything in the forest if we don't,' Lewis argued, pausing to grab the torch on the left of the bridge. Evidently, Olivia valued his point above Ellen's, as she skidded to a halt as well, lifting the other torch from its bracket. Stamping her foot impatiently, Ellen consented to stop for a moment.

'Are they following us?' Cassandra asked, bent double as she tried to get her breath back.

'I can't see any,' Lewis said as he scanned the edge of the village for any sign of the spectres. 'We need to keep moving, though. They won't be far behind us.'