Lewis was the last to awaken the morning after Cassandra’s funeral. The sun already looked to be high in the sky, judging by the way the light fell on the floor through the small gap in the deer hide curtains. Yawning, he stretched his arms above his head. Despite sleeping late for the first time in months, he wanted to do nothing more than roll over and go back to sleep.

He forced himself to push back the covers, though, sitting up on the edge of the bed. Everything was over, he realised, a wave of relief sweeping over him. All he had to do was get dressed, find the others, and then they could be on their way. How long would it take to get back to Tristan from here?

The hot sun blinded him as he opened the door, stepping outside. Holding a hand to his eyes, Lewis waited for them to adjust to the dark room inside. After all the uproar of the last two days, the villagers were going about their day-to-day lives. None of the villagers paid him any attention as he wandered the grassy paths in search of the others, heading in the direction of the village square.

As he had expected, Lewis found Emily, Arthur, and Olivia in the village square. Emily and Arthur were sitting on the edge of the platform with Achak talking as Olivia stood beside a chestnut-coloured horse, petting it nervously. Behind the horse were two others, tethered to one of the posts that supported the canopy over the platform.

‘They’re beautiful,’ she said quietly. ‘I wish I was going now.’

‘Going where?’ Lewis asked. Olivia jumped, spinning around in surprise. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.’

‘I was wondering if, possibly, I might be able to stay here,’ she said nervously once she had regained her composure, exchanging a glance with Achak. ‘It’s just that I spent so long cooped up in the tower, it would be nice to...’

Lewis held up a hand to stop her. ‘You don’t need my permission to stay here,’ he said. ‘I can imagine that it would be nice to get away from the confines of the tower.’

‘Can I stay?’ she asked excitedly.

‘Of course, as long as they will allow it,’ he replied, looking to Achak for guidance on the matter.

He nodded. ‘There will be the initiation for her to become a member of the tribe, but I don’t see that as being a problem.’

‘It looks like it’s just the three of us then,’ Lewis said, looking at Emily and Arthur. Slowly, they got to their feet.

‘Lewis!’ a voice called from behind him. Turning, he saw Nirra striding across the square, one of the Elders hurrying to keep up with his long strides. ‘You’re leaving?’

‘I need to get back to Tristan,’ he said.

‘But you can’t leave; you pledged to serve the Cimant people, your people,’ the Elder said quickly.

‘He will be serving his people,’ Emily said. ‘His people are in Tristan as well as this village.’ She trailed off, looking at Lewis.

‘Go on,’ he said with a smile. She obviously hadn’t told anyone about their conversation beside the pyre the night before.

‘We need to start planning our wedding,’ Emily said hurriedly as she shuffled closer to him.

‘A wedding?’ the Elder said excitedly. ‘Prepare the wedding feast!’ he cried.

‘No,’ Lewis interrupted. ‘No wedding feasts.

Arthur’s look of surprise at their announcement changed to one of disappointment when he said no to the feast. Emily was right; all he seemed to think about lately was food.

‘I have to return to Tristan to take my place,’ he explained. ‘We will hold the wedding at the castle. The Cimant people will be invited to join us if they wish.’

‘Only the hunters have left the village before,’ the Elder said worriedly. ‘We know nothing of what lies beyond the forest.’

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‘Now is your chance to find out,’ Lewis said.

‘I’ll be there!’ Olivia said brightly, nudging Achak in the side.

Achak nodded. ‘As will I, apparently.’

‘Very well,’ the Elder said disappointedly. ‘I had best go and halt the wedding preparations in that case.’

Somehow, as the Elder scurried away, waving his arms at several of the villagers who were already carrying a large table into the square, Lewis didn’t think it would be long before the tables were being carried out for a wedding ceremony. Even if they didn’t know it yet, there was definitely something more between Olivia and Achak than a villager befriending an outsider.

‘Olivia will be staying,’ Lewis said as he turned to Nirra. ‘Can she act as Elder in my stead?’

‘Once she has been initiated into the tribe, yes,’ Nirra said. ‘Until then, it would be my honour to act for you. If you would allow it, of course.’

‘I couldn’t think of anyone better,’ Lewis said as he extended a hand to Nirra. ‘Thank you for everything you have done for us. Sorry about the arm as well.’

‘Do not apologise for the will of the Gods, Lewis,’ he said as he shook Lewis’ hand with the bone-crushingly tight grip of a hunter. ‘We will walk with you to the hunting path.’

‘Sure,’ Lewis said, watching as Nirra set off to collect the hunters who had been lurking in the shadows with the other Elders.

‘I guess this is goodbye then,’ Olivia said, stepping forward. ‘I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done. Without you, I would probably have been dead half a dozen times over.’

‘You also probably wouldn’t have been in that much danger if it wasn’t for me,’ Lewis said with a laugh as he embraced her. ‘Take care of them for me,’ he whispered in her ear.

‘I will, I promise,’ she replied with a smile.

As Olivia turned to Arthur and Emily to bid farewell, Lewis nodded his head away from them. Taking his hint, Achak followed him a few paces away from the group. With a glance at Olivia, Lewis turned to Achak.

‘Take care of her for me,’ he said quietly, extending his hand once more.

‘You have my word,’ Achak said, also glancing in Olivia’s direction and watching as she embraced Arthur and then Emily. It seemed as though they had worked out their differences from the previous day. ‘This is not goodbye. We will see you for your wedding.’

‘It will be our pleasure to have you there,’ Lewis said.

‘I look forward to seeing the world beyond the forest,’ Achak said, a note of excitement in his voice. ‘Olivia has told me many times about the world beyond the trees.’

‘Are you ready?’ Nirra asked as he returned, half a dozen hunters, spears in hand, on his heels.

‘I think so?’ Lewis said this with a glance in Emily and Arthur’s direction. They both nodded and untethered the horses, climbing on awkwardly with the help of a couple of the hunters.

Taking the reins of the chestnut horse, which he had first seen Olivia petting, Lewis mounted it with the help of Nirra. In front of them, the hunters began to head for the village gates. With a wave over his shoulder to Olivia and Achak, Lewis nudged the horse in the ribs with his heels, urging it forward slowly.

Nirra took up his place at the front of the hunters, leading the way past the remains of the burned-down houses and over the small bridge at the stream. In front of Lewis, Emily’s horse trotted to keep up with the hunters as Arthur fell into stride beside him.

‘So,’ he said slowly. ‘You’re marrying my sister.’

‘I guess so,’ he replied somewhat nervously. The words crashed over him like a waterfall, sinking in for the first time. When he had been married to Cassandra, it had all happened so quickly that he hadn’t even had the time to contemplate it.

‘Don’t worry, I won’t give you a hard time,’ Arthur said with a laugh. Just as Lewis began to laugh, he stopped. ‘Seriously though, if you do something stupid like jump into a volcano again, I’ll kill you myself.’

‘Duly noted,’ Lewis muttered, looking away into the forest. ‘Technically, I didn’t jump into the volcano, though.’

Between the trees, a large, broken stone arch caught his eye. He was sure he hadn’t seen it before when he had been out hunting with the Cimant people. Perhaps they had never been to this part of the forest.

The stones were covered in moss and lichen. In the few bare patches, he could see that the stone had been carved by someone at some point long ago. No one around them so much as glanced in its direction. For a moment, he considered that he might be the only one who could see it. Then again, it was almost invisible to anyone who only gave the area a passing glance.

Before he could mention it to Arthur, his horse lurched to a stop. Looking down, he realised that Nirra and the hunters had come to a stop and turned to face them. ‘This is where we must bid you farewell,’ Nirra said. ‘If you follow the path, it should lead you to the edge of the forest. From there, I’m afraid you’ll have to find your own way.’

‘Thank you, all of you,’ Lewis said as the hunters parted to allow them to pass.

‘Goodbye, Elder Lewis Vandemark,’ Nirra said as Emily and Arthur trotted their horses ahead of him.

‘This isn’t goodbye forever,’ Lewis said as he made to follow them. ‘Merely see you soon.’

Lewis glanced back towards Nirra and the hunters one last time as he urged his horse forward. The pathway that led back to the village was deserted; Nirra and his men were gone as if they had never been there. To one side, he heard a twig snap and caught sight of Nirra’s furs disappearing between the trees, shattering the illusion of their disappearance instantly. Turning back to the path, he encouraged his horse into a trot as he set about catching up with Emily and Arthur.