TL;DR

• Duke leads a small group of Klavs to the Konur Villtar war camp at Heechoven. There, he reveals himself to distract the warriors so that the Klavs can rescue some of their people. Duke is mauled by dogs and taken captive.
• At Heksepunt, Ausmundt summons shades of the fallen Skaalruters who pin Ghanna to the altar. Tulasa and Beppe Hinnemûs force Ausmundt to relent from his demand for Ghanna’s life.

The Furnace, Rekindled

Leading a handful of young men from Caer Hyvel, Duke takes backwoods paths to the South Farthing. There, they are harried by the sound of dogs barking and baying night and day, and they find the forest marked with more and more dog tracks from hunts led by the Konur Villtar.

They find a major thoroughfare where the tracks of dozens of expeditions converge and spill out into a sprawling war camp around Heechoven. They see Klav men toiling under the yoke of the Konur Villtar warriors, who have reopened the blast furnace to smelt iron day and night.

Duke orders Troché Twiling to take command and rescue as many of his fellows as they can, while he draws the captors’ attention away from the mine.

Duke approaches the war camp and calls out the Konur Villtar warriors, who cover their ears and release their dogs. Duke fights off a dozen war hounds with Maiven and the Spear of Fan Hyvel, but the war chief Sjef Hun Tegn spies him from afar and fires a war bow at him. Duke is finally dragged down and mauled by the dogs. As he fades in and out of consciousness, he senses that the Konur Villtar are dragging him through the snow.

The Hanging Stones

At Heksepunt, the Invader grabs Krenzi and drags him into a shadow behind one of the standing stones, and they disappear.

Beppe’s consort Ausmundt summons shadows from the stones, who take the shapes of the Felkiezers and Skaalruters who died on the slopes of the Deenskewâl. These shades pin Ghanna to a stone altar and raise their daggers to take her life.

Ausmundt advances with a dagger drawn, over Beppe’s pleas for him to halt. Ausmundt insists that the Heksememmen require a sacrifice, and Ghanna’s life will suffice.

In her struggle, Ghanna offers Saint Crucian’s blessing to the Felkiezer shades, releasing them from the mockery of life. She and Pinaka manage to fire an arrow into the midst of the Skaalruters, and nock another.

Beppe punishes Ausmundt, compelling him to stop in his tracks, and the standing stones shift, shaking off stony flakes to reveal wounded flesh. Ausmundt orders the Skaalruters to back down, in eery tones that sound like a chord of three female voices.

As the Skaalruters quail before Ausmundt’s invocation, Tulasa throws his mantle—the Loving Caress—over Ghanna, and commands the demon to heal her.