Led by Earl Tylendal, the Harts manages to defeat the Covenant in the Greenwood. Every demonologist is slain and the corrupted water source that was poisoning the wood is cleansed. This success comes at a cost however and Osric Karlennon (Albion’s deputy high mage) sacrifices his life cleansing the water supply. His death comes only a day after Marcus Brickstock (of Osric’s order) also gives his life in an attempt to save a village from a similar corruption. When the last demonologist is slain a large demon appears from inside her and takes control of those of its brethren still on the field. These demons of disease are fought by the Harts for a while but in the end head southwest deeper into the wood.
During the course of the mission several members of the expedition (including Earl Tylendal himself) are summoned to Chapel Perilous by The Hunter. Here they prove themselves and are rewarded with the Hunter’s Cup (a powerful artefact of healing) for their efforts, however Morgania, Tylendal’s adopted father, stakes – and finally sacrifices – his life to redeem the faction for its failure to recognise The Hunter’s fourth aspect.
It becomes obvious that the ancestors of Albion are choosing champions to represent them in a coming struggle. Silk – embodiying the Pattern of Good – agrees that there was a good chance that they were choosing side for the imminent cataclysm. The Hunter speaks to those in Chapel Perilous saying that only three ancestors will be able to survive the cataclysm as patron ancestors of Albion.
The Ritual Circle at Elf’s Rest is buried in earth as the ground around it rises up. The demons guarding the circle are destroyed but the military force sent to take the circle was also badly hit. Two hundred members of the First Tooth & Claw and a hundred members of the already weakened Gloucester Batallion are killed as well as three hundred members of the Norhault Battalion (including fifty members of the Company of the Black Boar).
The town of Castleford is found burnt to ground with the walls crushed by a massive force. About a thosand people are killed in the city itself and a similar number in the outlying villages and towns. Baron Hulce attributes the attack to the followers of The Green Man and claims that both the Elf’s Rest incident and the attack on Castleford represent direct intercession by the ancestor.