That evening, following the Consilium meeting, the cabal receives a phone call from Reinga of the Gravediggers. He explains that there are a number of different places where the three members of his cabal (Hades, Eve, and Seraphim) might have gone, and he's asking the Harbor Lights cabal to follow up on one of these leads: a particular exit off of the highway toward Plymouth. He reminds them of the rewards that the Gravediggers have promised for the safe return of their cabal members.

Sunday morning, the cabal gets an early start, driving out in two cars. They soon arrive at the specified exit, and follow the road off the exit into a thick forest. Some distance into the forest, they find an abandoned Jeep Wrangler. In order to inspect the interior of the vehicle and be certain that it belongs to the Gravediggers, they break in through the roof. On the seats, they find strands of hair that sufficiently convince them that this was, in fact, the correct car. Volchik attempts to call Reinga to let him know they're on the right track, only to find that something is blocking his cell phone signal. An improvised Forces spell from Surya, however, heightens the signal and tears through the shroud that had restrained it - a shroud seeming to emanate from the location itself. Reinga confirmes the correspondence between hair colors and his missing cabal mates.

The five enter the forest on a narrow, untended footpath. They trudge through thick undergrowth, over and around hills and ridges. The day is hot and tiring, but they press on, gradually coming to believe that the plants and even the earth itself are shifting around them to misdirect them. Tommy's Spirit spell reveals the presence of a legion of ghosts around them, led by three spirits. The ghosts and spirits wear ephemeral imitations of tribal clothing and decorations, including weapons. Tommy addresses the spirits respectfully, and after a brief conversation learns that the spirits know the whereabouts of the three lost mages: they are the prisoners of Black-Eyed John, a very powerful ghost who rules this area, which is called the Forest of the Forgotten. The spirits consult on the matter, and offer to free the imprisoned mages if and only if the five can defeat a group of ghosts in ritual combat. The cabal agrees readily enough, as they see no other avenue. They follow the spirits to a large clearing, some distance away.

A large fighting-ring is inscribed in the clearing. Four ghosts have taken up positions on the edge of the circle, and one waits within. The spirits - Wampana Solu, Wampana Feynir, and Narragan Oak Root - explain the rules of this long-lost form of ritual combat: one warrior for each side is supported by several medicine-workers. The medicine workers can aid their warrior or alter the terrain, but may not direct attacks at the enemy combatant.

Tommy enters the circle and squares off against a ghost. The next few minutes are a riot of light, shadow, exotic beasts, and hand-to-hand combat. Tigers, wolves, bees, curses of ill-fortune, walls of shadow - all of these and more appear and join in the battle, even as the ghost-brave cuts vainly at Tommy's mystical armoring. Eventually his ghostly corpus cannot hold together any longer, and he surrenders. After promising to release the three mages of the Gravediggers cabal to the victors, the spirits mention that there are two more people trapped in their labyrinth, and the spirits are interested in a gamble of some sort for their freedom that the Harbor Lights cabal might propose.