A Dance in Fire , Book IV Series . A part of the seven - volume " A Dance in Fire " series . Content . Eighteen Bosmer i and one Cyrodilic former senior clerk for an Imperial building commission trudged through the jungle westward from the Xylo River to the ancient village of Vindisi . For Decumus Scotti , the jungle was hostile , unfamiliar ground . The enormous vermiculated trees filled the bright morning with darkness , and resembled nothing so much as grasping claws , bent on impeding their progress . Even the fronds of the low plants quivered with malevolent energy . What was worse , he was not alone in his anxiety . His fellow travelers , the natives who had survived the Khajiit attacks on the villages of Grenos and Athay , wore faces of undisguised fear . There was something sentient in the jungle , and not merely the mad but benevolent indigenous spirits . In his peripheral vision , Scotti could see the shadows of the Khajiiti following the refugees , leaping from tree to tree . When he turned to face them , the lithe forms vanished into the gloom as if they had never been there . But he knew he had seen them . And the Bosmeri saw them too , and quickened their pace . After eighteen hours , bitten raw by insects , scratched by a thousand thorns , they emerged into a valley clearing . It was night , but a row of blazing torch es greeted them , illuminating the leather - wrought tents and jumbled stones of the hamlet of Vindisi . At the end of the valley , the torches marked a sacred site , a gnarled bower of trees pressed closed together to form a temple . Wordlessly , the Bosmeri walked the torch arcade toward the trees . Scotti followed them . When they reached the solid mass of living wood with only one gaping portal , Scotti could see a dim blue light glowing within . A low sonorous moan from a hundred voices echoed within . The Bosmeri maiden he had been following held out her hand , stopping him . " You do not understand , but no outsider , not even a friend may enter , " she said . " This is a holy place . " Scotti nodded , and watched the refugees march into the temple , heads bowed . Their voices joined with the ones within . When the last wood elf had gone inside , Scotti turned his attention back to the village . There must be food to be had somewhere . A tendril of smoke and a faint whiff of roasting venison beyond the torchlight led him . They were five Cyrodiils , two Breton s , and a Nord , the group gathered around a campfire of glowing white stones , pulling steaming strips of meat from the cadaver of a great stag . At Scotti ' s approach , they rose up , all but the Nord who was distracted by his hunk of animal flesh . " Good evening , sorry to interrupt , but I was wondering if I might have a little something to eat . I ' m afraid I ' m rather hungry , after walking all day with some refugees from Grenos and Athay . " They bade him to sit down and eat , and introduced themselves . " So the war ' s back on , it seems , " said Scotti amiably . " Best thing for these effete do - nothings , " replied the Nord in between bites . " I ' ve never seen such a lazy culture . Now they ' ve got the Khajiiti striking them on land , and the high elves at sea . If there ' s any province that deserves a little distress , it ' s damnable Valenwood . " " I don ' t see how they ' re so offensive to you , " laughed one of the Bretons . " They ' re congenital thieves , even worse than the Khajiiti because they are so blessed meek in their aggression , " the Nord spat out a gob of fat which sizzled on the hot stones of the fire . " They spread their forests into territory that doesn ' t belong to them , slowly infiltrating their neighbors , and they ' re puzzled when Elsweyr shoves back at them . They ' re all villains of the worst order . " " What are you doing here ? " asked Scotti . " I ' m a diplomat from the court of Jehenna , " muttered the Nord , returning to his food . " What about you , what are you doing here ? " asked one of the Cyrodiils . " I work for Lord Atrius building commission in the Imperial City , " said Scotti . " One of my former colleagues suggested that I come down to Valenwood . He said the war was over , and I could contract a great deal of business for my firm rebuilding what was lost . One disaster after another , and I ' ve lost all my money , I ' m in the middle of a rekindling of war , and I cannot find my former colleague . " " Your former colleague , " murmured another of the Cyrodiils , who had introduced himself as Reglius . " He wasn ' t by any chance named Liodes Jurus , was he ? " " You know him ? " " He lured me down to Valenwood in nearly the exact same circumstances , " smiled Reglius , grimly . " I worked for your employer ' s competitor , Lord Vanech ' s men , where Liodes Jurus also formerly worked . He wrote to me , asking that I represent an Imperial building commission and contract some post - war construction . I had just been released from my employment , and I thought that if I brought some new business , I could have my job back . Jurus and I met in Athay , and he said he was going to arrange a very lucrative meeting with the Silvenar . " Scotti was stunned : " Where is he now ? " " I ' m no theologian , so I couldn ' t say , " Reglius shrugged . " He ' s dead . When the Khajiiti attacked Athay , they began by torching the harbor where Jurus was readying his boat . Or , I should say , my boat since it was purchased with the gold I brought . By the time we were even aware of what was happening enough to flee , everything by the water was ash . The Khajiiti may be animals , but they know how to arrange an attack . " " I think they followed us through the jungle to Vindisi , " said Scotti nervously . " There was definitely a group of something jumping along the treetops . " " Probably one of the monkey folk , " snorted the Nord . " Nothing to be concerned about . " " When we first came to Vindisi and the Bosmeri all entered that tree , they were furious , whispering something about unleashing an ancient terror on their enemies , " the Breton shivered , remembering . " They ' ve been there ever since , for over a day and a half now . If you want something to be afraid of , that ' s the direction to look . " The other Breton , who was a representative of the Daggerfall Mages Guild , was staring off into the darkness while his fellow provincial spoke . " Maybe . But there ' s something in the jungle too , right on the edge of the village , looking in . " " More refugees maybe ? " asked Scotti , trying to keep the alarm out his voice . " Not unless they ' re traveling through the trees now , " whispered the wizard . The Nord and one of the Cyrodiils grabbed a long tarp of wet leather and pulled it across the fire , instantly extinguishing it without so much as a sizzle . Now Scotti could see the intruders , their elliptical yellow eyes and long cruel blades catching the torchlight . He froze with fear , praying that he too was not so visible to them . He felt something bump against his back , and gasped . Reglius ' s voice hissed from up above : " Be quiet for Mara ' s sake and climb up here . " Scotti grabbed hold of the knotted double - vine that hung down from a tall tree at the edge of the dead campfire . He scrambled up it as quickly as he could , holding his breath lest any grunt of exertion escape him . At the top of the vine , high above the village , was an abandoned nest from some great bird in a trident - shaped branch . As soon as Scotti had pulled himself into the soft , fragrant straw , Reglius pulled up the vine . No one else was there , and when Scotti looked down , he could see no one below . No one , that is except the Khajiiti , slowly moving toward the glow of the temple tree . " Thank you , " whispered Scotti , deeply touched that a competitor had helped him . He turned away from the village , and saw that the tree ' s upper branches brushed against the mossy rock walls that surrounded the valley below . " How are you at climbing ? " " You ' re mad , " said Reglius under his breath . " We should stay here until they leave . " " If they burn Vindisi like they did Athay and Grenos , we ' ll be dead sure as if we were on the ground , " Scotti began the slow careful climb up the tree , testing each branch . " Can you see what they ' re doing ? " " I can ' t really tell , " Reglius stared down into the gloom . " They ' re at the front of the temple . I think they also have . . . it looks like long ropes , trailing off behind them , off into the pass . " Scotti crawled onto the strongest branch that pointed toward the wet , rocky face of the cliff . It was not a far jump at all . So close , in fact , that he could smell the moisture and feel the coolness of the stone . But it was a jump nevertheless , and in his history as a clerk , he had never before leapt from a tree a hundred feet off the ground to a sheer rock . He pictured in his mind ' s eye the shadows that had pursued him through the jungle from the heights above . How their legs coiled to spring , how their arms snapped forward in an elegant fluid motion to grasp . He leapt . His hands grappled for rock , but long thick cords of moss were more accessible . He held hard , but when he tried to plant his feet forward , they slipped up skyward . For a few seconds , he found himself upside down before he managed to pull himself into a more conventional position . There was a narrow outcropping jutting out of the cliff where he could stand and finally exhale . " Reglius . Reglius . Reglius , " Scotti did not dare to call out . In a minute , there was a shaking of branches , and Lord Vanech ' s man emerged . First his satchel , then his head , then the rest of him . Scotti started to whisper something , but Reglius shook his head violently and pointed downward . One of the Khajiiti was at the base of the tree , peering at the remains of the campfire . Reglius awkwardly tried to balance himself on the branch , but as strong as it was it was exceedingly difficult with only one free hand . Scotti cupped his palms and then pointed at the satchel . It seemed to pain Reglius to let it out of his grasp , but he relented and tossed it to Scotti . There was a small , almost invisible hole in the bag , and when Scotti caught it , a single gold coin dropped out . It rang as it bounced against the rock wall on the descent , a high soft sound that seemed like the loudest alarm Scotti had ever heard . Then many things happened very quickly . The Cathay - Raht at the base of the tree looked up and gave a loud wail . The other Khajiiti followed in chorus , as the cat below crouched down and then sprung up into the lower branches . Reglius saw it below him , climbing up with impossible dexterity , and panicked . Even before he jumped , Scotti could tell that he was going to fall . With a cry , Reglius the Clerk plunged to the ground , breaking his neck on impact . A flash of white fire erupted from every crevice of the temple , and the moan of the Bosmeri prayer changed into something terrible and otherworldly . The climbing Cathay - Raht stopped and stared . " Keirgo , " it gasped . " The Wild Hunt . " It was as if a crack in reality had opened wide . A flood of horrific beasts , tentacled toads , insects of armor and spine , gelatinous serpents , vaporous beings with the face of gods , all poured forth from the great hollow tree , blind with fury . They tore the Khajiiti in front of the temple to pieces . All the other cats fled for the jungle , but as they did so , they began pulling on the ropes they carried . In a few seconds time , the entire village of Vindisi was boiling with the lunatic apparitions of the Wild Hunt . Over the babbling , barking , howling horde , Scotti heard the Cyrodiils in hiding cry out as they were devoured . The Nord too was found and eaten , and both Bretons . The wizard had turned himself invisible , but the swarm did not rely on their sight . The tree the Cathay - Raht was in began to sway and rock from the impossible violence beneath it . Scotti looked at the Khajiiti ' s fear - struck eyes , and held out one of the cords of moss . The cat ' s face showed its pitiful gratitude as it leapt for the vine . It didn ' t have time to entirely replace that expression when Scotti pulled back the cord , and watched it fall . The Hunt consumed it to the bone before it struck the ground . Scotti ' s own jump up to the next outcropping of rock was immeasurably more successful . From there , he pulled himself to the top of the cliff and was able to look down into the chaos that had been the village of Vindisi . The Hunt ' s mass had grown and began to spill out through the pass out of the valley , pursuing the fleeing Khajiiti . It was then that the madness truly began . In the moons ' light , from Scotti ' s vantage , he could see where the Khajiiti had attached their ropes . With a thunderous boom , an avalanche of boulders poured over the pass . When the dust cleared , he saw that the valley had been sealed . The Wild Hunt had nowhere to turn but on itself . Scotti turned his head , unable to bear to look at the cannibalistic orgy . The night jungle stood before him , a web of wood . He slung Reglius ' s satchel over his shoulder , and entered .