The party disover from the wilden that the forest is in uproar, reacting against some great violence that is being done to it - the party are attracting trouble as the forest - like some great organism, thrashes around trying to defeat the source of this insult. The Wilden have already rescued others innocents caught in the woodland, they are prepared to spare one of their number to escort the party to the nearest place of safety, The Greenwatch. The rest of the wilden will head north in search of the intrusion, and the party are unable to persuade them to permit them accompany them.
A young Wilden named Goldie leads the party through the shadow realm paths to the great mountain spire that stands at the edge of The Wildwood and promises to try and return and take them back to Covenant in a few days if all goes well. The party wait and meet a few other fellow travellers rescued by the Wilden.
Goldie returns after less than a day with the news of a cataclysm in the forest - the Wilden have been trapped by the foe and he begs them to help. A ritual is used to summon horses and the party again travel through the shadowed path and into the forest.
They reach the beleaguered Wilden at a site of devastation. A great many Animae have created a burnt out clearing in the woods about two miles in diameter. In the center they defend a cluster of prefabricated buildings and steel vehicles of immense size, they do this with constant patrols of Lumber Titans and other smaller animae. All about the cearing is a tall hedge of broken trees, and the corpses and remains of the forest denizens who even as the party watch scramble over the wall and throw themselves at the merciless Hanorian machines.
In the midst of the mayhem, a small copse of trees appears to resist the onslaught and it is to here that Goldie points. Apparently the woodland has become cut-off from the advancing perimiter of the clearing since Goldie left to get help, but there is evidence that the Wilden still resist on their forest island. As the party watch, they are ambushed by an advancing wave of machete weilding lightweight animae and as they enter combat, a detatchment of heavier animae break away from the Wilden and engage. In the ensuing battle, the Wilden are able to make a break from their stronghold and escape into the woods.
When the battle is done, the Wilden leader Bent Willow says that he will seek the council of his elders and suggests that the party seek out Lowly Worm at The Remembered Mountain for he has been a friend to the Wilden in the past and is very wise. Goldie agrees to take them back to Covenant.
