Scene 3: The Ceremony

Nathaniel wishes he had the words to say to let Claire knew he understood how she felt. He wished he knew why Alexander thought the tree was a better location than the graveyard. Mostly he wished he had a way to write some of this down before he forgot any of it. "How long is one 'cycle'?"

Claire remains quiet and thoughtful. She wonders what embracing the darkness means, but decides that it can't be worse than what she saw would be her fate should she remain with the Ravenwraiths. She is glad that the witches appear to accept her decision, but slowly, the reality of leaving her family - Elias, Alexander, Nathaniel - begins to set in as well and she feels a sense of melancholy tug at her. She moves closer to Alexander, who has been so forgiving of her crime against him. She doesn't touch him, just walks close to him, as she listens to the discussion between Nathaniel and the red-haired witch.

Alexander notices Claire's approach and flinches involuntarily. The witch's puzzlement at mention of the tree matches Nathaniels, but she hides her expression from her face much better than the "doctor." Alexander nods to the woman. "There is a dark presence in that tree... One that seeks to consume this family. Perhaps your interests lie in the graveyard, but the presence you're looking for is not among the dead in their graves." He regards his cousin again. "Claire knows about this presence, or at least she should."

Claire notices Alexander flinch away from her and it only reinforces her decision to join the witches in her mind.

"The ashes for my rose!" Claire suddenly exclaims, despite still not knowing what the words mean, reminded of her strange experience by Alexander's words. She nods. "There is something wrong with that tree. There's... there's something inside. Something cursed that spreads through the land from its roots." She feels silly saying those next words, but as she is already revealing these strange feelings she had gotten from the tree, she speaks them anyway, "The tree, it smiled at me once."

Nathaniel is trying to figure out the reason that the woman didn't just say 'a year'. He was starting to ponder how different cultures tracked the passage of time, and when their years start, when he realized the tree was probably the more pressing issue right now.

Claire is starting to look less certain now. If these wise, experienced witches don't see anything in this tree, then she must have been wrong, right? She's not any smarter than they are. "Uhm, like I said," she says hesitantly. "An evil presence that's poisoning the land through the tree's roots." In order to make herself sound not like a liar who just made it all up, she adds, "Ask Alexander! The tree attacked him and entangled him in his roots when he went to investigate it."

Alexander sighs. "Yes, there may be something in the cemetery, but the real... force lies here. Perhaps I should... call it for you?"

Nathaniel looks around "Where's that cat, maybe it can help?"

"Oh, come on, you damned tree! Show them you're still in there!"