As Sylver and his party of weasels are searching for the humans to bring them back to Welkin, this is considered treachery by the stoats and they have put a bounty on Sylver's head. With no one to help him Sylver has gone to get the humans back himself. The weasels and squirrels have an annual festivity game, and when Icham, one of the weasels, enters a jousting match, Sylver swears Torca Marda utters a demonic spell to turn his own stake into a sharp point (against the rules) and then Marda launches his javelin at Icham, killing him.