Rudiger scampered and sniffed his way forward through the dense underbrush at the edge of the Haderon Forest, skirting the border of the trees as he led Varian and Caius towards where they'd emerged from the crypt. Varian remembered enough to know where the entrance was, but travelling through the entire underground catacomb was not appealing, especially since it would be easier to return to the burial chamber from where they'd left. Being in the state that he was when they'd escaped though, Varian couldn't retrace the path back to the egress in his mind. But Rudiger had a good memory, his sense of smell was sharper, and he hadn't been severely injured at the time.

As they continued to follow the raccoon, the air between Varian and Caius was heavy and unsettlingly quiet. It seemed that Shay's uncle was just as much of a conversationalist as she was. "Can I ask you something?" Varian tried as they stepped carefully down a steep, rocky slope towards the river. Caius made a small, acknowledging grunt. "Why did you become a witch hunter?"

"Obligation," Caius answered.

Varian frowned. "To what?"

"To my family," Shay's uncle continued. "My brother was the captain of the guard at the time that the king ordered the hunt. I couldn't let him fight the fiends alone, so I enlisted under his command."

"That makes sense, I guess." Varian jumped down onto the muddy riverbank, blowing strands of hair out of his creased, freckled face. "So then, maybe you can tell me why he did it. Why hunt down witches?"

Caius didn't answer at first. His steps followed in a sucking, wet rhythm, eerily close behind Varian. "Because magic is the bane of human existence," he finally spoke, his voice hard and deep with bitter resentment. "It's the reason why the princess was kidnapped, the reason why so many Coronan families were torn apart. It's the reason why those black spikes have sprouted up across the countryside. Oh yes," he said when he saw Varian shoot him a look of alarm. "It's magic, alright. There's no other explanation for it, unless the source is something entirely otherworldly."

Varian retrained his eyes on Rudiger's tail twitching through the grass. "Somehow I doubt that," he admitted. "These rocks have at least some terrestrial properties. The sound they make is similar to obsidian, and their molecular structure, while complex, does have a consistent compound construction, like iron or gold. It's really quite fascinating, if you ignore the fact that they're ripping apart crop fields and literally driving people from their homes." He realized his balled fists were shaking at his sides, and he quickly shook them out before Caius could notice how tense he'd become. "But all that aside, they are growing up out of the earth, which means that their makeup has to come from the planet itself in at least some way. What it doesn't explain is how they seem to have some degree of power output, almost like electricity. I do agree that there's some kind of radial source that they're coming from, since they don't seem to be appearing as far south as I thought they…"

He trailed off when Rudiger stopped up ahead, beneath a familiar rocky foothill. The raccoon turned around once in a circle, then started scratching rapidly behind his ear with his hind leg as Varian and Caius approached the hidden trapdoor. In the light of day, Varian could see that the top of the door was covered in moss, disguising it easily into the ground when it was closed. Caius knelt and examined it, looking down his prominent nose like a scholar sniffing dismissively at an amateur's work. "Doesn't look like much, does it?"

Varian felt something creep up the nape of his neck, something cold and lingering. It dove into his stomach and seeped into his toes, rooting him to the spot like chains.

Caius looked up at him and cocked an eyebrow. "Land's sake, boy. You look like you're ready to piss yourself."

"I do not," Varian snapped. But he swallowed hard, his throat bobbing uncertainly.

"You never did explain how you got stuck with a shaft in your shoulder," Caius noted, his expression unchanged. "Something down here did it to you."

Varian swallowed again, coughed once. His blue eyes flicked to Caius' scarred face. "What do you know about necromancy?" he suddenly asked.

Caius stiffened. "Necromancy?" His gaze turned back towards the trapdoor. "Necromancy," he repeated under his breath. "Of course she would, the foolish, red-headed devil." He drew the sword from his back, the broad blade dark and glimmering in the pale sunlight. It was clear to Varian that the witch hunter wasn't about to let a few undead soldiers stand in his way. He watched Caius lower himself down through the trapdoor, and Rudiger settled anxiously on his master's shoulder as they followed suit.

Varian hadn't realized before how palpable the darkness was inside the crypt. It was almost suffocating after coming from a sunlit world, the eerie atmosphere crawling over his skin like slime. Not even his illuminated staff did much; they were barely able to see their own feet in front of them. "Watch out up ahead," he cautioned as they ventured down the tunnel stairway. "There's a spiked mast that nearly took our heads off when we first came out."

"I see it." Caius ducked underneath the hanging deathtrap, strands of grey hair brushing the metal. "Tell me, boy. You claim to be a scientist. Out of curiosity, how would you attempt to explain away an animated corpse?"

Varian crouched under as he followed. "Recent medical discoveries tell us that the human body runs on its own bioelectricity. The brain issues commands for that energy to stimulate your muscles to move, your heart to pump blood. All body functions stop when you're dead, obviously, but you could theoretically still supply a similar power to cause reanimation. It would be extremely limited, and it would depend on the state of the corpse. You would also need some kind of makeshift command center to act as a rudimentary brain, but that kind of intricacy couldn't be fabricated anyway, at least not in any way I know of."

Caius paused before the closed door at the end of the stairs. He turned to look at Varian with his blind eye. "But that's still not bringing someone back to life."

"Well – no, of course not," Varian stammered. "It's all theory, anyway. I'm not saying that…what exactly is it that you're trying to ask me?"

"Do you think people can come back from the dead?" The question was simple, blunt and heavy in the dark air. When Varian didn't say anything, Caius cracked a small smile. "I see. Your father taught you well enough not to blaspheme."

Varian pursed his lips. "It's just that I have no hard evidence one way or the other." He suddenly remembered Shay's words: Just because you can't understand something doesn't mean it isn't real. "All I know for sure is that the things in there are not alive."

Caius nodded in a way that was almost reverent. "We shall see." He smoothed his hand over the door's steel surface, his nose cringing. "Clever hawk placed a ward here." He placed the flat of his sword against it, and a series of runes began to glow along the fuller of the blade. There was a fizzle of red sparks, and the sword stopped glowing. With the ward dispelled, Caius swung back with his leg and struck a hard kick at the door, knocking the steel clean off its hinges. Varian was amazed, not only at the feat of strength, but at the fact that all the water that had flooded the chamber was gone. The floor was even dry as they entered, Varian's feet easily gripping the stone surface.

Haderon's burial chamber stayed dark as they entered. Varian held out his staff, stretching his light out as far as he could. His toes brushed something, and he looked down to see a naked shin bone on the ground. "Easy, boy," he heard Caius murmur when Varian gave a sharp inhale. "You'll only be here for as long as it takes for you to show me where the witch is."

"She's there," Varian pointed in the direction of Haderon's sarcophagus. As they approached it, his staff traced the finely sculpted lines of the necromancer's obsidian statue. "Neither of us could open it; the coffin lid is too heavy to be pushed, and for some reason –"

"Magic didn't work," Caius finished. "Evidence of my point." He sheathed his sword and reached out to touch the marble stone. Something flashed through the air and latched onto his fingers, winding tightly around them and stopping him from making contact. It was a thread of red light, glowing like hot embers against the witch hunter's skin.

Varian whirled to see Shay standing in the doorway to the chamber, tugging back on the magic string with her thin arms. Her cloak had fallen to the ground, and her hair was tied back from her face, enough so that Varian could just barely make out her expression from the light of her red eye. She looked furious, her mouth pressed into a grim, trembling line.

Caius, who hadn't moved, opened his mouth to speak. "What are you doing, little hawk?"

"I'm stopping you from killing us all," she hissed, her entire body shaking. "I searched every book in my mother's house. I found her notes on this place. You can only open Haderon's sarcophagus with a special key. Any other way only invokes his curse. It's how my mother became trapped in his tomb. Haderon is keeping her from escaping with the secrets of his power. We would have suffered the same if we hadn't escaped." Varian felt his stomach clench when she fixed her glare on his stone-hard face. "I would have told you if you hadn't decided to throw your lot in with a warmongering murderer." Her words were bitter and caustic as she jerked back with her hand, tightening the slack of her spell.

"You can't blame the boy for this," Caius mused, ignoring the burning heat of the magical restraint as he turned around. "You can only blame yourself for being so easily manipulated. You haven't even considered the possibility that he's just been using you to get what he wants."

Varian watched Shay's expression slowly change from anger to confusion, then to disbelief. "No," she whispered, shaking her head almost imperceptibly. Strands of hair fell into her watering eyes. "No, he…h-he…"

Varian's face softened as he watched her, his eyes widening with realization.

"You're just like your father," Caius spat, yanking his bound arm. Shay resisted at first, but he tugged again, and she was flung forward, skidding through a pile of old bones. The thread dissipated from her trembling hands as she fought to drag herself back to her feet. "So naïve and helpless in the face of the truth. Even your spells are weak because you have no resolve. I always liked that about you. It meant you were nothing like your mother."

It was then that Varian knew which of his two plans to execute. He turned to face the witch hunter. "That's enough, Caius. We're wasting time. The deal was that I would show you where the Crimson Caster is, and you would help me free my father. I've fulfilled my end of the bargain. Now you get to fulfill yours."

Caius actually rolled his eyes. His sword was suddenly in his hand, the broad blade swinging in a swooping arc towards Varian's neck.

Varian had anticipated the attack long before they'd even entered the chamber; he just managed to duck in time. "Too slow!" The vial was already in his hand, his heartbeat roaring in his ears as he held his breath and threw it against the ground. The formula vaporized on contact with the air, and a plume of violet smoke engulfed the area around the sarcophagus. Caius flinched back, coughing and hacking as he struggled to breathe. Varian yanked his goggles over his eyes and surged forward through the smoke, sprinting to Shay's side. Rudiger followed, close on his heels. Before she could react, Varian grabbed Shay from behind and snatched an arrow from his quiver. He felt her freeze, heard her cry out as he yanked her head back and pressed the tip to her neck.

"Listen to me," he whispered in her ear as Caius started to sweep the smoke away. "We're getting out of here, both of us. I'm not going to hurt you, but he doesn't need to know that. We've got to make this convincing if we're going to save your mom. I need you to trust me!"

Shay's eyes were wild and wavering, her hands clutching desperately at his restraining arm. "How can I?" he heard her gasp.

Varian gritted his teeth. "Because I trust you."

Shay's breath caught in her throat.

The air finally cleared, and Caius began to stride forward, unsheathing his sword. "Very clever, alchemist," he growled. "But do you really think I wouldn't see this coming?"

"That's far enough, old man," Varian called across the chamber, wrenching Shay more clearly into view. "One more step and your niece becomes another addition to this crypt!"

The witch hunter stopped dead when he saw the arrowhead under Shay's chin. His blind eye narrowed to a silver slit of fury, his good eye burning with rage as every visible muscle in his arms tensed like steel cables. He might have expected Varian to make a move against him, but he clearly hadn't anticipated this. "You dare to use my own kin against me? Whether you kill her or not is no matter now when it comes to signing your own death warrant!"

"And just when we were becoming such good friends," Varian sneered, but his heart wavered at the threat. "I suppose it wouldn't be the first time my actions have been vilified." He tapped the arrowhead against Shay's skin. "But it doesn't have to end this way."

A vein pulsed in Caius' strained neck, and he fixed Varian with a look of pure, undiluted spite. "What is it that you want?"

"Hm," Varian pretended to ponder the question for a moment, still holding Shay fast. "Let me think. How about a ham sandwich? I haven't had one of those in a long time. They're kind of hard to find in prison, you know. But I digress. Since a ham sandwich is out of the question at the moment, let's settle for the next best thing: you, backing away from the coffin. Now."

The witch hunter stood completely still for almost an entire minute. Then, he started shifting his feet slowly away from the marble sarcophagus. "Have you not listened to a word I've told you, boy?" he spat out between his teeth. "Magic can't help you save your father, especially hers."

Varian gave a dry chuckle. "I'm sorry. It almost sounds like you expect me to believe you. Did you honestly expect me to take everything you've said at face value? You're more naïve than the girl is. Sword on the ground, or we get to see what color your niece bleeds."

Caius narrowed his mismatched eyes. "You wouldn't kill her," he claimed. "I heard how you had the royal family in your hands, ready to murder the queen. Even when you had nothing to lose, all you had was empty threats. You don't have the spine to kill."

Varian pressed tighter against Shay's throat – not with the arrowhead, but with his thumb. The pressure was enough to make her cry out, but the tip of the arrow pierced through his glove instead, puncturing a small gelatin bead filled with dyed syrup. To Caius, it looked like Varian had made a dangerous cut through Shay's skin. The dye rolled down to her collarbone, a bright red line that made the witch hunter's eyes bulge. "No one tells me what I'm capable of," Varian seethed, his blue eyes burning through his goggle lenses. "Especially you. Now drop it!"

Another long moment of silence. Then, there was a sharp, resonating clang as the witch hunter's sword fell from his hands. "I'll kill you for this," he said solemnly. "For standing in my way…I'll do it with my bare hands if I have to."

Caius had disarmed, but the sword was still within reach. Varian knew it was the best that he could hope for. His next move would have to be swift. If he wasn't quick enough, there was a chance that Caius would be able to make good on his threat. "Get ready," he breathed into Shay's hair.

"For what?"

"This." He tossed her aside, reaching for his father's bow. The instant he let Shay go, Caius was lunging for his sword on the ground, quicker than a leopard from a tree branch. Adrenaline flooded Varian's system as he snatched a special surprise for Caius from his quiver, nocking it to the bowstring. The witch hunter was already surging forward, closing the distance between them as Varian aimed for the man's leg. The arrow he fired was equipped with a sticky bomb; the weight of it was enough to cripple Varian's accuracy, but he wasn't intending to seriously injure Caius. He only needed to get the vial where he wanted it, which was right where Caius was running. The arrow splintered as the vial smashed into the ground, and the sticky pink substance of Varian's trap engulfed the witch hunter's foot, causing him to jerk to a halt in his tracks. He stood less than ten feet away, cursing as he tugged and strained to break free.

"Your cheap tricks will not hold me for long, you impudent whelp!" Caius spat as he sheathed his sword and took a wicked knife from his boot to hack himself loose.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Varian warned as he readied another arrow, just in case. "That compound tends to solidify under friction. You'll only trap yourself more." He glanced over at Shay. "Are you alright?"

Shay glanced over at him. Her arms were trembling at her sides, her dress had a large tear up to her thigh, and her face was contorted by multiple emotions. Aside from a possible few cuts and bruises, she didn't seem to be wounded. She said nothing, but her gaze drifted over to Caius.

"He's your uncle," Varian told her. "What do you think we should do with him?"

"I…" Shay swallowed, blinking rapidly. "I don't know."

Caius paused in his fruitless attempt to free himself, looking up at his niece. "You don't know? Oh, little hawk. You do know. You just don't want to do it. You know there's only one way to keep your mother from the hangman's noose. If you truly wish to save her, you'll have to kill me." He squared his broad shoulders. "There's certainly no better time for it."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Shay whispered. "You want to see me stoop to your level."

"It doesn't have to be you," Varian said, training his arrow at the man's unarmored neck. "You forget that he's standing in my way, too." His lips curled into a vicious snarl. "Just say the word, and I'll put an end to all of this."

"No!" Shay exclaimed, her voice cracking. She sighed shakily, pressing her hand over her red eye. Then she crossed over to him and reached for his arm. "No, no killing," she begged. "There's enough death in this place." Rudiger seemed to mirror the sentiment, tugging at the cuff of Varian's boot with his paws. "I know you don't want to add to it."

Varian resisted at first, then slowly lowered his aim. "No," he agreed quietly, pulling his goggles up with a free hand. "No, I don't." He gave her a side glance, his eyes narrow. "He's not worth it, anyways. But he's still a threat that needs to be dealt with."

Shay nodded once, looking at Caius once more. Varian watched her step forward, just out of arm's reach. She held out her hand and made a swift gesture, breathing a spell between bitter lips. A red thread appeared in the air, like the one she had used before. The glowing strand shot forward and wound itself around the witch hunter's arms, binding him fast. She walked around Caius towards his back, and she snapped her fingers at his sword strap. The blade fell with a clang to the ground, and Varian watched as Shay equipped it with surprising strength, tightening the strap over her own chest.

"Tell me something, little hawk," Caius asked as Shay started to walk back to Varian. "In all the years you've known me, have I ever once claimed that my doings were to harm you?"

Shay stopped, her back facing her uncle. Varian could see every muscle in her body tighten, and her chest began to heave. "I hate you," she hissed suddenly. "I hate you."

"You'll regret not killing me this day," the witch hunter said, his blind eye flickering in Varian's direction. "That witch can't help your father. Even if she could, she'll be dead long before then. I'll make sure of it."

Varian felt a chuckle rise through his chest. "Good luck with that, old man. Guess we'll get to find out whose ambition is greater now, won't we?"