Outside Heremac, the consortes interrogate Serapis, who claims to possess little useful information on the ruckish plans, as he is still in disfavor with his father, on account of the unsuccessful rebellion Serapis had attempted a few years earlier. The prince knows almost nothing about his father's origin and cannot identify any of Tereus's weaknesses. (If any of the sons knew of one, Serapis explains, they surely would have used it.) Serapis assures his captors that Tereus has nothing to do with the Depraved Thicket or the kidnapping. Serapis is uncertain whether his father would ransom Grand Master Edric, imprisoned within Heremac, in exchange for himself. Serapis also does not know if his father would mount a rescue attempt.

The consortes conclude that they need to move quickly to save Agnes, or else any deeds done at the siege of Heremac would be for naught . Before departing, Sir Hamral cedes total control over the crusaders to a conclave of Weredrecean nobles. This display of such profound and utter trust completely shocks the duplicitous noblemen, who swear to faithfully command the Pentian army in Hamral's absence.

Mendelor leads the consortes to the Depraved Thicket, and the evil nature of the place is apparent even from a distance. The Thicket sprawls across the landscape, a dark and twisted wood with an infernal taint almost as strong as the one that hung over Lorn Abbey. A path leads straight into the Thicket, and at the entrance to the wood sits a strange boy.

The lad rests under a blighted apple tree, a staff across his knees. He appears to be a red-haired boy of thirteen or fourteen, but his eyes are cold and intense; he is missing large patches of hair, several open sores dot his face, and his teeth are yellowed and rotting. The boy is twitchy and displays several nervous tics as he hails the group.

Puzzled and wary, the consortes approach the boy, who seems to know who Valerius is. After a brief conversation it become clear that the boy is somehow the Grand Magus, a great adept from ancient Tynar who had made a pact with an infernal lord and has been on the lam every since. Somehow, it seems the Magus has taken control of this boy's body.

In any case, the Grand Magus knows of the party's quest, and offers his help. He clearly wants to forestall the Reckoning at all costs, and is terrified of the end-times. He also reveals that he himself cannot enter the Depraved Thicket. The Grand Magus explains that within the Thicket the consortes will be faced with several terrible visions of the prophesied apocalypse, visions they must overcome if they are to win through and save Agnes.

The Grand Magus has one more revelations for the consortes: the true nature of Tereus. It would seem that the king of the rucks is, in fact, an angel, sent by the Five several centuries ago to bring the Word to the ruck-men. After slaying their king and greatest chieftains, however, the angel discovered that the rucks only wanted him to become their new king. Surprised and confused by this unexpected and total adoration, the angel forgot his mission and came to stay with the wild things he had been sent to convert.

Having gotten their fill of revelations, the consortes leave the Grand Magus and plunge into the Depraved Thicket. Within the wood they find time and distance weirdly distorted: they walk many miles only to find but a few minutes have passed; they walk for a couple of miles and watch as weeks whirl by. The whole area feels unwholesome and disorienting.

At one juncture the group wanders through a night-scene and hears a great trumpet in the distance, a blast that resounds through the Thicket, and the horn is soon answered by a great clap of thunder. As the party looks up, they can see one third of the stars in the sky wink out, one by one: an event clearly described in scripture.

After some more wandering, the consortes find themselves traveling through open plains, wide open fields where the grasses have been eaten down to the roots. Behind them, the horizon has grown dark with clouds of dark, buzzing shapes. Ahead is a great chasm spanned by a small stone bridge, and a dark wood beyond. The group sprints for the bridge as eight horrible locust demons give chase: creatures as large as war-horses with the bodies of locusts, the heads of women, and the tails of scorpions. The locust demons chase the party over the bridge, but do not follow into the woods.

The party travels for a while more through the Thicket, before the path emerges into blasted farmlands and the consortes enter a small abandoned village. At the entrance they find a poor, disemboweled dog hanging from a leafless elm tree. There is no other sign of life; the parish church has been burnt to the ground. The only sound here is the rhythmic creaking of the waterwheel at a little mill ahead. The group approaches the mill and a cluster of houses and barns nearby when sharp-eyed Owen spots shapes moving in one of the houses.

Suddenly, a writhing mass of bodies erupts from the ground of the field to the left; a similar tangle of bodies emerges from the mill pond to the right. Each wretched mob consists of a score or more naked human forms, obviously cadavers imbued with some unholy life. These mobs converge on the party while other undead creatures creep out from the abandoned buildings to harass the interlopers.

These unholy monstrosities are fearsome and pitiless, and nearly overwhelm the surprised group. But the consortes rally and fall back, allowing the spellcaster to summon otherworldly allies and cast fiery spells at the undead guardians, eventually driving these horrors back to their graves.

Pressing on, the consortes witness three stars falling down from the heavens. One bursts in the air, blotting out the sky with dark clouds. The second falls on the land, and great fires rage at the horizon. A third falls into the darkness, and there is a distant rumbling.

The group then finds itself on a terrible seashore, at night. The beach is littered with thousands of dead fish, bloated human corpses, and shipwrecks. As the group walks along, a terrible form emerges from the deep. It has the body of a dragon, with a long sinuous form, blue-black scales, four clawed feet, and a long tail ending in a venomous sting. But instead of a neck or head, there is the torso, arms, and face of a beautiful woman wearing a great gold crown. This is the same creature that was fought near Dundren, whom Vandoren named Echidna.

Echidna hisses and attacks the group, and most of the men are shaken by her horrific appearance. Mendelor, Hamral, and Draak charge in to fight while Owen, St. James, and Ruik climb into the hulk of a wrecked ship and fire arrows and sling stones at the dragon. Valerius, Dominic, and Vandoren circle her warily, working their spells. Vandoren is able to knock her crown off her head as Achrach attacks, but the fighters and the sneaks find that their weapons have little effect on her. Both Mendelor and Draak are struck blind by her ghastly form, and her poisonous sting saps the strength from any man hit by it.

The battle is going rather badly when Ruik hatches a clever plan. He sprinkles himself with some dust of faerie glamour, and emerges from the ship, pretending to be the Grand Magus warding Echidna away. Against all odds, the dragon is utterly bluffed by this ruse, and hissing angrily, she departs into the dark ocean. The party members issue great sighs of relief and then turn their attentions to their many wounds and ailments.

But just then, a strange glowing is seen upon the water, getting larger and larger. Presently, Owen can make out some features: it is a man, dressed in white robes and bearing a staff. Recalling their Pentian scripture, many in the group assume this must be the Deceiver mentioned in the Book of Reckoning. As the figure emerges on the beach, it has the form of Friar Sidrach Landry.

Though Vandoren is skeptical, the form claims to be the Barefooted Friar, sent back to the living world to aid the consortes in their quest to save Agnes. It is not yet time, says the Friar, for the Reckoning. The Friar heals the wounded and restores sight to Mendelor and Draak. The Friar then points his staff, and a glowing pathway leads from the beach and out over the waves. The Friar and the consortes walk over this mystical path, until they come once more to land and a great ruined city. The only building still mostly intact is a huge cathedral looming over all. Valerius identifies the ruins as that of Abbermark, and the building the Cathedral of St. Arleans. Friar Sidrach explains that he can go no further, but that the consortes must defeat the deceiver within before they may rescue little Agnes.

Steeling themselves, the consortes rush into the echoing cathedral. Sitting upon a mighty throne on a high dais at one end of the cathedral is a distinguished-looking, bearded man, dressed in regal red and gold vestments, wearing a great gold miter and bearing a tall crozier. The congenial man welcomes the party in, acknowledges that he is the one they seek, and proposes a truce. The man suggests that if the consortes agree to lay down their weapons and refuse to fight, he will do the same, and this act of rebellion will prevent the Reckoning from happening.

The man introduces himself as the Antipope of Abbermark, also known as Titivilus. Valerius recognizes that name as belonging to a powerful infernal power, a servant to the Duke of Iron Staff and Rod. When the consortes refuse to accept the devil's bargain, Titivilus seems neither surprised nor greatly perturbed. His crozier transforms into a silver sword, and the battle is joined. Most of the consortes rush to the front of the Cathedral while the magicians hang back to work spells. In a blink, though, Titivilus vanishes and reappears next to Valerius. He swings at the magician in black, but protective magics shield Valerius from most of the blow.

Meanwhile, Valerius opens a gate to the Shining Citie, and an Ophan, a heavenly servant of the Five, emerges. Its form is like a great, five-spoked wheel of fire, studded with numerous watchful eyes, and the angel rushes into battle with Titivilus. The devil seems to remember the Ophan, whom he addresses as Meterach.

The battle is fierce, but with the addition of the angel, Titivilus finds himself badly outnumbered. He is about to attempt an escape when Meterach calls upon the power of the Five: the devil is thus transformed into a pillar of salt, and the pillar is promptly shattered.

The party has barely enough time to catch its breath when the scene changes yet again, and now they find themselves back in the Depraved Thicket, only now a great ziggurat rises before them. At the top is a stone table, and a drugged Agnes is bound upon it. Over her stands a huge Gregory -- twice his normal height -- holding a sword and chanting some vile incantation. Eight former Seeker knights are posted as guards around the table.

The consortes act quickly. Vandoren sings up some songs of courage, while the sneaks begin scaling the imposing structure. Valerius conjures up a killing cloud while Dominic instantly transports himself, Hamral, Draak, and Mendelor to the top of the ziggurat. The fighters engage Gregory and wound him badly enough to disrupt the incantation, ruining the fell ritual. This enrages Gregory, who flings the sword away and draws his mace.

The Seeker knights are quickly overwhelmed, and Draak lands a single, terrible blow on Gregory that utterly smashes the giant and sends him toppling over the side of the ziggurat. Just then Agnes awakes, wreathed in a blindingly bright silver fire. At this sight the surviving Seekers drop their weapons and bow down in atonement for their misguided actions. The Depraved Thicket has disappeared, leaving everyone standing in the midst of a small, and very mundane, cedar copse.

Agnes tells the consortes they must make haste, for while only two days have passed while they were in the Depraved Thicken, in that short span Tereus has launched an assault on the crusader army, and has freed his son Serapis from captivity. Even now the two armies are locked in a great battle.

The consortes rush back to Heremac with Agnes, only to find the battle raging before the gates of the city. The crusader army is greatly heartened to see the return of Sir Hamral and his retinue, and soon the consortes find themselves at the center of the melee. Before them stand King Tereus, his son Prince Serapis, his warlord, General Brygus, as well as the best of his Cataphracts. Undaunted, the consortes plunge into the melee.

The sneaks advance onto the field with bows and slings. Dominic casts a spell that instantly transports himself, Mendelor, Sir Hamral, and Agnes right beside the ruckish king while Valerius and the sneaks attempt to take out Serapis. The King, surprised by this turn of events, tries to attack Agnes, but the girl only steps forward, proclaims "it's time, Meleteriam," and touches Tereus. The ruckish king falls to his knees, wailing, and then disappears.

The battlefield falls utterly silent and still. Then, after a moment, Brygus throws down his ruckblade and drops to his knees. He is followed by Prince Serapis and soon the whole of the ruckish army has surrendered.

In the ensuing days, Bishop Martin declares a week of thanksgiving to honor Sir Hamral, his friends, and the deliverance of Heremac. Sir Hamral is formally installed as the Baron of Derwich, while the newly converted ruck-men slink back to their broken kingdoms, bringing the Word of the Five back with them. And the jubilant city of Heremac and the crusading army exult in this hard-won victory.