Ahead, a pinprick of light finally guides you toward an exit into the Deepwood. Emerging, you turn to look back at the fallen fortress. You can no longer hear the Thracian Witch's screams, yet a sea of flesh and fur and bone continues to wash over the crumbling stone walls, clawing and snapping at one another in a desperate attempt to answer The Keening's summons. Somehow its effects have not yet worn off. Still, the beasts howl and cry out in a cacophony of death that words cannot describe. Suddenly, there is a clap of thunder and you see a line of trees in the distance topple over as the Doom of Bastone emerges. Its storm gray form barrels through the fortress' eastern wall, pulverizing defenses which had stood for untold ages. With the gargantuan beast's appearance here, you know the way is clear into the Heart of Darkness. You must move now!

Hurrying through the Deepwood, the sound of Raven Reach's deathknell is muffled by the thick, sickening trees, and you are afforded a rare moment of peaceful respite. Just days ago, nearly three hundred soldiers departed Verum, and now only you - a single Free Company - are all that remains. One Free Company, and one last chance.

A few hundred yards later, you arrive at a small clearing and see the Heart of Darkness before you, like a black scar gouged into the earth. Sharp pains begin to stab along the length of your arms as you approach the deadly cavern. As you look down at them, you find the black spots on your skin have begun to sprout and spread. Somehow this place seems to be hastening the effects of the plague. You have seen what befalls those in the later stages of the disease, and the thought sickens you. You feel weak and drained of hope, but you know you must find a way to hold it together long enough to complete your mission.