Ghalwin ran forward to engage with Baba Lysaga, attempting to misty step to her, but the witch countered his spell glee and hopped inside a Giant's skull. With a few choice magical phrases, her hut crept to life, and the skull began to fly. She uttered a final word of power that completely stunned Ghalwin as the hut lurched upward on spider-like roots. The paladin was able to shake off the magic, but pretended to stay stunned in order to catch the witch off-guard. Gloating, her attention was drawn from him to other areas of the battlefield.
Flying above her hut, Lysaga noticed Atlas; with Shakti hiding below him, he was completely exposed above the water. The cleric barely had time to react before the hut's massive roots surrounded then slammed down on him, knocking him unconscious. Shakti wildshaped back to her humanoid form then polymorphed into an Air Elemental. She flew into the hut, where a cradle containing a crying baby lay next to a tub filled with blood. Hung by brambles above it was a near-exsanguinated Muriel Vinshaw, barely clinging to life. Shakti began wildly tearing apart the floorboards to get to the Gemstone of Life Growth inside, which she knew would deaminate the construct.
Before she could get far, however, Baba Lysaga flew to her home's entrance and blasted Shakti with magic missiles, causing her to lose concentration on her elemental form. In desperation, Shakti held a knife to the baby's throat and threatened Lysaga to back away, but the enraged witch moved to attack her despite the danger to her "child's" life. Knowing it would kill Muriel but potentially save her and Atlas, Shakti unleashed a wave of thunder to try to break apart the hut from the inside. However, most of the furniture was nailed down, and the energy was not strong enough to destroy the floorboards completely. To Shakti's horror, the cradle and baby did not move; they were illusions programmed by the mad Lysaga long ago.
Stranded between them in the swamps, van Richten argued, then begged, for Ghalwin to ride away on Verity. With significantly more experience in these situations, the vampire hunter knew that the fight was lost without Shakti and Atlas; however, he also knew Ghalwin could not be swayed to leave his friends. The paladin was paralyzed with indecision: though he could never abandon Shakti and Atlas on principle, van Richten argued that by throwing his life away, he was abandoning them permanently. They were owed three miracles from The Abbot, who may have still held the able to revive them.
Shakti dove from the hut into the swamps below, uttering a word of healing and praying for Atlas to get away. Lysaga followed and summoned a poisonous cloud around the druid, who began to choke within the fog. Atlas emerged sputtering and swam beyond the cloud, but was met by the witch. Lysaga loomed above the cleric, near-dead in the swamp water, and cackled as she attacked him with magical force. As his body was blasted apart by magic missiles, Atlas Atruvian saw a vision of his daughter. For the first time in years, Atlas felt Joana's embrace, and he finally had the strength let himself be spirited away by Umori.
Left alone in the swamp, Shakti wrestled against the poison before finally succumbing, and sunk low into the water. As her soul left her body, she heard a gruff and apologetic voice. Jaghr reached out, finally able to see his daughter, and was despondent that she had followed him. He offered her protection against Vampyr, as Mother Night had protected him before. Shakti hesitated, then opted to follow her father into places unknown.
After endless deliberation, Ghalwin was swayed by van Richten. The old cleric tossed him his Ring of Mind Shielding, which would keep his soul trapped and allow them to communicate even after death. The paladin summoned his elk and the two galloped through the swamp as Baba Lysaga's creeping hut descended on van Richten. The massive roots constricted around the old man, breaking apart his bones as Verity rode off into the mist.
At this ultimate moment of anguish, Ghalwin was visited again by Yrrga, who believed that his weakened mental state was the perfect opportunity to take over her host. As darkness swirled around his soul, Ghalwin chose to reject the Eye of Shadows, instead vowing himself completely to the Ladies Three. In a split second of singular magical improbability, Ghalwin rejected the Dark Power from him by sheer force of will. He knew that breaking this pact would take a deadly toll, but sensed that a power beyond his ken would aid him. Shadowed hands ripped at his eyes as he fell from his steed, but before the paladin's sight was lost to darkness, he saw a flash of orange fur, and felt a powerful feline body lift him from the bog.
His best friend was petrified. His sister and mentors were dead. Yyrga had been banished. But Ghalwin's oath was alive, and with that life, he still had the power to set things right.