Or'do had returned to his plane, yet I had no longer mine. This realm was not my own, rather it seemed that whatever Hunter once called this place home had already fallen. Forsaken Castle Cainhurst, that was where his unmarked grave lay; this was all I could glean from the Doll before she fell silent.

I turned to the row of parallel headstones that traced the hill's arch to my left; leading toward an empty doorway carved in the two story dwelling. Each embraced a stone tablet which was outlined in softly glowing candles; wicks seething with the blighted flame of this foul realm. I knelt before the nearest, setting the only chalice I had yet uncovered upon it.

"The Darkness has stolen everything from me." I murmured. "Purpose, joy, comrades." Anger flared in my heart, and the Cinder glowed in sympathy, burning like a pool of liquid iron beneath my skin. "Now, I will return the favor." The chalice blazed with darkness, a halo of shadow encircling my kneeling form. "Once, I erred and it cost my friend his Cinder. Trust that I shall never underestimate you again."

From his vantage beyond the fence of corroding iron, Gehrman  inclined his head. "As you will." He murmured. "As thou directs thy exultant gaze toward that triumphant future, I shall patiently await thy inexorable downfall."