Alex leaves the abbey in unexpectedly good spirits, but Brother Diaz stops her when Duke Sabbas and a large hunting party reveal that they have surrounded Saint Demetrius. Sabbas grandly confirms Alex's identity from the papal document, mocks her appearance and claim, and makes clear that he considers himself the true heir to Troy. His force includes armed manhunters, two twin sorceresses, and a huge tattooed Dane whose werewolf nature is obvious even before he speaks.

Sunny quickly realizes the group cannot win a direct fight. Still injured and in pain, Sunny circles the graveyard unseen and begins creating small advantages by sabotaging the hunters' weapons and gear. Meanwhile, Sabbas boasts about the chase and offers to let the rest of the Chapel live if they abandon Alex. Brother Diaz refuses because of the papal binding, and Vigga supports Alex even more bluntly, adding personal contempt for Sabbas to her reasons.

Sabbas then lets his Dane face Vigga first. As the two werewolves clash, Sunny tries to turn the fight into a rampage by getting close with a stolen knife, but the violence moves too quickly. The duel becomes a savage, ecstatic brawl that wrecks the graveyard and pushes both fighters toward transformation. Brother Diaz and Alex watch in alarm until the struggle takes an unexpected turn: the two combatants begin coupling in the middle of the fight and then disappear together into the woods, leaving Sabbas and his followers disgusted and distracted.

With Vigga gone, Sabbas orders Alex and Brother Diaz killed. The first crossbow shot fails because of Sunny's sabotage, and almost at once the battlefield erupts as corpses claw their way out of the graveyard and attack Sabbas's hunters. The twin sorceresses destroy some of the dead and identify the presence of a necromancer. Balthazar appears from the far side of the graveyard, proudly taking credit, and Jakob of Thorn immediately rides in at full gallop with sword drawn, turning what looked like Alex's capture into a new battle.