The gaping passageway loomed before them, shadowy and uninviting, heavy with the dungeon's chilly breath. Since passing through the door beneath the frowning face, the dungeon had barely changed and the question weighed heavily on their minds. What would have happened if they'd gone through the other door? It settled on them by way of a silence almost as deep as the tunnel they delved and the echo of their hooves on the uneven stonework was uncomfortably loud in their ears.

As they rounded a sharp bend in the tunnel, their journey came to a sudden halt. Bars, rusted, ancient and forged of iron, blocked their path.

"Maybe we should turn back and go through the happy door," Aislinn suggested quietly, her voice edged with the slightest trace of fear.

"Ah c'mon, we can just kick it down." Wolf pushed past the chimeric mare and turned around, aiming a strong kick at the metal. His hooves clanged off the bars loudly, the sound ricocheting down the dark corridor beyond. The metal refused to budge.

"Here, how about you let me show you have it's done," Karlach said with a grin, shouldering past Wolf.

"Wait."

Castalla's voice was as sharp as a dagger, cutting through the quiet and giving Karlach pause. All three sets of eyes turned to look at her, then trailed down her line of sight to peer into the shadows. Something moved in the gloom, little more than a dark shape.

"Is that -"

With a sudden whoosh of cold air the creature appeared before the iron bars - a blur of motion, limbs skeletal and wrong, its movements jagged and desperate. Castalla remained still as she watched figure stumble towards them. It looked like a Courser - almost, but not quite. Its skull-like head twisted perversely, pivoting through the bars, its hollow eyes fixing on them intently.

"I need you," it rasped, its voice like claws over metal. "Please, take me with you. Don't leave me in the dark."

Aislinn stepped back abruptly and Wolf curled his lip in disgust. "What is that thing?"

"I can help... I can be useful... just let me come with you..."

The desperate words tugged with pity in Castalla's heart but she knew there was nothing they could do. It wasn't a Courser, at least not anymore, and she knew better than to trust the things that dwelled in the darkness of this dungeon.

"Imagine how cool if would be if we had an undead companion," Wolf started, Emberclaw chittering indignantly at the insinuation that it would be cooler than them.

"No," Castalla cut him off. "For all we know as soon as we try and help, it'll eat our souls or something."

The creature's desperation bled into something darker, the empty pits of its eyes burning with a sudden, violently hunger, as it lunged, its jaws snapping through the bars with terrifying speed. In an instant its bony maw clamped onto Castalla's foreleg, the jagged, broken teeth sinking into her skin.

A hiss of pain escaped Castalla's lips, but she didn't panic. Countless battles and years of peril had honed her instincts, crafting her into as much a weapon as any sword or dagger. With a swift, brutal motion, she twisted her leg and slammed the skull against the iron gate. Metal met bone with a shuddering crack, but it held fast, it's grip only tightening as it continued to beg. "Please... don't leave me!"

Karlach's roar cut through the chamber like thunder. "Get off her," she bellowed, cleaver loose from its sheath and held a loft as she prepared to swing it with bush-crushing force.