Vathek and Drake lead an army to Cavigor in order to prevent Frost from taking over the prison, only for the hunter to give them a nasty surprise.
- Arrows on Fire: One's used to light up the fire that prevents Frost's army from entering the prison for now. Another is used to give an order to Frost's troops in Shallowsands.
- Ascended Extra: Cavigor's unique-looking guards that only appeared in "Escape from Cavigor" are turned into their own subspecies of Lurdens called Sand Dwellers.
- The Atoner: Vathek resolves to redeem himself for his role in creating the current conflict by helping ensure the mistake with Kage's persecution won't get repeated and that no-one, not even his old comrades, will turn Elyon's reign into a continuation of her brother's.
- Awesome, but Impractical: It's described in great detail why Cavigor's design makes it a great prison but a terrible fortress to be under siege.
- Batman Gambit: It turns out Frost hasn't yet taken over Cavigor because he correctly anticipated the relief force would hurry to protect the prison that's harder to defend than besiege. Instead, he holds back his forces and attacks the tired relief force when they show up, forcing them inside Cavigor.
- Black Swords Are Better: Jade was already shown to have provided Phobos' troops with dark-colored Shadowkhan weapons in Chapter 9. This chapter proves that they're strong enough to shatter the regular steel weapons used by Elyon's forces.
- Cliffhanger: As the siege of Cavigor begins, some of Frost's troops start digging out a rock formation in the desert settlement of Shallowsands.
- Crossing the Desert: In order to reach Cavigor as quickly as possible, the rebel army marches straight through the open desert instead of waiting for sunset or crossing the shades provided by rocky formations. This backfires horribly as they fail to notice Frost's troops who're hiding in said shades, so when they reach Cavigor in exhaustion, they're surrounded by Frost's well-rested troops on all sides, including Sand Dwellers who are capable of fighting under the desert's sun when necessary.
- Decapitation Presentation: Frost threatens to sever Vathek's head and present it to Phobos, Raythor and Jade as well as offer the brains to the latter as a thank you gift.
- Desert Warfare: To prevent Frost from taking over Cavigor, Vathek and Drake march their relief force through the southern desert, only to be ambushed by Frost's army when they reach the prison. In their hurry to reach Cavigor in one day, they fail to spot Frost's troops who're hiding in the shades of canyons and rocks, leading to the exhausted rebel army being surrounded. Though Frost's army is lesser in numbers, the Sand Dwellers in their ranks are accustomed to fighting under the scorching sun, and with the offensive power of their Shadowkhan weapons added to the mix, the rebels are forced to withdraw to Cavigor that becomes besieged.
- The Dreaded: The Shadowkhan are already gaining a feared reputation on Meridian. Vathek overhears one of his soldiers admitting in a whisper that he'd rather face Frost or even Phobos himself than the "shadow demons".
- Evil Laugh: Frost enjoys the battle with dark laughter.
- Fantastic Slurs: Sand Dwellers are not pleased when Frost calls them sand rats.
- Good Is Not Soft: Though Vathek has had his Heel Realization about Kage and becomes The Atoner, he concludes she has nonetheless allied herself with Phobos and must be stopped violently if she's beyond reasoning. Furthermore, he resolves himself to putting a stop to Elyon's reign becoming a Full-Circle Revolution, even if he must go up against his old comrades.
- Greek Fire: When the rebels get inside Cavigor, the guards throw on the only pathway substance made out of oil and Larvek juices. It's then ignited with a burning arrow, resulting in a wall of flame which the Warden says to burn for hours, discouraging Frost's army from further attacks for the moment.
- Heel Realization: The one Vathek's been having, which was already touched upon during Chapter 10, is made complete in this fic's beginning; not only he's ashamed of his treatment of Jade, but he's also realized he's subconsciously accepted the rebels becoming no different from Phobos by wantonly imprisoning people without trial. He resolves to redeem himself by both thwarting Phobos and Kage (the latter peacefully if possible at all) as well as putting a stop to the corruption of Elyon's government.
- Heroic Vow: Vathek makes one to himself to cement his role as The Atoner.
- Hidden Depths: Despite his reputation as The Brute, Frost proves himself capable of engaging in cunning warfare. Instead of immediately attacking Cavigor, he has used the time Vathek's relief force takes to hurriedly march through the desert to add to his ranks the local Sand Dwellers and other Phobos loyalists who then wait in the shadows of canyons to ambush the tired rebel army from the front and flanks. The end result is that though lesser in numbers, Frost's troops (in better shape, armed with the superior Shadowkhan weapons, and having expert desert fighters in their ranks) force the rebels to take refuge in Cavigor (a situation Vathek did not want to happen since the prison is much harder to defend than besiege), making it only a matter of time before the defenders run out of food and fuel to maintain the huge fire keeping the invaders at bay.
- Honor Before Reason: Vathek is afraid that if Jade is as honorable as Raythor, then nothing short of defeating her will stop her from keeping her word of returning Phobos to the throne.
- Impromptu Tracheotomy: A Sand Dweller kills a rebel by stabbing his throat with a spear, only to be killed by another slashing his back.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Just as Vathek tells Frost that he'll be locked up in Cavigor if he survives the battle, one of his men arrives to report that Frost's army is surrounding them.
- Is That the Best You Can Do?: After trading three evenly matched strikes with each other, Frost asks Vathek if that's all. Despite sweating and his mace having visible slashes, Vathek replies it's not even close. Frost is happy to hear that because lack of struggle would spoil his fun.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Vathek admits that as rudely as Caleb presented his argument in Chapter 10, he's probably right about it being too late to try to make peace with Kage.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: One of the rebels is killed while shouting "For the Queen!".
- Loud Gulp: The Warden does this when Vathek correctly guesses they don't have enough food to last the siege for long.
- Our Orcs Are Different: While there's canonically two different appearances to the Lurdens, they're divided into three different types in this story. The green ones with ogre-like appearance are native to the eastern Swamplands, while the brown ones with beast-like appearance come from the northern mountains. The third type known as Sand Dwellers, who were only seen in the first season episode "Escape from Cavigor", are the original inhabitants of the southern desert where Cavigor is situated.
- Rhino Rampage: Not only does Frost have his mount Crimson, but when the enemy armies charge, a group of other rhino-riders helps him give the rebels' front line a devastating attack.
- The Siege: Admitting they have no chance of winning, the rebels retreat into Cavigor, with everyone knowing the stalemate won't last for long.
- Spiteful Spit: One of the rebel soldiers does this while speaking with his fellow about Frost during the march.
- Thwarted Coup de Grâce: After shattering Drake's sword, Frost is about to cut him down before Vathek charges him. Drake returns the favor a moment later by stabbing Frost's shoulder with a dagger when the hunter is about to stab Vathek in a moment of advantage.
- Wrecked Weapon: The might of the Shadowkhan weapons is first demonstrated when Frost uses his black sword to shatter Drake's sword with only one strike. Vathek's mace remains intact after taking three strikes from it, but its metal does get slash marks on it.
