Mikael lunged for the corpse that held his swords. Eris was already sprinting towards Melantha, brandishing his bone weapon. Rhysand and Feyre flanked him. Ameer, Kallias, and Tamlin formed a protective barrier around Helion and Lucien. Their palms glowed gold with magic as they tore into Melantha's wards and shields.

    The other High Lords, Ladies, and the Mortal Queens were quickly reclaiming their weapons as well. Mikael tackled the corpse to the ground and pried Alethea and Lovis from its grasp. He drove Lovis through its heart and rolled to his feet.

    Mikael flared a wing out, knocking several corpses down. Thesan sprang to his side, decapitating two of them. Mikael speared the heart of another. Eris and Rhysand were locked in battle with Melantha. Mikael froze, recognizing the weapons she wielded. His lips curled into a snarl. He gave a thrust of his wings and landed before Melantha.

    "Those don't belong to you," he growled.

    "Come and get them, Bastard," she taunted.

    Eris and Rhysand gave Mikael short nods and the three of them closed in on the Witch. Melantha tipped her head back with a laugh. Eris lunged and his bone glanced off Aesira. Rhysand's Illyrian sword met Znaniya. Mikael reversed Lovis in one hand and attacked.

    Melantha made good use of both of Estelle's blades, parrying Mikael's blows. She dropped low, sweeping Eris' legs out from under him. Eris dodged her next attack and Mikael saw an opening. He sliced Alethea through Melantha's side. Blood leaked from the wound and she stared at him, her black eyes darkening.

    Wails and shrieks filled the air. The corpses echoed them. Mikael jumped as a bony hand burst through the ground beside his foot. Eris tackled Mikael aside as more corpses rose up behind him.

    "Free the prisoners," the High Lord ordered.

    Mikael nodded and bolted to his feet. He found Larilis and five of the Mortal Queens already working on freeing Evren and Elain. Mikael jammed Lovis through the lock on Cresseida's cell door. With a sharp twist, the lock clicked and the door sprang open.

    Mikael entered and scanned the glass tank. There had to be an easy way to get her out if Melantha removed her from the tank for two hours each day. He flew to the top of the tank, eyeing the lid. It was bolted down and sealed, likely with magic. The wards still weren't broken, so he wouldn't be able to access his own to open it.

    He returned to the ground and reversed both swords in his grasp. Mikael drove their pommels into the glass siding of the tank. A small crack appeared. Mikael hit it again, and again, and again. The glass kept splintering. Cresseida closed her mouth and let herself sink beneath the water level. She braced her arms on one side of the tank and kicked at the cracks. The glass groaned.

    Cresseida floated back up, sucking in more air. Mikael hit the cracks again. Flecks of glass fell at his feet. Cresseida returned, kicking as the cracks continued to spread. Mikael gestured for her to move out of the way. She resurfaced and he fitted Alethea's blade into one of the larger cracks. Mikael jammed the blade through the glass with a solid push.

    Glass splintered and shattered. He shielded himself with his wings as debris and water rained down. Cresseida began coughing and gasping as she was finally able to draw a full breath. Mikael sheathed his swords and slipped an arm beneath hers, dragging her to her feet. Cresseida shivered as they left the cell.

    "Take her. I'm going to get Estelle," he said as they reached the Queens and Larilis. Larilis held a weeping Evren, stroking her hair softly. One of the Queens was helping Elain stand. Two of them took Cresseida from him and Mikael ran back towards the writhing throng.

    Rhysand, Eris, and his father were now facing Melantha. She was sweating and covered in an assortment of nicks and bruises. Mikael ignored them, sprinting towards Estelle's cell. He cut through corpses as he ran.

    He reached the cell and gripped the bars. There was no door that led in or out, and he would never be able to fit through the bars. He needed his magic. Estelle was still screaming.

    "Helion!" Mikael called.

    "We're almost through," Helion grunted. Sweat ran down his dark face as he focused. Lucien's eyes were closed, his jaw clenched so hard Mikael wondered how his teeth didn't break.

    Mikael stabbed another corpse through the heart and spun back towards Estelle. "Batsy! Look at me. I'm right here. What you're seeing isn't real!" Estelle continued to scream, her amber eyes wide with terror. She doubled over and vomited. "Estelle, I'm here! I'm right here, Love. Look at me!"

    He rolled backwards as another corpse bore down on him. Mikael rose on one knee, his blade angled up. The corpse whirled and his blade sank through its heart. He shoved the creature aside. Mikael gasped as more skeletal hands burst through the ground in Estelle's cell.

    "Estelle!" He screamed. "Snap out of it! I'm right here! Look at me!" Mikael looked back over his shoulder. "I need to get in there, now!"

    Umbra squeezed his arm in warning. Mikael twisted again and grabbed the corpse's head. With a frustrated growl, he tore it clean off. The body fell and he hurled the head at Melantha. She pushed Thesan aside and he tripped over a fallen corpse. His temple knocked against the wall and he hit the ground.

    "Father!" Mikael cried.

    Ameer was there a heartbeat later, wings spread and teeth bared as he crouched over Thesan, defending him from the oncoming corpses. Mikael forced his fear aside as he heard a strange sound. It sounded like cloth being ripped. No, not cloth. Wards. A shatter accompanied the ripping as Melantha's shields were destroyed.

    At once, power flooded Mikael's veins. Golden light radiated from his skin as he formed a blade of sheer magic in his grasp. He sliced through the bars of Estelle's cell, unaffected by the faebane that coated them. Mikael kicked the bars in and with half a thought, shattered the emerging corpses into nothing but thin white shards of bone.

    He dropped down in front of Estelle and broke her chains off. "Batsy, look at me." Mikael cupped her face in his hands. "Look at me, Estelle. I'm here. I'm right here. Look at me."

    Healing magic tinged in his fingertips, spreading to Estelle. He found her injuries and healed them rapidly, then set to work breaking Melantha's hold on her mind. He grabbed the Bond and pulled, calling down it simultaneously.

    I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. Look at me. I'm here. It's not real. I'm here. Look at me. Mikael repeated the words over and over again. Estelle's shadows were moving now, some of them crawling over to him.

    Estelle blinked, her screams fading. She blinked again, staring at Mikael. Tears continued to run down her cheeks. "I can feel you," she sobbed. "You're real."

    "I'm real." He pressed their foreheads together. "I'm real. I'm here, Love."

    Estelle wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her carefully. Mikael summoned his magic once more, forming shields over Estelle and himself, just like the ones Helion and Lucien wore.

    "What's the plan?" Estelle asked breathlessly.

    "Break the wards. Free the prisoners. Severely injure Melantha. Get the hell out of here before Nesta unleashes the Cauldron's power," Mikael listed. "Where's Wynter? He's the only one we haven't found."

    "Probably in Melantha's room. I don't know where that is, exactly. I've been stuck down here." Estelle gasped, her gaze landing on Melantha. "That bitch has my weapons!"

    "I told her they weren't hers."

    "Give me one of your swords."

    "You're in no condition to..."

    "Give me one of your fucking swords, Mikael!" He set her down at once, shoving Alethea into her hand. Estelle narrowed her eyes and barreled into Melantha with a furious roar.

◦═══✦═══◦

    Wynter stared out the window vacantly. He'd been alone for hours. That was unusual. It meant something was happening, but what? He heard loud sounds in the hall beyond the room as Melantha's guards and soldiers hurried off somewhere.

    Wynter closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall. He should enjoy this peace while he could. Melantha would be back soon enough, and then... He exhaled sharply. His skin crawled, but it wasn't from fear or disgust. Something was happening. Something was...awakening.

    Wynter jumped to his feet, gazing about the room. Items began to rattle. The floor quaked. Glass broke. And the feeling inside Wynter grew. It welled up from the depths of his very being, flooding his veins with power that had been locked away for months.

    Wynter focused that power, letting his skin grow colder and colder, until the chains around his wrists and the collar at his throat froze and broke free. Wynter touched his scarred neck in disbelief. He was...free. His magic was back. And that meant...

    Wynter ran to the door, magic swirling at his fingertips. He kicked the door just below the latch, breaking it open. He dashed into the hallway, jagged shards of ice forming in his hands. He stabbed it through the heart of a corpse and watched as the creature fell dead once more.

    His heart raced with adrenaline. Something was happening. Someone was here, and he was willing to bet he knew who. He had to get to the dungeons. He had to help his friends. His family. His allies. Wynter sprinted down the stairs, summoning ice and letting it tear through the hearts of each corpse he met.

    He ran past an open door, then paused. Something glittered on a table beneath a weapons rack. Seven golden gems. Illyrian siphons. Wynter snatched the gems up and pocketed them, then resumed his course once more.

    A throng of corpses blocked the stairwell a few levels down. Wynter jumped onto the railing, ignoring the hands that grabbed at his ankles. He eyed the chain suspending a chandelier close by. Wynter readied himself and leaped. He caught the chain with one hand and drove an ice shard into the rigging overhead. The chain broke free, and he plummeted.

    The floor beneath him was stone. Strong, but not impenetrable. Wynter narrowed his eyes, hoping that no one he liked was beneath that section. A burst of magic ripped a hole through the floor, creating a shortcut for him and the chandelier. He kept tearing his way through the levels of the fortress, going deeper and deeper underground.

    With one final blast of magic, he fell into the dungeons. The chandelier crushed several corpses beneath it. Wynter landed in a roll and jumped to his feet. Kallias and Viviane stared at him in shock. Wynter didn't pause to catch his breath. He dug the siphons out of his pockets.

    "Estelle!" He hollered, catching sight of the Shadowsinger. She was locked in battle with Melantha. Estelle broke away and Tarquin rushed to take her place.

    "You found my siphons!" She exclaimed. Estelle took them and quickly situated them on her torn leathers. "We were just about to come looking for you."

    "You took too long." He summoned more shards of ice into his grasp.

    With a scream of fury, Melantha cast aside those who had been fighting her. "I have waited for this for centuries!" She seethed. "And some bloody fucking Fae will not take this from me!" Dark magic gathered at her fingertips. Wynter watched in horror as the corpses around them grew three sizes larger, talons bursting from their nails.