Still posing as prison guards, the trio of Shades escorted their two Nightling companions down the stairwell leading to the ground floor.

They were heading for the portal, but aside from that, they didn't really have a plan. There wasn't really a way to why they were leading two high-level prisoners out of the prison. Makaela supposed they'd just have to wing it.

But with Sybil and Adair growing restless with every step they took and the lack of restraints on them, she feared they'd be found out soon. Their cover would be blown. They would surely have to make a run for it.

She wasn't sure if they'd survive a sprint to Nyghtmir's portal from their current position.

As they passed by a row of cells, Adair kept mumbling nonsensical things under his breath. He kept twitching and picking at the scabs marring his skin.

Amora shied away from him. "What's his problem?"

"He's not well," Sybil replied. "He does not do well in short spaces."

"Short spaces?"

Sybil cursed in Serbian. "I meant small spaces."

"No cells...no cells...Adair doesn't like cells," the male Nightling told himself while scratching the top of his head.

Makaela pitied him. He needed help; that much was apparent. But he would never get it. To the magician community, he wasn't human—which meant his life wasn't as valuable as theirs. In fact, they viewed him and his sister as monsters.

She clenched her jaw. They viewed her as a monster too.

"We need to get a move on," Emile said. He kept looking over his shoulder at the other guards in the cellblock.

Makaela did the same. She noticed a few of them were peering at them curiously. A few were even making their way over to them. Her eyes widened.

Not good, not good.

Her mind went into a frenzy trying to develop a strategy to get them to the portal without dying.

As she and her group passed by a row of cells composed of thinly spaced iron bars, someone snatched her arm.

She stopped, her eyes flaring with anger. Amora, Emile, and the two Nightlings continued, not noticing that she wasn't behind them. She didn't call after them in fear of blowing their cover, as the prison guards were already growing more suspicious by the second.

She'd just have to deal with this herself.

"Let go of me," she half-whispered at the inmate who had their fingers wrapped around her forearm. The hand was a few shades lighter than obsidian. Dark hair coiled around his wrist. Through the darkness, she could see the outline of his person.

"It's you..." they—a male, she assumed—croaked. "You're her."

She snatched her arm away from him. "You're crazy." She prepared to run off after their accomplices, but the prisoner grabbed her again. "Let me go!" His face was still hiding beyond the shadows of his cell.

"Please, let me out of here," he begged her. "I'll do anything."

She tried to remove her arm from his grip, but he was strong. Abnormally stronger. Through the darkness of his cell, she could see crimson eyes staring back at her. Her stomach churned and she resisted the urge to tremble with fear.

"Please," he pleaded.

"I...I..."

He paused before sniffing the stale air around them. "They're coming."

"Who is?"

"The guards."

Peering behind herself for a moment, she spotted a quartet of armored Eldai marching towards her. Their vayrirs were raised and stern expressions decorated their faces. Seconds later, a piercing caterwaul pierced the air. Gargoyles screeched in the distance.

She was running out of time. She looked down towards the hall. Emile, Amora, and the Nightlings were well ahead of her. They had finally noticed she wasn't with them, but it was too late for them to turn back.

She faced the inmate in the cell next to her. "I'm going to tell you this one more time. Let. Me. Go."

"If you take me with you, I can help you escape."

She stole another look behind her and cursed. The guards were getting closer. Panic surfaced onto her face. Biting her lip, she debated the inmate's proposal.

He very well could've been lying. After all, he wasn't in Nyghtmir for being a good person. There was no guarantee he'd keep up his end of the bargain.

But at the same time, she didn't see another way out of this predicament. He very well could've been her way to escape the prison.

Not to mention he seemed to know who she was. He had recognized her when she walked past. She had no idea who he was—or what he was—but she didn't have time to question it any longer.

Her time was up.

Without a second thought, she directed an unlocking charm onto the cell. She then realized it didn't have a door. Shaking her head, she ordered the man inside to step back. He did as he was told.

"Anéantis!"

The blasting spell sent broken pieces of metal flying around her, leaving a smoldering hole in the holding cell. Once she sliced through his chains, using the same spell Amora used earlier, the man inside stepped up to her.

Makaela jabbed a finger at him. "Don't make me regret this."

"You won't."

The two of them nodded before taking off for the cellblock's exit.

As they sprinted alongside each other, Makaela was finally able to get a good look at him. He was tall and lean. It was clear he kept himself in shape while locked up. Red, tribalistic markings decorated his top portion of his back.

The two of them pushed through into the corridor connecting the hexagon to the prison's central building. Shouts from the prison guards sounded beyond them. More wails from the alarms blared around them, shaking the floor and ground.

The prisoner she released was beginning to outrun her. In fact, he seemed to be struggling to match her pace.

He turned back, his red eyes urging her forward.

She squinted at him and remembered something Randall told her before Amora murdered him.

"This is where we keep our high-profile inmates. Powerful magicians, monstrous beasts, etcetera."

"Monstrous beasts..." she said to herself.

A squad of Eldai arrived at the mouth of the hallway, interrupting her train of thought. She skidded to a stop and scowled.

"Halt!" they commanded while pointing their weapons at her.

She had no intention of following their orders. She brought her hands together, angled her fingers to the ground, and pressed her lips to her thumbs. "Incendis exore!" Golden flames protruded from her fingertips and spread across the stone ground.

She spun around, continuing to shoot the fire from her hands Once a thick, ring of violent flames had separated her and her new friend from the angry guards, she dropped her hands. She was impressed with her work, despite not being a fire elementalist.

The fiery barrier wouldn't last forever, though. Her fire magic was weak, and the Eldai seemed to know, as they kept trying to pass through it.

"You've just boxed us in," the prisoner noted.

She huffed at him. "Do you have any better ideas?"

"Actually, I do," he replied. "Just...don't freak out."

She tilted her head at him. "It's already too late for that." She had meant that sarcastically, but once his body started to morph and contort, she nearly fainted.

Behind her wall of fire, the guards yelled in fear—and perhaps desperation. Some called for backup while others tried to distinguish the flames in front of them. Makaela tore her eyes away from them and stared at the prisoner next to her.

Or, at least, he had been a man a few seconds ago.

A large, black wolf with eyes akin to gleaming rubies stared back at her. Realization slammed into her with the force of a speeding bullet. All the air left her lungs as her eyes nearly bulged out of her head.

"You're a werewolf."

He responded by dipping his massive head. She immediately recognized the gesture. He wanted her to get on.

He didn't have to tell her twice.

She climbed onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. Surprisingly, his ebony fur was softer than the pillows in her bedroom. And those were the softest pillows she'd ever come into contact with.

The wolf pawed the ground and let out a guttural howl. The guards beyond Makaela's wall of fire faltered, their weapons quaking in their gloved hands.

Makaela squeezed her eyes shut as the wolf propelled them both through the flaming ring. He brushed off the guards rushing him and barreled down the corridor. Within seconds, they had emerged out of the hall and into Nyghtmir's main building.

A swarm of guards were pooled near the portal.

None of them were paying Makaela or the werewolf any mind. They were all occupied with the four other people trying to escape the prison.

Emile, Amora, and the Nightlings were battling fiercely against the Eldai. They were forcing their way through the soldiers, desperately trying to reach the portal. In the towers surrounding them, electrified ballista bolts sped toward them. They all missed their mark and split open the stone ground upon impact.

They weren't going to be able to fend off Nyghtmir's defenses for much longer. They needed help.

As Makaela and the freed prisoner approached them, a few Eldai on the fringes of the battle turned their attentions towards them.

Unlatching her arms from the wolf's neck, she pushed off of him and landed on the ground in a kneeling position. She summoned three shards of light and sent them into the chests of the soldiers running at her. They all fell to the floor, clutching at their wounds.

She glanced at the portal gate, which was just a few paces away. However, there were still quite a lot of Eldai in the way. She racked her brain for a plan, but the screeching siren shaking the prison and the yells from the guard gargoyles around her weren't making it easy to concentrate.

Towards the portals, she spotted Cybil and Adair jumping from guard to guard, slashing at their throats and bodies. They were moving in tandem and cutting down anyone that stood in their way. Blood pooled on the ground, its metallic scent filling the air.

Makaela could almost taste the death around her.

The werewolf—who had reverted back to his human state—appeared at her side.

"So, those are Nightlings, huh?" He whistled in awe. "I've never seen one in action before."

If only you had seen me a few weeks ago.

She watched as the Nightling siblings dispatched numerous amounts of guards while Emile and Amora worked on readying the portal for their escape. Amora had a shield charm raised, fending off ballista strikes from the defense towers.

Makaela ran over to them and directed a blasting spell into the base of a tower. The guard inside yelled as it toppled to the ground. Dusted billowed into the air as bricks spilled across the ground.

She and her werewolf companion joined the two Shades at the portal gate and took refuge behind Amora's shield charm.

"Who the hell is he?" Amora asked with a bewildered expression on her face.

"I don't really know," she answered. Her fatigue was starting to set in. Her muscles ached and sweat was dripping down her face. "It's a long story."

The werewolf stepped toward Amora. "I'm Dorian. Dorian Redfang."

Emile stopped what he was doing to look at him. "As in the Redfang clan?"

"That's the one."

Makaela facepalmed. She felt like an idiot for not realizing it earlier. Of course, he was a Redfang. The crimson eyes, the red markings on his back, and the fact he was locked up in Nyghtmir were enough evidence.

"This works out perfectly then," Emile said. He returned to programming their next location into the portal gate. "The Redfangs are our allies."

"Allies?" Dorian frowned. "You work for the Order?"

"Is that an issue with you?'' Amora's tone was sharper than her dagger. "Because it's not too late for us to leave you here, mutt."

Dorian shook his head. "No issue here."

Makaela arched an eyebrow at his lack of a reaction. He didn't even seem to notice Amora had just insulted him. Or perhaps he had chosen to ignore it. She wasn't so sure about that, though. Redfangs were known for being violent and impulsive. She didn't think one wouldn't retaliate against a direct act of disrespect.

"That's what I thought," Amora said. She grunted as her shield charm came under fire from another electric-charged bolt. "Emile, can you hurry it up over there? My shield won't hold for much longer."

The two Nightlings joined the group at the portal.

"We have company," Sybil said. Her face was slick with blood. Beside her, Adair's eyes were wide, and he couldn't stop laughing.

She took back what she said about him appearing to be a sweet boy. Now, he looked like a complete and utter psychopath.

Makaela looked past him and at the stampede of guards marching at them. The booming sound of their boots slamming into the ground assaulted her eardrums.

We're running out of time.

"We need to go," Adair told them in his sing-song voice. "Need to go, need to go, need to go!" His clawed hands flew to his head as he let out a nervous laugh.

"I'm almost done," Emile told the group. He muttered a few more incantations before standing up. A relieved sigh left his lips. "Once the portal opens, we all need to enter it immediately. It will only stay open for a few seconds."

The group nodded and moved to the center of the platform, waiting for Emile to open the portal. Makaela spun around to see the guards getting closer. The two remaining defense towers were readying more ballista bolts.

Drawing on a significant portion of her dwindling vitalae, she shot another blasting spell at the structure. It topped to the ground, but not before the guard inside managed to launch one last bolt.

It raced at her and dove to the ground. She glanced to her side, seeing where it landed. The bolt stuck out from where she had just been standing.

Her heart stopped as she gaped at the cracked stone.

Dorian helped her to her feet. She could tell he was trying to ask her something, but her ears weren't registering the words. She stumbled around for a bit, trying to gather her bearings.

Beside her, Amora directed a wide array of spells, ranging from knockback to stunning attacks, at the encroaching prisoner guards. But no matter how many she knocked down or pushed back, more would step up and replace them.

They were never-ending.

If Emile didn't get that portal open soon, they all would be good as dead.

"Any minute now!" Makaela yelled.

As she turned to check Emile's progress, a pair of guards rushed her. She turned but was too exhausted to thwart their assault. The point of one of their halberds hurtled toward her heart. Her brain froze.

Before the blade could pierce her skin, Dorian stepped in front of her. He snapped the halberd's long, wooden handle in half and drove the end of the stick into the gut of the guard. He then shifted into his wolf form. He ripped the throat out of another magician, spraying their blood everywhere.

Makaela cringed and turned away from the sight.

Dorian shifted back and stared down at the two bodies, his chest heaving. A dark look filled his bright, menacing eyes. She stared at him, her own eyes widening with awe. He faced her. It was the first time she had gotten a full, uninterrupted look at his face.

Underneath the dirt and grime covering his face, she could tell he was a beautiful man. He had a long face with sharp cheekbones and thick, inviting lips. Realizing she was practically drooling, she averted her gaze and coughed awkwardly.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Uh..." She swallowed hard before nodding.

He opened his mouth to say something.

"If you two wouldn't mind," Amora interrupted, "I'd like to leave!" The girl pointed behind them all.

A shimmering portal swirled in the center of the platform they stood on.

Nodding, Makaela darted after Amora with Dorian right on her heels. The two Nightlings and Emile had already made their way through the magical rift.

As she ran for the portal, Makaela stole a peek over her shoulder. The guards were continuing their pursuit. Those who were farther away even threw their weapons in an attempt to stop the escapees.

While turning her head to face forward, her foot got caught in a piece of the uneven, brick ground. She went weightless for a moment before finding herself crashing to the ground. Her face hit the stone first. Pain shot up her nose. Blood leaked from both her nostrils as her vision swam.

Ahead of her, Amora and Dorian kept running. The girl disappeared into the portal, but Dorian stopped just before he could. He turned around, seeing that Makaela was still picking herself up from the ground.

He dipped his head and raced over to her. He swept her up from the ground and carried her over to the portal. With her eyes closed, she mumbled a weak, "Thank you."

She could feel her consciousness fading slowly. It seeped out of her like the blood running from her nose.

He said something in response, but he sounded as if he was underwater. Everything around her blurred into blobs of black, red, and gray. She went limp in his arms. The pain in her face spread to her head, to her chest, and eventually her whole body.

Soon, the familiar sensation of portal travel swallowed her whole. Nausea crested over her, drowning her entire being.

Then, everything went dark.