Nobody was guarding the servant entrance that we took. This was not unusual - after all, it was only a staff door. Still, we kept our guards up as we snuck through the empty hallways of the castle. As large as the building's population was, we were bound to eventually run into someone.

Sure enough, we began hearing the distant sounds of a struggle, and soon, we rounded a corner and found what looked like the entirety of the palace army.

And they were deep in battle.

Shouts and screams rang in the confined space and the stench of death heavily clogged the air. I gagged, clapping a hand over my nose and mouth.

"Do we detour or fight?" Melody asked, her voice rising to a shout to be heard over the hideous noises.

"Those are ours," one of the councilmen responded. The policy of only A speaking had been thrown out the window by now. "We fight."

As the councilmembers rushed into battle, A looked hesitantly at me, and then at Melody.

"Should we push on to Audric?" I asked.

A finally shook her head. "Stay out of battle!" she commanded, joining her friends without further instruction.

Melody muttered a curse, rocking from foot to foot. She was obviously aching for a fight.

"Go," I told her. "I'll be fine." She hesitated for only a second before nodding briskly and slipping into the fray.

Alone on the outskirts of the battle, I could only flatten my back against the wall and watch in horror.

Thankfully, the opposing forces were not as expansive as I had originally thought. In fact, I could see the other end of the hallway now, the enemy was being thinned so severely.

One palace soldier turned and caught sight of me. His eyes widened with recognition. Roaring, he charged.

My heart nearly stopped. On instinct, I closed my eyes and raised my sword to shield myself. My arm shook and I nearly dropped the weapon as his blade collided with mine.

I forced my eyes open. If I was going down, I was going down fighting.

Everything that I had learned in training rushed back to me in an instant. I feinted to the left and as the soldier leaned that way, I struck out at his left arm, the one holding his sword.

My blade bit into flesh and the man screamed in pain, dropping his weapon just as I had hoped.

I yanked my sword out of the man's arm and hit his head with the hilt of it, sending him toppling to the ground without killing him.

Before I quite knew what had happened, I was in the midst of battle. The skirmish had expanded to fill the entire hallway, and I had no clue who was winning. It was all I could do to fend off my attackers.

Finally, my luck - and stamina - ran out. A soldier swung at me, the collision of our blades so powerful that mine flew out of my hand. He didn't waste a second in reaching forward and grabbing one of my wrists.

I was at his mercy.

Red-hot anger flared up within me. No. I was not some helpless, spineless little girl anymore. I would never let anyone get the better of me again.

I cast around desperately for something with which to free myself, my gaze finally landing on an abandoned palace sword. Within seconds, I had thrown together a plan.

Whippihng my head back around to face my captor, I drove my leg in between his. He gasped in pain, his grip loosening just enough.

Taking advantage of his distraction, I reached out with my foot and stomped on the handle of the sword. It catapulted into the air.

Time seemed to slow as the blade arced through the air towards me. I reached out a hand, hoping, praying -

- and the blade's hilt fell gracefully into my open palm.

Feeling a surge of victory, I turned back to the soldier, who was still recovering. It took a matter of seconds to render him, too, unconscious.

The battle was dying down, much to my relief. Finally, I was able to struggle through the battling soldiers and Phoenix People until I was at the end of the hallway.

The remaining soldiers began to retreat, no rhyme or reason to their hasty departure other than pure fear, and a cheer started up from the remaining Phoenix People. I didn't join in until I saw that all of my friends were still standing. Anna barely looked like she had been fighting aside from being a bit breathless. A small cut on Melody's forehead trickled blood down her temple, but she was smiling triumphantly, chest heaving.

A raised her voice above the roar and shouted, "Follow the council!" As the council members made their way over to me, everyone followed, raucous and excited.

"What color card are you?" I asked one man, not seeing any more familiar faces.

"Violet," he replied, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Griffin, Theo, wherever you are - keep fighting.

Anna bounded up beside me and slipped her hand into mine. "Where's your father?" I asked as the council started leading us down the hall and towards the throne room. I looked back at all the dead bodies regretfully and fought down my nausea.

"Dungeons, to free ours," Anna replied simply. It seemed that our original plan had been modified. "Well, this hallway is ruined."

I wrinkled my nose and nodded in agreement as Melody silently joined us.

Doors slammed shut as we passed and servants ran for cover. We did not stop nor slow. These people were not dangerous - hell, most of them were Lowborns themselves.

Our goal was Audric. Nothing more, nothing less.

I couldn't help but marvel over how seamlessly the council was pulling off their plan. Not only had we run into the violet unit just when we needed them, but the halls were devoid of guards - presumably because they were occupied by the other groups.

It all made me wonder how long this plan had been in the works - months? Years?

Decades?

I had no more time to follow this train of thought because we turned a corner and came face-to-face with Audric's personal guard.

My heart all but stopped. The king's guard was known for being the most skilled fighters in the kingdom, ruthless and brutal. Did the Phoenix People stand a change against them?

I suppose we'll find out, I thought grimly as we launched into battle.

Anna pulled Melody and me close. Momentarily, a bubble of silence surrounded us, physically pushing those near us away. It soon flickered out, however.

I realized that she was trying to create a force field around us, but wasn't strong enough to sustain it. Desperation clogged my throat. How were we going to get to the king safely?

Suddenly, strong hands clamped down on my and Melody's shoulders. We both twisted, expecting the same thing - a palace guard - and sighed in relief when we saw Anna's father.

The force field flickered back into place around us, a welcome reprieve from the chaos. However, we could not stop to bask in the comforting silence. "Move!" Anna's father commanded, and we began strenuously working our way forward.

Anna tried her best to channel her magic into the spell, helping take some of the pressure off of her father, but she still couldn't sustain it for very long. I watched her face go beet red before she broke, gasping for air. We were running out of time.

The force field began to fade in and out of existence as we got closer to the throne room doors. All around us, soldiers and comrades alike fell. We could not stop to help any of them.

Finally, just as we reached the imposing double doors, the head mage's magic gave out. The roar of battle once again filled my ears, the stench of blood and death clogging my nose. I tried not to choke on it, feeling suddenly nauseous.

Without hesitation, Melody reached out and shoved the door in front of us open. I was shocked to see it respond to her touch. Why wasn't it locked?

"By all means," my brother called leisurely from his throne, "come in."