Ash grabbed his sword, and rushed to Ethan's cage. One stroke of the ice blade smashed the door open just as the knights turned on them with a roar.

Lise took Ethan out the cage.

Ethan hugged her, sobbing

She hugged him back, gently stroking the top of his head.

Isiea whips around to face the knights. Even if they werent aware of it, shes their queen now. Hopefully. Shes seriously hoping that was enough time to solidify her as a ruler, because otherwise things wont go very well.

Things didn't go well anyway. Suddenly, the ground trembled. Rumblings filled the air as the iron throne began to collapse, shedding jagged shrapnel like scales. A tremor shook the ground, causing all the knights to stagger.

Then, a huge chunk of the garden cracked and fell away, taking several knights with it into oblivion. More cracks appeared as the courtyard began to come apart. The knights howled and scattered, and screams rose into the air.

"The whole tower's coming down!" Ash yelled, dodging a falling beam. "We have to get out of here, now!"

Isiea doesnt hesitate. She dashed out the door, trusting the others to get Ethan since there right next to him.

Lise quickly picked up Ethan and ran out the door.

More cracks slashed across the ground, and ducked through, only to reappear on the other side. Nothing happened.

"Humans," said a familiar voice, and Grimalkin appeared, twitching his tail. "This way. Hurry."

Lise didn't question his sudden reappearance and followed him.