Jarred in the wake of a lightning strike mating bond, Lucien's centuries-long struggle to keep his heart and mind from shattering is coming to a close. Standing between him and defeat is nothing but a tiny rosebud by the name of Elain, which has started to bloom in his heart – but he might not be the only one in need of a friend in the festering Spring Court climate.

Before the events of The Sons of Thestian, Rufus Merle has an evening of too much drink and getting ditched by his Prince. Emlynn has been itching to experiment her with a dangerous aspect of her gift since the events of I Belong to the Earth. She's about to get a nasty shock when a very hungover Rufus wakes up not in Harmatia...but in Yorkshire.

"You make no sense, lass. You look like an elf, talk like a man, eat like a hobbit, curse like a dwarf, and sleep like the dead." — Every Tolkien fan has a 'Tenth Walker' in them, I just never expected mine to become quite so literal. [A mix of the films and books. Full description inside.]

After receiving disturbing reports of undead creatures attacking villagers, Fae is deployed to handle them. But what seems like a simple job, may turn out to be an ambush. Fae-Centric.

Set before The Harmatia Cycle: The Sons of Thestian: Book 1. A young Rufus Merle is on the hunt for a rogue Magi when his hunt goes wrong. Facing certain death its only the arrival of the Skeleton detective Skulduggery Pleasant and his young companions. The company soon find themselves locked in a struggle with monsters, magic and those who would bend Harmatia to their own will.