The solution

As he pulled himself out of her shadow, Midnight watched as the servants panicked. They had been standing in the alcove so they were further away from the door than he and his puppet were.

With a quick mental nudge, he kept the mage's attention in front of her and planted the idea. "The servants are allies of darkness. I must restrain them."

"YOU!" She pointed at the nearest servant who was trying to shake one of the fallen mages. "You did this! You fiend!" Grabbing her staff, she shouted magic commands and 3 bolts came out and stunned the nearest servants. Figuring she was doing a bang up job, Midnight withdrew his slick tentacle and dove back under the ground and out the door. Zigzagging back and forth through passageways, he eventually came to an open courtyard with a staircase on the far side. The lower staircase seemed to go underground and probably descended to the dungeon while the upper staircase continued up the central tower. An hour and a half had elapsed at this point and he was starting to feel the pinch of time.