The Adventures of Emily Tual Book Four: The Rising

Seraphina’s eyes flew open and she sat up quickly, grabbing at the closest weapon she could find. She looked around herself. She was lying on a cot in what looked like a tent. She could see sunlight through the opening of the tent and heard people talking. She looked down at herself. She was wearing a white dress that reminded her of patients at the old medical centers she used to visit. Her arms were wrapped in white bandages. She looked at the weapon she had grabbed. To her embarrassment, it was a tiny knife, hardly a real weapon.

The flap to the tent opened and a woman came in. She smiled when she saw that Seraphina was awake. “Oh good, you’re up.” The woman said as she sat down next to Seraphina before she started to change Seraphina’s bandages. “Gabriel will be very relieved to hear that you’re awake.”

Seraphina looked at the woman. “Where am I?” She asked.

The woman looked up at Seraphina for a moment before going back to change the bandages. “You’re in Maltha.” She answered. “You’ve been asleep for several days now. Gabriel brought you to our medical camp and told us to make sure that you were taken care of and to alert him when you woke up.”

Seraphina was touched by that. Even after all of these years, Gabriel still loved her. “Where is Gabriel?” She asked. She wanted to see him as quickly as she possibly could.

“Gabriel is right now talking with the King of Maltha.” The nurse replied. “They’re getting ready for war against the current Dark One’s forces.” She looked up at Seraphina. “We were all amazed when Gabriel brought you here, claiming you were a prisoner from the Dark One’s palace. No one has ever seen a prisoner come out of that place alive before.” The nurse continued to change the bandages on Seraphina’s arms.

Seraphina thought about what the nurse was saying. It sounded like the medical camp was near or a part of an army camp that was being formed. “What about Jasper?” She asked. “Is he still around?” She knew that where Gabriel was, Jasper could easily be found somewhere nearby.

“He’s with them and so is the young boy that Gabriel and Jasper found while they were looking for you.” The nurse answered before shaking her head. “Honestly I’m surprised any of you were able to escape Rusian.” She continued. “Given that you were able to escape from the heart of that evil empire without running into any Black Hands.”

The nurse was right. Seraphina looked towards the entrance of the tent. She had to join Gabriel as soon as she could. The King of Maltha and his war generals might be helping plan an attack against the Black Hand but she wanted to be a part of the planning. After all, she wanted to see who this current Dark One was as well and if she helped lead the attack, she could easily find out who the new Dark One was.

At the war pavilion, Gabriel, Jasper, the King of Maltha and a few generals were around a map of the battlefield. Despite being a leader of the Resistance for years, Gabriel felt inferior to the generals that were with the King. They looked so professional and like actual soldiers unlike Jasper and him. They were still wearing the armor and uniform of the Resistance. The map also didn’t look as old or as tattered as the one that the Resistance had used.

Gabriel knew that he should feel honored that the King of Maltha had requested him to join them to decide how to attack but he could tell that the generals weren’t too thrilled about it. He had caught a couple of them giving him a look. No doubt they thought that they could do this without former Resistance soldiers.

“Gabriel.” Gabriel and the others turned around to see Seraphina standing there. She was in a Resistance uniform. Gabriel’s heart fluttered a little. His beautiful Seraphina was back on her feet looking as determined as she had back before the Resistance had broken apart. Seraphina went up to Gabriel and the two of them shared a kiss. Gabriel knew that they shouldn’t have kissed there but he didn’t really care at that moment. After all, they had been separated for so many years.

Seraphina looked at the King of Maltha. “Thank you for letting us join you here.” She told him. “I know that you could have easily denied us the chance to help you free Rusian.”

The King of Maltha nodded to her. “Anything for the future ruler of Rusian.” He said in a deep voice. “I just hope that after this war, the darkness will be gone for good. The Dark One and his Black Hands have plagued our lands for a very long time. It’s time that someone put a stop to this Dark One.”

One of the generals crossed his arms over his chest. “Why should we trust you though?” He asked Seraphina. “You were a prisoner of the Dark One. How do we know that you’re not in league with the Dark One?”

Gabriel wanted to defend Seraphina but he realized that the general was right. None of them could prove that Seraphina wasn’t in servitude to the Dark One. She had been a prisoner for years and no one had seen her during that time. Gabriel wanted to remind the generals that the Dark Lady had kept Seraphina locked up in the dungeons that whole time and that Seraphina had been unconscious when he had found her but the generals could argue that a servant of the Dark One could do something like try to win them over.

Seraphina glared at the general. “I ran away from home to escape my father when he was the Dark One.” She replied angrily. “I lost my best friend when I ran away because the Black Hands killed her. I had been on my own looking for Resistance fighters, fighting Black Hands and raiding their supplies to give to those less fortunate than me. I was captured by the Black Hands giving my Resistance fighters time to escape. The Dark Lady had me tortured me when I refused to give her what she wanted.” Seraphina drew her dagger and pointed it at them all. “So you tell me if I’m in league with the Dark Lady.” She said.

Gabriel put a hand on Seraphina’s hand. “You don’t have to prove anything to them.” He told Seraphina softly. “We can go on our own to defeat the Dark Lady.” He knew that they couldn’t do that but he refused to let Seraphina do anything that could put their alliance with the King of Maltha.

“Enough of this.” The King of Maltha thundered. “We are here to plan an attack against the Dark Lady before her forces can destroy us.” He gestured to the map. “I don’t care if you don’t trust Seraphina. She can help us with the fight.” The King of Maltha then looked at Seraphina. “So what can you tell us about the Dark Lady’s forces?” He asked. “We have a lot of information but I want to know if there’s anything else you can tell us.”

Seraphina looked at the map. “The Camazot will most likely lead an attack here.” She said, pointing at a small narrow passageway that was behind their camp. “He can fly but he’ll have his forces use shields to cover their front as they march through there before he flies over.” She looked at the generals. “You can count on him being one of the first attacks.” She knew the Camazot better than anyone else there. Seraphina then looked back at the map. “Victor and the Dark Lady will probably lead the main attack once the Camazot’s attack has begun.”

The King of Maltha looked at the narrow passageway. “What if we were to have crossbowmen above that passage?” He asked. “We could stop them before they get to our rear.”

“It would be very dangerous to try that.” Seraphina replied. “The Camazot can fly. He could fly over them and pick off the crossbowmen one by one.” She looked at the map. There weren’t many options they had when it came to dealing with the Camazot. No one in their forces could fly. “We would be better off at having the crossbowmen down in the passageway where they would be able to hide from the Camazot if he’s in the sky. If his forces have their shields in the front, our crossbowmen need to be able to fire over their shields to hit them.

Gabriel nodded in agreement. “As for the Dark Lady and Victor, they’ll most likely be hiding within their forces.” He added. “They won’t be leading the attack from the front where we can attack them with full strength.” Gabriel was focused on fighting his older brother. He still wanted to make Victor pay for capturing Seraphina and for ruining the Resistance.

The King of Maltha looked at the map towards where the Dark Lady and her forces would be at during the beginning of the fight. “What if neither of them join in the fight?” He asked. “If we manage to beat their forces, the two of them could easily pick us all off one by one.” With the magic that the Dark Lady had, the King of Maltha was sure that she could destroy them all with just one flick of her wrist.

“That’s why we need to make sure that we attack the two of them during the fighting.” Seraphina answered. “To make sure that they can’t retreat. Besides, I’m sure that the Dark Lady will want to fight me to make sure that I can’t challenge her rule ever.” Seraphina knew that she was right. The Dark Lady, whoever she was, would want to make sure that no one else could take her throne. Seraphina knew that as long as the Dark Lady lived, she would never be safe.

One of the generals shifted around. “How are we going to capture the Dark Lady alive?” He asked. “I mean if we kill her, won’t there just be a new Dark One?” He had heard of the legend of how there would be a new Dark One if the last one died.

Gabriel, Jasper and Seraphina looked at each other. None of them had ever considered how they would have done that. They had just been interested in freeing the kingdom from the Dark One. They hadn’t considered how they would have kept the Dark One as a prisoner. Victor’s betrayal and everyone from the Resistance having to flee had also changed everything.

“You didn’t have a plan for that, did you?” The general asked. “Great. We’re about to fight an evil creature and none of you had a plan for keeping it as a prisoner.” He looked at the other generals. “We should flee while we still can.” He told them.

“No. None of us will ever be safe as long as the Dark Lady is allowed to rule.” Seraphina told the generals. “We’ll find a way to keep the Dark Lady a prisoner so she can’t threaten anyone ever again.”

“There is a spell we can use to seal the Darkness away.” Gabriel then said. “Jasper and I came across it during our travels in the empire. It’s a powerful spell and it might just work.” He looked at Seraphina. “Seraphina can cast the spell during the fight if we keep her safe long enough to cast it.”

The King of Maltha looked at Seraphina as well. It sounded like everything came down to Seraphina defeating the Darkness. “Very well.” He said. “We’ll do this your way.” There wasn’t any other choice for them. The Dark Lady was already marching towards them and would be there soon. “Memorize the spell so the Dark Lady will be captured forever.”

Seraphina and Gabriel went to an empty tent to talk. “Gabriel, what is this spell you found?” Seraphina asked, turning to Gabriel. “Why haven’t I heard of it before?”

Gabriel turned to Seraphina. “Jasper and I found the spell in an empty abandoned village.” He told her. “It looked like everyone from that village had been killed. All we had found of them were bones. My guess is that it was one of the very first villages to be wiped out by the Black Hands.” Gabriel went to a chest and opened it. He pulled out a small book. On the cover of it was an S. He handed it to Seraphina. “The spell is the only thing that is written in that book.” He continued. “Jasper and I decided to keep it a secret until we had found you.”

Seraphina opened the book to the page where the spell was. She read the spell. “This will do the trick?” She asked before looking up at Gabriel. “We’re putting our fates into my hands.” That sounded like a lot to her.

Gabriel nodded. “I know but it will work.” He told her. “You can save us all Seraphina.” He believed in her.

Seraphina looked at the book. “I guess I better learn this spell then.” She said.