The Adventures of Emily Tual Book Four: The Rising
Chapter Thirteen

Virginia Dare looked out through the window before closing the curtains quickly. “I thought when you said we were going to move quickly you meant we would be going straight to the Camazot. I didn’t realize we would be coming to a small motel room and keeping an unconscious teen on the bed.” She said angrily as she turned to the Man with the German Accent. “The longer we stay here, the longer we risk the police showing up here and arresting us.”

The Man with the German Accent smiled as he sat down in an armchair. “We don’t have anything to worry about then.” He replied. “After all, there are several Black Hands in the police who will be helpful with the plan once they realize we need Audrey to release the Camazot.” He looked at Audrey’s sleeping form. He was one step closer to regaining his honor and spot as the Right Hand of the Darkness.

Virginia Dare glared at the Man with the German Accent and sat in the other chair. “Please.” She said. “You and I both know that most of the Black Hands that were in the local police are either arrested or were killed during the massive break out or the fight between Caterina and Anthony.” She shook her head. “The Black Hands have a long way to go to regain the numbers they once had.” She knew it wouldn’t be the first time but she knew that if they did raise the Darkness back up, it would be a struggle for the Darkness to take control of the world.

She then leaned back in her chair. She didn’t like the chair. “So what are we going to do now?” She asked. “I mean we can’t stay here forever.”

The Man with the German Accent looked at his watch. “I know that.” He told Virginia Dare. “I’m just waiting for the exact moment before we go on the move.”

Virginia Dare frowned. “What do you mean the exact moment?” She asked. What did the Man with the German Accent know that she didn’t know? “You planned something, didn’t you?” She was sure that he did. The Man with the German Accent was known for doing that.

The Man with the German Accent laughed and smiled wickedly. “I got someone to help me with keeping Emily busy long enough for us to get away. With Emily stuck with this problem, the rest of her family and friends will be distracted long enough. By the time they get done, we’ll be on our way again to release the Camazot.”

Virginia Dare looked at Audrey. “Will the child survive the awakening?” She asked the Man with the German Accent.

The Man with the German Accent thought about it. “Most likely not but we don’t want any threat to the Darkness still out there after she has been risen.” He answered. He didn’t care about Audrey after the Camazot was brought back. She was just a disposable tool. He frowned. “Please don’t tell me that you’re worried about the girl’s safety. Not after everything we’ve done.” He didn’t want Virginia Dare to begin to doubt everything that they were doing now.

Virginia Dare scoffed at him. “I could care less about the child’s safety.” She retorted. “I honestly think that she should pay for what she did. Her and those annoying Chosen Ones. It never did any good for me. The Black Hands thought that I was the Chosen One and they slaughtered my entire home.” She took her pipe out and twirled it. “I want revenge on them all just like you do.”

The Man with the German Accent smiled. He was pleased to hear that. He didn’t want another fiasco like Derdrom and Anastasia. It was because of those two, that they had Audrey. That was the only good thing that they did for the Darkness.

“So who did you send to deal with Emily?” Virginia Dare asked.

The Man with the German Accent laughed. “Someone who will keep James and Emily quite busy.” He replied. “An idea that I got from my father when he had to deal with Gabriel and Seraphina.”

Emily looked around her. She was back in the creepy graveyard. The clouds overhead were darker than she remembered them being. The statues by the graves had changed their positions. They were all looking at her with their scythes pointed at her. They all looked dangerous and angry. Emily took a step back and bumped into something. She spun around and saw the giant statue. It was looking down at her. “Fifteen.” It said. “Fifteen.”

The scene changed around her. Emily looked down when she noticed the ground was hard. To her surprise, the ground was made of stone. Emily looked up. There was stone above her. She realized that she was in a cave. She heard screaming ahead of her. Emily ran until she reached a ledge. She looked down as she heard more screaming. Her eyes widened.

Audrey was chained to two pillars. There were several Black Hands behind her. One was a woman. The other was the Man with the German Accent. Audrey was the one screaming as her body glowed brightly. To Emily’s horror, the glow was flowing from Audrey to a giant dark looking creature. The creature was chained to the ground. It had two giant wings on its back and horns on its head. A pointy thin tail came up from behind. The monster was roaring as the glow flowed into it.

Emily looked at the walls as she noticed that they were shifting. There were creatures coming from the wall. They looked like gargoyles. Emily realized that she was looking at the Camazot. The monster from the Great War that Gabriel had sealed away. “Audrey!” Emily screamed as she saw the teenage girl collapse to the ground as the glow left her body. The creature roared and broke free of the chains.

The scene then changed again. This time, Gabriel was fighting the Camazot, pushing it back against a mountain. Emily saw that Gabriel was casting spells nonstop as he pushed the Camazot back. “Back to the depths with you you foul monster!” Gabriel shouted. He sent an orb of bright light at the Camazot, hitting it in the chest. The monster roared and hit the wall. Gabriel’s eyes glowed brightly and the creature sank into the mountain, disappearing so it was like he had never been there.

Emily groaned as she woke up. Her head was hurting. “Darian?” She asked as she sat up slowly. She saw the others waking up. She blushed when she saw that she had been leaning against Darian when they had all been asleep but Darian didn’t seem to notice or if he had, it didn’t bother him. Emily looked at Gabriel as the old man was waking up. “What happened to us?” She asked him.

Gabriel looked at Emily. “I think we were attacked with a sleeping spell.” He answered. “Not a very strong one if we’re waking up now. Usually a sleeping spell is to keep us asleep permanently.” He shook his head, trying to shake off the sleepiness. “I’m not sure why though someone would do that and leave you here.” He knew that the only ones who would have a reason to do that were Black Hands but they had left Emily behind if they had done it.

Delaney looked around as she stretched. Her eyes widened. “Where is Audrey?” She asked. “She’s not here.” The others looked around. Delaney was right. Audrey was gone.

Emily’s heart sank. “Whoever did this wanted Audrey.” She said. But why? She was the Chosen One, not Audrey. Emily looked at Darian. He seemed just as confused as she did. “Who would do this?” Emily asked.

Gabriel closed his eyes and took a deep breath, sniffing the air as he did so. He could smell the faintest odor of magic in the air. It wasn’t his or Emily’s or Darian. No, this magic reeked of wildlife. He opened his eyes. “The person who did this is a dangerous immortal known as Virginia Dare.” He answered. “A former possible Chosen One until she disappeared for years and didn’t resurface for a very long time. When she did, she was immortal, had the pipes of the Pied Piper and a dangerous reputation for killing Black Hands.” Gabriel shook his head. “She’s never kidnapped a child like this though before.” He added.

“She must have joined a side then and if she took Audrey, you can bet she’s joined the Magician.” Darian said before he looked at Emily. “But why would the Magician take Audrey and not you?” He was relieved that Emily was safe but it did raise the question of why Audrey had been taken.

No one spoke. They all knew how dangerous the Man with the German Accent was. If this was his doing, it meant that after being in hiding for so long, he was back and that meant the Darkness was indeed planning something.

Emily spoke. “I know who has her.” She said. She looked up at Gabriel. “And if I’m right, Audrey doesn’t have much time left before something bad happens to her.” She knew that Gabriel had spent a lot of magic sealing the beast away but he had to know that Audrey was required to break to the seal on the Camazot and that the Man with the German Accent knew this as well. If her vision was correct, the Man with the German Accent would sacrifice Audrey, killing her in the process, to release the Camazot.

Griffin was walking through a hallway at school. None of the teachers who saw him skipping class were surprised. They had all given up on trying to keep him in class. They had tried detentions and even forcing him to do school work in the principal’s office but not even that had worked. Griffin would just shrug it off and do whatever he wanted to do.

At this moment, Griffin was sneaking towards the door. He was planning on going to the elementary school to wait for Emily to come out of the school building. His head was still hurting from when something had pushed him against the wall and had knocked him out but he didn’t care about that. He wanted to remind Emily that he was her boyfriend and that James was to stay away from her. He didn’t even know who James was but he was sure that he had never seen James in the middle school building. So either Emily was hanging with a freshman or James was a home school kid.

Griffin cracked his knuckles. The next time he saw James, he would beat the boy to a pulp. No one was to get between him and Emily. He opened the door and stopped walking. A man was standing there. He was dressed in a business suit and had a fur-lined coat on. He had a cane in his hand and a top hat on his head. The man had a ponytail sticking out from under the hat and a small goatee beard. The man was smiling. “Are you Griffin Dorsy?” The man asked in a German accent.

Griffin crossed his arms over his chest. “Who’s asking Fancy Pants?” He asked. Who was this joker? Some sort of fashionable police officer?

The man kept smiling. He looked amused by what Griffin had said. “My name is Mr. A.” He told Griffin. “I understand that you had a scuffle with a boy named James, am I right?”

Griffin nodded. “Are you James’s daddy?” He asked in a mocking voice. “Did James get too scared of me and go run to his daddy?” It sounded like Emily’s friend was a real loser if he had to go get his dad.

Mr. A laughed a little. “I am actually.” He answered in a serious voice, all friendliness and humor disappeared from his face. “And I understand my son defeated you in an unfair fight over a girl.” He continued.

Griffin nodded. He wasn’t scared of Mr. A.

“I know that James will be walking Emily home.” Mr. A told Griffin. “Her father isn’t home thanks to a few friends of mine. If you want the chance to fight James, that would be the time to do it. After all, he’ll be worried about Emily’s safety once he sees that her dad is gone.”

Griffin didn’t understand most of what Mr. A was saying. It sounded like Mr. A had no love for his son and had kidnapped Emily’s dad. He knew that he should report that to the police but he also knew that this could be the chance he wanted to show Emily that she belonged to him. “Are there any limits to the fighting?” Griffin asked Mr. A.

Mr. A took out a small metal shard that was in the shape of a knife. “No limits Griffin.” Mr. A said. “It’s a fight to the death if you’re willing to go that far.”

Griffin smiled and took the shard. He couldn’t believe that Mr. A wanted James dead but he didn’t care. It was his chance to get rid of the competition for Emily. “Get a funeral ready for your son Mr. A.” He told Mr. A. “He’s as good as dead.”

The Man with the German Accent smiled and opened his eyes. The vision of Griffin disappeared from his view. The motel room came back into focus. Virginia Dare was just looking at him with her arms crossed over her chest. “Will your brother be an issue?” She asked him.

The Man with the German Accent stood up. “No. James, my older brother, will soon be dead.” He answered before looking at Audrey. “One by one, those Emily love will die.” He laughed.