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

Seraphina looked down at herself as the wagon splashed mud on her going by. There was no way that she would be able to return these clothes to the people she had been forced to steal them from. The britches were stained and torn in a few spots. Her tunic’s sleeves were frayed and she could feel the dampness at the bottom of her boots. She would need to hang her boots over a fire tonight again to try to keep them from getting completely ruined. She didn’t have any of her royal jewels that she had stolen from the Dark One’s palace. She had traded them all away for food within the first few days of running away. She would trade her sword away but she needed it.

Seraphina wrapped her coat around her and looked down the road both ways. Even though there was news of her “kidnapping” all over the kingdom, no one had recognized her. Not even the Black Hand soldiers she came across every once in a while. Not even the vendors who traded food for her jewels had recognized her.

Seraphina heard her stomach growling. She rubbed her belly. She hadn’t eaten in a few days now. She knew that there were those in her kingdom who hadn’t eaten longer than her but she never knew it could be this bad. She had stolen some food over the last few days but she had only stolen them from the Black Hand supply wagons at night and had given them to people she would pass along the road who looked like they hadn’t eaten in a very long time.

Seraphina made a mental note to herself to eat food from the next Black Hand supply wagon she raided. She seriously doubted she would be able to last a few more days. There was still no sign of any Resistance cells. Not even in the villages she would visit where word of her raids had spread to. Everyone thought that her raids were a part of the Resistance raids and yet no Resistance fighter came to her.

In the last village she had gone to, she had heard some of the villagers muttering about sneaking out of the empire with their kids to a safer kingdom. There had been so many raids that the Dark One was lowering the recruiting age again to ten. That was ridiculous. Seraphina knew that there was no way a ten year old would be able to survive long. There was no telling how many kids had been kidnapped by the Black Hand already. She really needed to replace a Resistance band and she needed to replace them soon if she was to end her father’s tyranny.

Seraphina saw a Black Hand patrol coming in her direction on the road. She quickly pulled her hood up and stayed on the opposite side of the trail. She kept her head down. If this patrol was like all of the others, they would just ride past her laughing about their latest enforcing. She didn’t see any prisoners with this group so they either had already dropped off prisoners or were getting more. She kept her hand on the hilt of her sword as she walked. She didn’t want a fight right there but she would fight if she needed to.

She heard the horses stopping as she got closer to them. “Halt traveler.” Seraphina silently cursed. The Black Hands had ordered her to stop. “That’s a fine sword you got there.” The Black Hand who had stopped her said. “Wherever did you get it?”

Seraphina gripped the hilt of her sword. “It was a gift from my father.” She answered in a raspy voice. She couldn’t risk using her normal voice. The Black Hands might recognize it from when they were at the palace and realize who she is. “It’s the last thing I have of him before he died.” Her ears perked up as she heard the Black Hands walk around her, inspecting her. She had a feeling that there was going to be a fight.

“And who was your father?” A Black Hand asked. “How did he have such a fancy sword if his clothes look as bad as yours?” His friends laughed. The sound of the Black Hands walking stopped. “I think you stole it from one of us.” The Black Hand added. The sound of their swords being unsheathed could be heard. “And now you’ll pay the price.”

That was when Seraphina drew her sword out and before any of them could react, she had slashed a Black Hand’s neck, killing him instantly. She spun around quickly and brought her blade down towards another Black Hand, meeting his blade in the air as he blocked her attack. “To arms!” The Black Hand who had blocked her sword shouted. “We’re under attack!”

The other Black Hands all raised their blades and charged in from all sides but before they could do anything, arrows came out of the forest, flying towards them. A few of the Black Hands went down but the others didn’t. They spun around to fight whoever had fired the arrows at them, leaving Seraphina and the one Black Hand fighting each other.

Seraphina was hoping that it was a Resistance cell. She could really use one just about now. She knew she was outnumbered badly but she couldn’t stop fighting. Her people were depending on her. She just kept attacking the Black Hand before her, slashing and stabbing at him, meeting his blade each time as he defended himself from her. She heard more arrows flying and the gasp of the Black Hands followed by thuds as bodies fell all around them.

Seraphina quickly got the upper hand as the Black Hand she was fighting became distracted by his comrades falling to the arrows. She quickly forced his sword from his hand and held her blade to the Black Hand’s neck. The Black Hand simply sneered at her. He clearly wasn’t afraid. “Going to kill me like you killed Princess Seraphina?” The Black Hand asked her. “Like how you killed several Black Hands who serve our ruler?” He was getting angrier as he spoke. “Go on! Do it! Kill me the way you killed our princess!”

Seraphina pulled her hood back so the Black Hand could see who it was. She was pleased to see the shocked look on his face. “I am Seraphina.” She told him before she ran him through with her blade. “And I will kill anyone who harms my people.” She removed her blade and grabbed the dead soldier’s sleeve, ripping it in the process before wiping her sword clean of the dead man’s blood. She heard rustling behind her. “Speak now whoever you are for I am armed and have just killed an enemy.” She said loudly, a small hint of a smile on her face. There was only one group who could have killed the other Black Hands like this.

She turned around and stopped what she was doing. There were several warriors, both men and women, standing there. Most of them were just in clothes like her but she saw a few of them wearing the uniforms of the Black Hand. She had a feeling that they had stolen the uniforms and that the former owners of the uniforms were dead.

One of the younger men, she figured he was about eighteen or so, nodded. “We’ve heard of your raids.” He told Seraphina. “Where you’ve only stolen food from their supply wagons and have given to people who have none.” He looked at a few of his warriors. “Hide the dead bodies and get the horses.” He ordered the warriors before looking back at Seraphina. “And I guess the rumor about you being kidnapped is a lie, Princess Seraphina.”

Seraphina pointed her sword at the young man. “Who are you?” She demanded. “If you’re going to try to kidnap me, you won’t do any better than the men I’ve just killed.” She knew that it probably wasn’t the best thing to say since these Resistance fighters had just helped her but she wasn’t about to let anyone take her prisoner or hold her for ransom.

The young man smiled. The Princess did have spunk and a fighting spirit. That was good. “My name is Gabriel.” He answered. “You’re safe with us Princess.” He told her. “None of us will try to force you to go back to the Dark One. Especially since it looks like you have no love for your father either.” The warriors returned from getting rid of the bodies. Gabriel looked around them. “Where were you heading though Princess?” He asked.

Seraphina sheathed her sword slowly. She kept her hand on her sword’s hilt though. If there was going to be a fight, she wanted to be ready. “Truth be told, I was looking for a Resistance cell.” She answered. “I used to send different Resistance groups messages by eagle back when I lived at the palace but they never knew it was me. I was hoping to replace one to join to try to unite them all against my father.”

There was an awkward silence. The warriors were all staring at Seraphina. Seraphina had a feeling that none of them were expecting her to say that. No doubt none of them had planned that far ahead with the Resistance groups. She also had a feeling that she had taken them by surprise by revealing that she was the one who had sent an eagle to the different Resistance groups. She wondered if this group had ever gotten a message from her eagle. She didn’t see the bird there but it could have easily flown off after delivering the message.

“That was you?” One of the warriors asked. “You sent that eagle?”

Seraphina nodded. So they did get one of her messages at some point. “The last one I sent was a few weeks ago.” She told them. “I’m not sure where my eagle went though. I escaped my father’s palace before he came back.”

“Your eagle’s dead.” One of the warriors replied. Seraphina looked at him. “The eagle was just flying away after giving us a message about the age being lowered to thirteen for good after it had been talked about for seven or so years when it got shot down by a Black Hand raiding party. We gave it a burial before the Black Hand could roast it.” The warrior explained.

So her eagle was dead. That meant her two closest friends were dead. Seraphina had no one else she could trust. She looked at the group before her. “You are a Resistance cell, right?” She asked them. The group nodded. “Then I’m going with you.” Seraphina said. “I have no one else and I want to start a real fight against my father.”

“Excuse me?” One of the warriors asked. It was one of the female warriors. “You’re saying we’re not really fighting against the Dark One? Young lady, we have lost members of our own party fighting your father’s forces. We have saved lives from being forced into the Black Hand army. We have destroyed supply wagons after taking all of the supplies we could. Don’t tell me we haven’t really fought your father.”

Seraphina looked at the different warriors. All of them came from hard lives. No doubt to them, all they have done were considered real fights. They had taken lives, saved lives and had lost lives. “What I mean is, you’ve guys and the other groups have just taken down supply runs and have saved young lives from being taken to different places where they would be forced to become a Black Hand soldier.” She explained. “But what if we were to attack those towers and training grounds so the Black Hand can’t take their prisoners?”

All of the warriors looked at Gabriel. Seraphina looked at him. Gabriel was the leader here apparently. Gabriel was thinking over what Seraphina was saying. “If we did, we would need a few bands of Resistance groups to help us with that kind of attack.” He told Seraphina. “And we would be risking a lot of lives. We might save fewer lives then we save.”

Seraphina knew that Gabriel was right but if they did it right and had enough help, they could easily spark the Resistance from small embers to a large fire. “If we do it right, we will lose very few lives.” She told him. She took a map out of her pocket. “And I have the locations to a few of the prison camps.” She looked at the Resistance warriors before her. “I know it will take a lot to save our kingdom from the Dark One but if we all work together, we can save our people.” She told them.

The warriors, after a few minutes, all knelt before her. Gabriel was the last one to kneel. “Princess, we will follow you in this war.” He told her. “Even if it means some of us will die.” Gabriel looked up at Seraphina. “But we’re willing to risk that.”

Seraphina didn’t smile. She knew that there was a good chance any of them could die before they achieved what she wanted. “Then we better get on our way.” She said.

Gabriel nodded. “And my older brother’s Resistance group is the closest one to us.” He told Seraphina. “We can easily get to him within a day. With him and his group, we can spread the word about the next raid against the Dark One’s prison camps.” They all stood up. “For the Resistance!” Gabriel shouted. The warriors all drew their swords and raised them.

“For the Resistance and our kingdom.” Seraphina said. “For Rusian.”