Chapter 5:

A golden-haired child with sky blue eyes could be seen walking alone through Dwindlewood Forest.  A sword was held in one of her hands, shimmering in the sun.

The figure was none other than Emily.  After much consideration she decided to leave the mansion, and headed towards one of the cities she learned about from Yurat.  Staying at the mansion was as good as being a sitting duck.

As she walked she swung her sword, causing trees to split apart from her blows.  Earlier that day she had drawn: The Paige of Swords.

The sword was just a bit weaker than the Knight of Wands, furthering keying Emily in on the information about the deck.  Never in her life had she wished she had researched tarot cards as much as she currently did.

The sword didn’t provide its user with the knowledge of how to use it, but Emily already knew how to use a sword.  The knowledge had been deeply engrained in her.

She shook her head, dispelling bad memories.  She hated her sword lessons, but she was thankful for them now.

She trotted through the forest for hours, displaying a physique unbefitting a child her age.  She carried a sack filled with gold, food, spare robes, and her tarot deck.

The following day she drew The King of Cups, finally allowing her to draw conclusions about the deck.

She thought about the cards she had learned about so far.  Pentacles, cups, swords, and wands seemed to be standard cards.  Strength, The Tower, and The Emperor seemed to be special cards.  She had counted the cards in the deck.  There were 78 of them. 

A normal deck had cards numbered from ace to ten, the jack, the queen, and the king.  With four suites, that totaled 52 cards.  Her tarot deck seemed to have a page, a knight, a queen, and a king.  That meant it had 56 standard cards and 22 special ones.

Although she was able to count the number of cards in the deck, she was unable to draw any card but the top one.  She was also unable to remove the cards from their container.

Emily was unperturbed.  She would gain more knowledge about her tarot cards and use them to sweep away all opposition.

A few days later she arrived outside of the city of Gerya.  Two guards stood on duty, inspecting the arrivers.

“Halt!  Who goes there?!” they demanded of the cloaked Emily.  Emily took a deep breath and dropped her hood.

Crocodile tears immediately appeared in her eyes.

“I-I-I’m sorry,” she trembled, “My mom and dad were k-k-killed by bandits, and I have nowhere to go.”

Tears streamed down her face.

The guards immediately went into a panic.

“It’s okay dear,” one of the guards comforted her, “You just looked a bit suspicious, that’s all.”

One of civilians, an old woman, gave the guard a death stare.

“How dare you act that way to the poor girl?!”

“It was just a misunderstanding.  We’ll let her in,” the guard said hurriedly, stepping aside.

“Thank you,” Emily said, wiping her tears with her sleeve. 

Just like that she gained entrance to the city.

She sneered inwardly.  It didn’t appear that Yurat had men searching for her just yet.

She wove her way through the throng of people, avoiding merchants haggling in the streets.  She needed to find an inn.  She would rest for a few days while planning her next move.

Emily quickly found what she was searching for.  She came to a high quality inn called “The Silver Goblet”.

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The innkeeper greeted her as the door opened.  Although she was wearing her cloak once again, she wasn’t questioned.

“How much for a day?” Emily asked.

“1 gold coin,” the woman replied with a smile.  The inn was considered expensive, but Emily was not lacking in money.

She immediately handed over 7 coins.

“I’ll pay more if I decide to stay longer.”

“Here you go,” the woman said, handing over a key, “Your room is upstairs, the third on the left.”

Emily nodded in thanks and headed to the next floor.

She opened the door to her room and nodded in appreciation.  Although it couldn’t compare to the mansion, it was still well furnished.  It would suit her just fine.

All of sudden, she heard a commotion downstairs.  Shouts and yells rang out, causing her to frown.

She had planned on relaxing for a while, but now her mood had been ruined.  She turned her attention towards her deck and drew a card.

The air trembled once again, signifying the arrival of a powerful card.

This card she recognized.  It was none other than THE DEVIL.   It brought back memories of her card reading, causing her to frown.  She shook her head.  There was no point in worrying about that now. 

She headed downstairs.

A group of thugs surrounded a man at a table.  The man drank calmly, clearly ignoring the thugs.

“I said this is our table!  Move it!” one of the thugs ordered.

The man simply snorted, uncaring.  The thug trembled with rage, punching out at him.  The man simply moved his head slightly, avoiding the blow.

Emily whistled in appreciation.  The man was an experience fighter.

The thugs were about to deliver another blow, when they noticed Emily out of the corner of their eyes.  She had unconsciously gotten closer to them.

“What? You want some of this too?” one of the hooligans sneered at her.  Emily simply frowned, trying to figure out what power the devil card would bring her.

One of the men approached, standing in front of her.  He towered over her threateningly.

“Take of your hood,” he ordered.

Emily’s frown deepened.  She didn’t move a muscle.

The man trembled.  Clearly angry at being constantly ignored.  He reached over towards her and forcibly removed her hood.

Golden hair fell downward as her head was freed.  She raised her eyes to meet the thug’s.

It was at that moment that the ruffian froze, his eyes wide in horror.  He took two steps backwards, trembling, a wetness spread on his pants.  Before he could take the third step, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out.

Emily blinked, turning her head towards the rest of the hoodlums.  They opened their mouths wide in terror.  Two of them passed out, while the rest ran from the inn, screaming in horror.

The man sitting at the table gaped.  The cup dropped from his hand, shattering on the floor.

“M-m-monster!” he trembled, jumping to his feet.  He unsteadily removed his sword from its sheath.

Emily groaned inwardly.  She knew what The Devil did now.

The walked closer to the man, causing him to retreat towards the wall.  After thinking for a bit she turned and walked away, heading back upstairs. 

The man’s shoulders drooped and his sword fell to the floor with a clatter.  He sighed in relief.  He had never met such a fearsome being before.