Torrential rain lashed down, stinging Emily's face, as a bolt of lightning lit up the dark sky momentarily. On her right, Captain Caldwell was bellowing orders, trying to make himself heard over the howling wind.

Ever since she had fled the strange room in the palace, there had been something strange in the air. She didn't know if what Michael had given Arthur and Captain Caldwell had been weaker than he had planned, but the screams from the archway must have woken them. When she had sprinted out of the dark corridor, she had collided with them in the entrance hall. Gathering their things, they left the palace.

Emily had no idea what had become of Michael, but she didn't care. As soon as she told Captain Caldwell and Arthur what had happened, they returned to the harbour, taking Michael's ship and setting sail. Even then, in the early hours of the morning, the dark clouds had begun to converge on Arcadia. The further they went from the ancient city, the darker it got. To someone who didn't know, it would have seemed like the middle of the night when, in fact, it was only early afternoon.

'The storm is getting worse,' Captain Caldwell said as the ship crested another huge wave. 'We're miles off course.'

'How far off course?' Arthur shouted to Captain Caldwell across the room.

'I don't know. The wind is taking us north-west right now,' he replied, checking the golden compass that he was holding in his left hand as he turned the wheel with his right, trying to correct their course. 'There aren't normally storms out here at this time of year. I've never come across one this bad in all the years I've been sailing either.'

'Could it be something to do with that gate thing I found?' Emily asked.

'Weather is weather; I doubt you did anything,' Captain Caldwell said. 'Although if anyone had the power to change the climate, I guess the precursors would have, assuming what Michael told us was true.'

'What if George is still in Arcadia?' Arthur asked.

'My visions aren't always right!' Emily snapped defensively.

'What if this one was right and he is still there?' Arthur asked.

'We can't go back to Arcadia, said Captain Caldwell. 'Even if this storm dies down, then it will still take days.'

'Lewis will know what to do,' she said confidently. He might have gone with The Dawn, but she was sure he knew what he was doing, even if it had been weeks since she had last seen him.

'No one has any idea where they have taken him,' Arthur said, grabbing the rail at the last second to stop himself from slipping, and a huge wave broke over the ship, soaking them all to the bone.

'He'll find his way back; I know he will,'' she said, trailing off as she felt a sharp pain in her head. Though there was no reasonable explanation for it, it continued to linger. Holding a hand to her head, she tried to hide the pain, looking out at the waves ahead of them.

'Are you alright?' Arthur asked, looking at her worriedly. Apparently, she hadn't been able to hide the pain.

'Just a headache,' she muttered to him. Despite the dismissive tone, the pain didn't fade away.

'Rocks! Dead ahead!' one of the crew on the deck below screamed, distracting her from the pain in her head.

Before either of them could react, Captain Caldwell was attempting to steer them away from the rocks. 'There's land?' Emily shouted, grabbing on to Arthur to keep her balance.

'We should be miles off the coast still.' Captain Caldwell said 'Even if we are off course.'

The sound that followed confirmed that they weren't miles away from the coast, a huge crash echoing over the thunder and lightning as they hit the rocks. They hit the rocks with such force that she was thrown sideways, bouncing off Captain Caldwell and on to the deck, her head hitting the water. A moment later, Arthur landed on top of her. Fortunately, Captain Caldwell had been holding on to the wheel and managed to stop himself from falling on top of her as well. As a result, the back of the ship swung around, slamming against the rocks with a crash.

'Sorry,' Arthur muttered, rolling off of her.

'Don't worry,' Emily replied, getting to her feet unsteadily. With a hand on the back of her head, she looked around. All over the deck, the crew was picking themselves up, disoriented.

'Is everyone alright?' Captain Caldwell called over the storm.

Emily couldn't make out any of the responses from the crew, but he seemed satisfied. 'Where are we?'

'Somewhere just off the coast,' he replied, pulling a small telescope from his pocket and casting it out over the rocks they had hit. 'It looks like there's something more substantial about five hundred feet or so from here.'

'Breach in the hull! someone shouted from the deck below. Emily hadn't even had a chance to consider what he had said when the ship lurched to the side. They were sinking.

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'What do we do?' Arthur asked, looking to Captain Caldwell for answers.

For a moment, the experienced Captain Caldwell looked lost, turning between the crew on the slanted deck below and the land he had seen. 'Abandon ship!' he shouted after what seemed an eternity, during which the ship tilted a little further. 'You two stay with me,' he added to her and Arthur.

'The amulet,' Emily said suddenly. 'It's still in my bag below deck.'

'We don't have time to go back for anything,' Captain Caldwell said as the crew below began hauling the small wooden row boats across the deck towards the edge.

'I have to get it; it's important,' she insisted.

When he saw how serious she was, he relented. 'Alright, you have five minutes before we need to be off here. Go!'

Not hesitating for another second, she turned, hurrying down the stairs and through the door that led to the floors below. She could feel the eyes of the crew on her as she went, no doubt confused as to where she was going.

It wasn't until she reached the floor where all the bunks were located, two floors below the main deck, that she saw how bad the damage was. The ice-cold water was already half way to her knees and rising rapidly. As fast as she could, Emily waded down the corridor. Around her, the ship creaked ominously.

When she reached the door to the room that she had been sharing with Arthur, she pulled it open. The door swung back faster than she had expected as a wave of water flooded out, knocking her back against the opposite wall. Now that the door was open, the corridor was filling with water even faster.

Battling against the water, she forced her way into the room. On the far side of the room was a huge gash in the wall, with water pouring in. Just inside the door, she saw her bag floating against the wall. She had just pulled it towards her when the ship slipped suddenly, sending her stumbling back against the doorframe. The ship had moved further from the rocks it had hit, and the water flooding into the room had at least doubled in volume.

With the water now closer to her waist than her knees, she threw the bag over her shoulder and moved out of the room as fast as she could. 'Emily, we need to go. Now!' Arthur's voice came from somewhere down the corridor.

'I'm coming! she shouted, stumbling through the rushing water in the semi-darkness.

In the distance, she heard Arthur repeat her, relaying the message to someone else—Captain Caldwell, she assumed. 'Hurry!' he called to her as the ship jerked violently to the side.

Despite the urge to snap back at him, she bit her tongue, forcing herself to keep moving. The water was now above her waist and still rising rapidly. It wouldn't be long before she was completely submerged.

'Come on,' Arthur said, reaching out a hand from where he stood, knee-deep in water on the stairs. Gratefully, she accepted it, letting him pull her up onto the steps. The rain from the storm had soaked her to the bone a long time ago, but the icy cold sea water left her shivering uncontrollably.

'Arthur, we need to go!' Captain Caldwell shouted from somewhere above them.

'We're coming,' he called back as they ran up the stairs together.

When they emerged onto the rain-lashed deck, they found that it was deserted, apart from Captain Caldwell, who was waiting beside a wooden row boat that was hanging over the side on heavy ropes.

'Get in,' he said, taking the bag from Emily and throwing it into the boat. 'I've sent the rest of the crew ahead. We'll meet them when we get to land.'

Allowing Captain Caldwell to give her a leg up, Emily swung her leg over the side of the ship, tumbling with no grace whatsoever into the boat. As she picked herself up, Arthur jumped in effortlessly, with Captain Caldwell joining them a moment later. Throwing one of the oars to Arthur, he began to lower them down towards the churning sea below.

'How are we going to get to land in this?' Emily asked, looking down at the waves.

'We can’t stay on the ship any longer. There isn't any choice,' Captain Caldwell said. 'When I cut the ropes, we row in the direction of land as hard as we can. It looks like the tide is coming in, so it should help us.'

With a crash, a wave broke over the boat, soaking the three of them as they reached the water. Picking up one of the oars, Emily sat down beside Arthur, her back towards the ship. As Captain Caldwell cut the rope above them, the boat swung against the side of the ship.

'Are you both ready?' he shouted over a rumble of thunder.

They could sit there in the tiny row boat for an eternity, and Emily didn't think she would ever be ready to take on the sea like they were about to. Instead, with Arthur beside her, she nodded.

Captain Caldwell cut the rope, and for a split second, they didn't move. Then, just as he dropped into his seat, a huge wave hit the side of the boat, slamming it against the ship. 'Row!' he shouted, using his oar to push them away from the ship before plunging it into the water on Emily's side.

Frantically, she plunged her oar into the sea, pulling it back desperately. Her technique was nowhere near as smooth as Captain Caldwell's or even Arthur's. She didn't really care how it looked, though, as long as they got to land and she could get dry and warm again. The thought of warmth didn't last long, though, as a wave broke over the boat, soaking the three of them as they attempted to row furiously towards the coast while avoiding the jagged rocks sticking out of the water.

Around them, the sea swirled, tipping them one way and then the other. Emily had never had any problems with sea sickness before, but she was fairly sure that this would have been enough to make anyone nauseous. As another huge wave crashed against the boat, she felt it tip dangerously beneath her. One moment she was sitting beside Arthur, the next she was flailing frantically in the ice-cold water, being buffeted around helplessly.

Twisting and turning, she looked for the little row boat, but it had disappeared, taking Captain Caldwell and Arthur with it. 'Arthur!' she screamed as the thunder continued to rumble. Not too far away, there was a flash of lightning, illuminating the sea around her. And there, being thrown around mercilessly, was the row boat, capsized, with a broken oar floating nearby. 'Arthur!'

When there was no reply, she tried to swim towards the boat, with the current pushing her back whenever she got close. At the sound of a low rumble, she looked up to see a huge wave heading straight for her. Emily froze, floating helplessly in the cold water.

With a crash, the wave broke, forcing her beneath the water as it pushed her further from the boat. Flailing, she tried to fight her way back to the surface, but she no longer had any idea which way was up. She could feel herself being dragged along by the wave.

Underwater in the darkness, her left arm slammed into something hard; a moment later, it was her back. As the pain seared up her arm, she tried to fight the current with her uninjured arm, but it was hopeless. Bouncing off another rock, she was spun around as she finally found her way to the surface.

Throwing her hair out of her eyes, she saw a rock right in front of her. She barely had a chance to register it before her head hit it. For the briefest of moments, she felt a tiny bit of warmth. Blood, she thought as she felt the darkness overcoming her, no longer able to fight the sea as it dragged her along.