Chapter 2:

The gentle waves of the sun shone through the window, waking Emily from her sleep. With a yawn, she climbed out of bed and began to stretch. With a start, she realized she no longer felt as powerful as she did the day before. The difference was almost staggering, she felt like a newborn baby in comparison.

“That power is addicting,” she thought, licking her lips. She grabbed the tarot deck from the nearby dresser and once again attempted to open it. This time it opened easily. She took a deep breath as she drew a card, clearly excited to see what she would draw. The second she pulled the card out, the deck closed with a snap.

This time she drew The Three of Pentacles. Shortly after she drew the card, a bag materialized from thin air, landing in her other hand.

“What’s this?” she wondered curiously. Opening the bag, she found three hundred gold coins inside, each marked with the image of a phoenix.

“So the pentacle cards give money?” she wisely guessed, “That would certainly be helpful.”

After looking the coins over for a while longer, she attempted to open the deck of cards once again.

“It won’t budge,” she realized, furrowing her eyebrows, “What’s the deal?”

She still wasn’t certain how the deck worked. She would have to keep experimenting with the cards in the future.

She removed the barricade to her room and slowly peeked out. She once again did a check of the mansion, making sure no one slipped inside while she was asleep. Confirming that the mansion was clear, she headed towards the area she saw was the kitchens.

Although the building was old, it was still filled with food. Apparently the bandits had been using the place as their base for quite a while. She grabbed a few pieces of dried jerky and began to gnaw on them as she further inspected the other rooms. This time she was looking for clothes.

After searching the place from top to bottom, the only article of clothing was a pitch black robe that reminded her of a witch.

“Suiting,” Emily laughed to herself, glancing at the tarot deck. After throwing on the robe she decided headed to a room that was designated as a study.

She rummaged through the bookshelf, unable to understand any of the words printed on them.

“What language is this?” she blinked. She had never seen writing that looked remotely similar.

Eventually, Emily found a map. Spreading it open she looked to see if there were any obvious landmarks that might indicate where she was. She found a couple forests, but without any more knowledge, she couldn’t be certain which one she was in.

“Should I just head in a random direction?” she asked herself, not really sure what to do.

“No. There’s no need to rush. I have plenty of food. I can just relax here for a couple more days before deciding. Maybe I’ll find some more clues.”

At this point Emily was fairly certain she was in another world. However, she still wasn’t sure how she got here or why. She currently had her suspicions on the old lady who gave her the tarot reading.

Emily spent the rest of the day leisurely, looking throughout the various rooms of the mansion and flipping through the dusty books on the shelves. Every hour or so, Emily would check her tarot deck, seeing if it could be opened.

It wasn’t until the moon was high in the sky that she was able to open the deck. She drew another card. The Nine of Cups. This time nothing happened. She spent the entire day testing out various movements and actions, hoping to trigger the power of the card.

“I wish this thing came with an instruction manual,” she grumbled, annoyed that she wasn’t able to discover the card’s secret.

Once again, Emily stayed up, checking the deck. After the moon had been in the sky for a couple hours, she opened the deck.

“It seems like the deck can only be opened once a day.”

That was a conclusion she had come to early on, but only after sufficient experimenting was she able to say for certain.

This time she drew The Five of Pentacles, adding five-hundred more coins to her collection. She wasn’t sure what the value of each coin was, but she figured she would surely have enough to buy basic necessities at this point. Luckily, the coins didn’t disappear like the benefit of the Strength card did.

The following day a thought occurred to her. This time when she opened the deck, she counted the remaining cards, making sure that they weren’t depleting.

“Thank goodness,” she sighed with relief. It seemed the deck replenished used cards. Now she wouldn’t have to worry about her lifeline running out. With bated breath, she drew another card.

This time she drew The Knight of Wands. A thin, crystal-liked rod, appeared in her hand.

She held it in her hand warily. She was no fool. She knew what a wand symbolized. Magic!

She was worried about using the wand. The knight card was ranked pretty high, she was unsure about the destruction it would cause.

Just as she was contemplating what to do, a shout rang out through the forest.

“Geoff, Martin, Craig! Anyone?” the voice shouted angrily, “Where did you bastards run off to? You were supposed to be keeping watch!”

Emily peeked out the window of the mansion. A tan-skinned man with a scar across his eye stood at the front of a group of men. Swords hung from their hip.

More bandits!

A twinkle appeared in Emily’s eye. This would be the perfect opportunity to test out her wand.

“You guys better not be inside!” the man yelled in annoyance.

Just as he was about to head towards the mansion, Emily opened the door, revealing herself.

She was covered from head-to-toe in a black robe, a wand held at her side. Instantly, the bandits went on guard.

The man with the scar glanced at her, suspicion in his eyes.

“Where are my men?” he asked her.

“Dead,” she replied simply.

“Did you killed them?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Emily nodded in response.

“Get ready men,” he ordered them, “She’s a mage.”

Swords immediately jumped from their sheaths.

Beneath her hood, Emily took a deep breath. She sincerely hoped the wand had impressive destruction power, otherwise she would end up dead.

She lifted her hand, instantly causing the other men to tense up.

Then, with a wave of her hand, she swung it forward.

Instantly, the sky turned black, deep gray clouds appeared in the sky.

“Quickly! Kill her!” the scarred man shouted, dashing towards her.

However, he was too slow. Lightning bolts rained from the heavens, crashing into the bandits. Bits and pieces of bodies flew through the air, the smell of burnt bodies filled nostrils.

Just like that, all the bandits were dead.