Chapter 5

Emilia was falling. She felt the air rushing past, saw the trees below, and heard the whistling of the wind.

She had enough energy to slow her descent to a slightly less lethal pace.

Emilia hit the ground hard, coming into a somersault. She rolled onto her feet, coming up with the wind knocked out of her and more than a few bruises.

She scanned her surroundings for danger, finally settling on a magically concealed tent. She walked inside, praying to find help.

Instead, she found Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Her jaw dropped. She was meeting some of her favorite characters ever.

Hermione gasped. "Who are you?"

"Um, I'm Emilia," Emilia said, waving awkwardly. "I'm a huge fan."

"Are you a witch?"

Emilia waved her hand, sending their things to the opposite end of the tent. "Sorta."

"Amazing!" Hermione exclaimed. "This is incredible! Isn't it Harry?"

"Uh, sure," said Harry. "Erm, what are you exactly?"

"It's . . . complicated."

Harry glanced at her uncertainly.

"Hey, um, where's Ron?" Emilia asked.

Harry and Hermione's faces fell.

"Well, he, erm, left," Harry said uncomfortably.

"Oh."

Hermione looked away. "It's getting dark. I should take watch."

Harry nodded. "You should. I'll join you."

The two walked outside and started to whisper. Emilia didn't bother to listen. Who cared what two of the most famous book characters of all time were whispering about her? She didn't.

Okay, she did. But it was rude to listen.

On the other hand, it was also rude to talk about people behind their backs.

Nope, she wasn't going to listen.

It couldn't hurt to listen for a minute.

She leaned close to the tent flap, stretching her hearing to where the two young wizards sat.

"We can't trust her."

"She needs our help. And did you see the state of her? She must have been beaten up by some Death Eaters recently."

"So? I don't care if you think she's interesting--I care about taking down You-Know-Who!"

"I do too, Harry, but we need to help her."

"No, what we need is to help ourselves. End of discussion."

Emilia stopped listening. It would make it hard for them if she was around. Emilia slipped out of the tent invisibly and walked away. She didn't want to cause anyone any trouble.

--

Emilia walked through the forests of the Harry Potter world, shivering from the cold night air. She heated it a bit and felt a little better. At least she wasn't completely alone.

Emilia could sense a group of Death Eaters nearby. She might as well take them out for Harry and Hermione.

She heard a slight struggle as she took their air temporarily. They honestly needed to get better survival skills. Everyone knows you don't come in an immortal's territory.

Mortals could be so idiotic sometimes.

Emilia heard a crashing sound from behind her. It felt like--no, it couldn't be.

But it was. The hunter was coming.

--

Emilia leaped out of the book, scrambling to get away. How did he find her?

She felt him jump out of the book behind her. She glanced back.

He was one of Jul's Black Flames. They were an elite group of trackers and, well, hunters. They always delivered their prey to Jul. Always.

Emilia morphed into an Anna's hummingbird. They could go up to 61 mph and were only 3.9 inches in length. Small and speedy. Perfect.

The hunter came out of the bookstore and scanned the skies. He knew much about her: every one of her tricks, her hiding places, and her abilities.

But he didn't know that she knew much about him as well. Emilia had always kept track of every single thing in existence when she was Fertes. She had mental files on every little thing, from a tardigrade to a universe.

Emilia knew quite a lot about this particular Black Flame. He was relatively new, for he had only joined a thousand years ago. But he was very dedicated and the best of the best.

Emilia flew very far, finally landing on a tree branch.

She shifted into human form and brushed off the leaves and dirt that were on her.

An explosion rocked the ground. Seriously?!

Emilia started to shift but stopped halfway. She melded with the air and whispered away as a slight breeze.

--

A few hours later, Emilia arrived in Connecticut. She adopted her mortal form once more and decided to get some food.

She was in a town called Somers. It had a limited amount of restaurant choices but was still very nice.

Emilia finally settled on a place called Sonny's Place. It was a cute little family day-trip destination, complete with an arcade, mini-golf, and go-kart racing.

She ordered some pizza and fries, her stomach growling loudly.

The food came, and Emilia dug in. She finished within a few minutes.

And that was when the world turned into flames.