By the time they reached the pond, it had begun to rain, like a warm summer shower at first, with the sun still shining bright on the distant eastern horizon, but as the clouds passed directly overhead, the sky grew dark and malevolent, and the heavy rain came pouring down.
“It’s been raining like this almost every night,” Braeden complained, as they made their way miserably through the deluge.
Serafina was about to reply when her whole body jolted in surprise. A blistering white light blazed in her eyes as a bolt of lightning struck the top of the hill. The oak tree where they’d just been standing exploded into a thousand pieces, sending shards of burning wood hurtling in all directions, whizzing past her head, as the crack of thunder boomed in her chest and rolled across the blackened sky. Braeden’s four horses reared up in panic and charged away across the field.
“Serafina!” Braeden said, grabbing her arm and pointing into the distance toward the grassy slope of Diana Hill in front of the house. The hillsides around Biltmore were running with dark rivers of storm water. Rushing currents tore at the earth, and great areas of mud were sliding down toward the house and gardens.
“Gad night a-livin’, will you look at that,” Serafina gasped. “I hope everyone’s holdin’ on down there.”
As they ran down to the pond, they saw that the small inlet stream had become a turbulent river. The pond was so full that the water had breached the banks and flooded the nearby trees.
Sloshing through inches of water, they made their way toward the stone dam at the outlet of the pond. Normally, the small amount of overflow was nothing more than a trickle, but now a roaring waterfall poured out of the pond and over the spillway, dumping into the ravine below.
“We need to cross before it’s too late,” Serafina shouted, pointing toward the small wooden footbridge that traversed the top of the waterfall.
As they clambered across the bridge, the driving spray of the rain and the waterfall flew into her face. The blowing wind howled like a horde of ghouls. The wood planking beneath her feet swayed as the pushing current rocked the bridge’s supports back and forth. She grabbed the side rail as her eyes darted to the rushing water below her. She felt the bridge suddenly jerk to the side, then tilt violently with the sound of cracking wood.
“Braeden, jump!” she shouted.
Just as she and Braeden leapt to the ground on the other side, the entire bridge split apart and came crashing down, then rolled over the falls in a great heap of broken, twisted boards.
“We made it,” Braeden gasped, as Serafina scanned the path ahead for Waysa and Rowena. She spotted them running toward her and Braeden.
“This storm is my father’s doing,” Rowena yelled through the rain as the last of the bridge’s wreckage went over the falls. “It’s going to get worse from here.”
“Let’s get to cover!” Serafina shouted.
As the four of them ran through the rain toward the house, a great mass of mud was sliding into the outer edge of the gardens, tearing through the plants and knocking down the marble Greek statues.
Squinting through the rain, Serafina looked toward the house. A gushing river of water ripped down a side gulley, tearing at Biltmore’s foundation.
“There’s my uncle!” Braeden shouted.
The wind-torn figures of Mr. Vanderbilt and Superintendent McNamee stood in the middle of the blowing storm, shouting orders to what looked like more than fifty men as they worked frantically to stanch the flow of the water tearing at the house. Serafina watched in horror as a man was pulled into the current and swept away screaming for help.
“What are we going to do?” Braeden shouted, his voice filled with fear and confusion. “We can’t battle a thunderstorm!”
Reaching the main house, Serafina led her friends through the side door into the circular room at the base of the Grand Staircase. She and her companions were breathless, sopping wet, and bedraggled from the storm. As she looked around at them, she could see the fear and uncertainty in their faces, and their relief to be in the shelter of the house. She felt it, too. The last thing she wanted to do was go back out there.
And then she realized something.
This was exactly what Uriah wanted, she thought, for them to hunker down and hide. He was pushing them, pressing them back, as he wreaked havoc on the estate.
“We need to attack,” Serafina said.
“Now?” Braeden said in surprise. “In the middle of the storm?”
“Exactly,” Serafina said. “This is our opportunity. He’ll think we’ll be hiding, taking cover. The last thing he’s going to expect is for us to attack in the middle of the storm.”
“Serafina is right,” Waysa said.
“I don’t think you realize how difficult he is going to be to kill,” Rowena said.
“Do you know where he’s hiding?” Serafina asked Rowena.
“I suspect he’s up on one of the mountain peaks, looking toward Biltmore, directing this storm, but there’s no way to tell for certain where he’s going to be.”
Serafina went over to the door and looked out into the blowing wind and rain. “Braeden, can your crows fly in this?”
“They normally take cover during a storm,” he said, gazing up at the darkened sky, “but they’re strong fliers, and they’ll jump at the chance to get into a fracas with an enemy they hate as much as Uriah.”
“Talk to them and your other friends,” she said. “I want to attack Uriah with all our allies at once.”
“I’m sure they’ll join us,” Braeden said. “They’ve been fighting against Uriah for even longer than we have.”
Encouraged, Serafina nodded and then looked at Rowena.
“I will load my satchel with potions and spells,” Rowena said. Serafina could see the fear and determination in her eyes. Rowena, more than any of them, knew her father’s wrath. She had felt his attacks. She had suffered his blows. She had thrown spells at him only to have them buffeted back. But Serafina could see that Rowena knew the time had come to stand up and fight him.
“You understand that we have to take him by surprise,” Rowena warned.
Waysa stepped forward. “I’ll attack him first.”
Serafina could see the fierceness blazing in Waysa’s eyes. She knew her friend wouldn’t give up until either he or Uriah was dead. He was honor bound to avenge his family or die trying.
She looked around at her three companions. “Attacking now, in the middle of his attack, is going to be the most dangerous thing we’ve ever done. But there will be no peace in these mountains for any of us until we destroy him.”
“But how are we going to do it?” Rowena asked.