Been having some serious inspiration issues. I haven't been able to get a single word down for a while now, but you can thank the readers over in Elder Scrolls for helping get some of it back.
Enjoy.
"I'm fine Jake, don't worry." Cassandra must have said it a dozen times, but Jake was having a hard time believing it. Every time he blinked he could see the burnt looking flesh of her arm taunting him.
Just as Endymion had said, after a while she was perfectly fine. Her skin was back to its normal hue with all traces of the monster's attack gone. Even so, Jake could not help glancing her direction regularly.
The trio of librarians had only one lead for the moment, the abandoned house outside the town. Even it was merely an urban legend. Then again, a large part of their job was based around legends and stories. Such tales often held a grain of truth among the falsities.
With no other options, Jake rented them a truck and they made for the abandoned house. With their plus one.
Jake was driving with Jones in the passenger seat while Cassandra sat between the two in the middle. Endymion sat in the bed of the truck with his back to the rear glass window.
Jake was still wary of Endymion, but they didn't have the luxury of refusing his help. Whatever was stalking Salem was definitely magic in origin but the librarians had no way of combating it. Hell, they still didn't know what it was!
Thus far Endymion showed to be the only one who could fight it off. If it was killable, he was the only one who stood a chance. Maybe if they knew what it was or where it came from but for now he was their only real hope of putting an end to the deaths.
Eventually they had to stop the truck when the woods became too thick to traverse. They had already been driving on abandoned dirt roads for most of the trip. They were fortunate to get as far as they did.
Looks like they were going to have to go the rest of the way on foot. It was not an idea Jake was all that fond of. Last thing they needed was to take too long getting there and back. If they were not back to the annex by nightfall... it was a scenario Jake didn't want to imagine.
Endymion had warned them that it now knew both they and him were there. The four would be its prime targets because they were threats. An attack was all but guaranteed when the sun went down.
Filing out of the truck, the group began the hike through the woods. There was a rough pathway to follow but the thick underbrush and old trees made taking a vehicle impossible.
From what Jake had gathered when asking around town was that kids sometimes came out here on dares to enter the house. That at least explained why the path was not fully overgrown.
On the trail, Endymion voiced his suspicions the house was enchanted. The very idea made Jake cringe. Last time they dealt with a magic house Cassandra had to go toe-to-toe with the ghost of a murderer. It was not an experience he wanted her to relive.
"If it does try to trap us, I can break us out with no trouble." Endymion had explained to waylay some of their worries. Having a wizard on hand during the incident with Katie Bender would have certainly been helpful.
The house was about everything Ezekiel expected from some old witch cabin. No matter what Jake said about maybes to Ezekiel it was a witch house. The place just had that kind of vibe to it.
It was two stories, most of it appearing rundown and falling apart. The roof from what Ezekiel could see was covered in multiple holes. The front door was long gone, if it ever had one. Ezekiel wondered if the holes in the walls ever had glass for windows, or did they use shutters? If they did, they had long since rotted away. The grounds of the house were overgrown with trees and shrubbery all the way to the house itself.
Jake was about to walk through the front door hole when Endymion's arm shot out and stopped him.
"Wait," Endymion looked over the threshold before waving his other arm in front of him. There were multiple small flashes of light before several hovering symbols appeared directly in front of him. Not unlike the symbols that had been placed on their annex door.
"What's that?" Cassandra glanced around Stone to see what was happening.
"Fear wards, similar to the ones I used to safeguard your sanctuary. Mine were simple repulsion, these induce fear on those who pass through, it would explain why no one ever made it to the second room." Endymion waved a hand before him through the ghostly symbols. "There we go, should be clear now, but I'll lead."
Endymion stepped into the entry room first, Stone second with Cassandra and Ezekiel bringing up the rear.
The entrance was just as messy as the outside. With an added stench of rotting wood permeating the air. Most of whatever furniture that used to be here was long gone like the shutters outside.
Endymion stopped in the middle of the room. "We may have a problem."
"What is it?" Stone asked already looking around for potential threats.
"I had my suspicions while we were outside but I think I'm sure now. Those wards are centuries old, magic traps don't usually last that long unless their caster is abnormally powerful." Endymion explained. "But there's something else, there's a magical residue here. It's similar to what I felt when I engaged your shadow monster."
"So we found it's lair?" Jones had already pulled the magic dagger from his belt.
"It would seem so, be on your guard everyone." Endymion answered.
"What if there's more traps? Or even non-magic ones?" Cassandra questioned.
Endymion didn't answer at first, he walked over to the wall and places his hand on the old wood. Closing his eyes, he stood motionless for a long moment. "Mechanical traps are unlikely, these wards are strong enough no one probably ever imagined someone cracking them."
Ezekiel suddenly felt a jolt of electricity in the air. From the looks on Stone and Cassandra's faces they had the same feeling.
"There are a lot of enchantments here." Endymion's eyes snapped open. "Not all of them are traps, Mr. Stone would you step through that doorway please?"
Stone looked on in puzzlement but shrugged and did as asked.
"What the hell?" Stone had his back to them but something about his voice made Ezekiel nervous. He didn't sound hurt but more surprised than anything.
"Wicked difference huh?" Endymion chuckled as he advanced to where the librarian was standing. The other two librarians looked around the other two to see what the big deal was. At first they didn't see anything special, it was the same as the room they were in.
It wasn't until they stepped through the threshold that they saw it.
The moment Cassandra and Ezekiel passed through the doorway the entire house changed. Whereas before it was a ruined mess, now it looked brand new. The walls and ceiling were freshly repaired, candles burned in nearby holders bathing the room in their warm glow. The shutters Ezekiel had been wondering about were closes over the windows.
The entire deal screamed creepy as far as Ezekiel was concerned.
"The outside has an illusion charm on it. You cannot see through it unless you're inside." Endymion walked further into the newly revealed house. "The fear wards all but prevent that."
"Wow." Stone appeared mesmerized, most likely by the pristine conditions of the sixteenth century architecture.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Stone we have not the time to admire the decor. We should search quickly, if this belongs to our quarry we are in great danger the longer we linger." Endymion made for the stairs leading to the next floor. "Mr. Jones you're with me."
Ezekiel never got a chance to question the order before Cassandra and Stone were moving to explore the first level. The thief merely shrugged and followed the sorcerer up the stairs.
"Scary to imagine this has been sitting here for hundreds of years?" Endymion questioned without turning around.
"Little bit?" Ezekiel didn't mean it to sound like a question but it was his first time being alone around their magical backup. Despite the outward friendliness the man exuded, something about him unnerved Ezekiel.
He would have preferred to have been paired up with one of his friends. Come to think of it, why did this guy want to search with him?
"You're with me because it would have been impossible to separate Mr. Stone and Miss Cillian." Endymion suddenly said out of nowhere, startling Ezekiel. "He's been hovering over her, whether he realizes it or not, ever since her close call in the alleyway."
Taken slightly aback, the thief opened his mouth but was cut off. "No, I cannot read your mind." For a second-time Ezekiel tried to say something but was interrupted once more. "I'm just good at reading people."
"That was mildly creepy dude." Ezekiel spoke without thinking.
"Well do this for as long as I have and you pick up a few things." Endymion shrugged as he scanned over a shelf of books.
"Do what exactly? Hunt stuff?"
Endymion paused for a moment. "When it's required, I do many things." Endymion never looked at Ezekiel, instead flipping through random books while speaking. All of which were in some language the thief couldn't read. "Sometimes it's putting down a dangerous creature, other times it's offering guidance. Whatever's needed."
There was something in Endymion's words, like the man was remembering something far off. It lasted only a second before his features changed back.
"You said there were no real records of what happened to the original Salem?" Endymion asked from out of the blue.
"Yeah?"
"I think I got something." Endymion flipped several pages from the book in his hand. "The language is old and archaic but I believe this is a journal. The date is around the time of the trials."
"Let me see." Ezekiel moved to stand beside him but when he looked at the pages all he saw were more of the chicken scratch language like on some of the other books. "What's it say?"
"Like I said, it's a journal of some kind, belongs to someone named..." Endymion scanned the pages, obviously searching for a name. "Oh, this is not good. This belongs to Ethe."
There was something about the way Endymion said the name. A combination of wonderment, fear, and worry. Hearing that was even more unnerving than the word guessing moments before.
Ezekiel never did find out what Endymion read in that journal. There was a crash followed by a scream from below their feet. A female scream.
"Cass!" Ezekiel was about to make a run for the door but Endymion didn't follow. Instead, the sorcerer clenched his fist, sparks of electricity coursing around his hand. He brought the fist down to strike the floor at his feet. Wood instantly splintered and broke upon impact.
Ezekiel barely had time to process what was happening before Endymion disappeared from sight.
For a brief moment, Ezekiel thought about taking the same shortcut. But he decided against it, there was no telling what was waiting below. He really didn't want to fall directly on top of some shadow monster thank you very much.
With Endymion's knife clutched tightly in hand, Ezekiel dashed for the stairs leading back down. Taking them two at a time, he ran for where he could hear the commotion from.
He arrived in the room just in time to see Endymion knocked across the room to crash into a wall of shelves. Their contents dumping all over him.
Before him stood a woman Ezekiel didn't recognize. She had raven black shoulder length hair with a dress that looks like she stepped right off the Mayflower. What was crazy, were the flames running all over her body, not once singing her clothes or body. The fire twisted and coiled around her as if they were living snakes instead of fire.
Of course, her black-eyed gaze had to turn on him just then.
Whatever she had been about to do was cut short when a bolt of lightning struck her in the small of her back, knocking her forward. She whirled around to face an already on his feet Endymion. Without missing a beat the sorcerer drew his pistols and opened fire on the woman with both weapons.
She merely swatted the green bolts aside like flies before charging Endymion. The woman moved with near inhuman speed.
Their attacker lashed out with a column of flame, swinging it over her head like a club. Endymion crossed his revolvers into an X and blocked the attack, then landed a heavy kick to her stomach.
If it fazed her, she didn't show it.
While this was going on Ezekiel made for his fellow librarians across the room. In the short span it took Ezekiel to reach the other two, the entire house had erupted in flames.
The two combatants were constantly deflecting each other's attacks. It wasn't so bad for Endymion's, his seemed mostly to be bolts of lightning and discharges from his guns coupled with physical blows. The other was a complete opposite, she never attacked directly with her hands or feet. Relying on flames and other sorts of fire based moves.
Whereas Endymion fought with precision, never wasting a single attack, the woman seemed to think if she hurled enough fire he would die. It was mostly her stray flames that lit the place up.
Cassandra seemed fine but Stone was half out of it. If the crash earlier was any clue the he probably took a good knock to the head. The redhead was trying hard to get him back to his feet and keep him there but she was too small compared to his larger frame. Ezekiel took his other arm to help the woman get their friend back up.
They needed to get out now. Their presence would only get in the way of the spell slinging battle. Not to mention Stone was in no condition to help anyone.
The trio almost made it to the door when a fireball struck the ceiling above them.
Jake must have recovered somewhat because he managed to push Cassandra back and away before a burning wooden beam fell from the ceiling. He and Ezekiel fell through the doorway while Cassandra went the opposite way.
Leaving her trapped with the two fighting sorcerers.
"Cassie!" Stone screamed as he looked over the doorway, searching for a way to get back in. But there was none, the burning beam was blocking the only real door in. Since both men lacked the ability to knock walls down, there was no way to reach the redhead without being horribly burned in the process.
Ezekiel went for the door to open it. If he and Stone could get outside maybe they could go around. There could be a window, or maybe another door they could use to bypass the obstruction.
The door however, was stuck fast. There was no lock or even a knob, it was like the wood was frozen in its frame with superglue.
"Bloody hell!" Ezekiel all but yelled as he kicked the door hard. When that didn't work, he slammed his shoulder into it. All either accomplished was to hurt his foot and shoulder.
Stone could have maybe broken the door down but the other librarian was busy trying to kick down a nearby wall to reach Cassandra. The man wasn't the Hulk, so he was having as much luck as Ezekiel.
"JONES!" The sound of his name being called so loudly ripped Ezekiel's attention back to the battle unfolding in the other room.
Endymion slammed an electricity charged fist into the woman's jaw, the blow creating a small clap of thunder. She was knocked away and to the floor where Endymion landed another hard kick to her ribs. The force behind the blow throwing her against a nearby wall.
With the opening, Endymion spun around and hurled one of his revolvers across the floor. The weapon slid across the floor, beneath the burning beam blocking the doorway, and into Ezekiel's waiting hand.
The thief had held a gun before, but never fired one. From what he saw of Endymion using it, the revolver was pretty much a Star Wars blaster. Not that complicated to use.
Pointing the weapon at the door, Ezekiel pulled the trigger. The green bolt of energy hit the wood and instantly blew the door from its hinges. If it could take the door out so easy, maybe they could still get to Cassandra after all!
"Stone! I got an idea!" Ezekiel called to his friend who was still frantically trying to get through the wall. All the while screaming for Cassandra.
Stone was so distracted he didn't notice more of the ceiling starting to give above his head.
It was a testament to the reflexes of Ezekiel Jones, world class thief, that he managed to run forward and grab Stone's arm to pull him back in time.
Normally Stone was too large for Ezekiel to move him against his will, but the unexpected yank of his arm threw the man off balance. Both men went tumbling down to the floor just before the ceiling fell on where they had been seconds before. The falling debris missing them by mere inches.
Less than two breaths later more of the ceiling was falling. At this rate the entire house was going to collapse soon. The battle still raging in the other room was accelerating the process.
If they didn't leave now it was going to kill all of them.
"Stone, we gotta go!" Ezekiel never let go of the other man's arm.
"Cassie's still in there!" Stone yelled back.
Ezekiel always likened himself to the concept of the gentlemen thief. Yes, he stole stuff, yes, never felt bad about it. Despite his behavior, he was a good person at heart and undyingly loyal to those deserving of it or those he called friend. This was why his next words sickened him to his very core.
"We have to leave her or all three of us are dead." Ezekiel forced his tone to remain even and calm. No amount of rationalizing could make Ezekiel forget the filth coming from his own mouth.
The look on Stone's face foreshadowed the possibility Ezekiel was milliseconds from sporting a new black eye. As if Ezekiel could feel worse right now.
Stone's intended punch never landed.
A large explosion rocked the foundation of the house. The two men were barely to their feet when the entire roof started falling on them. It was only though a mad sprint that they even made it to the doorway. At the last second both threw themselves out and onto the grass outside.
They looked up just in time to see the entirety of the roof finally fall.
With Cassandra and Endymion still inside.
Once again, this was a easy chapter to do. It was mostly just removing trash and adding a couple things to make it go along with the rest of the new changes. Leave a review please, they are deeply appreciated.