Page 2 of Heart of the Cursed
She couldn’t make out what it was, but there was definitely something in there. She picked up a broken chair and moved it out of the way before combating a table that was wedged in the doorway.
After several attempts to move the table the Human way, Selene finally gave in. She took a couple of steps backwards before throwing her hands out in front of her and blasting the thing to pieces with her magic.
Bits of broken wood and metal flew all over the place as a dust cloud billowed out of the room.
She dusted off her clothes and waved her hands in front of her face to chase away the dust particles.
“That’s better,” she said when she saw the doorway was clear.
She was still learning to use her magic. Unfortunately, there was no one around that she could turn to for advice when it came to magic. Even if she could have talked to her mother about it, her mother wouldn’t have had a clue what to do.
So, with no one to turn to, Selene had to figure it all out on her own. It wasn’t impossible to do on her own, but it did make it more difficult.
Thankfully, with a lot a practice, she’d been able to gain some sort of control over her magic. In the past, if she’d tried to blast a table out of the way, she could have just as easily blown up the entire building, with her in it.
As soon as the dust settled, Selene stepped inside. She could barely see her hand in front of her face. So, she turned to magic once again.
Selene held her hand up and clicked her fingers. An orb of light instantly appeared. With a twist of her wrist, she sent the orb flying around the room until it found what she was looking for.
There, in the back corner of the room, was a door to a secure room. The thick metal door was exactly what she’d been looking for. It was the sort of room Selene would have kept the book in if it had been in her possession.
She clambered across the rubble and tried the handle to the door. The door was locked, just as she knew it would be.
Selene wasn’t deterred. She pressed her hand against the cold metal and sent her magic into the door to unlocked it. She couldn’t hear the clicking as the locks opened one by one, but she could feel it through her hands thanks to her magic. As soon as the last lock clicked open, she called her magic back to her and then opened the door.
The safe room was even darker inside than the room she was in. The light coming from the small orb did little to show her inside. So, she clicked her fingers again and produced a bigger orb. She sent the larger of the orbs into the room and kept the smaller one with her.
Other than a little bit of dust, the room was immaculate. Row upon row of shelves greeted her inside, stacked floor to ceiling with books. Each one had a turn-wheel at the end, so the shelves could be easily moved, and each had different letters on them. Not a single book was out of place.
Selene didn’t know the name of the book she was looking for, so she had no choice but to start at the beginning and work her way along. She had a rough idea of what she was looking when it came to the contents, but she would have to look inside each book to rule them out.
It was time consuming, but she had to do it. It was the only way she could help the Human race.
One by one, Selene searched each row of books and came up empty. She was about to give up when she spotted a small, leather bound book tucked away right at the back of the last shelf.
She gently picked it up and looked at the cover. The only marking was a dragon eating it’s own tail. Selene knew the symbol was known as an Ouroboros. She’d come across it in another book she’d found.
She ran her fingers over the worn leather and traced the Ouroboros before opening the book. The book was definitely old enough to be the one she was looking for, but after flicking through a few pages, it became clear it wasn’t the one.
It wasn’t a total loss. The little book contained several spells Selene hadn’t seen before. But best of all, there was a small piece of paper sticking out of the spine of the book with a locating spell written on it. If nothing else, that would come in handy. So, she decided it was worth taking home with her.
Selene closed the book and placed it in her bag before retracing her steps back to the main room. Night had descended while she’d been inside, so she kept the orbs with her as she searched the rest of the building.
Even though she doubted the book she was looking for would be kept anywhere else, she checked all of the rooms. Making sure to check every corner of the place before leaving because she had no plans on returning.
By the time she was finished, the sun was just starting to rise the following morning. With one last look at the library, Selene began the long trek home.
She hadn’t found what she was looking for, but she wasn’t giving up. If she had to, she would search for eternity. Because after being hunted for so many years, the Human race deserved the chance to live in peace.
