Chapter 21: Unlocking An Ancient Evil

                Yvette Cale realized something wasn’t entirely right.  When her husband started to reappear from the past, the secret study disappeared, only to be replace with the area of the library which led to the secret study.  She could tell from where she stood that Dr. Roivas was sitting with his back to her.  He also appeared to be late in his life.  The only thing she couldn’t be sure of was what day she was viewing.

               Soon, she saw a blue orb come out of the floor, and stop a few feet from Dr. Roivas.  In an instant, she saw it become a huge hideous blue bug creature.  Almost as soon as it appeared, it prepared to strike at Dr. Roivas, and Yvette knew exactly what she was seeing.  It was the very moment of Dr. Roivas’s death.  She watched in horrified silence as the thing then destroyed Dr. Roivas’s head.  She was so scared that if she made a sound, it would do the same to her. However, before it could see her, everything changed.

               Once again, she was in the area where Pious usually talked with his Ancient.  She was sure this was in the past of what she had just seen when she heard Pious mention news about the colony in En’gha.  However, before he could even get it out, she heard what had to be Ulyaoth respond.  “It is not a concern of mine.  Think of them as casualties of war.”  She then heard Pious start to protest, only to hear Ulyaoth dismiss the protests.  She then heard something that scared her.  “I have seen the future, and it portends a great battle between me and Chattur’gha.  He will fall to my superiority.”

               After that statement was made, the secret study appeared all around her, and she saw her husband standing with his hands on her shoulders.  She could see a concerned look in his eyes, even as he spoke.  “Yvette, what did you see?  You went pale as a sheet.”

               She glanced over at Alexandra, who was coming around from behind the desk.  She also appeared concerned, and part of her didn’t want tell them what she saw, but Yvette knew she had to say.  She swallowed and closed her eyes.  “I saw one of the lesser guardians kill your grandfather.  It literally destroyed his head.”  When she opened her eyes, she saw a horrified look on her husband’s face, but also saw Alexandra trying to keep a calm look, but the tears betrayed her.

               Before anything else could be said, she heard her husband say without turning his head, “Alexandra, maybe you should read that paper you just found.  You said it had fallen out of the Tome just as I reappeared.”  She then felt her husband hug her.  He obviously knew what she was going through.  She then remembered that he had seen a gruesome death as well, that of Paul Luther.  Realizing that, she felt better as he held her.

               After a moment, she saw Alexandra looking at a white piece of paper.  Prior to this, they had never seen that before, as if it had been concealed by magic.  When her husband ended the hug, she heard Alexandra say, “It’s from my grandfather.  Apparently, he knew the end was coming, since he references those barrels we saw in the basement.  However, it doesn’t say why, except that he won’t be needing it, and that I might want to check it out.  I’ve never touched any alcohol in my life.”

               She watched as her husband nodded in agreement.  “Personally, I’ve never touched the stuff as well.  I remember my father would occasionally take a drink, saying it calmed his nerves.”  She understood the statement.  At their own wedding, they didn’t have any alcohol of any kind, but that whole day she was nervous.

               When Alexandra got up, and headed towards the door, she noticed the girl staggered, as if she was unsteady.  She quickly walked over, and steadied her.  They then headed out of the secret study, and through the library into the foyer.  As they headed towards the basement, Yvette wondered what might be down near the barrels.  It seemed odd, especially if Dr. Roivas knew that Alexandra wasn’t a drinker, to suggest the barrels, unless it wasn’t the barrels he was bringing to their attention.

               When they were finally down in the basement, and over to the barrels, she watched as both Alexandra and Richard looked at the barrels, and quickly shook their heads.  She was sure she knew why they were doing that.  Just in those actions, she was sure they had seen something that had to be playing tricks on their minds.  Also, every time they went to reach for the barrels, they pulled back, as if there was something crawling all over the barrels.

               Finally, Yvette walked forward, and noticed something was out of place.  Amongst all the barrels, she noticed a skinny rod.  She grabbed it, and lifted out of the group of barrels, only to notice that it wasn’t a rod, but the handle of a pick ax.  She examined it carefully, and then looked at her husband, and Alexandra.  “Looks like this was what Dr. Roivas wanted us to find.”

               She watched as her husband shook his head, and the looked at it again.  “He thought we needed an extra weapon.  That might make sense, or is there another reason to have it.”  Yvette glanced at her husband, wondering if maybe he should use one of the recovery spells, since it seemed his thought process was not one hundred percent.

               She started towards the steps, and said, “Remember who my father is, hun.  A pick ax isn’t just a weapon.  It is sometimes the best skeleton key in the world.”  She then lead them out of the basement, and towards the steps to the second floor.  After everything they had been through, including the maddening trips into the past, she had seemed to be the only one that remembered the odd wall on the second floor.  She was certain a door was hidden behind that odd section, and the pick ax was their key.

               As they reached the hallway, she heard both Richard and Alexandra gasp in shock.  She knew what caused it.  For the first time, they were seeing the picture in the hall as she had seen it. Her husband only confirmed it when he said, “My God, that picture got horrid.  My mind must be playing tricks on me.”  She knew what he was seeing.  The true picture was that of a horrid, blood soaked, landscape.  Instead of trees, there was a stretched out skin between two posts. What made that even more horrid was the fact that she could have sworn it was human skin.

               She turned left, and headed towards where the spot was.  As she walked, she calmly said, “Yes and no.  That picture has been that way the whole time.  An illusion made it seem normal, and now with your sanity so low, the illusion won’t be seen.”  She finally stopped at the proper spot, and glanced to see if Richard and Alexandra were with her.  When they finally were, she looked at Alexandra, and then at the wall.  “Do you want to do the honors?”

               If that brief moment, she saw a panicked look in Alexandra’s eyes.  She sighed and looked at her husband, seeing the same look.  “Maybe you two should cast a recovery spell for your sanity.”  She then turned toward the wall, and heard them casting the spells.  As the spells were cast, she raised the pick ax up, and brought it down on the wall.  It gave way quickly, opening up what had been a tomb for some people from long ago.

               As she entered the room, for a moment, she saw Maximillian Roivas entering the room, and killing all the servants inside.  He had killed the four men in the room, and then sealed the room up, but he had done more than that.  The room seemed undisturbed, except for a few signs that he had used some of the Tome’s magick.  She then glanced back as Richard and Alexandra entered the room, and hoped one of them might have an idea on their next step.

               Richard Cale was a bit shocked at the sight of the formerly sealed off room.  Just the look of the walls told him that the room hadn’t seen the light of day since colonial times.  There were blood splatters on the wall, some of the furniture was in shambles, and in the middle of the room were remains of remains.  With the remains, Richard could see some other things, but he couldn’t get close to them with the protective field around them.  From the symbols on the floor that he saw, he was sure that Maximillian had set it up, either to protect or detain what was in it.

               He glanced back at Alexandra and Yvette, and looked at the sight again.  “I hate to say this, but we are going to have to dispel the field.  It’s going to be the only way to get at the items with the remains.”

               As he got ready to cast the Dispel Magick spell, he heard Alexandra ask a very important question.  “What if it releases something, or provokes an attack?”  He had thought about it, but as they found more of the Tome, he felt that sooner or later, an attack was inevitable.

               He glanced back at Alexandra, and started to cast the spell.  Soon the field disappeared, and Richard just said, “I think that regardless of what we do now, an attack is coming.  We just need to be careful from here on out.”

               He then stepped forward, towards the remains, and noticed a few things.  The first was that in the remains, it was obvious that there were three bodies, but the room suggested that four servants had been in the room.  He then noticed a note written by Maximillian Roivas.  As he looked over it, he realized what had happened.  One of the servants was a Bonethief, and in the attempt to destroy the foul creature, he killed the others.  The next thing he noticed was an old style stethoscope.  He picked it up, and smiled, realizing that with it, they would be able to open the safe.

               He glanced back at both of the women, and smiled.  “I think we found our way to open the safe.  Let’s get back to the basement.”  He watched as both nodded, and he then stepped towards the door.

               He froze when he heard a familiar hiss.  He glanced back at Alexandra, and said, “Stay by my wife.  I don’t think that pick ax will be a good weapon.”  He then cast every spell he had cast when he was with Edward Roivas.  He wasn’t going to take any chance.  He looked back at Alexandra and Yvette and said, “Make sure you both do the same.”

               Richard moved into the hallway, glancing to the right to see if it was clear, and then headed towards the way they had came.  As he neared the corner, he saw a Bonethief come from around it.  He struck quickly, swinging twice and cutting the creatures arms off.  As it fell, he jumped back as another took a swipe at him.  He responded quickly, lopping off that ones arms as well.

               As the second one fell, he was about to take a few more swipes at it, when he heard a shot ring out.  He spun to see Alexandra lowering her revolver, and then he glanced to where she had shot.  Collapsing at that spot was a Trapper, apparently ready to do its suicide attack.  Before he could thank her, Alexandra said, “We should check all the rooms up here before heading down.  Yvette is setting up a barrier by the window.”

               He nodded in agreement, and headed back to the corner were the spare room and bathroom were.  He opened the door to the spare room, and took a deep breath when he saw nothing.  As he closed the door, he noticed Alexandra raising the revolver, and heard her fire into the spare bathroom.  It was followed by the squeak of a dying Trapper.  She then closed the door, just as Yvette walked over to them, saying “The window is safe now, but there are more of those things outside.  They are still watching, but some are trying to advance.”

               Richard only nodded, and then headed towards the master bedroom.  “Well, from all we have seen, I don’t think they can open doors.  Maybe that barrier will hold them off.  Which Rune did you use?”

               As they entered the room, his wife answered the question.  “The Mantorok rune.  It seems to add a poison effect to the damage it does.”  He nodded, understanding what she meant. The brief times he had used the Mantorok rune as a shield or enchantment, he noticed the effect. However, right now, he noticed that the bedroom was clear, which left only the bathroom.

               He opened the bathroom door, and swung his sword quickly as two zombies approached him.  He was glad when the swipe took both the zombies down, and then he closed the door.  He glanced back at the others and said, “Two more zombies down, and missing their heads.  I think it’s time to head downstairs.”

               They all headed back to the door to the foyer, and left the upstairs hallway.  When they entered the foyer, Richard wasn’t surprised to see almost a half dozen zombies coming towards them.  Both he and Alexandra got on one side of Yvette, and started slashing at the zombies as they neared.  Again, he was thankful for all the spells they had cast.  It allowed them to slice through the animated corpses with ease.  Soon, all of the zombies were gone, and it was safe to head down the steps.

               When they reached the bottom, Richard looked towards the library, and then towards the kitchen.  The library would have to be the last area they checked on this floor.  He motioned towards the kitchen, and they headed over to it.  As they reached the door, Richard looked at his wife.  “Yvette, wait out here.  Alexandra and I are going to check here, and then check the dining room.”

               He was glad she didn’t protest, and then opened the door to the room.  As he and Alexandra entered the kitchen, they saw three zombies turn to face them.  He could tell from their blue color that they were aligned with Pious’s ancient, and quickly aimed for their necks. Luckily, he decapitated the first one, as Alexandra did the same to a second.  He was about to turn to find the third one, when he felt something grab him.  He knew what it was and could feel it leaning over to take a bite.

               Adrenaline pumped, and for a moment, he felt stronger than he had ever been.  He quickly twisted his body, throwing the corpse off balance, and sending it flying toward the near by wall.  As it started to stand again, he was thankful that Alexandra stepped up and decapitated it.  When it was destroyed, he took a deep breath as Alexandra looked at him.  “Are you all right, Richard?”

               He nodded and then headed for the rear door of the kitchen.  “Yes.  That was close.  I don’t want to know what happens if they successfully bite you.”  He remembered that some of his friends were fond of a game that involved infected zombies, and he didn’t want to consider the possibility that it was a real concern.

               When they left the kitchen, he heard his wife say, “I take it the kitchen is safe.”  He made a sound that signified the statement was correct, and heard her say, “I’m going to double check in there for food.  I don’t think we want to be venturing outside now.”  He understood, and then led the way into the dining room.

               Upon entering the dining room, Richard saw three more blue zombies.  Both he and Alexandra raised their swords, and he quickly slashed at the one.  This time, he didn’t decapitate it, but he heard it start to sing.  Soon, a blue light formed, and the others joined in.  Something in his gut told him this was dangerous.  He quickly said to Alexandra, “Decapitate them, quickly.  I don’t think this is a good thing.”  He ran forward and quickly lopped off the head of the first zombie, as Alexandra decapitated the second.  He quickly ran to the third, and swung his sword.

               As his sword cut through the zombies neck, he felt a force knock him off his feet.  As he flew, he dropped his sword, and heard another sword hit the floor.  He hit the one wall, and quickly got back to his feet.  He looked around, and saw Alexandra sliding down another wall, and the sword she had been using was on the floor.  He ran over to her, picking up both his and her sword in the process, and helped Alexandra up.  “Are you all right?”

               He watched as she shook her head for a moment, and then said, “Yea, just a little disoriented.  Just as you decapitated that thing, it exploded.  I guess we were lucky that the swords didn’t seriously wound us.”  He nodded, agreeing with her.  If the swords had cut them, it would have been disastrous.

               As they left the room, he saw his wife come over and grab him.  “What happened in there?  I heard a loud boom, and I came running.”

               Alexandra answered the question for him.  “One of the three zombies in the room exploded.  Luckily, we are all right, just a bit shook up.”  As they walked away from the room, he watched as Alexandra then looked towards the library.  “Think there are some creatures lurking in the library?”

               Richard nodded.  “Indeed, but I doubt they can get into the secret study.  Something about that room makes it a safe haven.  Something would have to be very powerful just to get in the room, and extremely powerful to be able to cause any physical harm.”  It was something he noticed every time they entered the room, like a protective aura.

               As they entered the library, he heard Yvette say, “Maybe so, but it allows them to try and cause mental harm.”  He glanced at her, but didn’t say anything.  As they made their way to the reading area of the library, they saw two blue zombies come towards them.  Richard quickly raised his sword, as did Alexandra, and they decapitated the two zombies.  Just as those two fell, two more corpses came out of the hallway to the secret study.  With two more quick swipes, those two fell as well, and the library felt safe again.

               After a few seconds, he looked at the others and said, “Maybe we should now check the basement, since I think that safe is where the next chapter is at, as well as other things.”  He watched his wife and Alexandra nodded, and they all headed towards the basement.

               As they entered the basement, he was glad that he didn’t hear any creatures roaming around.  However, his relief passed as when they started down the steps, he felt dizzy.  He knew what was happening.  It was another ‘blink’ attack.  He started to lose his balance, but as it happened, he felt someone grab hold of him, which was good since if he fell, he’d fall down the steps.

               Alexandra Roivas continued down the steps as she saw Yvette grab hold of Richard. She hoped the redhead could keep her husband from falling, especially with all the creatures now outside her home.  When she reached the bottom of the steps, she headed over to the safe.  When she reached the safe, she put the stethoscope on the door, and put it to her ear as she started to work the dial.

               At first she started turning the dial, and waited, not knowing what to hear.  She couldn’t see the dial, but she kept turning it.  After a few moments, she still hadn’t heard a sound, until Yvette Cale said, “I think you are turning it the wrong way.”  She glanced at the dial, and notice she was coming around to the zero again, which was were it started.

               She looked back and saw Richard sitting on the old well.  She then watched as Yvette started to turn the dial in the opposite direction than she was spinning it.  Soon, she heard one click come from the safe.  She then watched as Yvette turned it in the opposite direction.  In almost no time, they had managed to open the safe.

               When the safe was opened, she saw all the contents and gasped.  On one shelf, she saw the chapter page and a note.  On the other shelf, she saw what looked like a crank shaft, and red claw that represented the Chattur’gha, the one who could defeat Pious’s ancient, Xel’lotath.  She picked up the container holding the essence, and then glanced over at Richard, remembering his condition.  One of the other things she had been holding on to was the essence of Mantorok.  She put down the essence that was in the safe, and walked over to Richard.  She then held up the Heart of Mantorok.  “Richard, maybe you should hold this.  It might help prevent those massive ‘blink’ attacks you had when we first approached the safe.”

               He nodded, and stood up, looking a bit more steady than he did before.  “It could, since this one has been a constant in all the timelines.  What did you find in the safe?”

               After he was holding the case with Mantorok’s heart, she went back to the safe, and held up the case holding the claw.  “This for one.  I’m thinking this is the essence that Peter Jacob gave, the one of the Ancient that can beat Xel’lotath.”  She watched as he nodded, and then held up the letter from her grandfather.  “Also, I have a letter from my grandfather, telling us to continue what Maximillian had started, finding a way to defeat Pious Augustus.”  She then held up the crankshaft.  “I think this might be used in the observatory, but I’m not sure how or why yet.”  She then held up the chapter page.  “And most important, it’s the next chapter.”

               She then glanced over at Yvette, and noticed the redhead was staring straight ahead, as if she was watching something intently.  She waved the chapter in front of Yvette, and noticed the girl didn’t even react.  She lowered the page, knowing it might be a moment before they went back to the study.  “I guess she’s having another vision.”

               She heard Richard confirm her conclusion.  “Yes.  She must be witnessing another conversation that Pious had.  No doubt it’s going to relate to this chapter.”  As he said that, Alexandra noticed his voice seemed tired.  She glanced at her watch, wondering how much time had actually passed since they had arrived, and noticed that several hours had pasted.  When they had arrived, it was still daylight.  She had not taken a good look outside since everything started, but she was sure the sky was darker, or even night.

               She forgot about the time when Yvette finally said, “Pious is happy about a war coming.  He didn’t say which one, but it’s one that will take a toll in lives.”  She then saw Yvette looking at the chapter page.  “It’s the next chapter.  What’s the title?”

               Alexandra smiled, but decided now was the time to take the best precautions.  “I’ll tell you when we get back to the secret study, and take precautions.  The last chapter almost drained our sanity, and I’m betting this one will leave us fit to be committed unless we are prepared.” She then led the way back to the study.

               As they walked, she heard Richard ask about the vision.  “Hun, did you see who told Pious about the war?  Was it his ancient?”

               As they entered the library, she heard Yvette’s negative tone when she answered the question.  “No, it was one of the monks from the cathedral.  I thought that after the creature fell, Pious didn’t use it anymore.”  Her statement was a bit unsettling.  It literally hinted that maybe Pious’s powers didn’t limit themselves to Oublie Cathedral.  However, if that was the case, then how far into the church did it go?

               She stopped wondering about it when they entered the secret study.  She placed the chapter in the book, and then cast a few spells to boost her sanity, and keep it high as she read the chapter.  Once everything was in place, she looked at the two and asked, “Ready to go?”  When they both nodded, she looked at the title.  “This chapter is called Ashes To Ashes.”  She started to read it, realizing it was about a man name Michael Edwards.  As the two started to disappear from the room, she noticed that he was in the Middle East, during the Persian Gulf War.

               As that fact hit her, she looked up, just as Richard and Yvette Cale fully disappeared. She then noticed the date, and started to worry.  The year was 1991 AD, which was eight years after the time of Edwin Lindsey.  That meant it was entirely possible that by the end of the chapter, Richard Cale could very well be dead.  She swallowed back the fear, and then started to read again.

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Chapter 20

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Chapter 22

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