he walks around to the other side. The compass swivels as he moves, the arrow always aiming at the house.
“It says Hern’s in there.”
Corbin makes no reply.
Glancing at his companion, James is surprised to discover a worried look on his face.
“Something wrong?”
Returning his gaze to the building, he says, “If this is the place I’m thinking of, it has a bad history.”
“What do you mean?”
“It happened three score years ago. One day a stranger arrives in Trendle and purchases a claim for a parcel of land within the forest. Said he wanted to get away from city life and find peace and quiet. He contracted several of the townspeople to build his house, this house perhaps. The construction took nearly a year and once the construction was finished he moved in. After that, no one saw much of him. He kept mostly to himself, rarely coming to town and then only to buy supplies.
“It didn’t take long before rumors began surfacing about this man.” He cast a glance to James. “Stranger, especially ones that keep to themselves, are grist for the rumor mill.”
James nodded. From what he had already experienced in his short time in Trendle, he knew exactly what Corbin meant.
“Anyway, one afternoon several boys decided to come and spy on him, to see what he was about. When they arrived, they crept up close to the house and peered through a ground floor window. One climbed a tree to better see inside. The boys claimed that when they looked through the window, they saw the man sitting cross-legged on the floor. A circle encompassing a five pointed star, a pentagram as the townsfolk later discovered, was drawn on the floor not five feet in front of him. At each point of the pentagram burned a candle. The boys said it looked as if the man was in some kind of a trance, and that he was chanting.
“They watched as the man chanted unfamiliar words. Then suddenly, the air above the pentagram began to flux and swirl. At that point, the man’s chanting changed, becoming more intense. From out of the flux and swirl appeared the shape of an inhuman creature not of this world. It slowly began to take shape, growing more solid with every word the man uttered.
“The boy on the branch clung transfixed as he watched the unfolding events. When the creature was almost completely formed, the branch upon which he lay gave out with a loud crack and broke, throwing him to the ground. The end of the branch smashed through the window to the room wherein the man sat.
“The boys claimed that just after the window shattered, they heard a monstrous roar from the other side. The man shrieked in terror before being abruptly silenced. The boys ran as if demons were after them, which was probably not far from the truth. When they returned to town, they went straightaway to the Town Hall and told their story to the mayor, who immediately dispatched a party of armed townsfolk along with a priest to investigate.
“When they arrived, no trace of the man could be found. They did find the pentagram on the floor however, with four of the candles having burned down to nothing. The fifth candle laid on its side, shards from the broken window lay around it. It is believed that when the window shattered, the glass flew and knocked over the candle, which broke the holding spell, allowing the demon, that’s what the priest said was most likely being summoned, to break free and take the man. The priest stated that there didn’t seem to be any traces of evil remaining in the house. But just to be sure, he cleansed the house from top to bottom before they departed.”
Glancing at James to gauge his reaction, Corbin continues. “The people hereabouts avoid this house, they think it’s haunted. Whether by the spirit of the man or by the demon he summoned, no one is sure. Every once in a while, some hunter comes across this place and tells of feelings of foreboding, or of hearing strange noises. If Hern is in there, I would hate to guess what that would mean.”
“I agree, but we need to see if we can find him. That missing boy may be in there as well. We can’t just leave them,” James says with surprising determination. “Should they still be alive, they are going to need our help. If we’re careful, maybe we could get in and out real fast. See if we can find them.”
“Quickly then,” Corbin agrees uneasily. As James leads the way into the house, he follows close behind.
The front room is dark and shadowed with narrow streams of light making their way through the windows. A fine layer of dust covers everything. Grass and small plants have sprouted through the myriad cracks marring the floor. Spider webs fill the corners and drape between bits of old furniture.
As they press ahead, a sense of foreboding settles over James. He tries to shakes it off, but it only grows as they follow the compass toward a hallway leading deeper into the house.
The left side of the hallway has partially collapsed, the debris making for treacherous going. In one place they have to stoop quite a bit in order to make it past where a section of the ceiling had caved in. As they make their way through the rubble, a small amount of light filters through the broken and cracked areas above creating an eerie atmosphere.
Not far past the caved-in ceiling, they come to an opening on their right. It’s a flight of stairs leading to the second floor. Though rubble chokes the stairwell, James figures that they could make it through should the need arise. Looking up into the darkness, he definitely hopes the need does not arise!
Moving past the stairwell they reach another doorway, the last one accessible before the hallway becomes impassable due to the collapsing of the second floor. Peering cautiously around the corner, James looks into a room, one that has somewhat been spared the ravages of time that the rest of the house has suffered. Light filtering in through the room’s broken windows falls upon a five pointed star inscribed on the floor. That must have been where the demon was summoned. Doing a quick scan about the rest of the room, he fails to find anything unusual so steps through the doorway and enters the room. Corbin follows close behind.
Walking to the pentagram, James indicates the broken glass near one of its point. “This must be where the shattered window broke the spell of holding.” Scanning the area for bloodstains, he fails to find any. Reaching down, he picks up one of the broken shards. It’s cool, but doesn’t feel odd or strange. He tosses it back to the spot where it had lain.
“Maybe we shouldn’t stay here any longer,” Corbin says nervously. There’s a definite tremble indicating fear in his voice. “It doesn’t look like we’re going to find them here.”
“Perhaps.” Glancing at his compass, James is surprised to see the pointer going round and round in a clockwise direction. “That’s weird,” he says as he shows it to Corbin.
“What does it mean?”
Shrugging, James replies “Haven’t a clue. I told you I was new to magic.” Discontinuing the spell, he places the compass back in his backpack. He then looks to Corbin and is about to suggest they search elsewhere, when a slight flicker from the pentagram is caught from the corner of his eye. He quickly turns his head, but it’s gone.
Corbin notices his sudden movement. “What?” His eyes dart around the room.
“Thought I saw something,” James replies. Turning his head so the pentagram is again just at the edge of his peripheral vision, the flickering reappears. This time he holds his head steady and continues looking at the pentagram out of the corner of his eye. After a few moments, he begins to realize what he originally took as a flash is actually a steady, slow pulse; barely discernable in the shadows.
“Curious.”
“What is?” Corbin glances agitatedly between James and the pentagram.
“I can see a slight pulsing coming from the pentagram. Though I can only see it when it’s in my peripheral vision.”
“Pulsing?” fear is evermore apparent in the farmer’s voice. “Let’s get out of here.” He edges toward the exit.
His feeling of foreboding is quite strong now. “Yeah, that might be a good idea.”
Corbin leads the way, and enters the hallway. James follows closely. The foreboding is growing worse. They pass the stairway leading to the second floor, then come to where the hallway ends at the outer room.
Just before Corbin passes from the hallway into the outer room, James grabs his arm and jerks him back.
“Look.” Whispering softly, he directs the farmer’s attention out the front door.
Two silhouettes approach the door. Unable to make out any distinct features, they can only tell that one is adult size while the other is smaller. Moving his mouth next to Corbin’s ear, he whispers, “Let’s return to the stairs and hide.”
Corbin nods and starts backing down the hallway.
Being as quiet as they can, they return to the stairs and ascend a short ways until they can no longer see the
