A shiver raced down Selene’s spine as she entered an abandoned library.

No matter how many dilapidated buildings she searched through, she would never get used to the creepy vibe they gave off. Every time she entered one, a shiver ran through her.

Even though she was alone, she could never shake the feeling of being watched. She half expected someone to jump out at her at any moment. Selene hoped that never happened, but she was prepared, just in case it did.

Dark and dingy didn’t even begin to describe the state of the rundown building. She’d seen pictures in history books of what some buildings had been like after the last Human war, but it was nothing compared to the state of them now.

Centuries worth of dirt and debris had been blown inside, coating every surface in a thick layer of grime. The remains of the doors were little more than firewood, and not a single window had survived.

The shattered glass crunched under foot as she made her way around the room. It was mixed with bits of broken slate that at one time would have been used to cover the roof.

From the look of the place, the roof had caved in years ago. Everything in the main room was destroyed. Books were scattered on the floor, along with a mountain of rubble and nature debris which had been blown in through the broken doors and windows, and water dripped from the gaping hole where the ceiling used to be.

Selene hoped the book she was looking for wasn’t in the main room. If it was then the Human race was well and truly fucked.

No! She refused to believe that. She refused to believe Humans were beyond saving.

After hundreds of years of being mercilessly hunted down and killed, the Human race was nearly extinct. And it all started over a war the Humans had played no part in. It was a war between supernatural creatures from all realms, not just the Human realm.

Most of the creatures Humans had only read about in books. They thought they were only stories to scare and entertain. They hadn’t known the monsters were real until the war started.

She could just imagine the shock and horror at coming face to face with one of the creatures for the first time. After thinking they were nothing more than fantasy, it must have been quite a shock to find out they were real.

Selene wasn’t old enough to remember the war, but her mother had told her about it. She told her about all the creatures because she wanted Selene to be prepared for when she would come face to face with them. Because it was never a matter of if, but when.

Her heart ached at the memory of her mother. She was a kind hearted soul that would of helped anyone, Human or not.

As much as her mother tried to keep the monsters at bay, she had known the day would come when Selene would have to face them. Unfortunately, that day had come when Selene was far too young.

She remembered that day all too well. It had been burned into her memory. Not only was it the first time she would see the monsters, but it was also the last time she would see her mother alive.

Selene shook her head. She didn’t want to think about the past. Especially not that part of her past. She would much rather remember the good times with her mother. Though it was becoming more and more difficult to remember those times.

It had been many year’s since her mother had died, and with each year that passed, it became harder to remember her. The way she looked, the sound of her voice, it was all a distant memory that was fading away with time.

Concentrating on the task at hand, she surveyed the area around her. Everything in the main room had been destroyed. It would take weeks to check every book in the room.

Selene would spend the time looking, if she thought the book was there, but she didn’t think it would be.

From what she knew of Humans from before the war, it wasn’t the type of book that would have been on display with the rest. Since it was the only one of its kind, it would have been kept somewhere safe. Somewhere out of sight from prying eyes.

She would have kept it in a safe place, concealed by magic. But Humans didn’t have magic. At least, none that she’d come across. So, they had a tendency to lock it away in a thick metal box. Some were small, no bigger than a shoe box, and others were massive. She had even seen some that were bigger than a library.

Most had been raided year’s ago, the valuable items stolen. There were a few that she’d come across that were still locked, but she was able to get into them easily enough.

There were a few creatures that could use magic and appeared to be Human. Selene had crossed paths with plenty of them over the years, plus, she was one of them. She may look fully Human, but she wasn’t. She had magic of her own.

Her mother had been fully Human, she hadn’t had a drop of magic in her. So, Selene had inherited all of her magic from her father, whoever he was.

She’d never met him, and the few times she’d asked her mother about him, all colour had drained from her face and she’d quickly changed the subject. That was all Selene needed to know that he wasn’t a good person, and to stay well away from him.

Selene hadn’t told her mother about her magic. After the way she’d reacted when Selene had asked about her father, she thought it best that her mother didn’t know what she was capable of.

She couldn’t bare the thought of seeing fear in her mothers eyes whenever she looked at her, which would have likely been the outcome if she’d ever found out. So Selene kept her abilities to herself.

She was making her way around the room when something to her right caught her eye. She backtracked a step and squinted as she peered into a dark room.

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.