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Oh, good, because being locked in a tomb was starting to feel a bit too much like a vacation. Hadn't he just thought that it wasn't real trouble unless there was a pursuant able to kill you in one literal fell swoop?

Ye gods, he hated himself.

Complaining aside, his mind was working quickly now and, like Larkin, he deduced there was some good to this unexpected invasion. "Whitby," he said, vaulting away from the walls. "If you can possibly get eyes up there, we'll look for another way out down here." Whilst all parties dodged snakes and whatever other beasties the tomb saw fit to gift them, no trouble at all. They could do some magic, but nothing very strong, as this limestone seemed imbued with a magical suppressant. He hoped conjuring fire was a possibility. "And if that gibberish has a way out of here, Sam, now would be a good time to let us know!"

They hadn't found remains of any kind, not even a snake skin, in the antechamber, so there was another way out, and likely a trapdoor in the floor as well. Nicodemo wasn't sure what the mechanism or spell was that triggered the snakes, but it wasn't his immediate concern at the moment. Escaping alive with most of his limbs intact, yes, that was it, and as one of the beasts slithered towards Ethan and he, that seemed like less of a possibility.

He couldn't remember if Ethan knew what to do with attacking snakes, but a reiteration would kill no one. "Jordan," Nico growled, but out of concentration, not irritation. "Don't talk unless it's a damn useful spell, don't move unless you know exactly where you're going. They track you by smell, but also vibrations, so don't—" He reared back as one approached, ready to blast it as best he could, but…

But they weren't poising to strike. The snakes were slithering in another direction, but Nicodemo didn't dare track their path, because suddenly the stones of the ceiling yawned wider than ever, and they could hear something strike viciously through the air, sending debris rattling down to the floor. He spared a second, one second, to look at what they were, and his eyes widened as bones appeared among the rocks. The rattling continued, and as his eyes lifted, he could not believe what he was seeing.

As it began to descend, there was no mistaking the sight. Its body was at least as thick as a tree trunk, and the persistent rattling they'd heard was in fact the sound of that hideous body rolling over bones and loose stones from its nest above. Not a basilisk, but as he took in its fully protracted hood about its face, with eyes a fiery green that he felt certain were staring right at him, he would much rather have preferred to turn to stone.

"Sam," he began faintly, "was that many snakes, or monstrous snake?"