Ill
tratio'
b.
Patrick Arr.
mit
Joseph Delanek
FOR MARIo
ContentZ
Chapter
Chapter I
Blood Everywher.
Chapter II
The V
ito�
Chapter Iv
The Mirro�
Chapter v
Killorgli'
Chapter V
An I'
trument of Tortur.
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Thin Shau'
Chapter I{
In the Gr.
p of the Fien.
}
f|
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
A Pac
Chapter XIv
Chapter Xv
Dark Ange
Chapter XV
The Dragon.
Lai�
Chapter XVI
Wor.
in a Mirro�
Chapter XVII
The Talo'
of the Morriga'
Chapter XI{
The Hound of Calan'
Chapter X{
Chapter XX
Frozen in Tim.
Chapter XXI
The D.
tiny Blad.
Chapter XXII
Covered in Bloo.
Chapter XXIv
Poor To.
Chapter XXv
�Five.
minut.
.
and.
I�ll.
put.
you.
.
hore!�.
cried.
th.
f
herman..
�There.
.
a.
good.
ide.
to.
everything,.
even.
.
torm.}
�It.
w.
.
trange.
the.
way.
that.
torm.
came.
up.
.
uddenly!� I.
houtedx
The f
herman.
hook h
head. �Not at all,� he.
aidx
�You.
ee.
trange thin
at.
ea, but that w.
j
t a.
quallx
They often blow up out of nowhere. Mind you, that.
ea w.
omething. Alm.
t like a tidal wave..
But th
.
old tub
turdier.
than.
he.
loo�
.�.
He.
looked.
quite.
ple.
ed.
wit
hi.
elf. �I need to be back well before dawn, and we�ve go
a bit o� wind to fill our.
ai
now.}
�I hope we get a.
better welcome here,�.
aid Alic.
d.
pondentlyx
�Well, girl, it couldn�t be much wo�
e than l.
t time,}
aid the Spookx
That w.
true enough. On Mona we�d been on the ru'
alm.
t immediatelyx
�You.
hould.
have.
little.
trouble.
here!�.
houted.
th.
f
herman, trying to make hi.
elf heard above the whine oy
the wind. �Very few of your folk will have ventured th
farw
and it.
a big
land. A few more mout
to feed won�t worr.
them much. You might find there.
work for a.
pook, toox
Some call it the Haunted
le. It certainly p.
.
.
mor.
than i
fair.
hare of gh.
.}
Spoo�
deal with the dark. It
a dangero
trade, an.
I w.
in the third year of my apprentic.
hip to my m.
terw
John Gregory, learning how to deal with witch.
, boggar
w
and all manner of.
upernatural creatur.
. Gh.
uall.
p.
ed little threat and were the le.
t of our worri.
. M.
didn�t even know they were dead and, with the right wor.
w
could be pe�
uaded to go to the lightx
�Jibbe�
?� I queried. �What.
a jibber?}
The f
herman laughed. �You a.
pook.
apprentice an.
don�t know what a jibber
? You.
hould be .
hamed oy
you�
elf! You need to pay more attention to your l.
o'
.}
I felt annoyed by h
commen
. My m.
ter w.
l.
t i'
thought and didn�t.
eem to be l
tening to the f
herman. H.
had never mentioned a jibber, and I w.
.
ure there w.
n.
account of.
uch thin
in h
B.
tiary, which w.
tucke.
afely.
away.
in.
h
.
bag..
He.
had.
written.
it.
hi.
elf,.
a'
ill
trated record of all the creatur.
he�d encountered an.
heard of, with not.
on how to deal with them. There w.
certainly no reference to a jibber in the Gh.
.
ection.
wondered if he even knew they ex
tedx
Momen
later, the f
herman put out to.
ea again, an.
we made our way to the end of the jetty and up the.
hinglew
our feet crunching on the.
ton.
. Anyone would be able t.
hear.
our.
approach.
from.
mil.
.
away,.
but.
at.
le.
t.
the.
wouldn�t be able to.
ee
in the gloom. And in any c.
e, iy
the f
herman w.
right, we.
hould be in no danger fro.
angry
lande�
x
The f
herman had called th
the Haunted
le, but i
other name, the Emerald
le, w.
hopefully more apty
though in truth the County w.
.
j
t .
green. We wer.
d.
cending a gr.
y.
lope; below
lay the city of Dublinw
i
dwellin
hugging both ban�
of a big riverx
�What.
a jibber?� I .
ked the Spook. .
ual, I w.
carrying both ba
and my.
taff. He w.
.
triding along at .
br
k pace, making it hard for Alice and me to keep upx
omething.
we�re.
already.
familiar.
with�that.
.
the.
m.
likely explanation. For example, what we call a boggart
known .
a bogle or even a bogeyman in.
ome par
of th.
world.}
There.
were.
many.
typ.
.
of.
boggart,.
ranging.
fro.
bloodthi�
ty rippe�
to relatively harml.
hall knocke�
tha
j
t thumped and banged and.
cared people. It w.
odd t.
think that.
ome folk called them by different nam.
x
I decided to tell my m.
ter what I�d.
een in the.
tor.
the previo
night. �Remember when that.
quall hit
?�
aid. �I.
aw.
omething.
trange in the dark cloud overhea.
�a pair of ey.
watching
.}
�Are you.
ure, lad?� he .
ked. �We were in dangerx
Even the f
herman w.
.
cared�although he tried to play i
down later. In.
ituatio'
like that, the mind can play.
trang.
tric�
on
. Our imaginatio'
are alwa.
at work in tha
way. Stare at the clou.
long enough, and you can.
e.
fac.
in them.}
�I�m.
ure it w.
more than j
t my imagination. Ther.
were two ey.
, one green and one blue, and they looke.
far from friendly,� I told himx
J
t over an hour later, we.
melled a whiff of f
h on th.
air;.
oon we were threading our way through the narroww
cong.
ted.
tree
.
of.
the.
city,.
heading.
toward.
the.
riverx
D.
pite the early hour, there w.
no
y h
tle and b
tl.
everywhere,.
people.
p
hing.
their.
way.
through,.
tree
trade�
haranguing
from every corner. There were.
tree
m
icia'
,.
too�an.
old.
man.
fiddling.
and.
everal.
youn
bo.
playing tin wh
tl.
. But d.
pite the cha.
, nobod.
challenged our right to be in the city. It w.
a far better.
tar
than we�d had in Monax
There.
were.
plenty.
of.
in'
,.
but.
m.
t.
of.
them.
ha.
notic.
in their windo.
.
aying that they were full. At l.
we found a couple with vacanci.
, but at the fi�
t the pric.
proved too high. My m.
ter had.
carcely any money lef
and hoped to get
accommodation for three or four nigh
while we managed to earn.
ome. At the.
econd inn, w.
were.
ref
ed.
roo.
.
without.
any.
real.
explanation..
M.
m.
ter didn�t argue. Some fol�
didn�t like.
poo�
; the.
were.
cared by the fact that they dealt with the dark an.
thought that evil thin
would never be far awayx
I'
ide it w.
.
o dark and gloomy that it might hav.
been.
midnight..
Th
.
w.
.
partly.
ca
ed.
by.
the.
boarde.
window.
but.
a
o.
by.
the.
large.
building.
opp.
ite,.
whic
leaned toward th
one acr.
the narrow.
treet. There w.
a candle flickering on the counter opp.
ite the door, an.
b.
ide it a.
mall bell. The Spook picked up the bell an.
rang it loudly. At fi�
t only.
ilence a'
wered h
.
ummo'
w
but then foo
te�
could be heard d.
cending the.
tai�
w
and the innkeeper opened one of the two inner doo�
an.
entered the roomx
He w.
a thic�
et, dour-looking man with lank gre.
.
hair that fell over h
frayed collar. He looked down in th.
mouth, defeated by the world, but when he.
aw my m.
terw
he took in the cloak, the hood, and the.
taff, and i'
tantl.
h
whole demeanor changedx
�A.
pook!� he exclaimed eagerly, h
face lighting upx
�To be.
ure, my praye�
have been heard at l.
t!}
�You are a.
pook, aren�t you?� The landlord.
uddenl.
glanced down at Alice.
pointy.
ho.
and looked a littl.
doubtfulx
pected.
of.
being.
witch.
..
That.
w.
.
certainly.
true.
oy
Alice;.
he�d received two yea�
� training from her motherw
Lizzie the bone witch. She w.
my cl.
e friend, and we�.
been through a lot together�Alice.
magic had.
aved m.
life more than once�but my m.
ter w.
alwa.
concerne.
that.
one.
day.
he.
might.
drift.
back.
toward.
the.
dark..
H.
frowned at her briefly, then turned back to the innkeeperx
�Aye, I�m a.
pook, and th
my apprentice, To.
Ward. The girl.
called Alicey
he wor�
for me, copyin
boo�
and doing other chor.
. Why don�t you tell me wh.
you need my.
ervic.
?}
�You.
it you�
elv.
down over there and leave you�
do
in the yard,�.
aid the landlord, pointing to a table i'
the corner. �I�ll get you.
ome breakf.
t and then tell yo
what nee.
to be done.}
No.
ooner were we.
eated than he brought acr.
another candle and.
et it down in the center of the tablex
Then he d
appeared into one of the back roo.
, and i
w.
n�t long before we heard the.
izzle of a frying pan and .
delicio
aroma of cooking bacon wafted through the doorx
ound?}
�There.
were.
trange.
rappin
.
on.
the.
floorboar.
y
there w.
a rhythm to them: two quick knoc�
, then thre.
low on.
, over and over again. Then, after a few da.
, a'
icy chill could be felt at the.
pot where the poor girl ha.
died�right above the bloo.
tai'
. A day later, one of m.
gu.
.
went.
mad..
He.
jumped.
through.
the.
window.
an.
broke both h
le
on the cobbl.
below. H
le
will healw
but h
mind
beyond repair.}
�Surely you weren�t.
till
ing that room? No doubt yo
warned him about the rappin
and the cold.
pot?}
�He w.
n�t.
taying in the room where the girl diedy
that w.
a.
ervant.
room in the attic, right at the top of th.
building. A.
jibber haunt the very.
pot where a.
uicid.
occu�
, and I .
umed that it would.
tay there. Now they tel
me that it can wander anywhere i'
ide the building.}
�Beca
e.
of.
the.
no
e.
it.
mak.
,.
boy,�.
the.
landlor.
replied. �It mak.
jibbering and jabbering no
.
. It natte�
and prattl.
away to i
elfy
oun.
that don�t make an.
e'
e but are terrifying to hear.� He turned back to th.
Spook. �So can you.
ort it out? Pri.
can do nothing. Th
a city full of pri.
, but they�re no better than docto�
.}
�Well, you.
ee,�.
aid the landlord, �jibbe�
are new t.
the.
city. They fi�
t.
tarted to appear about a.
year agox
They�re.
like.
a.
plague..
They.
were.
fi�
t.
ighted.
in.
th.
outhw.
t and have.
lowly.
pread e.
t. The fi�
t c.
.
reached the city j
t before Chr
tm.
. Some think they�r.
the.
work.
of.
the.
goat.
mag.
.
of.
Kerry,.
who.
are.
alwa.
dabbling in dark magic. But who can.
ay?}
Spook.
.
B.
tiary..
They.
upp.
edly.
wo�
hipped.
the.
Ol.
God Pan, in return for power. It w.
rumored that huma'
acrifice w.
involved. It w.
a n.
ty b
in.
x
�Am I right in.
aying that th
jibber of you�
onl.
�Well, in that c.
e we�ll try to.
ort it out tonight. Woul.
you mind if we took our roo.
in advance of the job? We�.
like to catch up on our.
leep.
o that we�re fit to face th
jibber of you�
.}
�That.
fair enough,�.
aid the Spook,.
haking han.
with the landlord to clinch the deal. M.
t folk didn�t like t.
get.
too.
near.
to.
a.
pook,.
but.
th
.
man.
w.
.
in.
erio
financial trouble and grateful for my m.
ter.
helpx
We.
each.
ch.
e.
a.
room.
and.
pent.
the.
r.
t.
of.
th.
morning.
and.
early.
afternoon.
catching.
up.
on.
our.
leepw
having.
arranged.
to.
meet.
in.
the.
kitchen.
about.
an.
hou�
before dark. Mine w.
a troubled.
leep: I had a terrifyin
dreamx
I w.
in a for.
t. There w.
no moon, but the tre.
were.
glowing.
with.
an.
unearthly.
ilver.
light..
Alone.
an.
unarmed,.
I.
w.
.
crawling.
on.
all.
fou�
,.
earching.
fo�
omething w.
coming after me theny
omething terriblex
My mind w.
befuddled and I couldn�t remember what th
creature w.
, but I knew that it had been.
ent by a witchx
She wanted revenge for.
omething I�d done to herx
But.
what.
w.
.
wrong.
with.
me?.
Why.
couldn�t.
remember thin
properly? W.
I already under.
ome.
or
of.
pell? Somewhere in the d
tance, a church bell bega'
to.
trike.
omino
ly..
Petrified.
with.
fear,.
I.
counted.
eac
chimex
Why that.
hould be I didn�t know�church.
weren�
ually plac.
of refuge from the dark. Spoo�
and thei�
apprentic.
preferred to rely on the too
of their trade an.
a.
ound knowledge of the practical defe'
ive.
te�
tha
could be taken. Neverthel.
, I knew that I had to reach th.
church�or die and l.
e my.
oul to the darkx
I.
tripped.
over.
a.
root.
and.
prawled.
headlong..
truggled to my kne.
and looked up at the black croww
which had alighted on a branch, making it creak and ben.
under i
weight. The air.
himmered in front of me, and
blinked furio
ly to clear my v
ion. When I could finally.
eew
I w.
confronted by a terrible.
ightx
In front of me.
tood a tall figure wearing a black dr.
that came down alm.
t to the ground. It w.
.
plattered wit
blood. The figure w.
female from the neck downward, bu
I fought to wake m.
elf up. It w.
a real.
truggle t.
break free. I opened my ey.
and felt my fear gradually fal
away. But it w.
a long time before I calmed down. I w.
wide awake now and couldn�t get to.
leep again. It didn�
leave.
me.
in.
the.
b.
t.
tate.
of.
mind.
to.
face.
a.
jibbery
whatever that might bex
I.
gazed.
into.
h
.
face..
It.
looked.
.
.
if.
it.
had.
bee'
ch
eled from granite, but there were new, deeper lin.
o'
h
brow, and h
ey.
were tired. H
beard had been gra.
from the moment I fi�
t.
aw him, alm.
t three yea�
beforew
when.
he.
v
ited.
my.
dad.
.
farm.
to.
talk.
about.
m.
apprentic.
hip. However, there had been a mixture of othe�
colo�
in there, too�m.
tly re.
, brow'
, and blac�
. No.
it w.
entirely gray. He w.
looking older�the even
of th.
p.
t three yea�
had taken their tollx
�It worri.
me,� I.
aid. �It.
.
omething we�ve never deal
with before, and that.
alwa.
dangero
.}
�Aye, it
that, lad. There are too many unknow'
x
What exactly
a jibber, and will it be vulnerable to.
alt an.
iron?}
�What.
if.
it.
.
the.
pirit.
of.
each.
dead.
pe�
on.
that.
The.
frown.
left.
the.
Spook.
.
face,.
and.
he.
nodde.
thoughtfully. �Do the Pendle witch.
have.
uch a.
pell?� h.
.
kedx
�Bone witch.
have a.
pell that can bind a.
pirit to i
own grav.
ide.}
�Some.
piri
are bound like that anyway, girl. We cal
them grav.
ide lingere�
.}
�But th.
e don�t j
t linger, they.
care people,� Alic.
pointed out. �The.
pell
often
ed to keep people awa.
from a.
ection of a churchyard.
o that witch.
are able t.
rob the grav.
and harv.
t the bon.
und
turbed.}
Bone witch.
collected human bon.
to
e in thei�
type of magic. Thumb bon.
were particularly prized. The.
boiled them up in a cauldron to obtain magical powerx
�So, taken a.
tep further, if th.
e are trapped.
piri
w
they�re.
omehow being forced to drive people to the edg.
of madn.
. That all mak.
.
e'
e, but how and why
i
preading?� my m.
ter .
kedx
�If it
a.
pell,� Alice.
aid, �then it.
out of controly
alm.
t .
if it.
developed an energy of i
own,.
preadin
i
.
evil,.
working.
i
.
way.
e.
t..
Bony.
Lizzie.
once.
c.
t.
.
powerful.
pell that got out of control. It w.
the fi�
t time I�.
ever.
een her.
cared.}
The Spook.
cratched at h
.
beard .
if.
omethin
wick.
were.
crawling.
there..
�Aye,.
that.
mak.
.
e'
e,�.
h.
agreed. �Well, I reckon we.
hould v
it the place where th.
poor girl killed he�
elf fi�
t. I�ll need the lad with me,.
o n.
doubt you�ll be joining
too, girl.}
That.
l.
t.
entence.
w.
.
poken.
with.
an.
edge.
oy
arc.
m. Alice and I were in a very bad predicament, an.
he could do nothing about it. The previo
year, in order t.
Only Alice.
dark magic now prevented the Devil fro.
coming to collect my.
oul. She�d put three dro�
of he�
blood and three dro�
of mine together in what w.
calle.
a blood jar. I carried it in my pocket, and now the Fien.
|
couldn�t come near me�but Alice had to.
tay cl.
e by i'
order to.
hare i
protectionx
There w.
alwa.
a r
k that.
omehow I might ge
houlde�
x
But d.
pite my dizzin.
I could move, and I decide.
to act before the jabbering got right i'
ide my head an.
made me do exactly what it wanted. I r.
e to my feet an.
trode.
forward,.
plunging.
my.
han.
.
into.
my.
breech.
pocke
: My right hand.
eized.
alt; my left, iron filin
.
flung both handfu
at the column of lightx
The.
u.
tanc.
.
came.
together.
perfectly,.
right.
o'
target. It w.
a good.
hot. The bad ne.
w.
that nothin
happened. The column continued to.
himmer, and particl.
of.
alt and iron fell harml.
ly and ended up.
cattere.
acr.
the floorboar.
b.
ide the bedx
With.
a.
hock,.
I.
realized.
omething.
e
e.
then..
Th.
jabbering w.
n�t j
t meaningl.
prattling. The.
peed an.
ibilance had fooled me at fi�
t. Th
w.
the Old Tongue; .
pattern of wor.
. It w.
a.
pell.
The.
candle.
uddenly.
guttered.
out,.
plunging.
.
i'
darkn.
�though the purple light w.
.
till v
ible. All a
once I found that I w.
unable to move. I wanted to leav.
th
.
cla
trophobic.
attic.
where.
that.
poor.
girl.
had.
kille.
he�
elf, but I couldn�t�I w.
rooted to the.
pot. I felt dizzyw
too, and l.
t my balance. I tottered and fell hard onto my lef
ide. I w.
aware of a.
harp pain, .
if I�d fallen on a.
tonex
.
I.
truggled to r
e, I heard another voice�a femal.
voice, a
o chanting in the Old Tongue. Th
.
econd voic.
grew louder while the fi�
t quickly died down until it ha.
faded.
away.
altogether..
To.
my.
relief,.
the.
jibbering.
ha.
toppedx
Then I heard a.
udden angu
hed cry. I realized tha
the.
econd voice w.
Alice.
y
he�d
ed a.
pell of he�
own to end the jibber. The.
pirit of the girl w.
now free, bu
in torment. It knew that it w.
dead and trapped in limbox
Now there w.
a third voice, deeper, male�one that
knew well. It w.
the Spookx
�L
ten, girl,� he.
aid. �You don�t have to.
tay here�.}
Befuddled .
I w.
, for a moment I thought he w.
talking to Alice; then I unde�
tood that he w.
addr.
in
the.
pirit of the dead girlx
There w.
a wail of angu
h. �I can�t!� cried the.
piritx
�I�m l.
t in the m
t. I can�t find my way.}
�The way
in front of you. Look carefully and you�ll.
e.
the path to the light.}
�I ch.
e to end my life. That w.
wrong, and now I�.
being pun
hed!}
It w.
alwa.
much harder for.
uicid.
and th.
e wh.
had died.
udden, violent deat
to find their way to the lightx
They.
ometim.
wandered within the m
of limbo fo�
yea�
. But it could be done. A.
pook could helpx
�Y.
. Y.
. I have lo
of happy memori.
�.}
�Then what.
the happi.
t one�the happi.
t one oy
all?� he demandedx
�I w.
very young, no more than five or.
ix yea�
old.
w.
walking acr.
a meadow, picking da
i.
with m.
mother on a warm,.
unny morning, l
tening to the dronin
of the be.
and the.
inging of the bir.
. Everything w.
fr.
h and bright and filled with hope. She made a chain ou
of the da
i.
and put it on my head. She.
aid I w.
.
princ.
and would one day meet a prince. But that.
j
fool
hn.
. Real life
very different. It can be cruel beyon.
me.
ure. I met a man who I thought w.
like a prince, bu
he betrayed me.}
�Y.
! Y.
!� cried the.
pirit. �She.
.
queezing my handx
She.
taking me.
omewhere�.}
�She.
.
taking.
you.
toward.
the.
light!�.
exclaimed.
th.
Spook. �Can�t you.
ee i
brightn.
ahead?}
�I can.
ee it! I can.
ee the light! The m
t h.
gone!}
The.
pirit gave a.
igh full of longing, then.
uddenl.
laughed. It w.
a joyful laugh, followed by utter.
ilence. M.
m.
ter had done it. He had.
ent her to the lightx
�Well,�.
he.
aid.
omino
ly,.
�we.
need.
to.
talk.
abou
what.
happened here.}
D.
pite our.
ucc.
, he w.
n�t happy. Alice had
e.
dark magic to free the girl.
.
pirit from the.
pellx
CHAPTER IIn
THE VISITOc
DOWN in the kitchen, we ate a light.
upper of.
oda brea.
and ham. When we�d fin
hed, the Spook p
hed h
plat.
.
ide and cleared h
throatx
�The.
girl.
.
pirit.
w.
.
bound.
by.
a.
dark.
pell.
oy
compu
ion,�.
aid Alice. �It w.
trapped within the inn an.
forced to utter a.
pell, �Addle,� that driv.
anyone wh.
hea�
it to the edge of madn.
. Scar.
them.
o much, i
do.
, they�ll do anything to get away.}
�I.
ed.
what.
Bony.
Lizzie.
once.
taught.
me,�.
Alic.
replied. �She w.
good at controlling the dead. Once.
he�.
got what.
he wanted from themy
o long .
they hadn�
tried.
too.
hard.
to.
r.
t,.
he.
let.
them.
go..
She.
neede.
another.
pell to rele.
e them. It.
called avaunt�an ol.
word for �be gone.�}
�So d.
pite all my warnin
agai'
t it, you
ed dar�
magic again!}
�What e
e w.
I.
upp.
ed to do?� Alice.
aid, ra
in
her voice in anger. �Salt and iron ain�t going to work! Ho.
could it when you were dealing with a young girl.
torture.
The Spook w.
clearly deeply worried but had littl.
more to.
ay. After all, he had already comprom
ed h
principl.
by allowing
to keep the blood jar. Se'
ing tha
h
.
ilence w.
m.
tly directed at her, Alice got to her fee
and.
tamped off up the.
tai�
to her roomx
I looked at my m.
ter; I felt.
ad when I.
aw the hurt an.
d
may in h
ey.
. Over the p.
t two yea�
, a rift ha.
gradually come between the three of
beca
e of th
.
of dark magic. I had to try to make amen.
, but it w.
har.
to know what to.
ayx
�At le.
t we dealt with the jibber,� I.
aid. �I think I�ll writ.
it up in my notebook.}
The.
boggart.
had.
been.
a.
m.
tly.
inv
ible.
r.
identw
occ.
ionally appearing .
a large ginger tomcat. It ha.
old.
tomach will find that hard to cope with,�.
aid the Spoo�
with the faint.
t of.
mil.
. He alwa.
ed to joke about m.
poor cooking, and it w.
good to.
ee him attempting i
againx
W.
it damaged? My heart.
ank into my boo
. With .
trembling hand I carefully withdrew the.
mall jar from m.
pocket, carried it over to the candle, and examined it.
huddered.
with.
fear..
There.
w.
.
a.
crack.
running.
alon
alm.
t half i
length. W.
the jar in danger of breaking?
wonderedx
Cl.
e to panic, I went next door to Alice.
room an.
knocked.
oftly. When.
he opened it, I.
howed her the jar. A
fi�
t.
he looked .
alarmed .
I w.
, but after examining i
thoroughly.
he.
miled re.
uringlyx
�It.
ee.
all right, Tom. J
t a fine crack, it
. Ou�
blood.
.
till i'
ide, which mea'
we�re.
afe from the Fiendx
They�re tough ja�
, th.
e, and don�t break e.
ily. We�re.
til
all right,.
o don�t you worry.}
uch a lucky .
capex
The word.
oon.
pread around the city that there w.
.
pook who could deal with a jibber. So while we enjoye.
the payment for our.
ucc.
�a week.
.
tay at the inn�w.
were v
ited by othe�
.
eeking our helpx
The.
Spook.
ref
ed.
to.
work.
with.
Alice.
again,.
bu
grudgingly allowed me to do.
o. So the night after our fi�
v
itation, Alice and I.
et out to deal with another jibber, th
one.
plaguing.
the.
back.
workroom.
of.
a.
watchmaker.
prem
.
..
The.
man.
had.
fallen.
into.
debt.
and.
had.
kille.
hi.
elf late one night after drinking too much wine. H
relativ.
needed to.
ell the.
hop but couldn�t do.
o with .
jibber in r.
idencex
But.
then.
omething.
happened.
that.
filled.
me.
wit
d
may. B.
ide the workbench I.
aw a.
himmer, and .
column of gray light appeared. It.
eemed that another.
piri
had joined
. And there, cl.
e to the top of the columnw
w.
a pair of ey.
glaring at me with extreme malice. On.
w.
green and the other blue; they looked very like th.
on.
that I had.
een in the.
torm cloud, and I.
tepped bac�
in alarmx
Then the.
column of light.
himmered, and a woma'
tood before
. She w.
n�t pr.
ent in the fl.
hy
he w.
tra'
lucent,.
the.
candle.
on.
the.
workbench.
behind.
v
ibl.
through her dark gown. It w.
her image, projected fro.
omewhere e
e. Suddenly I recognized her face. It w.
th.
witch that Bill Arkwright had killedx
Or w.
it? I had.
een that witch cl.
e up, and I w.
Angrily I.
tepped forward, placing m.
elf between th.
witch and Alicex
�Remember th.
e ey.
I.
aw in the cloud? It w.
herx
Her face w.
that of the Celtic witch.
lain by Bill Arkwright.}
Back at the inn, we told the Spook of our encounter with th.
image of the witchx
�It.
dangero
, being a.
pook,� he.
aid. �You coul.
top dealing with jibbe�
, but that would mean that man.
people would be harmed�innocent people who could b.
adde'
me to think that the only way we can get rid oy
jibbe�
by
ing dark magic,� my m.
ter added. �Mayb.
thin
are changing, though. Maybe in the future that will b.
a new way for a.
pook to fight the dark,
ing the dar�
agai'
t i
elf. I don�t hold with it m.
elf,.
but I�m from .
different generation. I.
belong to the p.
t, but.
you�re th.
future, lad. You�ll face new and different threa
, and dea
with them in a different way.}
In contr.
t to the County, it.
eemed that the c
tom i'
Ireland w.
to pay.
omeone immediately after a job w.
completed,.
o we had plenty of money in our pocke
. The'
we had a v
itory
omeone who arrived on the.
event
day,.
ending
off on a different cou�
ex
We were.
itting at our
ual table having breakf.
t. The in'
till had no other c
tome�
, but the landlord w.
confiden
that the.
ituation would.
oon change and had hinted tha
our departure would h.
ten the arrival of h
fi�
t payin
gu.
t..
Our.
pr.
ence.
here.
w.
.
now.
widely.
known,.
an.
although the inn w.
no longer haunted, few people woul.
really w
h to take a room where a.
pook w.
.
taying. Th.
upe�
titio
believed that malevolent creatur.
from th.
dark.
followed.
in.
the.
wake.
of.
a.
pook..
My.
m.
te�
unde�
tood that, and we�d already decided to move ou�
quarte�
later that day, probably heading.
outh of the Rive�
Liffey, which divided the cityx
I.
w.
.
j
t.
wallowing.
my.
l.
t.
piece.
of.
bacon.
an.
mopping up my egg yolk with a wedge of buttered brea.
when a.
tranger entered the room from the.
treet. He w.
.
tall, upright man with white hair and a contr.
ting blac�
beard and m
tache. That alone w.
enough to earn him .
The landlord r
hed acr.
to greet him, bowing lo.
before welcoming him into the inn and offering him the b.
room. But the.
tranger w.
barely l
tening to h
h.
t; h.
w.
.
taring at our table. W.
ting no time, he came acr.
and addr.
ed the Spookx
The man.
hook h
head. �On the contrary, I am here t.
offer you .
tance. Your.
ucc.
in ridding the city oy
many of i
troubl.
ome apparitio'
h.
brought you to th.
attention of a powerful and dangero
group. I.
peak of th.
goat mag.
of Staigue. We have our own.
pi.
, and the.
tell me that the mag.
have already d
patched .
.
i'
to th
city. Being.
ervan
of the dark, they cannot tolerat.
your pr.
ence in our land. That
why the few remainin
Ir
h.
poo�
avoid the main tow'
and never.
ettle in on.
place for more than a couple of da.
.}
�My life
permanently at r
k,�.
aid the man. �Allo.
me to introduce m.
elf. I am Farrell Shey, the leader of th.
Land Alliance, a league of landowne�
who have been a
war with the mag.
for many yea�
.}
In.
addition.
to.
what.
I�d.
once.
read.
in.
the.
Spook.
B.
tiary,.
while.
working.
with.
Bill.
Arkwright.
I�d.
met.
.
landowner who�d fled Ireland to .
cape the mag.
. It ha.
done him no good. They�d.
ent one of the Celtic witch.
t.
lay him in h
County refuge, and.
he�d been.
ucc.
fulw
d.
pite our b.
t effor
to.
ave himx
�Well, in that c.
e, we would certainly welcome you�
.
tance,�.
aid the Spookx
We did .
he i'
tructed, and within a few minut.
we�.
taken our leave of the grateful landlord and were followin
Shey through a number of narrow alleywa.
, emerging ont.
a.
ide.
treet where a large carriage w.
waiting. Drawn b.
a team of.
ix ho�
.
, it.
eemed to be made for.
peed, an.
i
appearance w.
not deceptive. The coach driver w.
martly dr.
ed in green livery, and in attendance w.
.
large.
black-bearded man with a.
word at h
.
belt, wh.
bowed.
to.
Shey.
and.
opened.
the.
carriage.
doo�
.
for.
before taking h
place b.
ide the driverx
Alice.
turned.
toward.
me,.
and.
.
.
our.
ey.
.
met,.
gu.
ed that.
he w.
thinking the.
ame thing .
I w.
: I
had all happened too f.
t. Th
Farrell Shey w.
ed t.
being in command, and it had taken little pe�
u.
ion t.
make
follow him. J
t what were we getting ou�
elv.
into7
�We�re.
making.
for.
Kerry,.
in.
the.
outhw.
t,�.
She.
repliedx
�But
n�t that where the goat mag.
are b.
ed?�
.
ked,.
tarting to feel more than a little une.
yx
�It
indeed,� he a'
wered. �But we live there, too. It
a.
beautiful.
but.
dangero
.
part.
of.
th
.
fair.
land..
An.
ometim.
, in order to counter a threat, you have to go ou
boldly and face it. Would you rather have died in the cityw
waiting for the .
.
i'
to come for you? Or would yo
come and place your.
trength alon
ide ou�
in an attemp
to end the power of the mag.
forever?}
�We.
will.
add.
our.
trength.
to.
you�
,�.
a'
wered.
th.
Spook. �Don�t doubt that.}
�I�ve fought the dark all my life,� he told Shey, �and wil
do.
o until my dying day.}
�Th.
e are the mountai'
of Kerry; my home li.
o'
the peni'
ula of Uibh Rathach,�.
aid Shey. �But we won�
be able to reach it tonight. There.
an inn ahead that w.
can make.
ecure.}
�There.
.
alwa.
.
danger..
We�ll.
have.
been.
followe.
from the city, and our enemi.
will be lying both ahead an.
behind
. But don�t worry�we are well prepared.}
�That.
.
correct,�.
Shey.
replied,.
troking.
h
.
blac�
m
tache. �That alwa.
brin
a cr
.}
�But it.
.
till winter, and I�d heard that the ceremon.
tak.
place in Aug
t�.}
�They now .
emble twice a year,� Shey a'
wered. �I
w.
once an annual late.
ummer event, held at what
known .
the Puck Fair. They tether a mountain goat on .
high platform and leave it there; their dark ritua
end i'
human.
acrific.
. The object
to pe�
uade the god Pan t.
enter the body of the living goat. If he do.
.
o, their magi.
made more powerful and they can hunt down and kill thei�
enemi.
; but if the magic fai
, it
our turn to pu�
ue themx
hor.
of Bantry Bay, to the.
outh, and w.
actually a'
apprentice butcher before he d
covered h
talent for th.
dark ar
. But he h.
n�t l.
t h
.
kill with kniv.
. He kil
people for the love of it, cutting off their finge�
and to.
one by one, killing them with a hundred cu
, to prolong thei�
deat
before he finally cho�
off their hea.
x
�So th
a time of great danger for
. We m
.
ume that next month, unl.
we can.
top them, they wil
ummon Pan and acquire even more deadly power.}
�I�ve pledged my help�but how would you normally tr.
and.
top them?� .
ked the Spookx
�We�ve.
waged.
th
.
war.
agai'
t.
the.
mag.
.
fo�
centuri.
..
Our.
ual.
method.
.
to.
e.
force.
of.
ar.
y
though.
we�ve.
had.
limited.
ucc.
..
They.
have.
a'
invulnerable.
refuge.
in.
the.
ring.
fort.
at.
Staigue,.
but.
th.
majority m
t venture out for the ceremony in Killorglin. S.
we often harry them on the way or attack them in the tow'
i
elf..
In.
the.
p.
t,.
uch.
attemp
.
have.
only.
delayed.
th.
mag.
, but when their magic fai
, we�ve managed to kill .
good many of them before they can return to the fort.}
Shey.
hrugged. �We think that the.
ite of the market i'
Killorglin
important: It.
a place where natural dark powe�
emerg.
from the earth. .
far .
we.
know, they hav.
never attempted the ritual e
ewhere�.}
That made.
e'
e. There were indeed.
pecial plac.
on.
earth.
where.
the.
practice.
of.
dark.
magic.
w.
.
mad.
e.
ier; the whole County w.
a haven for boggar
. Withi'
i
boundari.
there were.
it.
of great potency, .
peciall.
around Pendle Hill. D.
pite the flowing.
trea.
, which the.
could not e.
ily cr.
, Pendle had attracted.
everal larg.
cla'
of witch.
x
�That.
imp.
ible,� Shey replied. �The Staigue fort
a.
formidable.
place,.
built.
by.
an.
ancient.
people.
wh.
inhabited th
land two tho
and yea�
ago or more. T.
attempt to.
torm it would c.
t
too dearly. In practica
ter.
, it.
invulnerable.}
I w.
thinking of the ey.
in the cloud and the witc
who had threatened
after we�d dealt with the.
jibberx
Celtic witch.
were.
upp.
ed to be alli.
of the mag.
x
�They.
ometim.
act .
.
pi.
for the mag.
but d.
not form cla'
. We�re dealing only with the odd
olate.
witch�they�re.
an.
occ.
ional.
nu
ance.
rather.
than.
th.
erio
threat p.
ed by the mag.
,� explained Sheyx
�Tom might j
t be in.
pecial danger from the witch.
,}
Alice told him. �Helped to kill a Celtic witch back home, h.
did. Before.
he died, the witch threatened that the Morriga'
would kill him if he ever dared to.
et foot on th
land.}
�Probably j
t an empty threat,�.
aid Shey. �M.
t of th.
time the Morrigan.
lee�
y
he only awake'
and ente�
our world when.
ummoned by a witch. Th
happe'
rarelyw
for.
he
a difficult godd.
to deal with and often ven
her wrath on her own.
ervan
. So don�t concern you�
ely
unduly about it, boy. It.
the mag.
who p.
e the great.
threat to
. And tomorrow, .
we pr.
on into Kerry, tha
threat will incre.
e.}
It w.
a good name for a place you liked�but it w.
full of evil mag.
who practiced dark magic and, no doubtw
more.
than.
one.
Celtic.
witch..
I.
tudied.
the.
map.
an.
committed .
much of it to memory .
I could. In the work oy
a.
pook, you never know when knowledge of the terrai'
might come in
efulx
CHAPTER Iv
THE MIRROc
THAT.
night.
I.
had.
another.
lucid.
dream,.
reliving.
a.
car.
incident from my p.
t�the final encounter with the Celti.
witch that Bill Arkwright and I had faced back home in th.
Countyx
I could.
ee the witch j
t ahead of me now, runnin
through the tre.
in the dappled moonlight. I w.
ch.
in
her, cl.
ing f.
t, readying my.
ilver chain, feeling confiden
that I could bind her. But I w.
about to c.
t it when.
h.
werved away.
o that a tree.
tood between me and m.
target. Suddenly the burly figure of Bill Arkwright r.
e up t.
confront.
her,.
and.
they.
collided..
He.
fell,.
but.
he.
onl.
taggered for a.
econd, then continued f.
ter than everx
We were now in the open, beyond the tre.
,.
printin
toward a gr.
y burial mound. But j
t .
I w.
about t.
throw my.
ilver chain, a brilliant light blazed.
traight into m.
face, temporarily blinding me. Briefly, the witch.
.
ilhouett.
tood out agai'
t a round yellow doorway. Then,.
uddenlyw
there w.
darkn.
and.
ilencex
I came to a.
udden halt, g.
ping for breath, takin
tock of my.
urroundin
. The air w.
warmer now, an.
a.
olutely.
till. I'
ide, beyond the doorway, ligh
flared o'
the rocky wal
�black witch candl.
. I could a
o.
ee .
mall table and two wooden chai�
x
To my d
may, I realized that I w.
now i'
ide th.
burial mound! I�d followed the witch through the magica
door.
he�d opened�and there.
he w.
,.
tanding befor.
me, an expr.
ion of wrath on her face. I took a few dee�
breat
to calm m.
elf and.
low my pounding heartx
�What a fool you be to follow me!�.
he criedx
�Do you alwa.
talk in rhyme?� I .
ked, trying to thro.
her off her guardx
It worked, and the witch didn�t get a chance to replyw
beca
e .
I.
poke I c.
t my.
ilver chain. It brought her t.
her kne.
, the lin�
.
tretched tight acr.
her mouth t.
ilence her. It w.
a perfect.
hot. I�d bound the witch, bu
now I had a real problem. I could no longer.
ee a door. Ho.
w.
I going to get out of the mound7
Perha�
.
I�d.
be.
trapped.
i'
ide.
the.
mound.
foreverx
Never being able to wake up�it w.
a terrifying thoughtx
I.
earched the i'
ide of the chamber carefully, runnin
my finge�
over the place where I.
eemed to have enteredx
But.
the.
rock.
w.
.
eaml.
..
I.
w.
.
in.
a.
cave.
with.
n.
entrance. Arkwright w.
.
till on the ou
ide; I really w.
trapped i'
ide. Had I bound the witch, or had she boun.
me7
I.
knelt.
cl.
e.
to.
her,.
taring.
into.
her.
ey.
,.
whic
Butp
Ip
didn�tp
wantp
top
dop
it,p
becausep
Ip
suddenln
remembered what happened nextt
The.
co'
cio
part of me�the bit that knew I w.
having.
a.
dream�d.
perately.
fought.
for.
controlx
Somewhere, I knew I.
houldn�t be doing th
. But I couldn�
help m.
elf. I w.
a pr
oner of the dream, forced to follo.
that.
ame r
ky cou�
e of action. So I e.
ed the chain fro.
her mouth. Now I had to face the co'
equenc.
x
Her li�
free of the chain, the witch w.
able to c.
dark magic.
pel
, and.
he.
tarted immediately. Speakin
in the Old Tongue,.
he uttered three rapid phr.
.
, eac
ending in a rhyme. Then.
he opened her mouth very widew
and a thick black cloud of.
moke erupted from itx
I.
prang to my feet and.
taggered backward .
th.
threatening cloud continued to grow. The witch.
face w.
lowly.
being.
ecli�
ed,.
the.
cloud.
becoming.
de'
er.
an.
taking on an evil dark.
hapex
I could now.
ee black-feathered win
, ou
tretche.
cla.
, and a.
harp beak. The cloud had turned into a blac�
crow. The witch.
open mouth w.
a portal to the dark! Sh.
had.
ummoned her godd.
, the Morrigan.
But th
w.
not a bird of normal.
ize and proportio'
�
it.
w.
.
imme'
e,.
d
torted,.
and.
tw
ted.
into.
omethin
grot.
que.
and.
evil..
The.
beak,.
le
,.
and.
cla.
.
wer.
elongated,.
tretched.
out, reaching toward me, while th.
head and body remained at a d
tance, looking relativel.
mallx
But then the win
grew, too, until they reached out o'
either.
ide.
of.
that.
mo'
tro
.
bird.
to.
fill.
all.
the.
pac.
available. They fluttered, battering wildly agai'
t the wal
oy
the chamber,.
m.
hing the table.
o that it broke in half. Th.
cla.
.
truck out at me. I ducked, and they raked agai'
t th.
wall above my head, gouging into the.
olid rockx
I w.
going to die here! But.
uddenly I w.
filled wit
inner.
trength. Confidence replaced fear; there w.
angerw
toox
There.
w.
.
a.
bloodcurdling.
cream..
The.
godd.
convu
ed and contracted,.
hrinking rapidly until.
he w.
no larger than my f
t. Then.
he van
hed�though blac�
feathe�
.
meared with blood fluttered.
lowly to the groundx
�My.
name.
.
Tom.
Ward,�.
I.
told.
her..
�I�m.
a.
pook.
apprentice, and my job
to fight the dark.}
She.
miled grimly. �Well, you�ve fought your l.
t battlew
boy. There
no way you can .
cape th
place, and.
oo'
the godd.
will return. You will.
not find it.
o e.
y th.
econd time.}
I.
miled.
and.
glanced.
down.
at.
the.
blood�
plattere.
feathe�
that littered the floor. Then I looked her.
traight i'
the eye, doing my b.
t not to blink. �We�ll.
ee. Next time
might cut off her head�.}
I w.
bluffing, of cou�
e. I w.
j
t trying to appea�
more confident than I felt. I had to pe�
uade th
witch t.
open the door of the moundx
�Don�t ever v
it my land, boy!�.
he warned me. �Th.
Morrigan
much more powerful there. And.
he
vengefulx
She would torment you beyond anything you can imaginex
Whatever you do,.
tay away from Ireland!}
I awoke in a cold.
weat, my heart pounding, relieved to.
e.
that it w.
alm.
t dawnx
So there w.
no way the.
ame witch could be here i'
Ireland,.
eeking revenge. I tried to convince m.
elf of thatw
but I.
till felt une.
y and had a.
trong.
e'
e of forebodin
�.
.
if.
omething.
had.
followed.
me.
back.
from.
th.
nightmare and w.
in the room with mex
I l
tened carefully, but there w.
nothing. Maybe I�.
been m
taken�. Then it came again. Th
time it w.
lik.
a foo
tep, and it w.
accompanied by another.
oundy
one that filled me with new terrorx
It w.
the.
izzle and h
of burning woodx
That.
ound brought back the memory of one of m.
wo�
t.
experienc.
.
ince.
becoming.
the.
Spook.
apprentice. It
ually heralded the approach of the Fiendw
h
cloven hoov.
burning into the floorboar.
x
My.
heart.
lurched.
up.
into.
my.
mouth.
.
.
I.
heard.
th.
terrifying.
oun.
twice more in quick.
ucc.
ion. I coul.
now actually.
mell the burning wood.
But j
t when I thought the Fiend would appear by m.
ide at any.
econd, the.
izzling ce.
ed and the burnin
mell faded away. Then there w.
.
ilence. I waited a lon
time before I dared to get out of bed. At l.
t,.
ummonin
my courage, I got up, carrying my candle acr.
to examin.
the floorboar.
. The l.
t time I�d.
een the Fiend manif.
hi.
elf in th
way, deep groov.
had been burned into th.
floor. Here, the prin
had left only faint mar�
on the woodx
But they were unm
takable: four cloven hoofprin
leadin
from the door toward the bedx
Trying not to wake the ho
ehold, I went to fetch m.
m.
ter and Alice and brought them to the room. My m.
te�
hook h
head; Alice looked really.
caredx
�There.
.
little.
doubt,.
lad,�.
the.
Spook.
aid..
�It.
.
th.
Fiend for.
ure. I thought that jar w.
.
upp.
ed to keep hi.
at bay.}
�Let me.
ee it again, Tom,� Alice .
ked, holding ou
her handx
�Ain�t.
ure that it.
all right now,�.
he.
aid,.
haking he�
head and looking worried. She carefully traced her finge�
along the line of the crack. When.
he held it up, there w.
.
very faint red.
mear on it. �It.
hardly leaking at all�bu
there were only.
ix dro�
of blood in the jar to.
tart with. I
power to keep the Fiend at bay
.
lowly l.
ening. Time
running out for
�.}
�I�ll do my b.
t, Tom. J
t hope nothing.
happened t.
her.}
The Spook.
aid nothing, but h
expr.
ion w.
grimx
From h
point of view, it w.
all bad. By depending on th.
blood jar, we were already in coll
ion with the dark. If w.
didn�t.
ummon Grimalkin, the jar would eventually fail an.
the Fiend would come for me and Alice�the Spook, too, iy
he tried to get in the way. But in .
king for Grimalkin.
helpw
we were
ing the dark once again. I knew he felt trappe.
and.
comprom
ed.
by.
the.
ituation�and.
it.
w.
.
of.
m.
makingx
The.
night.
had.
been.
cold.
and.
windl.
,.
and.
a.
heav.
hoarfr.
t whitened the ground .
we.
et off w.
t for Kerryx
The early morning.
un glittered off the.
till-d
tant.
now-cla.
pea�
.
ahead..
Yet.
again.
Alice.
had.
failed.
to.
contac
Grimalkin. She had been
ing a mirror, but in.
pite of he�
b.
t effor
, the witch .
.
in hadn�t r.
pondedx
The Spook.
j
t.
hook h
head and.
tared out th.
window,.
watching.
the.
do
.
.
.
they.
ran.
alon
ide.
th.
carriage. There w.
nothing to be.
aid. Nothing we coul.
do. If Grimalkin didn�t a'
wer.
oon, it would all be overx
Death and an eternity of torment awaited
x
�That.
.
Kenmare,.
my.
hometown,�.
aid.
Shey..
�It.
.
.
haven from the mag.
. They have never attacked
herey
at le.
t not yet. My ho
e li.
on the edge of a wood to th.
w.
t.}
The ho
e proved to be an elegant ma'
ion built in th.
The h.
pitality of our h.
t w.
excellent, and we dine.
well that nightx
�It.
like home,� I told him. �It remin.
me of the Count.
where we live.}
H
face broke into a grin. I had.
aid the right thing, bu
in truth mine w.
an hon.
t reply. I had meant every wordx
�It.
a troubled land with a proud.
but good-hearte.
people,�.
he.
aid..
�But.
the.
Otherworld.
.
never.
very.
fa�
away.}
�The.
Otherworld?� .
ked the Spook. �What do.
yo
mean by that?}
�It.
the place where the dead hero.
of Ireland dwellw
awaiting their chance to be reborn.}
My m.
ter turned to Farrell Shey and .
ked, �Woul.
you tell
.
omething of your Ir
h hero.
? We�re.
trange�
to your land and would like to know more about it.}
Shey.
miled..
�Were.
I.
to.
give.
you.
a.
full.
account.
oy
Ireland.
hero.
, we�d be here for da.
,.
o I�ll j
t tell yo
briefly.
about.
the.
great.
t.
of.
them.
all..
H
.
name.
Cuchulain, a
o known .
the Hound of Calann. He w.
given that.
econd.
name.
beca
e, .
a.
young man, h.
fought a huge, fierce hound with h
bare han.
. He killed i
by d.
hing i
brai'
out agai'
t a gatep.
tx
�He w.
imme'
ely.
trong and.
killed with.
word an.
pear, but he
m.
t famed for h
battle frenzy�a kind oy
be�
erker.
fury..
H
.
m
cl.
.
and.
h
.
whole.
body.
woul.
�He.
w.
.
cu�
ed.
by.
witch.
,�.
Shey.
replied..
�The.
withered h
left.
houlder and arm.
o that h
.
trength w.
dimin
hed by half. Even.
o, he continued to fight and too�
the liv.
of many of h
enemi.
. H
end came when th.
fy
We.
ate.
in.
ilence.
for.
a.
while:.
Shey.
w.
.
clearl.
�They.
can�and.
often.
do.
o,�.
aid.
Shey..
�In.
factw
another name for the Otherworld
the Hollow Hil
. Th.
.
moun.
are actually gatewa.
to that domain. But eve'
witch.
don�t.
tay there long. It
a dangero
place, bu
within it there are plac.
of refuge. They are called.
idh.
w
and.
although.
to.
ordinary.
human.
ey.
.
they.
look.
lik.
church.
, they are actually for
that can wit
tand even a'
.
ault by a god. But a.
idhe
a dwelling for a hero: Onl.
the worthy can enter. A l.
er being would be d.
troyed i'
an i'
tant�both body and.
oul extingu
hed.}
H
wor.
brought back an image from my recurren
nightmare. Running from the Morrigan, I�d.
ought refuge i'
what appeared to be a church. W.
it really a.
idhe? M.
drea.
were.
tarting to make.
ome kind of.
e'
e to mex
W.
I learning from them, gaining knowledge that migh
help me in the future? I wonderedx
�You.
ee,.
that.
.
what.
the.
mag.
.
ultimately.
eek,}
continued Shey. �By drawing enough.
trength from Panw
they hope one day to gain control of the Otherworld�whic
contai'
ite.
that could endow them with imme'
e powe�
back here.}
�What.
thin
?�.
.
ked.
the.
Spook..
�Spel
?.
Dar�
magical power?}
�Could.
be,�.
aid Shey. �But a
o weapo'
.
of grea
potency,.
manufactured.
by.
the.
go.
.
the.
elv.
..
Som.
believe that a war hammer forged by the blac�
mith go.
Hepha.
t
hidden there. Once thrown, it never m
.
i
target and alwa.
retur'
to i
owner.
hand. Doolan th.
Butcher would love to get h
han.
on.
omething like that!}
We were all tired after the journey and went to bed earlyx
Alice w.
in the next room, cl.
e enough to be protecte.
by the blood jar, the Spook farther down the corridor. I w.
j
t about to undr.
and climb into bed when I heard .
muffled voicex
eemed.
to.
be.
chanting.
rather.
than.
engaged.
i'
conve�
ation with.
omeone e
ex
I e.
ed her door open and crept in, cl.
ing it carefull.
behind me.
o .
not to make a no
e. Alice w.
.
eated i'
front of the dr.
ing-table mirror, gazing into it intently. B.
her.
ide.
tood a candlex
Suddenly.
he.
topped chanting, and I.
aw that.
h.
w.
.
mouthing.
omething.
ilently.
into.
the.
mirror..
Som.
witch.
wrote on mirro�
, but the more.
killed
ed lip�
reading. She m
t be trying to reach Grimalkinx
Alice had .
tabl
hed.
contact at l.
t. I w.
elatedw
filled with hope. Perha�
the witch .
.
in would.
oo'
come to Ireland and help
to bind the Fiend.
o that w.
could finally.
top relying on the failing blood jarx
Grimalkinx
un w.
.
treaming through the curtai'
. The door opene.
lightly, and I.
aw that Alice w.
.
tanding there,.
miling a
mex
�Still in bed,.
leepyhead?�.
he.
aid. �We�re alread.
late for breakf.
t. I can hear them talking dow'
tai�
. Can�
you.
mell the bacon?}
I.
miled back. �See you dow'
tai�
!� I.
aidx
It w.
only when Alice had left and I.
tarted to ge
dr.
ed.
that.
I.
realized.
he.
hadn�t.
mentioned.
talking.
t.
Grimalkin.
in.
the.
mirror..
I.
frowned..
Surely.
it.
w.
.
to.
important to leave until later, I thoughtx
ervan
of the dark.
ometim.
tried to influence you fo�
their own en.
. It w.
vital to know which w.
which. No�
knew it hadn�t been a dreamx
I.
w.
.
only.
half.
l
tening.
to.
what.
w.
.
being.
aid..
wanted to get Alice alone .
.
oon .
p.
ible.
o that
could .
k her about l.
t night. W.
Grimalkin on her way t.
join
at l.
t? Would.
he reach
before the protection oy
the.
blood.
jar.
failed?.
Why.
hadn�t.
Alice.
mentioned.
he�
conve�
ation to the Spook .
well? There w.
.
omethin
�It would be b.
t not to wander too far from the ho
e,}
triding br
kly down the.
lope away from the ho
e. It w.
a fine,.
unny morning again, the very b.
t that could b.
hoped.
for.
in.
late.
winter,.
and.
the.
do
.
raced.
ahea.
excitedly, following.
cen
and barking loudlyx
Keeping an eye out for anything untoward, we entere.
a.
mall wood where the ground w.
.
till white with fr.
tw
and.
there.
I.
pa
ed.
beneath.
the.
bare.
branch.
.
of.
.
Alice looked fl
tered for a moment and bit her lipx
�Sorry, Tom,�.
he.
aid. �W.
going to tell you but thought i
b.
t to wait awhile. It ain�t good ne.
.}
�She.
.
coming, all right,.
but it.
could.
be.
ome tim.
before.
he.
manag.
.
it..
Enemy.
oldie�
.
wept.
throug
Pendle and tried to clear out the witch cla'
. At fi�
t it wen
their way, and they burned.
ome ho
.
and killed a fe.
witch.
. But once it w.
dark, the cla'
conjured up a thic�
fog and, after.
caring the men, drove them into Witch Dellw
where many met their deat
. The witch.
fe.
ted well tha
night. Though that didn�t.
at
fy the Malki'
, beca
e the.
�Grimalkin.
caled the wal
at midnight and killed hi.
in h
bed. She took h
thumb bon.
and wrote a cu�
e o'
h
bedroom wall in h
blood.}
I.
hivered at that. The witch .
.
in w.
ruthl.
an.
could.
be cruel when the.
ituation demanded it. Nobod.
would want to be on the wrong.
ide of herx
�I.
till don�t know why you didn�t tell me th
earlier.}
�But it.
not that bad, Alice. Grimalkin .
caped andw
although delayed,
.
till on her way.}
ho.
. �There.
more, Tom�. I can�t hide anything from yo
for long, can I? You.
ee, Grimalkin.
worried about youx
She wan
to d.
troy the Fiend,.
he do.
, but believ.
tha
he can only do it with your help. She believ.
what you�
mam.
aid�that you will find a way to fin
h him. But no.
he.
been warned by a.
cryer that you�re in danger, tha
you r
k death at the han.
of a dead witch�.}
�What�you mean�?}
�Y.
�the.
Celtic.
witch.
you.
mentioned,.
the.
one.
Ol.
Arkwright killed. Grimalkin.
aid.
he.
back from the dea.
and.
he.
hunting you down.}
Imag.
from my nightmare came vividly into my mindx
Were they a warning? Perha�
that.
why I kept having th.
ame dream over and over again. But how could that witc
�It.
.
not p.
ible, Alice. She.
can�t.
come.
back..
Bil
Arkwright fed her heart to h
do
!}
�Are you.
ure? Grimalkin.
eemed certain that.
he w.
right,� Alice.
aidx
�I w.
there when he did it, Alice. I.
aw him throw it t.
Claw and her pu�
.}
ame.
with.
the.
Celtic.
witch:.
It.
w.
.
a.
tried.
and.
t.
te.
pook.
.
method�it always worked. That witch w.
dea.
beyond any hope of returnx
�Do you remember me telling you about my dreamw
�Well,.
I�ve.
been.
having.
that.
ame.
nightmare.
ever.
night. A large black crow
flying after me. I�m in a for.
tw
running toward a chapel. It.
my only chance of refuge, and
have to get i'
ide before midnight�otherw
e it�ll be th.
end of me. But then the crow.
hif
i
.
hape. It.
.
tandin
nearby,.
with.
the.
body.
of.
a.
woman.
but.
the.
head.
of.
.
crow�.}
aid Alicex
�Maybe.
he wan
vengeance for what you and Bil
Arkwright did,�.
ugg.
ted Alice. �.
ing her dead.
ervant.
face
a way of warning you what.
going to happen. Don�
like to.
ay th
, Tom, but it could be more than j
t a'
ordinary nightmare.}
I nodded. Scary .
it w.
, that.
eemed likely. It coul.
be a direct warning from the Morrigan, one of the m.
vengeful and bloodthi�
ty of the Old Go.
x
My.
e'
e of foreboding w.
growing. Not only did w.
face the approaching goat mage ritua
, but now the threa
from the Morrigan.
eemed imminent, too. It w.
a relief t.
know that Grimalkin would.
oon be joining
�though tha
would.
bring.
another.
challenge:.
the.
attempt.
to.
bind.
th.
Fiend. We might.
oon have three powerful entiti.
from th.
dark to contend with all at oncex
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the blood jarw
holding it up to the light and examining it carefully. W.
th.
crack a little bigger? It certainly.
eemed to be. I handed it t.
Alicex
�
the damage wo�
e?� I .
ked her nervo
lyx
Alice.
tudied the jar for a long time, turning it over an.
over in her han.
. Then.
he handed it back to me. �Th.
crack could be lengthening a bit,�.
he admitted, �but it.
no
leaking any more blood. Don�t worry, Tom. When Grimalki'
arriv.
, we can bind the Fiend, and we won�t need that ja�
anymore.}
We.
walked.
lowly.
back.
to.
the.
ho
e,.
the.
do
following at our hee
. By now clou.
had blown in from th.
w.
t to o.
cure the.
un. It looked like the period of goodw
ettled weather w.
over. I could.
mell rainx
CHAPTER v
KILLORGLIw
WHEN we reached Farrell Shey.
ho
e, the Spook w.
pacing back and forth ou
ide the gate. He had a worrie.
look on h
facex
�Where have you been?� he demanded. �I expecte.
you back an hour ago. Weren�t you warned not to go too fa�
from the ho
e? I thought.
omething had happened to you.}
�But.
we.
haven�t.
been.
very.
far.
away,�.
I.
prot.
tedx
�We�ve j
t been talking, that.
all. Alice h.
made contac
with Grimalkin. She
on her way here at l.
t. It could tak.
her a while, but.
he.
coming. So that.
good ne.
,
n�
it?}
Of cou�
e I didn�t tell the Spook everything. He�d find i
hard.
enough.
to.
work.
with.
the.
witch.
.
.
in.
withou
knowing.
the.
detai
.
of.
what.
he�d.
done.
to.
the.
enem.
commanderx
�Aye,.
lad,.
it.
certainly.
.�.
He.
looked.
a.
little.
mor.
cheerful.
now. �But while.
you�ve.
been away, thin
hav.
been decided. .
a matter of fact, they were being decide.
at.
the.
breakf.
t.
table,.
but.
you.
eemed.
to.
have.
othe�
matte�
.
on.
your.
mind..
In.
a.
couple.
of.
yea�
.
you�ll.
hav.
fin
hed your training and you�ll be a.
pook you�
elf. It.
time to think and behave like a.
pook. You.
hould hav.
been concentrating, not away with the fairi.
.}
�I�m.
orry,� I.
aid, hanging my head. I could tell he w.
d
appointed in me. �So what.
happening, then?}
�Up until now the landowne�
have attacked the mag.
j
t before the goat ritual,� my m.
ter explained, �
ually .
they left the fort and traveled to Killorglin. But th
time it wil
be different. Farrell Shey thin�
it�ll be about a week befor.
m.
t of the mag.
travel to the town, but they alwa.
.
en.
a few men on in advance to.
ecure their accommodatio'
and build the tower for the platform. He.
going to hid.
ome of h
men in Killorglin to take the advance party b.
urpr
e, and we�re going with them. You.
ee, we need t.
try and capture one of the goat mag.
and qu.
tion him. I
might.
be.
p.
ible.
to.
learn.
ome.
of.
the.
ecre
.
of.
th.
ceremony�maybe even how to halt or counter itx
�Of.
cou�
e, the hard part will.
be reaching Killorgli'
without the mag.
�.
pi.
warning them of our pr.
ence. S.
Shey.
.
ummoning.
cor.
of armed men. They�ll.
pend th.
day.
couring the.
urrounding countr.
ide and clearing it oy
danger.}
omething
up?� I .
kedx
�Aye,.
lad,.
they.
might�but.
they.
won�t.
know.
exactl.
what. It.
far better than allowing their.
pi.
to report bac�
to the Staigue on our departure from the ho
e and th.
direction we take.}
low arc .
we climbed northe.
t, a heavy, cold drizzl.
By.
now.
the.
rain.
had.
topped.
and.
the.
going.
w.
e.
ier..
Soon.
we.
were.
following.
the.
ban�
.
of.
the.
m
t�
a
ag.
, onio'
, and carro
. There were a large numbe�
of anima
, too�ho�
.
were being galloped up and dow'
the field, pr.
enting a great r
k to th.
e on footx
�Th.
e.
people.
don�t.
eem.
to.
be.
tarving,�.
commentedx
�They.
will.
have.
commandeered.
m.
t.
of.
th.
accommodatio'
in the town�particularly overlooking th.
triangular.
market.
at.
i
.
center,.
where.
the.
platform.
erected..
For.
the.
duration.
of.
the.
main.
f.
tival,.
Killorgli'
effectively belon
to them. But th
time we�ll give them .
urpr
e!}
eemed to be the.
mall.
t and.
habbi.
t of the many in'
overlooking the b
y market. We quickly appreciated that i
w.
an excellent choice, for unlike the majority of the othe�
in'
, it w.
acc.
ed from a.
treet parallel to the w.
ter'
edge of the cobbled triangle, and we could enter and leav.
without being noticed by anyone in the marketplacex
�Th
the l.
t inn the mag.
are likely to cho.
e,}
Shey.
aid,.
moothing back h
white hair. �They like thei�
comfort and are a
o protective of their.
tat
�only th.
very b.
t for them. If it.
been booked at all, th
place wil
only be
ed by their.
ervan
.}
We.
returned.
to.
the.
field,.
where.
Shey.
.
men.
wer.
cooking over a fire. However, before the.
un went downw
word reached
that a.
mall group of mag.
had travele.
through the mountain p.
.
north of the Staigue ring for
and,.
walking.
through.
the.
night,.
were.
heading.
directl.
toward Killorglin. They would be here before dawn. We�.
arrived j
t in timex
Taking.
ome prov
io'
for our vigil, we went back t.
the.
room.
overlooking.
the.
marketplace,.
where.
we.
coul.
watch for the arrival of our enemi.
. We drew the curtai'
acr.
the window, leaving a.
mall gap in the center. Th.
ky w.
cloudl.
, and a moon that had waned three da.
beyond the full c.
t down a.
ilver light on the empty.
tree
x
�The.
mag.
.
are.
the.
on.
.
on.
ho�
eback,�.
She.
explained. �The.
othe�
are workmen who�ll co'
truct th.
platform.}
Both.
ho�
.
.
were.
thoroughbre.
,.
black.
tallio'
d.
igned for.
peed, and their ride�
were armed with larg.
curved.
wor.
that broadened .
they reached the pointy
the on.
known .
.
cimita�
. The mag.
d
mounted an.
made for the high.
t point of the cobbled triangle. The.
were tall, powerfully built men with dark b
hy eyebro.
and.
hort.
pointy.
bear.
.
known.
.
.
goate.
,.
o.
calle.
beca
e they mimic the tuft of hair on the chin of a goatx
hapex
�Are they.
cared of the mag.
?� I .
ked. �
that wh.
there.
no market today?}
�They�re.
cared, all right,� Shey a'
wered. �During th.
co'
truction of the platform, they
ually give the area .
wide berth. But once the goat
in p.
ition, they com.
back, and the market
b
ier than ever�though m.
tl.
with th.
e buying po
of ale and bottl.
of wine. M.
people.
get.
drunk,.
perha�
.
to.
.
cape.
the.
horro�
.
th.
mag.
bring to their town. For othe�
it.
one of the tw.
highligh
of the year, and everything
taken to exc.
.}
�When.
do.
you.
plan.
to.
try.
and.
natch.
one.
of.
th.
mag.
?� .
ked the Spookx
�At.
d
k,�.
Shey.
a'
wered..
�We�ll.
burn.
the.
woode'
tower,.
too..
No.
doubt.
they�ll.
rebuild.
it,.
but.
that�ll.
mea'
bringing.
fr.
h.
materia
.
from.
Staigue..
It�ll.
et.
thei�
preparatio'
back a little, at le.
t.}
�Will they
e dark magic to defend the.
elv.
?� m.
m.
ter wonderedx
�They.
may.
try,�.
aid.
Shey..
�But��he.
gazed.
at.
teadf.
tly��I.
have.
faith.
in.
our.
combined.
trength..
I�.
confident of.
ucc.
.}
�Well, I have my.
ilver chain,�.
aid the Spook. �Th.
boy, too. That�ll bind him more.
ecurely than any rope.}
A.
ilver.
chain.
worked.
agai'
t.
witch.
.
and.
m.
mag.
. It.
eemed.
traightforward: We.
outnumbered th.
two mag.
and their workmen, and would have the elemen
of.
urpr
e. But then, out of the corner of my eye, I notice.
Alice.
expr.
ion. She looked worriedx
�What.
wrong, Alice?� I .
kedx
�That.
all been thought through and carefully plannedw
girl,� the Spook told her. �The captured ho�
.
and an.
other pr
one�
will be taken.
outhe.
t, back the way w.
came. But the four of
, with our.
pecial pr
oner, ar.
going.
in.
another.
direction�down.
the.
co.
t..
There.
.
.
c.
tle.
there�Ballycarbery,.
the.
home.
of.
another.
of.
th.
landowne�
. It.
a.
trong fortr.
, where we can qu.
tio'
the captive mage in.
afety.}
The.
un went down and, .
the light began to fail, it w.
time for
to actx
Below
, the.
tructure w.
alm.
t completed: a tallw
quare wooden.
haft balanced on the cobbl.
. At mor.
than thirty feet high, it now dominated the market area. I
w.
a remarkable achievement for j
t one day.
work. Th.
exha
ted workmen were packing up their too
while th.
two mag.
waited patiently with folded ar.
, their ho�
.
tethered to a p.
t at the far corner. Our men had reporte.
that they had taken roo.
in the larg.
t of the in'
facin
and would.
oon retire there for the nightx
We left.
our vantage point, went dow'
tai�
into th.
treet, and headed for the edge of the market area, takin
care to keep to the.
hado.
. With the Spook and Shey i'
the lead, we began a.
low,.
tealthy approach, knowing tha
our armed forc.
were moving in from behind, cutting ofy
any chance of .
capex
Suddenly, the tethered ho�
.
reared up and whinnie.
nervo
ly. They m
t have caught our.
cent, and i'
tantl.
alerted, the two mag.
drew their.
cimita�
and took up .
defe'
ive p.
ition, back-to-back. Shey and my m.
ter lef
the.
hado.
and began to charge toward our enemi.
w
with Alice and me cl.
e behind them. I could hear.
hou
oy
command and other foo
te�
running through the darkn.
.
our force converged on i
targetx
The near.
t mage ra
ed h
weapon, but the Spoo�
c.
t h
.
ilver.
chain .
he ran. With a mighty.
crack, i
oared.
aloft.
to.
form.
a.
perfect.
piral..
It.
w.
.
a.
goodw
accurate.
throw,.
and.
it.
dropped.
over.
the.
head.
an.
houlde�
of the mage, pinning h
ar.
to h
.
id.
.
o tha
h
.
word fell to the cobbl.
with a clatter. So excellent .
hot w.
it that part of the chain tightened about h
ey.
and mouth.
o that he could neither.
ee nor.
peak. Bindin
the mouth w.
very important when dealing with a witc
capable of uttering dark magical.
pel
. Mag.
ed.
pel
w
too,.
o my m.
ter had taken no chanc.
x
The.
other mage whirled around to meet Shey, an.
there.
w.
.
a.
metallic.
r.
p.
.
.
their.
two.
blad.
.
cam.
together.
hard..
Then.
the.
mage.
cried.
out,.
dropped.
h
et.
of.
hoofprin
.
had.
been.
burned.
into.
the.
floorboar.
x
They were.
corched deeper than on the l.
t occ.
ion, i'
my room at the inn. Time w.
running out. The power of th.
blood jar w.
alm.
t at an endx
oonx
After breakf.
t, we walked down to the dungeo'
wit
Shey and three armed guar.
to.
begin qu.
tioning th.
pr
onerx
�He.
had neither food nor water,� Shey remarked .
we.
approached.
the.
cell.
door..
�That.
hould.
lo.
en.
h
tongue a little.}
The cell w.
.
pacio
and clearly d.
igned for th.
interrogation of pr
one�
. Although there w.
no place t.
There w.
a candle on the table and a torch in a wal
bracket b.
ide the door, providing ample light for what w.
needed. There w.
a
o a large jug of water and two.
mal
cu�
. Alice and I.
tood behind the Spook and Shey, whil.
the.
two.
guar.
.
p.
itioned.
the.
elv.
.
cl.
e.
to.
th.
pr
oner.
chairx
�Why do.
the goat ceremony.
ometim.
fail?� m.
m.
ter .
ked without delayx
The Spook.
cowled and h
ey.
fl.
hed. �J
t wha
do you mean.
by that?� he demanded.
of Shey, pointin
down at the implementx
�I.
don�t.
hold.
with.
torture!�.
The.
Spook.
.
voice.
w.
angry. �And only a fool
.
it. Subject.
omeone to painw
and they will.
ay anything j
t to bring it to an end. Man.
who are fa
ely acc
ed of witchcraft conf.
under torturex
The temporary relief from the pain
.
oon followed by th.
greater.
pain.
of.
execution.
and.
death..
So.
put.
away.
tha
implement, or I�ll continue with th
no longer!}
I felt proud to be a.
pook. We were honorable in th.
way we went about our workx
Shey.
cowled.
and.
pu�
ed.
h
.
li�
.
in.
anger,.
bu
neverthel.
he returned the i'
trument of torture to h
pocket..
No.
doubt.
the.
long.
yea�
.
of.
trife.
between.
th.
mag.
and the landowne�
had ca
ed great bittern.
w
with.
atrociti.
.
committed.
by.
both.
id.
..
The.
dark.
w.
growing.
in.
power,.
and.
it.
corrupted.
even.
th.
e.
wh.
opp.
ed it. I had comprom
ed m.
elf,
ing the dark i'
order to.
urvive,.
o I w.
in no p.
ition to judge anyonex
My m.
ter repeated h
qu.
tion: �The goat ceremon.
�why do.
it.
ometim.
fail?}
The mage h.
itated, but then fixed h
ey.
on th.
Spook and muttered, �It
.
becaue what we do
.
no
ple.
ing to our god.}
�But.
don�t.
you know what ple.
.
him?� .
ked th.
Spook..
�You�ve.
been.
carrying.
out.
your.
dark.
ritua
.
fo�
centuri.
. Surely you m
t know by now?}
�It depen.
on many thin
. Th.
e are variabl.
tha
cannot be predicted.}
�What variabl.
?}
�I thi�
t. My throat
dry. Give me a little water, and I wil
tell you�.}
On impu
e, and.
not waiting for Shey.
r.
po'
e,
tepped forward, picked.
up.
the.
jug, and poured.
a littl.
water into the nearer of the two cu�
, then held it to th.
mage.
li�
and tilted it.
lightly. The man.
Adam.
appl.
wobbled.
.
.
he.
gulped.
the.
water.
eagerly..
Once.
he�.
fin
hed, I.
poke for the fi�
t time.
ince entering the roomx
�What.
your name?� I .
kedx
Shey.
cowled.
at.
me,.
but.
the.
Spook.
miled.
an.
nodded .
if he approved of my initiativex
�The.
choice.
of.
goat.
.
important..
It.
becom.
.
th.
acred.
h.
t.
that.
our.
god,.
Pan,.
m
t.
enter..
He.
will.
no
.
ume the body of one that
not ple.
ing to him. Seve'
goa
are.
elected initially. Together we m
t cho.
e th.
b.
t. The proc.
not e.
y. Our.
ee�
debate our choic.
for da.
.}
My m.
ter nodded. �What are the other variabl.
?� h.
demandedx
�We m
t make human.
acrific.
�three in all. Th.
.
a
o have to be perfect. One m
t be female, and.
he m
cho.
e to die, giving her life gladly. The other two m
t b.
mag.
who a
o freely offer their liv.
to the god. I am to b.
one of the.
acrific.
. The other died at your han.
b.
id.
the wooden tower!� he.
aid, glaring angrily at Sheyx
�Y.
, it.
an ancient c
tom.}
�H
name w.
Mendace. He w.
a brave man wh.
.
death at the han.
of our enemi.
.
acceptable to Pa'
.
if it had been part of the ceremony. That did not har.
our ca
e.}
�Y.
�if you kill me, you will contribute directly to th.
ritual,� the mage.
aid,.
miling for the fi�
t time. �That
why
am not afraid. I welcome death!}
�And if we cho.
e not to kill you?}
�I think Cormac.
.
ilence tel
it all,� the Spook.
aid a
l.
t,.
turning.
toward.
Shey..
�We�ve.
already.
achieved.
ou�
purp.
e. All we have to do now
keep him impr
one.
here. Can th
c.
tle be defended agai'
t an attack by th.
mag.
?}
�No.
c.
tle.
.
completely.
impregnable,�.
a'
were.
Shey. �And our enemi.
will be d.
perate�they might wel
move agai'
t
here.}
he .
kedx
I.
lept well that night but w.
brought out of a deep.
leep b.
Alice.
haking my arm. It w.
.
till dark ou
ide, and.
he w.
holding a candlex
�They�re.
here,.
Tom!�.
he.
cried,.
her.
voice.
full.
oy
concern. �The mag.
! And there are.
o many of them!}
We.
at together by the window, holding han.
but no
peaking..
Enemy.
campfir.
.
began.
to.
park.
into.
lifew
encircling.
the.
c.
tle.
completely..
No.
doubt.
Alice.
w.
thinking the.
ame thing .
me: The Celtic witch would b.
down there,.
itting by one of th.
e fir.
. W.
it the on.
eeking.
revenge?.
Would.
he.
know.
that.
I.
w.
.
here?.
re.
ured m.
elf with the thought that.
he couldn�t reac
me�the thick c.
tle wal
would keep her away. But th.
dawn brought ne.
to.
hatter.
ome of my hop.
. A team oy
oxen w.
.
lowly dragging.
omething toward the c.
tle, .
big metal cylinder on whee
. They had a.
iege gun�a'
eighteen-pounder.
Alice.
and.
I.
had.
both.
een.
uch.
a.
powerful.
gun.
i'
action. One had been
ed by.
oldie�
to breach the wal
of Malkin Tower. It had been fired with great accuracy, th.
huge cannonbal
.
triking alm.
t exactly the.
ame.
pot i'
the wall, until at l.
t it had given way and w.
open to th.
attacke�
. But a lot would depend on the.
kill of the gunne�
here. Would they.
be experienced enough to breach th.
defe'
.
of Ballycarbery C.
tle7
The gun w.
dragged into p.
ition to the w.
t of th.
c.
tle. I.
tudied the men cl
tered around it. At the.
iege oy
Malkin.
Tower,.
I.
remembered.
that.
the.
no
e.
had.
bee'
deafening, but I�d noted the.
kill of the gunne�
�how the.
had worked .
an efficient team, each man performing h
t.
k with an economy of movementx
I.
watched.
the.
heavy.
iron.
ball.
being.
rolled.
into.
th.
mouth of the cannon and the f
e being lit. By now th.
gunne�
were covering their ea�
x
There w.
a dull thud and a puff of.
moke from th.
mouth of the cannon .
the iron ball began i
trajectory. I
fell far.
hort of the c.
tle wal
and.
kidded acr.
th.
rough turf to end up in a clump of th
tl.
. Th
brought .
chor
of jee�
from the defende�
on the battlemen
x
tonex
�Then.
let.
.
hope.
they�re.
not.
f.
t.
learne�
,.
lad,�.
h.
remarked,.
�beca
e.
they�ve.
plenty.
of.
round.
hot.
dow'
there, and a week or.
o to improve their aim!}
It w.
true. In addition to barre
of water for coolin
the barrel and many ba
of gunpowder, there were doze'
of pyrami.
of cannonbal
.
tacked cl.
e to the big gunw
and wago'
of more ammunition waiting in the d
tance. Al
they.
lacked.
at.
pr.
ent.
w.
.
the.
expert
e.
to.
e.
tha
potentially dangero
weapon effectivelyx
After.
about.
an.
hour.
the.
gun.
fell.
ilent,.
and.
a.
ma'
approached the c.
tle gate. He w.
unarmed and carrie.
a white flag that fluttered in the w.
terly wind. He.
toppe.
cl.
e to the gate and.
houted h
m.
age up at
. H.
looked.
caredx
�My.
m.
te�
.
demand.
that.
you.
rele.
e.
the.
mag.
Cormac into our han.
immediately. Do.
o, and we wil
leave.
in.
peace..
Failure.
to.
comply.
will.
r.
ult.
in.
dir.
co'
equenc.
..
We.
will.
batter.
down.
your.
wal
,.
an.
everyone within will be put to the.
word!}
Shey.
face twitched with anger, and I watched th.
arche�
draw their bo.
and target the m.
enger, wh.
w.
j
t.
econ.
from death. But Shey g.
tured to the.
y
and they lowered their weapo'
x
The m.
enger turned and walked back toward th.
ran�
of our enemi.
. Within five minut.
the gun bega'
firing againx
Greeks,p
whop
rulesp
overp
naturep
andp
takesp
onp
twe
powerfulp
thatp
nop
birdsongp
canp
equalp
themp
andp
thc
Inp
hisp
otherp
form,p
hep
isp
thep
terrifyingp
deityp
o_
nature whose approach fills humans with terror�thc
wordp
�panic�p
isp
derivedp
fromp
hisp
name.p
Nowp
hix
spherep
ofp
influencep
hasp
widenedp
andp
hep
ix
worshipped by the goat mages of Ireland. After eighk
days of human sacrifice, Pan passes through a portag
from the dark and briefly enters the body of a goatt
He distorts the shape of that animal into a thing awfug
to behold and drives the mages to perform more anh
more terrible acts of bloodshedt
�It.
a really.
hort entry,� I commented. �We don�t kno.
very much about Pan, do we?}
�You�re right there, lad,� my m.
ter replied, 8
o we�l
learn what we can while we�re here. Thin
have change.
�Why.
hould there.
be.
uch a thing .
the dark?�
.
ked. �How did it begin?}
�Nobody kno.
that for.
ure�we can only gu.
.
have little to add to the.
peculatio'
I made in my B.
tiar.
many yea�
ago. But I.
till believe that the dark
fed b.
human wickedn.
. Human greed and l
t for power mak.
it.
ever.
tronger.
and.
more.
dangero
..
If.
we.
could.
onl.
change the hear
of men and women, the dark would b.
weakened�I�m.
ure.
of it..
But I�ve lived long enough t.
know that it would be e.
ier to hold back the tid.
tha'
achieve that. We can only hope.}
I.
uddenly realized that the cannon had fallen.
ilentx
�The gun.
.
topped firing,� I.
aid. �Maybe it.
overheate.
and the barrel.
cracked.}
You.
needed.
lo
.
of.
water.
to.
keep.
a.
barrel.
cool..
Iy
gunne�
.
became.
carel.
about that, a gun.
could eve'
explode, killing all around it. Th.
e men weren�t exper
x
There w.
a real danger of that happeningx
.
we climbed the.
tai�
, we were j.
tled by arme.
men who were a
o on their way up. Something m
t b.
afoot�w.
it.
ome new threat7
Alice w.
already there;.
he came toward
.
w.
blinked into the.
un, which w.
.
inking toward the.
ea. Sh.
hielded her ey.
and pointed. �The mag.
are gathere.
around the gun,�.
he.
aid. �They�re up to.
omething. She.
really worried.}
No.
ooner.
had.
he.
mentioned.
h
.
name.
than.
h.
trode.
acr.
.
to.
,.
the.
oldie�
.
on.
the.
battlemen
tepping .
ide to allow him through. �I think they�re going t.
attempt.
ome type of magic,� he told
x
�There w.
little danger of them harn.
ing the dark i'
Killorglin beca
e we only faced two of them. There ar.
nine now, and they are combining their.
trength�.}
On the battlemen
, the defende�
had fallen.
ilent. Bu
we.
could.
hear.
the.
wind.
from.
the.
ea.
ighing.
in.
th.
d
tance, and the faint chanting of the mag.
. Wav.
oy
cold ran up and down my.
pine. Even at that d
tance, I w.
able to detect the
e of dark magic. It w.
.
trong an.
dangero
x
J
t how dangero
we found out ten minut.
laterw
when the cannon.
tarted up again. The gunne�
� fi�
t.
ho
made a direct hit on the wall, low and j
t to the left of th.
main gate. So did the.
econd and the third. They wer.
triking alm.
t exactly the.
ame.
pot with each cannonballx
Even in the hour before dark, we could.
ee clear damagex
The wall w.
thick, but the outer layer of.
ton.
w.
alread.
beginning to.
break away. There w.
a.
mall mound.
oy
debr
on the gr.
belowx
Darkn.
brought r.
pite from the .
ault, but it woul.
no doubt r.
ume at dawn, and it.
eemed to me that the.
might well breach the wall by the next.
u'
etx
CHAPTER VIIn
THIN SHAUw
DAWN.
brought.
cloud.
and.
the.
approach.
of.
rain,.
but.
th.
mag.
�.
gunne�
.
recommenced.
their.
attack.
with.
thei�
newfound accuracy. Though now the wind w.
blowing fro.
the.
outh.
rather.
than.
from.
directly.
behind.
the.
gun,.
ou�
arche�
were able to rain arro.
down in the vicinity of th.
weapon, ca
ing a delay of about an hour while it w.
rep.
itioned out of rangex
That greater d
tance made no difference to the aim oy
the gunne�
, however, and the.
ame point on the wall w.
ubjected to a heavy pounding,.
cannonball.
triking th.
ame.
pot about every five minut.
, with longer pa
.
while they
ed water to cool the weaponx
By late afternoon the.
ituation had become critical: .
mall hole had been punched right through the c.
tle wallx
According to Shey, it would not take much further damag.
to undermine the battlemen
above, creating a heap oy
ton.
.
b.
ide.
the.
gate.
over.
which.
our.
attacke�
.
coul.
warm to capture the c.
tlex
In d.
peration, he led a force of about twenty mounte.
men through the main gate; they charged directly towar.
the gun, intending to kill the gunne�
. They were intercepte.
fi�
t by enemy ride�
and then by foot.
oldie�
. D.
pite th.
enemy.
defe'
.
, thin
.
eemed to be going their way.
They were gaining ground, fighting their way toward th.
gun. Within a couple of minut.
they would have achieve.
their aim, but then.
omeone intervenedx
A large, m
cular man with a.
haved head and goate.
beard joined the fray. He carried a huge double-blade.
battle-ax and
ed it with deadly effect. He cut two of ou�
oldie�
down from their ho�
.
, each with a.
ingle bloww
and immediately the tide turned. Our enemi.
fought wit
renewed vigor, and Shey w.
forced to improv
e a retrea
back.
toward.
the.
gate..
It.
w.
.
barely.
cl.
ed.
before.
th.
enemy w.
at the wal
x
They didn�t.
tay long. The Alliance arche�
killed an.
wounded a few; the r.
t withdrew behind their gunne�
. I�.
expected them to commence firing again right away, bu
i'
tead.
the.
large.
man.
approached.
the.
gate.
alone..
H.
carried no white flag but had that huge ax r.
ting on h
houlder. Unlike the m.
enger, he looked confident an.
walked with a.
waggerx
�There.
a.
mall.
ecret gate to the.
outh, hidden b.
b
h.
and a mound of earth. The enemy.
attention will b.
on the breach. You�ve a good chance of getting away.}
outh and e.
t, there are exte'
ive bog lan.
. I.
ugg.
you make for the River Inny. Then follow it u�
tream into th.
mountai'
..
My.
men.
know.
the.
way..
They�ll.
guide.
yo
through, p.
ing well north of Staigue and avoiding the fortx
Then back.
outhe.
t to Kenmare again.}
ugg.
ted. �You.
ay that the gate
well hidden, but th.
mag.
�.
pi.
may well know of it. We�d have a far bette�
chance under cover of darkn.
.}
Alice.
miled in approval, but for a moment I thought th.
Spook w.
about to d
m
my idea. Then he.
cratche.
h
beard and nodded. �The lad could well be right,� h.
mall.
quad of armed troo�
who were.
tanding by. Th
force w.
.
tationed here to prevent an attack on the gat.
from the ou
idex
hove
.
and.
quickly.
cut.
their.
way.
through.
it;.
cool.
ai�
uddenly wafted into our fac.
x
.
they worked, the Spook looked at each of
in tur'
and.
poke, h
voice hardly more than a wh
per. �If thin
go wrong and we get.
eparated, meet up at the river.}
It w.
pitch-dark now. .
we could
e neither torch.
nor lanter'
, it w.
vital to.
tick cl.
e together. There w.
.
mound of earth about five pac.
from the gate�to hide i
from d
tant o.
erve�
�but there w.
.
till a chance tha
enemy.
oldie�
were waiting.
j
t.
beyond it. What if th.
mag.
had d
covered the ex
tence of the.
ecret gate? .
powerful Pendle witch might certainly have.
niffed it outx
Th
w.
a moment of danger, and the four.
oldie�
went out fi�
t, climbing the.
teep.
lope to.
eek cover in th.
creen of b
h.
at the top. We l
tened, but all w.
.
ilentx
Our avenue of .
cape w.
clear. The Spook p
hed th.
tumbling pr
oner ahead of him, and Alice and I followedx
We knelt down on the gr.
, l
tening to the.
ound of th.
door being locked behind
x
Th
.
w.
.
the.
part.
of.
our.
.
cape.
that.
carried.
th.
great.
t r
k. If we were.
een now, doze'
of armed me'
would reach
in.
econ.
. Once again we.
et off, leavin
the.
fir.
.
behind.
now,.
the.
welcome.
darkn.
.
waiting.
t.
wallow
and hide
from our enemi.
x
y
Again we r.
ted and lay face down in the dark. Bu
then,.
.
.
we.
began.
to.
crawl.
forward.
again,.
one.
of.
ou�
oldie�
.
tifled a cough. I'
tantly we froze. I glanced back t.
my left and.
aw that.
entry ou
ide the near.
t tent w.
coming toward
. I held my breath. He halted but continue.
to.
tare in our direction. I could hear the.
oldier ahead oy
me.
pluttering and.
choking. He w.
fighting the alm.
irr.
tible urge to cough. If he failed, he would put all ou�
liv.
in jeopardyx
He l.
t the battle and let out a loud, expl.
ive.
oundx
The.
entry.
houted.
omething.
and,.
drawing.
h
.
wordw
began to run toward
. There were other.
hou
, and mor.
enemy.
oldie�
joined him. We got to our feet and began t.
Our .
cort had fled for their liv.
,.
o we ran, too. For .
few momen
Alice w.
running j
t ahead of me, but then
p.
ed the Spook, who w.
.
truggling with Cormac, th.
captive mage. I grabbed the man.
.
other.
houlder, an.
together my m.
ter and I dragged him forward. But it w.
hopel.
..
When.
I.
glanced.
back,.
I.
could.
ee.
flickerin
torch.
and hear the pounding of feet. They were catchin
f.
t. The going underfoot w.
getting wo�
e. The groun.
w.
uneven, and I kept.
pl.
hing through water. We wer.
entering the bogx
tafy
at the ready, to face our attacke�
x
Ignoring.
the.
word,.
I.
jabbed.
the.
b.
e.
of.
my.
tafy
toward h
forehead. The blow.
truck home, i
force aide.
by.
h
.
forward.
momentum..
He.
went.
down,.
the.
wor.
pinning out of h
hand. But there were more armed menw
and then they were all around
. For a few momen
In.
the.
conf
ion,.
I.
made.
for.
what.
I.
thought.
w.
outhe.
t, toward the River Inny. The Spook had told
t.
meet.
up.
there.
if.
thin
.
went.
wrong..
Well,.
they�d.
gon.
wrong, all right, and I w.
incre.
ingly worried about Alicex
If.
he w.
too far from the blood jar, the Fiend might com.
for herx
Our attempt to .
cape with our h.
tage had been .
d
.
ter. We were.
cattered and on the run, and the mag.
had.
urely r.
cued him. Now they would go ahead with th.
ceremony. Dark tim.
lay ahead for the Alliancex
At.
one.
point.
I.
pa
ed.
and.
glanced.
back,.
l
tenin
intently. There were no.
ig'
of pu�
uit, but my ey.
ha.
adj
ted.
to.
the.
dark.
now.
and.
I.
could.
ee.
the.
d
tan
campfir.
,.
no.
more.
than.
tiny.
pinpoin
.
of.
light.
in.
th.
darkn.
. So I continued more cautio
ly,
ing my.
taff t.
t.
t.
the.
depth.
of.
the.
water.
ahead..
On.
more.
than.
on.
occ.
ion it.
aved me from drowning or being.
ucked dow'
into the bog. Even.
o, I w.
co'
tantly tripping over bi
t
oc�
of ma�
h gr.
or plunging up to my kne.
in ice�
cold.
tinking waterx
My memory of Shey.
map gave me few clu.
.
t.
how.
long.
the.
journey.
hould.
take,.
and.
the.
going.
w.
difficult. I remembered that I needed to keep well north oy
the mountai'
in order to reach the river. Apart from thatw
my knowledge of the terrain w.
vague, but I knew tha
omewhere.
on.
the.
outhern.
edge.
of.
the.
hil
.
w.
.
th.
y
It w.
hard to judge the p.
age of time, but eventually th.
ky ahead.
tarted to grow lighter and I knew it wouldn�t b.
long before dawn. I�d hoped that would enable me to tak.
my bearin
from the mountai'
and find the river, but i
w.
n�t to be. Soon tendri
of m
t were.
naking towar.
me, and I quickly became enveloped in a de'
e fog. Th.
air w.
.
till, and apart from the.
ound of my own breathin
and my boo
.
quelching through the bog, all w.
.
ilentx
hovel over h
.
houlder came out of the door. He w.
wearing a jacket with a hood, not unlike my own, but no hai�
w.
v
ible on h
forehead. From a d
tance, he looke.
like a turf cutter.
etting off for a hard day.
work, eager t.
make the b.
t of the winter.
.
hort daylight hou�
. He cam.
acr.
to intercept me and gave me a broad.
mile. It w.
then that I noticed how pale h
narrow face w.
. It w.
no
the face of.
omeone who worked outdoo�
x
�You.
look.
l.
t,.
boy..
Where.
are.
you.
heading?�.
h.
demanded,.
h
.
voice.
.
.
ha�
h.
.
.
the.
croak.
of.
an.
ol.
bullfrog..
The.
kin.
w.
.
tretched.
tight.
acr.
.
h
cheekbon.
; from.
cl.
e up, it looked a little.
yellow, .
though he�d recently been ill. H
ey.
were deep.
et, .
iy
they were.
inking into h
.
kull, droopy eyeli.
and fol.
oy
kin cl.
ing over themx
�I�m making for the river,� I told him. �I�m.
upp.
ed t.
meet.
ome frien.
there.}
�You�re.
lightly off track�you.
hould be heading tha
way,�.
he.
aid,.
pointing.
in.
what.
eemed.
to.
be.
a.
mor.
e.
terly direction. �Have you been walking all night?}
I noddedx
�Well, in that c.
e you�ll be cold and hungry. M
tr.
Scarabek will make you.
omething to eat and let you war.
you�
elf by the fire for a while,� he.
aid, indicating the fron
door of the cottage. �Knock quietly at the door.
o .
not t.
wake the young �un, and .
k her for.
ome breakf.
t. Tel
her that Thin Shaun.
ent you.}
The man.
appearance w.
odd, but I w.
in urgen
need of food and.
helter. I nodded my than�
, approache.
the cottage, and rapped lightly on the door, trying to mak.
.
little no
e .
p.
iblex
�Thin Shaun.
ent me,� I.
aid, keeping my voice low.
.
.
not to wake the child. �He.
aid you�d give me a littl.
breakf.
t, ple.
e. If that.
not too much trouble�}
For what.
eemed like an age, there w.
no r.
po'
ew
but.
then.
the.
door.
opened.
ilently.
and.
I.
aw.
a.
woma'
wearing.
a.
green.
woolen.
hawl. Thisp
mustp
bep
Mistresx
Scarabek, I thought. She looked.
ad and, like Shaun, ha.
very pale.
kin, with red-rimmed ey.
that.
ugg.
ted.
he�.
either been crying recently or had been up all night. Th.
baby had probably kept her awakex
�Come.
in,�.
he.
aid,.
her.
voice.
gentle..
I.
remembe�
thinking what a contr.
t it w.
to Thin Shaun.
croaky r.
px
�But leave your.
taff ou
ide. We�ll have no need of.
pook.
work in here.}
Thinking.
nothing.
of.
it,.
I.
obeyed.
without.
qu.
tionw
leaning my.
taff agai'
t the wall next to the window an.
A few momen
later.
he returned carrying a.
mal
bowl, which.
he handed to me. �Here�that.
all I have, .
little gruel. We�re poor people. Tim.
are hard, and I m
think of my family.
nee.
.}
�Thank you,� I.
aid when I�d fin
hed the gruel, takin
care to eat up every l.
t bit. �I don�t.
upp.
e I could troubl.
you for a cup of water?}
�You don�t need water,� Scarabek.
aid m.
terio
lyx
�Why don�t you lie down in front of the fire and r.
t you�
young bon.
until it ge
dark?}
The.
tone.
fla
.
were.
hard.
and.
cold,.
d.
pite.
th.
proximity of the fire, but I.
uddenly felt very tired and wha
he.
ugg.
ted.
eemed a good idea. So I.
tretched befor.
the hearthx
�Cl.
e your ey.
,� Scarabek commanded. �That woul.
be w
e. It�ll be better for
all once it.
gone dark.}
.
.
the.
baby.
approached.
me,.
the.
woolen.
blanke
eemed to convu
e, and I heard a big g.
p, .
if whateve�
it w.
beneath the blanket had been holding i
breath for .
very.
long.
time.
and.
now.
d.
perately.
needed.
energy.
fo�
ome imme'
e effortx
It.
reached.
my.
foot.
and.
came.
to.
a.
halt.
for.
a.
fe.
momen
. Once again I heard what.
ounded like anothe�
huge in-breath, but th
time I identified the.
ound; my fi�
gu.
had been wrong. It w.
.
niffingy
niffing like a witchw
gathering information about me. It left my boot and began t.
move up along my body, pa
ing b.
ide my ch.
t. Onc.
again it.
niffed very loudlyx
I.
huddered .
it then climbed.
lowly up onto my ch.
tx
I w.
aware of four.
mall lim.
moving acr.
me. Eve'
through my cloth.
they felt very cold, like four bloc�
of icex
Whatever it w.
had finally reached my face now, and
began to panic; my heart pounded even more wildly. Wha
w.
it? What horrible thing w.
hidden beneath that movin
blanket7
I expected to.
ee a mo'
ter, and my fea�
were full.
realized�but not in the way I expectedx
The head w.
no larger than that of a baby of two o�
three mont
, but it had the face of a little old man; it w.
malevolent, filled with.
ome d.
perate need. And it looke.
very like Thin Shaun, the turf cutter who had.
ent me her.
for food. And I.
uddenly unde�
tood that although I�d bee'
fed, given a little gruel, I w.
a
o food�nour
hment fo�
th
grot.
que being. What I�d eaten m
t have containe.
ome.
leeping draft to render me weak and helpl.
. No.
the creature.
mouth opened wide, revealing long needle�
like teeth, and they were aiming for my throatx
I felt i
.
mall cold finge�
on my neck, then a.
udde'
fy
harp.
tab of pain .
the teeth punctured my fl.
h. It bega'
to.
uck no
ily, and I felt the blood being drawn out of m.
body�and with it my lifex
I had no.
trength to r.
t. There w.
little pain, j
t .
e'
e of floating away toward death. How long it went on
have no idea, but the.
next thing I.
knew, Scarabek w.
walking purp.
efully into the room, her.
hadow flickering o'
the ceiling in the candlelight. She came acr.
and gentl.
plucked the creature from me; .
it came away, I felt .
tugging.
at.
my.
throat.
.
.
i
.
teeth.
were.
withdrawn..
Sh.
carried it over to the cradle, which.
till lay on i
.
ide, an.
She.
tarted.
inging to it in a low voice�a lullaby tha
might have been
ed to.
oothe a human child. Then.
h.
righted the cradle and placed the creature i'
ide, carefull.
adj
ting the blanket to keep it warmx
But how w.
it p.
ible? How could.
he have returne.
from the dead when the do
had eaten her heart7
S
te�
�were.
they.
twi'
?.
They.
looked.
o.
alike..
wanted to .
k her,.
but I w.
alm.
t too weak to dra.
breath. How much blood had the little creature taken?
wondered..
I.
fought.
to.
remain.
co'
cio
,.
but.
my.
hea.
began.
to.
pin,.
and.
I.
fell.
into.
darkn.
..
The.
witch.
ha.
prom
ed to make me.
uffer, but I already felt.
cl.
e t.
death�although.
there.
w.
.
no.
fear,.
j
t.
a.
terribl.
wearin.
x
How long I w.
unco'
cio
I don�t know, but when I cam.
to, I heard voic.
: a man and a woman talking togethe�
quietly. I tried to make.
e'
e of what they were.
ayingy
omething.
about.
barro.
.
and.
traveling.
north..
At.
l.
t.
managed to find the.
trength to open my ey.
. The two oy
them were.
tanding over me�Scarabek, the witch, and th.
man called Thin Shaunx
But w.
he really a man, or.
omething e
e? H
hoo.
w.
pulled back, revealing an emaciated head that coul.
alm.
t have been that of a cor�
e. The.
kull w.
clearl.
v
ible, the.
kin thin and parchment dry, h
hairl.
hea.
covered in patch.
of flaking.
kinx
�He concea
a deadly weapon in the left pocket of h
cloak,�.
aid Scarabek. �Take it from him, Shaun. I canno
bear to touch it.}
�He
ed that to bind my.
ter before.
he w.
.
lainx
But he won�t ever.
need to ue it again. H
life .
a'
apprentice.
pook
over. We�ll take him north now, Shaun,}
aid the witch. �I�m going to hurt him badly and let him fee
omething of the.
uffering I experienced.}
I w.
d
mayed at the l.
of my.
ilver chain, but a
le.
t he hadn�t d
covered the blood jar in my pocketx
Thin.
Shaun.
picked.
me.
up.
and.
threw.
me.
over.
h
houlder,.
j
t.
.
.
my.
m.
ter.
would.
carry.
a.
bound.
witc
before putting her into a pit. He held me by the le
.
o tha
my head w.
hanging down toward h
hee
. I lacked th.
trength to r.
t, and I w.
aware of a.
trange m
ty.
mel
emanating from him, an odor of dank underground plac.
x
But what really unnerved me w.
the extreme coldn.
oy
h
body; even though I could feel and hear him breathing, i
w.
.
if I w.
being carried by a dead manx
Curio
ly,.
though.
my.
body.
w.
.
weak,.
my.
min.
became.
trangely alert. I tried to practice what the Spoo�
had taught me and take careful note of my.
ituationx
To the e.
t, the.
ky w.
already becoming lighter.
m
t have.
lept for at le.
t a day and a night. The fog w.
lifting, and I could.
ee the bulk of two mountai'
r
ing u�
ahead and to the right. And then I caught.
ight of.
omethin
e
e�the unm
takable.
hape of a burial mound�and w.
were moving directly toward it. It w.
.
mall, hardly mor.
than twice the height of a man, and covered in gr.
. Whe'
we were l.
than five yar.
away, there w.
an inte'
.
fl.
h of yellow light. .
it dimmed, I.
aw the.
ilhouette of th.
witch agai'
t a round doorwayx
Momen
.
later,.
the.
breeze.
died.
down.
and.
the.
ai�
immediately.
became.
ignificantly.
warmer;.
we.
wer.
urrounded by darkn.
, right i'
ide the barrow. There w.
a.
udden flare of light, and I.
aw that the witch w.
holdin
a black candle, which.
he�d j
t ignited by magic. Withi'
the mound.
tood a table, four chai�
, and a bed, to whic
he pointedx
�Put him there for now,�.
he i'
tructed, and Thin Shau'
dumped me on it without ceremony. �It.
time to feed hi.
again�.}
tood there.
ilently, h
unblinking ey.
.
taring down at mex
I w.
.
tarting to feel a little.
tronger, and my heart an.
breathing were gradually returning to normal. But I gu.
e.
that Scarabek w.
now going to feed me more of the grue
laced with po
on. If only I could manage to regain the ful
e of my lim.
x
�That.
enough for now�let him go,�.
he.
aid. �To.
much will kill him, and I have other pla'
for him fi�
t.}
The.
girl�whichp
girl?.
I.
wondered..
Did.
they.
mea'
Alice? But then, once again, I felt my heart flutter and I fel
into darkn.
. I knew no more for a while but kept havin
drea.
of flying and falling. For.
ome.
trange re.
on I w.
compelled to jump from a cliff,.
preading my ar.
wide lik.
a bird.
win
. But then I would plunge downward out of .
dark.
ky, the u'
een ground r
hing up to meet mex
I felt.
omeone.
haking me roughly by the.
houlder; the'
cold water w.
d.
hed into my face. I opened my ey.
t.
ee Thin Shaun.
taring down; I could.
mell h
foul breathx
He.
tepped back to reveal that there were two other peopl.
in the room. One w.
the witch; the other w.
Alicex
Lightning.
uddenly.
plit the.
ky to the w.
t .
dar�
clou.
raced inland, o.
curing the.
ta�
. It w.
followe.
within.
econ.
by a rumble of thunder, and then, in th.
e'
uing.
ilence, I heard a new.
ound�that of d
tant bu
very heavy footfal
, each followed by an expl.
ive h
x
Although.
till.
m.
tly.
inv
ible,.
the.
Fiend.
w.
.
j
pot..
No.
doubt.
th
.
w.
.
true.
for.
th.
e.
of.
a.
nervo
d
p.
ition, but I had been cl.
e to him in that form, and.
.
had Alice, and we�d both.
urvived the encounterx
We.
were.
too.
far.
away.
to.
ee.
h
.
approachin
footprin
. They were fiery hot, and while h
cloven hoov.
could.
burn their impr.
ion into wooden floorboar.
, i'
cold, boggy terrain like th
they would merely ca
e th.
ground to.
pit and h
, erupting in.
pur
of.
team at eac
contactx
My heart w.
in my mouth .
he.
trode directly towar.
Alice, who w.
.
truggling in vain to tear he�
elf free of th.
brambl.
..
I.
could.
hear.
her.
crea.
.
of.
terror..
I.
tried.
t.
�Tom! Tom!�.
he cried. �Good-bye, Tom. Good-bye!}
At th.
e wor.
my heart.
urged up into my mouth and
could hardly breathe. W.
th
it? W.
it really over at l.
t7
The Fiend had her in h
clutch.
, and there w.
nothin
more I could do to.
ave her. But how would I live withou
Alice? Tea�
began to run down my face, and I began t.
ob uncontrollably. It w.
the pain of imminent l.
, y.
, bu
a
o the pan
that came from my empathy with Alicex
We.
were.
o.
cl.
e.
I.
knew.
exactly.
what.
he.
w.
experiencing. I.
uffered what.
he.
uffered. Never again t.
be comfortable in th
world; anticipating an eternity of pai'
and terror .
her.
oul langu
hed in the dark, at the merc.
of the Fiend, who would dev
e endl.
tortur.
to repa.
her for the trouble and hurt.
he had ca
ed him beca
e oy
me. All beca
e of me. It w.
j
t too much to bearx
A moment later, it w.
over. There w.
a fl.
h of lightw
a rumble of thunder, and a bl.
t of hot wind.
earing into ou�
fac.
. I.
crewed up my ey.
, and when I w.
able to ope'
them again, the Fiend had van
hed, taking Alice with himx
Another pang of l.
knotted my.
tomach. Alice w.
now beyond th
world; never had I felt.
o alone. .
Thi'
Shaun.
carried.
me,.
Scarabek.
walked.
cl.
e.
b.
ide.
mew
Although.
he grinned with delight at my tea�
, whic
flowed .
copio
ly .
the rain that.
wept over
, I care.
nothing for her heartl.
wor.
. My tea�
were for Alice an.
for m.
elf. Now the world had changed terribly. I had l.
t m.
mam and dad, and both l.
.
had been dev.
tating, bu
th
w.
different. Th
w.
a pain beyond even that. I ha.
called Alice my friend, held han.
with her,.
at b.
ide herx
But only now that.
he w.
.
natched away forever did I full.
realize the truthx
�What.
do.
you.
mean?�.
I.
demanded..
D.
pite.
m.
angu
h,.
the.
pook.
in.
me.
w.
.
waiting.
j
t.
below.
th.
urface. My m.
ter had taught me to
e every opportunit.
to learn about our enemi.
.
o .
to be in a better p.
itio'
to eventually defeat themx
�If you were there, then you will know I didn�t kill her,�
prot.
ted. �It w.
my m.
ter, Bill Arkwright.}
�Don�t lie! You were working together. You planned he�
death. It w.
a trick�your device.}
I.
hook my head weakly. �That.
not true. I would hav.
kept my.
ide of the bargain.}
�Why.
hould I believe a.
pook.
apprentice? What yo
ay matte�
little and will make no difference to what I plan.}
milex
�Konal
your familiar?}
The witch.
hook her head. �No, Konal
my belove.
on,.
and.
h
.
father.
.
Thin.
Shaun,.
the.
barrow.
keeperw
wh.
e time on th
earth
now.
hort. A keeper h.
onl.
one.
on, born of a witch�the child who will replace him an.
continue h
role.}
�The name
apt. Keepe�
maintain the many barro.
that are.
cattered acr.
our land. Once they contained th.
bon.
of the ancient dead, but now they are refug.
for th.
Celtic.
witch.
..
Shaun.
kee�
.
the.
magic.
trong.
an.
appe.
.
th.
e who made them, for their.
piri
are neve�
far away. He offe�
them blood.}
A horrible thought.
truck me. Did Thin Shaun nee.
blood, like h
.
on? I glanced up at the keeper, who gav.
me an evil.
milex
�I can.
ee the fear in your face,� he told me. �You think
I.
hrank away from him. Could he read my mind7
�But none of th
concer'
you, who have perha�
l.
than a week to live,� the witch interrupted. �Soon we�ll be i'
Killorglin,.
and.
your.
uffering.
will.
inte'
ify..
We�ve.
talke.
enough. Shaun, bring more gruel!}
lowly drainedx
My though
were.
till all of Alice.
fate, and the griey
w.
in my throat and ch.
t, alm.
t choking me. It w.
.
relief to grow weaker, the po
oned gruel and.
low l.
oy
blood plunging me into a merciful unco'
cio
n.
x
CHAPTER Xn
THE KILLORGLIN GOAT
I remember very little. We m
t have
ed ho�
.
�.
iy
from a great d
tance, I heard the.
ound of hoov.
, and m.
body w.
repeatedly jolted and.
haken. Whether I w.
in .
cart or tied over the back of a pony, I�m not.
ure�maybew
over the duration of the journey, bothx
My next clear recollection w.
of.
itting on a heap oy
dirty.
traw.
in.
a.
d
ty.
attic..
It.
w.
.
full.
of.
rubb
h.
an.
curtained with enormo
cobwe.
.
trewn with d.
iccate.
fly carc.
.
;.
pide�
were coiled in dark corne�
, ready t.
pring upon their next victim. There w.
daylight comin
through the only window, a.
kylight.
et in the.
loping ceilin
directly above me. I could hear the.
quawking and patterin
of.
eagul
walking on the roof. I w.
alone in the room, m.
han.
tied behind my back�though my le
were freex
I felt.
haky,.
but at the.
econd attempt managed t.
truggle.
to.
my.
feet..
I.
could.
hear.
other.
no
.
:.
th.
occ.
ional clip-clop of hoov.
, and people.
houting in th.
in
ong manner of market trade�
. I.
pected that I w.
now back in Killorglin. I leaned agai'
t the door handle, bu
it.
w.
.
locked,.
o.
I.
moved.
around.
the.
attic,.
looking.
fo�
omething I could
e to help me .
cape. Perha�
ther.
w.
.
omething.
harp to cut through my bon.
v
I�d no.
ooner.
tarted my.
earch than the room wen
dark. W.
there a heavy cloud overhead, blotting out th.
un? W.
a.
torm approaching? I wondered. The.
tree
oun.
had a
o gradually faded away until I could hea�
nothing beyond the wal
of my pr
on. I w.
trapped in .
cocoon of.
ilencex
Next the temperature began to drop; it warned me tha
omething from the dark w.
approaching. I.
at down in .
corner with my back agai'
t the wall.
o that nothing coul.
come at me from behind. I�d no weapo'
I could
e t.
defend m.
elf. If only my han.
were free, I thought. Havin
them bound made me feel vulnerablex
Something.
tarted.
to.
wh
per.
in.
my.
ear..
At.
fi�
t.
thought it might be a jibber, and my whole body.
tarted t.
hake with fear, but then I realized it w.
.
ome other type oy
pirit. I
wor.
were half formed and unintelligible, but the.
had a malevolent force. Momen
later it w.
joined b.
othe�
�how many, I couldn�t be.
ure, but the entiti.
wer.
cl.
e,.
and.
I.
aw.
fl.
h.
.
of.
baleful.
purple.
light.
.
.
the.
circled the gloomy attic, approaching nearer and nearerx
Thin finge�
began to tug at my ea�
, and then powerfu
han.
clamped the.
elv.
about my throat and began t.
queeze. It w.
a.
trangler gh.
t, a powerful one, and I w.
helpl.
agai'
t itx
A.
eventh.
on of a.
eventh.
on h.
.
ome immunit.
agai'
t.
uch dangero
.
piri
, but I�d never encountere.
uch a.
trong one; I began to choke .
my windpipe w.
co'
tricted by inv
ible finge�
. I.
truggled to breathe, tryin
to think of.
omething from my training that might help me.
g.
ped, feeling my co'
cio
n.
ebbing awayx
oun.
.
eemed to reach me from a great d
tance, but
w.
l
tening to a girl crying. But w.
it indeed Alice, o�
w.
it.
ome trick of the Fiend? It w.
not for nothing tha
one of h
titl.
w.
the Father of Li.
x
�She.
.
cared.
and.
he.
.
uffering,.
Tom..
Do.
yo
doubt it? Soon you will join her. I can alm.
t reach you nowx
You are cl.
ey
o very, very cl.
e.}
That w.
true enough. I couldn�t actually.
ee him, but
could feel h
hot, fetid breath in my face and.
e'
e th.
proximity of.
omething huge and terrifying. The Fiend w.
crouching over me,.
training to grab hold of mex
Agai'
t my better judgment, I called out to her. I j
couldn�t bear to hear her crying in the dark like thatx
�Alice! Alice! It.
me, Tom,� I.
houted. �Hold on, b.
trong..
Somehow.
I�ll.
get.
you.
out.
of.
there!.
I�ll.
bring.
yo
home!}
�Liar!� Alice.
houted. �Don�t lie to me. You�re not Tomx
�It
me, Alice, I.
wear it.}
�Devil! Demon! J
t leave me alone.}
}
�Ple.
e,.
top hurting me. Stop it! Stop it! I can�t.
tan.
any more. Oh, ple.
e, don�t do that!}
She.
topped.
begging.
then,.
but.
tarted.
crying.
an.
moaning .
if in great painx
he
.
uffering
far wo�
e than that.
of a witch.
bein
t.
ted..
Think.
of.
the.
jabbing.
of.
harp.
pi'
;.
imagine.
th.
weight of heavy roc�
co'
tricting the ch.
t; feel the flam.
of the fire flickering nearer and nearer to the.
take. Th.
fl.
h bubbl.
and the blood boi
. It hur
.
o much, bu
eventually death brin
rele.
e. For Alice, though, there
no.
uch r.
pite. She
trapped in the dark for eterna
torment. Eternal! That mea'
it will go on forever! And.
oo'
I�ll be back to collect you. The power of the jar h.
alm.
failed.}
I.
e'
ed the Fiend move away from me, and Alice.
cri.
gradually faded away until I w.
left in.
ilence onc.
again. I w.
.
haking with emotion. I could do nothing t.
help Alice in any way; it w.
more than I could bearx
Gradually thin
returned to normal; the cri.
of th.
treet trade�
could be heard ou
ide, and the attic gre.
teadily lighter. I.
truggled to my feet and, driven alm.
mad by what I�d heard,.
taggered from wall to wall until
colla�
ed and l.
t co'
cio
n.
againx
houlderx
I w.
.
itting up, my back agai'
t the wall by the doorx
On the floor b.
ide me w.
a bowl of a dark,.
teamin
liquid and a.
poon. Thin Shaun dipped the.
poon into it an.
brought it.
lowly toward my mouth. I tried to tw
t away, bu
he held my head with h
free hand and p
hed the.
poo'
hard agai'
t my li�
. Much of the hot liquid w.
.
pilled, but
realized.
that.
there.
w.
.
no.
picy.
tang�it.
w.
n�t.
th.
po
oned gruel. It t.
ted like oxtail.
oupx
�There.
nothing in th
to harm you,� Thin Shaun tol.
me. �It.
nour
hment��he.
miled evilly��to keep you aliv.
for a little while longer.}
I w.
n�t.
ure whether to believe him or not, but I w.
too weak and weary to r.
t, and I allowed him to feed m.
the bowl of.
oup until it w.
all gonex
ummon Pan.}
The.
goat.
w.
.
led.
onto.
the.
wooden.
boar.
.
an.
tethered by.
ilver chai'
bound tightly about i
hind le
and.
f.
tened.
to.
iron.
rin
..
That.
way.
the.
animal.
w.
confined and could be ra
ed aloft. I w.
p
hed down ont.
the.
platform,.
forced.
to.
kneel.
b.
ide.
the.
goat,.
an.
blindfolded,.
my.
han.
.
till.
tied.
behind.
my.
back..
Th.
wooden.
plan�
.
began.
to.
creak.
and.
groan.
.
,.
ing.
.
.
tem of rop.
and pulle.
, four men began to haul
lowly upward. Once the platform had reached the top of i
wooden.
haft, they l.
hed the rop.
into p.
ition.
o .
t.
y
keep
therex
The goat began to bleat and.
truggle, but it couldn�
free i
elf. I.
at up and.
omehow wriggled my head an.
houlde�
.
to.
d
lodge.
the.
blindfold..
I.
took.
tock.
of.
m.
urroundin
. .
far .
I could.
ee, no guar.
had been lef
to.
keep.
an.
eye.
on.
me..
I.
gazed.
down.
on.
the.
cobble.
marketplace and the.
urrounding roofto�
. In the d
tance,
could j
t about make out the bridge acr.
the river. Th.
pook in me began to .
.
my chanc.
of .
capingx
And darkn.
w.
falling rapidly now. Apart from th.
mag.
and their.
upporte�
, the town.
eemed d.
ertedx
No doubt the people were all hiding behind locked an.
barred doo�
. Below, I heard the chanting begin, and a chil
The mag.
had begun the.
ummoningx
The.
initial.
chan
.
eemed.
to.
have.
no.
effect,.
but.
noticed that the breeze fi�
t died down, then faded awa.
altogether,.
and.
the.
air.
became.
very.
till..
It.
eeme.
unnaturally warm, too, alm.
t like a balmy mi.
ummer.
nightx
At.
that.
point.
the.
goat.
huddered.
and.
emptied.
i
bowe
; the.
limy m.
.
pread acr.
the wooden boar.
w
ome of it dripping down onto the cobbl.
below. The.
tin�
alm.
t made me vomit, and I e.
ed m.
elf right to th.
edge, grateful that the brown tide had halted j
t.
hort oy
mex
So it w.
that I endured a long, m
erable night wit
the goat on that high platform, trying d.
perately to think oy
ome way to .
cape. But I found it hard to foc
�my min.
kept returning to the.
ame qu.
tio'
. What had happene.
to my m.
ter after we�d .
caped from the c.
tle? Had h.
managed to avoid capture? But upperm.
t in my mind w.
my angu
h at the l.
of Alice. Th.
e though
circled i'
my head endl.
ly, but the one emotion a.
ent w.
fearx
My own death waited no more than a couple of da.
in th.
future, and yet for.
ome re.
on I w.
n�t the.
light.
t bi
afraidx
Fear came j
t before dawn, in the faint light of th.
fading moonx
I.
uddenly.
noticed that the goat w.
.
taring at m.
intently. Our ey.
met, and for a moment the world began t.
pin. The goat.
face w.
changing .
I watched,.
tretchin
and tw
ting imp.
iblyx
Now I w.
afraid. W.
th
tra'
formation taking plac.
beca
e Pan w.
entering i
body? I�d half hoped that th.
ritua
hadn�t worked, but now, with a.
hudder, I realize.
that the mag.
might well have been.
ucc.
ful. I could en.
up.
haring.
a.
platform.
with.
an.
Old.
God.
renowned.
fo�
bringing fear and madn.
to th.
e he came cl.
e tox
I.
ate.
raveno
ly.
while.
the.
goat.
w.
.
a
o.
fed.
an.
watered. Surrounded by doze'
of watchful ey.
, I had n.
chance of .
cape. When the empty bowl w.
taken fro.
me,.
the.
mag.
.
moved.
back.
to.
allow.
a.
huge,.
haven�
headed man to.
tep forward and confront me. I recognize.
him immediatelyx
When I h.
itated, my head w.
.
eized roughly fro.
behind.
and.
forced.
down..
.
.
oon.
.
.
I.
w.
.
able.
t.
o that the .
embled mag.
could hear h
every wordx
�Your.
uffering
our gift to Scarabek, in than�
for he�
gener.
ity in giving her life for our ca
e. The life of .
pook.
apprentice.
hould be a m.
t welcome addition t.
our.
acrific.
. It will a
o.
erve .
a l.
on to any wh.
might think to opp.
e
.}
He.
pointed.
to.
the.
executioner.
.
block.
and.
mile.
coldly;.
then.
my.
han.
.
were.
tied.
once.
more.
and.
I.
w.
ho
ted aloftx
By.
the.
time.
the.
un.
et.
behind.
the.
ho
.
,.
th.
marketplace w.
empty again. The platform w.
loweredw
and I w.
dragged off onto the cobbled area. Mag
te�
Doolan w.
waiting with h
huge double-bladed ax. No.
he w.
dr.
ed in black like an executioner, with leathe�
glov.
and a long leather butcher.
apron. But there wer.
leather.
tra�
cr
cr.
ing h
body: Th.
e held kniv.
and.
other.
metal.
implemen
,.
and.
I.
w.
.
reminded.
oy
Grimalkin, the witch .
.
in, who carried her weapo'
i'
a.
imilar manner. He turned and looked me up and dow'
.
if .
timating the.
ize of coffin I�d need, and then gav.
me an evil grinx
tonex
urpr
e, it thr
t out i
tongue and licked the mage.
lef
cheek three tim.
, then bleated.
oftly. At that, the othe�
mag.
.
nodded.
and.
miled..
They.
eemed.
to.
b.
congratulating the.
elv.
. Apparently the ritual w.
goin
wellx
The.
mag.
.
began.
to.
chant.
in.
un
on,.
a.
in
on
lament. All at once both the voic.
and the pip.
becam.
ilent, and I.
aw the ax come down in a f.
t arc. I cl.
ed m.
ey.
.
and.
heard.
the.
metal.
blade.
trike.
tone;.
the'
Five minut.
later, they were ready to haul the platfor.
up again. They didn�t bother to feed me th
time. I w.
n�
hungry.
anyway;.
I.
felt.
ickened.
by.
what.
I�d.
witn.
edx
However, they did hold a cup of water to my li�
, and
managed four or five gul�
x
Can a goat.
mirk? All I can.
ay
that it.
eemed to b.
mocking me, and a chill went right down my.
pine. I w.
now certain that the ritual w.
working. At any moment Pa'
would enter the body of the goat, and I would be.
itting o'
th
.
mall platform next to him, facing madn.
and terrorx
The night.
eemed endl.
. The mag.
had gone, an.
a.
wind.
w.
.
now.
hrieking.
acr.
.
the.
roofto�
,.
drivin
qual
of cold rain in my face. I turned my back on the windw
then bowed my head and t.
ed it forward repeatedly unti
my hood dropped down over my hair. I hunkered downw
attempting to.
helter from the elemen
.
b.
t I could. Bu
it w.
el.
, and.
oon I w.
.
oaked to the.
kin. The goa
began to bleat, louder and louder; after a while it.
eemed t.
me.
that.
it.
w.
.
even.
calling.
my.
name,.
then.
laughin
i'
anely. With my han.
tied, I couldn�t p
h my finge�
int.
my ea�
to blot out the no
ex
Finally the.
ky grew lighter, and within hou�
the marke
w.
full of people once morex
It w.
growing dark again and the rain had e.
ed b.
the time the platform w.
lowered and I.
tepped onto th.
cobbl.
. I w.
.
haking with cold. I w.
really hungry by no.
and glad of the plate of mutton and dry bread my capto�
gave me, once my han.
had been untied. I wolfed th.
whole lot downx
My.
i'
tinc
.
told.
me.
that.
omething.
w.
.
about.
t.
happen..
W.
.
it.
the.
witch.
.
turn.
to.
be.
acrificed?.
M.
�Scarabek h.
van
hed,� he growled. �I find it hard t.
believe that.
he.
hould let
down like th
.}
�What.
about.
the.
barrow.
keeper,.
ir?�.
one.
of.
th.
mag.
.
kedx
�There.
no.
ign of him either, but we can�t fail now!}
the Butcher cried. �Not when thin
have gone.
o well. Tw.
acrific.
have already been made.� He turned toward m.
and.
tared at me with hard, cruel ey.
. �We�ll execute th.
boy fi�
t to make it three. It could buy
.
ome time b.
appe.
ing Pan until Scarabek retur'
.}
There w.
a murmur of approval, and Doolan began t.
pull.
on h
glov.
. Rough han.
.
eized me, and I w.
dragged toward the execution blockx
CHAPTER XIn
THE OLD GOD PAw
THERE were.
imply too many of them�I had no hope oy
r.
ting their combined.
trength. The mag.
p
hed m.
down.
onto my.
kne.
, and.
econ.
later my throat w.
p.
itioned agai'
t the cold, damp.
tonex
I began to.
hake. Even.
tronger than my fear of the a
w.
the knowledge that at the moment of my death I woul.
immediately be.
natched away by the Fiend. I.
truggle.
again, but.
omeone w.
holding my hair, keeping my hea.
down, my neck exp.
ed, ready for the ax; my ou
tretche.
ar.
were pulled.
o tight that they were in danger of bein
torn from their.
ocke
. I w.
helpl.
x
I.
e'
ed the ax being ra
ed and te'
ed m.
elf for th.
inevitable blow,.
queezing my eyeli.
.
hut. Everything w.
over. I thought of the Spook. I had failed him. Then, at th.
very l.
t moment, I heard foo
te�
coming toward
x
�Wait!�.
houted a voice that I immediately recognizedx
It w.
Thin Shaun, the barrow keeperx
�Where
Scarabek?� the Butcher demandedx
�She
a pr
oner, but I will follow and rele.
e her. Sh.
h.
n�t been taken far�}
�Our enemi.
have her�the Alliance?}
�Enemi.
have her, y.
, but not on.
who are know'
to.
,�.
Thin.
Shaun.
a'
wered..
�They.
m
t.
certainly.
b.
powerful to have taken her unawar.
. But they�ll regret th
.
am the keeper of the barro.
. They have yet to face m.
wrath. Then they�ll w
h they�d never been born!}
Although he.
poke of wrath, Thin Shaun.
eemed ver.
calm, d
playing little emotion. I wondered if he w.
reall.
human at allx
I w.
hauled to my feet, and I.
tood there, tremblingw
while.
the.
mag.
.
walked.
away.
to.
d
c
.
Thin.
Shaun.
ne.
. Two of their.
ervan
.
till gripped my ar.
. In an.
c.
e, I w.
too weak to run awayx
Doolan.
returned.
and.
addr.
ed.
Thin.
Shaun..
�Yo
have until the.
ame time tomorrow night, when we�ll perfor.
the fourth and final rite�otherw
e we�ll kill the boy in he�
place..
For.
our.
effor
.
to.
be.
ucc.
ful,.
it.
.
vital.
tha
Scarabek
here to offer he�
elf voluntarily.}
e'
ed the ax beginning to fallx
The night p.
ed very.
lowly, and long before dawn th.
goat.
began.
to.
bleat.
pitifully,.
.
.
if.
in.
pain..
In.
the.
pal.
moonlight, I.
aw dro�
of blood ooze from the woun.
o'
i
head, where the barbed wire had cut it. The blood ran i'
rivule
down i
face, circling i
ey.
to reach i
mouthw
whereupon i
tongue emerged and began to lick the bloo.
awayx
Now.
the.
goat.
.
cri.
.
changed.
dramatically;.
the.
became powerful, .
if.
ending out a challenge. I wanted t.
avert my gaze but w.
unable to do.
o; I w.
forced t.
watch .
the goat.
face began to d
tort and change int.
Dread.
came then�a feeling.
of terror.
of.
omethin
loat
ome and terrible�but it w.
different from that c.
by any witch. I had faced th.
e.
pel
before, and
uall.
knew how to overcome their effec
. But th
had.
omethin
e
e, an added ingredient: a touch of compu
ion, too. I fel
a.
udden urge to move cl.
e to the goat, a need to touch itx
Unable to help m.
elf, I.
huffled forward on my kne.
until
w.
.
o cl.
e that the fetid breath of the creature w.
he.
over mex
The.
goat.
w.
.
now.
fully.
tra'
formed..
I.
w.
.
in.
th.
pr.
ence of Pan. He had a human face with a hint of th.
b.
tial; wild and rugged, ravaged.
by the elemen
. Th.
hor'
had gone, but the hoov.
remained. The only othe�
remaining animal feature w.
the ey.
: The pupi
wer.
black.
li
that glittered i'
anelyx
Did being a.
pook.
apprentice help me to remai'
relatively rational? No.
ooner had that thought entered m.
head than everything began to.
pin, and I w.
plunged int.
utter darkn.
. I felt m.
elf falling anyway. It w.
.
if th.
wooden.
tructure had.
colla�
ed.
beneath me and I w.
hurtling down toward the cold cobbl.
belowx
I w.
.
itting on a gr.
y bank cl.
e to a river, whic
w.
gleaming like.
ilver. I looked up, expecting to.
ee th.
moon, but the.
ky w.
dark. Then I noticed that everythin]
around me w.
glowing with a faint.
ilvery light. At the rive�
margin, tall ree.
.
wayed rhythmically in the light wind tha
w.
blowing dow'
tream toward me. They too gave off tha
ilver.
heenx
Where.
w.
.
I?.
How.
w.
.
th
.
p.
ible?.
W.
.
it.
.
dream? If.
o, it had an un
ual clarity to it: I could.
mel
bl.
om.
on the.
breeze, and the ground felt very.
oli.
beneath me. To my left w.
the edge of a for.
t, whic
continued on the other bank. There were deciduo
tre.
.
.
far.
.
.
the.
eye.
could.
ee,.
the.
branch.
.
heavy.
wit
bloo.
,.
and.
the.
air.
w.
.
balmy..
It.
eemed.
to.
be.
hig
So I.
et off u�
tream toward the.
ound. I came to .
wide, gr.
y clearing that edged the river, where I.
aw a'
.
ton
hing.
ight. It w.
full of hundre.
of anima
�m.
tl.
rabbi
and har.
, but there were a few fox.
and a coupl.
of badge�
, all.
taring toward the.
ource of the m
ic, thei�
ey.
wide and unblinking, .
if they�d been hypnotizedx
Additionally, the tre.
were full of bir.
of all typ.
x
A young boy w.
.
itting on a rock playing a pipe. I
appeared to be made from a.
imple reed, but the m
ic h.
made w.
exqu
ite. H
hair w.
long, h
face very palew
and.
he.
w.
.
clothed.
in.
a.
garment.
that.
eemed.
to.
b.
f.
hioned.
out.
of.
leav.
.
and.
gr.
..
The.
face.
w.
.
full.
human, but for h
ea�
, which were elongated and a littl.
pointy. H
feet were bare, and h
toenai
were.
o lon
that each curled up into a.
piralx
The.
boy.
looked.
up.
at.
me.
and.
topped.
playingx
Immediately the creatur.
of the for.
t fled, the.
pell of th.
m
ic broken. In a few.
econ.
there were only the two oy
leftx
�Where am I?� I .
ked. I felt very calm and not in th.
le.
t afraidx
�Do.
.
it.
matter.
where.
you.
are?�.
the.
boy.
aid..
H.
miled ple.
antly, but h
next wor.
filled me with.
udde'
terror. �I�ve brought you to the region where I dwell. Th
what you call the dark, the place you fear the m.
t!}
CHAPTER XIIn
A PACT
I looked up at the tre.
, which.
till.
himmered with.
ilve�
light. Could th
really be the dark? I wondered. It certainl.
w.
n�t what I�d anticipatedx
But Pan w.
right. Th
had been my bigg.
t fear of al
�to be dragged off to the dark after my death. But I ha.
expected the Fiend to do thatx
�I didn�t expect the dark to be like th
,� I.
aid, my voic.
hardly more than a wh
perx
�That.
beca
e it
n�t the dark,� Pan replied.
weetlyx
�But you j
t.
aid it w.
�}
�L
ten to me carefully, boy. I.
aid it.
a place that yo
call.
the.
dark..
In.
truth,.
th
.
.
a.
hadow.
world.
that.
li.
between limbo and the dark i
elf. It
a r.
ting place. T.
me it
the Hollow Hil
, but
called Tech Duinn by th.
people.
of.
Ireland�or.
ometim.
.
the.
Otherworld..
Thei�
go.
like th
place, .
do their dead hero.
. But m.
huma'
.
can�t.
tay.
here.
for.
long�their.
memori.
.
blee.
away into the.
ilver light, and they are l.
t forever. Onl.
hero.
can endure. But you needn�t fear that now, beca
.
only your.
oul
here. Your body
back on the platfor.
with that reeking animal.}
�The Morrigan?
.
he here too?� I .
ked, glancin
nervo
ly up into the tre.
x
�She com.
here on occ.
ion, but not j
t now.}
�Am I dead?� I wanted to knowx
�Not yet,� Pan replied, �but if you.
tay too long, yo
certainly will be. Your body
barely breathing. You need t.
get back .
quickly .
p.
ible,.
o let.
not w.
te an.
time. I brought you here.
o that we could talk. It took all m.
trength; I keep being drawn back into the body of the goatw
and it.
getting harder to r.
t the mag.
� dark magicx
Being in your world driv.
me i'
ane�then I infect othe�
with that.
ame madn.
.}
�What do you want to talk about?� I .
ked. W.
h.
actually going to return me to the world again7
�I need you to do.
omething for me. In return, you get t.
keep your.
anity.}
I nodded cautio
ly. What could one of the Old Go.
want.
of.
me?.
What.
could.
I.
do.
that.
he.
couldn�t.
manag.
hi.
elf7
�All you have to do
rele.
e the hoov.
of the goa
from the.
ilver chai'
that bind them.}
�The r.
t? What will you do then?}
aidx
�The mag.
don�t truly wo�
hip me, not r.
pectfully�
they j
t
e me to their own advantage. Employing th.
.
arcane ritua
, they force me into the body of the goat an.
draw.
forth.
my.
power.
bit.
by.
bit..
It.
weake'
.
me.
an.
trengthe'
them.}
�I�ll do my b.
t,� I agreed. �But there.
.
omething e
.
that I�d like from you�.}
Pan ra
ed h
eyebro.
x
�Then it.
hopel.
,�.
aid the god. �In the dark ther.
are many different domai'
. I have one there, too. Eac
being.
h.
.
h
.
own.
domain,.
which.
.
generated.
by.
h
power..
The.
Fiend.
.
a.
law.
unto.
hi.
elf.
and.
ow'
.
th.
larg.
t domain of all. It
a terrible place for a mortal to bew
living or dead. If I could, I would help. But I am powerl.
We m
t go back now. I�m not.
trong enough to keep
both here for much longer.}
Suddenly.
the.
ound.
of.
pip.
.
ce.
ed;.
everythin
began to fade, and my.
ight darkened once morex
y
I found m.
elf lying on the platform. I.
truggled up into .
itting p.
ition and looked down onto the marketplace t.
be.
ure that no one w.
watching. I.
tared at the goat. I
gave a bleat,.
o I turned my back on it and thr
t my han.
toward i
mouth. I had thought of a way to rele.
e m.
bon.
x
The goat.
niffed at the rope and then began to che.
with rel
h. Once or twice it nipped my.
kin and I flinche.
away, but it took the animal only a few minut.
to rele.
.
mex
I rubbed my han.
to r.
tore the circulation. Then
turned my attention to the problem of freeing the goat. Th.
ilver chai'
that tethered it were d.
igned to hold captiv.
a being from the dark .
well .
an earthly animal. Ther.
w.
no way that I could force the lin�
apart with my bar.
han.
. In my p.
.
ion w.
the.
pecial key that coul.
open.
m.
t.
loc�
..
Never.
knowing.
when.
I.
might.
need.
i
again, I decided that, although it might j
t be p.
ible t.
e it to break a link, it w.
n�t worth damaging the ke.
unl.
I had tox
mall.
iron.
rin
,.
which.
were.
f.
tened.
to.
the.
wood.
b.
cre.
. Could I undo them? The mag.
had evidently neve�
imagined.
that.
anyone.
would.
try..
Maybe.
they.
hadn�
tightened them very hard7
The.
econd.
crew proved much more difficult. I alm.
d.
paired of moving it, and the groove in the head.
tarte.
to.
hear away, but at l.
t the.
crew turned. Eventually th.
iron ring came away from the boar.
, and the goat w.
freex
The.
creature.
looked.
at.
me.
and.
bleated.
once..
I
eemed to tene it.
body; then, to my .
ton
hment, i
leaped off the platformx
I watched, horrified, .
the goat plunged toward th.
ground and hit the cobbl.
with a dull thump. It didn�t cry ou
on impact, but i
le
twitched a few tim.
and a puddle oy
blood began to form beneath it. The crown fell off i
hea.
and rolled away acr.
the marketplace. Now I realized tha
it w.
through the goat.
death that Pan had intended t.
free hi.
elfx
hou
rent the night airx
Fearing.
that.
it.
might.
topple.
over.
at.
any.
moment,.
began to climb down from the platform, my feet.
eeking ou
the.
tru
of the wooden.
haft. I needn�t have worried�th.
wind w.
directed at the mag.
, who�d taken roo.
facin
the market; the tower, right in the calm eye of the.
tormw
barely movedx
That.
hope.
w.
.
hort-lived..
I.
heard.
the.
ound.
oy
galloping hoov.
and knew that I w.
j
t momen
fro.
recapture or death. The fi�
t rider came at me from th.
right. I.
aw the glint of a.
word in the moonlight, and ducke.
y
to my left .
it.
wept down toward my head. Whether th.
blow w.
intended to kill me or the rider had j
t bee'
ing the flat of h
.
word, I couldn�t tell, but other ho�
eme'
quickly.
urrounded.
me,.
pointing.
their.
weapo'
.
at.
mew
waiting until the runne�
caught upx
Momen
.
later,.
rough.
han.
.
eized.
me,.
and.
I.
w.
dragged.
back.
up.
the.
lope.
toward.
the.
marketplacex
Mag
ter Doolan w.
waiting b.
ide the tower, grim facedx
With.
that,.
my.
han.
.
and.
feet.
were.
tied.
and.
I.
w.
thrown over the back of a ho�
e. All around me I heard .
b
tle .
the mag.
and their followe�
prepared to leav.
Killorglin..
Soon.
we.
were.
off,.
heading.
outh.
in.
a.
lon
convoy. No doubt the mag.
feared that the Alliance woul.
take th
opportunity to attack, and we hurried along.
.
quickly that th.
e on foot had to jog to keep up with th.
hor.
x
D.
pite.
everything,.
I.
allowed.
m.
elf.
the.
mal
at
faction of reflecting that the mag.
had been forced t.
abandon their ceremony. It had failed, and I had been th.
one to.
top itx
CHAPTER XIv
THE HEAD OF THE WITCq
BY dawn we were deep in the.
outhern hil
. It w.
no.
raining hard, and I w.
.
oaked to the.
kin. I hung facedow'
agai'
t.
the.
ho�
e.
.
flank,.
bouncing.
up.
and.
dow'
uncomfortably,.
o my main view w.
of the boggy groundx
My fi�
t glim�
e of the Staigue fort came when I w.
dragged off the ho�
e and my feet were freed. I looked u�
at what appeared to be a gigantic dr.
tone wall towerin
over
, the.
ton.
.
killfully p.
itioned one upon the othe�
without the
e of mud or mortar to bind them togetherx
Ring fort w.
a good name for it, beca
e that.
exactl.
what it w.
�a huge defe'
ive circle of.
ton.
. Everyon.
w.
d
mounting, and I.
oon found out why. The fort coul.
only be entered by a very narrow gate, which w.
far to.
mall for a ho�
ex
Once through that gap in the wall, I got my fi�
t.
ight oy
the i'
ide of the mag.
� fortification. It had no roof, but th.
wal
were very high, with nine.
eparate fligh
of.
ton.
te�
leading up to rampar
from which attacke�
could b.
repelled. The ground within it w.
churned to.
oft mud, bu
dotted about were a number of timber buildin
. The.
ton.
fort w.
clearly very old, but th.
e wooden co'
tructio'
looked relatively recent. Some appeared to be dwellin
w
but the central one, which w.
round in.
hape, probabl.
had a different purp.
e; it w.
toward th
building that
w.
draggedx
We didn�t enter right away. I w.
forced to.
it down i'
the mud and.
urrounded by four guar.
armed with.
wor.
x
While.
we.
waited,.
the.
narrow.
gap.
through.
which.
we�.
entered the fort w.
.
ealed with.
ton.
. The job w.
don.
o.
expertly.
that.
there.
w.
.
no.
ign.
at.
all.
of.
where.
th.
entrance had been. I .
umed that.
omeone had remaine.
ou
ide to take the ho�
.
away to.
helterx
At l.
t I w.
hauled to my feet, and the Butcher led th.
way into the large building. I'
ide.
tood a circular, elevate.
da
. It w.
.
tained and pol
hed, and marked upon i
urface w.
a large pentacle of the type mag.
ed t.
ummon a demon or other.
upernatural entity. A number oy
chai�
and a table were.
et out at the center. Around th.
da
, the floor w.
mud, and there m
t have been at le.
nine armed guar.
.
tanding up to their ankl.
in it. Upo'
the da
.
tood.
even barefoot mag.
, and near i
edg.
w.
Thin Shaun. He w.
cradling h
.
on, Konal, who w.
till wrapped in a blanket. Thin Shaun.
hood w.
pulle.
forward, h
head bowed and in.
hadowx
Doolan approached the edge of the wooden.
tructur.
to addr.
him. �Where
Scarabek?� he.
nappedx
�I failed�d.
pite my b.
t effor
.
he
.
till a pr
onerx
But her enemy
prepared to exchange her for the boy.
adv
e you to let him go.� Thin Shaun nodded at me. �The'
you�ll have Scarabek to.
acrifice next time we attempt th.
ritual.}
�Who.
.
th
.
enemy?�.
demanded.
the.
chief.
mag.
angrilyx
�Her name
Grimalkiny
he.
an .
.
in and h.
come from a powerful witch clan over the water. Never hav.
I encountered.
omeone with.
uch.
kill. All my.
trength an.
magic proved
el.
agai'
t her. I w.
completely at he�
mercy,� Thin Shaun admittedx
Suddenly I w.
filled with new hope. Grimalkin w.
herex
�
.
he alone,� demanded Doolan, �or.
upported b.
other clan membe�
?}
�She
alone.}
�Then.
he can be dealt with.}
Thin Shaun looked awayx
�Although we failed to ra
e the god, the attempt di.
bear.
ome.
fruit.�.
The.
Butcher.
.
voice.
w.
.
full.
wit
confidence. �It h.
made our magic.
tronger. She
onl.
one; if we fill a mage with our combined.
trength, j
t one oy
our.
number.
will.
be.
enough.
to.
kill.
her..
I.
will.
be.
he�
executioner!}
Doolan.
bowed.
h
.
head.
and.
tarted.
to.
mutter.
t.
hi.
elf. The wor.
he.
poke were in the Old Tongue�h.
wa uing dark magic. A he did.
o, the.
even.
othe�
mag.
.
knelt.
in.
a.
huddle.
at.
the.
edge.
of.
the.
da
.
an.
chanted for a minute or.
o before.
uddenly falling.
ilentx
At l.
t the mag.
fell.
ilent and withdrew their han.
. �
go now!� the Butcher told them,.
howing h
teeth. �I�ll brin
back the head of our enemy!}
te�
again. When he reached the mud at the bottom an.
approached the fi�
t wall lantern, I realized that he w.
carrying.
omething in h
left hand. By now Thin Shaun ha.
emerged from the round hut, half a dozen mag.
followin
cl.
e behindx
Grimalkin w.
deadx
CHAPTER Xv
DARK ANGEX
MY heart.
ank into my boo
. Everything w.
l.
t. My hop.
of .
cape had been.
natched away. Grimalkin had a
.
offered our only real hope of binding the Fiend. I felt.
adw
too. She had been a malevolent witch, the .
.
in of th.
Malkin.
clan,.
but.
we.
had.
fought.
alon
ide.
each.
otherx
Without Grimalkin.
help, I would be dead alreadyx
�Where
Scarabek?� .
ked Thin Shaunx
�She.
.
afe enough,� Doolan told him, �but w.
hurt i'
the.
truggle. I came on ahead to bring you the ne.
. She
happy for me to deal with the boy and give him the.
lo.
death he j
tly d.
erv.
. I will.
tart now,� he.
aid, lifting th.
knife and licking the blood from i
long bladex
I w.
pulled to my feet, and my bon.
were cut. The'
Thin Shaun.
eized me by the hair and dragged me towar.
the chief magex
�Death h.
come for you, boy!� he cried. �Look upo'
h
fea�
ome face!}
The.
Butcher,.
Doolan,.
miled.
grimly..
Then.
he.
ai.
omething really.
trange.
�Death h.
.
ent h
dark angel i'
tead!}
Dark angel? What did he mean7
I looked at Doolan and.
aw that there w.
.
omethin
weird about him..
A purple light.
himmered around h
head, and h
face.
eemed to be melting. He w.
.
hiftin
h
.
hape. H
li�
were now black. The forehead.
eeme.
narrower, too; the cheekbon.
higher. It w.
no longer th.
face of the chief magex
It was Grimalkint
.
ual, the witch .
.
in w.
dr.
ed to deal ou
death. Her body w.
cr
cr.
ed with leather.
tra�
, eac
holding more than one.
heath; they ho
ed her blad.
an.
the.
c
o�
.
he
ed to.
nip away the thumb bon.
of he�
defeated enemi.
. From her left.
houlder w.
.
pende.
a.
mall burlap.
ack. What new weapon did that contain?
wondered..
Her.
li�
.
were.
painted.
black,.
and.
when.
h.
opened her mouth I could.
ee th.
e terrifying teeth, eac
one filed to a.
harp point. She looked dangero
, ever.
inch a killerx
The witch .
.
in had
ed a cloak of dark magic t.
deceive her enemi.
. I felt a.
urge of joy; I w.
n�t dead yetx
In her left hand Grimalkin held the.
evered head of Doolanw
which.
he now t.
ed d
dainfully into the mud at her feetx
In one fluid motion.
he hurled the long knife toward me wit
terrible force. But I w.
not the target, and Grimalkin rarel.
m
edx
Thin Shaun.
creamed, and h
hand convu
ed befor.
rele.
ing my hair. I turned and watched him fall to h
kne.
in the mud, the knife up to i
hilt in h
ch.
t. The mag.
around me panicked and.
tarted to move backward, awa.
from the witchx
Grimalkin.
ran.
forward,.
grabbed.
me.
by.
the.
lef
houlder, and.
pun me behind her. I.
lipped and went dow'
on my han.
and kne.
in the mud. Now.
he w.
betwee'
me and our enemi.
, crouching, ready to attack. A guar.
launched a.
pear toward her ch.
t. The aim w.
good an.
it w.
f.
t, but at the l.
t moment.
he knocked it .
ide wit
the edge of her hand,.
imultaneo
ly hurling another knifex
The guard died even before h
.
pear had been deflecte.
to the ground. I.
crambled to my feetx
I did .
.
he commanded, but I w.
unfit after long da.
and nigh
of impr
onment and ill treatment. My le
fel
lugg
h, the mud.
ucking at my boo
and delaying m.
progr.
. I glanced back and.
aw that, .
yet, Grimalki'
w.
making no attempt to follow me. She w.
fighting .
dozen.
mag.
.
and.
guar.
,.
whirling.
and.
cutting..
I.
hear.
crea.
and groa'
of agony .
her blad.
.
l.
hed an.
tabbed, driving back her fo.
x
I.
uddenly.
aw.
a.
great.
danger..
Once.
he.
left.
tha
p.
ition and tried to make her own .
cape, they would cu
through the rope. Surely.
he m
t be aware of the danger,
thought. I clambered over the edge of the wall and began t.
climb down. I felt dizzy and.
pun around and around on th.
rope, finding it hard to hold onx
At l.
t, breathl.
and weak with exertion, I reache.
the ground and looked up. There were cri.
from beyon.
y
the rampar
; then Grimalkin appeared at the top of the wal
and began her rapid d.
cent. My heart w.
in my mouthw
but.
he w.
.
uddenly there at my.
ide, pointing to the e.
tx
�Our b.
t hope
to follow the co.
t that way!�.
he tol.
mex
My.
mind.
w.
.
willing,.
but.
my.
body.
imply.
couldn�
match i
deman.
. �I can�t,� I.
aid. �I�ve been tied up fo�
da.
and I�ve eaten little. I�m.
orry, but I j
t haven�t th.
trength.}
ort of.
helter and lowered to the ground. Then I fell into .
really deep.
leep. When I awoke, Grimalkin w.
cookin
omething over a fire, the.
moke drifting up a chimneyx
I.
at up.
lowly and looked about me. It w.
daylightw
and we were.
heltering in an abandoned cottage. I coul.
The witch .
.
in w.
crouching in the hearth,.
lowl.
rotating two rabbi
impaled on.
pi
. She turned and gav.
me a.
mile,.
howing her.
harp teeth. Then, to my.
urpr
e,
aw my.
taff leaning agai'
t the wall in the far corner of th.
roomx
�I retrieved your.
taff from Scarabek.
cottage and lef
it here on my way to Staigue. Are you feeling better now?}
he .
kedx
I.
nodded..
�Y.
,.
and.
thank.
you.
for.
aving.
my.
lifex
Again.�.
I.
g.
tured.
toward.
the.
fire..
�Aren�t.
you.
bothere.
about the.
moke from the chimney? Are they.
till.
earchin
for
?}
�Y.
,.
but they won�t find u here�I�ve.
cloaked th
place.
with.
magic..
Once.
night.
fal
.
we�ll.
continue.
ou�
journey.}
�Have you.
poken to him already?}
�Y.
..
He.
made.
h
.
way.
back.
there�though.
Alic.
w.
n�t with him and I�ve had no further contact with herx
She.
well beyond the protection of the blood jar.}
I bowed my head. �The blood jar can�t help her now,�
aid.
adly. �The Celtic witch, Scarabek, gave Alice to th.
Fiend, and he took her away into h
domain.}
�Now that.
he.
free, Scarabek will come looking fo�
me again,� I told her. �I w.
with Bill Arkwright when h.
killed her twin.
ter. She.
ee�
revenge before giving m.
to the Fiend.}
�You.
needn�t.
worry..
You�ll.
be.
afe.
with.
me.
at.
you�
ide,� Grimalkin.
aid. �B.
id.
, I took.
omething e
e fro.
the witch.
cottage.}
Then.
he lifted one of the.
pi
and held it out towar.
me. �Eat up. You�ll need your.
trength.}
�He.
took.
it.
very.
badly,�.
I.
a'
wered,.
automaticall.
checking that it.
till lay in my pocket. �For a moment
thought he w.
going to.
m.
h it immediatelyy
endin
the three of
to the dark forever. But then he relented; i
w.
.
if your plan had given him new hope. Life.
deal
him a bad hand in recent mont
. H
ho
e and librar.
were burned to the ground�the heritage it w.
h
duty t.
keep.
afe. He.
never been the.
ame.
ince.}
�But we.
till might have to wait a long time.
befor.
venturing home,� I gu.
edx
laughtered .
food for the troo�
. Would my brothe�
Jac�
and Jam.
have tried to r.
t? If.
o, they could be deadx
�The enemy h.
advanced too far. Their forc.
an.
their lin.
of.
upply are.
tretched thin,� Grimalkin .
ertedx
�And.
they.
have.
not.
yet.
overcome.
the.
m.
t.
northerl.
counti.
. Beyond them, the Lowland Sco
are gathering; i'
the.
pring they�ll be joined by the Highlande�
. Then the.
will launch an attack together, and the men of the Count.
will r
e up again�we witch.
will play our part, too. Ther.
will be many deat
. We will drive the enemy.
outh, the'
into the.
ea. Our.
crye�
have.
een it come to p.
.}
Witch.
crye�
really did.
ee the future, but I knew tha
they could a
o be wrong,.
o I didn�t comment. I'
tead,
directed.
Grimalkin.
.
though
.
toward.
our.
m.
t.
powerfu
enemy. �Do you really believe that we can bind the Fiend?�
.
kedx
The witch .
.
in nodded. �Y.
, I will wrap a cloak oy
dark magic about the place. But it m
t be remote�w.
m
tn�t have anyone.
tumbling upon it by chance.}
�
there really no hope for Alice?� I .
ked. �No way oy
getting her back?}
�I fear we can do nothing. I w
h it were otherw
e.}
�When.
we.
d.
troy.
the.
blood.
jar,.
he.
will.
comew
d.
perate to.
eize you. He will leave Alice behind, an.
there.
he will remain. I know it
a terrible thing to accepty
but co'
ole you�
elf with the thought that, once he.
bee'
bound and cut off from h
domain, Alice.
pain will.
urel.
l.
en. He will not be there to mete it out.}
Grimalkin.
attempt to co'
ole me failed. I thought oy
Alice,.
trapped.
in.
the.
dark,.
lonely,.
afraid,.
and.
i'
unimaginable torment. I remembered the wor.
of Pan.
The Fiend is a law unto himself and owns the largesk
domain of all. It is a terrible place for a mortal to be, livin]
or deadt
CHAPTER XVn
THE DRAGON�S LAIc
WE reached Kenmare about two hou�
before dawn an.
approached.
the.
high.
wall.
that.
encl.
ed.
Shey.
.
fortifie.
ma'
ion. Intercepted by.
everal aggr.
ive guar.
at th.
gate, Grimalkin drew a blade and.
howed them her pointe.
teeth. In the lantern light.
he looked every inch the fea�
om.
witch, but the men, although they recognized me, were war.
of a witch and prepared to attackx
There were five of them, but I wouldn�t have given muc
for.
their.
chanc.
.
agai'
t.
Grimalkin..
However,.
e'
.
prevailed,.
and.
I.
pe�
uaded.
them.
to.
end.
one.
of.
thei�
number back to the ho
e to wake Shey and the Spookx
The guard returned quickly, muttered an apology, and w.
were .
corted inx
I had a brief meeting alone with my m.
ter and tol.
him what had happened. When I came to the part where th.
Fiend had d
appeared, taking the terrified Alice back int.
the dark with him, a lump came into my throat and I gave .
ob, my ey.
filling with tea�
x
The Spook put h
hand on my.
houlder and patted i
gently. �There.
little I can.
ay to make you feel better, ladx
J
t try to be.
trong.}
Grimalkin and I joined the Spook and Shey in the.
tud.
in.
the.
e.
t.
wing,.
where.
a.
peat.
fire.
w.
.
burning.
in.
th.
hearthx
I.
upp.
e I�d never expected to.
ee the leader of th.
Land Alliance again, thinking he w.
bound to be kille.
when the wal
of Ballycarbery C.
tle were breached. Bu
he told
that the enemy forc.
had merely come to tak.
the mage we�d held pr
oner.
o that he could be.
acrificedx
So once that aim w.
achieved, they�d immediately calle.
off the.
iegex
�You did well, boy!� Shey congratulated me. �One oy
our.
pi.
.
brought.
.
word..
Mag
ter.
Doolan.
.
deadx
Single-handed,.
you.
topped.
the.
ritual..
It.
took.
om.
courage to free the goat and p
h it off the platform.}
�I w.
n�t really alone,� I told him. Then I explained abou
my v
it to the Hollow Hil
and how Pan had played h
partx
They all l
tened in.
ilence, but when I�d fin
hed, She.
reached acr.
and clapped me on the backx
�It w.
incredibly brave,� he.
aid. �M.
t people woul.
have been driven i'
ane by him.}
�Indeed,.
but.
we�re.
eventh.
o'
.
of.
eventh.
o'
,}
explained the Spook. �In.
uch.
ituatio'
, that giv.
th.
trength that othe�
lack.}
�Maybe,�.
aid Grimalkin, �but Tom
more than thatx
Remember, he a
o h.
the blood of h
mother runnin
through h
vei'
. Do you really believe that Pan would hav.
deigned to cooperate with you, John Gregory, in that way?
think not.}
�Well,.
we.
are.
going.
to.
attempt.
omething.
ver.
dangero
, but if it.
uccee.
, it could help your ca
e too,}
the Spook went on. �We are going to try and bind the Fien.
�the Devil hi.
elf. If that can be achieved, the power oy
the dark and all i
other.
ervan
will be reduced. Aye, an.
that would include the mag.
x
�What we need
a remote location, a.
uitable plac.
to bind him. Th
your land. Where do you.
ugg.
t?� h.
.
ked, pointing at the mapx
Shey got to h
feet, r.
ted h
han.
on the table, an.
�It.
a little too cl.
e to the ring fort at Staigue,�.
aid th.
Spook. �The l.
t thing we want
one of the mag.
comin
acr.
it�.
pecially while we�re doing the binding.}
Shey moved h
finger e.
tward and tapped Kenmarex
�Why not do it near here, then? Th
probably the are.
that.
.
af.
t from the interference of the mag.
. And ther.
one place that m.
t local folk avoid: a.
tone circle tha
y
li.
j
t ou
ide the village.}
�
that haunted too?� the Spook .
ked himx
He.
hook h
head. �There.
.
omething there for.
urew
but perha�
not a gh.
t. I v
ited it once for a wager and fel
it m.
elf, though I could.
ee nothing. It.
a creepy placew
.
pecially after dark. I kept.
hivering�I j
t knew that ther.
w.
.
omething.
nearby,.
omething.
huge.
and.
terrifyingx
Even in daylight, people keep well away.}
�Well, I.
ugg.
t that we go and.
ee th
haunted.
ton.
circle.�.
The.
Spook.
miled..
�It.
could.
be.
j
t.
what.
we�r.
looking for!}
It w.
a bright, clear morning, and the ground w.
d
te.
with fr.
t. .
yet there w.
little warmth in the.
un, and ou�
breath.
teamed up into the cr
p air. .
the.
tone circl.
w.
n�t far from Shey.
ho
e, we.
et off before breakf.
tw
.
.
oon .
it w.
light. It w.
perfect weather for walkingw
and we took the do
. They ran ahead, barking excitedlyw
glad to be out and reunited with
all againx
Soon we could.
ee the.
tone circle in the d
tance. I
tood on a.
mall hill,.
urrounded on three.
id.
by tre.
x
On.
my.
trave
.
with.
the.
Spook.
I.
had.
een.
uch.
circl.
formed with much larger.
tanding.
ton.
. Some of the on.
here were no more than boulde�
. I counted twelve of themx
I.
e'
ed.
omething right away. A cold.
hiver ran th.
length of my.
pine. Something from the dark w.
nearbyx
But, to my.
urpr
e, my m.
ter gave me one of h
rar.
mil.
x
�M.
t.
people.
think.
that.
a.
dragon.
.
a.
huge.
lizar.
breathing.
fire.
and.
moke,.
but.
a.
true.
dragon.
.
a'
elemental,�.
the.
Spook.
explained..
�They.
are.
air.
piri
w
inv
ible but imme'
e. Th
one
probably coiled abou
within th
hill. They live their liv.
at a different.
peed tha'
we huma'
. To them, our lifetim.
p.
in the blinking of a'
eye..
M.
t.
people.
can.
barely.
e'
e.
the.
pr.
ence.
of.
.
dragon, but th
one
particularly.
trong. Can�t you feel i
malevolence? It.
enough to keep people away�and that.
exactly what we wantx
�Y.
, there.
no point in delaying. Let.
get on with ou�
preparatio'
,�.
aid the Spook. �We�ll try to bind him herew
right.
at.
the.
center.
of.
the.
circle,.
within.
the.
coi
.
of.
th.
dragon. Now I need the.
ervic.
of a.
tonem.
on, and a
.
a good rigger. They m
t be craf
men we can tr
t to kee�
quiet afterward. Could you find them for me?� he .
kedw
turning to Sheyx
�I.
know.
an.
excellent.
local.
tonem.
on,�.
he.
repliedx
�The rigger might be more difficult, but I�ll make inquiri.
.}
�And I need.
omething e
e from you,�.
aid Grimalkinx
�I m
t f.
hion.
pea�
and.
nai
with which to.
bind th.
Fiend. I noticed that you have exte'
ive.
tabl.
behind you�
ho
e�do you have a forge?}
�Y.
,.
and.
an.
excellent.
mith.
who.
I�ll.
put.
at.
you�
ervice.}
�The forge i
elf will.
uffice. I work alone,� Grimalki'
aid with a frown. �I would like to begin the t.
k .
.
oon .
p.
ible.}
�Of cou�
e�I�ll take you there right away,�.
aid She.
nervo
ly, clearly intimidated by the witchx
�Aye,�.
aid the Spook, �and while you�re doing that, th.
lad and I will get.
tarted on the pit.}
Back at the ho
e, after a light breakf.
t, we collected ou�
ba
and a couple of.
turdy.
hove
to do the digging. Th.
weather.
eemed likely to remain fine for the r.
t of the dayx
It.
made.
e'
e.
to.
get.
tarted..
It.
would.
be.
no.
fun.
at.
al
digging in the rainx
�Well,�.
aid the Spook .
I put down our ba
and th.
pad.
near the center of the circle of.
ton.
, �th
.
good.
pot. Give me a.
pade, lad!}
He.
jabbed.
it.
deep.
into.
the.
oft.
earth.
and.
gave.
.
at
fied grunt. �The digging.
hould be relatively e.
y. Bu
fi�
t I�ll mark out the boundari.
of the pit,� he.
aid, taking .
folded me.
uring rod from h
bag. �We�d better make i
large�no doubt the Fiend will appear in the.
ame form .
he did l.
t time,.
o it nee.
to be at le.
t three tim.
.
big .
a boggart pit. I hope you�ve recovered your.
trengt
after your ordeal, lad.}
I watched .
the Spook marked the dime'
io'
of th.
pit on the bare earth very prec
ely,
ing.
mall woode'
pe
and twine. When he�d fin
hed, I picked up the larg.
hovel and.
et to work. I had a long day ahead of mex
M.
tly my m.
ter j
t watched, but every hour or.
o h.
gave me a break and.
et to hi.
elfx
At fi�
t, .
I worked, I kept thinking of poor Alice, bu
after.
a.
while.
my.
mind.
went.
blank.
and.
the.
numbin
monotony of hard digging took over. At one point I pa
e.
to catch my breath and leaned heavily on the.
hovel handlex
�The.
rigger.
will.
have.
to.
co'
truct.
a.
trong.
woode'
gantry, lad, with a beam from which to hang the block. I
mak.
the job more difficult and will take extra time. No
only do.
the rigger have to be good at h
job and able t.
keep h
mouth.
hut afterward; he and h
mate both nee.
to be brave. Do you remember what happened to poor Bill.
Bradley?}
I nodded.
adly. �The rigge�
panicked,� I recalledx
�That.
right, lad. If they�d kept their nerve, that rigge�
and h
mate could have lifted the.
tone off Billy.
finge�
i'
econ.
,.
and.
he�d.
till.
be.
alive.
today..
We.
need.
a'
experienced rigger who do.
n�t.
care e.
ily!}
Suddenly.
a.
thought.
truck.
me�the.
carving.
on.
th.
tonev
�Where do we leave.
our mark when the.
binding
done?� I .
ked. �Do we carve a.
ymbol on the top and pu
our.
nam.
.
underneath.
to.
how.
who.
bound.
the.
Fien.
hi.
elf?}
I.
tarted to feel a chill: W.
it the dragon.
e'
ing m.
d
turbing h
lair7
CHAPTER XVIn
WORDS IN A MIRROc
THE following day we.
oon hit.
olid rock and could go n.
deeper..
I.
hoped.
the.
pit.
would.
be.
big.
enough.
for.
ou�
purp.
.
. About midafternoon, when I�d j
t about fin
hedw
Grimalkin.
paid.
.
a.
v
it..
Over.
her.
houlder.
he.
w.
carrying.
omething.
wrapped.
in.
acking�no.
doubt.
th.
pea�
that.
he�d forgedx
�Will that be big enough?�.
he .
ked, looking down a
the pit doubtfullyx
�I hope.
o. I w.
going to make it deeper, but th
rock.
put an end to that,� I told herx
Grimalkin looked worried. �I�ve.
een the Fiend bigge�
than that. He w.
a giant, a mo'
ter.}
�If he.
that big, there may be nothing we can do,�
aidx
�Remember, I have given birth to h
child�the chil.
he.
layed,�.
Grimalkin.
aid..
�He.
cannot.
come.
near.
m.
unl.
I will it. That could be our l.
t line of defe'
e.}
She.
miled,.
curling.
her.
li�
.
over.
her.
needle�
har�
teeth..
�And.
perha�
.
that.
layer.
of.
rock.
will.
be.
to.
ou�
advantage,�.
he.
aid. �I have crafted.
pea�
and a
o.
om.
horter.
nai
..
The.
rock.
will.
provide.
a.
firm.
b.
e.
for.
th.
binding.}
�Well,�.
aid the Spook, �we�re ready now�.
ready .
we�ll ever be. We can r.
t and gather our.
trength for th.
ordeal tonight.}
Grimalkin.
hook her head. �No, there
further work t.
be done fi�
t,�.
he told him. She knelt and unrolled th.
acking on the ground to reveal the.
tak.
and nai
. I coul.
not.
ee even a hint.
of.
ilver alloy. They.
eemed to.
b.
crafted of plain.
teelx
�I need.
ilver to fold into the.
teel,�.
he.
aidx
I knew I had no choice. I would have to offer my.
ilve�
chain. It w.
a vital tool for a.
pook, and a pr.
ent from m.
mam, but.
urrendering it would make the binding of th.
Fiend p.
iblex
�You can
e th
,� I.
aid, making to hand it to herx
But the Spook frowned. �Nay, lad, you�ll need it agai'
one day. We�ll
e mine. What better
e could it.
erve7
B.
id.
, my old m.
ter, Henry Horroc�
, had a chain of h
own, and I inherited it after h
death. It.
out of harm.
wa.
with my.
brother Andrew in Adlington, at h
loc�
mith.
.
.
he.
poke,.
there.
w.
.
a.
hint.
of.
adn.
.
in.
th.
Spook.
face. That.
chain had.
erved him well.
over th.
yea�
. To.
urrender it w.
hardx
he w.
working. Afraid of d
turbing her concentration,
didn�t.
peak,.
but.
i'
tead.
waited.
patiently.
in.
a.
cornerw
watching her craft a.
pear. She wore thick leather glov.
t.
protect her witch.
.
kin from the iron and.
ilver. The longw
harp.
pear in her gr.
p w.
being formed into a.
lende�
helix, a fine tw
ting alloy of.
ilver and iron. It w.
the l.
t oy
four; the nai
had already been completedx
Sat
fied at l.
t,.
he laid down the fin
hed weapon o'
a bench cl.
e to the anvil, and then.
he turned to face mew
her gaze holding minex
�L
ten,�.
he.
aid, her ey.
glittering fiery red with th.
reflected.
light.
of.
the.
forge..
�Tonight.
we�ll.
bind.
himy
whatever it tak.
. I�d give my life to achieve that, if it w.
nec.
ary.}
deep into h
dirty hide.}
I nodded. It might j
t work. Grimalkin w.
right. Th
time I would take the initiative and.
trike fi�
tx
We tried our b.
t to grab a few hou�
�.
leep before darkx
We�d.
need.
to.
be.
trong,.
r.
ted,.
and.
alert.
for.
the.
t.
�
ahead. I didn�t bother getting undr.
ed�though I quickl.
checked the blood jar in my pocket; the crack.
till.
eeme.
to be holding the Fiend at bay. Then I lay on top of th.
bedcove�
and cl.
ed my ey.
x
I.
oon fell into a really deep, dreaml.
.
leep,.
bu
e'
ing.
omething.
trange,.
I.
jerked.
awake,.
itting.
bol
uprightx
The lette�
appeared backward on the gl.
.
Could.
he really .
cape from the dark? I wondered. Al
at once I w.
filled with fr.
h hope. Quickly I breathed o'
the mirror and wrote my reply on the m
ted gl.
x
The.
mirror.
flickered.
and.
grew.
dark..
My.
hear
plummeted into my boo
. Alice had gone before I could ge
that.
vital.
information.
from.
her..
But.
j
t.
.
.
I.
began.
t.
d.
pair, the mirror filled with light again, and Alice.
finge�
began to write, very.
lowlyx
She.
w.
.
.
king.
me.
to.
come.
alone�that.
certainl.
made.
e'
e. Grimalkin had told the Spook that Pan ha.
only dealt with me beca
e of my mam. It w.
dangero
t.
go alone, but if that w.
the only way, then I had no choicex
I.
drew.
back.
the.
curtai'
.
and.
looked.
through.
th.
window. It w.
twilight;.
oon it would be completely dark. I'
the next room, I could hear the Spook.
tirring. From th.
pouch.
in my bag I quickly filled my pocke
with.
alt an.
iron. Next I took my.
ilver chain and tied it around my wa
tw
hiding it under my.
hirtx
Carrying my boo
in one hand and my.
taff in th.
other, I tiptoed out through the door and managed to ge
dow'
tai�
without meeting anyone. One of the.
ervan
aw me.
itting on the.
tep pulling on my boo
. He noddedw
and I nodded back before.
etting off down the path an.
letting m.
elf out through the main gatex
I couldn�t.
ee any of Shey.
guar.
, but they
uall.
kept out of.
ight. They were probably hiding in the tre.
w
watching me now, but it didn�t matter. They had been told .
little of what we intended to do at the.
tone circle, but no
enough to.
care them too much. They thought it w.
.
om.
Soon I w.
among the tre.
, approaching the.
ton.
�the lair of the dragon. .
I.
tepped over the.
oft groundw
my feet cracked the occ.
ional twig. A white m
t lay cl.
.
to.
the.
ground,.
but.
there.
w.
.
till.
enough.
light.
to.
avoi.
walking into a tree or.
tumbling over a log. I emerged at th.
foot of the hill, looking up at the.
tanding.
ton.
, whic
were j
t v
ible agai'
t the cloudl.
.
ky. The bright.
t oy
the.
ta�
were out now, but the moon wouldn�t be up fo�
everal hou�
yetx
My heart w.
beating f.
t. Would I really be able to ge
Alice back7
CHAPTER XVIIn
THE TALONS OF THE MORRIGAw
I.
walked.
teadily.
up.
the.
hill,.
hivering.
with.
a.
chill.
tha
uddenly traveled the length of my.
pine. It w.
the
ua
warning that.
omething from the dark w.
near, but I pai.
little heed, intent on my purp.
ex
Momen
.
later.
I.
w.
.
tanding.
within.
the.
circle.
oy
ton.
, cl.
e to the pit that we had dug for the Fiend. All
could hear w.
my own rapid heartbea
and breathingx
The m
t.
eemed to be thickening and r
ing in.
nakelik.
coi
. I.
pun.
lowly on my hee
, checking the area throug
a full three hundred and.
ixty degre.
. The m
t.
eemed t.
be r
ing up from the ground, and there w.
a lot of it. It j
didn�t.
eem normal. Could it be the breath of the dragon?
wonderedx
No, that w.
a.
urd. Drago'
weren�t fire breathe�
with hot breath; they were huge elemental.
piri
of the airx
Th
w.
j
t ordinary m
tx
Then.
I.
aw.
a.
udden.
himmer.
in.
the.
air,.
directl.
opp.
ite the pit. Suddenly I w.
face-to-face with Alice. M.
heart gave a lurch, but then I.
aw that.
he w.
n�t.
miling�
he didn�t.
eem at all ple.
ed to.
ee mey
he looke.
terrified. Her face w.
caked with dirt and the whit.
of he�
wild ey.
were.
howing, her hair matted and her mout
tw
ted in a grimace of terror. She.
eemed to be.
tandin
behind that.
himmering curtain. It looked.
o fli.
y. Surely i
would be e.
y j
t to.
tep through�x
All at once Alice thr
t her left hand toward me. It cam.
right through into the world where I.
tood. �Help me, Tom!}
he cried. She.
eemed to be.
houting, but her voice w.
muffled and faint. �You�ve got to pull me through. I can�t do i
alone!}
Without h.
itation, I gripped her hand firmly, my lef
hand.
queezing her left hand�which felt.
o cold. It w.
.
if I w.
holding the hand of a dead pe�
onx
I pulled hard,.
but Alice.
eemed to r.
t. W.
.
h.
tuck? W.
.
omething holding her back? I tugged eve'
harder, but then the grip on my hand tightened and it reall.
hurt. It w.
.
if Alice w.
trying to cr
h my finger bon.
x
Then, .
I w.
dragged forward agai'
t my will, Alice.
face.
began to.
change. It w.
n�t her. It w.
the face.
oy
Scarabek.
I tried to r.
t, but the gr.
w.
.
lippery, my feet l.
their purch.
e, my.
taff went flying from my hand�and
w.
dragged into the.
himmering curtain, the doorway t.
the darkx
There w.
a bright fl.
h of yellow light, and Scarabe�
jerked my arm and then rele.
ed her grip very.
uddenlyw
ending me.
pinning away from her. I hit the ground har.
and.
rolled.
over.
everal.
tim.
.
before.
coming.
to.
a.
hal
agai'
t a tree trunk, which knocked the breath from m.
bodyx
I r.
e up onto my kne.
, g.
ping, and quickly glance.
about me. I w.
in a wood, and all the tre.
looked hugex
That w.
.
trange enough, but everything w.
a
o bathe.
in a.
ilver light. It w.
.
if it radiated from everythingy
tre.
, ground, and.
ky�and I knew one thing for certain:
had left the world I knew far behindx
�I�m leaving you here, boy! I�m handing you over to th.
Morrigan. She�ll.
come.
for.
you at the twelfth peal.
of th.
midnight bell! You won�t forget that, I�m.
ure! And try not t.
forget who you are!� Scarabek cried in a mocking voicex
And then.
he w.
gone, leaving me to my fatex
The hero.
were th.
e of Ireland�the ancien
, th.
great on.
.
uch .
Cuchulain. D.
pite her magic, even .
Celtic witch couldn�t.
tay here for long. So what chance ha.
I? I w.
here in the Otherworld�both in body and in.
oulx
How could I hope to.
urvive agai'
t the Morrigan? I had.
al
and iron in my pocke
, and my.
ilver chain tied about m.
wa
t..
However,.
they.
couldn�t.
hurt.
a.
godd.
..
remembered my fight with the Ordeen back in Greece, ho.
he had.
imply.
hrugged off the.
ilver chain I had c.
about herx
I�m.
not.
entirely.
ure.
what.
happened.
next�but.
uddenly.
found.
m.
elf.
crawling.
on.
all.
fou�
.
rather.
tha'
walking,.
and.
I.
felt.
befuddled.
and.
d
oriented..
I.
w.
Midnight w.
f.
t approaching, and a terrible creatur.
would come for me then. But what w.
it? Some.
ort oy
demon? All I could remember w.
that a witch had.
ent itx
She wanted revenge for.
omething I�d done to her. Bu
what had I done? What w.
it7
Why couldn�t I recall th.
e thin
properly? My min.
w.
.
whirling.
with.
fragmen
.
of.
memory�piec.
.
that.
couldn�t fit together. W.
I already under.
ome.
ort of dar�
enchantment? I wondered. I.
uddenly felt cold, very coldx
Something from the dark w.
drawing cl.
e nowx
I could hear.
omething ch.
ing me now, but it w.
n�
on foot. There w.
a furio
flapping of gigantic win
.
glanced.
back.
over.
my.
houlder.
and.
w
hed.
I.
hadn�tw
beca
e what I.
aw incre.
ed my terror and panicx
I w.
being ch.
ed by an imme'
e black crowx
Th
one filled me with hope. I knew that I.
till had .
lim chance of .
caping her. Ahead lay a church of.
om.
ort; once i'
ide, I would be.
afe from the godd.
. Could
reach.
it.
before.
I.
w.
.
eized.
by.
the.
Morrigan?.
I.
ha.
dreamed th
.
ituation.
o many tim.
, but now it w.
realx
Were it not for that recurrent nightmare, th
.
ilver-lit worl.
of the Hollow Hil
would have.
natched every l.
t bit of m.
memory. I wondered if th
ability to learn from my drea.
w.
another gift I�d inherited from Mamx
Church.
.
weren�t.
ually.
plac.
.
of.
refuge.
from.
th.
dark. Pri.
might think.
o, but.
poo�
certainly didn�tx
Neverthel.
,.
omehow I knew that I had to reach th
on.
�or face deathx
A dreadful creature w.
.
tanding before me wearing .
black, bloody gown that came down to her ankl.
�par
woman, part crow. Her feet were bare and her toenai
were talo'
, .
were her fingernai
, but.
he had a hug.
feathered head with a deadly beakx
It w.
worth a try,.
o on the.
econd.
troke I leaped t.
my feet and began to run toward the.
ound. I.
uddenl.
wondered how far away it w.
. Could I get there in time7
The third peal.
ounded very near, but I could.
e'
e th.
Morrigan behind me, gliding cl.
er and cl.
er with ever.
rapid.
tep. I glanced back and.
aw that her face had bee'
replaced by the huge crow.
head. The.
harp beak w.
open wide, the.
harp talo'
lunging toward me, ready t.
tear my fl.
h, mangle my body, and.
catter my.
plintere.
bon.
x
But.
now,.
through.
the.
tre.
,.
I.
glim�
ed.
the.
ilver.
outline of a building. It w.
little more than a chapel with .
mall bell tower. If only I could reach it.
.
I got nearer, however, i
outline began to.
himme�
and.
lowly.
hift i
.
hape. The.
harp angl.
.
oftened, th.
tower d
appeared, and it.
ettled into the form of a buria
mound. There w.
more: Beneath the dome of the gr.
�
covered roof lay a.
tructure of gleaming white.
tone. Now
could.
ee an open doorway with an intricately carved.
ton.
lintel; a.
olute darkn.
waited withinx
The Morrigan.
talo'
raked toward my left.
houlderw
but.
I.
tw
ted.
away.
and.
dived.
through.
the.
mall.
quar.
entrance to that dark refuge. When I hit the ground, it fel
oft; there w.
a covering of yellow.
traw, and I rolled ove�
a couple of tim.
before coming to a halt. I let my ey.
lowly adj
t to the dark�and.
oon I w.
able to make ou
my.
urroundin
x
However, m.
t.
ignificantly, the m.
terio
.
ilver ligh
had.
completely d
appeared. The.
chapel w.
indeed .
refuge.
from.
the.
Otherworld,.
and.
my.
mind,.
which.
ha.
become incre.
ingly.
lugg
h and forgetful, felt.
harp an.
clear again, and I recalled everything that had happenedx
hire.
dray.
ho�
e,.
.
.
big.
and.
powerful.
.
.
all.
thre.
wolfhoun.
put togetherx
W.
it the guardian of th
place? If.
o, I had littl.
chance agai'
t.
uch a creature. But I didn�t need to defen.
m.
elf, beca
e an even bigger mo'
ter emerged from th.
hado.
and put an enormo
hand on the hound.
hea.
to r.
train itx
CHAPTER XI~
THE HOUND OF CALANw
HE w.
a giant of a man, with a wild mane of coa�
e re.
hair. He carried a.
pear in h
right hand and a.
word at h
beltx
H
.
triking red hair.
uddenly drew my attention againx
Although.
there.
w.
.
no.
breeze,.
the.
hair.
eemed.
to.
b.
moving. It w.
.
tanding on end and writhing.
lowly, lik.
underwater ree.
moving in a.
wirling currentx
�You�re.
afe here, boy,� he.
aid in a deep boomin
voice .
he.
ettled down next to the magnificent houndx
�Th
hound won�t touch you. It.
what.
out there that yo
hould fear. I fear the Morrigan too, but.
he can�t enter herex
Th
a.
idhe�a place of refuge. Do you have a name?}
My throat w.
dry, and I had to.
wallow before I coul.
peak. �Tom Ward,� I repliedx
�And what do you do, Tom? What brin
you here?}
�I�m an apprentice.
pook. My m.
ter and I fight th.
dark. I w.
tricked by a witch into entering th
Otherworl.
y
he wan
the Morrigan to hunt me down.}
�Well, .
long .
you.
tay within th
.
idhe,.
he can�
touch you. Not even a godd.
can enter. But it wouldn�t b.
w
e.
to.
tay.
too.
long..
Time.
p.
.
.
differently.
here..
I
do.
n�t flow at the.
ame rate .
it do.
back on earth. I
mov.
forward in great.
urg.
. It
nearing midnight. Ver.
oon the bel
will chime the hour. At the twelfth peal, tim.
will.
uddenly lurch forward: In one.
econd.
pent here, man.
long yea�
will have p.
ed back in your world. Everyon.
you.
know will.
be dead. Go quickly, while.
you.
till hav.
omething to return to.}
�I want to get back, but I don�t know the way. And ho.
can I get p.
t the Morrigan?}
�You could fight her. I�ve fought her before, but it alwa.
en.
in pain, and I wake up here and wait for my.
trength t.
return.}
�Who are you?� I .
kedx
�They once called me the Hound of Calann beca
e
killed.
th
.
dog.
here.
with.
my.
bare.
han.
..
Now,.
in.
th.
afterlife, we�re bound together.}
I remembered the tale Shey had told
. �So you�r.
Cuchulain�one of the great hero.
of Ireland�.}
The giant.
miled at that. �
that how they d.
cribe mew
Tom? I like that. What e
e do they.
ay about me?}
�They.
ay that you�re r.
ting here and will return whe'
Ireland nee.
you.}
ilence.
fell.
between.
me.
and.
Cuchulain..
After.
a.
fe.
momen
, h
head nodded onto h
ch.
t and h
ey.
cl.
ed, toox
idhe�and .
.
oon .
p.
ible, whatever the r
kx
�You.
know.
a.
way.
back.
to.
my.
world?�.
I.
aid.
t.
Cuchulainx
�I have to .
cape,� I told him. �Will you help me?}
�I don�t think.
o,� I.
aid,.
haking my head. �I�m j
t .
pook.
apprentice�I.
often get.
cared when facing th.
dark.}
Cuchulain.
miled. �Even hero.
are.
ometim.
afraidw
Tom. It tak.
the bravery of a hero to admit fear. B.
id.
w
you are here in the.
idhe, and.
till breathing. Were yo
made of l.
, you would have been d.
troyed the momen
you entered th
place.}
He got to h
feet and picked up h
huge.
pear. �Hav.
you no weapo'
, Tom?� he demandedx
�I
e a.
pook.
.
taff, but I l.
t it when I w.
dragge.
through the doorway from my world. I have nothing but.
al
and iron and my.
ilver chain�.}
hift her.
hape and.
lip out of it in the twinkling of an eyex
Here�take th
dagger,� he.
aid, reaching into h
leathe�
jerkin and handing me a weapon. �Strike her hard with th
x
She�ll feel it, mark my wor.
!}
I.
took.
the.
handle.
in.
my.
left.
hand.
and.
t.
ted.
it.
fo�
balance. It felt right�alm.
t .
if it had been made for mex
Then I.
aw that the blade i
elf w.
crafted from .
ilver.
alloy..
Such.
a.
weapon.
could.
d.
troy.
a.
demonx
Although it w.
not effective agai'
t one of the Old Go.
w
the blade could.
till injure the Morrigan and buy precio
time while I made my .
capex
Suddenly I.
aw that blood w.
dripping from the.
wor.
and forming a.
mall red pool on the ground. For a moment
thought that I�d cut m.
elf on the.
harp blade, but then, t.
my .
ton
hment, I realized that the blood w.
weepin
from the two red ruby ey.
x
How could a.
word own me? I wondered. Surely it w.
I who owned the sword? However, th
w.
n�t the time t.
contradict Cuchulainx
I noddedx
idhe, turn.
harp left. About fifty pac.
will bring
to .
ford. It.
not an e.
y cr.
ing, but on the other.
ide li.
.
cave. Run.
traight in and don�t.
low down. The far wall
the doorway back to the world of huma'
�but to p.
through, you m
t run at it at full pelt. Do you hear?}
Cuchulain gripped h
.
pear and.
printed out of th.
idhe, the huge hound at h
.
ide. I ran after him, holdin
my.
word ready. Once more we were bathed in that.
ickl.
ilver light. I forced m.
elf to concentrate, fearing for m.
memoryx
Once.
ou
ide,.
there.
w.
.
no.
ign.
of.
the.
Morriganx
Cuchulain and h
hound were pulling away, and I.
truggle.
to keep up, but then I caught.
ight of the river ahead, a fa
ilver.
nake.
meandering.
through.
the.
tre.
..
Suddenly.
found.
m.
elf.
alon
ide.
Cuchulain..
Had.
I.
omeho.
managed to.
peed up, or had he.
lowed down7
I.
glanced.
to.
my.
right.
and.
aw.
that.
he.
w.
.
no.
I heard a new.
ound then�the ha�
h chatter of cro.
x
The branch.
of the tre.
ahead of
were bowed dow'
under.
their.
weight..
W.
.
the.
Morrigan.
among.
them?.
wondered. The a'
wer came quicklyx
No! A mo'
tro
crow .
big .
Cuchulain w.
flyin
directly toward
, cla.
extended, beak agape. .
th.
Morrigan.
wooped through the tre.
, I.
werved away to th.
left, but Cuchulain hefted h
.
pear and.
tabbed at herx
Feathe�
flew and the godd.
.
creamed. He�d hurt herw
and.
he landed heavily. But then.
he flew at him againw
talo'
l.
hing outx
I turned, ready to go to h
aid, gripping the.
wor.
tightly. They were grappling in.
cl.
e combat, her talo'
tearing at h
fl.
h, but I a
o.
aw blood�
pattered feathe�
on the ground. Both of them were bleeding. The Morriga'
w.
.
hrieking like a ba'
hee witch, while Cuchulain roare.
and bellowed like a be.
tx
I moved cl.
er, waiting for my chance to.
tab her wit
the.
word. I.
aw that the hound w.
watching, too. Wh.
didn�t.
it.
go.
and.
help.
i
.
m.
ter?.
I.
looked.
cl.
ely.
a
Cuchulain and realized that he w.
.
tarting to change. Th.
battle fury w.
coming upon him. One eye.
eemed to b.
bulging out of h
forehead, and h
hair w.
.
tanding u�
and thickening like the.
harp quil
of a hedgehog. The.
ki'
of h
face w.
rippling, h
teeth.
bared in a.
narl, .
though he wanted to.
bite.
off the.
head.
of the.
crow tha
confronted himx
I ran forward, ra
ing my.
word to.
trike the godd.
Luckily I never got cl.
e enough to do.
o�it would hav.
been the end of me. Mad with rage, Cuchulain reached ou
with h
left hand and.
eized the neck of the hound. In.
pit.
of h
withered arm, i'
ane anger lent him.
trength. H.
I.
turned.
and.
printed.
toward.
the.
river,.
.
.
he�.
i'
tructed. When I reached i
bank, I.
aw to my d
may tha
the water w.
high and f.
t flowing, a.
ilver torrent that
could not cr.
. Where w.
the ford? The Morrigan w.
ton.
. They lay to my left�eight of them, their to�
j
v
ible above the waterx
The Morrigan.
aw where I w.
heading and began t.
run, but I reached the ford fi�
t and took a mighty lea�
toward the fi�
t.
tone. It w.
wet and.
lippery, and I alm.
l.
t.
my.
balance..
But.
I.
managed.
to.
jump.
acr.
.
to.
th.
econd, and then the third. When I reached the fifth, I looke.
back. The Morrigan w.
leaping from.
tone to.
tone, toox
I�d half hoped that.
he wouldn�t be able to cr.
runnin
water. But, although in the gu
e of a witch,.
he w.
.
godd.
, and the torrent proved no barrier to her. Ther.
w.
j
t one more.
tone, then I could jump up onto th.
riverbank. However, the Morrigan w.
.
cl.
e.
behind m.
now. I would never make it. So I turned and held up m.
I could.
ee the entrance to the cave ahead, a dar�
gaping mouth in the.
ilver cliff. I hurried toward it. At on.
point.
I.
looked.
back..
The.
Morrigan.
had.
r
en.
and.
w.
following me again. She w.
n�t even running. Did.
he thin�
that I�d be unable to .
cape7
The cave w.
gloomy, but not .
dark .
it had fi�
eemed; it w.
gleaming with that.
ame m.
terio
.
ilve�
light that illuminated all of the Otherworld but the.
idhe.
tudied.
the.
back.
wall..
It.
looked.
hard�and.
olid..
I.
ra'
toward.
it.
.
.
Cuchulain.
had.
i'
tructed,.
but.
at.
the.
l.
moment.
I.
lowed.
a.
little.
and.
flinched,.
anticipating.
th.
impactx
I collided with.
olid rock�a tremendo
blow jarre.
me.
from.
head.
to.
toe..
I.
tumbled.
backward,.
the.
wor.
pinning from my hand, and lay there,.
tunned. My hea.
and kne.
hurt. I could t.
te blood in my mouthx
What.
had.
gone.
wrong?.
Perha�
.
the.
Morrigan.
ha.
worked.
ome type of enchantment, I thought. W.
that wh.
he�d.
trolled after me, not even bothering to run? I cam.
up onto my kne.
and crawled acr.
to the.
word. I took i
in my left hand and managed to get to my feet before takin
low, painful.
te�
toward the mouth of the cave. When
reached it, the godd.
w.
only a dozen pac.
awayw
advancing.
teadilyx
Time! No.
ooner had the thought entered my hea.
than.
the.
fi�
t.
peal.
of.
the.
midnight.
bell.
rang.
out.
in.
th.
d
tance. I knew that when the twelfth one.
ounded, tim.
back.
on.
earth.
would.
lurch.
forward..
I.
w.
.
d.
peratel.
wondering what to do next, and thought of what Cuchulai'
had.
aid about the doorwayx
The.
econd chime rang out�x
Full pelt�you had to run hard and f.
t at that bac�
wall of the cave. J
t now, I�d.
lowed and flinched at the l.
moment. It w.
difficult to imagine an impact harder tha'
the one I�d.
uffered, but it had to be done. It w.
my onl.
chance of getting back to the world I knew. But fi�
t I had t.
deal with the Morrigan�x
Then I.
truck out at her with my.
word, but the blo.
w.
delivered clu.
ily and in h.
te. The blade clange.
agai'
t.
olid rock, jarring my arm. The bell pealed again�x
cuffling of my boo
agai'
t the rocky ground, I could hea�
the.
low,.
teady pea
of the bell. By now I�d l.
t count. Ho.
long before the twelfth chime7
.
the godd.
ran at me again, I feinted to the leftw
then changed to a right cut, bringing my.
word down f.
tw
alm.
t horizontally, toward her. It w.
a perfect blow. .
if i
w.
.
licing through butter, the.
word took her head clea'
from her.
houlde�
. It fell to the ground with a.
ickenin
crunch, but then went.
pinning and rolling away down the hil
toward the.
ilver river belowx
W.
ting no time, I hurried back into the cave. F.
te�
and f.
ter I ran,.
traight toward the waiting wall of.
oli.
rock. It took all my willpower not to.
low down, not to flinc
or.
tw
t.
away..
I.
till.
felt.
a.
tremendo
.
blow�and.
the'
everything went blackx
I heard a d
tant final peal of the bell. Then.
ilencex
CHAPTER X~
NOBODY WILL HEAR YOU SCREAm
EVEN before I opened my ey.
, I felt a cool breeze on m.
face and the gr.
beneath my prone bodyx
I.
at up and looked about me; I realized I w.
.
til
holding the bloody.
word. It w.
alm.
t dark now. I w.
a
the center of the circle of.
tanding.
ton.
at Kenmare. Bu
had I returned in time? How long had p.
ed�a century7
I got to my feet and headed toward the pit. It w.
har.
to tell in the poor light, but it looked the.
ame. Had it bee'
abandoned, I thought, even a few mont
would have fille.
it with gr.
and wee.
x
Then I.
aw my.
taff lying on the ground. That gave m.
a fl.
h of real hope. The Spook would have come in.
earc
of me. He would have found the.
taff and taken it awayy
not left it lying therex
So I picked up the.
taff and.
et off for Shey.
ho
ex
When I arrived at the gate, there were two guar.
prowlin
about, but they nodded me through .
though nothing ha.
happenedx
When.
I.
walked.
into.
the.
hallway,.
the.
Spook.
an.
Grimalkin were.
tanding there. The witch .
.
in w.
carrying the.
tak.
, wrapped in.
acking, the Spook holdin
h
.
taff. I felt.
o relieved. Clearly l.
time had p.
e.
here than in the Otherworld. They both looked at me i'
.
ton
hmentx
�Are you hurt, lad?� my m.
ter .
kedx
I.
hook my head. �A few cu
and bru
.
, but nothin
erio
.}
�What.
happened?.
Where.
have.
you.
been?�.
h.
demandedx
�That.
word!� exclaimed Grimalkin, her ey.
wide wit
.
ton
hment, before I could a'
wer. �Let me.
ee it!}
She put down her bundle of.
pea�
, and I handed it t.
her. The witch .
.
in examined it cl.
ely but avoide.
touching the.
ilver-alloy bladex
She looked at me. �Do you know what th
?�.
h.
cried, peering at the.
trange mar�
engraved on the hil
and touching the carving of the.
kelt.
headx
I.
hook my head. What did.
he mean7
�It.
a hero.
word,.
crafted by one.
of the Old Go.
called Hepha.
t
,�.
he told me. �Only three were eve�
made, and th
the b.
t of them!}
I.
miled at her. �I met the hero!� I confirmed. �We wer.
in the Otherworld, and he gave me h
.
word. Without it
wouldn�t be here. The Morrigan attacked me, and I cut ofy
her head.}
truggle agai'
t the Fiend. Th
weapon giv.
a fa�
better chance of.
ucc.
. It go.
by another name that
peculiar to it alone�perha�
a name that better defin.
i
purp.
e. It h.
been called the D.
tiny Blade. The one wh.
wiel.
it fulfil
what he w.
born to achieve.}
�I.
don�t.
hold.
with.
that,�.
interrupted.
the.
Spook..
�W.
�I d
agree,�.
aid Grimalkinx
I had fallen .
leep on top of the cove�
,.
till wearing m.
When.
I.
h.
itated,.
Grimalkin.
hook.
her.
head.
an.
miled, her.
black-painted li�
parting enough for me t.
glim�
e.
the.
harp.
teeth.
behind..
�I�ve.
een.
kinny.
ri.
before!�.
he mocked. Then I.
aw that.
he w.
holding .
gray garment in her left handx
I.
unbuttoned.
my.
hirt.
and.
peeled.
it.
off..
Grimalki'
began expertly draping the garment around my ch.
t. .
he did.
o,.
he pa
ed, noting the mark on my arm wher.
Alice had once dug her nai
into my fl.
h. �Th
Alice.
mark,
n�t it?�.
he .
ked me. I nodded, my heart heavy a
the thought that I w.
never going to.
ee her againx
c
orx
I.
flinched.
and.
tepped.
backward..
Th.
e.
were.
th.
c
o�
.
he
ed to.
nip away the thumb bon.
of he�
enemi.
..
Some.
aid.
that.
he.
did.
o.
while.
they.
til
breathedx
But it w.
n�t my bon.
that.
he wanted. Quickly.
h.
cut away.
ome material, trimming the bottom of the.
hir
and then the.
leev.
,.
o that they now fin
hed above th.
elbowx
�Th
a padded unde�
hirt,�.
he explained. �You�l
wear.
it.
to.
top.
the.
tra�
.
and.
cabbard.
from.
chafin
agai'
t your.
kin.}
c
o�
,
ing a needle and thread.
he tacked it to th.
unde�
hirt with j
t a couple of deft.
titch.
x
Once.
he�d fin
hed, Grimalkin picked up the.
wor.
and handed it to me. �Sheath it!�.
he commandedx
�Am I to
e it right-handed?� I .
kedx
�You�ll
e either hand, but.
ince your primary weapo'
your.
taff, which you wield with your left hand, you.
houl.
draw the.
word with the other.}
I.
heathed the.
wordx
�Now draw it .
quickly .
you can!}
I obeyedx
�Now,�.
he.
aid with a grim.
mile, �it.
time to go dow'
to the cellar.}
The cellar w.
.
ituated far below the living quarte�
of th.
ho
e. I obediently followed Grimalkin down the long.
pira
of.
tone.
te�
. I'
ide, the flagged floor w.
empty.
ave fo�
a table p
hed back agai'
t the near wall. About a doze'
torch.
in wall bracke
lit the area. It looked like it ha.
recently been.
weptx
Grimalkin cl.
ed the heavy wooden door behind
w
and then turned the key in the lock before removing it an.
t.
ing it onto the tablex
I took a.
tep backward. Grimalkin took one toward mex
�There.
.
nowhere.
to.
run,.
Thom.
.
Ward,�.
he.
aid,.
he�
voice quiet and filled with malice. �You impaled me onc.
with your.
taff. I owe you for that�and I alwa.
pay m.
deb
. Nothing l.
than your life will.
uffice,.
o draw th.
It w.
true that I had once driven my.
taff through he�
elf-defe'
ey
he had.
been hunting me down, ready t.
take my life. But.
ince then we had fought together.
ide b.
ide; I�d thought that we were alli.
now, and that Grimalki'
had come to Kenmare in order to help
bind the Fiendx
Had it all been a lie? I wondered. W.
her need fo�
vengeance.
o great? Had.
he r.
cued me from the fort j
o that.
he could put an end to me in th
cellar he�
elf7
I.
w.
.
cared.
and.
my.
kne.
.
trembled..
I.
barel.
managed to get the.
word clear of i
.
cabbard before.
h.
attacked..
Drawing.
two.
blad.
.
at.
once,.
Grimalkin.
ra'
directly.
toward.
me..
I.
ra
ed.
the.
D.
tiny.
Blade.
an.
managed to deflect the one in her left hand, tw
ting awa.
To.
check.
the.
everity.
of.
my.
wound.
w.
.
a.
fool
m
take�one that alm.
t c.
t me my life. The moment
glanced down, Grimalkin took advantage of my la�
e an.
launched an all-out attack. I.
tumbled under her o'
laughtw
but.
omehow her blad.
m
ed mex
cari.
t thin
about the witch .
.
inx
I w.
beginning to d.
pair now. What chance did
have agai'
t Grimalkin? How could I hope to beat the m.
deadly.
.
.
in.
the.
Malkin.
clan.
had.
ever.
produced?.
realized that I had j
t one faint hope. Somehow, in the hea
of battle, I had to concentrate my mind and try to.
low dow'
time i
elf. That gift, inherited from Mam, had.
aved my lif.
on more than one occ.
ion. I had to attempt it nowx
tafy
. That.
how I had wounded her l.
t timex
It alm.
t caught her out again, but.
he dodged away t.
Grimalkin.
w.
.
moving.
toward.
me,.
her.
approac
alm.
t taking the form of a dance. She w.
balancing o'
her to.
and flexing her kne.
,.
kipping away to the leftw
ra
ing her arm to deliver a fatal blow to my heart. But he�
movemen
.
were.
lowing,.
and.
I.
w.
.
f.
ter..
My.
blad.
intercepted he�
and d.
hed it from her handx
I.
watched.
my.
word.
lice.
toward.
her.
unprotecte.
throat. But then I noticed.
omething e
e. Grimalkin w.
frozen in time, helpl.
, but.
he w.
a
o looking me in th.
eye�and.
miling! She w.
.
miling at me while my blad.
w.
inch.
from her throat.
At the l.
t moment I pulled the blade upward.
o that i
m
ed her. Then I.
tepped away and went into a crouchx
Why hadn�t I killed her while I had the chance? What w.
wrong with me? On the
le of Mona, I�d been unable to kil
Bony Lizzie when I�d had the opportunity. I had held bac�
then.
beca
e.
he.
w.
.
Alice.
.
mother..
But.
what.
w.
happening here? I .
ked m.
elfx
And.
uddenly I knew. I relaxed and allowed time t.
move on once more. Grimalkin quickly.
heathed her othe�
blade and moved toward me. She w.
.
till.
milingx
I realized then that it had been.
ome.
ort of trial. She�.
been t.
ting me. Then.
he.
pokex
�I once co'
ulted Martha Ri.
talk, then the forem.
cryer in Pendle,� Grimalkin.
aid, �and.
he told me that .
child had j
t been born who repr.
ented a force that migh
My han.
.
tarted to.
hake a little. Now that it w.
ove�
I felt a r
h of reliefx
�I wanted to.
trike fear into you. I needed to put yo
under pr.
ure.
o that you would fight .
if for your life.
have now had the opportunity to.
tudy your
e of the.
wor.
and know what nee.
to be done to improve it. I�ve.
poke'
.
with John Gregory and told him that I need at le.
t a wee�
to train you. He h.
agreed. Once you reach the require.
Grimalkin.
miled again. �Not exactly�but what I teac
you will be vital, beca
e denize'
of the dark, the Fiend.
ervan
, will.
eek you out. They will try to hunt you down,.
.
you will need.
kill to wield that.
word. It could mean th.
difference between life and death. .
I told you, the.
wor.
h.
another name, the D.
tiny Blade, and d.
pite wha
your m.
ter.
a.
, each of i
keepe�
fulfil
h
d.
tinyy
that which he w.
meant to achieve in th
life�while h.
bea�
it.}
�That.
oun.
too much like fate,� I.
aid, �the idea tha
the future
fixed. I�m with the Spook on that. I believe tha
each of
h.
.
ome free will,.
ome freedom of choice.}
Grimalkin.
hook.
her.
head..
�I.
know.
when.
I.
will.
diex
Martha Ri.
talk told me that, too. I am not meant to di.
here at your han.
.}
I.
nodded..
I.
knew.
the.
Spook.
would.
have.
though
Grimalkin.
faith in that prophecy fool
h indeedx
CHAPTER XXn
FROZEN IN TIMo
BILL Arkwright had once.
pent.
ix mont
training me, wit
an emph.
on the ph.
ical .
pec
of the.
pook.
tradew
particularly.
combat�fighting with.
taff. He had.
been .
hard t.
k-m.
ter, at tim.
verging on cruelty, and I ha.
ended up covered in bru
.
. It had been a painful an.
exha
ting experiencex
That, however, w.
nothing compared to what I wen
through.
in.
the.
week.
I.
pent.
under.
Grimalkin.
.
tutelagex
Much of my.
uffering w.
ca
ed by the.
heer terror I feltw
fighting.
head-to-head.
with.
the.
witch.
.
.
in..
He�
appearance w.
daunting enough, but in addition, her ey.
blazed with an intimidating ferocity, and I never knew whic
blade.
he would draw from the many.
heat
around he�
bodyx
She a
o p.
.
ed a ph.
ical.
trength that I could no
hope to match yet. I had to keep out of range. Once.
he go
a hand on me, I invariably ended up on my back, with th.
breath driven from my body and a blade at my throatx
She cut me, too, more than once. It would have bee'
good to have Alice at hand, with her healing her.
an.
poultic.
..
The.
pain.
of.
l.
ing.
my.
b.
t.
friend.
w.
.
til
undimin
hed�the.
harp edg.
of Grimalkin.
blad.
wer.
nothing compared to thatx
I.
oon became.
killed with the.
word�which now fel
like an exte'
ion of m.
elf�but the witch .
.
in w.
quick to tell me that th
w.
barely the beginning of what
would need to know. She.
aid that I would improve eac
time I fought for my life agai'
t an opponent who wanted t.
kill me�alwa.
.
uming that I.
urvived the encounterx
One of the.
kil
I w.
made to practice over and ove�
again w.
.
topping time while in combat. .
the wee�
progr.
ed, my control.
teadily improved. .
I�d alread.
hown, by
ing it I could match an opponent .
deadly .
Grimalkinx
All too.
oon, that week of inte'
e training came to .
cl.
e, and we were ready to face our great.
t challeng.
yetx
.
the.
un.
et, we left Shey.
ho
e and approached th.
pit. There were j
t the three of
: the Spook, Grimalkinw
and me. I w.
wearing my cloak, but beneath it lay th.
D.
tiny Blade in i
.
cabbard. The blood jar w.
in th.
pocket of my breech.
. During my training with the witchw
the Spook had been adding to h
B.
tiary, updating i
where.
p.
ible.
and.
writing.
a.
new.
ection.
on.
ou�
preparatio'
for binding the Fiendx
In my yea�
with the Spook, I had alwa.
expecte.
Alice to take part in th
t.
k�but it w.
not to be. She w.
gone forever now, and I had to learn to accept itx
Heaped cl.
e to the pit w.
the mound of.
oil that
had worked.
o hard to excavate. Mixed into it w.
a larg.
amount of.
alt and iron. They were not likely to have muc
power agai'
t the Fiend, but the Spook thought that if i
weakened.
him.
even.
lightly,.
it.
w.
.
worth.
a.
try..
If.
w.
If.
we.
failed�the.
Fiend.
would.
be.
quick.
to.
take.
h
revenge for what I had done; he�d fi�
t deal with me, then kil
the Spook and Grimalkin. After that, our.
ou
would fac.
an eternity of tormentx
I noticed that Grimalkin w.
carrying two.
ac�
: On.
contained the.
pea�
and.
nai
; the.
other w.
made.
oy
leather and appeared to be empty. It looked quite newy
had.
he.
titched it he�
elf? I wondered. She placed bot
ac�
.
on.
the.
ground.
and,.
already.
wearing.
her.
leathe�
glov.
, carefully unwrapped the four long.
pea�
. B.
id.
them.
were.
a.
number.
of.
long,.
broad-headed.
ilver-allo.
nai
, and two.
hort-handled lump hamme�
for driving the.
into the Fiend.
fl.
h..
One.
of th.
e.
he handed to th.
Spookx
By.
now the.
un had gone down and the light w.
beginning to fail, but the pit w.
lit by.
even lanter'
; thre.
were.
pended from the wooden gantry, the othe�
place.
on the ground cl.
e to i
four corne�
x
pear..
They.
were.
lender.
and.
flexible,.
and.
had.
har�
poin
..
The.
Spook.
and.
I.
took.
up.
p.
itio'
.
at.
opp.
it.
corne�
of the pit. Above, Grimalkin held the third.
pea�
with both han.
�the fourth lay on the ground b.
ide hery
and gazed down intentlyx
The Spook.
cleared h
throat. �Th
the momen
we�ve all been waiting for,� he.
aid.
olemnly. �One or mor.
of
may l.
e our liv.
. It will be well worth it if the Fiend
ucc.
fully.
bound. We.
hare the.
ame purp.
e, and
thank you both for.
tanding by my.
ide!}
It w.
an .
ton
hing declaration by my m.
ter. H.
had actually thanked a witch for working with him! Grimalki'
gave.
the.
faint.
t.
of.
mil.
.
and.
nodded.
toward.
him.
i'
acknowledgmentx
�It.
time,�.
aid the Spook, turning h
gaze toward mex
�Give me the blood jar!}
My mouth w.
dry and my han.
.
hook, but I w.
determined.
to.
do.
what.
w.
.
nec.
ary..
I.
foc
ed.
o'
controlling my breathing and calming m.
elf. Nervo
ly
took the jar out of my pocket, walked acr.
the pit, an.
handed it to him. How.
trange it w.
to think that Alice I ha.
pent.
o much time worrying that the cracked jar might l.
.
i
power and enable the Fiend to.
natch
away, and no.
the Spook w.
about to d.
troy itx
I.
quickly.
returned.
to.
my.
place..
For.
a.
moment.
th.
Spook.
tared at the.
mall earthen jar with an expr.
ion oy
d
t.
te, then held it highx
With a.
udden convu
ive movement, the Spook hurle.
it up out of the pit and agai'
t one of the.
tout woode'
pro�
.
that.
upported.
the.
gantry..
With.
a.
harp.
crack,.
i
It w.
done. The Fiend would arrive within.
econ.
x
Alice had alwa.
believed that if the jar broke, h
r.
po'
.
would be immediatex
However, the.
econ.
became minut.
�and nothin
happened..
I.
became.
une.
y..
Maybe.
it.
would.
be.
da.
before he arrived. If that were the c.
e, it would be difficul
to remain vigilant. Th
w.
not what we�d expectedx
The Fiend w.
approaching�x
I began to concentrate,.
ummoning my.
trength. Sto�
time too early, and the Fiend would be unable to enter th.
pit; do it too late, and he would.
eize control�and I woul.
be h
pr
oner,.
tuck like a fly trapped in amber while h.
did h
wo�
tx
The.
lanter'
.
hone.
brightly.
once.
more,.
and.
with.
.
terrifying.
bellow.
that.
eemed.
to.
make.
the.
whole.
worl.
hake, the Fiend appeared in the pit between me and th.
Spook. He radiated a lurid red light of h
own. D.
pite m.
terror, I w.
filled with hope. He had.
come. It could b.
donex
The Fiend w.
three tim.
the.
ize of the Spook, wit
a broad ch.
t, a long tail, cloven feet, and the curved hor'
of a ram, and he w.
covered in thick black hair. H
pupi
were two vertical.
li
, and he gave off a.
trong anima
The.
Fiend.
w.
n�t.
moving�controlling.
time.
ha.
become.
alm.
t.
econd.
nature.
to.
me.
now�but.
neithe�
were the Spook or Grimalkin. All w.
immobile and.
ilentx
My.
heart.
w.
.
till.
beating..
I.
w.
.
till.
breathing..
I.
ha.
I moved to.
tab toward him, but my.
pear moved ver.
Grimalkin�.
I.
thought..
Couldn�t.
he.
j
t wish.
hi.
away7
That hope w.
.
nuffed out i'
tantly. How could.
he7
She would be j
t like me, trapped in an i'
tant of timew
d.
perately wondering what could be done. She would no
w
h the Fiend away beca
e then he would .
cape he�
pea�
. Grimalkin had faith in me: She tr
ted me to defea
the Devil. But what if I couldn�th
And then my.
ight began to dimx
CHAPTER XXIn
THE DESTINY BLADo
EVEN .
my v
ion.
clouded, I.
continued the fight,.
onc.
again.
ummoning all my concentration. Even though I w.
facing defeat, I couldn�t give up. Not now. I remembered th.
advice given to me by Cuchulain: I m
t.
truggle on, n.
matter how hopel.
it.
eemed. And the thought of wha
the Fiend had been doing to Alice.
purred me on to mak.
one final effort. Even if I couldn�t get her back, I could hur
him, make him pay. Even if I w.
l.
ing, I would fight to th.
bitter endx
But then, j
t when it.
eemed that all hope w.
gonew
there w.
a.
udden.
change. I felt.
omething.
yield ver.
lightly. My heart began to thud i'
ide my ch.
ty
lowly a
fi�
t, then f.
ter and f.
ter! I w.
in control again, my bloo.
urging through my vei'
. The Fiend w.
.
tanding befor.
me, large and terrifying�but immobile. Now he w.
.
til
and I w.
moving.
I thr
t the.
ilver.
pear up into h
.
ide. There w.
momentary r.
tance, then a.
purt of black blood. I p
he.
it upward even harder, deep into h
hairy hide. The Fien.
creamed, a no
e that.
tabbed into my eardru.
; a cry oy
pain and anger, with the power to.
plit the earth .
unde�
and make the very.
ton.
bleed. It buffeted me.
o hard tha
I l.
t my concentration�and my grip on timex
Suddenly the Fiend bu�
t free of my control, tw
te.
toward me, and drove h
huge f
t downward. I ducked, fel
it br
h p.
t my hairx
But time w.
moving freely again, and now the othe�
were able to attack. The Fiend bellowed for a.
econd tim.
.
the Spook plunged h
own.
pear deep into h
hair.
belly, bringing him to h
kne.
x
Above, there w.
a fl.
h of forked lightning, followe.
immediately by a deep rumble of thunder. A.
torm bu�
overhead,.
torrential.
rain.
drumming.
into.
the.
ground..
I
eemed to have come from nowherex
I looked up and.
aw Grimalkin balanced on the bal
oy
her.
feet,.
taking.
careful.
aim..
The.
witch.
.
.
in.
neve�
m
edy
urely.
he wouldn�t th
time? My heart w.
in m.
mouth,.
but.
I.
needn�t.
have.
feared..
She.
thr
t.
downwar.
powerfully, and her.
pear pierced the Fiend.
back. It wen
right through h
body and, with an expl.
ion of black gorew
the bloodied point emerged from h
ch.
t. She�d.
peare.
h
heart with.
ilver. But would it be enough7
Lightning fl.
hed again, dividing the.
ky, and a fury oy
rain plummeted into the pit .
the witch .
.
in threw he�
econd.
pear to pierce the Fiend.
body within an inch oy
the fi�
t. H
heart w.
now tra'
fixed by two.
ilver.
pea�
x
He gave a great groan of pain and bowed forward, bloo.
and.
aliva dripping from h
open mouth. Grimalkin no.
leaped down into the pit to h
left. In one hand w.
th.
hammer; in the other gloved hand, a f
tful of.
ilver nai
x
Meanwhile, the Spook moved toward the Fiend.
right armx
I.
watched.
my.
m.
ter.
quickly.
drive.
a.
nail.
into.
th.
Fiend.
right hand, the m
cl.
bunching in h
.
houlder .
he.
wung the heavy hammer with a rhythm and power tha
belied.
h
.
age..
Secon.
.
later,.
working.
.
.
a.
team,.
th.
Spook and Grimalkin had driven a nail through each of th.
Fiend.
ankl.
. .
he roared with pain, Grimalkin pointe.
toward mex
�H
head!�.
he cried. �Now! Strike off h
head! Do i
now!}
houlde�
. It fell into the pit and rolled away, to end up a
Grimalkin.
feetx
My ey.
met the Spook.
, but there w.
no victor.
there. He.
imply noddedx
Grimalkin.
eized the head by the curved hor'
an.
held it aloft. Black blood dripped from it, and the Fiend.
wollen li�
moved over h
.
hattered teeth .
if he w.
trying to.
peak. But h
ey.
had rolled up into h
head�
only the whit.
were.
howing. Grimalkin.
prang out of th.
pit and p
hed the head into the new leather.
ack. Afte�
tying the neck.
ecurely,.
he returned to the pit, where th.
Fiend.
decapitated body.
till.
huddered and writhedx
kin,.
we.
worked.
rapidly,.
frantic.
to.
hide.
the.
mo'
tro
be.
t, not knowing yet what he w.
capable of. I wondere.
whether, even without a head, he could tear hi.
elf freex
Gradually h
.
truggl.
l.
ened; the groa'
from the hea.
in the.
ack were quieter, toox
But Grimalkin w.
n�t fin
hed yet. She added to th.
dragon.
threat by c.
ting a cloaking.
pell of her own, t.
hide the Fiend.
pr.
ence from the.
ervan
of the darkx
The Spook turned h
back .
.
he completed the ritualw
walking three tim.
around the ou
ide of the.
ton.
; .
he walked,.
he chanted her powerful.
pellx
At l.
t.
he came to.
tand b.
ide
. It.
eemed tha
we�d.
ucceeded. The great be.
t w.
bound; d.
pite al
h
effor
, he had been unable to tear hi.
elf free. W.
remained.
tanding there for.
ome time,.
aying.
nothingw
hardly able to believe what we�d j
t accompl
hedx
�The Fiend
n�t bound forever, though,
he?� I dare.
.
k, my voice hardly more than a wh
per. �One way o�
another, one day he�ll be free�.}
�Nothing l.
forever, lad,�.
aid the Spook, frowningx
�But now he can�t leave that.
hape beca
e h
fl.
h
pierced.
with.
ilver.
and.
he.
.
bound.
to.
the.
rock..
An.
eparating.
him.
from.
h
.
head.
mak.
.
the.
binding.
eve'
tronger. He�ll be here until we find a way to put an end t.
him for good..
But what I fear m.
t
that.
omeone.
o�
omething.
e
e.
might.
rele.
e.
him..
That.
.
the.
bigg.
danger now.}
I drew the.
word and held it toward her, hilt fi�
t. �Tak.
the.
word,� I.
aid. �It will help!}
Grimalkin.
hook.
her.
head..
�No,.
I.
have.
my.
ow'
weapo'
, and your need will be greater. Remember, th.
ervan
of the Fiend will follow you too. They will know wha
h.
been done�and recognize your part in it. B.
id.
, yo
are the keeper of the D.
tiny Blade now. You will kno.
when it
time to hand it on to another. .
we drove th.
ilver.
pea�
into the body of the Fiend, we drove a.
liver oy
fear into all denize'
of the dark, no matter how powerfulx
They now know what it
like to be afraid. And from th.
moment you.
liced off the Fiend.
head, your d.
tiny w.
changed..
Where.
once.
you.
were.
hunted,.
now.
you.
hav.
become the hunter of the dark!}
The.
Spook.
glanced.
at.
me.
ternly..
�B.
t.
take.
he�
wor.
with a pinch of.
alt. The truth
that after your fool
pact, you were lucky to get another chance, lad,� he.
aidw
haking h
head. �She.
right on one count, though: Ther.
will be a final reckoning with the Fiend. Until then, we�v.
bought ou�
elv.
a bit of r.
pite. We need to put it to goo.
e.}
CHAPTER XXIIn
COVERED IN BLOOj
WE.
tayed.
on at Shey� houe while the.
bud.
on th.
hawthorn hedg.
bu�
t into leaf and the.
un coaxed the fi�
reluctant.
pring.
flowe�
.
into.
bloom..
Bl
tery.
win.
.
til
occ.
ionally drove.
qual
of rain in from the w.
t, but whe'
the.
un did.
hine, it had real warmthx
Good ne.
had arrived from the County. .
Grimalki'
had predicted, both the Lowland and Highland Sco
ha.
joined a coalition of the free northern counti.
. A big battl.
had.
been fought north of Kendal. The enemy had bee'
driven.
outh, but the conflict w.
far from over yet. They ha.
regrouped.
near.
Pri.
town,.
and.
another.
battle.
w.
imminent. Each day I waited expectantly, hoping for ne.
.
wanted to go homex
The guar.
around the ho
e had been doubled eve�
ince one of them had m.
terio
ly d
appeared without .
trace. I had noted Grimalkin.
warning, but I had not.
ee'
any.
ign of the.
ervan
of the dark. The long war betwee'
the mag.
and the landowne�
had once more.
ettled int.
the.
une.
y.
talemate.
that.
had.
endured.
for.
centuri.
x
D.
pite our b.
t effor
, nothing had really changedx
The do
.
e'
ed.
omething fi�
t. All three.
of the.
taring.
toward.
a.
wood.
about.
half.
a.
mile.
to.
the.
w.
tx
Suddenly, with Claw in the lead, they bounded away towar.
it, yelping excitedly. I called them back, but they ignore.
me,.
o I had no choice but to run after themx
I thought it w.
unlikely to be a rabbit or a hare. Claww
Blood,.
and.
Bone.
were.
ually.
obedient.
do
,.
and.
n.
matter how.
trong the.
cent they�d picked up, once given .
command, they came to heel. What w.
wrong with them7
She.
w.
.
lying.
on.
her.
back.
with.
her.
head.
r.
tin
agai'
t the log. Although young, her hair w.
white. It w.
not a pretty .
h blond, but the.
tark white of old age. Sh.
w.
.
wearing.
pointy.
ho.
..
With.
a.
hock,.
I.
uddenl.
recognized her: Alicex
Pan.
topped.
playing.
and.
lowered.
h
.
pipex
Immediately all the anima
, with the exception of my do
w
fled into the tre.
. Above my head, there w.
a beating oy
win
.
.
.
the.
bir.
.
d
pe�
ed..
Claw,.
Blood,.
and.
Bon.
moved toward me and began to whine.
oftly. Now that th.
m
ic had.
topped, they were afraidx
I.
tared at Alice, a mixture of though
and emotio'
churning within me. In part I w.
filled with joy. She w.
back, when I had never ever expected to.
ee her again. Bu
there w.
clearly.
omething wrong, and I w.
alarmedx
Before.
I.
could.
ay.
anything,.
Pan.
poke..
�I.
did.
no
forget you, nor what you .
ked;.
o, in gratitude for freein
me from the body of the goat, I�ve brought your friend back,}
he.
aid in lilting ton.
. �When you bound the Fiend, th.
wal
of h
domain were weakened, and I w.
able t.
enter. What you did w.
brave but fool
h. H
.
ervan
ar.
after your head now. Sooner or later they will take it.}
Contradictory emotio'
.
wirled within me: joy at havin
Alice returned to me, d
may at what had been done to herx
�What.
wrong with her?� I murmured, kneeling b.
id.
her, my happin.
tempered by the change I.
aw. I.
troke.
her face, but.
he flinched away from me like a wild animalw
her ey.
filled with terrorx
�She.
h.
.
dwelled.
in.
the.
Fiend.
.
domain.
and.
ee'
thin
.
uch .
no living mortal.
hould ever witn.
. N.
doubt.
he h.
been.
ubjected to many tormen
, too. I fea�
for her mind.}
�Will.
he ever recover?� I .
kedx
�Who can.
ay?� a'
wered Pan with a carel.
.
mile. �
have done what I can. But dealing with the Fiend
on.
more thing I have to thank you for. Practitione�
of dar�
magic the world over have been weakened by what yo
have accompl
hed. The mag.
will now lack the.
trengt
to bind me. I will be able to keep my magic for m.
elf!}
He.
miled again, and.
lowly began to fade from.
ightx
For a few.
econ.
he lingered .
a gh.
tly tra'
paren
figure; then he w.
gone. Within momen
, the bir.
bega'
to.
ing again and a breeze.
ighed through the tre.
x
But.
he didn�t r.
pond and j
t.
tared at me, her ey.
wide with fear and bewilderment. I tried to help her to he�
feet, but.
he.
natched her hand away and.
crambled u�
behind the log. Apart from her white hair,.
he looked lik.
my friend, the Alice I remembered, but her mind.
eeme.
changed utterly. Had.
he any recollection of me? Did.
h.
even know her own name? It didn�t.
eem.
ox
Alice.
tared at me.
ullenly.
but made.
no reponex
Short of dragging her along by force, there w.
only on.
thing I could do. I turned to the do
x
For a moment.
he remained rooted to the.
pot. I
|
w.
n�t until Claw gave a warning bark and bared her teet
that.
he.
tarted to move. So it w.
that they herded Alic.
along like a.
tray.
heep. It took a long time beca
e.
h.
kept trying to break free and had to be brought back an.
forced in the right direction. It w.
n�t e.
y for the do
, an.
they were in.
ome danger the.
elv.
. Every.
o often Alic.
would.
narl and lunge toward them with her razor�
har�
nai
x
�Her.
re.
on.
.
fled,�.
aid.
the.
Spook,.
�and.
there.
.
n.
guarantee that.
he�ll ever be he�
elf again. And
it an.
wonder?.
Some.
fol�
.
have.
been.
driven.
completely.
ma.
after j
t one glim�
e of a creature of the dark; the poo�
girl.
actually.
pent time in the domain of the Fiend. Th.
outlook.
not good, I�m afraid.}
Alice w.
cowering in a corner of the yard,.
urrounde.
by the three do
. Every.
o often, a glimmer of cunnin
fl.
hed into her ey.
and.
he.
truck out. Claw already ha.
a bloody.
cratch j
t above her right eyex
�There.
got to be.
ome way to make her better,�
aidx
The.
Spook.
hrugged..
�Shey.
h.
.
ent.
for.
the.
loca
doctor, but I.
pect he�ll be wo�
e than
el.
, lad. Wha
do docto�
know about the dark and i
power?}
�Maybe a witch could help?� I.
ugg.
ted, anticipatin
the Spook.
reaction�which w.
a flicker of anger acr.
h
brow. �I mean a benign witch, a healer,� I continue.
quickly. �There are a few back in the County. There.
he�
aunt, Agn.
Sowerbut
.}
I nodded. It w.
n�t p.
ible yet. I j
t hoped that th.
imminent battle would go our way and we would be able t.
return.
oonx
.
the Spook had warned, the doctor w.
n�t any helpx
He merely left.
ome medicine to make Alice.
leep. At d
�
we tried to d.
e her, but it w.
n�t e.
y. We needed th.
.
tance.
of.
three.
of.
Shey.
.
mai.
.
to.
hold.
her.
downx
D.
pite that,.
he.
pat out the fi�
t three mouthfu
. The'
they held her n.
e, forcing her to.
wallow. Once.
he w.
.
leep, they put her to bed and we locked the door of he�
roomx
I.
awoke.
uddenly,.
aware.
that.
omething.
w.
.
wrongx
Immediately I heard the no
e of pointy.
ho.
cr.
ing .
wooden floor, and I.
at bolt upright in bed. Alice.
roo.
w.
next to minex
Then, in the d
tance, I.
aw the.
ilhouette of a girl�bu
he w.
not where I expected her to be. Alice hadn�t mad.
for the gate. She had climbed the garden wall and w.
alm.
t over it.
lippery,.
o I ended up falling back and landing awkwardlyx
Alice.
had.
made.
it.
look.
o.
e.
y..
The.
econd.
time,.
managed to.
cramble quickly up onto the top of the wall. I�.
j
t come cl.
e to tw
ting my ankle,.
o I w.
n�t taking an.
chanc.
:.
I.
turned.
around.
carefully,.
holding.
on.
tight.
an.
lowering my body before dropping down into a cobble.
yard. I rolled over once but came to my feet quickly an.
peered out into the darkn.
, trying to locate Alicex
There w.
no moon, and I had to rely on.
tarlight. Bu
even though I could.
ee in the dark better than m.
t othe�
people, I could.
ee no.
ign of Alice. So I concentratedw
cl.
ed my ey.
, and l
tenedx
With.
a.
trong.
e'
e.
of.
une.
e,.
I.
recalled.
a.
dar�
memory from my childhood. One night, a fox had raided m.
dad.
.
henho
e..
When.
we.
arrived,.
bleary-eyed,.
force.
from our be.
by a terrible cacophony of.
oun.
, five wer.
already dead. Blood and feathe�
were everywherex
But th
time it w.
n�t a fox terrorizing the chicke'
�i
w.
Alice. I couldn�t.
ee her, but even above the.
quawkin
of the bir.
I could hear.
omething.
o grot.
que that at fi�
my mind ref
ed to accept what it w.
. I crouched dow'
cl.
e to the wooden pen, frozen to the.
pot. Then I hear.
hou
and the thud of heavy boo
running toward
. Nex
thing I knew,.
omeone w.
holding up a flaming torch t.
reveal the horror withinx
Alice w.
on her kne.
in the middle of the coop;.
h.
w.
.
urrounded by dead and dying bir.
. Some had ha.
their hea.
or win
torn off. One headl.
chicken w.
till running around. Alice held a dead bird in each handx
She�d been eating them raw, and her mouth w.
covered i'
bloodx
CHAPTER XXIv
POOR TOm
ALICE w.
a predator, no better than a wild animal fille.
with blood l
t. It.
hook me to the core to.
ee her behavin
like th
. The Spook w.
right: Her mind w.
completel.
unhinged. Did any part of the Alice I�d known.
till remain, o�
w.
.
he now a total.
tranger7
The guard holding the torch.
wore. Another lifted .
club and made to enter the pen. Alice lurched to her feetw
and for a moment I thought.
he w.
going to attack himx
But then.
he jumped. It w.
an imp.
ible leap that.
en
her.
oaring right over h
head, and over the gate behin.
him, to land in the mud ou
ide. Then, without a backwar.
glance,.
he ran off into the darkn.
x
I took one look at the.
tartled fac.
of the guar.
, the'
turned.
and.
followed.
her..
She.
w.
.
heading.
for.
th.
unguarded gat.
, and although I w.
.
printing, d.
perat.
to catch her,.
he.
eemed to be p.
.
ed of an unnatura
trength. Alice w.
pulling away from me with every.
tridew
and the.
ound of her pointy.
ho.
hitting the gr.
w.
becoming fainter and fainterx
Soon my breath w.
r.
ping in my throat and I bega'
to tire. I.
lowed down and continued in the.
ame directionx
Surely.
he couldn�t keep up that pace for much longer,
thought. Every.
o often I halted, pa
ed, and l
tened. Bu
there w.
nothing to be heard�only the.
ighing of the win.
in the tre.
and the occ.
ional eerie cry of.
ome nocturna
creature. But then, at l.
t, the cr.
cent moon came up, an.
I w.
finally able to employ.
ome of the tracking.
kil
th.
Spook had taught me. Soon I found Alice.
footprin
on th.
edge of a co�
e, confirming that I w.
.
till on her trailx
It w.
n�t long before I began to feel une.
y. Normall.
I�d never have ventured out without my.
taff, but I�d been.
.
worried about Alice that I�d followed her i'
tinctively, withou
thinking. .
for the D.
tiny Blade, I�d left it in the.
heath tha
Grimalkin had made. My.
ilver chain w.
back in my bagw
and I hadn�t even filled my pocke
with.
alt and iron. I w.
completely unarmed�and cold, too, in j
t my.
hirt an.
breech.
. I w.
completely unprepared, and each.
tep
took away from the houe.
could well.
be incre.
ing m.
danger. Hadn�t I been warned that the denize'
of the dar�
would be after me in revenge for the part I�d played i'
binding the Fiend? While I tracked Alice,.
omething coul.
well be hunting met
Alarmed by that p.
ibility, I halted and.
lowly turne.
through a full circle,.
earching my immediate.
urroundin
x
I.
could.
neither.
ee.
nor.
e'
e.
anything..
There.
w.
.
n.
feeling of cold warning me that.
omething from the dar�
w.
near. So,.
till nervo
and very vigilant, I continued o'
my way. I couldn�t leave Alice alone out here, whatever th.
r
kx
Another hour p.
ed, and I found more indicatio'
tha
I w.
.
till.
on the right track. .
well .
another.
et.
oy
footprint, I.
potted a piece torn from Alice� dr.
.
he�d walked.
traight through a patch of brambl.
. At le.
the.
hape and depth of the prin
told me that.
he w.
n.
longer running,.
o I hurried on, hopeful of catching her a
l.
t. I continued until I reached the edge of a wooded hillx
The next.
et of prin
I found made my heart plung.
right.
down.
into.
my.
boo
..
There.
were.
ome.
that.
didn�
belong to Alice. There w.
a
o evidence of a.
truggle, th.
ground churned to mud�and.
potted with blood. From th.
mar�
I .
timated that Alice had been.
eized by a group oy
peoplex
I.
felt.
o.
fool
h�an.
apprentice.
pook.
with.
n.
weapo'
!�but.
how.
could.
I.
abandon.
Alice.
now?.
So.
moved.
cautio
ly.
into.
the.
tre.
,.
came.
to.
a.
halt,.
an.
l
tened. There w.
a deep and utter.
ilence. It w.
.
iy
everything w.
holding i
breath. Slowly, trying not to mak.
the.
light.
t no
e, I took another few.
te�
, then l
tene.
again. Silence. I felt incre.
ingly une.
yx
.
.
I.
neared.
the.
ummit.
of.
the.
hill,.
I.
e'
ed.
om.
u'
een pe�
on watching me. However, the fi�
t ey.
I.
a.
weren�t human. I looked up. The tre.
above were full oy
cro.
. I noted their.
harp bea�
and gl.
y black feathe�
w
the razor�
harp cla.
cutting into the branch.
. My hear
began to beat f.
ter. W.
the Morrigan here? I wonderedx
The bir.
were.
till, but when I lowered my gaze, I.
a.
omething that made my mouth go dry with fearx
At le.
t th
man w.
now dead and beyond furthe�
pain. And there w.
no.
e'
ation of cold to tell me that h
pirit.
till lingered nearby. No, the cold only gripped m.
when I continued beyond him toward the next tree. Alic.
w.
.
itting there in the.
ame p.
ition, back agai'
t th.
trunk, wr
tied to it with twine, forced upward at an angl.
of forty-five degre.
. The bindin
were very tight�I coul.
I r
hed toward her and.
aw the blood congealed o'
the twine. She looked up at me then. Her ey.
were.
til
there, but they.
aw no more than the empty.
ocke
of th.
dead man. She gazed right through me .
if I didn�t ex
tx
When I knelt down before her,.
he whimpered. Her whol.
body w.
trembling. I touched her brow gently. How could
untie her ar.
without hurting her7
�Alice,� I.
aid.
oftly. �I�m.
o.
orry. I�ll try to help, but th
might hurt a little�.}
Suddenly.
the.
e'
ation.
of.
cold.
down.
my.
pin.
inte'
ified. Something from the dark w.
approachingx
�Try feeling.
orry for yourself, boy!�.
omeone.
houte.
behind me. �Soon you�ll be hurting too!}
I.
whirled.
around,.
recognizing.
the.
voice,.
and.
cam.
face-to-face.
with.
the.
witch.
Scarabek;.
Konal.
w.
.
no.
Mag.
r
hed forward, and I.
truck out at the near.
with the branch, brand
hing it frantically to make him kee�
h
d
tance. But it w.
el.
agai'
t men with.
wor.
x
Two cu
, and I found m.
elf holding j
t a.
hort woode'
tump in my handx
�Drop.
it,.
or.
the.
next.
cut.
will.
ever.
your.
hand!�.
th.
near.
t mage warnedx
I obeyed and t.
ed it away, and w.
immediatel.
he will not forget it. Since then you have bound the Fien.
�a deed that h.
hurt all th.
e who.
erve the dark. Fo�
that,.
he comman.
that you.
hall die a.
low, painful deathx
Not for you the quick death of my loyal h
band, Shaun. W.
hall tie you to th
tree and let the Morrigan.
cro.
pec�
out your ey.
. After that we will cut you away piece b.
piece,.
tarting with your finge�
. We will.
ever them knuckl.
by.
knuckle,.
a.
mo�
el.
for.
each.
hungry.
beak.
that.
wai
above! We will.
trip the fl.
h from your bon.
until only you�
keleton remai'
! Bind him to the tree!�.
he orderedx
I looked up and.
aw the witch.
tanding before me. �M.
Shaun i dead.
becaue.
of.
you,�.
he.
narled. She w.
holding out her left wr
t like a falconer. But it w.
n�t .
falcon that w.
perched there. It w.
a huge black greedy�
eyed crow, i
beak agapex
�We�ll.
tart with the left eye fi�
t,�.
he.
aidx
�Aye,.
girl,�.
aid.
Scarabek,.
turning.
to.
neer.
at.
herx
�He.
hurt, all right, but th
only the beginning.}
The.
crow.
unfurled.
i
.
win
.
and.
flew.
onto.
my.
lef
Scarabek.
gave.
a.
udden.
hriek.
of.
anger.
and.
ra'
tumbled.
to.
her.
kne.
..
Alice.
laughed.
h.
terically.
.
Scarabek tw
ted toward me and.
taggered to her fee
againx
The witch.
eemed to have forgotten all about Alicex
She w.
now approaching me very.
lowly, u'
teadily. Bu
he w.
.
till holding the blade, and her intent w.
clear.
noticed the mag.
.
taring at her with loo�
of utter horro�
on their fac.
. She w.
going to cut me�no doubt keepin
a thumb bone for he�
elf. I w.
terrifiedx
Scarabek.
taggered again,.
till lurching toward mex
.
.
he did.
o, Konal gave a bloodcurdling.
queal. Whethe�
mortally wounded or not, the witch.
till had enough life in he�
to wield the blade. It.
eemed .
though nothing could.
av.
mex
A huge crack.
uddenly opened in the earth. With .
grinding,.
plintering roar, it gaped wider, moving towar.
Scarabek f.
ter than a pe�
on could run. At the very l.
moment.
he tried to leap clear, but it w.
too late. Th.
earth.
wallowed.
her.
up.
and.
cl.
ed.
with.
a.
dee�
reverberating thud, leaving only the finge�
of her left han.
v
iblex
With ha�
h cri.
, the flock of cro.
quickly took flight�
then the earth beneath my feet began to buck and.
hakew
y
and the.
urface became .
liquid .
an ocean, with wav.
rolling acr.
the for.
t floor. They.
eemed to be radiatin
from where Alice w.
.
tanding, and even above the no
e
could hear her chanting a.
pell in the Old Tongue. Mag.
and their.
ervan
were now running in all directio'
x
The tre.
were leaning at.
crazy angl.
, their roo
d
lodged.
by.
the.
violent.
movement..
Then,.
uddenlyw
everything became.
till and quiet again, .
if the whol.
world.
w.
.
holding.
i
.
breath,.
appalled.
at.
what.
ha.
happened. Now there w.
only one thing moving; one ne.
Alice w.
.
pinning, dancing acr.
the gr.
with he�
ar.
extended,.
blood.
till dripping from her wr
. He�
ey.
.
were.
cl.
ed,.
and.
he.
w.
.
miling.
and.
hummin
ing j
t loud enough for me to hear the wor.
x
At that, Alice.
eemed to l.
e her.
balance and fel
down.
hard,.
giggling..
Then.
he.
put.
back.
her.
head.
an.
laughed loudly, and it w.
a long time before.
he.
toppedx
Finally.
he w.
quiet, and a.
olemn expr.
ion.
ettle.
upon her face. She began to crawl toward me, coming.
.
cl.
e that our fac.
were alm.
t touchingx
�I can make �em all fall down, Tom. Ain�t that true7
Even Grimalkin, the.
trong.
t of �em all�I could do it t.
her, too. Don�t you believe me?}
She w.
.
taring intently into my ey.
. I.
nodded i'
agreement,.
imply to humor her. My wr
were.
till burnin
and throbbing, and I felt .
if I w.
going to be.
ick an.
moment, the bile r
ing in my throatx
I lowered my ar.
, relieved to be free. No matter wha
dark powe�
Alice had
ed, at that moment I truly didn�
care. I had my life back when I thought I�d l.
t itx
I noddedx
�Then it.
b.
t we get away from here. The on.
wh.
got away won�t.
tay.
cared forever. They�re mag.
an.
ed to dealing with the dark.}
I.
tared at Alice. Apart from the color of her hair,.
h.
eemed alm.
t back to normal. �Are you better, Alice?�
.
kedx
She.
bit her top lip and.
hook her head. Her ey.
brimmed with tea�
. �Better? I�ll never be better now, Tomx
But I want to be with you. I want that more than anything e
.
in the world. It.
what.
j
t.
aved
both.}
I.
ighed and.
hook my head. �We need to talk about al
th
. Where did you get the power to do that?}
I nodded. �Y.
, it.
true. We�re free again, Alice.}
She.
miled and took my hand. �So we have a littl.
time, Tom�a little breathing.
pace to think of a way to.
or
him out once and for all.}
Alice nodded.
adly. �I remember everything,�.
he.
aidx
�I�ll try and explain tomorrow.}
.
we.
et off, I looked back. Four or five cro.
wer.
pecking.
at.
omething.
on.
the.
gr.
..
One.
took.
flightw
y
wooping.
low.
over.
.
before.
oaring.
up.
to.
land.
on.
.
branch. It i
beak it w.
holding one of the dead witch.
finge�
x
I gripped Alice.
hand even more tightly. It w.
good t.
be together againx
Back at the ho
e, it took all my powe�
of pe�
u.
ion t.
deflect Shey.
anger from Alice. But, with the Spook.
helpw
he and h
men were finally pe�
uaded that.
he had bee'
under the influence of a.
pell, but w.
now r.
tored to he�
old.
elfx
�Good ne.
, lad, really good ne.
. The enemy h.
been defeated in a big battle north of Pri.
town, and the.
have fled in d
array to the very.
outhern border.
of th.
County. They are now in full retreat. We can go home, ladw
back to the County. I can rebuild my ho
e and.
tart t.
collect and write boo�
for a new library!� There were tea�
gl
tening in h
ey.
; tea�
of hope and joyx
But d.
pite that good ne.
, I dreaded my forthcomin
talk with Alice. What had happened to her in the dark7
What had.
he become? Why could.
he never be bette�
again? W.
.
he a malevolent witch at l.
t? The way.
h.
had.
lain our enemi.
the previo
night made it look tha
wayx
She w.
.
itting on the edge of the bed,.
taring throug
the window into the darkn.
. .
I entered the room,.
oftl.
cl.
ing the door behind me,.
he turned toward me an.
�
it beca
e you�ve.
pent.
o long in the dark, do yo
think?�.
I.
.
ked,.
keeping.
my.
voice.
low..
�
.
that.
what.
changed you?}
�M
t be, Tom, and I can�t help it. When I came bac�
from the dark, I didn�t think it w.
real at fi�
t. I thought I w.
�When.
I.
w.
.
trapped.
in.
the.
dark,.
the.
devil.
tha
pretended to be you had h
ar.
covered. But here, .
oon .
they ripped your.
leev.
off, I.
aw my brand o'
your arm, Tom. That mark
very.
pecial to me and you�i
couldn�t be faked even by the Fiend hi.
elf!}
The.
ca�
.
he�d left on my arm had never faded. It w.
her.
pecial brand that marked me .
belonging to her an.
no other witchx
Alice.
hivered,.
o I leaned forward and put my ar.
around.
her.
houlder..
It.
w.
.
a.
long.
time.
before.
h.
a'
weredx
Th
w.
really worrying. If my m.
ter had firm prooy
that Alice w.
a dark witch, he�d bind her in a pit for the r.
of her life; no matter how good a friend.
he�d proved, h.
would do what he thought w.
h
duty .
a.
pookx
She was born with the heart of a witch, and she�s littlc
choice but to follow that patht
In my mind there w.
no doubt that the latter w.
truex
But w.
it p.
ible that Alice could become a malevolen
witch and still be my ally? W.
n�t that true of Grimalkin7
poke.
lowly. �I think I�ve.
brought power.
back from th.
dark�y
he pa
ed and looked at me��but I�ve alwa.
ha.
more power than I�ve.
hown to you, Tom. I w.
warned b.
omeone not to
e it, to bury it deep i'
ide me and try t.
forget it w.
there. Do you know why, Tom?}
I.
hook my headx
�Beca
e.
each.
time.
you.
e.
uch.
dark.
power,.
i
chang.
you. Bit by bit you get cl.
er to the dark, unti
eventually you are part of it. Then you�ve l.
t you�
elf an.
can never get back to what you once were.}
I unde�
tood. Th
w.
why the Spook feared.
o muc
for
both. I remembered.
omething Mam had once.
ai.
to me when I told her how lonely my life .
a.
pook w.
provingx
How can you be lonely? You�ve got yourself, haven�k
you? If you ever lose yourself, then you�ll really be lonelyt
THOMAS J. WAR^
ARE YOU STRONG ENOUGH TO READ�
� BOOK ONE �
THE LAST APPRENTICE.
REVENGE Of THE WITC
� BOOK TWO �
THE LAST APPRENTICE.
CURSE Of THE BAN.
� BOOK THREE �
THE LAST APPRENTICE.
NIGHT Of THE SOUL STEALEu
� BOOK FOUR �
THE LAST APPRENTICE.
ATTACK Of THE FIEN�
� BOOK FIVE �
THE LAST APPRENTICE.
WRATH Of THE BLOODEY.
� BOOK SIX �
THE LAST APPRENTICE.
CLASH Of THE DEMONz
� BOOK SEVEN �
THE LAST APPRENTICE.
RISE Of THE HUNTRESz
JosephW
Delaney.
.
a.
former.
Engl
h.
teacher.
living.
i'
Lanc.
hire, England. H
home
in the middle of boggar
territory,.
and.
h
.
village.
h.
.
a.
boggart.
called.
the.
Hal
Knocker, which w.
laid to r.
t under the.
tep of a ho
.
near the churchx
M.
t of the plac.
in the L.
t Apprentice boo�
ar.
b.
ed on real plac.
in Lanc.
hire, and the i'
piratio'
behind the.
tori.
often com.
from local gh.
t.
tori.
an.
legen.
x
www.l.
tapprentice.co.
PatrickW
Arrasmith.
ill
trat.
.
boo�
,.
magazin.
,.
an.
ne.
pape�
..
H
.
work.
h.
.
appeared.
in.
the Newp
Yor}
Times, Forbes,.
the Villagep
Voice,.
and.
boo�
.
uch.
.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfulsx
H
.
artwork.
.
cratchboard�a.
mall.
blade.
.
ed.
t.
www.patrickarr.
mith.co.
V
it www.AuthorTracker.com for excl
ive information o'
your favorite HarperColli'
authorx
Copyrigh[
Th
book
a work of fiction. Referenc.
to real peoplew
even
,.
.
tabl
hmen
,.
organizatio'
,.
or.
local.
.
ar.
intended only to provide a.
e'
e of authenticity, and ar.
ed to advance the fictional narrative. All other characte�
w
and all inciden
and dialogue, are drawn from the author.
imagination and are not to be co'
trued .
realx
Fi�
t publ
hed in 2011 in Great Britain by The Bodle.
Head, an imprint of Random Ho
e Children.
Boo�
w
under the title The Spook�s Destinyt
Fi�
t publ
hed in 2011 in the United Stat.
by Greenwillo.
Boo�
x
Ill
tratio'
copyright � 2011 by Patrick Arr.
mit
Library of Congr.
Cataloging-in-Publication Dat.
Delaney, J.
eph, (date)x
[Spook.
d.
tiny
Rage of the fallen / by J.
eph Delaney; ill
tratio'
b.
Patrick Arr.
mithx
p. cm.�(The l.
t apprentice; [8].
�Greenwillow Boo�
.}
ISBN 978-0-06-202
6-6 (trade bdg..
[1. Apprentic.
�Fiction. 2. Supernatural�Fiction. 3x
Witch.
�Fiction.
I. Arr.
mith, Patrick, ill. II. Titlex
FIRST EDITIOr
EPub Edition � MARCH 2011 ISBN: 978-0-06-202
9-
11 12 13 14 .
About the Publishe^
AustraliY
HarperColli'
Publ
he�
(A
tralia) Pty. Ltdx
.
Ryde Road (P.O. Box 321.
Pymble, NSW 2073, A
trali.
http://www.harpercolli'
eboo�
.com.a
CanadY
HarperColli'
Canad.
2 Bloor Street E.
t - 20th Floo�
Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canad.
http://www.harpercolli'
eboo�
.c.
New Zealan.
HarperColli'
Publ
he�
(New Zealand) Limite.
P.O. Box .
Auckland, New Zealan.
http://www.harpercolli'
eboo�
.co.nt
United Kingdo.
HarperColli'
Publ
he�
Ltdx
77-
Fulham Palace Roa.
London, W6 8JB, Ux
http://www.harpercolli'
eboo�
.co.u�
United StateZ
HarperColli'
Publ
he�
Incx
10 E.
t.
3rd Stree
New York, NY 1002.
http://www.harpercolli'
.co.
Table of ContentZ
Chapter
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter Iv
Chapter v
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter I{
Chapter {
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIv
Chapter Xv
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XI{
Chapter X{
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXII
Chapter XXIv
Chapter XXv
Are You Strong Enough to Readv
About the Author and the Ill
trato�
Copyrigh
About the Publ
he�