The Witch of Glenaster

by Jonathan Mills

  But even when they had run to fetch me; even when I saw it for myself, and knew; even when I felt his hair beneath my hands, and had caressed his bloodied face, I did not believe it. ‘It is not him – it is not him!’ was all I could say. And I fell into a swoon, from which I did not awaken for several days.

  When I did, half the castle was on fire, and the men were working hard to put it out. I went up to the battlements, and looked down upon the scene, as burning arrows fell blazing through the darkness, and the guards on the walls poured boiling oil down upon our attackers. Men screamed like women, and clutched at the air in their death-agonies; and some tore at their garments in their grief, and threw themselves into the flames, seeing that their hour had come.

  But I was unmoved.

  My love was dead, and my heart was eclipsed by the blackness, and would never see the light again. I swore revenge upon his killers, and upon all who came after them; I swore revenge for the death of my parents also, and for the ravaging of our land; I swore revenge for all that had befallen me, and for how my life had been destroyed. This would now be my purpose. And I realized I was a girl no longer. And even as I thought these things, I saw Azi for the first time, in all the long years I had lived within his walls; and I saw a face full of urgency and pity. ‘Come with me,’ he said. And I did so.

  And he taught me all he could during those weeks, as the siege continued, and the battle raged around us; and I forgot everything but the need for vengeance, and that took up my every waking moment. I watched as he moved about his apartments; I listened to his words and his spellcraft; I followed the movement of his hands as closely as I could; and so gradually I learned how to control such awful power. ‘I should have taken an apprentice long ago,’ he said, ‘and now time is much too short.’ And he could only teach me but a fraction of all that he knew; but it was enough.

  Finally, the great fortress of Calmir, that had withstood so much, fell; for all the empire was against Azi, it seemed, and he could not hold out any longer. And when the emperor’s men entered the city, they say there was a bloodbath: old women impaled on spikes, and children butchered in their beds. They showed no mercy, and razed the castle to the ground. But they never found Azi. Some say he died by his own hand; others that he simply stepped from this world into the next. Whatever happened, he was gone. And so was I.

  I escaped from the castle the night before it fell, for I knew it was lost. And I resolved to make a new home for myself, a long way away, and set about my work, of avenging myself upon the people who had taken all that I had.

  I started in the Broken Islands.

  I had heard that there were fire-drakes there, asleep since the dawn of time, and I wakened them, and at first they were angry, and threatened to destroy me; but I promised them domain over the world of men, so long as they served me, for I had learned much of the Old Powers, and they would find me a formidable ally. And they looked at me slyly, and licked their lips, and told me they liked my plan.

  And so I set them loose upon the world, and much misery did they do; and others, refugees from Calmir, came to me for help and guidance; and I sent them to all the corners of the known world, but especially to the court, to learn what they could of the emperor and his seed, and what chaos I could inflict thereby.

  And many others too, beasts and men, rallied to me; and I became feared, and a name that mothers use to scare their children; and I came here, to Glenaster, and made it my home; and soon the land was deserted except for me and my followers, and I realized I had become powerful.

  Many years passed. I do not know how many. But when my heart was full, and the rivers ran with the blood of my enemies, I felt a great weariness come over me; and one day I settled down to a sleep from which I did not awaken for over a thousand years. And when I saw my face on waking, I realized that I had hardly aged, but that many of my followers were dead, or scattered, or in hiding; and I realized also to my dismay that the same foolish men still held sway over the land, and that I still had work to do.

  And then I saw you, Esther. I saw you from afar. And I knew you were coming to kill me. And in truth, I could have destroyed you long before you crossed the Soar with that foolish guardsman and entered my domain. But I did not. Do you know why?”

  I could only shake my head, my throat dry.

  “Because I am so lonely, Esther. Everyone else fears me, but not you. We could almost have been sisters, you and I; we are so much alike. I want company, a companion. And I think you could be the companion that I seek. And so I have allowed you to come this far, to meet me. Come: get up. Let me show you something.”

  And she gave me her hand, and I rose out of bed; and she kissed me on the forehead, and on my face, and finally on my lips, and led me from that place.

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE

  We walked across a green meadow, the grass damp with dew, and the Witch of Glenaster sang as we walked:

  I have been wandering

  The wide world o’er,

  And all the faces

  They shut the door;

  But when I come

  To you again,

  I know I’ve found

  My truest friend…

  And her voice was keen and high, and I thought it the most beautiful thing I had ever heard; and we walked together through the meadow, hand in hand, like sisters, and the sun retreated before our light.

  I could not understand how I could have hated this woman – all she had wanted was justice, for herself and her family, and the man she loved. Were we so very different? I looked at her strange, ageless face, and realized that I loved her, and wanted to protect her; despite her age and power, and my youth, I would not let any harm come to her. I swore to it. And she smiled at me, and laughed, and sang some more; and so we made our way in the gloaming, through copses and small bunches of woodland, until we came to a low hill, with the sun falling fast behind its back. And the Witch looked at me, and stroked my face, and was for all the world like a girl, hardly older than I; and she gestured to the brow of the hill, and I lifted up my eyes, expecting to see beauty, and love, and all the wonders of the seven worlds laid out before me.

  But I did not.

  What I did see hit me like a hammer. For upon the hill there was a large wheel, made out of beams of oak, nailed crudely together, and riveted with iron; and the sun caught its shape in silhouette against the horizon. And upon the wheel, tied fast, arms and legs spread out almost as far as they could go, was Joseph Hollis.

  His clothes were stained and worn, his face a study in pain; and he seemed broken in every sense, and almost wasted away. And I saw that there was a dirty bandage covering his eyes - and that it was scarlet with dried blood.

  I think I must have given a start, the terror I felt suddenly visible on my face, for the Witch turned to me and smiled.

  “Is it not beautiful?” she said. And she laughed again.

  But I could see no beauty in it. I saw only death. I wanted to retch; but the Witch caught me as I fell.

  “Now, now, Esther: this is what it means to be truly alone,” she said. And she laughed once more; but there was no life in it. She walked around the great contraption she had devised – this instrument of torture and pain which now held my friend fast, and made him whimper like a child. “You recognize him?” she asked, her voice now drained of its earlier kindness. I nodded, but I could not speak. My throat was thick with tears. “I have already removed his eyes, of course. Unpleasant, but necessary. Soon he will be much more - compliant…” She smiled at me, and caressed the young man’s back. “He was coming here to kill me, you understand, Esther. Me, and those like me. They don’t need much excuse. That I am a woman is enough for many men; that I am a powerful one is enough for the rest…” And suddenly her face grew dark, and her eyes became pools of black; and the light fled from the sky, and I saw that it was night. And now I realized my folly, in believing her vulnerable and afraid. I realized my stupidity. Whatever injustice had been done to her, it could n
ot possibly justify the legions of dead whose murder was her responsibility. It could not justify the horror, the destruction, the havoc wreaked by the fire-drakes, or the misery inflicted by the drooj and their followers. It could not justify the deaths of my parents, or the burning of my village. It could not justify the slaughter of Thomas Taper’s wife and children, or of Thomas himself. This woman - if one could still call her that - had a heart so twisted out of shape by anger and desire for revenge that she was no longer recognisably human. I had been ensorcelled; she had convinced me it was she who was wronged. But now I saw the truth, and it was dark, and empty.

  The sky bled upon itself, black on black, and I said these things to the Witch of Glenaster, though my voice shook, and my palms were dry. And she watched me, thin-lipped and savage and full of hate, as I told her I hated her, I hated her as all the others hated her, and if this meant my death then I would welcome it, just to be free of her. And there was a silence and a stillness then, such as I had never felt; and after a while it became oppressive, and painful, and the earth was scorched of words.

  But then someone did speak. And it was a familiar voice.

  “Be gone from here, Erith of Calmir. You do not frighten her, and you do not frighten me anymore. Your name is fit only to scare young children, and fools who do not know any better. You are already myth. You must be able to feel it.”

  The Witch turned her head with a sudden jerk to face this stranger, and, following her gaze, I saw that it was true: there, not fifty yards away, was Thomas Taper, the Captain of High Meadow, bruised and bloody, but standing full upright, his hand on the hilt of his sword, and his eye fixed on the Witch.

  “Let the girl go, and cut Joseph down. Then submit to your punishment; for it has long been in the coming, and you are old already, and have lived far beyond your natural span.”

  They regarded each other for a long moment, Thomas and the Witch, each as serious as death, and neither looking away. Then the Witch smiled.

  “Poor man! Who are you to come here – to my domain – and make such demands? I will tear you apart without a second thought. The only thing keeping me from doing so now is your friendship with this girl, and that is not long for this world. Why do you stare at me so, without chattering your teeth or crying like a little boy? Do you not know who, and what, I am?”

  And then I saw Thomas draw something from beneath his coat, and hold it up for the Witch to see.

  “This is why. And I know you recognize it, from the look upon your face. They say the magi of old knew when the hour of their death had come: look upon yours, Erith of the cursed lands, and tell me I lie.”

  I looked at the object Thomas was holding, but to me it seemed like nothing more than an old book, its binding weather-beaten and frayed, its pages stained with time. But the Witch was staring at it intently, her eyes wide and bulging, her face bloodless and strange. She began to mutter to herself, and seemed to age in front of us, and flecks of spittle appeared at the corners of her mouth. She actually looked frightened.

  “Give it to me…” she said, after a while; quietly at first, but then louder, and louder, until she was screaming, her voice frenzied and hoarse: “GIVE IT TO ME!!”

  But Thomas stood his ground, and held her gaze, and all at once I knew what it was he must have; what the thing was he held aloft, that terrified the Witch so. All at once I remembered.

  The Veil.

  The Veil, that Thomas had told me did not exist; the Veil, that was made by the magi long ago, but whose spells had been forgotten; the Veil - the one thing in all the known world that could destroy the Witch of Glenaster.

  She roared at him then, and the sound broke the sky like splintering rock, and the stars quivered in their frames. And as she lunged at him, she forgot about me; and I saw Thomas throw me the book, as he put up his hands to protect himself, and fell beneath the weight of the Witch’s fury. And I looked at the object in my hands, my heart hammering against my chest, and panicked: in my elation at seeing it and knowing what it was, I realized I had forgotten that I had no idea how to use it, and, frustrated, I began to weep. I flicked desperately through the pages; but the symbols and writing on them were so much nonsense to me, and without the knowledge of its spellcraft I knew it was worthless. But then I heard a voice, and it seemed far off, but it spoke urgently:

  The pages, Esther - the pages! Pull them out!

  I could not understand the meaning of this: it didn’t seem to make any sense. But then I realized it was Thomas Taper who was speaking, as the Witch pinned him to the ground, her fingers grown as long and thick as tree roots as she gripped him round the neck, and slowly suffocated the life out of him.

  “Esther, the pages…! Do it!!”

  His eyes started to roll back into his head, and his lips become blue; but still the Witch in her anger did not stop, but kept on pressing, pressing, till I thought she would sever his head from his body.

  I looked down at the book, and knew that I had only moments before Thomas would be dead; and then, most likely, I would be too, or otherwise a slave, a plaything of the Witch, and I could not decide which was worse, for cruelty came so easily to her. I grabbed the pages of the Veil and pulled; and at first they would not budge, and I feared I would not have the strength to tear them away. But then, miraculously, they started to move, and come away from the binding, and I saw what I was looking for.

  The book had felt unusually heavy, even for something so old, and now I understood why: there, tucked neatly into the spine, where the pages had been, was a small dagger, its hilt glinting darkly in the starlight.

  As I pulled it out, I saw there were runes written along the blade, but I could not decipher them; and it sang slightly as I held it aloft. And I saw now that Thomas was staring at me with pleading eyes, and the life had almost gone from him. And so I ran forward, and, thinking little of the consequences, thrust the Veil hard and deep into the heart of the Witch of Glenaster. And the world, and everything in it, went black.

  CHAPTER EIGHTY

  The years have made a jumble of my memories, and many thoughts and recollections of what happened next are lost to me now.

  I know I fell, and lay upon the ground for a long time. I remember being carried, and seeing someone cut Joseph down. And I remember the long journey south, through the woodland of Glenaster, across the Lessening Lands, and once more over the Ice Bridge, that crosses the River Soar. Then my mind grows dark once more, and I feel things, but cannot recall them.

  I do know that I slept for a time, and woke in a small clearing, the trees dancing above my head, and the sky a wash of light and colour. Lifting my head, I felt its full weight, and set it back down again; but soon after that I pulled myself up gingerly from the ground, and stood on shaking legs. I leaned against a tree for support, and stared round about me, and all seemed still and at peace. I was meanly dressed, in clothes more suited to bed than a brisk winter’s morning; but I felt quite calm, as if no harm would befall me. And I walked a little, over limestone rocks that punctured the grassland at my feet, and past stiff birches that swayed sadly in the wind. And so, rounding a corner, and following a path whose end I did not know, I came upon a large party of men and horses; and they all stood watching me, hardly moving in the morning air. I could see their breath, and watched the twitching of the animals. And I saw by their raiment that they were the emperor’s men, his ambassadors, and I could not understand what they wanted, or why they were there. And I looked at them, and they looked at me, as if we were all ghosts; and I thought for a moment that the whole morning would pass in this way, until one of them stepped forward, a kindly looking man, with hair silvering at the temples, and deep knots in his brow.

  “Esther Lanark?” he asked, and I nodded. “The emperor wants to see you.”

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

&
nbsp; Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Chapter Sixty

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  Chapter Sixty-Four

  Chapter Sixty-Five

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  Chapter Sixty-Eight