'Has the delegation's champion ever won?' the Spook persisted.
'Usually there's nobody brave and strong enough to volunteer. This time our champion will be Grimalkin.'
'And what if she loses?' Arkwright asked, speaking up for the first time.
'I will win,' said Grimalkin calmly, 'so the question needn't be answered.'
'That's not good enough!' he persisted. 'You don't know what you might face inside that citadel. Maybe some daemon; some dark entity that can't be defeated by a mortal.'
Grimalkin smiled grimly, parting her lips to show her sharp pointed teeth. 'If flesh clothes its bones, I will cut it. If it breathes, I will stop its breath. Otherwise' – she shrugged – 'we will all die . . .'
Mam sighed and then finally answered Arkwright's question. 'If Grimalkin loses, the lives of all the delegation are immediately forfeit, and our main attack will fail. Every one of our party will be slain, along with the inhabitants of Kalambaka and the monks. Then, seven years from now, the Ordeen will be free to use her portal to materialize anywhere she pleases . . .'
For a while after that nobody spoke. The enormity of what we faced and the disaster that would follow our defeat were awful to contemplate. It was the ex-soldier, Bill Arkwright, who shook us from our stupor.
'Let's assume that Grimalkin succeeds,' he began. 'As far as the approach itself is concerned, I've discussed the deployment of the mercenaries with their leaders. There should be no problem in keeping the maenads at a distance. But what about the actual attack? How are the rest of us to get into the Ord?'
'There's only one entry point that would give our attack any real chance of success,' Mam explained. 'Fifty paces to the left of the main gate, high on the wall, is a huge gargoyle. It's a skull, with horns like a stag's antlers branching from its forehead. Beneath it is a tunnel leading to the inner courtyard of the Ord. That tunnel is the route into the Ord taken by the delegation – it's the easiest way into the citadel. The Pendle witches will attack first. Soon afterwards, our mercenaries should be able to ride through and lay siege to the inner defences.'
'What if it's too heavily defended?' Arkwright asked.
'That's a chance we'll have to take. If we attack soon enough, all should be well. As we know, servants of the Ordeen who receive the delegation awake as soon as the Ord has cooled. But they will be distracted by the delegation and hopefully slain by the Pendle witches soon after Tom's blood has been drunk. That's what I hope for anyway. As for the rest of her servants, it is hours before they are fully alert. We must reach the Ordeen and slay her before she regains her strength.'
'How will those on the outside know that the delegation has completed its work?' Arkwright asked.
'Grimalkin will use a mirror,' Mam told him.
I saw the Spook's face tighten but he said nothing.
'Once we're inside the Ord, do we know where to find the Ordeen?' I asked.
Even before she shook her head, I could tell by Mam's face that she didn't know. 'We assume she will be somewhere away from the main entrances that is easy to defend. It seems likely she will be sleeping at the top of one of the three towers, but there is also a domed structure beyond them. Once inside the inner citadel, we should be able to search out the Ordeen, though we will still have to contend with denizens of the dark.'
For a long time after hearing those grim words, nobody spoke. It seemed to me that we had very little hope of success, and I'm sure we all shared that view, perhaps even Mam. Then I started to think about the delegation. Would Mam be part of it?
'The delegation . . . who's going with me, Mam?'
'Grimalkin, Seilenos and ten more of my escort.
There'll be great danger and not all of you will come back. I only wish that I could go with you and share those perils, but the Ordeen and her servants know me as their enemy. I fear I'd be recognized immediately and our plan would fail. However, I've told Grimalkin all I know about the likely dangers. For example, you'll come upon a table heaped with food and wine – but you should neither eat nor drink. That's important.'
'Is the food poisoned?' I asked.
'Not poisoned. Enchanted. It's charged with dark magic. So beware,' Mam warned, her voice hardly more than a whisper. 'Touch neither food nor drink. Those who eat the food of the Ordeen can never go home . . .'
'If Tom's going into danger, then I want to go too!' Alice cried out, speaking for the first time.
Mam shook her head. 'Your place will be by my side, Alice.'
'No, that ain't good enough!' she said, springing to her feet. 'I have to be with Tom.'
'You stay away from him, girl,' said the Spook.
'Stay away? He'd be dead if it weren't for me – and you all know it.'
Mam shook her head. 'Sit down!' she commanded.
'Ain't going to sit down until you give me what I want!' Alice retorted, almost spitting out the words. 'You owe me this! And there are things even you don't know yet!'
Mam came to her feet to face Alice, anger in her face. At that moment the tent canvas began to flap. It had been a calm evening, but now a wind was getting up. Moments later, it was gusting furiously, threatening to tear the fabric from its supporting poles.
Mam led the way outside and looked up at the sky. 'It begins,' she said, pointing towards the horizon. 'That's the first of the portents. The Ordeen is preparing to move through the portal.'
A gale was blowing strongly from the south, and on that horizon there was an unmistakable yellow tint to the sky. It looked like a big storm was brewing. This was the first of the signs. Mam was sure of it. So we made our preparations: we would start our journey at dawn.
It was a restless night, disturbed by animals fleeing from the south. At one point our camp was invaded by a pack of scampering, squealing rats. Birds shrieked with panic as they flapped their way north into the darkness.
About an hour before dawn, unable to sleep, I stepped outside to stretch my legs. Seilenos stood there, looking up at the sky. He saw me and came across, shaking his head.
'Well, young spook, we win or die this day. A dangerous land, this. Land of many mysteries too. Much danger ahead. You stay close to me and be all right. Seilenos, he know what to do. Ask me anything. I explain. Lamias and elementals I know all about. I will teach you . . .'
I remembered the mysterious sounds in the tunnel before the roof came down. I was curious to know what had been responsible. 'After the attack on the camp, Alice and I hid in a cave and had to fight off some maenads, but there was something else – strange tapping noises all around us. Then there was a rock fall that nearly killed us.'
'Tapping? What kind, this tapping? Fast or slow?'
'It started slow but then got much faster. It had a sort of rhythm to it and built to a crescendo so that the rocks fell, nearly killing us.'
'Lucky to escape with your lives, young spook. Dangerous elementals, those. Live in caves and called tappers. Try to drive humans away. First use fear. Frightful tapping sounds. Next bring down big rocks and try to crush you. When hear tappers – run fast!'
That was probably good advice, but we'd been faced with dangerous maenads and were forced to stand and fight. Seilenos patted me on the shoulder and headed for one of the fires where breakfast was being prepared. I stayed where I was, waiting for the sun to rise.
Not that I saw it – for at dawn the sky was filled with a yellow haze. The Spook told me we needed to fast in order to prepare to face the dark, so we didn't eat breakfast. Even Bill Arkwright, never one to go for long without food, confined himself to one thin slice of bread, but Seilenos ate his fill, grinning and shaking his head when he saw that we'd left our plates of lamb and boar untouched.
'Eat up! You need strength. Who knows when we eat again?'
'As I told you, we do things differently in the County – and for good reason,' growled the Spook. 'I'm about to face what might well be the greatest danger from the dark that I've encountered in all the years I've been practising my trade. I want to
be fully prepared, not so full of food than I can hardly think!'
Seilenos just laughed again and continued to stuff large slices of meat into his mouth, washed down with red wine.
As we prepared to head south, Alice joined me, a little smile lighting her face.
'Your mam's changed her mind, Tom,' she said. 'I'm to be part of the delegation after all.'
'You sure you want to do this, Alice? Wouldn't you be safer with Mam? I don't want anything to happen to you.'
'And I don't want anything to happen to you. That's why I'll be by your side. You're safer where I am, Tom. Trust me. And we do want to be together on your birthday, don't we?'
I smiled and nodded. I'd forgotten all about my birthday. Today was the third of August. I'd just turned fifteen.
But Alice hadn't finished yet. I could sense that she was about to say something else. Something I wouldn't like. She kept glancing at me sideways and biting her bottom lip.
'You're going into the Ord with Grimalkin, who's a witch assassin, a servant of the dark. And you used the dark wish she gave you to save me. So what's the difference between doing that and using the blood jar to keep the Fiend at bay?' Alice demanded. 'Take the jar. A birthday present from me to you.'
'Leave it, Alice!' I shouted in annoyance. 'It's hard enough without you saying things like that. Don't make things worse, please.'
Alice fell silent.
I felt as if I was sinking ever downwards. Even Mam was forcing me to compromise with the dark. I knew she had little choice and I had to be part of it – nonetheless all the Spook's fears seemed to be well founded.
CHAPTER
15
THE APPROACH TO THE ORD
We made our way south, fighting against the human tide of those fleeing the Ord. Refugees were everywhere. Some were on foot, clutching possessions or carrying children; others had loaded what they could onto small carts, which they pulled or pushed by hand. Many kept glancing back and called out warnings, telling us to flee with them; they were desperate and fearful for themselves and their families.
We walked all morning across that arid landscape under the sickly yellow sky. Dark whirlwinds had been visible on the horizon, moving north and destroying everything in their path, but luckily they hadn't passed close to us. And now the wind had dropped, the air growing warmer and more oppressive by the minute. I was carrying my staff as well as my bag, which I had retrieved from Mam's wagon. Mam's escort rode just behind her, and behind them were the Pendle witches, led by Grimalkin. Bill Arkwright and the Spook walked to the right of Alice and me, the three dogs following in their wake. And far to our rear, at least a couple of hundred yards distant, were the mounted mercenaries.
Alice and I were both weary and afraid of what was to come so we hardly exchanged a word. At one point Bill Arkwright came up alongside me.
'Well, Master Ward, how does this compare to the County? Have you changed your mind yet? Would you like to live here?' he asked.
'I wish I was back home,' I told him. 'I miss the green hills and woods – even the rain!'
'Aye, I know what you mean. This is a parched land all right, but from what your mam said I think we'll be getting some rain soon enough.'
He was referring to the deluge that would come soon after the appearance of the Ord. 'There's something I'd like to ask you, Master Ward. If anything happens to me, would you take care of the dogs? No doubt Mr Gregory wouldn't want them at Chipenden – a boggart and dogs don't mix too well! But you'd be able to find them a good home somewhere, I'm sure.'
'Of course I will.'
'Well, let's hope it won't come to that; let's hope we're all safely back home in the County before too long. There's danger ahead, worse than we've ever faced before, I fear. So just in case we don't meet again, here's my hand in friendship . . .'
Arkwright held out his hand and I shook it. With a nod and a smile towards Alice, he left my side. I felt sad: it was as if we were saying goodbye for ever.
But there was another goodbye to face, this one from the Spook. A while later, he too moved across to walk beside me. As he approached, I noticed Alice fall back to join Grimalkin, who was now behind us.
'Are you nervous, lad?' my master asked me.
'Nervous and scared,' I told him. 'I keep taking slow deep breaths but it doesn't seem to help much.'
'Well, it will, lad, it will. So just keep at it and remember all I've tried to teach you. And once we get inside that citadel, stay close to me. Who knows what dangers we'll find there.'
He patted me on the shoulder, then moved away again. I wondered if that was because he didn't like walking too close to Alice. Soon afterwards we paused for a short rest and I wrote down what Seilenos had told me about tappers in my notebook. It helped to calm me down. No matter what danger threatened, I had to keep up with my training.
When we set off again, I had one more visit – one that both Alice and I could well have done without. Mab and her two hook-nosed sisters approached us.
'What you been up to, Tom?' Mab asked, looking sideways at me. 'That's no dead girl walking beside you. She should be dead by rights, that Alice Deane. Saw it happen. Saw that lamia witch sucking her blood and tearing her with its teeth. Only something from the dark could have saved her. That's the only thing I couldn't have seen coming. What you been up to, Tom? Must have meddled with the dark, I think. That's the only thing that could've done it! What does Mr Gregory think about that, eh?'
Alice ran and pushed Mab backwards so that she almost overbalanced and fell. 'Things are bad enough without having to listen to you talk rubbish. Get you gone! Leave Tom alone!'
Mab turned to Alice and stretched out her hands in front of her, clearly intending to scratch her face, but I quickly stepped between them. Mab shrugged and backed off.
'We'll be on our way,' she said, her mouth twisting into a smile. 'Leave you to think over what's been done and what's been said. You're close to the dark now, Tom. Closer than you've ever been before . . .'
With that Mab and her sisters moved away, leaving me with my thoughts. I continued to walk with Alice but neither of us spoke. What was there to say? We both knew that I'd been compromised by the dark. I was just glad that the Spook hadn't overheard what Mab had said.
Late that morning the weather began to change. The wind got up again, blustering into a gale that screamed about our ears. We journeyed on through the heat, but we were now very uncomfortable.
Soon Alice pointed directly ahead. 'Look at that, Tom. Ain't ever seen anything like that before!'
At first I could see nothing; then a menacing shape loomed up on the horizon.
'What is it? A cliff? Or a black ridge of hills?' I asked.
Alice shook her head. 'It's a cloud, Tom. And a strange dark one for sure. Ain't natural, that! Don't like the look of it one little bit.'
In normal circumstances such a fearsome cloud would have heralded a violent storm, with a heavy downpour to come. But as we drew nearer, I could see that it was curved at its rim like a great black plate or shield. The wind ceased again, and the temperature began to drop alarmingly; whereas before we'd been scorched by the heat, now we began to shiver with cold and fear. We were suddenly plunged into a twilit world, our faces deep in shadow.
I looked about me: Alice, Arkwright and the rest of our company, including the Pendle witches, were walking very slowly, with bowed heads, as if oppressed by the weight of the darkness above us. Only the Spook held his head high.
Although there was now not a breath of wind, I could see that the ominous and unusual cloud was in turmoil, churning and swirling far above as if some giant was stirring it with a massive stick. Soon I could hear a high, shrill shriek; suddenly, on the distant horizon, I saw a column of orange light.
The Spook's Sacrifice Page 13
