I nodded, but the words stuck in my throat.
'Oh, Tom! You're burned,' she said, lightly touching my singed hair and a painful burn on my face.
'It's nothing!' I said. 'Nothing at all compared to what's just happened . . .'
'Come on, lad,' said the Spook, his voice surprisingly gentle. 'Tell us . . .'
'It's Mam. She's fighting the Ordeen. She says both of them will die and it'll bring about the destruction of the Ord. We need to get out just as fast as we can!'
'Is there nothing to be done, Tom? Nothing we can do to help her?' cried Alice.
I shook my head and felt hot, silent tears begin to escape from my eyes. 'All we can do now is fulfil her last wish – that we get ourselves to safety before the Ord is destroyed. It'll soon start to collapse back through the portal.'
'If we're still here when it does, we'll be dragged into the dark!' Arkwright said, shaking his head grimly.
There was no time to discuss further what had happened. There was only a frantic flight through the dark chambers and corridors of the Ord. Down steps and ramps we ran, descending ever lower towards the cobbled courtyard.
Soon we were uncomfortably hot but it wasn't just with the exertion. The air itself was growing warmer, the walls beginning to radiate heat. The Ord was preparing to be engulfed once more by the pillar of fire as it retreated through the portal to its true home. Its occupants, denied the chance to surge forth and ravage the world beyond, were sinking back into their dormant state. At one point the glowing orb of a fire elemental made a tentative approach but the Spook jabbed at it with his staff and it just floated away, fading as it did so.
We'd almost reached the final passage that led to the inner courtyard. We were close, very close, to escaping the Ord when it happened. Another glowing orb came out of the wall behind us. It was large, opaque and dangerous, and started to drift closer. Two more emerged so we broke into a run.
I glanced back over my shoulder. They were catching up with us. And now there were more than three. Maybe six or seven.
We reached the narrow entrance to the passage. It was then that Arkwright came to a halt.
'You go on!' he said, readying his staff. 'I'll hold them off!'
'No! We'll face them together!' cried the Spook.
'No sense in us all getting killed,' Arkwright snapped back stubbornly. 'Get the boy to safety. He's what matters and you know it!'
For a moment the Spook hesitated.
'Go now while you've still a chance!' Arkwright insisted. 'I'll follow on just as soon as I can.'
The Spook seized me by the shoulder and pushed me into the passageway ahead of him. For a moment I tried to resist but Alice had grabbed my other arm and was dragging me onwards.
I managed to glance back once. Arkwright was readying himself with his back to us, his staff held diagonally in a defensive position. A glowing orb was surging towards him. He struck at it with his blade, and that was the last I saw of him.
The Spook, Alice and I crossed the courtyard and raced down the tunnel to emerge beyond the outer walls of the Ord. We hastened towards Kalambaka as fast as we could, hampered by the soft clinging mud created by the deluge. Soon we found we were not the only survivors. A group of witches – including Grimalkin and some members of all three clans, amongst them Mab and her sisters – was running a little ahead of us. We caught them up – and even my master, I suspect, felt a little relieved to see them.
A sudden roar behind us – like the angry cry of a wounded animal – made us turn and look back. The dark cloud above the Ord had now re-formed and was filling with fire. Zigzags of lightning were flickering down to turn the tips of the twisted towers a glowing orange.
We felt the heat on our backs increasing at an alarming rate and realized we had to retreat further – and quickly. At any moment the fiery artery would connect the cloud to the ground. How wide would it be? Were we still too close and about to be engulfed by fire?
At last, exhausted by our flight, we turned to look back, alerted by the banshee howl of the pillar of fire. Once again it was throbbing and twisting, the Ord within it still visible, the tips of the towers now glowing white-hot. I thought of Mam, still within that chamber, holding the Ordeen in her grip. As we watched, the citadel began to disintegrate and the towers toppled. The Ord was being carried back towards the dark, but the transition was destroying it. Within it, the Ordeen would also be defeated and would never again be able to return to our world. But Mam would also die in that inferno. My whole being was racked with sobs at the thought of it.
And then there was Bill Arkwright. Had he held off our pursuers and managed to get clear in time?
Within moments the fire faded and a great wind began to blow at our backs; the air was being sucked in towards the place where the Ord had once stood. When that eased, a cold drizzle fell. I closed my eyes, and it was almost like being back in the County. We waited a long time but there was no sign of Arkwright. It seemed certain that he was dead.
We walked back towards Kalambaka in silence, and Meteora beyond it. My face was streaming with both rain and tears.
We skirted Kalambaka to the west and headed for Megalou Meteorou, the grandest of the high monasteries. The Spook thought we should visit the Father Superior there and tell him what had been achieved.
I remembered what Mam had said about women not being welcome in the monasteries, but I said nothing, and Alice ascended the steps together with the Spook and me. She'd already used herbs from her leather pouch to make a soothing ointment, which she'd smeared onto the burn on my face. She had simply employed the methods used by many a County healer; nothing from the dark. It had eased the pain immediately, but John Gregory had shaken his head in disapproval. He didn't trust Alice to do anything for me. I prepared myself for a confrontation. Alice had played her part in saving the monastery, and if she was denied entry, then I too would turn back.
But we all entered unchallenged and were escorted into the presence of the Father Superior. Once more we entered that spartan cell to find the grey-faced, gaunt priest at prayer. We waited patiently, and I remembered my last visit, when Mam had still been alive. At last he looked up and smiled.
'You are welcome,' he said. 'And I am most grateful to you, for I assume that you were victorious – otherwise none of us would still be alive . . .'
'Mam died to bring about our victory!' I said. I'd spoken without thinking, and it was as if the words had been uttered by another. I could hear the hurt and bitterness in my voice.
The priest gave me a kind smile. 'If it's of any comfort to you at all, I can tell you that your mother was happy to give her life to rid this world of our enemy. We've talked together many times in the past year, and she once confided in me that she expected to die in accomplishing what had to be done. Did she ever tell you that, Thomas?'
I shook my head. This old priest probably knew more about Mam than I did, I thought, the feeling of hurt growing in my chest. Mam knew she was going to die and hadn't told me until the very last moment! Then I took a deep breath: I knew there was something I needed to ask him. Something I desperately needed to know.
'The Ord was destroyed and carried back towards the dark. Is that where Mam will be now? Trapped in the dark?'
It was a long time before the Father Superior replied. I had a feeling that he was choosing his words carefully. No doubt the news would be bad, I thought.
'I believe in the infinite mercy of God, Thomas. Without that, we are all doomed because we are all flawed, each and every one of us. We will pray for her. That's all we can do.'
I stifled a sob. I just wanted to be alone with my sorrow, but I had to listen while the Spook gave the Father Superior a more detailed account of what had happened.
After that we walked to the katholicon, where once more I heard the hymns of the monks soar up to fill the dome. This time the Father Superior told me that they were praying for Mam and for others who had died in the citadel. I tried in my heart to believe that it
was all right, that Mam had escaped to the light. But I couldn't be sure. I thought of the crimes she had committed so long ago. Would they hinder her now? Make it harder for her to reach the light? She'd tried so hard to make restitution, and the thought of her facing an eternity in the dark was almost unbearable. It wasn't fair. The world seemed a terrible, cruel place. And very soon I'd have to face the Fiend again. My hope had been that Mam might somehow be able to arm me against him. Now I was alone.
It was the following day before my master and I spoke together in detail about what had happened. Soon we were to set off for the coast, but for now we rested, trying to regain our strength for the long journey ahead. The Spook led me away from the campfire, no doubt in order to be out of earshot of Alice, and we sat down on the ground and talked face to face.
I began by telling the Spook how Mam had changed back into her feral form before giving her own life to hold the Ordeen fast. I told him almost everything – but not, of course, about Mam's real identity, nor about the pact I'd made with the Fiend to gain the chance of victory. That I could never tell him – it was something I'd have to deal with myself. The Fiend was to come for me the next night.
I felt as if I was drifting further and further away from my master. He had sacrificed some of his principles to come to Greece and take part in the struggle against the Ordeen. But my compromise was greater: I had sacrificed my own soul. Soon it would be possessed by the Fiend, the dark made flesh, and I could think of no way to save myself.
When I'd finished my account, the Spook sighed, then reached into the pocket of his cloak and pulled out two letters. 'One is from your mam to me. The other is to you, lad. I've read both. Despite my strong misgivings, they're the reason I changed my mind and travelled to Greece after all, against all I hold dear.'
He handed them both to me and I began to read my letter.
Dear Tom,
If you are reading this letter, I will already be dead. Do not grieve too long. Think of the joyous times we shared together, particularly when you and your brothers were children and your father was still alive. Then I was truly happy and as close to being human as I ever could be.
I foresaw my death many years ago. We all have choices – I could have stepped to one side, but I knew that by sacrificing my life I could win a great victory for the light. And despite the price paid in human suffering, the Ordeen will now have been destroyed.
You must take the next step and destroy the Fiend. Failing that, at least he must be bound. In this task Alice Deane will be your ally.
Whatever the outcome, I will always be proud of you. You have more than lived up to my expectations.
All my love,
Mam
I folded the letter and pushed it into my pocket. It was the last thing I would ever receive from Mam; her last words to me. Next I started to read what she'd written to my master. The letter that had made him leave Chipenden and, despite his misgivings, travel with us to Greece.
Dear Mr Gregory,
I am sorry for any distress that I might have caused you. I do what I do for the best of motives. Although you may not agree with the means that I employ to achieve it, I hope to win a great victory. If I fail, the Ordeen will be able to strike anywhere in the world and it is most likely that the County will be her first target. She will not forget what I attempted to do and will vent her wrath on the place where my family still dwell.
I will almost certainly die within the Ord, and then my son will need you to train and prepare him to deal once and for all with the Fiend. As for yourself, remain true to your principles, but please, I beg you, make an exception in two cases. The first, of course, is with respect to my son, Thomas. Your strength and guidance will be vital in seeing him safely through the next phase of his life. Now he is in even greater danger.
I beg you also to make an exception for Alice Deane. She is the daughter of the Fiend and a potential malevolent witch. She will always walk a narrow path between the dark and the light. But her strength is tremendous. If she were ever to forge an alliance with the dark, Alice would be the most powerful witch ever to walk this earth. But it is worth taking the risk. She can be just as strong as a servant of the light. And only if both Tom and Alice work together will they complete something that has always been my goal – something that I have striven for most of my long life. Together they have the potential to destroy the Fiend and to bring a new age of light to this world.
You can help make this possible. Please journey with us to my homeland. Your presence is vital to protect my son and make sure that he returns safely to the County. Be less than what you are so that you can become more.
Mrs Ward
'She was a great woman,' said the Spook. 'I certainly don't agree with her methods, lad, but she did what she felt had to be done. Her homeland will be a far better place because of what she achieved. Indeed, the County and the whole world will be safer.'
The Spook was making allowances for Mam that he had never really made for Alice. But of course he didn't know the full truth. I could never tell him that Mam was Lamia, the mother of the whole brood of witches and hybrids. He wouldn't be able to come to terms with that. It was one more secret that we could never share. One more thing with the potential to drive us apart.
'What about Alice? Will you do what Mam asked?'
The Spook stroked his beard and looked thoughtful. Then he nodded but his face was strained. 'You're still my apprentice, lad. Now that Bill Arkwright's most likely dead, it's my duty to help you all I can and to carry on training you. Aye, I don't dispute that. But the girl worries me. No matter how much care I take and how carefully I watch her, it could all go terribly wrong. I'm of a mind to give it a try though – at least for the time being. After what your mam's done, how can I refuse her?'
Later I thought over what we'd said to each other. As we'd spoken, I'd almost made myself believe that everything would soon be all right and that the Spook, Alice and I would return safely to Chipenden to continue our former lives there. But how could that be when I had less than one day remaining on this earth?
I was so afraid of what was going to happen to me that, in a moment of weakness, I considered going to my master again and telling him what I faced, hoping against hope that somewhere in his vast store of accumulated knowledge he would find a way to save me. But I knew it was hopeless.
My final chance would be to use the blood jar as Alice had suggested, adding a few drops of my own blood to hers. But then we'd have to stay close to each other for the rest of our lives so that she could benefit from my defence against the Fiend. Something would eventually happen to separate us and then his fury would be unleashed on Alice. No, I couldn't allow that to happen. I had got myself into this situation and I had to get myself out – or accept the consequences.
CHAPTER
23
HIS FEARSOME MAJESTY
The Spook was sleeping on the other side of the campfire and Alice lay to my right, her eyes tightly closed. It couldn't have been more than ten minutes to midnight.
I got carefully to my feet, trying to make as little noise as possible, then moved away from the fire and into the dark. I didn't bother to take my chain. It would be useless in the face of the power that I'd soon confront. In just a few minutes the Fiend would come for my soul. I was afraid, but despite that I knew it was better to face him alone. If Alice or the Spook were nearby, they might try to help me and would suffer as a result, maybe forfeiting their own lives. I couldn't allow that to happen.
I walked for about five minutes, then descended a slope through some stunted trees and scrub to reach a clearing. I sat down on a rock beside a small river. Close to the river bank it was muddy underfoot, the ground churned up by livestock that had come down to drink. There was no moon and the sky was hazy, obscuring the stars, so it was very dark. Despite the warmth of the night I began to shiver with fear. It was all going to end now. My life on earth was almost over. But I wasn't going to the light. My fate was to belon
g to the Fiend. Who knew what torments he'd have in store for me?