The Spook's Sacrifice (18 page)

'How much of a '
chance
' would I be given in return
for my soul?' I demanded. 'What would you do to help
me now?'

'Two things. The first is to delay the Ordeen's
awakening. An hour is the best I can do. Of course,
some of her servants awake long before her. Others are
already beginning to stir. Those you must avoid or deal
with as best you can. But secondly, and most importantly,
I would tell you the location of the Ordeen.'

More than once in the past I'd been given similar
chances by servants of the dark. Golgoth, one of the
Old Gods, had offered me my life and soul in exchange
for freeing him from the pentacle that bound him. I'd
refused. I counted for nothing; my duty was always to
the County. In Pendle, the witch Wurmalde had also
demanded something from me – the keys to Mam's
trunks. She'd hoped to find tremendous power for the
dark in them. Despite the fact that the lives of Jack,
Ellie, and their daughter, Mary, had depended on my
agreement, once again I'd refused.

But this offer was different. It wasn't just my own
life at stake; nor the lives of members of my family. Yes,
my soul would belong to the Fiend – the dark
personified. But I would also be saving the County
from a future visitation. And only if he won me to his
side could the Fiend rule the earth until the end of
time. That wouldn't be the case – he'd simply own the
part of me that was immortal. The Ord was a huge
complex structure. Knowing the precise location of
Mam's enemy would give us a real chance of success,
I thought.

I was very tempted to agree to his offer. What else
could I do? And it would buy time – something we all
needed very badly. Besides, there was one thing that
did give me hope. There was no evidence that Mam
was dead, and if she still lived, then anything was
possible. Perhaps she would find a way to save me,
some means by which I could be freed from the
bargain I was about to make.

'All right,' I said, shuddering at the thought of what
I would be surrendering into the Fiend's control. 'I'll
pledge my soul in return for what you offer.'

'Three days from now I'll return to collect it. So, is it
agreed?'

I nodded. 'Yes. It's agreed,' I said, my heart sinking
into my boots.

'So be it. Then here is the information you need. The
Ordeen is not to be found within any of the three
towers. They are home to her servants and contain
only traps and death for any who enter. However,
there is a dome behind them, on the roof of the main
structure. That's where you'll find her. Take care in
crossing that roof, though – it contains many dangers.
And remember, you have just one hour before the
Ordeen awakes.'

Having delivered the second part of what he'd
promised, the Fiend smiled and gestured that I should
take my place in the dish again. No sooner had I done
so than the room began to darken, the cloud thickening
and boiling about me. The last thing I saw was his
gloating face. But what else could I have done? I asked
myself. How could I have allowed so many to die? At
least this gave us some chance of averting such a
bloodbath. What was my soul compared to that?

I'd made a bargain with the Fiend. In three days'
time, unless Mam could help me, I'd have to pay a
terrible price for this chance of victory.

There was a lurch and the dish began to descend,
the cloud quickly dissipating to reveal the inside
of the twisted spire again. The lamias were still there,
clinging to the stones, but did not move. As I passed a
cylinder it began to turn slowly, rumbling and
creaking as it yielded the chains of other dishes to the
pull of gravity. I glanced over the edge to watch them
edging down ahead of me. Even as I studied
them, looking for the ones that had held the Spook,
Alice and Arkwright, they disappeared from view.

I remembered the pitch blackness of the lower
regions, and no sooner had I done so than the light
about me faded; my descent now took place in
complete gloom. Finally, with a jolt, my dish reached
the ground.

For a moment I didn't move. I waited in the darkness,
hardly daring to breathe. I heard dull thuds
nearby as other dishes made contact with the soft
ground. I remembered the creature that, cloaked in
darkness, had fastened its teeth round my leg and
dragged me to the saucer. What if it was still lurking in
the vicinity? I forced myself to be calm. The unseen
creature had served its purpose, placing me where I
could be taken up to meet the Fiend. Surely it would
let me be now? After all, we'd struck a bargain and I'd
been given just one hour to find the Ordeen before she
was fully awake. But could I trust the Fiend? Would he
keep to our agreement?

There was a movement to my right and I cringed
away, but a moment later a light flared and I could see
a figure holding up a lantern. To my relief it was the
Spook. He approached me slowly, glancing uneasily
from side to side. Close behind him was Arkwright. As
I clambered up from my metal vessel, my feet sinking
into the mud, another figure came out of the darkness
towards the lantern: Alice.

'I thought it was all over for us then,' the Spook
observed. 'One moment I'm waiting to be drained of
blood, the next I'm back here. Seems too good to be
true . . .'

He glanced at us all in turn but I said nothing,
though I could feel Alice's eyes watching me
closely.

'Then let's see what else we can find,' my master
said. 'I'd feel better with my staff to hand.'

We followed the Spook, staying within the yellow
circle of light cast by the lantern. Within moments we'd
found his staff and bag; then Arkwright's, and finally
my own belongings.

'I feel a lot better with this at the ready!' Arkwright
exclaimed.

'It's almost as if someone's helping us,' observed the
Spook. 'I wonder if your mam's playing some part
here . . .'

'It would be nice to think so. I just hope she's all
right,' I said, hoping he wouldn't guess at my part in
what had happened.

'Well, it does seem like we've been given a second
chance,' he continued, 'so let's make the most of it. I
don't know how long we've got before this place is
fully awake so let's hurry on. But the question is – in
which direction?'

I now knew where to find the Ordeen, but how
could I tell him without revealing the source of my
knowledge?

'We need to get to the foot of those three flights of
steps again,' my master continued. 'Each one must
lead up into a different tower. This last one was a trap.
The centre one contained elementals that killed the
witches. That leaves only one.'

'My instincts tell me that we won't find her in a tower,'
I said, choosing my words carefully. 'Each one will surely
contain a trap like the one that nearly did for us. I think
she'll be in the dome on the roof of the main structure –
the one that Mam mentioned. Mam said that if the
Ordeen wasn't in the towers, she could well be there.'

The Spook scratched at his beard and pondered
what I'd said. 'Well, lad, as I've told you many times
before, you should always trust your instincts. So as
both you and your mother agree, I'm inclined to go
along with it. But how do we get out of here?' he
asked, swivelling his head and holding the lantern
higher.

Apart from that illuminated area we were
surrounded by darkness; we couldn't even see the
walls. But the Spook set off at a rapid pace and we
followed. From a narrow window we glimpsed a grim
view down onto a nightmare landscape of buttresses
and turrets and dark pools of water. We didn't linger
but pressed on through a narrow doorway and down
some steps until we were standing on the roof of the
Ord's main structure behind the towers.

There were a number of small turrets and odd
prominences ahead of us, but beyond we could see the
dome rising up. We walked in single file, the Spook in
the lead, Alice behind me, and Arkwright bringing
up the rear. Far above, the dark cloud still boiled and a
faint drizzle was drifting into our faces. The Spook still
held up the lantern – though at the moment it wasn't
needed because the stones of the Ord radiated a bronze
glow.

There was a lot of water on the roof. In hollows it
had formed deep pools. Soon we were walking down
a gentle incline alongside a gulley full of still water;
shelves of stones rose up on either side, hemming
us in.

Suddenly a pale yellow light shone down on us from
above. I looked up and saw the waning moon just
before it was covered again. We were approaching
what looked like the entrance to a tunnel, but when I
went in, I could see that we were not totally cut off
from the sky.

Again the moon came into view, shining through
what appeared to be the bars of a cage. It was almost
as if we were within the skeleton of a gigantic animal,
looking up through the arch of its ribs. Clinging to the
stone were the unquiet dead. Some hung by their
hands; others clung with all four limbs. And on the
ground all around us we could see more of the dead.

'Oh, I don't like this place one bit!' Alice complained,
her eyes wide and fearful.

Being the Spook's apprentice, I'd encountered lots of
trapped souls before, but this was far worse. Some
were clearly human – abject wretches in tattered rags,
either holding out their arms to us and crying out for
help or just jabbering incoherently. That was bad
enough, but others were only partly human and
resembled creatures out of a nightmare. One took the
form of a naked man, but he had many legs and arms
like a large twitching spider, and his skin was covered
in boils and warts; another had the head of a
bewhiskered rat and a sinuous body that ended in a
tail rather than legs.

'What are they?' I asked the Spook. 'And what are
they doing here?'

He turned to face me and shook his head. 'There's
no way to be sure, lad, but I suspect they're mostly
trapped souls. Some of these spirits may have been
here many years, bound to the Ord as it's passed
through the portal again and again. Others have
descended so far from their former humanity that
they're barely recognizable. We call them "abhuman
spirits" because their souls have degenerated and
fallen away from what they once were. I'm afraid that
even if we had time, there's nothing to be done for
these unfortunates. I don't know what crimes they
committed on earth to be trapped in this place, but
they're so far from the light that they can no longer
reach it now. Only the destruction of the Ord would
free them.'

Trapped souls? I felt sick to my stomach at the
thought that in three days' time I might suffer a
similar fate.

With a shake of his head, the Spook moved on until
we'd passed beyond that fearful tunnel; the wailing
and jabbering voices faded into the distance. The
gulley came to an end, but beyond it the roof
descended more steeply now. Directly ahead now was
the dome that contained the sleeping Ordeen. I could
see a narrow entry at its base – a small dark oval that
filled me with dread. It had no door, but when the
Spook tried to lead the way inside he recoiled
suddenly as if he'd walked into an obstruction.

He rubbed his forehead for a moment, then stepped
back and jabbed at the opening with the base of his
staff. He seemed to be striking at empty air, but there
was a dull thud as it made contact with some invisible
door.

'I can feel some sort of barrier,' he said, exploring the
area with the palm of his hand. 'It's quite smooth but
very solid. We'll just have to hope that there's another
way in.'

But when I tried to touch what he was indicating,
my hand passed beyond the Spook's. I took a deep
breath and stepped forward, crossing the barrier with
ease. Immediately I felt a great distance between me
and the others. I could still see them through the doorway,
but they were like shadows and there was no
bronze glow illuminating everything. I was in a totally
dark and silent world – what I sensed was a vast
enclosed space.

I stepped back through to their side, and was
instantly engulfed by sound; it reminded me of when
Arkwright had taught me to swim. He'd thrown me
into the canal and I'd thought I was drowning. As he
pulled me up by the scruff of my neck, I'd come out of
the silent underwater world to be buffeted by sound.
Now it was the same; there were anxious voices and
Alice's cries of alarm.

'Oh, Tom! I thought we'd lost you. You just seemed
to disappear!' she told me, her voice filled with
distress.

'I could see you,' I said. 'But you were just like
shadows and I couldn't hear you.'

At that Alice approached the invisible barrier and
tried to pass through but without success. Arkwright
also tested it; firstly with his staff, secondly with his
hand. 'How is it that Tom can get through and we
can't?' he demanded.

The Spook didn't answer him directly. He stared at
me with glittering eyes. 'It's your mam's doing, lad,'
he said. 'Remember what she told us? That by giving
your blood you'd have access to places you'd not
normally be able to go? She was desperate for you to
come back to Greece with her. Maybe there's something
here in the Ord that only you can do. Certainly
you're the only one able to cross this barrier.'

The Spook was right. My blood now ran in the
Ordeen's veins and arteries. I could now enter places
normally barred to outsiders, and so could Mam. This
was part of her plan.

'We're running out of time. Maybe I should go on
alone?' I suggested.

I was scared, but it seemed the only way. I thought
the Spook would object, but he nodded. 'It might be
the only way for one of us to reach the Ordeen before
she wakes, but if you go on, lad, you'll go alone – and
who knows into what danger.'

'I don't like it, Tom!' Alice cried.

'I think it's a chance we just have to take,' continued
the Spook. 'If we don't find and destroy the Ordeen,
then none of us will escape with our lives. What's it
like in there? What did you see?'

'Nothing – it's just dark and really quiet.'

'Then you'd better take the lantern,' he said, handing
it to me. 'You go on, lad, and see what you can do.
We'll try and find another way in.'

I nodded, took the lantern, smiled in reassurance at
Alice – and stepped through the invisible barrier again.
I was really scared but it had to be done. I glanced back
at the shadows of the Spook, Arkwright and Alice,
then went forward resolutely into that silent world.
But it was no longer totally quiet now that I was in it.
My footsteps echoed back at me from the darkness and
I was aware of my own breathing and heartbeat.
Gripping my staff and bag firmly in my left hand, I
held the lantern aloft with my right. Anything could be
lurking beyond that yellow circle of light.

I must have walked for about two hundred yards or
so without encountering any wall or obstruction, but I
was aware of a change. My footsteps no longer echoed.
And then, ahead of me, I saw a big doorway with steps
leading upwards beyond it.

I held my breath and came to a halt. Someone was
sitting on the bottom step looking in my direction. It
was a young girl with fair hair falling onto her
shoulders, a raggedy dress and bare feet. She stood up
and smiled at me. She was about my own height and
looked hardly older than Alice, yet despite the smile
there was a certain fierce authority in her expression.

It was Mab Mouldheel. It seemed that the account of
her death was mistaken. But how had she got here?
How had she passed through the barrier?