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Authors: Joseph Delaney
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contacts with the Kobalos who oppose the Triumvirate. Do you give them your support? Do you wish for the same thing?’
‘
I do
,’ replied the mage.
‘It would be useful for us to have contact with them too. Could you arrange that?’
I could see real possibilities here. There might be other ways than Grimalkin’s to end this threat. Perhaps the Kobalos could be changed from within?
The ghost did not reply. It simply vanished.
I was disappointed, but it was a beginning. I would return here and talk to the dead mage again. I nodded at the lantern, and Jenny adjusted the shutters once more, filling that dusty room with brightness.
Then we left, locking both doors behind us.
‘Could you have sent it to the light?’ Jenny asked.
‘I don’t know,’ I admitted. ‘But I am prepared to try – eventually, that is . . . I think we can learn a lot of useful information from that ghost. We’ll come back another night and try to speak to it again.’
Jenny yawned.
‘Are you tired?’ I asked.
She nodded, stifling another yawn.
‘Well, it’ll be at least another hour before you get to bed,’ I told her. ‘We have something else to do before then. When you follow this trade, night work is something you have to get used to!’
JENNY CALDER
MY ENCOUNTER WITH the daemonic thing in the well had been terrifying. I was still very nervous when Tom talked to the ghost of the Kobalos mage; I feared it might turn on us at any moment. Dead or not, it might still retain some magical power.
Tom had the Starblade, but I had no such protection. In any case, its magic had already let him down once. I was exhausted by both ordeals – the last thing I wanted was to face more ghosts. Surely they could have waited for another night?
However, I kept quiet – I didn’t want Tom to think less of me. I played the dutiful apprentice and followed him up the steps towards another of the attics.
‘You heard what the dead mage said about the other locked rooms?’ Tom asked, stopping and turning to face me. He was breathing hard, wheezing terribly. I was worried that he might be over-exerting himself.
I nodded. ‘Some are likely to contain the ghosts of humans.’
‘That’s right. We won’t be able to send them to the light because they’ll almost certainly be from these northern lands and won’t speak our language. We still have to see what needs to be done. Our job is to keep people safe from the dark and that applies even when we’re far from the County. That’s our duty, so we’re going to have to learn Losta – or at least enough of it to persuade a spirit towards the light.’
He turned and began to climb the steps again.
‘I know quite a few words already,’ I reminded him.
Tom nodded. ‘I see I have a bit of catching up to do,’ he replied with a wry smile.
At last he reached the attic and paused, struggling to get his breath back.
When we opened the door, we saw that there was no anteroom; just a large space that had clearly been used to torture prisoners. There was a brazier full of cold ashes, and on the wooden table lay a number of instruments: tongs, saws, hooks, blades and long thin needles – along with manacles to hold prisoners in position. I noticed the dark stains where blood had soaked into the wood. There were also manacles set into the wall, with stains on the wooden floor beneath them.
My stomach heaved at the thought of what must have been done to those poor human prisoners – up to ten of them could have been held here. Then I began to sense fragments of the horrific experiences the victims had gone through – flashes of contorted faces, sounds of moaning and screaming and a sudden overwhelming stench of blood.
I felt a sudden urge to get out of that room . . . But I took a deep breath and tried to steady myself.
‘Cut the light to a minimum, Jenny,’ Tom commanded.
I placed the lantern on the floor at my feet and adjusted the shutters so that once again the room was in
‘
I do
,’ replied the mage.
‘It would be useful for us to have contact with them too. Could you arrange that?’
I could see real possibilities here. There might be other ways than Grimalkin’s to end this threat. Perhaps the Kobalos could be changed from within?
The ghost did not reply. It simply vanished.
I was disappointed, but it was a beginning. I would return here and talk to the dead mage again. I nodded at the lantern, and Jenny adjusted the shutters once more, filling that dusty room with brightness.
Then we left, locking both doors behind us.
‘Could you have sent it to the light?’ Jenny asked.
‘I don’t know,’ I admitted. ‘But I am prepared to try – eventually, that is . . . I think we can learn a lot of useful information from that ghost. We’ll come back another night and try to speak to it again.’
Jenny yawned.
‘Are you tired?’ I asked.
She nodded, stifling another yawn.
‘Well, it’ll be at least another hour before you get to bed,’ I told her. ‘We have something else to do before then. When you follow this trade, night work is something you have to get used to!’
JENNY CALDER
MY ENCOUNTER WITH the daemonic thing in the well had been terrifying. I was still very nervous when Tom talked to the ghost of the Kobalos mage; I feared it might turn on us at any moment. Dead or not, it might still retain some magical power.
Tom had the Starblade, but I had no such protection. In any case, its magic had already let him down once. I was exhausted by both ordeals – the last thing I wanted was to face more ghosts. Surely they could have waited for another night?
However, I kept quiet – I didn’t want Tom to think less of me. I played the dutiful apprentice and followed him up the steps towards another of the attics.
‘You heard what the dead mage said about the other locked rooms?’ Tom asked, stopping and turning to face me. He was breathing hard, wheezing terribly. I was worried that he might be over-exerting himself.
I nodded. ‘Some are likely to contain the ghosts of humans.’
‘That’s right. We won’t be able to send them to the light because they’ll almost certainly be from these northern lands and won’t speak our language. We still have to see what needs to be done. Our job is to keep people safe from the dark and that applies even when we’re far from the County. That’s our duty, so we’re going to have to learn Losta – or at least enough of it to persuade a spirit towards the light.’
He turned and began to climb the steps again.
‘I know quite a few words already,’ I reminded him.
Tom nodded. ‘I see I have a bit of catching up to do,’ he replied with a wry smile.
At last he reached the attic and paused, struggling to get his breath back.
When we opened the door, we saw that there was no anteroom; just a large space that had clearly been used to torture prisoners. There was a brazier full of cold ashes, and on the wooden table lay a number of instruments: tongs, saws, hooks, blades and long thin needles – along with manacles to hold prisoners in position. I noticed the dark stains where blood had soaked into the wood. There were also manacles set into the wall, with stains on the wooden floor beneath them.
My stomach heaved at the thought of what must have been done to those poor human prisoners – up to ten of them could have been held here. Then I began to sense fragments of the horrific experiences the victims had gone through – flashes of contorted faces, sounds of moaning and screaming and a sudden overwhelming stench of blood.
I felt a sudden urge to get out of that room . . . But I took a deep breath and tried to steady myself.
‘Cut the light to a minimum, Jenny,’ Tom commanded.
I placed the lantern on the floor at my feet and adjusted the shutters so that once again the room was in
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