James Delaney - Spooks Destiny (Wardstone Chronicles)

WARNING: NOT TO BE READ AFTER DARK

You belong to the blade now. Youll belong to it until the day you die

The Spook, Tom and Alice have travelled to Ireland, fleeing the war in the County. There, Tom must tackle a group of evil mages who are desperate to rid their land of the Spook and his apprentice, and to increase their own dark powers.

His dangerous mission against the mages leads Tom to the Destiny Blade a sword with a dark side, and a thirst for blood will this new weapon give him a fighting chance against the Fiend?

If hes to survive, hell need training, and only one person can help Grimalkin, the witch assassin. The dark against the dark

Tom

Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son. This means he was born with certain gifts gifts that make him perfect for the role of the Spooks apprentice. He can see and hear the dead and he is a natural enemy of the dark. But that doesnt stop Tom getting scared, and he is going to need all his courage if he is to succeed where twenty-nine others have failed.

The Spook

The Spook is an unmistakable figure. Hes tall, and rather fierce-looking. He wears a long black cloak and hood, and always carries a staff and a silver chain. Like his apprentice, Tom, he is left-handed, and is a seventh son of a seventh son.

For over sixty years he has protected the County from things that go bump in the night.

Alice

Tom cant decide if Alice is good or evil. She terrifies the local village lads, is related to two of the most evil witch clans (the Malkins and the Deanes) and has been known to use dark magic. But she was trained as a witch against her will and has helped Tom out of some tight spots. She seems to be a loyal friend, but can she be trusted?

Mam

Toms mam always knew he would become the Spooks apprentice. She called him her gift to the County. A loving mother and an expert on plants, medicine and childbirth, Mam was always a little different. Her origins in Greece were a mystery. In fact, there were quite a few mysterious things about Mam

T HE HIGHEST POINT IN THE C OUNTY IS MARKED BY MYSTERY . I T IS SAID THAT A MAN DIED THERE IN A GREAT STORM, WHILE BINDING AN EVIL THAT THREATENED THE WHOLE WORLD . T HEN THE ICE CAME AGAIN, AND WHEN IT RETREATED, EVEN THE SHAPES OF THE HILLS AND THE NAMES OF THE TOWNS IN THE VALLEYS CHANGED . N OW, AT THAT HIGHEST POINT ON THE FELLS, NO TRACE REMAINS OF WHAT WAS DONE SO LONG AGO, BUT ITS NAME HAS ENDURED . T HEY CALL IT T HE W ARDSTONE .

DRIVEN BY THE gentlest of breezes, our small fishing boat was sailing slowly west, bobbing gently towards the distant shore. I was staring ahead towards the green hills of Ireland, trying to take in as much as I could before the light failed. In another twenty minutes it would be dark.

Suddenly there was a roaring, howling sound, and the fisherman looked up in alarm. From nowhere a great wind blew up. A black cloud raced towards us from the north, zigzag lightning flickering down into the sea, which was now boiling and surging so that the small boat rolled alarmingly. Our three dogs began to whimper. The usually fearless wolfhounds, Claw, Blood and Bone, didnt like sea voyages at the best of times.

I was on my knees, clinging to the prow, cold pinching my ears, sea-spray stinging my eyes.

The Spook and my friend Alice were cowering down below the gunwales, doing their best to take shelter. The waves had suddenly become much bigger unnaturally so, I thought. We seemed about to capsize. As we slid down into a trough, a gigantic wave, a sheer wall of water, came out of nowhere and loomed above us, threatening to smash our fragile craft to matchwood and drown us all.

But somehow we survived and rode up the wave to its crest. A torrent of hail came then pebbles of ice, raining down onto the boat and us, beating at our heads and bodies with stinging force. Again lightning flashed almost directly overhead. I looked up at the mass of churning black cloud above us, and suddenly saw two orbs of light.

I stared up at them in astonishment. They were quite close together and made me think of two staring eyes. Then, as I watched, they began to change. They were eyes very distinctive eyes too, peering down from the black cloud. The left one was green, the right blue, and they seemed to glitter with malice.

Was I imagining it? I wondered. I rubbed my own eyes, thinking that I was seeing things. But no they were still there. I was about to shout to get Alices attention, but even as I watched, they faded away to nothing.

The wind dropped as suddenly as it had arisen, and within less than a minute the huge waves were no more. The sea was still livelier than it had been before the storm, though, and the wind was once more at our backs, driving us towards land at a much faster rate.

Five minutes and Ill put you ashore! cried the fisherman. Theres a good side to everything, even a storm.

I thought about the eyes in the cloud again. Maybe Id only imagined them. It might be worth mentioning to the Spook later, but this wasnt the time.

It was strange the way that storm came up so suddenly! I shouted.

The fisherman shook his head. Not at all, he said. You see strange things at sea, but that was just a squall. They often blow up out of nowhere. Mind you, that sea was something. Almost like a tidal wave. But this old tub is sturdier than she looks. He looked quite pleased with himself. I need to be back well before dawn, and weve got a bit o wind to fill our sails now.

The Spook had paid him generously with almost the last of his money, but even so the fisherman had taken a big risk. Wed sailed away from the Isle of Mona about eight hours earlier, making the crossing west towards Ireland. We were refugees from the invasion of the County, and the Spook, Alice and I had spent many dangerous months on that island. Now the inhabitants of Mona were returning any refugees they found to the County into the hands of the occupying forces. Intensive searches were being made. It had been time to get away.

I hope we get a better welcome here, said Alice despondently.

Well, girl, it couldnt be much worse than last time, said the Spook.

That was true enough. On Mona wed been on the run almost immediately.

You should have little trouble here! shouted the fisherman, trying to make himself heard above the whine of the wind. Very few of your folk will have ventured this far, and its a big island. A few more mouths to feed wont worry them much. You might find theres work for a spook too. Some call it the Haunted Isle. It certainly possesses more than its fair share of ghosts.

Spooks dealt with the dark. It was a dangerous trade, and I was in the third year of my apprenticeship to my master, John Gregory, learning how to deal with witches, boggarts and all manner of supernatural creatures. Ghosts usually posed little threat and were the least of our worries. Most didnt even know they were dead and, with the right words, could be persuaded to go into the light.