Free Spook’s: I Am Grimalkin by Joseph Delaney

the consequences of such an act? This is not simply a witch, to be returned to the dark for ever by the simple expedient of eating her flesh. We are dealing with the dark personified, the Devil himself. To eat the head might liberate him. He can change shape, make himself small or large at will. Once free, he has terrible powers – some perhaps still unknown. I have pierced his body with silver spears; thus is he bound and his power taken away. It is safer to keep the head intact yet separate, so that his servants cannot remove the spears and reanimate him.’
    ‘You are right,’ Slake said. ‘It would be foolish to take a chance when so much is at stake. We loved our dead sister dearly and have promised to protect her son, the Thomas Ward of whom you spoke. But tell me – is he any nearer to finding a sure way to destroy the Fiend?’
    I shook my head. ‘He is still searching and thinking. He wondered if there was something in that chest that might help.’
    Slake smiled, showing her teeth, and tapped the book she was holding. ‘I have been sorting through the chest with that same object in mind – to finish the Fiend for ever. So far I have found nothing. Perhaps while you stay with us you would care to help?’
    I smiled and nodded. The lamias had just offered us refuge. ‘I will be happy to help,’ I said. ‘But no doubt we’ll soon have enemies at our walls.’
    ‘Let them come and enter my killing ground below the walls of this tower,’ Wynde said. ‘It will be good sport – the best hunting for many a year!’
* * *
    Thorne and I ate well that night. Wynde, the winged lamia, snatched another sheep and dropped it onto the battlements for us; she had already drained its blood. I butchered it there and brought the most succulent pieces inside to cook on a spit.
    The ventilation in the chamber was poor and smoke went everywhere. Not that it bothered me: my stinging eyes brought to mind the many happy hours I’d spent here as a child, watching the coven’s servants prepare and cook their meals.
    ‘Who was the very first person you killed?’ Thorne asked as we tucked into our late supper.
    I smiled. ‘You already know that, child. I have told you this story before – many times.’
    ‘Then tell me again, please. I never tire of it.’
    How could I deny her? Without Thorne’s help I would be lying dead to the west of Pendle. So I began my tale.
    ‘I wanted to hurt the Fiend badly after what he had done to my child, and I knew where and when I’d be most likely to find him. At that time the Deanes were his favourite clan, so at Halloween I shunned the Malkin celebration and set off for Roughlee, the Deane village.
    ‘Arriving at dusk, I settled myself down in a small wood overlooking the site of their sabbath fire. They were excited and distracted by their preparations, and I’d cloaked myself in my strongest magic so had little fear of being detected. Combining their power, the Deane witches ignited the bone and wood fire with a loud whoosh . Then the coven of the thirteen strongest formed a tight circle around its perimeter while their less powerful sisters encircled them.
    ‘Just as the dead-bone stink of the fire reached me, the Deanes began to curse their enemies, calling down maimings, death and destruction upon those they named. Remember, child, that curses are not as effective as a blade. Someone old and enfeebled might fall victim to them, but mostly they’re a waste of time because all competent witches have defences against such dark magic.
    ‘Soon there was a change in the fire: the yellow and ochre flames turned brilliant red – the first sign that the Fiend was about to appear. I heard an expectant gasp go up from the gathering and I brought all my concentration to bear, staring into the fire as he began to materialize.
    ‘Though he was able to make himself large or small, the Fiend now appeared in his fearsome majesty in order to impress his followers. He stood in the fire, the