Spook's: The Dark Army (The Starblade Chronicles) (34 page)

‘What is happening?’ I demanded.

‘That bell serves more than one purpose,’ Thorne explained, ‘but it signals an immediate threat. Now predators are permitted to hunt whoever they like. It’s best to hide until a single chime signals that the period of danger is over.’

‘What predators?’

‘They are legion and take many forms. Look! There’s one above us now!’ Thorne cried, pointing upwards.

Something large swooped low over the alley giving a raucous screech. It hovered directly above our heads and I could see it bathed in the light of the blood moon. It was like a giant bat with glowing eyes and long, bone-tipped wings terminating in clawed hands.

‘They hunt in packs and we’re their chosen prey!’ cried Thorne. ‘It will be directing other predators towards us. Hopefully the bell will chime soon, ending the danger.’

Anger flared within me. It was not my way to cower in an alley like this, hoping for a bell to save me. I listened carefully. There were cries of fear and pain all around but their greatest concentration was in the direction of the blood moon and they were accompanied by screams of agony. That was where most of the predators and victims must be gathered.

I turned, gestured that Thorne should follow me and began to run towards the baleful red moon; towards those cries and screams.

‘No!’ cried Thorne. ‘That leads to the basilica square. That’s the killing-ground!’

I continued to run, gathering speed through the narrow streets, each turn taking me closer to the sound of the screaming. I could hear Thorne running close at my heels.

‘Please, Grimalkin, listen to me!’ she called. ‘There are too many to fight. They will rip us to pieces. You can die again in the dark. But this time you become nothing. You fall into oblivion!’

‘Better to be nothing than to cringe in fear!’ I retorted.

Now I was sprinting, easing the first of my blades from their leather sheaths. I reached the square. It was a vast flagged area with the great stone edifice of the basilica rising up beyond it, buttresses and dark walls far larger than those of Priestown Cathedral.

Who prayed within? To which dark entities did they offer worship?

To the fore of the basilica, the square was a scene of carnage. The flags ran with blood and there were bodies everywhere, some dead, others still twitching or attempting to crawl to safety. The air was full of winged predators that swooped and tore, slaying with ease. Screams rent the air, but loudest of all was the infernal beating of huge wings.

One saw me and glided towards, me eyes glowing, talons outstretched. I hurled a blade into the creature’s throat and it fluttered to the ground, blood spraying from its open mouth.

I raised two of my long blades high above my head and yelled out a challenge.

‘Here I am! Attack me if you dare!’

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Thorne’s face full of alarm and fear. Had the dark diminished her so much?

The winged predators flocked to where I was standing, and soon I was spinning and whirling, doing my dance of death, slaying my enemies with each stab and thrust of my blades.

Out of the corner of my left eye I saw the alarm on Thorne’s face change to grim determination. Soon we were fighting back to back. I laughed as we slew our enemies.

I was in the dark but nothing had changed.

I was still Grimalkin.

The Threat from the Cold

As the Kobalos expand outwards from Valkarky, the cold will travel with them. The climate of the Earth will change, brought about by their own magic, which has been increased by Talkus.

Their god is growing in strength, and is beginning to dominate a number of the Old Gods, some of which are willing to serve him. At present, the foremost of these is Golgoth, the Lord of Winter, who will be only too happy to use his powers to ensure that green fields, and forests are replaced by snow and a permanent sheet of ice. There is a threat of a new Age of Ice.

The cold, with temperatures below freezing, is the natural element of the Kobalos. Yet some of their mages behave in a puzzling way. The High Mages like to position their towers over hot springs and bathe in near scalding water. Either they enjoy the heat, or they they are demonstrating their courage and hardiness. The haizda mages, who usually live far from Kobalos territory, actually hibernate through the three coldest months of the winter. So why do they retreat from the cold into sleep?

These are mysteries that need to be solved.

The Threat from Kobalos Magic

The complex hierarchy of mages poses a variety of threats. As yet we do not even know how many distinct categories there are. We have some knowledge of High Mages and haizda mages, but the others are unknown and mysterious.

Their spells too are largely unknown to us. According to the manuscript of Browne, the ancient Spook, Kobalos mages can create a tulpa – a thought given physical reality in the world. Such a tulpa might only be limited by the imagination of its creator. What daemons and monsters might they unleash against us?

There is also their skill with chemical and biological magic. Pendle witches have in recent years created such creatures as Tibb, a seer born of a pig. It took the combined magic of two clans, the Malkins and the Deanes, to achieve that. But this was nothing compared to the threat and power of a battle-entity such as a vartek.

Lukrasta and Alice may help to counter this, and I have arranged for additional help. Using a mirror, I have already contacted some of my sister witches back in Pendle. I hope that they will soon join us and use their collective magic against the Kobalos.

The Threat from Kobalos Weapons

Unfortunately, Grimalkin did not have the chance to write this section of her report before she died. But because of our failure to seize magical artefacts from the mage’s kulad, she had already decided to use a variety of weapons that she had studied in other lands during her extensive travels. The new infantry manoeuvres seem a worthwhile defensive tactic. The ice chariots also seem promising. They would cut through the Kobalos army like a knife through butter. But I have no idea if Grimalkin managed to construct any of those chariots before she returned to the County to help us in the struggle against Golgoth.

Tom Ward

The Threat from the Domains of the Dark

The Kobalos mages appear not to recognize the dark as we know it and call it by a different name – Askana – though it seems to be a different way of interpreting the same thing. In addition to the place where witches and other servants of the dark go after death, each of the Old Gods has his or her own domain, a dwelling place within the dark.

Both Alice Deane and Tom Ward have visited the domain which seems likely to be the home of Talkus. It certainly contains many skelts, which is the shape their god assumes. When Tom Ward was on the Wardstone, the skelts continued the process which he had begun – that of destroying the Fiend. They cut up his body and carried the pieces into a boiling lake. Alice is convinced that Talkus was waiting there, newly born, and that he consumed the Fiend and absorbed his power.

Talkus is now increasing the strength of his mages – though I fear that he may leave his domain and come directly into our world. Witches summoned the Fiend to Earth. The Kobalos mages might well be able to do the same. That is my greatest concern.

THE DARK ARMY
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 448 10146 7

Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Penguin Random House Company

This ebook edition published 2016

Copyright © Joseph Delaney, 2016
Cover illustration copyright © Two Dots, 2016
Interior illustrations copyright © David Wyatt, 2014
Extract from
The Dark Assassin
© Joseph Delaney, 2016

First Published in Great Britain

The Bodley Head 9780370332239 2016

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