The Spook's Bestiary

by Joseph Delaney

  I left for Chipenden with a heavy heart. Although I’d experimented through the winter, I still worried about whether or not I’d gotten the dose right. Too much herb tea, and Meg might stop breathing; too little, and she could wake up alone in that dark cell with many long weeks to wait until my return. So I spent our enforced separation riddled with sorrow and anxiety.

  Fortunately I had calculated the dose correctly and returned late the following autumn just as Meg was beginning to stir. It was hard for her, but at least she wasn’t hanged, or exiled to Greece. The County was spared the harm she could inflict.

  But a lesson must be learned from this, one that my apprentices should note carefully. A spook should never become romantically involved with a witch; it compromises his position and draws him dangerously close to the dark. I have fallen short in my duty to the County more than once, but my relationship with Meg Skelton was my greatest failing of all.

  Water Witches

  These witches are far more animal than human and have mostly lost the power of speech. They dwell in marshes, rivers, canals, and ditches, and, unlike human witches, have the ability to cross running water.9 However, they cannot use mirrors, either to com-municate or to spy on others. One name commonly given to water witches is greenteeth, because of the green slime that sometimes forms on their lips and teeth. Children are often warned by their parents to

  keep away from all places where greenteeth might be lying in wait.

  Their noses are sharp and without flesh, while their canines are elongated into immense fangs. They hook their prey using razor-sharp taloned forefingers. Sometimes they strike into the cheek or ear, but their aim is to pierce the upper neck and wrap a finger around the teeth, taking a firm grip upon the jaw. That grip is almost impossible to escape from, as water witches are extremely strong. They drag their victims into marsh or water and drain them of blood as they drown.

  A Greentooth

  MORWENA

  The oldest and most powerful of all the water witches is Morwena. She may be more than a thousand years old, and her father is the Fiend, her mother a witch who dwelt in the deepest and dankest caverns of the earth.

  In addition to the attributes of a common water witch (with even greater speed and strength), she has a blood-filled eye with which she is able to paralyze her victims. There are limitations to her power, however: That eye can only be used against one person at a time. She must also conserve its strength, and when she isn’t using it, she pins her top and bottom eyelids together over it with a piece of sharp bone. A further weakness is that, even more than other witches of her type, she may not stray too far away from her element—bog and water—or her strength begins to wane.

  For the definitive account of this water witch, refer to Bill Arkwright’s book, Morwena.

  Morwena

  Romanian Witches

  What sets these witches apart from those in other parts of the world is twofold:

  1. The ability to project their souls far from their bodies while they sleep. These meet up with other souls in forest dells, taking the form of small orbs of flickering light that move together rhythmically in a dance. These disembodied covens are not always thirteen strong, which is usual elsewhere, but they are always odd in number, most frequently dancing in sevens, nines, or elevens.

  2. If humans see the moving lights, they are drawn toward them and are soon in thrall to the witches. When the dance ends, the humans die, the witches having gradually absorbed their vitality.

  Romanian witches use animism magic; which means that rather than using blood or bone magic they draw out the life essence of their victims and use it, along with rituals and incantations, to gather power from the dark.

  They worship Siscoi, the Romanian Old God, and have the power to bring him through a portal into our world at midnight—though he can stay only until dawn. They also form alliances with strigoi and strigoica, vampire demons, and can control Transylvanian elementals known as the moroi as an aid to draining humans of their life force.

  The dark magical power gained is used primarily for the following:

  1. To summon their vampire god, Siscoi, from the dark.

  2. To kill their enemies.

  3. To scry the future.

  4. To control the humans who live within their chosen domain.

  5. To gather wealth.

  Romanian witches are very rich and live alone in big, isolated dwellings. They do not form clans, and the only time they meet is when they send forth their souls to combine temporarily in covens.

  WITCH GROUPINGS

  Clans

  A witch clan is composed of family groups. Not all members of such a clan will necessarily be witches, but they will support those who are.

  The three main clans in Pendle are the Malkins, the Deanes, and the Mouldheels. Witches often migrate to places that are a source of power or have the right ambience for performing dark magic. It was the brooding presence of Pendle itself that drew the clans to that area.

  First came the Malkins, who now operate from their stronghold, Malkin Tower. They are not only the oldest, but also the most powerful clan. The original tower was owned by a local landowner called Benjamin Wright. He was a strong, stubborn man, and it took the witches three years to drive him out, using curses, poison, and finally the abduction of his eldest son. Once Benjamin Wright vacated the tower, his son was released. Unfortunately it happened too late: The boy was already insane and died within the year.

  From then the building became known as Malkin Tower. The witches extended it—mainly downward, where deep dungeons and an escape tunnel were excavated. The mortar that binds the stones of the tower is brown because it is mixed with human blood and powdered bone. Usually only the Malkin coven and a few supporters live in the tower. Most of the Malkins reside in the village of Goldshaw Booth.

  The Deanes were the second group to migrate to Pendle. Their families came by boat from Ireland, the wet, misty land across the western sea. Bloodthirsty battles were fought against the Malkins in Crow Wood, but they failed to capture Malkin Tower. So they made their home in the village of Roughlee. The Deanes are the proudest of the main clans and are easily insulted. Sometimes they imagine grievances and become spiteful and vindictive. They still dream of making Malkin Tower their own. Although Celtic in origin, after centuries of life in the County they gradually changed their ways. Their families interbred, formed the Deane clan, and ceased worshipping the Morrigan.

  Malkin Tower

  The Mouldheels, formerly nomadic, were the last of the main clans to arrive. These witches went barefooted, and behind their backs, some called them “stink feet” or “moldy heels,” the latter evolving into their present name. The village of Bareleigh eventually became their home.10

  The three main witch villages lie quite close together in an area sometimes known as the Devil’s Triangle. There are other Pendle witch clans, but these are smaller and much less powerful. Among them are the Hewitts, Ogdens, Nutters, and the Preesalls. There are also some more recent incomer witches, although these are shunned.11

  Covens

  A coven means thirteen witches gathered to use dark magic, usually at celebratory feasts such as Candlemas (February 2), Walpurgis Night (April 30), Lammas (August 1) and Halloween (October 31).

  The covens gather at midnight on those feasts, and occasionally, drawing strength from the adulation of his worshippers, the Fiend materializes briefly to accept obeisance and grant dark power.12

  Witch Assassins

  Each Pendle witch clan (most notably the Malkin, Deane, and Mouldheel families) employs at least one witch assassin—whose primary role is to seek out and destroy their enemies. The successor is usually chosen by a challenge followed by mortal combat. The Malkins’ assassin is easily the most formidable. Three challengers are trained each year and take turns fighting her.

  The current assassin of the Malkin clan is Grim-alkin. Very fast and strong, she has a code of honor and never resorts to trickery. She
prefers her opponent to be a real test. Although honorable, Grimalkin also has a dark side and is reputed to use torture.

  All fear the snip-snip of her terrible scissors. She uses these to shear the flesh and bone of her enemies. She carves this sign on trees to mark her territory or warn others away. Grimalkin’s favorite killing tool is the long blade, and she is a skilled blacksmith who forges her own weapons.

  Grimalkin

  OTHER NOTABLE MALKIN WITCH ASSASSINS

  The previous Malkin assassin was Kernolde the Strangler, who, in addition to blades, used ropes, traps, and pits full of spikes to capture and slay her enemies. Once victorious, Kernolde habitually hung her victims by their thumbs before slowly asphyxiating them. She always faced challengers in the Witch Dell, north of the Devil’s Triangle. There she was aided by the dead witches who haunt that place, particularly Gertrude the Grim, who has been dead for over a century. Kernolde was finally slain by Grimalkin, who hung her by her feet so that the birds could peck her bones clean.

  The assassin known as Needle used a long spear as her primary weapon. She impaled her victims and watched them die slowly. After losing an eye to a poisoned dart, she went into decline, finally being defeated in combat by Kernolde.

  Dretch was one of the very first Malkin assassins, and the clan still talks of her to this day. She could stalk her enemies with such skill that it was impossible to hear her approach. Her primary weapons were her fingernails and her teeth. In combat, she would blind her enemy with her nails and bite savagely into the throat, tearing out an artery. She was ambushed by a dozen Deanes on Walpurgis Night, when there is traditionally a truce between the clans. After a fierce fight she was slain, but five of her attackers paid with their own lives. This began a year-long war between the Malkins and the Deanes.

  Demdike was the only assassin ever to have been murdered by her own clan—the Mouldheels. She made powerful enemies by disobeying directives and insulting the Mouldheel clan leader to her face. At the Halloween sabbath they took her by surprise, stoned her, and threw her body into the fire.

  Kernolde

  WITCH POWERS

  Animism Magic

  This type of magic is also practiced by the category of mages known as shamans, but its strongest adherents are the Romanian witches. They feed upon the animus, the life essence of a creature. This is not its soul; it is the vitality or energy that animates body and mind. They do not take blood but draw the animus forth directly by use of willpower and incantations, sometimes over many weeks or months. The body of the victim becomes gray and wrinkled and withers until the skin is like dry parchment over the brittle bones. Sometimes, in the later stages, the victim appears dead but still walks. He breathes and his heart beats feebly, but his eyes are unseeing and he cannot speak. At that stage, death is very close.

  Very occasionally, when seven or more witches are gathered together, the victim drops dead within seconds. Again, the feeding is accompanied by exertion of the group willpower and incantations. Romanian witches never write down any of their spells; they are passed through the generations and learned by heart.

  Blood Magic

  This is the most basic of the types of magic practiced by witches. They may progress to the higher levels of bone magic or familiar magic, but all start at this stage and continue to use it from time to time throughout their lives.

  Blood features in rituals, especially at the time of the four main witches’ sabbaths (February, April, August, and October). Drinking copious amounts, especially the blood of children, increases the potency of dark magic. It enhances both scrying and cursing, the latter being used to bring about the death of an enemy from a great distance.

  Bone Magic

  This type of magic is one level higher than blood magic. The bones of animals can be used, but human bones, especially thumb bones, are the most valued. The thumb bones of a seventh son of a seventh son are the greatest prize of all.13

  Using bones in rituals can achieve a variety of things. One of the most notorious uses is to create a bone yard, a deadly place to trap the unwary. After drinking blood squeezed from the thumbs of a still-living victim, the witch invokes the dark, using incantations, then cuts away the thumb bones and buries them at the center of the yard.

  When someone wanders into the boneyard, their own bones become very heavy and they are bound to the spot; slow starvation is the result. At the center of such a trap, the pressure exerted is so great that the victim’s bones are broken and crushed. To reach that point is rare, however; it is a fate usually suffered by an animal such as a hare or deer that is moving very fast. Once the flesh has rotted and fallen away, the witch comes to claim her harvest.

  When approaching the lair of a bone witch, always move with extreme caution. The first warning when entering a boneyard is a feeling of lethargy, soon followed by a sense that your whole body is becoming heavier. But it is important not to panic. To turn around can alert the witches that a victim is trying to escape and causes the pressure to intensify. So start to move backward very slowly, taking deep breaths. Once clear, find another route to the witch’s lair, but beware of further traps.

  Witches can also use bone magic to enslave graveside lingerers, ghosts bound to the scene of a crime or confused spirits wandering in limbo.14 Once a spirit is summoned, a witch enslaves it and can make it do her bidding, often using it to spy on or terrorize enemies.

  Sometimes bones are ground down to a fine powder and mixed with blood before being sipped from a human skull. Not only does this provide an easy way to get bone into the witch’s body, it adds an element of blood magic as well, thus heightening the power of the ritual.

  Curses

  In conjunction with blood or bone magic, witches routinely use curses to kill their enemies from afar.15 The accurate use of words is vital, and sometimes the curse is actually written down and sent to the intended victim. In rare cases it is written on skin rather than parchment or paper.

  A number of years ago, the three main Pendle clans, the Malkins, the Deanes, and the Mouldheels, came together and cursed me. The parchment they sent had spots of blood on it from victims who were probably murdered as part of the dark magical ritual. The leaders of the three covens also signed in blood. On the next page is that curse—which I must confess did cause me a few sleepless nights.

  By screeching owl, by toad and bat,

  By scuttling beetle, shiny black,

  We curse thy soul! We›ll take thy life!

  By bloodred moon and starless sky,

  By writhing bones and corpse›s sigh,

  We curse thy soul! We›ll take thy life!

  By slithering snake and long-tailed rat,

  By mandrake root and familiar cat,

  We curse thy soul! We›ll take thy life!

  These words have been written in the blood of innocents.

  Thus cursed you are by covens three:

  You will die in a dark place, far underground,

  with no friend at your side!

  Darcie Malkin, Jessie Deane, & Claris Mouldheel

  Many years have passed and the curse has still had no effect, but whenever my work calls me to venture underground, it always comes into my mind, and I am doubly on my guard.

  Elemental Magic

  At its most basic level, this form of magic is usually practiced by novice witches being trained within a clan, or unaware witches who frequent lonely places where they feel in tune with nature. The latter often sense a presence close by: unknown to them, this is an emerging elemental spirit, feeding and growing as a result of contact with a curious human mind. By focusing on the outcome she desires, the novice malevolent witch can use the power of the elemental to ill wish.

  The elemental will do her bidding and exert its power against the chosen victim. Death rarely results from such a malignant partnership, but night terrors, ill health, and infestations of lice are common.

  Used by skilled and experienced practitioners, elemental magic is very powerful. Fully dev
eloped elementals such as barghests and moroi are used both as guardians and killers. The latter in particular are a deadly threat in Romania, where, under the control of demons, they possess bears and attack their designated victims with terrible fury.

  Familiar Magic

  This is the most powerful of the three categories of magic used by the Pendle witches, although such practitioners may also use blood and bone magic from time to time. Magic of this type has tremendous and terrible potential.

  The witch binds a creature to her will, at first feeding her own blood to her chosen familiar. Once it is bound to her, the blood of victims may be substituted. The creature effectively becomes an extension of the witch’s own body. It is as if she can detach her hand and have it operate at a distance. It becomes her eyes and ears. The possibilities afforded by this dreadful magic are numerous and varied, depending on what type of creature a witch chooses as her familiar. Often witches have more than one, each suited to a different purpose. A cat can be used to spy on an enemy witch or scratch out her eyes, or even kill her baby by sitting on its face and smothering it while it sleeps.