The Last Apprentice: Complete Collection

by Joseph Delaney

  A sudden roar behind us, like the angry cry of a wounded animal, made us turn and look back. The dark cloud above the Ord had now re-formed and was filling with fire. Zigzags of lightning were flickering down to turn the tips of the twisted towers a glowing orange.

  We felt the heat on our backs increasing at an alarming rate and realized we had to retreat further—and quickly. At any moment the fiery artery would connect the cloud to the ground. How wide would it be? Were we still too close and about to be engulfed by fire?

  At last, exhausted by our flight, we turned to look back, alerted by the banshee howl of the pillar of fire. Once again it was throbbing and twisting, the Ord within it still visible, the tips of the towers now glowing white hot. I thought of Mam, still within that chamber, holding the Ordeen in her grip. As we watched, the citadel began to disintegrate and the towers toppled. The Ord was being carried back into the dark, but the transition was destroying it. Within it, the Ordeen would also be defeated and would never again be able to return to our world. But Mam would also die in that inferno. My whole being was racked with sobs at the thought of it.

  And then there was Bill Arkwright. Had he held off our pursuers and managed to get clear in time?

  Within moments the fire faded and a great wind began to blow at our backs; the air was being sucked in to the place where the Ord had once stood. When that eased, a cold drizzle fell. I closed my eyes, and it was almost like being back in the County. We waited a long time, but there was no sign of Arkwright. It seemed certain that he was dead.

  We walked back to Kalambaka in silence. My face was streaming with both rain and tears.

  We skirted Kalambaka to the west and headed for Megalo Meteorou, the grandest of the high monasteries. The Spook thought we should visit the Father Superior there and tell him what had been achieved.

  I remembered what Mam had said about women not being welcome in the monasteries, but I said nothing, and Alice ascended the steps together with the Spook and me. She’d already used herbs from her leather pouch to make a soothing ointment, which she’d smeared onto the burn on my face. She had simply employed the methods used by many a County healer, nothing from the dark. It had eased the pain immediately, but John Gregory had shaken his head in disapproval. He didn’t trust Alice to do anything for me. I prepared myself for a confrontation. Alice had played her part in saving the monastery, and if she was denied entry, then I too would turn back.

  But we all entered unchallenged and were escorted into the presence of the Father Superior. Once more we entered that spartan cell to find the gray-faced, gaunt priest at prayer. We waited patiently, and I remembered my last visit, when Mam had still been alive. At last he looked up and smiled.

  “You are welcome,” he said. “And I am most grateful to you, for I assume that you were victorious—otherwise none of us would still be alive—”

  “Mam died to bring about our victory!” I said. I’d spoken without thinking, and it was as if the words had been uttered by another. I could hear the hurt and bitterness in my voice.

  The priest gave me a kind smile. “If it’s of any comfort to you at all, I can tell you that your mother was happy to give her life to rid this world of our enemy. We’ve talked together many times in the past year, and she once confided in me that she expected to die in accomplishing what had to be done. Did she ever tell you that, Thomas?”

  I shook my head. This old priest probably knew more about Mam than I did, I thought, the feeling of hurt growing in my chest. Mam knew she was going to die and hadn’t told me until the very last moment! Then I took a deep breath; I knew there was something I needed to ask him. Something I desperately needed to know.

  “The Ord was destroyed and carried back toward the dark. Is that where Mam will be now? Trapped in the dark?”

  It was a long time before the Father Superior replied. I had a feeling that he was choosing his words carefully. No doubt the news would be bad, I thought.

  “I believe in the infinite mercy of God, Thomas. Without that, we are all doomed, because we are all flawed, each and every one of us. We will pray for her. That’s all we can do.”

  I stifled a sob. I just wanted to be alone with my sorrow, but I had to listen while the Spook gave the Father Superior a more detailed account of what had happened.

  After that we walked to the katholicon, where once more I heard the hymns of the monks soar up to fill the dome. This time the Father Superior told me that they were praying for Mam and for others who had died in the citadel. I tried in my heart to believe that it was all right, that Mam had escaped to the light. But I couldn’t be sure. I thought of the crimes she had committed so long ago. Would they hinder her now? Make it harder for her to reach the light? She’d tried so hard to make restitution, and the thought of her facing an eternity in the dark was almost unbearable. It wasn’t fair. The world seemed a terrible, cruel place. And very soon I’d have to face the Fiend again. My hope had been that Mam might somehow be able to arm me against him. Now I was alone.

  It was the following day before my master and I spoke together in detail about what had happened. Soon we were to set off for the coast, but for now we rested, trying to regain our strength for the long journey ahead. The Spook led me away from the campfire, no doubt in order to be out of earshot of Alice, and we sat down on the ground and talked face-to-face.

  I began by telling the Spook how Mam had changed back into her feral form before giving her own life to hold the Ordeen fast. I told him almost everything—but not, of course, about Mam’s real identity, nor about the pact I’d made with the Fiend to gain the chance of victory. That I could never tell him—it was something I’d have to deal with myself. The Fiend was to come for me the next night.

  I felt as if I was drifting further and further away from my master. He had sacrificed some of his principles to come to Greece and take part in the struggle against the Ordeen. But my compromise was greater: I had sacrificed my own soul. Soon it would be possessed by the Fiend, the dark made flesh, and I could think of no way to save myself.

  When I’d finished my account, the Spook sighed, then reached into the pocket of his cloak and pulled out two letters. “One is from your mam to me. The other is to you, lad. I’ve read both. Despite my strong misgivings, they’re the reason I changed my mind and traveled to Greece after all, against everything I hold dear.”

  He handed them both to me, and I began to read my letter.

  Dear Tom,

  If you are reading this letter, I will already be dead. Do not grieve too long. Think of the joyous times we shared together, particularly when you and your brothers were children and your father was still alive. Then I was truly happy and as close to being human as I ever could be.

  I foresaw my death many years ago. We all have choices—I could have stepped to one side, but I knew that by sacrificing my life I could win a great victory for the light. And despite the price paid in human suffering, the Ordeen will now have been destroyed.

  You must take the next step and destroy the Fiend. Failing that, at least he must be bound. In this task, Alice Deane will be your ally.

  Whatever the outcome, I will always be proud of you. You have more than lived up to my expectations.

  All my love,

  Mam

  I folded the letter and pushed it into my pocket. It was the last thing I would ever receive from Mam, her last words to me. Next I started to read what she’d written to my master. The letter that had made him leave Chipenden and, despite his misgivings, travel with us to Greece.

  Dear Mr. Gregory,

  I am sorry for any distress that I might have caused you. I do what I do for the best of motives. Although you may not agree with the means that I employ to achieve it, I hope to win a great victory. If I fail, the Ordeen will be able to strike anywhere in the world, and it is most likely that the County will be her first target. She will not forget what I attempted to do and will vent her wrath on the place where my family still dwells.

&nbs
p; I will almost certainly die within the Ord, and then my son will need you to train and prepare him to deal once and for all with the Fiend. As for yourself, remain true to your principles, but please, I beg you, make an exception in two cases. The first, of course, is with respect to my son, Thomas. Your strength and guidance will be vital in seeing him safely through the next phase of his life. Now he is in even greater danger.

  I beg you also to make an exception for Alice Deane. She is the daughter of the Fiend and a potential malevolent witch. She will always walk a narrow path between the dark and the light. But her strength is tremendous. If she were ever to forge an alliance with the dark, Alice would be the most powerful witch ever to walk this earth. But it is worth taking the risk. She can be just as strong as a servant of the light. And only if both Tom and Alice work together will they complete something that has always been my goal—something that I have striven for most of my long life. Together they have the potential to destroy the Fiend and to bring a new age of light to this world.

  You can help make this possible. Please journey with us to my homeland. Your presence is vital to protect my son and make sure that he returns safely to the County. Be less than what you are so that you can become more.

  Mrs. Ward

  “She was a great woman,” said the Spook. “I certainly don’t agree with her methods, lad, but she did what she felt had to be done. Her homeland will be a far better place because of what she achieved. Indeed, the County and the whole world will be safer.”

  The Spook was making allowances for Mam that he had never really made for Alice. But of course he didn’t know the full truth. I could never tell him that Mam was Lamia, the mother of the whole brood of witches and hybrids. He wouldn’t be able to come to terms with that. It was one more secret that we could never share. One more thing with the potential to drive us apart.

  “What about Alice? Will you do what Mam asked?”

  The Spook stroked his beard and looked thoughtful. Then he nodded, but his face was strained. “You’re still my apprentice, lad. Now that Bill Arkwright’s most likely dead, it’s my duty to help you all I can and to carry on training you. Aye, I don’t dispute that. But the girl worries me. No matter how much care I take and how carefully I watch her, it could all go terribly wrong. I’m of a mind to give it a try, though—at least for the time being. After what your mam’s done, how can I refuse her?”

  Later I thought over what we’d said to each other. As we’d spoken, I’d almost made myself believe that everything would soon be all right and that the Spook, Alice, and I would return safely to Chipenden to continue our former lives there. But how could that be when I had less than one day remaining on this earth?

  I was so afraid of what was going to happen to me that, in a moment of weakness, I considered going to my master again and telling him what I faced, hoping against hope that somewhere in his vast store of accumulated knowledge he would find a way to save me. But I knew it was hopeless.

  My final chance would be to use the blood jar as Alice had suggested, adding a few drops of my own blood to hers. But then we’d have to stay close to each other for the rest of our lives so that she could benefit from my defense against the Fiend. Something would eventually happen to separate us, and then his fury would be unleashed on Alice. No, I couldn’t allow that to happen. I had gotten myself into this situation, and I had to get myself out—or accept the consequences.

  CHAPTER XX

  His Fearsome Majesty

  THE Spook was sleeping on the other side of the campfire, and Alice lay to my right, her eyes tightly closed. It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes to midnight.

  I got carefully to my feet, trying to make as little noise as possible, then moved away from the fire and into the dark. I didn’t bother to take my chain. It would be useless in the face of the power that I’d soon confront. In just a few minutes the Fiend would come for my soul. I was afraid, but despite that I knew it was better to face him alone. If Alice or the Spook were nearby, they might try to help me and would suffer as a result, maybe forfeiting their own lives. I couldn’t allow that to happen.

  I walked for about five minutes, then descended a slope through some stunted trees and scrub to reach a clearing. I sat down on a rock beside a small river. Close to the riverbank it was muddy underfoot, the ground churned up by livestock that had come down to drink. There was no moon and the sky was hazy, obscuring the stars, so it was very dark. Despite the warmth of the night, I began to shiver with fear. It was all going to end now. My life on earth was almost over. But I wasn’t going to the light. My fate was to belong to the Fiend. Who knew what torments he’d have in store for me?

  I didn’t have long to wait. I heard something on the other side of the river. A thudding sound. A hissing, too. Then a splash as something very large entered the water. At first it sounded like a horse. Certainly some big, heavy animal. But the rhythm of its crossing suggested two legs rather than one. It had to be the Fiend. He was coming for me now. Coming to claim my soul.

  I could hear eruptions of steam, the water hissing and spitting as he approached. Then I saw huge cloven hoofprints appearing in the soft, muddy bank, glowing red in the darkness. He’d crossed the river. With the formation of each print, there was a hiss as the hot feet of the Fiend came into contact with the soggy ground. Then he began to materialize. This was no image of the murdered Matthew Gilbert; this was the Fiend in his true, terrible shape—a shape that caused some people to die on the spot from fear. And he glowed with sinister light, so that every detail of him was visible to my terrified gaze.

  The Spook had told me that the Fiend could make himself large or small. Now he had chosen to be big. Almost three times my height, with a chest like a barrel, he towered above me. He was a titan, roughly human in shape—though that similarity only served to make him appear more monstrous.

  His feet were the cloven hooves of a goat, and his long tail dangled behind him in the mud. He was naked, but no flesh was on view; his body was covered in long black hair. His face, too, was hairy, but his features were plain to see: the prominent teeth and curved horns of a goat, the malevolent gaze of the eyes with their elongated pupils. He came close, very close, within the reach of my arm, and the stench that came from him was ranker than anything from a barnyard. I could only stare upward into those terrible, compelling eyes. I was transfixed. Helpless.

  My knees threatened to give way, and my whole body began to tremble. Was I dying? About to take my last breath?

  At that moment, I heard a sound behind me. Footsteps! There was a light, and I saw it reflected in the pupils of the Fiend. Saw his eyes widen in anger. I turned. Someone was standing close behind me, holding a lantern. It was Alice, and she was gripping something in her other hand, too. Something small. Something she was holding before her like a weapon. She pushed it into my left hand.

  “Leave him be!” she cried. “He’s mine. Tom belongs to me! Get you gone! You can’t stay in this place!”

  At those words the Fiend let out a terrible bellow of rage. For a moment I thought he might reach down and crush us both. His anger surged toward me with palpable force. I was blown backward off my feet into the mud, and I heard the trees on the slope behind me crack and splinter. Then the wind seemed to reverse direction, and he simply vanished.

  There was utter silence. All I could hear was my own breathing, the beating of my heart, and the gurgle of the river.

  Then, by the light of the lantern, I saw what I was holding in my left hand.

  The blood jar.

  I struggled to my feet just a second after Alice, who was already retrieving the lantern from the mud.

  “What were you doing out here all alone, Tom?” she demanded. “Did you come here to meet the Fiend?”

  I didn’t answer, and she came nearer, holding up the lantern to look closely into my eyes. My heart was beating wildly, my mind in turmoil. I was still trembling at my escape, yet wondering if the Fiend might reappear again at any
moment. How could Alice have driven him away like that? How was that possible?

  “Something bothering you, Tom, isn’t there? Been funny for days, you have. Too quiet . . . and there’s something in your eyes. An expression I ain’t ever seen before. Know you lost your mam, but is there something else? Something you ain’t telling me?”

  For a moment I didn’t speak. I tried to hold it back, but the urge to share my fears with someone made me blurt it out in a torrent.

  “The Fiend visited me in the Ord,” I explained. “He showed me the future. That all of us were going to die—you, the Spook, and everyone in Kalambaka and Meteora. All the refugees on the road. He said he would give me a chance. He delayed the Ordeen’s awakening for an hour. He also told me where she was to be found. But for that I wouldn’t have been able to help Mam. We’d have lost.”

  For a moment Alice was silent, but I could see the fear in her eyes. “What did he want in return, Tom?” she asked. “What did he want from you?”

  “Not what you think, Alice. He didn’t ask me to be his ally and to stand at his side. I would have refused him—”

  “So what, Tom? Come on. Don’t keep me waiting.”

  “I gave him my soul, Alice. I sacrificed myself. You see, if the Ordeen had won, she’d have been able to use her portal and appear anywhere she chose. And she would have come to the County. So I did my duty—”

  “Oh, Tom! Tom! What a fool you’ve been! Don’t you know what this means?”

  “I know I’ll suffer in some way, Alice. But what else could I have done? I suppose I was hoping that Mam would be able to find some way to save me. But now she’s dead, and I’ve just got to accept what’s eventually coming to me.”

  “It’s worse than you can imagine, Tom. Much worse. Don’t like to tell you this, but it’s best you know the truth. Once you are dead and the Fiend has your soul, you’ll be totally in his power. He’ll be able to make you feel pain worse than you’ve ever known. Don’t you remember what you once told me about how Morgan tormented your dad’s soul?”