“Get it over with?” growled the Bane. “Not so easy as that. Take my time, I will, and press you slowly. . . .”
With those words, my staff was dashed from my hand and an invisible weight fell onto my shoulders and forced me to my knees. The pressure was steady at first and not unbearable, but the creature was toying with me, and much worse was to come. I was pushed backward, and within a few minutes lay on my back on the cobbles. The weight pressing me down became so great that I couldn’t move a muscle and was struggling to draw breath.
Some cruel quisitors test suspected witches by placing thirteen heavy stones, one by one, on the woman’s supine body. The weights are calculated carefully so as to inflict the maximum torment. Only as the eleventh stone is placed upon her chest does it become almost impossible to breathe. The placing of the thirteenth stone usually results in death as the organs are crushed and there is internal bleeding. Now I was being subjected to a similar process, except that instead of stones, the Bane himself was exerting an invisible pressure. But just when I was about to lose consciousness, thinking my end had come, the press would ease and I would awake to more torment.
“One more chance! One more chance I’ll give you! Will you set me free?”
By then I was unable to speak but just managed to give a slight shake of my head.
“So now I’ll make a end of you!” cried the Bane.
This time the pressure on my body increased rapidly, and within moments I was no longer able to breathe. My eyes grew dim, and I could taste blood in my mouth. I was beginning to resign myself to death when something happened that I had never experienced before.
I heard a scream of fear and pain, and suddenly the weight was gone from my body. The Bane had fled—I felt sure of it. But why? I was too weak to turn my head, but out of the corner of my right eye I could see what looked like a column of light. It was the form that a ghost sometimes takes—though the color was wrong. Ghosts are a pale white; this was a strong, shimmering purple. And from it waves of warmth and peace seemed to radiate. I closed my eyes and, completely unafraid, slipped down into a darkness that could have been death.
I was unconscious for days and woke up in the guest bedroom above Andrew’s shop. Concerned that I’d not returned from the catacombs, Andrew had crafted another key and, managing to overcome his terror of the Bane, had gone through the silver gate to find and retrieve me.
I was in a bad way, with five broken ribs and bruises all over my body, so I recovered only very slowly. Even now I don’t know what drove off the Bane and saved my life. Perhaps it was some sort of spirit from the light, ensuring that I survived. But why? I wonder.
Could it be that I have something of importance to do beyond the routine tasks of a County spook? I don’t believe in the God that priests preach about in their churches. Not for me, a grim old man with a white beard. But that wasn’t the only time I’ve been helped in a time of need. Often I’ve felt that something was standing at my side, lending me strength. I have come to believe that when we face the dark, we are never truly alone.
The Fiend
The Fiend is the dark made flesh, the most powerful of all its denizens and the very oldest of the Old Gods. He has many other names, including the Devil, Satan, Lucifer and the Father of Lies. It is believed that he meddled in the affairs of humanity from the earliest times, gradually growing in power as the dark strengthened. At some point he walked the earth in a reign of terror lasting over a hundred years but then returned to the dark. Occasionally he passes through a portal and visits our world—usually at the instigation of a witch or mage who seeks power through satanic magic. The most famous pact between a human and the Fiend is that of Faustus, but there are many others, some barely remembered now.
The Fiend sometimes makes a special bargain with a witch.2 In exchange for bearing him a child, her power is increased. He hopes that the child will be an abhuman, witch, or mage and will grow up to serve the dark. There is one other benefit of such a liaison to a witch: once the Fiend has visited her child, he can no longer approach the mother for as long as she lives, unless she wishes it. Henceforth she is free from his influence and meddling.
The Fiend
The Fiend has many supernatural powers. He can make himself large or small, taking on any form he desires, either to trick or terrify people.3 His true shape is said to be so terrible that one glance can drive people insane or cause them to die of fright. He can appear out of thin air, look over a victim’s shoulder, and even read human minds. Often he remains invisible, but his cloven hoofprints can be seen burned into the ground. He can also manipulate time—speeding it up, slowing it down, or even halting its flow entirely.
Above all, he is crafty and treacherous. Rather than resorting to force, he often uses trickery and deceit.
SATANIC MAGIC
This magic is earned at great cost by making obeisance to the Fiend, often known as the Devil. Such worship is fraught with danger, as the worshipper, mage, or witch gradually grows less human and more subservient, eventually becoming merely a tool of the dark.
The highest and most dangerous form of satanic magic is obtained in return for selling one’s soul to the Devil. However, he is usually sly and subtle, getting the best part of the bargain—as can be seen from the following account.
THE FAUSTIAN PACT
Faustus, the foremost scholar of his age, was disappointed by the limited knowledge available to him. He had mastered the main university subjects but found that they neither provided answers to the big questions he asked nor granted him the power he sought.
He fell into bad company, and a dark mage lent him a grimoire—a book of magic containing a spell to raise the Devil or his servants. After dithering for many days, Faustus finally used the spell to summon an assistant to the Devil, a lesser devil called Mephisto. On behalf of his master, Mephisto made a pact with Faustus. In return for knowledge and power, the scholar agreed to surrender his soul at midnight twenty-four years after the bargain was made. Faustus signed the contract in his own blood. He attempted to do this three times—on the first two occasions, the blood dried too quickly for him to write his name. It is said that this was angels of the light attempting to save his soul. But finally the pact was made, and Faustus was doomed.
Using satanic magic, Faustus became the most notorious mage in the known world, visiting the courts of kings and emperors to display his magical power: levitating, making himself disappear, or conjuring wonders from thin air. But as time went on, Faustus began to realize that he’d been cheated. He could not create life or learn all the secrets of the universe. These things were denied to him because the Devil did not have the power to supply them. They belonged to the light and were beyond the reach of dark magic.
There were times when Faustus longed to repent, but each time the Devil appeared to the mage in his true shape and terrified him so much that he was forced to continue with his wicked ways. Finally the twenty-four years approached their end, and at midnight the Devil was due to come for Faustus’s soul.
He tried to pray; tried one last time to turn back to the light. It was no use. Years of bad habits were ingrained in his soul, and he failed. In the next room, three scholars from the university prayed for his soul, but their prayers went unanswered. At midnight they heard terrible noises from Faustus’s chamber: thuds, bangs, terrible tearing sounds, and then, loudest of all, the screams of Faustus. Then all became ominously silent.
They waited until daybreak to enter. The floor was wet with blood. The body of Faustus had been torn to pieces by the Devil, and his soul dragged off to the domain of darkness.
No one should ever make a pact with the Fiend. For its practitioners, satanic magic is the most dangerous category of all.
Golgoth
Golgoth is also known as the Lord of Winter and was worshipped so fervently by the first race of mankind that he was able to pass through a portal from the dark to dwell on earth for thousands of years. He has the power to create local pock
ets of cold so extreme that human flesh and bone become brittle and can shatter into fragments. It is believed that Golgoth caused at least one of the great ages of ice.
Golgoth now sleeps4 under a large barrow on Anglezarke Moor, known as the Round Loaf because of its shape. For the sake of the County and the world beyond, let us hope that he continues to do so.
Hephaestus
Hephaestus5 was the blacksmith of the Old Gods; he fashioned tools and weapons to serve their interests during the first age when they all dwelt in this world. At that time humans had yet to emerge from their caves, where they cowered in fear of the terrible external forces that might extinguish all their lives. Hephaestus was the only one of the gods considered to be ugly. Some say he was also lame. He has fallen silent and now sleeps in the dark, but he has left a dangerous legacy.
Hephaestus
There are supposedly weapons still in existence that were manufactured by Hephaestus. The most famous, a sword able to cut through any armor and even stone, is said to make its bearer invincible. It is also reputed to be a potent weapon against demons and other denizens of the dark. The king who last owned it was betrayed, his sword stolen, and he was slain. People say that it was sealed in an ancient barrow6 with the king’s body, somewhere to the south of the County, but the precise location is unknown.
Another weapon forged by Hephaestus, which has also left Greece, is a war hammer that never misses its target and always returns to its owner’s hand. It is believed to be in the possession of one of the strigoi, the vampiric demons that dwell in Romania.
The Morrigan
This is the female Old God who is worshipped by the Celtic witches in that mysterious place called Ireland, which lies over the sea far to the west of the County. We cannot be sure of the extent of her powers, but she is also known as the goddess of slaughter.
When a witch summons her to our world, she may take the shape of a large black crow and alight on the left shoulder of one who is soon to die. Additionally, she sometimes scratches the heads of her enemies with her claws, marking them for death. In this shape the Morrigan frequents battlefields, pecking out and eating the eyes of the dead and wounded.7
The Ordeen
This female deity is the most powerful agent of the dark in Greece. She visits our world every seven years. While most other deities who use portals need the help of humans, the Ordeen does not.
The Ordeen
Little else is known about her other than she is extremely bloodthirsty.8 Her chief worshippers are maenads, but she brings other denizens of the dark through the portal with her, particularly flying lamias, demons, and fire elementals. Between them they slaughter all in their path, and the bloodshed spreads for many miles around. Few survive to record what happens during these visitations, so knowledge is limited. It’s a mercy that the County is apparently beyond her reach.
Her maenad supporters usually confine themselves to their homeland, Greece, and draw their power from a mixture of wine and blood. Under its influence they fly into a frenzy and fight their enemies with a wild fury. Sometimes they use blades, but they are phenomenally strong and can dismember enemies with their bare hands. They are slowly regressing, emotion taking over from intellect, and it is likely that they will eventually lose the power of speech and, like water witches, become more animal than human.
Although they worship the Ordeen, gathering in great numbers to await her arrival, they receive no reward for their services; after she and her followers have ravaged the land, they feast upon the blood of the dead and the dying.
The maenads have scryers but do not use mirrors. After forcing quantities of wine down the throat of a sacrificial goat, they slit open its belly and study its intestines. By such means they claim they can peer into the future.9
Pan (the Horned God)
Pan is the Old God, originally worshipped by the Greeks, who rules over nature and takes on two distinct physical forms. In one manifestation he is a boy and plays a set of reed pipes, his melodies so powerful that no birdsong can equal them and the very rocks move under their influence.
Pan
In his other form he is the terrifying deity of nature whose approach fills humans with terror—the word “panic” is derived from his name. Now his sphere of influence has widened and he is worshipped by the goat mages of Ireland. After eight days of human sacrifice, Pan passes through a portal from the dark and briefly enters the body of a goat. He distorts the shape of that animal into a thing awful to behold and drives the mages to perform more and more terrible acts of bloodshed.
Portals
These are magical doorways through which the Old Gods can pass to enter our world.10 Human intervention is usually required to make this possible, but there are four particular locations where portals may occur. These are also places where elemental spirits evolve naturally and can become sentient and powerful.
The first is the County in England, where witches have always attempted to communicate with servants of the dark, particularly the Fiend. And within the County itself, the prime place for portals is the Pendle district, where the brooding presence of the hill aids all types of dark magic.
The second is Greece, where mages and witches have communicated with the dark from ancient times, probably before such activity was observed in the County. This is the land where the Ordeen rules; she is the only one of the Old Gods who can emerge through a portal without human aid.
Thirdly, there is a district of Romania called Transylvania, known as the Land Beyond the Forest, where vampiric creatures are legion and the most powerful of the Old Gods, Siscoi (see below), rules the mountains and forests. Aided by witches, he frequently passes through a portal, but even from the dark he can possess both the living and the dead.
Fourthly, in the southwest of Ireland is a mysterious region where goat mages and Celtic witches dwell. The former worship the Old God Pan; the latter worship the Morrigan, the goddess of slaughter.
Siscoi
This powerful vampire god is frequently brought through a portal into the Romanian province of Transylvania. He is the lord of the numerous vampiric creatures that dwell in the mountains and forests of that remote region. Even from his abode in the dark, and without making use of a portal, he can send out his spirit to reanimate the dead or possess the living.
Romanian spooks have many successful methods for dealing with ordinary vampires, but they are utterly powerless against Siscoi. He is now the most active and malignant of the Old Gods, even surpassing the Ordeen in ferocity.
Siscoi sometimes animates the skin of a newly buried corpse: His minions first remove the bones and skillfully rend the skin from the muscle; the latter they devour. The reanimated corpse appears to the close relatives of the dead. Siscoi appears before his victims as the bloated skin of their loved one, filled only with air. But as he begins to feed, the corpse skin fills up with blood, turning red in the process.
Zeus
Zeus was once the leader of the Old Gods, sometimes given the title King of the Gods. Like his subjects, he once walked the earth but has not passed through a portal from the dark for many thousands of years. He is no longer worshipped widely in Greece, and his power has lessened.
Lord of the storm, controller of the sky, his preferred weapon was the thunderbolt, using lightning to incinerate his enemies. Zeus had many relationships with mortal women, who gave birth to his children. His jealous wife, Hera, punished those she discovered, among them Lamia.
Zeus
A Kobalos
Mages
Human mages are the male counterparts of witches and may also be placed in the same categories—the benign, the falsely accused, the malevolent, and the unaware—but they are relatively few in number, the use of dark magic coming more naturally to the female. With the exception of goat mages they work alone.
The only nonhuman mages that have come to my attention are the Kobalos, and there is some doubt about their actual existence. But if the report I’ve heard proves to
be true, one day they may pose a dangerous threat to the County as they wander farther south toward our shores.
Like witches, whatever the type of magecraft they practice, each mage varies in ability. The weakest may be no more than fairground conjurors faking most of their tricks to take coins from gullible audiences; the strongest may rule a kingdom, although often they are the hidden power behind a throne.
Mages tend to use longer and more complicated spells than witches, reading them aloud from a grimoire. They also use a pentacle, a circle encompassing a five-pointed star, at each point of which is placed a black wax candle. Such pentacles must be drawn very precisely, and the magical symbols within must also be accurate; the survival of the mage depends upon it.
He may stand at its center, safe from the demon, or Old God, that materializes beyond its protecting boundary. The danger here is that the conjured entity —brought from the dark against its will—may take revenge on innocent people nearby. Sometimes this is deliberate, the conjuring a premeditated act of violence against the mage’s enemies.
The safer alternative is when the mage stands outside the pentacle and conjures the entity to appear within it, where it is bound until dismissed.
DEALING WITH MAGES
When dealing with live mages, the techniques used to slay or confine witches usually prove successful— except for salt and iron, which have no effect at all.
A malevolent mage is a servant of the dark and may be bound with a silver chain or slain with a silver-alloy blade. Rowan wood can also cause some mages severe pain, while others have a tolerance for it. A spook has some degree of immunity against magecraft, but the struggle can become physical: When threatened, most mages quickly resort to extreme violence.
Unlike witches, dead malevolent mages are not bone bound and cannot leave their graves. Their spirits pass through limbo to their natural home in the dark. Some mages do live extraordinarily long lives, and indeed much of their magic is designed to achieve that end; while malevolent witches accept death through natural old age, knowing they have a physical existence beyond the grave where they will still be able to satisfy their blood lust.
The Last Apprentice: Complete Collection Page 292